{
  "patent_number": "US 3349949",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "The Invention of the Modern Soda Can Pull-Tab",
  "original_title": "Ring-shaped tab for tear strips of containers",
  "summary": "A 1965 design for a ring-shaped metal tab that makes it easy to pull open a tear strip on a beverage can.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a one-piece metal tab designed to be attached to a tear strip on a container wall. The tab features a large ring-shaped aperture that acts as a finger handle, allowing a user to pull the strip with sufficient leverage. To prevent the thin metal from bending or snapping under pressure, the design includes stiffening beads—rolled edges—that run along the inner and outer circumference of the ring and extend down the neck of the tab.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover tabs that lack the specific stiffening beads described in the claim.",
    "Does not cover non-ring-shaped opening mechanisms like simple push-buttons.",
    "Does not cover the actual scoring or weakening of the metal container wall itself."
  ],
  "filed": "1965-07-06",
  "granted": "1967-10-31",
  "expires": "1985-07-06",
  "status": "expired",
  "holder": "Individual",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/individual",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Omar L Brown",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/omar-l-brown"
    },
    {
      "name": "Don B Peters",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/don-b-peters"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 28,
  "tags": [
    "mechanical",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": null,
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/3349949/pull-tab-pop-top-can",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/3349949/pull-tab-pop-top-can/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US3349949",
  "relatedPatents": [
    {
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      "countryCode": "US",
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    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "1032557",
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  ]
}