IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL DRUMS AND CANS FOR HOLDING OILS AND OTHER FLUID MATTERS, AND IN FURNACES USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Benjamin Hodson, of Cotton Street, Bow
Common, in the County of Middlesex, Metallic Cask Maker, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL DRUMS AND
CANS FOR HOLDING OILS AND OTHER FLUID MATTERS, AND IN FURNACES USED
IN SUCH MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 13th May 1864, and dated the 19th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Benjamin Hodson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1863.
I, WILLIAM BENJAMIN HODSON, of Cotton Street, Bow Common, in the
County of Middlesex, Metallic Cask Maker, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL DRUMS
AND CANS FOR HOLDING OILS AND OTHER FLUID MATTERS, AND IN FURNACES USED IN
SUCH MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
In the manufacture of cans or drums for holding oils it is usual to make
them of sheet iron, tinned on one side, for the sake of making the joints in
uniting the parts together. The action of acids to which the metal is subjected,
and the impure metals used in tinning, I have found are prejudicial to the oils
and other fluids afterwards placed in such vessels, and my Invention consists
in so preparing and uniting the parts together that oils contained shall not be
prejudicially affected from the causes above described.

page_text: I make these vessels of sheet iron, as heretofore, but do not tin their inner
surface, which is to be exposed to the contents of the vessel. After bending
the metal in the form of a cylinder, I bring the two edges together, and make
a grooved and brazed joint, or it may be simply brazed instead of grooving
and soldering as usual. The cylinder so made I then pickle, and tin it at the
extreme ends, say, to the extent of about a half inch or less, dipping it in the
ordinary manner of tinning metals. The ends of the drums are discs, having
cylindrical flanges or edges raised' up on them, the exterior of which flanges I
pickle and tin by dipping. In the upper end of the vessel, previously to
tinning the flange, I fix the handle and the mouth or neck, which consists of a
short tubular piece. The handle is simply placed in contact with the disc or
end and brazed on, while the mouth-piece has radial tabs or parts which pass
alternately under and over the edge of the hole in the disc or end; this is
brazed on simultaneously with the handle. The neck has a double or wire
edge turned on it, and is tinned a short distance inside, say, a quarter or half
an inch, in order to solder in the bung or stopper, which goes inside, and
covers up the tinned part. The cylindrical and tinned flanges of the ends are
introduced within the body of the vessel at each end to a rather greater depth
than the distance tinned, as before expressed, the tinned surface being united
by soldering. The tinned and soldered surfaces thus cover each other, and
will not be exposed to the contents of the vessel. I form large or small drums
or casks in this way, as also cans made with conical tops, brazing some and
soldering other of the parts, as may be best adapted for them, the object being
to present no tinned or soldered surface on the interior of the vessel.
My improvements in furnaces used for these purposes consist in the
application of a cast-iron or other top to a brazing fire or furnace, to protect
all parts from the heat except those required to be united by the brazing.
In brazing the joint up the cylinder I hold it over a long slot in the furnace
top, which allows only of a sufficient length and breadth of the metal on each
side of the joint to be exposed to the heat at one time; the workman is also
better enabled to see how the work progresses when the heat is so restricted.
For brazing the handle and neck I use a round hole in the furnace top nearly
as large as the drum or can end, the whole of which is heated, and the
brazing of the handle and neck performed at same time. Below the furnace
top I contract it in the brickwork to suit the several brazing openings
used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Benjamin Hodson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BENJAMIN HODSON, of Cotton Street, Bow Common, in the County of
Middlesex, Metallic Cask Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Benjamin Hodson, Her special licence that I, the said
William Benjamin Hodson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Benjamin Hodson, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF
METAL DRUMS AND CANS FOR HOLDING OILS AND OTHER FLUID MATTERS, AND IN
FURNACES USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," .upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Benjamin Hodson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Benjamin Hodson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
:-
In the manufacture of cans or drums for holding oils it is usual to make
them of sheet iron tinned, for the sake of making the joints in uniting the
parts together. The action of acids to which the metal is subjected, and the
impure metals used in tinning, I have found are prejudicial to the oils and
other fluids afterwards placed in such vessels, and my Invention consists in so

page_text: preparing and uniting the parts together that the oils contained shall not be
prejudicially affected from the causes above described.
I make these vessels of sheet iron, as heretofore, but do not tin their inner
surface, which is to be exposed to the contents of the vessel. After bending
the metal in a cylindrical or other suitable form, I bring the two edges
together, and make a grooved and brazed joint, or it may be simply brazed
instead of grooving and soldering, as usual. The cylinder so made I then
pickle and tin at the extreme ends, say, to the extent of about half an inch or
less, dipping it in the ordinary manner of tinning metals. The ends of the
drum or discs, having cylindrical flanges or edges raised upon them; the
exterior of the flanges I pickle and tin by dipping. In the upper end of the
vessel, previously to tinning the flanges, I fix the handle and the mouth or
neck, which consists of a short tubular piece. The handle is simply placed
in contact with the disc or end and brazed on, while the mouth-piece has
radial tabs or parts which pass alternately under and over the edge of the hole
in the disc or end; this is brazed on simultaneously with the handle. The
neck has a double or wired edge turned on it, and is tinned a short distance
inside, say, a quarter or half an inch, in order to solder in the bung or stopper,
which goes inside, and covers up the tinned part. The cylindrical and tinned
flanges of the ends are introduced within the body of the vessel at each end to
a rather greater depth than the distance tinned, as before explained; the
tinned surfaces are united by soldering. The tinned and soldered surfaces thus
cover each other, and will not be exposed to the contents of the vessel. I
form large or small drums or casks in this way, as also cans made with
conical tops, brazing some and soldering other of the parts, as may be best
adapted for them, the object being to present the least possible amount of
tinned or soldered surface on the interior of the vessel.
My improvements in furnaces used for these purposes consists in the
application of a cast-iron or other top to a brazing fire or furnace, to protect
all parts from the heat except those required to be united by the brazing.
In brazing the joint up the cylinder I hold it over a long slot in the furnace
top, which allows only of a sufficient length and breadth of the metal on each
side of the joint to be exposed to the heat at one time; the workman is also
better enabled to see how the work progresses when the heat is so restricted.
For brazing the handle and neck I use a round hole in the furnace top nearly
as large as the drum or can end, the whole of which is heated, and the brazing
of the handle and neck performed at same time. Below the furnace top I
construct the brickwork of the furnace to suit the several brazing openings
used.

page_text: represents a perspective view of an on arum or can; rig. x, a like
view of one of the parts detached in course of preparation; Fig. 3 represents
a plan of the top, while Fig. 4 represents a vertical section of the same, and
Fig. 5 a like section of the bottom; while Fig. 6 represents a side elevation
of the drum complete.
As before described, these drums are made of sheet iron, and in order to
unite the joints or parts together, such parts of the surface as can be screened
from exposure to the contents of the can are tinned, while those joints which
are to be covered or screened from the contents I braze. The body a, a,
I bend of a cylindrical form, and unite with a grooved joint b, b, and braze it
to render the joint oil-tight; or it may be simply jointed and brazed in the
ordinary manner of making brazed joints in sheet iron. Heretofore it has
been usual to tin the whole surface of the iron and solder this joint, or to tin
a considerable portion of the edges of the metal before uniting them, say, to
the extent embraced between the dotted lines 1, 1, 2, 2, the surface so
tinned being afterwards exposed to the contents of the can.
The ends c, d,
are cut out, and have the rims struck up by suitable dies, as usual. I then
tin the rim so raised to the extent embraced between the dotted lines 3, 8,
and 4, 4; this is effected by first pickling and dipping them to that extent
only in the acid, whereby the surface is rendered fit for tinning, and afterwards
tinning them to that extent, that is to say, the parts between the dotted lines
8, 3, 4, 4. When the ends c, d, are inserted in the body, the one tinned part
abuts on and covers up the other, and the immersion of the parts in the
melted metal causes them to unite firmly and closely together, and so exposing
little or none of the tinned surface, or of the surface which has been acted on
by the acid. The neck piece and handle I prefer to unite to the top by
brazing. The handle e may be both rivetted and brazed, or simply brazed.
On the neck f I cut tabs g, g, or projections on the flange thrown out from it;
these are passed alternately under and over the edge of the hole in the top,
and brazed in position. As before mentioned, I partially tin the interior of
the neck, say, as low down as the line i, i, Fig. 4, to permit of soldering in
the stopper, which will, when inserted, cover up and exclude the contents
from the tinned parts. I effect the brazing of the joint 6 and the handle e and
neck f by means of a furnace, herein-after described and illustrated in the
Drawings. Instead of brazing the neck into the top, it may be secured by
soldering, for which purpose I prepare the neck and top c as seen in vertical
section at Fig. 7, forming a sunk groove around the orifice in c, into which

page_text: the neck drops, as seen. The extreme end of the neck being tinned, as also
the cup-like recess all around the orifice, and being fitted on the exterior with
melted metal, the two parts will be firmly secured together.
These cans may be made of any other shape than cylindrical; square, for
instance, as shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11, Fig. 8 being a perspective view,
Fig. 9 a plan or end view, Fig. 10 a like view of one end, and Fig. 11 a
vertical section of the same. In Fig. 10 the dotted lines show the metal of
the ends in the flat before the edges or flanges are turned up. The way of
putting the parts together is the same as before, and will not require further
description. Fig. 12 shows an elevation of a can with conical top, which I
make in like manner, except that the top is put on outside by preference,
but it may be put inside, the same as the bottom. The can neck m I fit and
braze, and also the handle r, as before described, and as seen. The joint p is
grooved and brazed, or otherwise brazed, as before described.
Fig. 18 represents a plan, and Fig. 4 a lateral vertical section of the
furnaces, according to my Invention, for making the brazed joints in these
cans or drums. .s, s, is a cast-iron plate with a long slot t in it, in proportion
to the size of the drum to be brazed. This contracts the top of the furnace
to the required limits, and concentrates the heat. The furnace u expands
below to the required dimensions, as seen in Fig. 14, and with the ash-pit vis
enclosed, and the fire urged by a blast of air introduced into the ash-pit.. The
workman holds the body of the drum with the long joint over the slot opening t
by a pair of tongs, or otherwise, and watches the brazing operation as usual.
The usual hard solder (borax and fluxes) are used. The action of the furnace
being concentrated on the point desired, the operation of brazing is quickly,
uniformly, and perfectly performed, and the workman is protected from the
heat of the furnace. For brazing the neck and handle on the top of the can
the furnace w is used, which is contracted to a round opening a, somewhat
smaller than the drum cover; this is laid on the opening a with the neck
fitted in position, as described, and the handle placed upon the cover, and
both are brazed at same time; the same remarks and conditions apply to
this furnace as mentioned above as regards the furnace u, and need not
be repeated.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, brazing some and soldering other of the joints or unions of parts
in the manufacture of metal drums and cans for holding oils and other fluid
matters, as and for the purposes herein-before described.

page_text: Secondly, the construction and arrangement of furnaces shown and described
applied to brazing the joints or union of parts in the manufacture of metal
drums and cans for holding oils and other fluid matters.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Benjamin Hodson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
year of
W. B. HODSON. (L.B.)