A New Cap or Stopper for Sealing or Fastening Tins, Cans, Drums, and the like, containing Oils, Paints, Kerosene, and other In- flammable and Explosive Materials.
Year: 1894

page_text: eprinted
as amended in accordance with the decision of the Chief Examiner dated
the 19th day of August 1903.
Date of Application, 27th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 2nd June, 1894
A New Cap or Stopper for Sealing or Fastening Tins, Cans, Drums,
and the like, containing Oils, Paints, Kerosene, and other In-
flammable and Explosive Materials.
I, CONRAD FIELD MENDHAM, of the Cosmopolitan Docks Victoria, in the Colony of
Hong-Kong, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
My invention relates to a new cap or stopper for tins, drums, and the like,
containing materials which are of an explosive or inflammable nature, and is intended
to supersede the present dangerous method of sealing such vessels by soldering, in
which the hot iron is necessarily brought into proximity with any vapour that may
be arising from the contents; my invention consists essentially of a cap with a double
flange which is placed over a round hole in the vessel, on the edge of which there is
a slight cylindrical projection, and then by the pressure of a tool or tools suitable for
the purpose, the flange of the cap is closed round the cylindrical projection, and by
metallic contact, the cap and cylinder are made air-tight."
My invention and the means employed in carrying the same into effect will be
more fully described in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, in
which all the parts are considerably exaggerated, in order to show more clearly how
the cap is sealed to the tin or drum :-
Fig. 1 is a section, and Fig. 2 a (half) plan of part of the upper side of a tin with
a circular hole cut therein and prepared to receive the cap; Fig. 3 is a section, and
Fig. 4 a plan of the cap, which is made to fit over the opening; Fig. 5, which is half
in section and half elevation, shows the cap laid over the opening ready for sealing;
and Fig. 6, also in section and elevation, shows the same when it has been closed and
sealed by suitable milling and beading tools.
P is a portion of the upper side of a tin or drum in which a circular hole has been
cut for purposes of filling: a bead a is raised round the hole at a short distance to
give strength and finish; b is a cylindrical edge turned up round the hole; between
and is a seat or recess c in which the cap may rest if necessary; D is the cap,
which consists of a disc of metal, flanged up round the edge to form a hollow-cylinder,
the top edge d of which is again turned over on the outside, forming a double flange
or groove, this fits over the cylindrical edge 6 as shown in Fig. 4; the body of the
cap is bunched up at the centre e and periphery f, as shown more particularly in
Fig. 3; when the cap is put in its place, after the vessel is filled, the ordinary
milling and beading tools are employed to compress the sides of the groove d over
the edge b and to expand and bead the periphery tightly against the lower surface

page_text: of recess c, as shown by d and g in Fig. 6, the curved part at f allowing the metal to
be expanded and fed up to the bead without cracking. The part e in the centre of
the cap is raised to strengthen it, so that in the event of its receiving a sharp blow,
the downward pressure would serve to tighten rather than open the joint.
In the foregoing description, it is assumed that the plate P forms an integral part
of the tin or drum, but for convenience, the metal plates may easily be made a trifle
larger than the circular bead a, as shown by dotted lines p in Fig. 2, and in these
auxiliary plates the holes may be formed and turned up, and when required to use
the tins or drums, the plates can be soldered thereto and the caps fitted and sealed as
already described. In this form the caps and plates may be sold separately from the
metal tins or drums, and affixed when wanted.
$.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. A cap or stopper, made of tin or other sheet metal, for use on vessels containing
oils, inflammable or explosive substances, by which the-caps-and-the-metal-of-the
vessels-are rendered perfectly air-tight by milling or compressing from the inside
the touching surfaces of the cap and body of the vessel together, substantially as
herein described and shown.
2. A cap or stopper for tin and other sheet metal vessels as already described,
rendered perfectly air-tight by expanding and beading the cylindrical touching
surfaces from the inside, as shown by the parts ƒ and g in Figs. 5 and 6 substantially
as described.
3-A-eap-or-stopper-for-vessels-containing-oils, paints,-explosive-or-inflammable
substances, which renders the vessels-air-tight-by-metallic-contact, without--the
application-of-heat-or-the-use-of-jointing-material,-substantially-as-and-for-the
purposes--herein--described and--set--forth;--and--illustrated--in the accompanying
drawings.