IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF TINS OR RECEPTACLES FOR PRESERVED FOOD AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVE- MENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Henry Jolinson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF TINS OR
RECEPTACLES FOR PRESERVED FOOD AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."-A communication
from abroad by Emile Teyssonneau, of Paris, in the Republic of
France.
Sealed the 4th August 1874, and dated the 2nd March 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd March 1874.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
5 of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF
TINS OR RECEPTACLES FOR PRESERVED FOOD AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," a communication to me from

page_text: abroad by Emile Teyssonneau, of Paris, in the Republic of France, to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing and
closing tins or other receptacles for containing preserved food and for
other purposes, whereby the operation of opening or removing the cover
is facilitated and the use of the knives ordinarily employed for that
purpose is dispensed with, and consists in forming on the tin or other
receptacle, or on the cover of same, a tongue or projection, and in
soldering the cover to such tin or receptacle flatwise, so that by the
application of a key or pair of pincers, or other suitable holding tool to
the tongue or projection, the tin and cover may be readily separated or
detached.
The Invention also consists of improved machinery or apparatus to be
employed for soldering the covers and bottoms to the body of the tin or
receptacle, which machinery or apparatus is also applicable to the 1
soldering of other metallic articles.
In carrying out this Invention, as applied to an ordinary round tin
for containing preserved food, for example, the upper edge of the tin is
turned or bent over either internally or externally, so as to form a flat
surface or seating, and either with or without a raised bead, as 2
desired.
The cover is composed of a disc cut or punched out from a sheet, and
has formed on it the tongue or projection herein-before referred to
(which projection may be of either a straight, annular, or socket form,
and either singly or combined as desired, in order to facilitate the a
application of the opening key or tool; and it is also provided with an
annular groove or depression for the purpose of limiting the extent of
the soldering. The cover so formed is then applied to the flat surface
or seating of the tin, and soldered flatwise thercon. The bottom of the
tin may also be attached in the same or in any other suitable manner.
The tongue or projection when made of a socket form may also be
provided with a ring if desired for the purpose of enabling the cover
to be withdrawn or removed simply by grasping and pulling the ring.
In lieu of the movable cover extending over the whole of the upper.
end of the tin or receptable it may occupy the central portion only, a
which arrangement is particularly suitable as a capsuling for cans,
bottles, or similar receptacles for containing preserved fruits, or oils and.

page_text: essences. When glass bottles are employed a ring with a flat rim or
flange may be fitted to the neck of the bottle and the cover soldered
flatwise thereon.
For the purpose of expediting and facilitating the operation of
soldering it is proposed to employ an improved rotatory soldering
apparatus consisting of a frame provided with two or more face plates
or discs, each carried on a rod or spindle, on which face plates or discs
the tin or other article to be soldered is placed, and with suitable
gripping appliances or catches attached to bent or curved rods which are
acted upon by springs, so as to cause the gripping appliances or catches
to press upon the article being operated upon, the pressure being
removed by a treddle when it is required to withdraw such article. By
means of this arrangement two persons may be employed simultaneously,
one for the purpose of performing the soldering, and the other for
replacing the soldered article by another to be operated upon; the
traverse of the plate or disc from one to the other affording sufficient
time for the solder to cool and become fixed before the removal of the
article.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th August 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my exccutors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for

page_text: •
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF TINS OR RECEPTACLES
POR PRESERVED FOOD AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by Emile
Teyssonneau, of Paris, in the Republic of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
The said Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing and
closing tins or other receptacles for containing preserved food and for
other purposes, whereby the operation of opening or removing the cover
from such tins or receptacles is facilitated and the use of the knives
ordinarily employed for that purpose is dispensed with, and consists in
forming on the cover of the tin or other receptacle a tongue or projection,
and in soldering the cover to such tin or receptacle flatwise, so that by 2
the application of a key or pair of pincers, or other suitable holding tool
to the tongue or projection, the tin and cover may be readily separated
or detached. Tins or receptacles so prepared possess not only the
advantage of being opened with facility, but they may be also delivered
to the preserve manufacturer with the cover already soldered to them, a
so that after the tin or receptacle is filled it simply remains to close the
bottom, which operation does not involve any difficulty.
The Invention also consists of improved machinery or apparatus to
be employed for soldering the covers and bottoms to the body of the tin
or receptacle, which machinery or apparatus is also applicable to the a
soldering of other metallic articles.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that

page_text: purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in
all the Figures.
The edge of the upper part of the tin or receptacle A is turned or
bent over, either internally, as shewn more particularly in Figures 1, 2,
3, and 4, or externally, as shewn in Figure 13, so as to form a seating,
to which the cover B may be applied and soldered flatwise. The same
result may be obtained by forming the upper edge of the tin or
receptacle with a bead in combination with the flat surface, as shewn in
Figure 6. To the edge of the tin or receptacle thus turned or bent over.
there is applied and soldered the cover B, which is composed of a disc
cut or punched out of a sheet, and provided on its edge with a
projection C, which projection may be either straight, as shewn in
Figure 5, so as to form a tongue, or bent or curved to a round, or square,-
tubular, or socket shape, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. An
annular groove or concavity a is formed on the cover in order to
prevent the solder from extending beyond the bent edge of the tin or
receptacle.
When the projection C is made of a straight form a split key D
(Figure 12) may be employed for the purpose of opening the tin or
receptacle. The operator lays hold of the projection with the key, and
by slightly turning the latter coils up the cover, which, as it is soldered
flatwise, may be readily detached without his being liable to receive any
injury or inconvenience therefrom.
In the case of square tubes or sockets a key E (Figure 11) may be
employed for the purpose and introduced into the tube or socket, which
arrangement admits of a similar result being obtained. These round
or square tubes may be arranged so as to form a projection either on the
top of the tin or receptacle, as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 4, and 6, or on the
side, as shewn in Figures 3 and 8. In the latter case they are formed
by bending or turning under the projecting edge of the cover.
A tongue and a tube or socket may also be employed simultaneously,
as shewn in Figure 8, or the cover may be cut or punched out to such
a shape as to form a flange or annular projection around the tin or
receptacle, as shewn in Figure 7.
It will be understood that the keys herein-before described are merely
indicated as examples of tools which have been found to give good

page_text: results, but for which an arrangement of pincers, or any other suitable
holding tool, may be substituted if preferred.
The use of a key may also be entirely dispensed with by introducing a
wire ring or loop F (Figures 1 and 6) into the tube or socket, so as to
form a hinge, the cover being in that case removed by the act of pulling
the ring or loop.
It is obviously not essential that the cover should be soldered to the
edge of the tin or receptacle, as it may be made to occupy only the
central portion of the upper end of such tin or receptacle, as shewn in
Figures 9 and 10; but in this case, as in the arrangements herein-before
described, the cover will always be provided with a tongue or projection
of one of the forms indicated, or of other suitable form. This mode of
central closing is particularly suitable for cans, bottles, and other similar
receptacles intended to contain preserved fruits, or oils and essences, as
it forms a perfectly hermetical capsuling for the same. In order to
adapt this arrangement to glass bottles it is simply requisite to fix a ring
with a flat rim or flange around the neck of the bottle, and to solder to
such rim or flange flatwise a cover having a tongue or projection.
In lieu of making the tongues or projections in one piece with the
cover they may be attached to the same if desired by any suitable means,
but the former arrangement is preferred.
Figure 13 represents a tin or receptacle, the edges of which are bent
or turned over externally.
In order to expediate and facilitate the operation of soldering an
improved rotatory soldering apparatus is employed, which gives excellent
results, as it admits of the solder in fusion becoming cooled and well
fixed on the article to be soldered, and of the secondary operation of
inserting in its place and removing such article being performed by an
unskilled assistant. This apparatus is composed of two or more plates K
(Figure 14) each provided with a catch or gripping appliance L, which
is caused to press upon the tin or receptacle by means of a spring M
acting on a curved rod N, which supports such catch or gripping
appliance. This rod is moved by means of a treddle Q when it is desired.
to remove the soldered tin or receptacle and to replace it by another to
be soldered.
The Drawing represents an apparatus with two plates, each provided

page_text: effect. The operator, who stands opposite to one of the plates, has
simply to attend to the soldering of the top or bottom on to the tin or
receptacle, and during the traverse of the plate from the operator to his
assistant the solder has time to become cool and produce its proper
effect. In the Drawing the tins or recptacles are shewn of a round
shape, but it is obvious that the system of closing, herein-before
described, may be applied with equal advantage to tins or receptacles of
a square, oval, triangular, or any other desired form. The shape and
position of the tongue or projection may also be varied as required.
In lieu of forming the tongue or projection on the cover it may be
arranged on the body of the tin or receptacle at the part where the same
is closed by soldering. In this case the body itself would be detached
or separated from the bottom and from the cover.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The application and use to and with tins or other receptacles
for containing preserved food and for other purposes of a cover or closer
soldered flatwise to the tin or receptacle, or to an attachment thereto,
and provided with a tongue or projection, or tongues or projections, for
the purpose of facilitating the operation of opening such tin or receptacle,
substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the accom-
panying Drawings.
Secondly. The peculiar rotatory soldering apparatus so constructed
and arranged as to admit of the cooling or fixing of the solder upon the
soldered article before the removal of such article from the apparatus,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by Figure 14 of
the Drawings.
In witness whereof. I. the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)