Key Ring
A key ring is capable of removing a crown cap from a bottle. The crown cap has a rim and a top. The key ring can adroit and retain keys and comprises a closed loop including a first portion having a pair of elongated arms that extend in the same general direction (Y) and are spaced apart in an orthogonal direction (X) by a distance of 10 to 40 mm. The bottle can be opened by locating one of the arms under the rim of a crown cap while the other of the arms is located on the top of the crown cap and the key ring is twisted in the direction of arrow A, The length of the loop in the direction (Y) is at least 20 mm so that the loop includes a second portion that extends laterally beyond the crown cap by a distance that allows the key ring to be engaged by the user to twist the key ring and lever the cap off the bottle. A key on the key ring and/or an extension of the key ring loop in the X direction can assist in levering the cap off the bottle.
The present application claims the benefit of and priority to European Patent Application No. 12172309,2, filed Jun. 15, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety.
FIELDThe present disclosure relates to a key ring that can admit and retain keys on it.
BACKGROUNDBottles are often sealed with crown corks, also known as crown caps, such as depicted in
Generally speaking, the disclosure relates to a key ring that is itself capable of removing as crown cap from a bottle. The key ring is formed as a closed loop and especially a single closed loop haring curved sections that allow keys to be moved readily around the loop.
The key ring is configured to admit, retain and remove keys; this configuration can be provided by making the key ring as a split ring having a helical path for admitting and removing keys from the ring, as is well known. Alternatively, the key ring may be formed with a break that is spanned by a bridge that can be opened to admit and remove keys and kept closed to retain keys on the key ring.
The key ring has a pair of spaced-apart elongate arms that extend in the same general direction as each other. In the present specification, the direction in which the arms extend will be referred to as the “Y direction” and the length of the key ring in the Y direction will be referred to as the “Y length”. Similarly, the spacing between the arms will be referred to as the “X direction” while the distance between the arms will be referred to as the “X width”. The arms may be straight and parallel to each other, but a certain amount of curvature in the arms and a small variation in the separation between the arms can be tolerated while still performing the dual function of a key ring and a bottle opener.
As mentioned, the arms should extend in the same general direction (Y direction) and be separated by a distance (X width) of 10 to 40 mm, e.g. 12 to 26 mm for example 14 to 22 mm, such as 15 to 19 mm, e.g. about 17 mm. With such an arrangement, it is possible to use one arm to engage under the fluted rim 12 of a crown cap while the other arm is applied against the top 11 of the crown cap. The key ring can then be twisted to lever the fluted rim off the bottle. The axis of the twisting motion will lie in the Y direction. The application of this twisting motion on the key ring is provided by extending the key ring in the Y direction so that a lateral portion of the key ring lies alongside the crown cap as it is being opened as described above. In order to provide this lateral portion, the length of the loop in the Y direction is preferably at least 20 mm and, although there is no theoretical upper limit, a key ring with a length of more than 100 mm is cumbersome to carry around and so the length of the loop in the Y direction would not generally exceed that. In addition, the longer the Y length is, the more the key ring will flex when the twisting motion is applied to remove the cap front the bottle. In practice, the length of the loop in the Y direction will generally be in the range of 20 to 40 mm e.g. 22 to 35 mm, for example 23 to 30 mm, such as about 25 mm. The limits in any series of ranges quoted in this specification can be exchanged and so the present disclosure contemplates ranges with any of the minima in the series in combination with any of the maxima, e.g. it contemplates a range for the length of the loop in the Y direction of 22 to 40 mm.
In order to increase the twisting force applied by the key ring to the cap, a key that is already on the key ring can be positioned so that it returns on itself (i.e. it spans the lateral portion and engages the ring at 2 points spaced apart in the X direction) and the key can then be twisted to lever the cap of the bottle. Instead of a key, another lever can be introduced into this lateral portion to help lever the crown cap off the bottle. A further way of providing leverage to increase the twisting force removing the cap is to extend the key ring in the lateral portion in the X direction, for example by at least 10 mm, as will be more fully discussed below.
In order to lever a crown cap off a bottle, it is not necessary for the arm engaging the top of the cap to extend across the centre of the cap and it is possible to lever the cap off by engaging an edge portion of the cap only As mentioned above, the separation between the arms (the X width) should be in the range of 10 to 40 mm, such as 10 to 26 mm. If the X width is towards the top end of this range, the arm engaging the top surface of the cap will have to be longer in order to span the cap at its point of engagement with the top surface and therefore, in order to provide the above-mentioned lateral portion, the length of the key ring in the Y direction will have to be larger than if the X width lies towards the bottom of the above range. Therefore, if the X width is towards the top of the above range, for example 20 to 26 ram or even more, then the length of the key ring in the Y direction should preferably lie outside the lower values of the above ranges. However, as mentioned above, it is desirable to limit the length of the key ring for reasons of convenience and to avoid undue flexing when the twisting motion is applied to remove the cap from the bottle. Therefore if the X width is towards the top of the above range, the Y length may, for example be 25 to 50 mm, for example 27 to 40 mm. Accordingly, a separation between the arms (X width) of 15 to 19 mm, e.g. about 17 mm, in combination with a length of the key ring in the Y direction of 22 to 28 mm, such as 25 mm, has been found to be most preferred. Also preferred is for the Y length to exceed the X width, e.g. the ratio of Y length to X width may be at least 1.1:1, for example 1.25:1 to 3:1, e.g. 1.4:1 to 2:1.
The length at the key ring Y is 20 to 32 mm or even longer and in one embodiment is 25 mm as against a distance X of 17 mm.
Instead of providing a flattened portion 24, a lug (not shown) may be wielded to the ring to provide a similar effect.
Referring now to
A similar arrangement is shown in
As already described, a lever can be used to increase the torque of the twisting action. This lever may be a key 30 already provided on the key ring, as shown in
As will be evident, it is necessary to make the key ring so that it is robust enough to withstand the twisting action mentioned above to remove a crown cap from a bottle.
The key ring of the present disclosure may be made of the same material as key rings are currently made of, e.g. stainless steel or chromium plated steel, and can be made using standard metal forging processes.
Claims
1. A key ring capable of removing a crown cap from a bottle, which crown cap has a rim and a top, wherein the key ring is configured to admit and retain keys, wherein the key ring comprises a closed loop including a first portion having a pair of elongated arms that extend in the same general direction (Y) and are spaced apart in an orthogonal direction (X) by a distance of 10 to 40 mm, whereby one of the arms can be located under the rim of a crown cap while the other of the arms is located on the top of the crown cap, and wherein the length of the loop in the direction (Y) in which the arms extend is at least 20 mm, whereby the loop includes a second portion that extends laterally beyond the crown cap by a distance that allows the key ring to be engaged by the user to lever the cap off the bottle.
2. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of elongated arms are spaced apart by a distance of 12 to 26 mm
3. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of elongated arms are spaced apart by a distance of 14 to 22 mm.
4. A key ring as claimed in claim I, wherein the pair of elongated arms are spaced apart by a distance of 15 to 19 mm.
5. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pair of elongated arms are spaced apart by a distance of about 17 mm.
6. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the loop in the direction (Y) in which the arms extend is 20 to 40 mm.
7. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the loop in the direction (Y) in which the arms extend is 22 to 32 mm
8. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the loop in the direction (Y) in which the arms extend is 22 to 28 mm.
9. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the loop in the direction (Y) in which the arms extend is about 25 mm.
10. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the length of the key ring in the Y direction exceeds the Width of the key ring in the X direction.
11. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ratio of the length in the Y direction o the width in the X direction is at least 1.1:1
12. A key ring as claimed, in claim 11, wherein said ratio is in the range of 1.25:1 to 3:1.
13. A key ring as claimed, in claim 11, wherein said ratio is in the range of 1.4:1 to 2:1.
14. A key ring as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second portion has a width in the said orthogonal direction (X) that is at least 10 millimetres greater than the separation between the arms.
15. A key ring as claimed in claim 14. wherein the second portion comprises a loop that extends in the said orthogonal direction (X) beyond only one of the arms.
16. A key ring as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second portion comprises a loop that extends in the said orthogonal direction (X) beyond both of the arms.
17. A key ring as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fiat land is provided on the inside of at least one of the arms to engage under the rim of a crown cap.
18. A key ring as claimed in claim 1 which is configured to allow a key on the key ring to act as a lever by spanning the key ring second portion so that it contacts the ring at 2 points that are spaced apart from each other in the X direction, whereby the key can be twisted to assist in levering the cap off the bottle.
19. A method of removing a cap from a bottle using a key ring as claimed in claim 1, the method comprising engaging one of the arms in the first section under the rim of the cap and engaging the other of the arm in the first section with the top of the cap and twisting the second portion lying laterally beyond the cap to lever the cap off the bottle.
20. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein a key on the key ring is used as a lever by spanning the key ring second portion so that it contacts the ring at 2 points that are spaced apart from each other in the X direction, whereby the key can be twisted to assist in levering the cap off the bottle.
Type: Application
Filed: May 29, 2013
Publication Date: Dec 19, 2013
Inventor: Dominic Guerrini (London)
Application Number: 13/904,899