Improvements in and relating to Metal Cans or Cases for Provisions and the like, and to Means for Opening them.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 31st Mar., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Metal Cans or Cases for Provisions
and the like, and to Means for Opening them.
We, THE NAAMLOOZE VENNOOTSCHAP TOT EXPLOITATIE VAN VERWER'S
VERNIS EN
STOOMMETAALDRUKKERIJ, and CORNELIS VERWER, both of
Krommenie, Holland, Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to that kind or class of metal cans or cases for provisions
or other substances, in which the lids are soldered to the bodies thereof, the said
lids being cut open in order to remove the contents, and the said invention has for
its object to provide a novel method of closing such cans or cases by means of a lid
fitted around the outside of the body of the can, and also improved means for
opening the lid by pulling a wire fitted in a groove in the said lid, around the
circumference of the can.
The said wire is held firmly in the groove of the lid against the body of the can,
so that it cannot shift or leave the groove when pulled, and is adapted to cut the
metal easily, thus removing only the cover and not a part of the can itself as is the
case in similar arrangements as hitherto constructed, so that the contents, if liquid,
will not flow out of the can when the cover is removed.
The end of the wire is brought outside this grooved lid through a small hole,
which hole is then soldered perfectly tight.
This novel closing and opening device may be applied to cans or cases of any
shape, such as cylindrical, square, oblong or oval; as, however, the cylindrical form
of can is that most generally employed, in the following Specification and accom-
panying drawings, reference is had to the application of the closing and opening
device to a cylindrical can.
Figure 1 shows a vertical section of a cylindrical can, with the cover in position,
the latter being soldered to it.
Figure is a plan of the closed can, the lower half showing the can before
opening and the upper half showing the can with the wire partly pulled off.
Figure 3 is a front view of the closed can, and
Figure 4 is a similar view, the right hand half showing the wire partly pulled off,
and illustrating the method of cutting open the lid, the left hand half showing the
can with the cover removed.
The can-body A may be stamped out of one piece of metal or be made in the
usual way.
It has a sharp edge and an outwardly bent part or external bead a
near the top around its circumference.
The cover B has a vertical flange b, which fits exactly over the top of the can
and bears on the external bead a of the can. Its plane portion or head is bent in
as illustrated in Figure 1, thus forming with the vertical Hange b a sharp angle c,
into which the edge of the body of the can fits exactly.
On the middle of its height, the flange of the cover has an external bead C
forming an internal groove, which extends nearly all round its circumference. In
this groove a wire D is laid, before the cover is applied to the can.
The wire D is brought outside the groove through a hole d, where the groove
ends, and is there soldered, thus closing the hole & perfectly tight.
The outer portion D' of the wire is laid flat against the flange b, between d and e,
where the bead C does not extend (Figures 2 and 3).
In order to close the can, the cover is applied and the lower portion of its
flange 6 soldered at f on the top of the external bead a all round the body of the

page_text: can. The can is now closed perfectly tight; the portion D₁ of the wire D,
projecting outside the cover, is laid flat against it in the space between the
ends d, e, of the bead C.
When it is required to open the can, a key or loop F is fixed on the outer
portion D¹ of the wire.
By turning the key, the wire is wound thereon, and, in this operation, cuts the
metal of the cover on the outside of the bead C. Figures 2 and 4 show the cut
edges of the opened groove of the bead C of the cover.
The flange is thus cut nearly all round, leaving an annular part b' (Figure 4)
below the bead C, which is soldered at to the body of the can.
The cover now only remains attached to this part of the flange for the space
between d and e, where the bead C is not formed (Figures 2 and 3), and when bent
up, the contents of the can may be removed.
As the edge of the body of the can fits exactly into the sharp angle c of the lid,
the body of the can is prevented from being pushed inwardly by the wire D as the
latter is wound on the key F.
By this device, the cover is cut perfectly evenly all round the bead C, only
leaving attached to the can the undermost part of its flange where it is soldered
to the body of the can, whilst the can remains as high as it was before, so that its
contents cannot flow out during or after the opening.
It is not desired to make any claim generally for the use of a cutting wire nor
for the use of a key for the purpose of removing the covers of metal cans or
cases, but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The method of providing for the closing of metal cans or cases for provisions
and the like, which consists in forming the cover with a flange which fits exactly
over the body of the can and bears on an external annular bead a of the latter, to
which it is soldered, the plane portion or head of the cover being bent downward so
as to form a sharp angle e with the flange b, into which angle the edge of the can
fits exactly, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown in the accompanying
drawing.
2. In metal cans or cases for provisions and the like, the combination of the
cover B provided with an external annular bead C situated in the flange band a
cutting wire D laid in the groove of such bead and projecting outside the same
through a hole d where it is soldered and laid flat against the flange on that part
where the bead does not extend, the whole substantially as, and for the purposes,
described and shown.
Dated the 16th dow of Wohu 100
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.