Safety Can.

The requirement for this design of safety can, became apparent to me when a yachtsman traveling with me was stung in the back of the tongue after drinking from an opened can of coke, while sunbathing aboard a yacht.

Prior to this I had no idea that this was so dangerous, that it could (and this case very nearly did) prove to be fatal. This guy’s life was only saved because a fellow crew member happened to be a doctor, who managed to keep his airways open as the poison from the sting caused his tongue to swell. This, without the medical intervention, would have caused him to choke.

Over the years I have seen in many places and countries (especially hot climates) drinkers placing things (beer mats, plates etc.) on top of the cans they were drinking from, to try and ensure that stinging insects would not gain access to the can interiors. Consequently I would not allow my children to drink from cans and insisted that the drinks were decanted into glasses.

Recently a new cause for concern has arisen, with advent of date rape drugs being dropped into the drinking cans of young males and females. In night clubs it is easier for someone to drop a pill or tablet into an opaque metal can than a glass, hence young drinkers, in clubs, always carry their cans of drink around with them and or sit with their hand over them. One moment with the can out of sight can constitute a serious risk.

I have spent many hours trying to come up with a simple safe guard for this problem. Knowing that if any ancillary parts were required, they would more than likely be frowned on by the can industry and ignored by the users. The requirement was therefore for something simple and attached as part of the can. Something that would involve the minimum cost to the manufacturers and would not be discarded as a nuisance by the user.

This attached design of Safety Can, I believe achieves these requirements. Once the can top is pierce-open in the conventional manner, the flip top lever is turned through 180 degrees and pressed down over the aperture in the can. The spring lugs then snap in and lock the flip top lever over the aperture. Since there is no way of reaching the spring lugs, the flip top lever is permanently locked over and against the aperture. The flip top lever can have the correct selection of holes to allow ease of drinking or a diaphragm to allow one way transmission of fluids. This renders the can secure against the entry of dangerous stinging insects and other predators who would want to drop tablets into it. A diaphragm would have all these attributes along with making the addition of fluids to the can, difficult and laborious.

If the selection for production is to use holes, then there are no additional parts. Modification to the existing tooling will produce a new design of lever that will operate as described above.

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Graphics of Safety Can Flip-top Action.

The can flip top is now pressed into position (down) and the latching claws lock it into position.