417results about "Stopper removal" patented technology

A automated test tube cap removal apparatus includes, a cap remover, a test tube rack which holds a plurality of capped test tubes upright in a row, a clamping mechanism which is disposed in the cap removing position and clamps the plurality of test tubes, and a cap removal unit disposed in the cap removing position and configured to move upward to remove caps from some of a plurality of test tubes and move upward to remove caps from the remaining test tubes. The cap removal unit includes engaging members which are capable of advance and retreat with respect to the caps and clamp each cap, a lift mechanism which raises the engaging members while alternately moving the engaging members upward, thereby removing the cap from each test tube, a cap guide member which separates the cap and guides the cap for dropping.

An opener for several different types of pill bottle caps and closures. In the preferred embodiment, the opener is molded as one piece of strong, flexible plastic material that can be repeatedly bent without failing. The opener has the shape of an arch, with a thin section at the top of this arch that acts as a hinge and return spring for the two legs of the arch, which are thicker in section and act as handles to react the forces applied by the user's band. The inside of each handle has a curved surface with teeth on its inside face to grip the outside of a bottle cap. The inside surface of each handle also has a triangular shaped lug that applies a downward force on the top of a bottle cap, and also applies an upward wedge force to pry a bottle cap free. At the bottom of each handle is a second curved surface, as viewed from below, which also has teeth for gripping the outside of a bottle cap. The side of each handle has a thin section blade which can cut and pry loose the seals on pill bottles, as well as pull the cotton packing from pill bottles.

In an embodiment of the invention, a test tube cap removing apparatus includes a fixing unit that holds a test tube having an opening portion that is closed by a cap, a hold unit that is situated above the cap in an axial direction of the test tube, has a position that is variable relative to the test tube in the axial direction, and is capable of contacting a top portion of the cap, and a clamp unit that is provided on the hold unit, supports the cap at side surfaces of the cap in a case where the hold unit is put in contact with the top portion of the cap, and removes the cap from the test tube in a case where the hold unit moves upwards relative to the test tube in the axial direction.

The system for removing or replacing caps for vials in a fixed array includes a removable cartridge with a plurality of sets of gripper plates corresponding to the number of columns in the array. Each plate has a plurality of gripper arms corresponding to the number of rows in the array. The gripper arms have hooked ends which are oriented in opposite directions in each set of plates. Relative positioning of the gripper arms is varied by one or more rotating cams, which cause the gripper arms on one plate of each set to move relative to the gripper arms of the other plate(s) of the set, varying the combined width and / or relative angle of the gripper arms to manipulate a cap inserted into the end of each vial. The plurality of plate sets and gripper arms allow all vials in the array to be capped or de-capped simultaneously.

A compact, ergonomic, pocket-sized bottle opener having a thin, generally flat body. The bottom edge of the body includes a jaw opening and at least one area for receiving a lifting finger. A plug of resiliently yielding material is mounted in the finger-receiving area to cushion the lifting finger. A hook at the forward end of the jaw opening forms a fulcrum point for engaging the top of the bottle cap. The hook also serves to lift pull-tabs on cans. An opening at the rear of the body holds a key ring. The key ring can be slipped into the opening during assembly by flexing the leg so as to open a slot that separates the distal end of the leg from the body. The cushioning plug mounts over both the distal end of the leg and the lower edge of the body so as to hold the leg in place after the ring has been installed. The two sides of the body form broad, generally flat display surfaces for application of logos, advertising, or other information. The body is preferably formed of strong, molded plastic, with a metal insert being installed in the jaw opening for engaging the edges of bottle caps.

A clamp pin has two clamping jaws, each having a clamping arm and an actuating arm. Being connected pivotably to each other between the clamping and actuating arms, the clamping jaws are pivotable between a condition in which the clamping arms are opened and a condition in which the clamping arms are closed and toward which the clamping jaws are biased. The clamp pin has two actuating links, each having a upper end, which is connected pivotably to the actuating arm of one of the clamping jaws, and each having a lower end. The actuating links are connected pivotably to each other at the lower ends, via a grommet. The clamp pin is useful and may be advantageously combined with a clamp stick having a socket and having a hook movable into and out from the socket, wherein the grommet is adapted to receive the hook and wherein the actuating links are adapted to be drawn into the socket, along with the hook, when the hook is received by the grommet.

The system for removing or replacing caps for vials in a fixed array includes a removable cartridge with a plurality of sets of gripper plates corresponding to the number of columns in the array. Each plate has a plurality of gripper arms corresponding to the number of rows in the array. The gripper arms have hooked ends which are oriented in opposite directions in each set of plates. Relative positioning of the gripper arms is varied by one or more rotating cams, which cause the gripper arms on one plate of each set to move relative to the gripper arms of the other plate(s) of the set, varying the combined width and / or relative angle of the gripper arms to manipulate a cap inserted into the end of each vial. The plurality of plate sets and gripper arms allow all vials in the array to be capped or de-capped simultaneously.

A tube-plug extracting apparatus has a clamping mechanism, movable frame, chucking mechanism, rotation mechanism, and vertical motion mechanism. The clamping mechanism holds a test tube upright. The movable frame is located over a plug extracting position and slides in a vertical direction. The chucking mechanism chucks a plug attached to the test tube. The rotation mechanism rotates the chucking mechanism. The vertical motion mechanism moves the movable frame in a direction to extract the plug. The vertical motion mechanism has ball screws and a drive motor. The ball screws have a stroke long enough to move the movable frame in order to shift a lower-limit stop position for chucking the plug corresponding to the size of test tube.

A cap opening system which can handle various containers having caps and container bodies of different sizes is disclosed. In this system, when a cap of a container is to be opened, a container body of the container is gripped by a container body holding apparatus to raise the container body upward. A top surface of the cap is detected as a reference surface when the cap interrupts an optical beam. Based on the height of the reference surface, the cap is positioned with respect to the cap handling apparatus. Alternatively, a cap receiving member is provided underneath the cap handling apparatus to perform positioning of the cap with respect to the cap handling apparatus.

A dual aperture beverage container is disclosed, consisting of a beverage container of traditional cylindrical shape, with a traditional pouring aperture assembly on the top of the container, such as a scored section and a tab. Located along the container side wall is a second scored portion. A venting aperture opener is included which hooks onto the top container rim and opens the venting scored portion to reveal a venting aperture. The venting aperture container can be used to provide additional air to the pouring aperture, or can itself be used as a pouring aperture. Also disclosed is a venting scored portion and venting tab, located on the container bottom, serving the same purpose as the venting aperture located on the container side wall.

The invention is a wearable accessory item that functions as a bottle opener and a method of using same. Accessory item has a strap and mounting plate attached thereto. Mounting plate has first and second surfaces and a third surface therebetween. Pry plate and pry bar each project from one of mounting plate surfaces and are each positioned in a plane. Pry plate and pry bar each have a surface that engages surfaces of bottle cap inserted into opening therebetween. In another embodiment, the invention is an adapter for use with a conventional wearable accessory item.

The invention discloses a full-automatic vacuum test tube uncapping machine, which comprises a frame, a test tube cap collection box, an uncapping stand, an uncapping stand lifting drive device, a test tube box, a test tube box transferring device and a test tube box positioning device, wherein cylindrical holes for accommodating test tubes and extrusion holes are distributed on the test tube box; a rubber cover is arranged in each cylindrical hole; each cylindrical hole is correspondingly provided with an extrusion block; one end of the extrusion block contacts a rubber ring, while the other end stretches into each extrusion hole; annular holes which can be inserted by the test tubes are distributed on the uncapping stand; a horizontally arranged uncapping plate is arranged in the uncapping stand; uncapping holes are formed on the uncapping plate; the uncapping plate is driven by an uncapping plate drive device and can move left and right in a horizontal direction in the uncapping stand; a push rod is arranged at the bottom of the uncapping stand; and the push rod comprises a conical part and a cylindrical part. The full-automatic vacuum test tube uncapping machine has the advantages of small volume, simple structure, high efficiency, strong practicability, high safety, low manufacturing cost and the like.

A multifunctional container opener for opening a plurality of different containers, including a body that supports a template defining one or more pockets and a pill splitting tool and one or more compartments or pockets for capturing pieces of the split pill or tablet. The body may also support a variety of tools adapted for opening a container or accessing a container's contents. Such tools include tools for piercing, scoring, cutting or prying portions of the actual container or safety seals associated with the container. The body also supports a gripping device for frictionally engaging the cap or top of a container.

A cap device, particularly for a wine bottle, is disclosed as including a cap having a recessed top opening for receiving a screw for threadable insertion into the cork of the wine bottle. The recess at the top of the cap is of basically square shape with two recess extensions for receiving a butter knife, or the like, for turning the cork and screw as a unit and thereby unscrewing the cap, which is threadably attached to the outside of the neck of the wine bottle. The threading direction of the threads of the cap and neck of the wine bottle are opposite to the threading direction between the cork and the screw. Additionally, the cap is structured to extend a distance above the extent of the cork in the neck of the wine bottle, the cork is bullet-shaped and channels are defined transverse to the threads extending outwardly of the neck of the wine bottle, in order to allow the escape of compressed carbon dioxide in a sparkling wine or champagne bottle as the cap is unscrewed and the cork lifted. The top of the screw defines a spherical projection in order to assist guiding the cork in, with respect to the recess of the cap, when reinserting the cork after use.

A fluid extracting device is structured to be capable of extracting only a predetermined amount of a fluid such as wine or the like while a deterioration preventive gas is being supplied to a bottle B and the fluid extracting device (60), which are coupled to each other in an airtight state. Consequently, the partial extraction in a plurality of operations is made possible without causing quality deterioration of the fluid such as wine or the like even after the bottle is once opened. Further, such a structure is provided that the fluid extracting devices (60) having a large number of bottles of wine or the like attached thereto are mounted on a display table at a wine bar or the like.

A specialized bottle opener provides a cap opener for opening screw tops, and a corkscrew attached to the cap opener, for opening traditional wine bottles sealed with corks. A lever arm, common to both tools, extends radially outward to provide torque when using either the cap opener or the corkscrew. The cap opener comprises a customizable ring and a pedestal having an interior cavity. Disposed on the inner surface of the cavity is one or more gripping members, such as vertical ridges, which serve to grip the cap and retain it within the cavity after the cap is removed from the bottle. After pouring the wine, the waiter may release the cap by accessing it through openings in the pedestal. Regardless of how a wine bottle is sealed, the multi-function bottle opener serves to maintain the sophisticated wine-drinking experience that consumers have come to expect.

A fluid extracting device is structured to be capable of extracting only a predetermined amount of a fluid such as wine or the like while a deterioration preventive gas is being supplied to a bottle B and the fluid extracting device (60), which are coupled to each other in an airtight state. Consequently, the partial extraction in a plurality of operations is made possible without causing quality deterioration of the fluid such as wine or the like even after the bottle is once opened. Further, such a structure is provided that the fluid extracting devices (60) having a large number of bottles of wine or the like attached thereto are mounted on a display table at a wine bar or the like.

A tube-plug extracting apparatus has a clamping mechanism, movable frame, chucking mechanism, rotation mechanism, and vertical motion mechanism. The clamping mechanism holds a test tube upright. The movable frame is located over a plug extracting position and slides in a vertical direction. The chucking mechanism chucks a plug attached to the test tube. The rotation mechanism rotates the chucking mechanism. The vertical motion mechanism moves the movable frame in a direction to extract the plug. The vertical motion mechanism has ball screws and a drive motor. The ball screws have a stroke long enough to move the movable frame in order to shift a lower-limit stop position for chucking the plug corresponding to the size of test tube.

A combination cork extractor and vacuum sealer device is provided. The device is a compact, unitary tool that performs the dual function of a cork extractor and vacuum sealer for corked wine or champagne bottles. The device generally includes an elongated housing having an air passageway therein, a piston assembly that slidably engages with the inner walls of the housing, a needle assembly for injecting air into a cork bottle, a sealing assembly that operates in conjunction with a stopper to remove air from a bottle, and a plurality of one-way valves that regulate the direction of air flow inside the device. The needle assembly includes a hollow needle and an opening formed adjacent a second end of the needle. The sealing assembly includes a resilient member configured to sealingly engage with a stopper, and a plurality of openings formed in an exterior surface and fluid communication with one of the one-way valves.

A cap removal apparatus for a vacuum blood collection tube is configured to remove a cap from the collection tube of which an opening is closed by the cap so that the tube is kept under vacuum inside. The cap removal apparatus comprises, a tube clamping mechanism which clamps the collection tube upright in a cap removal position, a chuck mechanism which is disposed in the cap removal position and chucks the cap of the collection tube, seal pressure reduction unit which is disposed in the a chuck mechanism and configured to seal a region around the opening including the cap and reduce the pressure of the sealed region to substantially the same level as the internal pressure of the collection tube when the cap is chucked, and a lift mechanism which raises the chuck mechanism from a cap chucking position, thereby removing the cap from the collection tube.

A method and opener for creating openings in the sidewalls of bead seam containers, such as a pop-top can, to allow air to enter the container when the contents are poured is formed to include a mounting body (140). A seam engagement element (150) sized and shaped to fit the bead seam of a container and a piercing element (152) sufficient to pierce the sidewall of the container are positioned a predetermined distance from each other and in physical association with the mounting body (140) to pierce above the fill level of the container. The bead seam of a container may be inserted into the engagement element (150) creating a fulcrum, then rotated to engage the piercing element (152) to form an opening for air to enter the container when it is poured. These means may be mounted for stationary use (134) or have a handle attached (102) for portability. The portable opener with handle (102) extends a lever body from the mounting body (150) and is operated by placing the engagement element (150) on the bead seam of the container and rotating the handle (106) about the created fulcrum to engage the piercing element (152). These means have been integrated with examples of known bottle openers and tab lifters (20) creating an opener that is capable of lifting pop-top can tabs, opening bottles, and creating openings in the sidewalls of pop-top cans.

An electric air pressure corkscrew includes an upper shell for containing a motor driving a speed-reducing gear unit, which then turns a rotatable block contained in a lower shell fixed in the upper shell. The rotatable block then pushes an interactive block to reciprocate up and down repeatedly so that a piston in an air cylinder reciprocates up and down to pump air through a needle fixed under the air cylinder and inserted in a cork of a wine bottle and into the interior of the bottle so that the air pressure in the bottle is gradually increased to shove the cork up gradually to separate from the mouth of the bottle. The separated cork can be removed off the needle by turning a rotatable sleeve to move a slide tube and a slide base, easy to handle.

A corkscrew for removing a cork or a stopper from a bottle containing wine, or other beverage or food product is disclosed. The corkscrew has socket (19) which is provided with vertical axis that is dimensioned to receive the neck of a bottle, while corkscrew spiral (2) is arranged axially within the socket. A CPU is electrically communicated with battery pack, and is charged to determine whether the battery pack can perform sufficient work to open a cork and to provide a signal to the LED display (13) that indicates the number of corks which can be removed using the corkscrew. The corkscrew can be operated with one hand since physical force or dexterity are not required to operate the corkscrew, and prevents accidental injury or damaging of work surface since CPU is electrically communicated with battery pack.