Improvements in or relating to Fruit and like Jars and to the Preservation of Food therein.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1892-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Fruit and like Jars and to the
Preservation of Food therein.
A communication from the PETALUMA FRUIT PACKING COMPANY, of Petaluma,
Sonoma County, California, one of the United States of America.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11 Wellington Street, Strand, in the City
and County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to certain improvements in fruit jars.
It consists essentially in the combination of a glass or vitreous jar with a metallic
cap or cover, and means for securing the latter to the jar, and forming a hermetically
tight joint between the metal and the glass.
For the purpose of preserving fruit, vegetables and other similar goods, it is
customary to place them in cans of various descriptions in which they are cooked,
and the cans or jars are afterwards hermetically sealed.
On account of the difficulty encountered when glass has been used, by reason of
the breakage caused by sudden changes of temperature in cooking fruit, sheet metal
has been largely employed for the purpose, but it is desirable to use glass if possible
on account of the more attractive appearance of the goods when packed in this
manner.
This invention is designed to enable the operator to pack the goods in glass jars
and to insure a perfectly tight closure of the same, and a means by which the fruit
may afterwards be cooked within the jars without danger of breakage of the same,
and a means for easily opening the jars when desired.
In carrying out this invention I employ various forms of closure which are well
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a view showing the form of jar and closure.
Figure 2 is a sectional view of the exterior vessel.
In carrying out this invention I employ glass jars A which are preferably made
cylindrical in shape, of any suitable or desired size, and preferably having the
upper portion B made slightly smaller in diameter than the body of the jar, with a
shoulder formed at C beneath which the rim of the metallic cap D is turned to
secure the latter to the jar.
By reason of the small diameter of the upper part of the jar, space is made for
the sides or rim of the cap to surround the upper part of the jar without increasing
its diameter beyond that of the lower part of the jar, and this allows the jars to be
stored or packed, one upon the other, and occupy the least amount of space.
The metallic cap is made in various forms. It may be made in one or two parts
as preferred. In some cases, the rim which forms the closure or joint has a central
opening through which the fruit may be introduced, and this is afterwards closed
by a smaller cap which is cemented or otherwise made tight at its junction with the
outer annular rim.
The essential feature of the invention, however, is the means for hermetically
closing the jar. This consists of a rubber or other elastic ring E which may be
fitted into a groove or channel formed in the side of the jar above the shoulder,
beneath which the rim is turned, or preferably by forming an upwardly extending
lip around the inner periphery of the top of the jar, as shown at F.
Outside of this lip is the horizontal ledge G upon which the elastic ring E rests,
the upper edge of the ring being preferably slightly higher than the inner lip.
In Figure 1 the cap is shown made of sheet metal in a single piece, having the

page_text: turned down rim of sufficient interior diameter to just slip over the outside of the top
of the jar, and of sufficient depth to allow the lower edge to be turned inwardly
beneath the shoulder C by a suitable machine so as to firmly unite it with
the jar.
A slight depression is preferably made around the periphery of the top of the cap
to coincide with the elastic ring E upon which it rests, and when the cap is pressed
down by any suitable device, previous to turning the flange beneath the shoulder C,
this depression will compress the elastic ring so as to fill all interstices, and make an
absolutely tight joint.
As before described, the cap D may have an interior opening with a supplemental
closing piece, or the cap may have beneath it a thin easily cut metal which corre-
sponds in form with the cap and is locked in place by it. The jar in such
a case is opened by simply cutting away the thin metal interior to the inner edge of
the cap.
In order to properly cook the fruit in these glass packages it is necessary to
overcome the difficulty of cracking the glass which ordinarily arises from the
introduction of the glass jar into boiling water, and the sudden removal of the jar
from the boiling water after the fruit is properly cooked.
Both these operations are liable to fracture the jar by reason of the sudden
change of temperature, both when it is introduced and when it is removed.
In order to overcome this difficulty, a supplemental cylindrical vessel J is
employed of slightly larger diameter than the jar, having guides or projections K
around the sides and at the bottom, between and upon which the jar is supported so
as to remain equidistant from the sides of the exterior vessel.
This exterior vessel is filled with water around the jar, the temperature of the
whole being approximately the same, and the outer vessel is then introduced into
the vessel of boiling water in which the cooking takes place, and the heat of
the exterior boiling water is gradually conducted through the sides of the metal
containing vessel, and diffused through the body of water surrounding the glass
jar, thus raising the temperature of the latter and its contents gradually to the
point necessary to properly cook the contents.
A small hole is left in the top of the cap as is usual in such cases, and the top of
the jar is sufficiently above the surface of the water to allow any bubbles of air or
steam to escape through the hole.
After the cooking is complete, the hole is closed by solder or otherwise, and the
process is complete.
The containing vessel with the jar and the water surrounding it are then lifted
out and placed in a vessel of cold water if it is desired to cool the jar rapidly, or
they may be set away and allowed to cool gradually.
The cooling takes place in the same manner as the previous heating, and the heat
is rapidly and evenly abstracted from the jar and its contents. This prevents the
unequal expansion or contraction of the jar, and insures its safety from cracking by
such an action.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention
communicated to me as aforesaid and in what manner the same is to be performed,
I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A jar having a groove or channel around its upper part forming a shoulder
below the top, an upwardly projecting lip around the inner periphery of the top,
a flat ledge exterior to said lip, an elastic ring fitting said ledge exterior to the
lip, in combination with a metallic cap adapted to compress the elastic ring
having a rim projecting downwardly surrounding the upper part of the jar, the
lower edge of said rin being turned inwardly beneath the shoulder whereby the
elastic ring is compressed and the cap retained in position upon the jar, substan-
tially as herein described.
2. The process for cooking in glass and preventing the glass from breaking,

page_text: consisting in submerging the glass vessel in an exterior receptacle containing
cold water, plunging this vessel into a tank of boiling water until the contents
are cooked, then removing the vessel with its contents which are still surrounded
by water, and allowing the whole to cool together, substantially as herein
described.
11 T
1
W. E. GEDGE.