Application of Bozek, Patent Appeal No. 8173.
| Decision Date | 06 November 1969 |
| Docket Number | Patent Appeal No. 8173. |
| Parties | Application of John S. BOZEK. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA) |
Mason, Porter, Diller & Brown, Washington, D. C., attorneys of record, for appellant. Charles E. Brown, Vincent L. Ramik, Washington, D. C., of counsel.
Joseph Schimmel, Washington, D. C., for the Commissioner of Patents. Fred W. Sherling, Washington, D. C., of counsel.
Before RICH, Acting Chief Judge, GANEY, Judge, sitting by designation, and ALMOND, BALDWIN and LANE, Judges.
This is an appeal from the Patent Office Board of Appeals decision, adhered to on reconsideration, which affirmed the rejection of claims 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9-14 in appellant's application,1 as unpatentable over Speidel2 in view of Henchert3 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The board reversed the rejection of three claims.
As stated in appellant's specification, the invention relates to "a can end of the easy opening type adapted for the dispensing of beverages including beer, wherein an end panel of the can end is provided with a score line which defines a tearout portion through which the beverage is poured". The specification does not state explicitly how the score line is provided, but in his briefs to the board and this court, appellant has indicated that the score line is formed by compressing the material of the can end in a die-stamping operation, as opposed to a cutting or metal-removing operation. This compression causes a flowing of the metal in directions away from the score line, thus causing a gathering of metal within the tear-out portion defined by the score line and a generally circumferential bulging of the metal outwardly from the score line. Appellant alleges that this results in the creation of "two major disadvantages." Quoting from the application:
In the first place, the excess metal effects a crowding of the remaining metal of the end panel and causes the end panel to be readily flipped from one side to the other of the normal median plane of the end panel with the result that a premature rupture of the end panel along the score line may result. The second disadvantage is that the excess metal which causes the bulging of the end panel also tends to flip up the free end of the pull tab which is attached to the tear-out portion whereas the pull tab should remain as flat as possible against the end panel so as to not interfere with the stacking of the can ends or the seaming of the can ends to can bodies.
Appellant proposes to solve the problems he describes by providing a circumferentially extending rib in the end panel, which rib is offset from the plane of the end panel in either an upward or downward direction. This rib, or groove as it may be, serves, according to appellant, to absorb the excess metal resulting from the forming of the score line,4 while at the same time functioning as a circumferential reinforcement to stiffen the entire end panel. Appellant states that the rib may extend continuously around the circumference of the can end or it may be in a C-shape with the ends terminating closely adjacent to the opposite sides of the tear-out portion.
It has been agreed by the parties that claims 2 and 9 are representative of the claimed invention and any decision regarding these claims will be determinative as to the others. Claim 2 reads:
2. An easy opening end particularly adapted for use on beverage cans, said end including an end panel, a single continuous score line formed in said end panel and defining a removable tear-out portion which extends generally radially from the central portion of said end panel to the periphery of said end panel, and circumferential rib means in said end panel, said rib means being generally C-shaped in outline and having opposite ends terminating adjacent said tear-out portion and absorbing excess material which resulted from the forming of said score line whereby undesired bulging of said end panel is prevented.
Claim 9 contains slightly different language but the only significant difference between that claim and claim 2 is the recitation that the "rib means" or "offset portion" (as it is called in claim 9) extends across the tear-out section.
Speidel discloses numerous forms of easy-opening can ends each having a tear-out portion which, according to the patent disclosure, "may be of any desired shape and which is defined by an area or zone of compressed metal, produced either by coining, stamping, or rolling". The tear-out portion has a pull member spot welded, soldered, riveted, or otherwise secured to one end "in such a manner that when pulled outwardly, the hardened metal is fractured so that the tear strip or section may be torn from one end to the other along the zone of compressed metal, the entire operation being performed with ease and in a fraction of a second." The patent also discloses, as a "further feature of the invention", the formation of "one or more reinforcing ribs either along the zones of compressed metal * * *, or at such locations as will hold the cover or wall of the container relatively stiff while the strip is being torn * * *". The embodiments of the Speidel invention primarily relied upon by the Patent Office are reproduced below:
The technique of manufacturing the can ends shown above is described by Speidel with the aid of the following illustrations Figure 5 shows a cross section of a can end being formed between the surfaces of a stamping die. Figures 6, 8 and 8a illustrate alternative designs for the section of the die which produces the score lines defining the tear-out portion (the area within the rectangle outlined on the left side of figure 5).
In the manufacturing process, according to the patent disclosure, a blank, or stock piece of sheet metal is inserted between the dies 11 and 12 and the can end is stamped out in a single operation. "During the operation the annular zones of metal lying between the surface 18 of die 11 and the shoulders 26 and 27 of the die 12, are subjected to a coining treatment which effects a compression of the metal, as shown in Fig. 6, and as a result of this treatment the parallel bands or zones of metal 30 and 31 lying above the shoulders 26 and 27, are physically altered and become hard and dense, having a bursting and tensile strength not substantially less, if any, than that of the unaltered metal, but a tearing strength which is considerably less than that of the unaltered metal." In the same operation, the "reinforcing corrugations 6" and "a peripheral flange 7" are formed.
The Henchert patent is drawn to a three-piece closure for containers which includes a can top having a central opening, a cover designed to frictionally fit within the central opening of the can top and a metal sealing ring to render the can tamper-proof. The sealing ring extends around the outer edge of the can top, extending inward toward the center only enough to overlap and secure the friction cover. The sealing ring is made readily rupturable by forming two parallel score lines across the ring and providing a pull tab at that point. The score lines extend across an upstanding, circumferential rib in the sealing ring which is placed there according to the patent disclosure "for stacking purposes".
The examiner rejected the appealed claims as unpatentable over Speidel in view of Henchert under 35 U.S.C. § 103. His position was well summarized as follows:
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