US 10,787,354 B2Granted

Tool for removal and closure of bottle and container caps

OwnerRobert W. Ranftlinventor

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Abstract

A tool includes a resilient relatively soft tool body defining a closed top surface and a surrounding side surface extending downwardly therefrom. The tool further includes a bottom surface which defines an upwardly extending generally cylindrical recess therein. The recess includes interior sidewalls which in their preferred form support a plurality of gripping ridges or edges. The recess is sized and shaped to receive a portion of a bottle cap thereby allowing the user to grip the tool and squeeze the tool body to force its recess surfaces against the bottle cap in a gripping engagement and thereafter applying a torque or twist to the tool allowing the bottle cap to be easily removed. In its preferred fabrication, the tool further includes a plurality of radially extending relief slots formed in the recess wall to facilitate better gripping action and to allow the recess wall to stretch and expand thereby accommodating different bottle cap sizes. Finally, the tool may utilize a plurality of differently sized recesses arranged in descending order to engage different bottle cap sizes.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A tool for removal and closure of bottle and container caps, said tool comprising:

a tool body having a top wall and a tool body sidewall extending from said top wall, said top wall and said tool body sidewall being formed of a resilient stretchable material;
the tool body sidewall having a thickness between a tool body sidewall exterior surface and a tool body sidewall interior surface, which defines a cap recess having a centerline extending parallel to a height of said tool body;
and
a plurality of gripping elements formed on said tool body sidewall interior surface, each of said gripping elements projecting from said tool body sidewall interior surface towards said centerline recess wall;
said tool body sidewall interior surface further comprising a plurality of expansion slots, including a first expansion slot and a second expansion slot;
each of said plurality of expansion slots extending radially from said tool body sidewall interior surface into said thickness between said tool body sidewall exterior surface and said tool body sidewall interior surface, away from said centerline, and into but not entirely through said tool body sidewall, said plurality of expansion slots being bridged by remaining unslotted portions of said tool body sidewall and said tool body sidewall allowing the plurality of expansion slots to stretch and expand to receive bottle and container caps, one at a time, in said cap recess;
said tool being locatable over a bottle or container cap by forcing said cap recess upon the bottle or container cap such that said plurality of gripping elements engage the bottle or container cap and said plurality of expansion slots allowing said tool body sidewall to expand and be stretched upon the bottle or container cap thereby creating a squeezing force upon the bottle or container cap and accommodating said bottle or container cap while said remaining unslotted portions of said tool body sidewall maintaining said squeezing force;
and
wherein said tool body sidewall exterior surface defines a sidewall perimeter that is stretchable from a first cross-sectional dimension at two opposed exterior locations to a second cross-sectional dimension at the two opposed exterior locations.

6 more elements

A tool for removal of bottle and container caps, said tool comprising:

a tool body having a top wall and a sidewall depending from the top wall, said top wall and said sidewall defining a cap recess having an interior space, said tool body being formed of a resilient stretchable material, and said sidewall having an interior surface and an exterior surface defining a thickness therebetween;
a plurality of gripping elements projecting from said interior surface of said sidewall towards a center of said cap recess;
a plurality of spaced apart expansion slots formed in said interior space in said sidewall, each of said plurality of expansion slots is formed as a recess extending from said interior surface and away from said center of said cap recess into said thickness and each having a depth that is less than said thickness of said sidewall, said plurality of expansion slots being bridged by remaining portions of said sidewall to define a sidewall perimeter that is stretchable from a first cross-sectional dimension at two opposed exterior locations to a second cross-sectional dimension at the two opposed exterior locations, wherein said second cross-sectional dimension is greater than said first cross-sectional dimension;
and
said tool is configured to be fitted upon a bottle or container cap by forcing said cap recess upon said bottle or container cap so that said plurality of gripping elements contact said bottle or container cap and said expansion slots allowing said sidewall to expand to said second cross-sectional dimension and be stretched upon the bottle or container cap thereby creating a squeezing force upon the bottle or container cap with said stretched sidewall.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.