Improvements in the Mode or Method of Packing Goods and in the Construction of Cans to be employed therein.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Mode or Method of Packing Goods and in the
Construction of Cans to be employed therein.
HENRY CLARKSON HUNTER, of 2217 San Antonio Avenue, Alameda, Alameda
County, California, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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, reference
being had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon that is to say :-
My invention hereinafter described relates to the packing of dry materials such
as coffee, tea, and other articles of grocers' goods. It includes a novel construction
of packing can, and novel mode of packing goods, of the class above indicated.
My objects in this invention, are first to simplify the business of putting up such
articles, and second to provide a can adapted to my new method, and to meet the
requirements of the trade in cheapness, strength, durability. appearance, and
practically air tight enclosure of the goods.
I first describe the construction of the can referring to the accompanying
drawings.
Figure 1, represents a body blank in plan.
Figure 2, shows in perspective the side seaming strip.
Figure 3, shows the can body and the strip in cross section, illustrating the mode
of putting the parts together.
Figure 4, is a like section showing the completed seam.
Figure 5, shows a cross section of the head before it is fixed upon the body.
Figure 6, shows a central longitudinal section of the complete can.
Figure 7, illustrates the packing of the can in cases for transportation, and
Figure 8, is a plan view of the top.
The blank of which the body is formed, called the body blank, is shown in
Figure 1 at A. It is made of paper board or like fibrous material, either of
homogeneous texture, or of several sheets of paper board compounded, preferably
the latter. It is rectangular, with straight edges, and of the exact size required
for the can intended.
It is formed with an exterior surface finished and labelled as required for the
particular goods for which it is designed. While it is made sufficiently rigid to
withstand the pressure and concussion to which the cans may be subjected it is also
sufficiently flexible to admit of being bent into tubular form shown in Figure 2.
The blank shown in Figure 1, and above described, represents one of a series,
varying in shape, size, strength, finish and label, the series being in variety
commensurate with the variety of the goods which it is intended to pack.
The blanks are made flat, and in the finished and labelled form shown in
Figure 1.
The first requirement in making bodies out of these blanks, is to unite the edges.
In order to avoid the use of paste, glue or cement, which require time for drying,
and therefore delay the work of forming the cans, and to secure practically uniform
thickness of the wall of the can body, which is specially required for the special
kind of head hereinafter described, I use a particular form of side seaming strip,
shown in Figure 2. This is made of a piece of sheet metal, struck up in the form
shown in said figure, that is to say, with a hollow bead-like head 3, a web b, where
the sides are brought together, and flanges 2, 2, substantially at right angles to the
plane of the web. The length of the strip substantially equals that of the can
body. In forming the body, the edges of the bended blank are brought to abut
against the web and to rest on the flanges, as shown in Figure 3.
The web being

page_text: of uniform thickness in the strips and the body blank of uniform dimensions, the
dimensions of the can will be uniform if only these edges are brought to abut
snugly against the web. While, held in this position, shown in Figure 3, the
head 3, of the strip B, is flattened, by means of a suitable tool, and is pressed into
the form shown in Figure 4. The hollow bead spreads evenly under the pressure,
into the form of a double flange, and with the flanges 2, 2, is pressed so as to be
embedded in the yielding paper board. It thus forms a strong connection between
the edges, contributes to the longitudinal stiffness of the body, does not, by any
increase of thickness, interfere with the head flanges, and is completed at one
stroke.
The next operation is the putting on of the ends. These are made of sheet
metal with double flanges which grasp the ends of the body. In practice I put on
the bottom first. This is shown at the bottom of Figure 6. It is like the top
shown in Figure 5, except that it does not have a cap and for convenience I refer
to Figure 5, in describing the connecting flanges of both top and bottom. These are
externally in the form of a raised bead around the margin of the end. The sheet
metal disc out of which top and bottom are formed, is struck up into an upturned
flange 4, which is turned over, and forms a depending flange 5, and between these
is the channel e, large enough to easily receive the edge of the body. Preferably
the flange 5 is the deeper.
When the bottom is in place the outer flange 5, is pressed inward and clamps the
edges of the body against the inner flange 4. It firmly grips the edge and forms a
tight joint which, as the side seaming strip leaves the wall practically uniform in
thickness, is complete at all points.
The top is applied in the same manner, and both are permanently fixed to the
body. The top, however, is provided with a cap orifice D, and a cap therefor, so
that part of the contents of a can may be removed and the remainder again inclosed.
The orifice is formed in the top, with an upturned flange, over which the cap E fits
snugly. The cap E, has an out-turned horizontal flange with eccentric wings 6.
These are fitted to pass snugly under ears 7, struck up from the sheet metal of the
end, out of holes 8, which they overhang.
The wings, when the cap is in place, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, are held snugly
by these ears, and at the same time cover the holes and render the top practically
air tight.
The can is completed when the heads are affixed thereto and requires no further
operation of labelling, or delay for drying. The top and bottom bind the body
circumferentially and reinforce the grip of the side seaming strip. The completed
can is light, strong and practically air-tight.
It is also specially adapted to the packing of goods according to my improved
method which I now describe.
Heretofore packers of goods such as groceries above referred to have been com-
pelled to use sheet metal cans. These must be made in special factories, and must
be kept on hand by the packers. A stock of such cans, of the various sizes and
shapes required for an ordinary assortment of goods, is bulky to store, and in addition
to this the labels, in corresponding variety must be kept on hand, perfectly assorted
and arranged, and in the method heretofore in use, the cans are filled and afterwards
the labels are pasted thereupon and then dried. My method is designed to obviate
the necessity of keeping a stock of cans and of the storage room therefor and
facilitates the packing.
I provide instead a set of labelled can body blanks above described, which are in
variety of size, shape and kind of label, suited to the business of the packer for
whom they are provided. These blanks are arranged in order as the labels have
heretofore been arranged, and take the place of such labels.
I also provide a series of the tops and bottoms, with the connecting flanges open
as shown in Figure 5, the series including all the required diameters. With these
I also provide the side seaming strips of proper length, and in the form shown in
Figure 2.

page_text: Supposing the house to be equipped with these parts, when an order for a par-
ticular kind of goods is to be filled, the proper kind of labelled can body blank is
selected. The strip is laid upon a horu or mandrel and the body blank applied
thereto, as shown in Figure 3. The strip is then flattened and the bottom applied
to the body, as hereinbefore described. Then the can is filled, which operation is
easily performed, on account of the full size of the opening. Afterward the top is
applied and this completes at once both the can and the packing, and the goods are
ready to be shipped without delay for labelling or drying.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A packing can consisting of a body of paper board or like fibrous material,
connected by a side seaming strip clamping the abutting edges and provided with
permanently fixed metallic top and bottom.
2. The head having flanges for connecting it to the body, a flanged cap opening,
lugs cut from the metal of the top and adapted to hold the flanges of the cap, and
a cap having flanges fitted to the lugs, and arranged to cover the holes from which
the lugs are cut.
3. The side seaming strip having the hollow bead like head, the web and the
flange.
4. The mode of putting up goods consisting in forming the labelled body blank
into tubular form and connecting their edges, then fixing the bottom to the body so
formed, next filling the can and finally fixing the top to the body.
Dated this 7ch day of March 1895.
Lattu GRIS LA OY OI Marcn 1895
H. C. HUNTER,
Per W. H. Beck,
Agent.
H. C. HUNTER,
Per W. H. Beck,
Agent.