Ermal Cleon "Ernie" Fraze (September 16, 1913 – October 26, 1989) was an American engineer who invented the pull-tab opener used in

beverage can A drink can (or beverage can) is a metal container with a polymer interior designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as carbonated soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, fruit juices, teas, herbal teas, energy drinks, etc. Drink cans exterior ...

Early life

Fraze was born on a farm near

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...

, but later moved to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, where he assembled novelties for

Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn balls and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You E ...

boxes.

Career

He started his career in Ohio as a machine tool operator in the 1940s. Using a loan from his wife, Martha, he established the Dayton Reliable Tool & Manufacturing Company, his own machine tool business in 1949. The company produced tools such as improved gun barrels for war planes, including the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

. Fraze patented many of his innovations later graduated from

Kettering University Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers Bachelor of Science, bachelor of science and master's degree, master’s degrees in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM (science, technology, engineer ...

. In 1959, while at a picnic with friends and family, Fraze discovered he had left his "

church key A church key or churchkey is a North American term for various kinds of bottle openers and can openers. Etymology The term in the beverage-opening sense is apparently not an old one; Merriam-Webster finds written attestation only since t ...

" can opener at home, forcing him to use a car bumper to open cans of beer. Fraze decided to create an improved beverage opening method that would eliminate the need for a separate device, leading to his creation of the pull-tab opener. His first design included a lever that pierced a hole in the top of the can, but this caused a safety hazard as it produced sharp edges that could cut the user's finger. Later that year, he established a mechanism known as the "

pull-tab A pull-tab is a gambling ticket for a pull-tab game. Other names for the game include Break-Opens, Nevada Tickets, Cherry Bells, Lucky 7s, Pickle Cards, Pickle Tickets, Instant Bingo, Bowl Games, or Popp-Opens. Physical pull-tab tickets are m ...

" can, with its users simply being required to pull a removable tab to open the drink. He received U.S. patent No. 3,349,949 for the invention in 1963, and subsequently sold it to

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

. By 1965, around 75% of U.S. breweries were using them, but in the mid-1970s, pressure from environmentalists due to litter led to the development of the non-removable tabs used today. By 1980, his company was supplying can-end machinery worldwide making over $500 million in annual revenue.

Death

Fraze died in 1989 in

Kettering Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...

, Ohio from a brain tumor, leaving an estate worth $41 million. Soon after his death, the family sold the Dayton Reliable Tool Company to business managers, but the business remained in Dayton. In 1992, the Fraze family fired the business managers over an unauthorised attempt to sell the company, and took over the running of the company. The Fraze Pavilion, a 4,300-seat amphitheater in Kettering, was named in his honor.

References

External links

DRT and Minster... Partners in Precision and Innovation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraze, Ermal C 1913 births 1989 deaths Kettering University alumni People from Dayton, Ohio People from Muncie, Indiana 20th-century American inventors