IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH COVERS OR LIDS FOR PROVISION-CANS AND SIMILAR RECEPTACLES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan of Kensington, Middlesex for
an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH COVERS OR LIDS
FOR PROVISION-CANS AND SIMILAR RECEPTACLES a communication to him
from abroad by Schneider and Lemp, of Leipzig, Saxony
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th August 1882.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
CONNECTED WITH COVERS OR LIDS FOR PROVISION-CANS AND SIMILAR RECEPTACLES,"
a communication to me from abroad by Schneider and Lemp, of Leipzig, Saxony,
This invention relates to a can for the preservation and transportation of
preserves, &c., which shall be hermetically closed and yet permit of its being
easily opened, and prevent damage to the contents, while serving for renewed use
when emptied, and consists in providing the can on its inner side, a little below
the upper edge, with a circular or ring-shaped platform or edge, soldered air tight
to the can, and in placing on the same a pad or layer of discs of paper treated
so as to be oil, air and water tight, and secured on the said platform or edge
with a suitable cementing or binding material. The can is then closed in any
manner that will serve to protect this paper pad.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Herbert John Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd February 1883.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
CONNECTED WITH COVERS OR LIDS FOR PROVISION CANS AND SIMILAR RECEPTACLES,"
a communication to me from abroad by Schneider and Lemp, of Leipzig, Saxony
Owing to the extensive scale in which preserved fruit, lack, varnish and grease
are daily manufactured, and owing to the great demand for cans and boxes
intended to serve as receptacles for holding these and other liquid and semi-liquid
substances, it is of great importance to contrive a hermetical closing or joint
impermeable to any of the said substances and which, unlike the soldered joints
hitherto used, may be easily opened, while soldered joints can only be opened with
difficulty and by means of special tools.
Besides the easy way of opening, it is desirable that the can, when emptied, may
be used for other purposes, and that the contents, if only partly used at the time,
remain still completely protected from the influence of the air, while cans, when
once opened in the way hitherto practised, easily allow impurities to penetrate into
the interior.
This occurs for instance with boxes containing Sardines.
In consideration of the above circumstances the following device illustrated in
Figs. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings has been adopted.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section and Fig. 2 a plan of a cylindrical can, Fig. 3 a vertical
section and Fig. 4 a plan of a prismatic box, while Figs. 5 and 6 represent a
modification.
The special arrangement of this closing device and the most practical way of
using it are as follows:
To the inside of the can or box and a little below the upper edge is soldered
airtight a circular flange or a ring s see Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4; the can is furthermore
provided with an ordinary cover a in order to protect the hermetical joint from
external injury.
The hermetical closing proper consists in placing on the said flange 8 a sheet or
disc of paper which has been rendered oil and air tight. Such impervious
discs or sheets are obtained by pasting together two or more layers or sheets of
paper by means of a suitable binding substance, for instance a mixture of soluble
glass (silicate of soda) and wheat-flour or gum-arabic.
This sheet or disc is secured to the said flanges with a suitable binding material
which may be the same as that used for pasting together the layers of paper as
described above.
The impervious sheet or disc may also be pasted over the opening o covered by
a metal-plate S, and the outside of the can or box may also be rendered impervious
by coating it with the said binding material.
In this manner is produced a thoroughly hermetical closing or joint which can be
easily opened without possessing the drawbacks of the usual soldered joints, and
which is in a high degree suited to meet a real want.
This closing device or joint is applicable to vessels of every kind, shape and size,
and it may also be applied to other parts than the top of such vessels, (see Fig. 5 of
the accompanying drawing.)

page_text: flanges or over an opening o of the receptacle to be closed, and protecting the said
paper from external injury by a lid or metal plate.
2. A hermetical and easily detachable closing or joint for boxes and cans formed
by the application of two layers or sheets of paper rendered air and oil proof and
connected with each other by means of a mixture of soluble glass (silicate of soda)
and wheat-meal, or gum-arabic, which united sheets or layers are pasted by means
of the same mixture on a flange 8 or over an opening o of the receptacle to be
closed, and are then protected against external injury by a lid or metal plate.
The whole substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said Herbert John Haddan have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty-third day of February A.D. 1883.