What is the purpose of the slot in the soda cans tab?
Soda cans – Source: spm
To drink your soda can, you must automatically rotate the opening mark 180 degrees. By folding it, a hole appears immediately. Sure, a lot of people use it directly to drink their drinks. But, most of the time, we prefer to put a straw in it. Now imagine that this hole does not exist: inevitably, the straw will go in all directions and give you a hard time. This is what happens when you drink a drink from a cup. You have to hold the straw with your finger to control it. Well, specifically, that’s where the famous hole in the metal tab for cans comes in.
The great advantage of this hole is that it blocks straw perfectly. So it doesn’t risk being thrown or moving all over the place. Once you put the straw in the can, it is definitely stuck and cannot escape. Suffice it to say that this innovation is very beneficial for consumers. But, this was not always the case… because, at a certain point in time, the tongue of Providence did not exist!
When did the tongue start playing? »
soda can tab – source: spm
The box was born in the United States in 1935. So it’s celebrating its 87th anniversary and hasn’t aged a bit because it’s more fashionable than ever. However, it is hard to imagine how painful it must have been when opening a drink in those days. Because, of course, it was not as complete as it is today. At the time, people used a can opener, or even a perforator, to make two holes in the can lid: a large hole to allow liquid to flow out and a smaller one to circulate the liquid. .
To open soft drinks more easily, it was the American engineer Ermal Cleon Fraze who invented a more effective opening system. According to legend, during a family outing, he found himself without a can opener and ended up using the car’s shock absorbers to open his beer. Motivated by the solution to the problem, in 1963 he developed the so-called “zipper” solution, which consisted in the use of a metal tab. It was enough to simply take her out of the soda to drink it quietly. ” Attach a flat ring to the cans, which, when pulled, tear off a piece from the top of the drink. The hole was also large enough to allow enough air in when filling, while liquid flowed out“, we say.
The engineer’s idea was of course revolutionary because it greatly facilitated opening the can. The only problem: torn tabs began to pollute the environment, which provoked serious environmental problems, but also safety concerns. So it had to be addressed. Also, a few years later, in 1975, a new opening system was born thanks to Daniel F. Kudzic, an engineer at Reynolds Metals, who innovated by proposing a more advanced, greener and less dangerous tab. This time, it’s attached to the lid of the case, so there’s no need to tear it off completely. ” The opening system of the present invention requires a cover that can resist lateral bending, while being flexible and strong enough at the point of contact with the ring so that it can be lifted and pulled without risk.‘ explained the experts of that time.
Very cool idea! This is what we still use today.
