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The Hinged-Hook Can Opener: A Lever That Hooks Under the Far Side
The cover of a Lyman fruit can is hard to lift, and devices to ease it were not purely mechanical.
S. O. Church of West Meriden, Connecticut, received US 61,161, dated 15 January 1867, for a can opener made of "a peculiarly formed lever": one end turned down and spread as a fulcrum on the cover's flange, the other a handle, and between them a hinged hook that takes the flange on the opposite side, set by a thumb on its arm, so that raising the handle draws the cover off.
This rung works out the pull on the flange, then builds the lever and hook from flat bar and lifts a sealed jar lid with it.
Intermediate
About 3 hours
Instructions
1
1
Pull on the flange
Pull on the flange
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2
2
The sealed can before it
The sealed can before it
The embedded blueprint seals food by heat. Church's lever opens a sealed cover without prising at it.
3
3
Read US 61,161
Read US 61,161
"My invention, which fully overcomes the difficulty, is purely mechanical, and consists in a peculiarly formed lever, constructed so that one end forms the fulcrum to bear upon the upper side of the flange of the cover, while the other end forms a handle, and between which and the fulcrum is hinged a hook which takes hold beneath the flange of the cover upon the opposite side to the fulcrum, so that by raising the handle the cover is easily removed from the can."
4
4
Make the lever
Make the lever
Cut 200 mm of 25 × 3 mm flat bar. Bend the last 25 mm down at right angles and screw a 40 mm cross-piece of the bar under it: the spread fulcrum.
Materials for this step:
Mild Steel Flat Bar1 piece
Machine Screws1 piece
Hex Nut1 pieceTools needed:
Hacksaw
Bench Vise
Hammer
Cordless Drill
Drill Bit Set
Adjustable Spanner
Leather Work Gloves5
5
Make the hook
Make the hook
Cut 60 mm of the bar, narrow it to 20 mm, and bend its foot inward 10 mm as the flange. Bend a short arm up from its top for the thumb.
Materials for this step:
Mild Steel Flat Bar1 pieceTools needed:
Hacksaw
Files (Hand File)Bench ViseHammer6
6
Hinge the hook
Hinge the hook
Drill the hook and the lever 5 mm, 60 mm from the fulcrum, and join them with an M5 screw, two washers and a nut left just slack.
Materials for this step:
Machine Screws1 piece
Flat Washer1 pieceHex Nut1 pieceTools needed:
Center PunchCordless DrillDrill Bit Set
Screwdriver SetAdjustable Spanner
Clear Safety Glasses7
7
The patent drawing
The patent drawing
US 61,161 drawing sheet, public domain (expired patent).
8
8
Seal a jar and lift its lid
Seal a jar and lift its lid
Fill a Mason jar with water from the kettle at the boil, put on a new flat lid, screw the band on and let it cool for two hours so the lid pulls down. Then remove the band. Rest the fulcrum on one side of the lid, thumb the hook under the opposite edge, and lift the handle with the force meter; note the force.
Materials for this step:
Canning Jars (Mason)1 piece
Water1 pieceTools needed:
Stovetop Kettle
Force Meter (Spring Scale)
Heat-Resistant Gloves9
9
A hook that slips, binds or bends
A hook that slips, binds or bends
Hinged-hook can opener troubleshooting.
Flow
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10
10
History and honest limits
History and honest limits
**S. O. Church** of West Meriden, Connecticut, assignor to himself and S. S. Wilcox, received US 61,161, dated 15 January 1867. It was designed for the "Lyman Patent Fruit Can" but applies to other cans of similar construction. The hook is spread and curved, with a flange projecting inward; it uses the flange that is formed on the cover's lower edge when the cover is "struck up." His claim covers the lever with its fulcrum, the hook and the handle.
**Honest limits.** A Mason jar's flat lid stands in for Lyman's cover, and screws for his pivot. Your forces are the result.
Materials
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Tools Required
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