Evening journal., 1896-07-31
CANS BY THE THOUSAND
A Mechanical Marvel at Work
for the Gamers.
AUTOMATIC IN ALL ITs PARTS


which Makes 10000 to $1,000 Cans
Day.
10 order that the public might bscome |
conversant With the construction and |
operation Of one OF the most wonderful |
pieces of machinery of modern timer,
President William J Merrill aud Director |
Horace q Knowles, OF the Delaware !
Bureau Can Company, Invited a number
OF wilmington newspaper men to visit |
the plant OF the company, on the south |
side OF the Christians near Market street !
bridge, yesterday afternoon. The inspec-
tion began shortly before o'clock and
lasted more than an hour. the party
being under the particular care OF Mr.
movies who explained all the workings
In q manner which demonstrated his
extensive acquaintance with the general
outlines and detail Of the enterprise in
which he is engaged.
Daniel Hartley, one Of the inventors.
bad charge Of the mGchiue, being as
sisted by several men and boys to do
what little work Is not done auto
maticslly.
The machine In operation Is designed
| to make three pound cans such as are
commonly used in the packing Of peaches
and tomatoes, and the manner In which
1t turned them out WAS marvellous 10
point OF rapidity and excellence Of work
To begin With, the sheets of tin are
cut to their proper szs While this Is
being done, stampers are cutting out the
tops, bottoms and caps. As a demon
stration OF tue economic Al administration
Of the enterprise 1t may be we'll to state
right here that the scraps from these
two stages Of manufacture are either
stamped up into caps for felt roofing
nails or else melted up into window
weights Nothing Is wasted.
With sheets. tops, bottoms and clDs
In readiness the big machine is set In
operation putting them together. A man
lays a sheet of tin on a, traveller. IL
carries 1t to q cylinder which crlmps
and bends it, the crimps interlocking
\ In the twinkling of an eye 1t Is carried
beneath small steam hsmmer, which
comes down on the crimps and hAttens
them together. The body Of the can Is
then drawn along q cylinder beneath a
series of forced draught gas let's which
heat the tin thoroughly, aud thence to
the soldering iron beneath which it
passes. the side seam being tightly
soldered. An arm catches the can and
drags 40 to a carrier which takes It
along on It's side. When It reaches q
certain point the tops and bottoms are
fed In and automatically adjusted. Then
they are crimped and the can is taken
J up by another carrier, which turns It or
OF It's bottom. Ths next stage Of tbs
process Is one OF The most remarkabl,
encountered By the can in it's progress.
from sheet tin to the flush cd prod d1ct
In soldering tin 1t has always been the
principle to heat the solder and drop IL on
the seam OF the cold metal In ths
present instance this principle Is re-
versed. Jets Of burning gas, forced by
air generated by large steam fan, play
on the lower part of the can as 1t moves
onward, revolving rapidly sll the while.
AS soon as It passes the flame It comes
in contact with the point OF wire solder
held In place, fed and applied by means
OF an iron finger Passing from the
; solder, which penetrates to the bottom
i of the crlmp, the car, still revolving,
passes along In front of cold air Jet
which harden the solder and cool che
q tin. Yhen TIE carriers tilt the can 81
. that It's top Is down and
ready for heating, soldering an,
: cooling. Then It Is carried alonl
:, the other side Of the machine, pAssinl
u sctly the came way that the bottom seau
!, OF the can did Dropping from the ms
chine carrier lit falls on it's side 10 an.
3 other endless carrier, running to tn,
l. root Of the building There 1t Is dumpe
into an inclosed trough and rolls dow
to the hand OF the man who operates th
4 tester He picks up two cans, place
;. them In holders. which are just AbDv
: two water vats, and presses 4 lever witt
his foot This plunges the cans beneath
the water aud applies an air pressure o
from twenty-slx to thirty pounds {
- the square inch, or more ths
d twice the pressure OF canned goods
p II there is a leak Ia the can th
= air can be seen bubbling through It. Th
u point Is marked With white chalk an
IS the defective can set to one side to
a. passed through the soldering procel
+ once more 80 far as shat particular spc
: Is concerned; but the number of dsfe
= tive cans Is surprisingly small. tn
y perfect cans are placed IN a travelC
l.. which carries them TO another part Of q
building where they are packed.
The mschine which Is being operAt,
- by the Delaware Bureau Can Company
perfect Ia all essentials. but, being OF
ap OF the first made, Is more crude AT
y cumbersome than the ones which a
ss, now being turned out. The compar
has ordered two new machines, one I
: the manufacture OF three-pound and tl
- other for two-pound cans Ia additi,
II to this 1t will put 10 a tester capable
~ handling 600 cans an hour and stsml
nd TO cut out sufficient tops and bottoms
meet tho demands OF theitLree machine
The present machine will be kept ru
ming night and day, two shifts OF m
)R being employed. The daily output
u cans will be from 10000 to 90 600 frS
ily this one machine, 1t being capable
IS, turning out 3 20U an hour.
- The company has its own private z
- plant for both lighting and heating pI
- poses Il will manufacture 40, 600 Il
Of gas a day. the COST being bat from
to 20 cents per thousand feet. which
nearly 81 cheaper than that supplied
, @ the people OF Wilmington by the w
HS miDgton Coal Gas Company, and UP
which the can company formerly had
depend.
/. William j. Merrill aud Charles S Dol
II