The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 2001
Filed:
Oct. 04, 1999
Charles K. Smith, Northumberland, PA (US);
Other;
Abstract
An extractor neatly and cleanly empties a tube of toothpaste, or the like. The extractor includes a pair of roller assemblies and a pair of end caps. Each roller assembly has a pair of balls which fit within sockets formed in the end caps. In one embodiment, the balls have slits to enable sections of the balls to move towards and away from each other. The balls are made of resilient material, such that the sections tend to assume a spaced-apart position in the absence of an applied compressive force. As the ball is urged into the socket, the sections of the ball become compressed, thus enabling the ball to pass through a hole in the end cap and into the socket. When the ball has reached its socket, the sections return to their initial position, so as to lock the ball within the socket. In an alternative embodiment, the ball is not compressible, but is instead inserted into a deformable socket having resiliently movable walls which lock around the ball. With either embodiment, the extractor can therefore be assembled and dis-assembled quickly and easily, and can be removed from a used tube and installed quickly on a new tube.