Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-08-06
THE BUREAU CAN COMPANY
inspection of Its Plant by VIII,
mington Reporters.
HOW CANS ARE MANUFACTURED
Several Thousand of Them
Made Each Day.
The Cost of Manufacturing Them and the
Prices at which They are Sold Packers
the Largest Customers for the Product
The Directors of the Concern. 4.l

The Delaware Bureau Can Co. whose
factory is beyond Market street bridge
makes cans on an automatic machine
with capacity of many thousand cans
a day. The factory was visited by
number of newspaper men Thursday
afternoon and the process of manufac-
ture was explained to them. The one
machine now in use takes in sheets Of
tin each about 1879 inches by inches
and turns out complete cans ready for
the cap. The machine is in charge OF
Daniel Hartly, who has invented part
OF the mechanism.
The sheets of tin are fed into the
machine which draws them under
crimper Here lock crimp is put on
the ends of the sheet and a moment
later the sheet is curved into a hollow
cylinder and the clinched scam is ham
mered tight. Next it passes row of
the scam. From this point tho can
runs on carrier through a portion Of
the machine into which the tops and
bottoms for the cans are being fed.
Here the can is topped and bottomed
and rolls down an incline whence it is
pushed by device upon one of num-
ber of stands on an endless carriage.
The can revo!ves as it passes another
row of gas jets which heat one end
preparatory to receiving the solder
from wire. As the moving table
passes along the can is turned over by
boy and then is carried along on the
table to another row of gas Jets where
the other end is soldered. Thence the
can drops from the table upon an end
less carrier which takes it above the
floor of the second story of the build
ing, whence it runs by gravity into the
testing room. Here it is submitted to
a pressure of about 30 pounds to the
square inch to ascertain il it leaks. IL
the can is all right it is started upon
another gravity track which bears il 10
the place where the cans are stacked
up. If the can leaks it is marked and
later is put on the machine again for
another soldering. The soldering pro-
cess for the ends differ from a former
process in which the molten solder was
applied. In the new process the solder
which is in the form of wire is melted
by the heated can. The work of the
can machine has been somewhat ham
pered by the slowness of the pressing
machine which makes the tops and
bottoms. 1t is proposed to have half
dozen more of the latter machines SO
that there may be no delay of the can
machine, the capacity of which is put
at about 8, 200 cans an hour. 1t is also
proposed to add two more can making
machines to tho plant. The present
machine makes three pound cans such
as are used for tomatoes and peaches.
One of the new machines will also
make hree-pound cans and the other
will make two pound cans. a new
testing apparatus is also to be put in
with a capacity of testing A, 000 cans an
hour. By running the present machine
double time with two shifts of men
40. 00U to so, 200 cans day may be
turned out. A car load is about 80, 900
cans The tin not used In the cans or
in other ways can be melted down for
cash weights, SO that waste is very
small.
The company manufactures it's own
gas, the gas machine having a capacity
of 40, 600 feet a day. The cost is about
IA cents per 1000 feet.
The cost of making cans at this plant
is put at SID per 1000. Cnns are now
selling in the market at about $40. 90
per 200 and may 60 higher. The Pom
insula itself uses about "a, 600, 600 cane
year. The packers are the largo customers
for cans. Wilmington housekeepers. for
instance, use only about three car loads
or lS0. 600 cans year. I
The directors OF the company are,
William j. Morrill, and Charles S.
Dolly of Philadelphia, Charles Baird
and Horace g. Knowles of this city.
Mr.. Morrill, is president, MIR. Baird
vice president, AID Mr.. Dolly secretary
and treasurer.