AN IMPROVED SECTIONAL CAN
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Daniel Brodhead, of Boston, in the
County of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, in the United States
of Amazion
for the Invention of is A
Sealed the 28th May 1875, and dated the 21st December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Daniel Brod-
head at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st December 1874.
I, FRANCIS DANIEL BRODHEAD, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk
and State of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, do solemnly
and sincerely declare that I am in possession of an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED SECTIONAL CAN," which Invention I believe will be of great
public utility, and that I am the first and true Inventor thereof; and
I do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for sectional can to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a class of cans or kindred vessels in which
the top is closed by a mouth so contracted that a person's hand cannot

page_text: ring or band I of india-rubber or anti-clastic waterproof material. The
lower portion of the band encloses the elastic ring or packing I so tightly
as to prevent any escape of liquid from the interior of the can, and to
ensure a perfectly tight joint at this place I make the outer periphery
of the elastic ring somewhat greater than the inner periphery of the ring
in order that the rubber shall be compressed to a greater or less extent.
The purpose of the inclined groove C is to force or crowd the band F
tightly about the packing, and the mouth of the band may be flaring at
bottom, as shown in Figure 1 of the Drawings, in order that when
lowered about the said ring I it shall enclose it with great pressure.
I do not limit myself to a connection of the character herein described
for uniting the two portions of the can, nor to the manner of applying
the elastic packing, as these may be varied to a wide extent without
departing from what I believe to be the spirit and scope of my Invention,
which I consider to embrace the construction of a can having a con-
tracted mouth in sections whereby its interior may be readily cleaned.
The merits of my Invention will make themselves manifest at a glance,
and the reader will appreciate the value of a device which enables me to
thoroughly cleanse and preserve in a sweet condition vessels which are
liable to become foul and tainted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Daniel Brodhead in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
DANIEL BRODHEAD, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk and State of
Massachusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of.
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis Daniel Brodhead, Her special
license that I, the said Francis Daniel Brodhead, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis Daniel

page_text: Brodhead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ircland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVED SECTIONAL CAN," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Francis Daniel Brodhead, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Daniel Brodhead, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a class of cans or kindred vessels in which
the top is closed by a mouth so contracted that a person's hand cannot
be introduced for the purpose of thoroughly cleansing the interior, a
prominent class of cans to which my improvement is applicable being
milk and oyster cans.
My Invention consists in the main in making the upper part of the
can or that which bears the contracted filling tube or mouth. separate
and independent from the main body of the can in order that the two
may be readily separated and both readily and thoroughly cleaned, the
details of my improvement consisting in the method by which I securely
lock the two parts of the can together, and in the employment of an
elastic washer or packing to prevent escape of liquids from the interior
of such can.
The Drawings accompanying this Specification represent in Figure 1
a sectional elevation of a milk or oyster can embodying my improve-
ments; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the body of the can; and
Figure 3, a vertical section of the upper or cover portion thereof.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the whole.

page_text: In carrying out my object I produce a straight cylinder A of tin or
other metal to which add a bottom after the ordinary manner of manu-
facturing tin cans; to the top of the cylinder or vessel A and surrounding
its mouth I add a band or ring B, and in this band I create two or more
channels or notches C which resemble the channel of the ordinary
"bayonet connection," the longer portion a of this channel C being
obliquely disposed with respect to the top of the can.
D in the Drawings represents the upper portion or cap of the can,
which is frustro-pyramidal in form or of any other desired shape, the
tubular orifice or mouth of such cap, which is usually filled with a cork,
being shown at E. The lower boundary or mouth of the cap D is to be
reinforced with a band E, and from the inner face of this band two or
more lateral spurs G project, these spurs being of such size and so
disposed as to intercept and act in conjunction with the notches or
channels O, and serve thereby to lock the cap to the can after the
manner of attaching a bayonet to a gun barrel, and as will be readily
understood. Immediately below the notch or channel C I create in the
band or reinforce B an annular groove H, and within this groove I
squeeze a ring or band I of india-rubber or anti-elastic waterproof
material. The lower portion of the band encloses the elastic ring or
packing I so tightly as to prevent any escape of liquid from the interior
of the can, and to ensure a perfectly tight joint at this place I make the
outer periphery of the elastic ring somewhat greater than the inner
periphery of the ring, in order that the rubber shall be compressed to a
greater or less extent.
The purpose of the inclined groove C is to force or crowd the band F
tightly about the packing, and the mouth of the band may be flaring at
bottom, as shown in Figure 1 of the Drawings, in order that when
lowered about the said ring I it shall enclose it with great pressure.
I do not limit myself to a connection of the character herein described
for uniting the two portions of the can, nor to the manner of applying
the elastic packing, as these may be varied to a wide extent without
departing from what I believe to be the spirit and scope of my Invention,
which I consider to embrace the construction of a can having a con-
tracted mouth in sections, whereby its interior may be readily cleaned.
The merits of my Invention will make themselves manifest at a
glance, and the reader will appreciate the value of a device which

page_text: .
vessels which are liable to become foul and tainted.
CLAIM.
In a can or vessel having a contracted mouth, constructing such can
or vessel in sections, and providing the sections with a suitable connec-
tion to confine them together, and with or without a suitable packing to
prevent escape of liquids from the interior, the whole being substantially
us and for purposes stated.
us and for purposes sta.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Daniel Brodhead, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, 1875.
FRANCIS DANIEL BRODHEAD. (1.8.)