Improvements relating to the Opening of Hermetically Sealed Cans.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th May. 1895
Complete Specification Left, 1st Mar., 1897-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Opening of Hermetically Sealed Cans.
We, ROBERT ALEXANDER SLOAN and JOHN EDWARD LLOYD BARNES, both of
26 Castle Street, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention has reference to the opening of hermetically sealed cans,
the covers of which are made of thin tinned plate or the like.
We provide a device for cutting through the cover, in the form of a strip of
thin sheet metal bent to the contour of the line on the cover at which the cut is to be
made. One edge of this strip is serrated, and it is used by placing the serrated
edge on the cover over the line where the cut is to be made, and then pushing
firmly; the points of the serrations first pierce the cover, and as the pressure is
continued, the strip is driven through, so as to cut out the whole area enclosed by
the strip.
In order to facilitate the location of the strip, it is desirable to form a depression
or groove in the cover, in which the strip may be placed, and this groove is usually,
by preference, made as close as possible to the edge of the cover, so as to enable
practically the whole of the cover to be cut away.
The strip may be attached to or made integral with a flat plate to which the
pressure may be applied, or it may be simply made as a hoop; the hoop may be
endless, or may have free ends adapted to be clasped or not, as may be preferred.
The form with the free ends has the advantage that it permits the strip to be packed
encircling the can, in which position it occupies practically no space.
The necessary pressure cannot conveniently, in the latter case, be directly applied
to the strip, its edge being too thin, but if, as is very usual, a separate loose lid be
provided for the can, this serves very conveniently for applying the pressure.
It will be seen that this invention is applicable to tins with covers of any contour.
Dated this 28th day of May 1896.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26 Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements relating to the Opening of Hermetically Sealed Cans.
We, ROBERT ALEXANDER SLOAN and JOHN EDWARD LLOYD BARNES, both of
26 Castle Street, Liverpool in the County of Lancaster, Consulting Engineers, 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:-
The present invention has reference to the opening of hermetically sealed cans,
the covers of which are made of thin tinned plate or the like.

page_text: We provide a device for cutting through the cover, in the form of a strip of thin
sheet metal bent to the contour of the line on the cover at which the cut is to be made.
One edge of this strip is serrated, and it is used by placing the serrated edge on the
cover over the line where the cut is to be made, and then pushing firmly; the points
of the serrations first pierce the cover, and as the pressure is continued, the strip
is driven through, so as to cut out the whole area enclosed by the strip.
In order to facilitate the location of the strip, it is desirable to form a depression
or groove in the cover in which the strip may be placed, and this groove is usually, by
preference, made as close as possible to the edge of the cover, so as to enable
practically the whole of the cover to be cut away.
The strip may be attached to or made integral with a flat plate to which the
pressure may be applied, or it may be simply made as a hoop the hoop may be
endless, or may have free ends adapted to be clasped or not, as may be preferred.
The form with the free ends has the advantage that it permits the strip to be
packed encircling the can, in which position it occupies practically no space.
The necessary pressure cannot conveniently, in the latter case, be directly applied to
the strip, its edge being too thin, but if, as is verý usual, a separate loose lid be
provided for the can, this serves very conveniently for applying the pressure.
It will be seen that this invention is applicable to tins with covers of any contour.
We have illustrated our invention in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. I shows the can with the strip and loose lid in position, ready for operation,
all in medial sectional elevation;
Fig. II is a plan of the strip, clasped ready for use, and
Fig. Ill is a development showing the strip before it is bent into shape.
Fig. 1V is an elevation showing the clasped part when looked at in the
direction of the arrow A, and
Fig. V is a sectional elevation on the line X. X, looking in the reverse direction.
Fig. VI shows how the ends of the strip are clasped and
Figs. VII and VIII show modifications.
Throughout the drawings the same parts are indicated by the same reference
figures.
Referring first to Figs. I to VI, which illustrate the form of the invention in
which the strip is made as a clasped hoop and is used in conjunction with a loose
lid, 1 is the can hermetically closed by the cover 2 of thin tinned plate or the like.
The strip or opener is made as shown in Fig. III of a serrated strip of thin sheet
metal, (ordinary tinned plate has been found to answer well), bent to the periphery of
the cover, the dimensions of the strip when bent being somewhat less than the
internal dimensions of the can; the strip or opener is then placed over the cover 2
with its serrated edge in contact therewith, and pressure is applied, in a direction
normal to the cover, with the result that the opener cuts through the latter and so
opens the can. The ordinary lid which is usually supplied with the can may be
used to transmit the pressure of the hand to the opener, but with the view of
facilitating the cutting we prefer usually to modify the lid and the cover of the
can; and in some instances we modify the body of the can so as to adapt it to
snugly house the cutter.
The modification of the lid and the cover are clearly shown in the figures last
referred to, and are as follows;-The lid 4 has a peripheral recess which forms a
shoulder 5 which is adapted to preserve the contour of the opener and to locate it in
proper position when the pressure is applied; the rim of the lid is made sufficiently
deep to embrace the can when placed over the opener, by which means the lid is
concentrically located as shown in Fig. 1. The cover 2 has a peripheral groove 6 which
serves to locate the apices of the serrations of the opener.
The adjacent edges of the opener may, when the opener is bent to shape, be soldered
or otherwise permanently united; we prefer, however in order to facilitate the
packing of the opener, to form the ends so that they may be clasped together as
shown; an opener made in this manner may, for convenience of packing, be. sprung
open, while unclasped, sufficiently to encircle the body of the can, and may be

page_text: housed between the can and the lid; it is, of course, clasped prior to the operation
of opening.
The construction of the clasp will be best understood on reference to Figs. II,
III, IV and V, from which it will be seen that it is formed by cutting notches 7 in
the ends of the strip and slightly cranking the ends so that they may be readily
engaged after the manner shown in Fig. VI.
In some cases, and especially when the cover 2 is not made of very thin metal, we
prefer to strengthen and stiffen the cutter 3 by attaching it to a plane circular top 8 ;
in this construction the cutter and lid may be combined as shown in Figs. VII
and VIII, the lid, of course, now fitting inside the can instead of outside as usual.
In order that the combined lid and opener may be housed for packing, we reduce the
diameter of the body of the can at the end opposite to the cover 2, as shown in
Fig. VIII, and the lid fits on this reduced diameter until the can is to be opened.
We prefer to form the serrations in more than one series and to arrange that the
apices of the different series shall be at different heights.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is ;-
1. The improved can opener which consists of a strip of metal, one edge of which
is serrated, bent so as to assume the contour of the periphery of the cover of the can,
and adapted to cut through the said cover by pressure exerted normally to the
surface thereof; substantially as described.
2. The improved can opener which consists of a strip of metal, one edge of which
is serrated, bent so as to assume the contour of the periphery of the cover of the can,
and adapted to cut through the said cover by pressure exerted normally to the surface
thereof, and means for locating the position of the opener and preserving the form
thereof; substantially as described.
3. A can opener consisting of a strip of metal one edge of which is serrated
and the ends of which are notched so as to be adapted to be clasped, substantially as
described and illustrated.
4. A can opener consisting of a strip of metal one edge of which is serrated, the
said strip being bent to a suitable shape and attached to a plane top which preserves
its form and forms a lid for the can; substantially as described and illustrated.
5. In a can opener of the kind herein described, two or more series of serrations the
apices of the different series being at different heights, substantially as described
and illustrated.
SLOAN & LLOYD BARNES,
Castle Chambers, 26 Castle Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.