An Improved Air Tight Closing Device for Tins, Cans, Bottles, and other Receptacles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 19th Oct., 1895
[Communicated from abroad by LUDWIG BUDER, of Mayence, in the German
Empire, Manufacturer.]
An Improved Air Tight Closing Device for Tins, Cans, Bottles, and
other Receptacles.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, 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, reference being had
to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say :-
The methods hitherto used for the air-tight closing of tins, or cans, jars, or
bottles, and other receptacles employed for preserving fruit, vegetables, or the like,
though satisfactory in some respects, are nevertheless attended with various incon-
Tins are
veniences necessitating a superfluous expenditure of labour and money.
generally soldered; or mechanical,-and sometimes extremely complicated,-
devices are adopted to secure tight closing. In both cases the tins or cans have to
be broken open when first their contents are to be used, and when once this has
been done, their closing devices become thenceforward worthless. Again, in order
to tightly close bottles, jars, or the like, it has been necessary to resort to caps,
pieces of bladder, sealing wax, expensive screw threaded lids, and the like.
Now all these inconveniences are obviated by the present improved means for
the air-tight closing of the receptacles in question. As illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings, of which Figs. 1 to 4 are cross sections showing several forms of
the improved closing device, such device varies in the details of its construction
according to the nature of the receptacles for which it is to be used.
In the case of tins, or cans, the form shown in Fig. 1 (a) should in preference be
adopted. It consists of a cover or lid a, which is secured on to the tin and has a
circular perforation in the centre. Against the inner flat surface o of the edge of
such annular lid a, is placed an indiarubber washer or ring c, and upon this ring a
metal plate d, Fig. 1. (b), is arranged as shown at Fig. 1 (c).
In order to effectually avoid the indiarubber ring being forced out of the lid by
the pressure resulting from boiling, the plate may receive the shape d' shown in
Fig. 2 (a), where it is provided with a bulging edge, such as e, exactly fitting the
stiffening shoulder or bead with which the lid a is provided, as shown in
Fig. 2 (b).
Under certain circumstances, a second bead or rib, such as is shown at f and d",
in Fig. 3 (a), may be formed thereon, in such a manner that it may exactly
correspond to, or tightly fit, a similar bead g, Fig. 3 (6), provided at the inner edge
of the lid a.
This last mentioned arrangement serves to close in the indiarubber
ring between the two beads (or grooves) e and f, as seen in Fig. 3 (c), so as to
avoid any possibility of its coming into contact with the liquid contained in
the tin.
In the case of bottles, jars, glasses, or the like, the arrangement illustrated in
Fig. 4 may be conveniently adopted. The upper edge of the vessel should here be
cut perfectly true, or carefully ground or polished, in order to ensure the air tight
adhesion thereto of the closing device employed. This feature, in itself, constitutes
an innovation or improvement peculiar to this invention. Upon this edge there is

page_text: placed a thin indiarubber washer or ring c, and upon this a lid or cover dl in the
shape of an ordinary dining plate is arranged.
Whilst the contents of the tin or jar are being boiled, a stout resilient clamp,-
such, for example, as is shown in Fig. 5, is used in order to press the cover
plate d, together with the indiarubber washer or ring, upon or against the inner
edge of the perforated lid a; or, in the case of a glass vessel (bottle or jar), upon
the edge of such vessel, in the manner already described above.
The advantage of this arrangement is that, owing to the yielding nature of the
clamp, any excess of gases evolved during ebullition, may escape, so that any
subsequent raising or displacement of either the top or bottom of the vessel is out
of the question. Furthermore, the construction of the improved device is very
inexpensive, while its manipulation, as compared to other methods of closing
hitherto known,-takes up very little time.
-
In order to open the vessel the cover plate d is simply punched through.
All the receptacles of the class referred to, if provided with the improved closing
device, may be used again and again. If carried out in a convenient shape, they
may, moreover, be used as tanks for drinking water to be kept in store, say, on
board ships, or on journeys through countries where water is scarce. Bottles fitted
with the improved device may serve for the conveyance of sterilised milk from
place to place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
The improved air tight closing device for preserve tins, bottles, or the like
consisting mainly of a metal lid (such as d, d¹, d¹¹, d'1,) which, in the case of tins,
is placed, together with an india rubber washer or ring, upon the inner surface of
the edge of the centrally perforated lid (a) of the tin, which surface may be either
smooth, or be provided with annular raised portions, and which, in the case of
bottles, or the like, is placed on the finely ground edge of the vessel, for the purpose
of ensuring an air-tight closure; while, during the boiling process, the said metal
lid is pressed upon or against the vessel by means of a metal clamp sufficiently
resilient to allow superfluous gases to escape from the vessel, substantially as
described and shown.
Dated this 12th day of August 1895.