U.S. patent number 3,592,352 [Application Number 04/860,382] was granted by the patent office on 1971-07-13 for device for opening or closing a lid of a jar.
Invention is credited to Nobuo Nishinomiya Shirae.
United States Patent |
3,592,352 |
Shirae |
July 13, 1971 |
DEVICE FOR OPENING OR CLOSING A LID OF A JAR
Abstract
A device for opening or closing a lid of a jar in which the tail
end of a handle fixed to the upper surface of the lid is hingedly
supported on an attaching member at the upper rear portion of the
jar main body and a locking member mounted at the front end of the
handle is adapted to be engaged with or disengaged from a holding
member at the upper front portion of the main body. After the
locking member is fixed to the outer cover of the lid, the handle
is mounted on the outer cover. The handle and the locking member
are constructed independently of each other in their mechanical
structures, whereby the load to be exerted on the handle due to its
structure is reduced to make the device more durable and easier to
assemble.
Inventors: |
Shirae; Nobuo Nishinomiya
(Hyogo, JA) |
Family
ID: |
13806527 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/860,382 |
Filed: |
September 23, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 25, 1968 [JA] |
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43/83584 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
220/318 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
45/20 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
45/00 (20060101); B65D 45/20 (20060101); B65d
045/18 () |
Field of
Search: |
;220/55H,556,55.7,57 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lowrance; Geroge E.
Claims
1. In a device for opening or closing a lid of a jar in which the
tail end of a handle fixed to the upper surface of said lid is
hingedly supported on an attaching member at the upper rear portion
of the jar main body and a locking member mounted at the front end
of said handle is adapted to be engaged with or disengaged from a
holding member at the upper front portion of said main body, a
structure characterized in that the front end of said handle is
provided with a large space with its upper and lower ends left open
to dispose a locking member therein so that locking operation can
be effected, said locking member comprising an attaching metal
member fixed to the front portion of an outer cover of said lid
with screws, a pin laterally supported on bearings at the upper
front portion of said attaching metal member, a lock lever
pivotally mounted on said pin approximately at the middle portion
along its length and having an actuating portion at the upper part
and an inwardly formed hook at the lower end, and a plate spring
having a base end fixed between said metal member and said outer
cover and a free end held in resilient contact with said lock lever
so as to always urge said hook into engagement with said holding
member, said actuating portion being exposed from the upper face of
the front end of said handle, said hook projecting from the under
face of the front end of said handle, said handle being so adapted
that it is fixed to said outer cover after said locking member has
been mounted on the front portion of said outer cover.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device for opening or closing a
lid of a jar by which the tail end of a handle fixed to the upper
surface of the lid is hingedly supported on an attaching member at
the upper rear portion of a casing of the jar main body and which
is provided with a locking member for fastening the lid to the
front end of the handle.
A jar is already known in which, as described above, the lid is
pivotally supported on an attaching member at the upper rear
portion of the casing by means of the handle and the lid is locked
in closed position. However, a conventional device of this type is
quite troublesome to assemble, because it comprises a number of
parts and is complex in its structure. Furthermore with a locking
device fixed to the handle of the lid, the handle gets cracked or
the locking becomes ineffective while it is in use since the handle
is generally made of a thermosetting synthetic resin such as
Bakelite. The present invention contemplates eliminating these
disadvantages of conventional devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to make improvements both in
the structure for attaching the locking means and in the structure
of the handle and to thereby provide a device for opening or
closing the lid which is smaller in the number of the constituent
parts and easier to assemble with high efficiency.
Another object of the present invention is to remarkably improve
the durability of the locking means and the handle of the lid and
to thereby provide a device for opening or closing the lid which is
free from breakage or troubles over a long period of use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device
whose locking means can be actuated by the hand gripping the
handle, the locking means and the handle thus being adapted to be
operated by one hand simultaneously.
In accordance with the present invention, a lock lever, instead of
being attached to the handle made of Bakelite, is pivotally mounted
on a metal member which is directly secured to the outer metal
cover of the lid with screws. Under the resilient action of a plate
spring whose one end is secured between the lid and the metal
member, the lock lever is always so urged that the hook at its end
may be brought into engagement with a holding member secured to an
upper front portion of the main body casing. Accordingly, the
attaching portion of the lock lever is entirely independent of the
handle. This structure serves to provide more secure attachment in
simplified arrangement, ensuring easier and more efficient
assemblage. In addition, being free of excess load which would
otherwise be exerted by the locking means, the handle made of
Bakelite is protected against breakage.
After the rock lever has been attached to the outer cover of the
lid, the handle is fixed to the upper surface of the lid with
screws and the tail end of the handle is pivotally mounted on the
attaching member screwed on the upper rear portion of the casing.
When the handle is mounted on the lid, therefore, the lock lever
and the metal member for supporting the lever are housed in the
front end portion of the handle. The front end is further formed
with a large opening for allowing the actuating portion of the lock
lever to be exposed from the upper surface of the front end so that
the actuating portion may be operated by the hand which is gripping
the handle. In mounting the handle on the lid, the handle may be
placed on the lid as if to cover the rock lever from above, with
the result that the procedure can be carried out with extreme ease.
Accordingly, this feature, along with the reduction in the number
of the constituent parts of the locking member, makes it possible
to assemble the device with high efficiency. Moreover, due to the
arrangement that the actuating portion is exposed from the upper
surface of the front end of the handle, the lock lever can be
readily operated.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be
understood from the detailed description below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a view showing the entire structure of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the principal part of FIG.
1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a lock lever as it is attached
to the outer cover of a lid; and
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a metal member for attaching the
lock lever.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the Drawings, designated at 1 is a casing in the form
of a metal cylinder for the jar main body. The casing 1 houses
therein a heat-insulating container 2 such as a double-walled
vacuum bottle which is fixed in position by means of a packing 3
and an unillustrated support member. Designated at 4 is an outer
lid cover made of a metal plate provided, in its interior, with a
heat-insulating material 5 which is covered with an inner cover 6
made of plastics. These insulating material 5 and the inner cover 6
are secured to the inner face of the outer cover 4 after a locking
member and a handle are attached to the outer cover 4. A metal
member 7 for mounting a lock lever is fixed to the front of the
outer cover 4. As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 in detail, the metal
member 7 has a pin 9 laterally disposed on bearings 8 in the upper
front end portion thereof and is formed with a screw hole 10 for
mounting the handle to be described later. The metal member 7 is
fixed to the front of the outer cover 4 with screws 11. In fixing
the metal member 7 to the outer cover 4, the base portion of a
plate spring 12 is inserted between the outer cover 4 and the metal
member 7 to secure the metal member 7 together with the plate
spring 12. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 in detail, the plate spring 12
rests on the shoulder of the outer cover 4 by means of the metal
member 7, with its free end bent in U-shaped form on the upper
surface of the outer cover 4 into contact with the under surface of
the stepped portion 14 of the lock lever 13 so as to act
resiliently on the lock lever 13. The lock lever 13, formed in
elongated shape, has a hook 15 inwardly formed at its lower end and
an actuating portion 16 at its upper end which extends from the
stepped portion 14. The lock lever 13 is pivotally supported on the
pin 9 at bearing portions 17 at the middle position of its length.
The hook 15 has such a length that when the lock lever 13 is fixed
to the lid it extends below the lid so as to engage a holding
member to be described later. On the other hand, the actuating
portion 16 extends upward above the lid to a suitable level so as
to ensure satisfactory locking operation. Furthermore, the lock
lever 13 is provided with a vertically elongated opening 18 to make
it possible to insert the screw for attaching the handle.
In this manner, the lock lever 13 and the metal member 7 therefor
are mounted on the outer cover 4. Since the metal member 7 is
directly fixed to the outer metal cover 4 with the screws 11,
secure attachment is effected to preclude troubles in the locking
member, such arrangement further serving to minimize the number of
constituent parts of the locking member and to thereby simplify the
structure.
After the locking member has been mounted, the handle 19 is fixed.
As the details are shown in FIG. 2, the handle 19, molded of a
thermosetting synthetic resin such as Bakelite, has a front end
which is provided with a large space 20 with its upper and lower
ends left open so that the locking member may be disposed therein
to allow the actuating portion 16 to be exposed from the upper
surface of the front portion and the hook 15 to extend downward,
the lock lever 13 thereby being adapted to be brought into or out
of locking engagement. The tail end of the handle 19 is provided
with a bearing portion 21 for receiving a pin which is laterally
supported an attaching member to be described later. Thus the
handle 19 is placed onto the upper surface of the outer cover 4
with the lock lever 13 positioned within the space 20, as if to
cover the locking member from above and the handle 19 is fixed to
the cover 4 with screws 22, 23, and 24. The screw 22 is driven into
the screw hole 10 in the metal member 7, while the screw 23 is
driven into a nut 25 disposed in the inner side surface of the
outer cover 4. In this case, the screw 22 is inserted through the
vertically elongated opening 18 formed in the lock lever 13.
After the locking member and the handle 19 are mounted on the outer
cover 4, the heat-insulating material 5 and inner cover 6 are
attached to the inner surface of the outer cover 4.
On the other hand, the attaching member 26 is fixed to the upper
rear portion of the casing 1. The pin 28 disposed at the upper
portion of the attaching member 26 is inserted into the bearing
portion 21 at the rear end of the handle 19 so as to allow the lid
to be opened or closed hingedly relative to the jar main body.
The holding member 29 is fixed to the upper front portion of the
casing 1, namely to the position corresponding to the under face of
the front end of handle 19. The hook 15 of the lock lever 13 is
adapted to be brought into engagement with the holding member 29
under the action of the plate spring 12. To free this engagement,
the actuating portion 16 of the lock lever 13 is pressed as
indicated in an imaginary line in FIG. 2, whereby the lid can be
opened. When the lid is closed and the pressure on the actuating
portion 16 of the lock lever 13 is relieved, locking is
automatically effected, since the hook 15 is always so urged as to
engage with the holding member 29 by the plate spring 12. The
holding member 29 is covered with a cover 31 which has a space to
allow the hook 15 of the lock lever 13 to perform the engagement
for the above-described operation. By means of a screw 32 the cover
31 is fixed to the casing 1. It is possible to form the cover 31
integrally with the holding member 29.
Thus, the actuating portion 16 of the lock lever 13 can be actuated
by the hand which grips the handle 19. Since the locking member and
the handle 19 are secured to the outer cover 4 independently of
each other, the load to be exerted on the locking member is
prevented from acting directly on the handle 19.
* * * * *