Improvements in Airtight or Hermetically Sealed Vessels for Storing Articles of Food and for other like purposes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 21st Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Airtight or Hermetically Sealed Vessels for
Storing Articles of Food and for other like purposes.
I GEORGE HENRY WILLIAMSON, trading as Williamson and Sons of Providence
Works in the City of Worcester, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
:―
The airtight cases ordinarily used for storing articles of food and other articles
are made of tin plate contact with which taints and injures many organic substances
and in the case of edibles sometimes give rise to the formation of compounds
dangerous to health. The said tin plate cases are unsightly and unfitted to be put
on the table.
My invention has for its object to remedy the defects referred to and consists in
making the said vessels mainly of earthenware or vitreous or semi-vitreous materials,
whereby the danger of injuring articles of food, condiments or other organic
compounds contained in them is obviated or greatly reduced.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ inventions described in the
Specifications of two Patents of which I am the proprietor granted respectively to
myself dated August 1st 1885 No. 9251, and to William Blizzard Williamson and
myself dated September 7th 1886, No. 11378.
In making an airtight vessel according to my present invention I make the body
preferably of earthenware and of a slightly conical figure, that is, of less diameter
at bottom than at top. At the interior of the top or open mouth of the vessel I
make a recess or rebate for the purpose hereinafter described and on the exterior
of the vessel a short distance below the top I make an annular contraction or neck
in which the edge of the top or lid is fixed preferably by plaster of Paris. The
outer or removable lid carrying the cutter fits with moderate tightness on the inner
or fixed lid.
The vessel may either be filled at top or bottom. When filled at top the material
is introduced at a central opening in the fixed cover which opening is afterwards
closed by the soldering thereon of a tagger disc or otherwise. When the vessel is
filled through the bottom, a central hole is made in the bottom for that purpose
which hole when the vessel has been filled is closed by a cork.
Or the vessel may
have a detachable bottom which is replaced and fixed by cement after the vessel
has been filled.
The recess or rebate herein before referred to in the top of the vessel is for the
purpose of permitting the tagger top to be cut out of a greater diameter than the
interior of the vessel. There is consequently no impediment offered to the removal
of the contents of the vessel.
The said airtight vessels made according to my invention besides possessing the
advantage herein before referred to have in addition the following advantages.
When the contents are articles of food solid or gelatinous the said contents may
after the vessel has been opened be emptied without losing their form onto a dish
or plate by simply inverting the vessel and the vessel need not be brought on to
the table. The said vessels may be made of an ornamental figure and coloured in
which case they have not the unsightliness of the ordinary tin vessels..
Dated this 17th day of January 1893.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Airtight or Hermetically Sealed Vessels for
Storing Articles of Food and for other like purposes.
I GEORGE HENRY WILLIAMSON, trading as Williamson and Sons, of Providence
Works, in the City of Worcester, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The air-tight cases ordinarily used for storing articles of food and other articles
are made of tin plate contact with which taints and injures many organic substances
and in the case of edibles sometimes gives rise to the formation of compounds
dangerous to health. The said tin plate cases are unsightly and unfitted to be put
on the table.
My invention has for its object to remedy the defects referred to and consists in
making the said vessels mainly of earthenware or vitreous or semi-vitreous materials
whereby the danger of injuring the articles of food condiments or other organic
compounds contained in them is obviated or greatly reduced.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ inventions described in the
Specifications of two Patents of which I am the proprietor, granted respectively to
myself dated August 1st 1885, No. 9251, and to William Blizard Williamson and
myself dated September 7th 1886 No. 11378.
In making an airtight vessel according to my present invention I make the body
preferably of earthenware and of a slightly conical figure, that is, of less diameter
at bottom than at top. At the interior of the top or open mouth of the vessel I
make a recess or rebate for the purpose hereinafter described and on the exterior of
the vessel a short distance below the top I make an annular contraction or neck in
which the edge of the top or lid is fixed preferably by plaster of Paris. The outer
or removable lid carrying the cutter fits with moderate tightness on the inner or
fixed lid.
The vessel may either be filled at top or bottom. When filled at top the material
is introduced at a central opening in the fixed cover which opening is afterwards
closed by the soldering thereon of a tagger disc or otherwise.
When the vessel is
filled through the bottom, a central hole is made in the bottom for that purpose
which hole when the vessel has been filled is closed by a cork. Or the vessel may
have a detachable bottom which is replaced and fixed by cement after the vessel
has been filled.
The recess or rebate hereinbefore referred to in the top of the vessel is for the
purpose of permitting the tagger top to be cut out of a greater diameter than the
interior of the vessel. There is consequently no impediment offered to the removal
of the contents of the vessel.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
.
Figure 1 represents in vertical section and Figure 2 in plan of upperside (without
the outer or removable lid) an airtight or hermetically scaled vessel to be filled at
top, constructed according to my invention and Figures 3 and 4 represent the same
views as Figures 1 and 2 before the tagger disc has been soldered to the fixed
tagger top and before the outer or removable lid has been applied to the fixed
tagger top; Figure 5 represents in section and plan of upper side, a portion of the
vessel after the cutter has been drawn inwards ready for piercing and cutting out
the tagger top and Figure 6 represents the same views as Figure 5 after the tagger
top has been cut away to obtain access to the vessel; Figure 7 represents in section
and Figure 8 in plan of upperside a portion of the vessel Figure 6 drawn to a
larger scale, and Figure 9 represents sections, taken at right angles to one another,
of the outer or removable lid, drawn to the same scale as Figures 7 and 8.
The other figures represent modifications as hereinafter described.

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings.
a is the earthenware or vitreous or semi-vitreous body of the airtight or
hermetically sealed vessel made of the slightly conical figure represented. At the
interior of the top or open mouth of the vessel a is a recess or rebate and on the
exterior of the said vessel and at a short distance below the top is an annular
contraction or neck c; d is the fixed tagger top or lid having a lip or turned in
edge d'; e is the outer or removable lid fitted loosely on the inner or fixed lid d,
the said outer lid carrying the sliding cutter f for cutting away the tagger top d.
The tagger top or inner lid d is fixed to the vessel a by plaster of Parish which is
made to fill the annular neck or contraction c and the part above the said neck, the
lip or turned in edge of the tagger top or lid being embedded in the said
plaster of Paris. On the hardening of the plaster of Paris, the tagger top or lid d
is securely fixed in its place with an airtight junction. The tagger top d has a
central hole which is covered, after the vessel has been filled, by soldering the
separate tagger disc d', shown detached in Figure 3, over the said hole d³ as
represented in Figure 1.
When the sliding cutter f, carried by the outer lid e, is in its non-acting or
forward position, it is situated between the rim of the removable lid and the top of
the vessel and hence on the rotation of the removable lid does not operate upon the
tagger top.
When the cutterfis in its withdrawn or acting position it is situated over the
recess or rebate in the interior of the open mouth of the vessel and during the
action of the cutter to remove the tagger top the said cutter enters the said recess
or rebate.
After the inner or fixed lid or top d has been secured to the open mouth of the
vessel a, the said vessel is ready to be filled through the central opening in the
said lid or top d. The vessel having been filled through the said opening d³,
the tagger disc d' is soldered over it so as to make the vessel air tight as represented
in Figures 1 and 2. The outer or removable lid e carrying the cutter f is now fitted
upon the fixed or inner lid d, and the filled air tight or hermetically sealed vessel is
ready to be sent into commerce.
In order to open the vessel and remove its contents the cutter fis drawn inwards
into the position represented in Figure 5, the removable lid or cover e being thereby
slightly raised on one side from off the inner or fixed top d and the cutter f brought
over the recess or rebate b.
By pressure on the removable top or lid e, the cutter pierces the tagger top d
and by rotating the removable top or lid e the cutter works in the recess or rebate b
and cuts out the tagger top as represented in Figure 6. It will thus be seen that by
the use of the recess or rebate b in the top of the interior of the vessel, the tagger top d
is permitted to be cut out of a greater diameter than the interior of the vessel
so that no impediment is offered to the removal of the contents of the vessel after
the said tagger top has been cut away and the removable top or lid lifted from the
vessel as will be understood by an examination of Figures 6, 7 and 8.
Figure 10 represents in section and plan of underside an air tight or hermetically
sealed vessel made according to my invention to be filled at bottom.
In this case
the vessel has at bottom a central hole i through which it is filled, the said hole
after the vessel has been filled being closed by a cork or other stopper. A detachable
metal bottom may however be used to close the hole in the bottom of the vessel, the
said detachable bottom being replaced and fixed by cement after the vessel has been
filled. When the vessel is filled from the bottom, the fixed or inner lid or tagger
top is without a central opening, that is a continuous or unperforated tagger top is
used as represented in Figure 10.
Or the earthenware vessel may be without a fixed bottom the vessel when filled
being closed by a separate earthenware bottom, a rebate or recess in the outer edge
of the lower end of the vessel receiving the edge of the earthenware bottom, the
bottom being secured to the vessel by plaster of Paris or other cement. This

page_text: arrangement is represented in section in Figure. 13 where. 7 represents the separate
earthenware bottom the edge of which is cemented to the rebate a² in the lower
outer edge of the vessel a.
"
In place of fixing the tagger top or lid in its place by 'filling an annular neck or
contraction with plaster of Paris and embedding the turned in edge of the said top
or lid in the said plaster as before described the vessel may be provided with a long
neck grooved or threaded through its whole length as represented in Figure 11 for
receiving and retaining the plaster of Paris the rim carrying the tagger top & being
pressed into the plaster of Paris when in a plastic state to secure the tagger top air
tightly to the vessel as represented in Figure 12. After the vessel Figures 11
and 12 has been filled at top and before the tagger top has been fixed to its mouth,
the open top of the said vessel may be covered by the flat earthenware disc. like
cover (shewn separately in Figure 13). This earthenware cover rests on the ledge
or bottom of the recess or rebate b but the edge of the said cover is bevilled on its
upper side so that it does not prevent the cutter f, when in its withdrawn position,
from entering the recess or rebate for cutting out the tagger top of a greater
diameter than the interior of the vessel as seen in Figure. 12.
The earthenware cover k may be used with the arrangements shown in Figures 1,
2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8 and 9.
Although I prefer to use plaster of Paris for fixing the metal rim to the mouth
of the vessel yet other cements may he employed for that purpose. The air tight
vessels made according to my invention hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings besides possessing the advantages hereinbefore referred to
have in addition the following advantages. When the contents are articles of food
solid or gelatinous, the said contents may after the vessel has been. opened be
emptied without losing their form onto: a dish or plate by simply inverting the
vessel and the vessel need not be brought onto the table.
The said vessels may be made of an ornamental figure and coloured, in which
case they have not the unsightliness of the ordinary tin vessels.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I
claim as my invention of "Improvements in airtight or hermetically sealed vessels
for storing articles of food and for other like purposes" ;-
First. Making the body of the vessel of earthenware or vitreous or semi-vitreous
materials and closing airtight the mouth of the vessel by the adaptation to or
combination therewith of a fixed tagger top or lid secured to the said mouth of the
vessel by plaster of Paris or other cement substantially in the ways described and
represented; and also the combination with the fixed tagger top or lid of an outer
or removable lid carrying a sliding cutter by the use of which the fixed tagger top
can be cut away for opening the vessel and removing its contents substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly. The formation in the interior of the top or open mouth of the
earthenware or vitreous or semi-vitreous body of the vessel of an analar recess.or
rebate of the kind described and represented by the use of which in conjunction with
the removable lid carrying the cutter the tagger top or lid can be cut out of a
greater diameter than the interior of the vessel for the purpose and substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Also the
modification described and represented in Figure 13 in which the vessel is without
a fixed bottom the vessel when filled being closed by a separate earthenware bottom
which is secured by plaster of Paris or other cement.
Dated the Eighth day of September 1893.
GEORGE HENRY WILLIAMSON.