Crank-Point Can Opener: A Bent Point to Turn On, a Knife Set in a Slot

A can opened with a lever knife leaves a jagged hole of any size. Samuel D. Lecompte of Leavenworth, Kansas, received US 50,011, dated 19 September 1865, for an instrument for opening fruit and other sealed cans: a bar with a handle, its end bent like a crank and pointed so that, thrust through the top, the bent part is held by the edges of the hole as a bearing; a knife slides along a slot in the bar on a set screw, and the instrument is turned round to cut. This rung works out where to set the knife for each can, then forges the bar, crank and knife and cuts a round opening.