EP0207823A1 - Pliers for opening pressurized jars - Google Patents

Abstract

In order to facilitate opening of pressurised jars equipped, in a conventional manner, in their lid (9), with a loop (11) having a straight part (12) and, integral with the neck (15), with an assembly also made from metal wire (14) comprising, coinciding with the said loop, a straight wire-shaped part (17) articulated on a closure handle (18) and gripper (19), the articulated arms (3) of the pliers diverge from each other in order to be spaced apart when the lever legs (2) are manually squeezed, the ends of the arms (3) being equipped with jaws (7,8) whose machined faces are capable of bearing on the said straight parts (12,17). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to the field of closed container opening systems under vacuum and relates especially to a clamp type device, intended to facilitate the opening of glass jars with rubber seal, the utility of which is well known for storage. preserves, meat, fruits, vegetables and other food, introduced into the container and stored under a slight vacuum.

It has been known that, for a long time, such jars have been provided, as an opening and closing system, with two substantially circular steel wires each adjusted in a groove provided respectively on the lid and on the neck of the container and connected between them at the rear by a hinge and, at the front .by a crankpin and loop system according to which the horizontal upper part of the loop comes to rest, in the closed position, on the two branches of the elbow provided for the front part of the upper thread.

In order to facilitate the closing and opening of these jars, the loop (or jumper) is generally shaped into two parts tucked into its upper half so as to constitute support shoulders for the bend of the upper wire and to ensure a certain rigidity. to this rider when it is maneuvered in the opposite direction, that is to say from bottom to top, by the lever or crankpin during the opening operation.

Despite this small improvement, it is not easy to ensure the opening of the fact that the pulling force towards the top of the lever is exerted at an angle most of the time, which causes either a slippage of the elongated part. of the loop on the branches of said elbow is very often a tension and damage to the loop.

To remedy this difficulty, various means of opening have been proposed which are independent of the jar itself. For example, we have suggested a small tool with a handle provided at one of its two ends with a conical slot intended to introduce the protruding rubber tongue "seen on the seal of the jar. By turning the tool you manage to pull the seal and thus introduce a free space to release the internal pressure of the jar. However, very often and especially when the rubber is not new, dn breaks in this effort the tongue and the jar becomes unusable without spare seals.

In addition, the use of a large opening pliers wider than the diameter of the jar cover and whose jaws are intended to tighten the circular seal over its entire periphery has been recommended.

Such a system is difficult to handle and requires a certain address. In addition, the seal is crushed and, most of the time, greatly deteriorated because the tightening force is difficult to dose.

The object of the invention is to remedy the various aforementioned drawbacks and to propose, for this purpose, a simple device, specially adapted for improved jars of the aforementioned type, in which there is no contact with the rubber seal and which allows ensure easy opening, without significant effort, using the metal elements provided on the jar.

According to the invention, the device is constituted by a clamp whose divergent ends of the articulated arms act by spacing during the bringing together or tightening of the opposite lever arms, said ends being provided, in orientation towards the outside and substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane. of the articulation axis, of jaws whose machined faces are capable of pressing firmly on the one hand on the rectilinear part of the stirrup of the lever mechanism cooperating with the neck of the jar, and, on the other hand on the protruding return, also rectilinear, of the loop secured to the cover of the jar.

Because the surfaces of the lower and upper jaws come to rest on two parts / of the metal wire, substantially rectilinear and located in the same vertical plane, a slight tightening in the hand of the lever arms of the pliers causes the opening of the jar pressurized without excessive effort and avoiding any risk of twisting the metal parts of the jar and breaking the glass. Furthermore, no intervention being made on the rubber seal, it obviously remains intact and can therefore be reused. .

In accordance with particularly advantageous embodiments, the surfaces of the jaws, instead of being flat, can assume conformations specially adapted to the wire-like metallic parts of the jar in order to further facilitate the positioning of the jaws and avoid any false maneuvering. a clumsy person.

• . Figure 1 : une vue d'une pince selon l'invention, agissant par écartement des mâchoires ;
• . Figùre 2 : une vue, partiellement en perspective, d'un modèle courant de bocal, muni de son mécanisme métallique d'ouverture-fermeture, avec illustration de l'action de la pince susvisée lors de l'ouverture du bocal pressurisé ;
• . Figure 3 : une variante de réalisation d'une mâchoire de pince selon l'invention.

The invention will be better understood from the detailed description below of an embodiment, without limitation, illustrated by the appended drawings which schematically represent:

• . Figure 1: a view of pliers according to the invention, acting by spacing of the jaws;
• . Figùre 2: a view, partially in perspective, of a current jar model, provided with its metallic opening-closing mechanism, with illustration of the action of the above-mentioned clamp when opening the pressurized jar;
• . Figure 3: an alternative embodiment of a clamp jaw according to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the clamp 1 is of generally conventional shape with its legs 2 serving as levers and its arms 3 articulated around an axis 4. However, it has the particularity of acting in the opposite direction to a normal clamp thanks to the orientation towards the outside of its arms 3, which allows the ends of the arms to be moved along arrow 5 when the tightening action is carried out by bringing the legs 2 together according to arrow 6. According to a another characteristic, said ends carry external jaws 7 and 8, substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane x, y passing through the hinge axis 4. The working surfaces of these jaws can be either flat, as indicated for the upper jaw 8 , or inwardly curved shape as can be seen on the jaw 7, or be machined according to other conformations as will be seen below.

For the illustration of FIG. 2, a glass jar for preserves has been chosen, the steel wire mechanism for opening and closing taking the structure most frequently encountered in commerce. The cover 9 is provided, in a groove made for this purpose, with the metal wire 10 forming at the front a projecting loop 11 with a straight part 12 and articulated at the rear, at 13, with the lower metal wire mechanism 14 secured neck 15 of the jar. The rubber seal is illustrated by the number 16.

This lower mechanism here comprises at the front a small loop with a substantially straight filiform part 17 in the vicinity of which the lever or pin 18 is articulated which serves to guide, for the normal opening and closing operations, the jumper 19. On knows that, to ensure closure, the curved upper part 20 of the rider comes to rest above the loop 11, thereby causing maximum tightening of the seal 16.

According to the invention, the lower 7 and upper 8 jaws of the clamp 1 are supported respectively on the elongated parts 17 and 12, located in the same substantially vertical plane, and it suffices to press moderately on the lever arms forceps to ensure rational opening of the pressurized jar.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the application to the type of jar mentioned above and also applies to the case where the stirrups and crankpins, in other types of less common jars, have different conformations but where one always notes the presence of the rectilinear parts of wire of the aforementioned types 12 and 17.

In addition, according to variants, the working faces of the resilient grips 7 and 8 can be machined so as to further promote contact and attachment with the wires 12 and 17. For example, there is shown without limitation on FIG. 3 another embodiment of the upper jaw 8, according to which the surface of the latter has cavities 21 in which the returns of the loop 11 can be accommodated.

Claims (3)

1. Clamp-type device for opening pressurized preserving jars provided, in a conventional manner, with an opening-closing mechanism made of metal wire with, in the lid (9) of the jar, a loop (11) with rectilinear part (12) and, integral with the neck (15) of the jar, an assembly also made of metal wire (14) comprising, in accordance with said loop, a straight filiform part (17) articulated on a crank pin (18) and a jumper (19) for closing, the clamp (1) being characterized by a divergent orientation of the arms (3) articulated to obtain a spacing during manual tightening of the lever legs (2), the ends of the arms (3) being provided, in outward orientation and substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane xy of the axis of articulation (4) of the clamp, jaws (7,8) whose machined faces are capable of pressing firmly on the one hand on the rectilinear part (17) of the crankpin (18) and rider (19) and, on the other hand, on the return sa illant (12), also rectilinear, of the loop (11) integral with the cover (9) of the jar. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the working surface of at least one of the jaws (7) assumes an inwardly curved shape. 3. Device according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the working surface of at least one of the jaws (8) has cavities (21) in which are housed the returns of said upper loop (11).

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