IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANS AND SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN LOCKING DEVICES THEREFOR
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CANS AND SIMILAR VESSELS,
AND IN LOCKING DEVICES THEREFOR."-A communication from abroad
by Henry Wardwell Shepard and Robert Seaman, both of the City
and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 26th March 1872, and dated the 12th February 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 12th February 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 12th February 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings. London, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN METALLIC CANS AND SIMILAR VESSELS, AND IN LOCKING DEVICES THEREFOR," and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Henry Wardwell Shepard and Robert Seaman, both of the
City and State of New York, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification :-
The chief object of the present Invention is to furnish especially
for the milk can trade a cheap, strong, and durable can; one in the
manufacture of which all seam joints on the inner surface of the
can are dispensed with, and the independent outer hoops heretofore
invariably used to strengthen and brace the cylinder at its point
of attachment with the breast and bottom are rendered entirely
unnecessary.
To accomplish this object I stamp or otherwise form of a single
piece of any suitable plate of sheet metal both the bottom and breast;
the former consisting of a convex plate with a broad, deep, well defined
vertical hoop, and the latter of the ordinary dome or arched plate with
a vertical collar or neck flange, and a broad, well defined, vertical hoop
extending down from the base of its arch.
The advantages of this construction of breast and bottom will readily
suggest themselves. Being constructed of one piece of much heavier
metal than that usually employed, they afford a greatly increased
strength for the sections of the can where the greatest pressure is to
be borne, and where the injurious wear and tear incident to its use are
to be resisted and withstood. And besides thus stamping the breast
and bottom so as to leave not a mere flange or burr edge but a deep
serviceable hoop, the cylinder may readily be secured within the breast
and bottom and in such manner as to afford a perfectly tight and
durable connection, and at the same time avoid the disadvantages of
1

page_text: the seam joint, and also the disadvantages and great expense of the
independent hoops to strengthen and brace the can.
Instead of stamping the bottom out of very heavy metal, a most
desirable article of manufacture may be produced which is admirably
adapted for all classes of metallic vessels by using a thin metallic plate
and so stamping it as to leave the convex plate and vertical hoop,
and by securing on its rim three or more elbow-shaped brace rests or
supports as herein-after described. These rests brace the bottom and
hoop, and protect and strengthen the annular rim or the point at which
the bottom and hoop meet, and where the greatest weight is to be
supported and where most of the wear and tear one to be resisted.
Manid Tuvenation also solates to an imnmoved looking device heroin

page_text: resist, the connection or joint between the breast and cylinder cannot
be started or sprung so as to cause the can to leak unless such pressure
is thrown on the breast as will crush the cylinder. And all these
advantages are secured without employing any seam joint on the inner
face of the can. Such joints are most objectionable, as it is almost
impossible when they are used to keep the can clean and pure.
The hoop A' formed with the breast as herein described, furnishes
in the manufactured article a much stronger can than those now in use,
and besides saves the expense of the independent outer hoop heretofore
invariably used in their construction.
E is the bottom which like the breast is stamped out of a single
piece of metal, and consists of an arched or convex plate with a broad,
well defined hoop E¹. In this bottom the cylinder D is seated, the
hoop E' enclosing and encircling the cylinder precisely as does the hoop
A' of the breast. To this hoop E¹ the cylinder is rivetted or otherwise
secured precisely as it is to the hoop A¹. Thus it will be seen that
the bottom protects the lower section of the cylinder precisely as the
breast does the upper, and owing to its construction can be so attached
to the cylinder as to secure the utmost strength and insure the greatest
durability without employing any seam joints or the use of the in-
dependent outer hoops. A can thus constructed is enabled to withstand
the roughest style of handling.
This bottom is not only designed for milk cans but for other sheet-
metal vessels, such as barrels, pails and the like, and when designed
for purposes where the wear and tear are not necessarily great, it may be
stamped out of lighter metal and strengthened and braced by elbow-
shaped brace rests or supports F, F, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6,
which entirely encircle the rim of the bottom, extending up outside
of the hoop and in under the surface of the convex plate. These
brace rests entirely protect the rim e of the bottom from all contact
with the floor or other surface on which it is placed, and also brace and
strengthen the hoops. Three or four of these rests are rivetted to the
hoop as shewn at n, Figure 5, and furnish even when light sheet
metal is used an exceedingly strong and durable bottom. The bottom E
may be inverted and thus attached to the cylinder, as shewn in Figure 8,
in which an independent outer hoop E' must be used, the hoop E³,
cylinder D, and vertical hoop E¹ of the bottom being rivetted together.

page_text: I have described E' as a vertical hoop, but desire it to be understood
that it is only so when used in connection with a cylinder or vessel of
uniform diameter. When used in connection with a taper vessel, such
for instance as a pail, it is slightly inclined to conform to the contour
of the vessel, as clearly shewn in Figure 5. The neck B may be
constructed to leave at its base a shoulder or recess 6 to serve as a
bearing surface for a rubber packing 6'. On the upper and outer-section
of this neck are two inclined or wedge-shaped shoulders or bearings x,
as clearly shewn in Figures 2 and 4.
C is the cover which is of the usual form, consisting of the ordinary
dome-shaped plate and the usual cup or cylinder C. On the under
surface of the cover Clare two hooks y arranged in such relative
positions thereon that when the cover is inserted they will fit and travel
over the inclined plates or bearings x until they reach their extreme
ends and are arrested and held by shoulders x².
On the outer face of the neck b is secured a lock G. This lock
is arranged in such a position on the neck that when the cover C is
inserted or attached and so turned that its hooks y butt against the
shoulders x¹ of the plates x, the opening in the lock through which
the bolt is thrown out will be immediately at the outer surface of the
bolt. Therefore when the key is inserted and the bolt thrown out, the
hooks y, will be securely fastened in between the shoulders x¹ of the
plates and the bolt of the lock, so that after it is once fastened, unless
it is unlocked by the application of the key, it is impossible to unfasten
the cover unless the lock be broken.
X

page_text: Third. The bottom E having a hoop E¹ and rests F, constructed
substantially as described for the purposes specified.
Fourth. The neck B having inclined plates x and cover C with
hooks y and the lock G, when the same are combined and arranged
to operate substantially as described.
Fifth. A milk can consisting of the cylinder D, breast A¹, and bottom
E, each feature constructed and the whole combined substantially as
described.
Sixth. A milk can consisting of the cylinder D, breast A, bottom E,
and hoop E', each feature constructed and the whole combined sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
EDWARD CLARK JACKSON.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)