IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANS FOR PRESERVING FOOD AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS TO AID IN SOLDERING SUCH CANS AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC
CANS FOR PRESERVING FOOD AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS TO
AID IN SOLDERING SUCH CANS AND ANALOGOUS ARTICLES." A communication
from abroad by Azel Storrs Lyman, of the City of New York, State of New
York, United States of America.
Sealed the 21st August 1877, and dated the 26th June 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th June 1877.
.
sex.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of Middle-
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANS FOR PRESERVING FOOD AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS TO AID IN SOLDERING SUCH CANS AND ANALOGOUS
ARTICLES." (A communication from abroad by Azel Storrs Lyman, of the City of
New York, State of New York, United States of America.)
The first part of the Invention relates to an improved construction of cans capable
of being stowed very compactly, and affording facilities for being perfectly and con-
veniently soldered by the process of immersion or dipping the joint in solder:
Solder frequently or usually contains lead which is liable in an ordinary can to be
attacked by the contents and to poison the food.
The peculiar construction of the improved can is important for the reason, among
others, that it presents no considerable surface of the solder to be corroded by the
contents of the can.
The four sides are but slightly swelled; the corners are rounded; the entire body
is preferably made in one piece; the joint should come in one of the corners; the
form or outline of each end corresponds to the form of the body, so that, on applying
the parts forcibly together the body will enclose the ends, and form a close joint
with the inner face of the body fitting the outer faces of the flanges herein-after
Drine C621

page_text: mentioned. The ends are counterparts of each other, except that the upper end or
top has the ordinary large central opening to be closed by an additional piece
secured by any ordinary or approved means after the can is filled. The ends are
struck up in dies, or otherwise formed, each with a flange or lip which may be, for
cans of ordinary size, about one-quarter of an inch high. Each end is peculiarly
recessed quite around just within the edge. The part of the end within this recess
or channel is plane, and adapted to rest fairly on a flat surface when the filled can
stands on end. The extreme ends of the sides are in the plane of or "flush with
the flat surfaces which form the central portions of the ends.
"
The recess or channel in the end facilitates the soldering by immersion in the
apparatus to be described further on. The nearly rectangular form of the can pro-
motes economy in stowage.
The slight swell of the several sides causes the body to press firmly in the manner
of a hoop upon the exteriors of the lips or flanges of the ends. The rounding of the
corners promotes the strength, and allows the ends to be struck up in dies, without
rupturing the metal. Above all, the construction presents to the interior of the
can only the indefinitely narrow line of solder presented by the close joints between
the inner edges of the lips or flanges of the ends and the inner face of the body of
the can.
These improved cans may be used for canning meats, fruits, and all kinds of food,
as also for other articles if desired. It is easy to procure tinned iron, plated with
pure tin, but solder is liable to contain a large proportion of lead, and the extremely
small surface of solder presented on the inner faces of these improved cans makes
them safe for enclosing all kinds of food, however, liable it may be to attack lead.
For canning beef and various jellied materials it is expedient to make the bodies of
the cans slightly tapered, and to open the can by entirely cutting off the large end,
so as to allow the contents to be taken out in a single moulded mass, if desired.
But the taper need not be sufficient to materially affect the fit of the inner surfaces
against the respective flanges or lips of the ends, which should be always as close as
possible.
The ends with their lips as described may be placed each with their lips turned.
outward instead of inward, but the effect is not as good.
The second part of the Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus
for soldering the improved cans, and other sheet metal cans, and analogous articles.
The melted solder is contained in sunk recesses in properly heated pans or castings
of suitable form, which I will term plates. The recess for the solder extends con-
tinuously around. There is another recess in the middle of each plate where the
solder is prevented from flowing, except by accident, and which is covered with
several thin shields to reduce the radiation of heat. A passage is provided extend-
ing obliquely downward from the central recess, which allows any solder which
arrives there to flow readily away. This oblique passage also allows ingress and
egress of the air in applying and removing the cans.
A number of these plates are applied together, arranged in two rows, with their
discharge spouts presented outwardly. One side of the set is used for soldering, the
recesses first referred to being kept supplied with melted solder. The other side is
used for fluxing, the recesses being supplied with a suitable flux to promote the
subsequent soldering.
The heat for maintaining the solder in a melted condition may be applied by a
fire below the soldering plates, and the products of combustion, after having imparted
their first heat to the soldering apparatus, are allowed to flow laterally to the
other side, where the proper recesses in the pans contain melted tallow instead of
solder.
In one arrangement the plates or castings are mounted on a suitable supporting
frame, and heated by a flame produced by the combustion of a mixture of air and
gas previously prepared, and supplied at suitable pressure from a main through up-
right pipes, which to guard against accident are provided with one or more,

page_text: screens of wire gauze, or preferably are filled with upright wires laid closely side
by side.
All the plates are alike, but the plates of one series are arranged in positions
the reverse of those of the other series, so that their discharge pipes are all
directed outward. Each has a continuous recess of the same outline as the
end of a can. The bottoms of the said recesses in the soldering, plates are lined:
with copper.
The gas pipes are under the soldering side of the apparatus. The combustion
induces an intense heat on that side of the apparatus. The partially cooled pro-
ducts of combustion flow from under the plates on that side to the other side,
imparting less heat to the latter plates. The gases finally escape through a con-
tinuous pipe to which they are inducted through openings shielded by deflecting
wings. The continuous pipe leads to a chimney through which the gases are dis-
charged.
In operation a can formed as herein-before described is placed on end on one of
the fluxing plates, with its rim immersed in the melted tallow in the recess of said
plate, and allowed to remain there for a half minute or thereabouts. It is then trans-
ferred and allowed to stand for a little period in a corresponding position on a soldering
plate, and is then removed, and allowed to cool. As each can is placed in position
on one of the castings or plates, and the rim at its base' commences to be immersed
in the recess, the air under the central portions of its base cannot escape past the
rim, and is liable by its compression, as the can is lowered down into the grease or
solder, and as the air becomes expanded by heat, to cause a bubling or disturbance
unless some special provision is made for the escape of the air. Therefore the centre
is sunk, and covered by one or more loosely fitted shields of thin metal so applied
that there are ample spaces along their edges for fluids to flow past, and underneath
is a passage leading to the open air. This allows the air to flow out freely when the
can is applied, and also to flow in freely when the can is again lifted in the act of
removal. Thus when a can is lowered suddenly down into the solder or the tallow,
the air caged below can flow out freely through the passage; and when the can is
lifted again the air can flow in freely through the passage to fill the vacuum formed
by the sudden lifting of the large area of the bottom.
The passages also serve another important function. They incline downward,
and in case any of the tallow or solder filling the outer recesses spills over into the
central recesses, it will be led away through the proper passage, and be conducted to
a suitable pan.
To facilitate the placing of the cans correctly in the bath, guides of sheet metal
are provided. The cans may be applied with rapidity and dash by a skilful operator,
the cans being successively pressed backward into their guides and thrust downward
into their respective baths in the proper recesses, without necessitating any care to
insure their exact position, or to avoid splashing.
It is preferred to have as many burners or upright gas pipes as there are soldering
plates. In such case one burner should be under the centre of each soldering plate
or casting.
Any other proper flux may be used instead of tallow, but my foreign correspon-
dent's experiments indicate beef tallow to be preferable.
When tȧllow is used as a flux in meat cans they may be left' uncleaned, and the
tallow adhering is no disadvantage.
Some parts of the Invention may be useful without the others. Thus the dupli-
cate sides of the apparatus, one for fluxing and the other for soldering, with or with-
out the provisions for more intensely heating the latter, may be useful alone: So
also the central recess and the passage communicating therewith as described; may be
useful in a soldering or fluxing apparatus with or without the other parts.
Various modifications' may be made by any good mechanic. Thus other
means of heating than a gas flame; and other means of taking away the products

page_text: of combustion may be employed, without entirely defeating the object of the
Invention.
Instead of making the plates separately and uniting them by a frame, two or the
whole may be cast together.
Instead of mixing the air and gas previously, and supplying it through a single
main, the air may be supplied through one pipe, and the gas through another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
December 1877.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of Middle-.
sex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANS FOR PRESERVING FOOD AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES, AND IN APPARATUS TO AID IN SOLDERING SUCH CANS AND ANALOGOUS
ARTICLES." (A communication from abroad by Azel Storrs Lyman, of the City of
New York, State of New York, United States of America.)
The first part of this Invention relates to an improved construction of cans capable
of being stowed very compactly, and affording facilities for being perfectly and
conveniently soldered by the process of immersion or dipping the joint in solder.
Solder frequently or usually contains lead, which is liable in an ordinary can to be
attacked by the contents and to poison the food.
The peculiar construction of the improved can is important for the reason, among
others, that it prevents no considerable surface of the solder to be corroded by the
contents of the can.
Figs. 1 and 2 of the Drawings represent what my foreign correspondent
considers the best means of carrying out this part of the Invention. Fig. 1 is a
vertical section of one of the cans standing upright on end, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal
section of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the Figures.
A represents the four sides or body of the can, and A1, A2, A3, etc., the ends; the
four sides are but slightly swelled; the corners are rounded; the entire body is
preferably made in one piece the joint should come in one of the corners; the
form or outline of each end corresponds to the form of the body, so that, on applying
the parts forcibly together, the body will enclose the ends, and form a close joint
with the inner face of the body fitting the outer face of the flange. The ends are
counterparts of each other, except that the upper end or top has the ordinary large
central opening to be closed by an additional piece, secured by any ordinary or
approved means after the can is filled. The ends are struck up in dies or otherwise
formed, each with a flange or lip A³, which may be for cans of ordinary size about
one quarter of an inch high. Each end is peculiarly recessed quite around just
within the edge, as indicated by A². The part of the end within this recess or
channel A2 is plane, as indicated by A', and adapted to rest fairly on a flat surface
when the filled can stands on end. The extreme ends of the side A are in the

page_text: plane of, or "flush with," the flat surfaces A¹, which form the central portions of
the ends.
The recess A2 facilitates the soldering by immersion in the apparatus to be
described further on. The nearly rectangular form of the can promotes economy in
stowage.
The slight swell of the several sides causes the body to press firmly in the
imanner of a hoop upon the exterior of the lips or flanges A³. The rounding of the
corners promotes the strength, and allows the ends to be struck up in dies without
rupturing the metal. Above all, the construction presents to the interior of the can
only the indefinitely narrow line of solder, presented by the close joints between
the inner edges of the lips A³ and the inner face of the body A.
These improved cans may be used for canning meats, fruits, and all kinds of food,
as also for other articles if desired. It is easy to procure tinned iron plated with
pure tin, but solder is liable to contain a large proportion of lead, and the extremely
small surface of solder presented on the inner faces of these improved cans makes
them safe for enclosing all kinds of food, however liable it may be to attack lead.
For canning beef and various jellied materials, it is expedient to make the bodies A
slightly tapered and to open the can by entirely cutting off the large end, so as to
allow the contents to be taken out in a single moulded mass if desired. But the
taper need not be sufficient to materially affect the fit of the inner surfaces against
the respective flanges or lips A3, which should be always as close as possible.
For cans with heads four inches square, my foreign correspondent has had the
bodies A, A, made with their corners turned on a radius of half an inch, and
their slightly swelled sides on a radius of twelve inches. The seam extending up
and down, along one of the rounded corners may be lapped the ordinary amount
and soldered by hand by a soldering iron.
The ends A', with their lips A³, as described, may be reversed in their positions
and placed each with their lips turned outward instead of inward, but the effect is
not as good. Such can, made of the same material and with a similar amount of
soldered surface, will fail with the pressure of only about forty-five pounds per
square inch, while, when formed as before described, it stands a pressure of one
hundred and twenty pounds without leakage.
The second part of the Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus
for soldering the improved cans and other sheet metal can and analogous articles.
The melted solder is contained in sunk recesses in properly heated pans or castings of
suitable form, which I will term "plates." The recess for the solder extends
continuously around. There is another recess in the middle of each plate where
the solder is prevented from flowing, except by accident, and which is covered
with several thin shields to reduce the radiation of heat. A passage is provided
extending obliquely downward from the central recess, which allows any solder
which arrives there to flow readily away. This oblique passage also allows ingress
and egress of the air in applying and removing the cans.
A number of these plates are applied together, arranged in two rows with their
discharge spouts presented outwardly. One side of the set is used for soldering the
recesses first referred to, being kept supplied with melted solder. The other side
is used for fluxing the recesses, being supplied with a suitable flux to promote the
subsequent soldering,
The heat for maintaining the solder in a melted condition may be applied by a
fire below the soldering plates, and the products of combustion, after having
imparted their first heat to the soldering apparatus, are allowed to flow laterally
to the other side, where the proper recesses in the pans contain melted tallow
instead of solder.
.
Fig. 3 is a general plan view on a small scale of a set composed of six fluxing and
six soldering plates.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the improved soldering apparatus, showing it
in use in fluxing and soldering the improved cans.

page_text: Figures 5 and 6 represent sections through parts of the apparatus.
Fig. 5 is a section on the line S, S, in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a section through the
horizontal escape flue, which conveys away the products of counbustion. It is on
the line T, T, in Fig. 4.
Fig. 7 is a vertical section through one of the soldering plates on a larger scale,
showing the shields which arrest the heat.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the Figures.
Referring to the Figures, B1, B2, are castings or plates mounted on a suitable
supporting frame B, and heated by a flame produced by the combustion of a mixture
of air and gas, previously prepared and supplied at suitable pressure from a main
C through upright pipes c, which to guard against accident are provided with one
or more screens of wire gauze, or preferably are filled with upright wires laid closely
side by side, as shown.
All the plates B and B are alike, but the series B₁ are arranged in positions the
reverse of the series B2, so that their discharge pipes P are all directed outward.
Each has a continuous recess b of the same outline as the end of a can. The
bottoms of the recesses b in the soldering plates B2 are lined with copper.
The pipes care under the soldering side of the apparatus. The combustion
induces an intense heat on that side of the apparatus. The partially cooled products
of combustion flow from under the plates B2 to the other side, imparting less heat
to the plate B¹. The gases finally escape through the continuous pipe D, to which
they are induced through openings & shielded by the deflecting wings d, as indicated
in Fig. 6. The pipe D leads to a chimney, not represented, through which they are
discharged.
In operation a can formed as above described, is placed on end on one of the
fluxing plates B¹, with its rim emersed in the melted tallow in its recess b, and
allowed to remain there for a half minute or thereabouts. It is then transferred and
allowed to stand for a little period in a corresponding position on a soldering plate B²,
and is then removed and allowed to cool. As each can is placed in position on one
of the castings B¹ or B2, and the rim at its base commences to be immersed in the
recess b, the air under the central portions of its base cannot escape past the rim, and
is liable by its compression, as the can is lowered down into the grease or solder,
and as the air becomes expanded by heat, to cause a bubbling or disturbance, unless
some special provision is made for the escape of the air. I therefore sink the centre
as shown by P, covering it by one or more loosely fitted shields of thin metal E, so
applied that there are ample spaces along their edges for fluids to flow past, and
make underneath a passage leading therefrom to the open air, as shown by p. This
allows the air to flow out freely when the can is applied, and also to flow in freely
when the can is again lifted in the act of removal. Thus, when a can is lowered
suddenly down into the solder or the tallow, the air caged below can flow out freely
through the passage p; and when the can is lifted again, the air can flow in freely
through the passage p to fill the vacuum formed by the sudden lifting of the
large area of the bottom.
The passages p also serve another important function. They incline downward,
and in case any of the tallow or solder filling the recesses b spills over into the
central recesses P, it will be led away through the proper passage p and be conducted
to the pan W.
To facilitate the placing of the cans correctly in the bath, I provide guides G of
sheet metal formed and mounted as represented on the upright rods H. The cans
may be applied with rapidity and dash by a skilful operator, the cans being suc-
cessively pressed backward into their guides G, and thrust downward into their
respective baths in the proper recesses b without necessitating any care to insure
their exact position, or to avoid splashing.
It is preferred to have as many burners or upright gas pipes c as there are soldering
plates B². In such case one burner c should be under the centre of the corresponding
soldering plate or casting B².

page_text: The passages d for receiving the spent products of combustion into the discharge
flue D should be under or immediately adjacent to the centre of the corresponding
fluxing plate B¹. A single attendant can run a bench of six or more soldering plates
with a corresponding number of fluxing plates, applying the fresh cans in succession
in their several positions on the fluxing plates, then shifting them in succession upon
the soldering plates, and then removing them successively therefrom upon a suitable
revolving table or cooler.
The upper end of the can having the ordinary central opening for filling should
be generally soldered first. A boy with this apparatus can solder eight or ten heads
per minute with great perfection, allowing each head to stand half a minute in the
melted solder. The inner edges of the surfaces to be soldered are above the level of
the solder, so that the melted metal being supplied thereto by capillary attraction
alone does not flow out upon the interior of the body beyond the edges of the
lips A³.
Any other proper flux may be used instead of tallow, but my foreign correspondent's
experiments indicate beef tallow to be preferable.
When tallow is used as a flux in meat cans they may be left uncleaned, and the
tallow adhering is no disadvantage.
Some parts of the Invention may be useful without the others. Thus, the duplicate
sides of the apparatus, one for fluxing and the other for soldering with or without
the provisions for more intensely heating the latter, may be useful alone. So also
the central recess and the passage p communicating therewith, as shown, may be
useful in a soldering or fluxing apparatus with or without the other parts.
Various modifications may be made by any good mechanic. Thus, other means
of heating than a gas flame, and other means of taking away the products
of combustion may be employed, without entirely defeating the object of the
Invention.
Instead of making the plates separately and uniting them by a frame B, two, or
the whole may be cast together.
Instead of mixing the air and gas previously, and supplying it through a
single main C, the air may be supplied through one pipe and the gas through
another.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
it as communicated to me as aforesaid, I would have it understood that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as secured to me under the
Letters Patent herein-before in part recited, is,—
1st. The within-described can, having the heads A2, A3, formed with rounded
corners and slightly curved flanges, in combination with bodies A, having cor.
responding sides and corners, with the body A fitting over or exterior to the
flanges A3, and soldered, as and for the purposes herein set forth.
2nd. A sheet metal can, having one or both ends formed with a plane centre A¹,
a surrounding recess A³, an angular or nearly angular bend at the rim, and an
upturned edge or flange As, combined with a body A of corresponding contour, and
joined by soldering, as and for the purposes herein specified.
3rd. The guides G in combination with the soldering or fluxing plates having
a recess b for immersing the rim of a. can or analogous article, as herein
specified.
4th. In an apparatus for soldering or fluxing cans and analogous articles by the
immersion of their rims in a recess b, the central cavity P, conduit or passage p,
adapted to serve as herein specified.
5th. The soldering apparatus described having the fluxing plates B' receiving
the spent products of combustion from the contiguous plates B2, as herein specified.
6th. In connection with a soldering plate B2 adapted to be heated and kept evenly
heated as shown, the heat shields E in combination with the central recess or sink P,
conduit p, and solder recess, as herein specified.
7th. The discharge pipe D having apertures d and deflectors din combination

page_text: with the heating plates B1, B2, adapted for inducting the partially cooled products of
combustion from the latter, as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.