IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERING STOPPING THE TOPS OF BOXES, JARS, POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, Joux
THOMAS BETTS, of Smithfield Bars, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Thomas Betts, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege anl
authority, that I, the said John Thomas Betts, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Thomas Betts, my exors. adiñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and within the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERING
STOPPING THE TOPS OF BOXES, JARS, POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS," communicated
to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said John Thomas Betts shall cause a
particular description of the nature of the said Iuvention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
Price 8d1

page_text: date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Thomas Betts, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The Invention relates to a mode of applying metal cups or vessels in
covering and stopping jars, boxes, pots, and other vessels having large
openings of a similar character, and not having necks as is the case with
bottles (for the covering of which I have already obtained Her Majesty's
Letters Patent, and have eurolled a Specification thereto), and in the means of
affixing the peculiar metal coverings when covering or stopping jars, boxes,
and other vessels. And in order that the Invention may be most fully under-
stood and readily carried into effect, I will describe the means pursued by me.
It is well known that incovering and stopping jars, boxes, and other vessels with
metalas heretofore practised, two modes have been resorted to. First, it has been
sometimes the practice to use strong and stiff metal covers which fit so loosely
as to be readily taken off and put on as required; and, secondly, it has been
sometimes the practice to cover the mouths of jars, boxes, and vessels not
having necks, containing various matters, by applying sheets of tinfoil which
have been closely pressed to the surfaces around the mouths of such vessels
and have required to be torn off and destroyed in order to remove such
coverings. Now the objects of the present Invention are to use peculiar
metal cups or hollow caps, so formed as to be readily pressed over the surfaces
of the mouths or openings, and be caused to take the forms of the external
surfaces thereof, and closely fit thereon, so as to require to be torn or stripped
off when it is desired to remove the contents of the jars, boxes, pots, or other
vessels not having necks.
Figure 1 represents a jar having a metal cup or hollow cap placed over the
mouth thereof, the jar being stopped with a cork or other stopper, and in
some cases the metal covering will be sufficient without other stoppers. This
Figure shows the metal cup or hollow cap simply placed on the mouth, before
being submitted to pressure in order to close it on the mouth of the jar, and to
fit it tightly and securely thereon, and the secure holding will be consequent

page_text: on the cap being caused to take the contour or figure of the exterior surface of
the upper part of the jar.
Figure 2 shows a jar with a metal cup or hollow cap after the same
has been closed tightly on the upper part thereof, and has been caused to take
the figure of the external surface, as will be hereafter described.
Figure 3 shows the section of a metal cup or hollow cap for a jar, the size of
such cups or caps varying according to the size of the mouths of the jars, box, pot,
or other vessel to which they are to be applied, and the extent to which the
upper parts of the jars or vessels are to be covered. The dies or tools used in
making them will also vary accordingly, and the thickness of the metal will
vary according as the cups or hollow caps are simply to be used to cover, or
to cover and retain, the stoppers without string or wire. The thickness of the
metal when tin is used is about the one hundred and fiftieth to the one
hundred and eightieth part of an inch. When for ordinary purposes, I prefer
to use metal, tin, or lead, though I do not confine myself thereto; tin being,
I believe, the most suitable, owing to its strength when very thin. The proper
thin metal cups or hollow caps may be made by stamping or by pressure with
suitable dies, as is well understood when stamping sheet metal; but I do not
claim the sinking of sheet metal by dies, such process of sinking having been
commonly used for other purposes, each metal cap or cup being forced, by a
series of dies gradually sinking the circular sheets of tin or other suitably soft
metal of which they are composed, into hollow cups, each pair of dies making
the cups more and more deep, and reduced in diameter, till the desired depth
and diameter of cups or caps are obtained.
Figure 4 shows a box covered in like manner to the previous Figure, and
Figure 5 shows a section of the metal cup. The outer surfaces of the jars,
boxes, and other vessels without necks should be properly formed for the
metal, being indented, and so as to render it absolutely necessary that the cap
or cover shall be so changed that it cannot be again used. In affixing these
metal caps or cupson to jars, boxes, or other vessels without necks, they are first
placed on to the jars, boxes, or other vessels, as shown at Figure 1, .nd then
intimately pressed against the outer surfaces, as shown at Figure 2. This
process may be accomplished by means of a cord, band, or gut, kept tight or
stretched at both ends, such cord,band, or gut being passed round the cap or cup,
and then, by turning the jar or vessel round and causing every part of the circum-
ference of the cap or cup of metal to come under the embrace and pressure of
the cord, gut, or band, the metal will be compressed and fit tightly and
smoothly to all parts of the contour or figure of the outer surface of the jar,
box, or other vessels (not having necks); and owing to the upper part of such

page_text: jars, boxes, or other vessels being made larger at the upper end, and generally
and by preference not of a regular figure, the cap or cup will not pass or
readily be pressed off, except it be cut or torn off therefrom.
Figure 6 shows a front view, and Figure 7 a side view of a machine or
apparatus suitable for fixing metal caps or cups. a, a, is a cord, gut, or band
wound on to the rollers b, c, each roller having a ratchet wheel and click or
catch to retain it from unwinding the cord. The roller c is moved by the
crank handle d, and in order to slack the cord, gut, or band when desired, the
click or catch of the roller c can be raised by the treadle acting to lift up the
click or catch by means of the connecting rod and lever e and as is shown.
In using this machine, a jar, pot, or other such vessel, with a cap or metal
cup on the mouth, is placed on the platform g, and the cord slackened so as to
be made to pass round it, the screw is then caused by its flat end or plate i
to press the metal cap or cup closely on the jar, box, or other vessel (not
having a neck); the cord, gut, or band is then caused to be tightened, by
which means it will tightly embrace the cap or metal cup near the upper end,
and the screw and its plate being then raised, the operator takes the jar,
box, or other vessel in his right hand, and causes it to turn, and by pressing it
away from him he gradually causes the whole of the outer surface of the
circumference of the metal cap to be acted on by the pressure of the em-
bracing cord, gut, or band, by which means the cap will fit tightly in all parts,
and take the contour or figure of all parts of the upper parts of the vessel.
Figure 8 shews a jar having a series of indents or recesses formed at the
outside of the mouth, and in this manner may pots, boxes, and other vessels
without necks have the outer surfaces formed to facilitate the holding of the
metal caps or covers when pressed into the recesses .
Figure 9 shews a section of the jar after fixing the metal cover.
Figure 10 shews the jar after fixing the cover.
In fixing covers to the mouths of jars or other such like vessels so pre-
pared I use the apparatus shewn at Figures 11 and 12, (1) being a lever
moving on an axis at (2), aud (3) is the fixed bed. (4), (4), are two surfaces of
india rubber, by means of which the metal is caused to take the external form
of the vessel. And I would state, that in some cases I use dissolved gum on
the interior of the metal caps when fixing them. I would remark, that I do
not confine myself to the arrangement of machines above shown, as the same
may be varied, so long as suitable means are provided for keeping a cord, gut,
or band tight, as herein explained, or the covers may be otherwise pressed
into the shape on jars, boxes, or other vessels.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the best means I

page_text: am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood, that
what I claim is the mode of covering and stopping jars, boxes, pots, or other
vessels having large mouths, and not having necks similar to bottles, by
applying metal cups or hollow caps made by dies and affixed by pressure in
such manner as to be caused to apply closely to the outer surfaces of the jars,
boxes, pots, or other vessels (not having necks) and to take the figures or
shapes thereof, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Betts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.