IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HERMETICALLY CLOSED CASES AND THE OPENING THEREOF.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. Edmund Wallace Elmslie, of 43, Parliament
Street, Westminster, Architect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
man MANURI D
LETTERS PATENT' to. Edmund Wallace Elmslie, of 43, Parliament
Street, Westminster, Architect, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HERMETICALLY CLOSED CASES AND THE OPENING
THEREOF.
"
Sealed the 6th August 1872, and dated the 7th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Wallace
Elmslie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th March 1872.
I, EDMUND WALLACE ELMSLIE, of 43, Parliament Street, West-
minster, Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HERMETICALLY CLOSED CASES AND
THE OPENING THEREOF," to be as follows:-
My Invention refers to the manufacture of hermetically closed cases
or boxes and the opening thereof. The case or box is made of metal
in any form or shape most convenient for the purpose to which it is
to be applied, and may be in one or more pieces soldered or otherwise

page_text: fastened together. In one or more of the joints of the case or box
is laid a wire embedded in the solder or other material used in the
making of the joints; a portion or portions of such wire not being the
ends is left exposed, and when the box or case has been closed the
opening thereof is accomplished by taking hold of the exposed portion
of the wire and drawing it up sharply; the solder is thus cut through or
removed by the wire, and such portion of the box or case becomes
detached or partly so, as may be required.
When it is not desired to have the opening the full size of the piece
or pieces of which the box or case is composed a special cutting is
made of the desired dimensions and form, such cutting being afterwards
soldered up or otherwise secured with the wire embedded in the same
manner as before described.
Another mode I adopt for preparing for the opening of hermetically
closed cases or boxes is by making a series of perforations in a line
or lines either in a circular, oval, square, or any other convenient form
in any part of the box or case most suitable for the intended opening,
and I cover or fill up these perforations on either side with a slight
coating or solder or any other suitable material. The opening in this
plan is then made by cutting through the spaces between the
perforations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Wallace Elmslie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
WALLACE ELMSLIE, of No. 43, Parliament Street, Westminster,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edmund Wallace Elmslie, Her special
licence that I, the said Edmund Wallace Elmslie, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund Wallace

page_text: Elmslie, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HERMETICALLY CLOSED CASES AND THE
OPENING THEREOF," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edmund Wallace Elmslie, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 Edmund Wallace Elmslie, do hereby.
declare the nature of my 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 :—
My Invention refers to the manufacture of hermetically closed boxes,
cases, or cans, and the opening thereof, and refers to a method of making
them with joints that are hermetically closed, but are provided with
means of easily opening them by means of an inserted wire employed in
the manner herein-after described. The box, case, or can is made of
metal in any form or shape most convenient for the purpose to which
it is to be applied, and may be in one or more pieces, soldered or other-
wise fastened together. In one or more of the joints of the box, case,
or can is laid a wire embedded or enclosed in the solder or other material
used in the making of the joints; a portion or portions of such wire not
being the ends is left exposed, and when the box, case, or can has been
closed the opening thereof is accomplished by taking hold of the exposed
portion of the wire and drawing it up sharply. The solder is cut through
or removed by the wire, and such portion of the case or can becomes
detached or partly so as may be required.
When it is not desired to have the opening the full size of the piece.
or pieces of which the box, case, or can is composed a special cutting is
made of the desired dimensions and form, such cutting being afterwards
soldered up or otherwise secured with the wire embedded in the same
manner as before described.

page_text: In another mode I make one or both of the lids or ends of the box,.
case, or can with an overlap wherein I lay the wire, leaving a portion of
it, which in this case may be the end or ends, exposed. The lid con-
taining the wire is then soldered on to the case or can, and when the
case or can is required to be opened it is accomplished by drawing the
exposed portion of the wire through the solder or other suitable material
in the manner herein-before described with reference to the other.
Another mode I adopt for-preparing for the opening of hermetically
closed cases or cans is by making a series of perforations in a line or
lines, either in a circular, oval, square, or any other convenient form, in
any part of the case or can most suitable for the intended opening, and I
cover or fill up these perforations on either or both sides with a coating
of solder or any other suitable material. The opening in this plan is
then made by cutting through the spaces between the perforations.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose I shall refer to the several figures and letters in the annexed
Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 is a plan of an ordinary case or can generally used for pre-
serving purposes. A is the lid of the case or can; B, B, B, is the g
joint and wire embedded in solder; and E is the portion of the wire
left exposed.
"
Figure 2 is a part section of the case or can, Figure 1. A is the lid,
and B, B, the wire embedded in the solder.
Figure 3 is a section of a case or can with the wire contained in the 2
overlap C, C; D is the exposed end or loop of the wire B, B.
Figure 4 is another mode of opening the case or can by making a
special cutting therein, as indicated on plan by letters D, D, D;
and E, E, E, represents the wire.
Figure 5 is a part section of Figure 4. E, E, is the wire, and D, D,
the special opening. Lastly, when I adopt the perforations to facilitate
the opening of the case or can, such perforations may be made in the
portion of the case or can indicated by the letters D, D, D, in Figure 4,
or in any other convenient part of the box, case, or can, the holes being
hermetically closed with the solder until the case is opened by cutting or a
earing through the metal between the holes.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried
into effect, I may observe in conclusion that I do not restrict or confine
myself to the precise modifications in which my Invention is applied as
herein described, as many variations may be made therefrom to suit
various circumstances without deviating from the principle or main
features of my Invention; but 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, the peculiar mode of making the
joints of hermetically closed boxes, cases, or cans so as to render the
opening thereof easy and simple by inserting in the joint a wire or
equivalent in the manner herein set forth and described, and more
particularly illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
I also claim the mode herein described of forming an easily opened
box, case, or can by forming therein perforations which are closed with
solder, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Wallace Elmslie, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.