IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANISTERS FOR HOLDING GUNPOWDER AND ARTICLES OF A SIMILAR NATURE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stettinius Clark, of Atlas Works, Upper
Park Place, Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANISTERS FOR HOLDING GUNPOWDER AND
ARTICLES OF A SIMILAR NATURE."-A communication from Messrs. Green,
Wilson, and Green, of Delaware, United States.
Sealed the 27th August 1858, and dated the 17th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stettinius Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM STETTINIUS CLARK, of Atlas Works, Upper Park Place, Dorset
Square, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANISTERS FOR HOLDING GUNPOWDER
AND ARTICLES OF A SIMILAR NATURE," (a communication from Messrs. Green,
Wilson, and Green, of Delamere, United States,) to be as follows:-
The improvement I have made consists of several devices all uniting in the
accomplishment of one object, viz., a perfect vessel for holding powder, and
with this view I employ corrugated metal cylinders so made as to resemble
the ordinary wooden kegs, those corrugations not only making the cylinder
stronger but more convenient for handling.
2nd. I employ an extra chime or, more correctly speaking, a brace mould-

page_text: ing in addition to the plain head of the keg; this also gives strength at the
perimeter of the head and ends of the cylinder projecting beyond the heads,
called the chime, and in an essential degree contributes to the facility of
handling.
3rd. By casting the female screw on a mandrell, and thus by the union of
the metal employed (usually Britannia metal) I dispense with soldering a
previously formed screw, and avoid the raising of a ring on the inside of the
head.
4th. By forming a slot in the head of the screw fitting the nut for passing
tape under the label of the manufacture of powder, it prevents counterfeit of
the contents by refilling kegs with lower grades of powder. All and each of
these merits are combined in providing an article well suited for commercial
purposes and at a less expense.
In the accompanying Drawings, a, a, a, a, represent the corrugated portions
of the canister; B, the bulge or swell; C, the head; D, the extra ring or
brace moulding termed the chime; E, the screw fitting the nut ( ); F, the
slot for the introduction of the tape G.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said. William Stettinius Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STETTINIUS CLARK, of Atlas Works, Upper Park Place, Dorset Square, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Stettinius Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Stettinius Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Stettinius Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANISTERS FOR HOLDING GUNPOWDER AND ARTICLES
OF A SIMILAR NATURE," a communication from Messieurs Green, Wilson, and

page_text: Green, of Delaware, U. S., upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Stettinius Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office, within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Stettinius Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
The nature of the Invention consists in the peculiar manner of corrugating
the cylindrical portion or body of a metallic keg (for holding gunpowder or
other articles) corresponding in appearance with the hoops of the wooden keg,
and connecting these corrugated portions with the centre or bulged portion
of the keg, combined with a brace moulding in addition to the plain head of
the keg for the purpose of giving strength at the perimiter of the head and
ends of the cylinder projecting beyond the heads, and called the chime, and
in an essential degree contributes to the facility of handling. I am well
aware there has been a variety of corrugations of metal to strengthen it, but
in no instance has the object been so effectually accomplished.
A further improvement is in constructing the screw or stopper by forming
slots in the raised rim thereof for the reception of a piece of tape; the
securing the ends of said tape under the manufacturer's label will effectually
prevent counterfeiting of the contents of the keg, and thus secure the con-
sumer of gunpowder (when employed for that purpose) from an imposition
frequently practised by refilling the empty kegs with an inferior article. The
improvement in casting the screw of Britannia metal on a mandril in a ring
temporarily placed on the head of the keg, before soldering the head in place,
not only is a stronger mode, but accomplishes the delivery of the powder,
there being no raised rim inside, while the stopper is kept below the chime of
the keg, and thus secured against accident.
To enable others skilled in the art to construct my improved canister, I
will proceed to describe its manufacture as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents.
In forming the body of the canister the ends of a sheet of metal are
soldered together, forming a plain cylinder; it is then arranged by means of
two rollers, one of them with convex projections and a swell thereon to
correspond with the letters a, a, a, of the accompanying Drawings, and B,

page_text: the swell or bulge; the other roller being a match one to serve as a seat or
die. The plain heads C are then cut out, and the chime D is stamped up by
means of a die; a hole is punched in the head of the keg for the screw, the
punch being so formed as to produce a slight recess for the metal of the
screw; place in the hole a mandril with a male screw cut thereon, and at
a slight distance surround it with a temporary placed ring, between which
and the mandril the molten metal is poured, forming a nut, which readily
unites with the metal head; the heads and extra chime or ring D are now
properly soldered to the body of the canister, a screw stopper fitted to the nut,
and the canister is finished.
a, a, a, a, of the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, represent
the corrugation; B, the bulge or swell; C, the head; D, the extra chime or
ring; e, the stopper; F, the slot in the raised rim thereof; and G, the tape,
the ends of which are to be secured under the manufacturer's label.
Having described the nature of the improvements, what I desire to secure
by Letters Patent in Great Britain is the production of a new article of
commerce by forming a canister for holding gunpowder or other articles, in
which the metal thereof is corrugated, so that the convex portions a, a, a, a,
in connection with the swell B is combined with the extra chime or ring D
and head C, substantially in the manner and for the purpose of giving extra
strength to the keg; I also claim the formation of the nut for the stopper by
casting it in the head and uniting it therewith, as herein described, and shewn
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stettinius Clark, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
year of
WILLIAM STETTINIUS CLARK.
(L.B.)