Improvements in and relating to Metal Canisters and Cases.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Metal Canisters and Cases.
We, GEORGE WISTON BAKER, Physician and Surgeon, of Mayfield, Lordship Lane,
Dulwich, London, S.E., and COLIN LEONARD HOLDERNESS, Correspondent, at Messrs.
Parke Davis & Co., Manufacturing Chemists, 21 North Audley Street, London, W.,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows.
This invention relates to metal canisters and cases, especially of the kind in which
a wire contained therein or thereon, on being pulled at one end, cuts or forces its
way through the substance of the canister or case, thereby detaching wholly or
partially a piece of the same, so as to render the contents accessible.
We will hereinafter refer to such a canister or case as a "tin," the term commonly
applied to these receptacles, when used for containing small quantities of preserved
goods, such as meat, fruit, condensed milk, or the like.
Our improvements consist of a simple, effective, and expeditious method of
applying and retaining in position the cutting wire, by which not only is a great
saving of time effected in putting together and scaling the tin, but greater facility
in the actual opening or cutting of the tin is attained.
According to our invention, the rim of the lid, before being applied to the body
of the tin, is severed from a point at the lower edge to a point at the top of the
bulging, where it terminates in a short fine cross cut ending in a perforation, of the
same gauge as the wire; or a similar fine slit may be produced by cutting out a
wedge shaped piece from the border of the sheet or disc before it is pressed or bent
up to form the rim of the lid.
Instead of having to thread the wire through a hole in the circumferential
bulging, in order that it may be in position for cutting or opening the tin, we are
enabled by our invention to prepare and finish off the wires beforehand and after-
wards attach them to the tin in the manner hereinafter described. Each wire is
doubled over itself at one end for about inch, and is of sufficient length to pass
around the circumference of the tin and leave the other end projecting, said end
being looped or provided with a convenient form of attachment, such as a bar, ring
or equivalent.
The body of the tin is preferably grooved near to its edge, and the wire is laid
therein, the doubled end being first hooked in a V shaped niche cut out of the edge,
so as to allow it to jamb, and while the tin is being held in the left hand, the right
may be employed in bringing the wire round the circumference nearly as far as the
point of starting. At this particular point are two small slots of a depth to suit the
width of the rim of the lid, and the wire is slipped behind the tongue so formed,
whereby it is held in position for the lid to be put on, which is the next stage in the
operation.
On the lid being applied with its slit somewhere near the loose end of the wire, the
latter will almost adjust itself into position, the slit expanding sufficiently to permit
the wire to travel up into the small perforation before mentioned, which, being of
the exact gauge of the wire, closes tightly, as does the slit in the rim and fine cross

page_text: cut also, a perfectly air-tight joint being ensured by soldering the lid on in the
usual way.
The end of the wire containing the loop or attachment or equivalent may then be
turned over on to the surface of the lid, or a narrow channel terminating in a ring or
other shape adapted to fit the loop or other equivalent device may be formed for
receiving this end of the wire or attachment.
The tin is opened by releasing the attachment or equivalent, and giving the wire
a pull upwards (in the case of a loop, by placing therein a pencil, piece of wood, key,
or the like, if more convenient), after the manner of drawing a cork from a bottle,
when the wire will sever the tin clean round its edge, or, if considered advisable,
leaving a quarter of an inch to serve as a hinge.
It is to be particularly noted that, by our invention, we obtain the advantage of
having a wire within the lid itself, instead of merely around the body of the tin.
Thus, we hook the end of the wire in the slit in the rim, pass it round into the
concavity made by the bulging on the outer surface of the lid, until it comes round
again to the point where the hook was inserted, the looped en of the wire is then
drawn through the slit into its own perforation, both ends of the wire being thus
effectually jambed into position. The perforations and slit will then be soldered in
the ordinary process of soldering.
In very thick tins where more leverage power is required in cutting the tin open,
the method then employed should be by a "T" shaped piece of metal known as a
key. This is so nicked as to allow the wire to fix itself so that the act of turning
the key will cut the tin every time.
The above improvements are applicable to cases or canisters of any shape.
STANLEY, POPPLEWELL & Co.,
7 and 8 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London,
Chartered Patent Agents.
Improvements in and relating to Metal Canisters and Cases.
We, GEORGE WISTON BAKER, Physician and Surgeon, of Mayfield, Lordship Laue,
Dulwich, London, S.E., and COLIN LEONARD HOLDERNESS, Correspondent, at Messrs.
Parke Davis & Co., Manufacturing Chemists, 21, North Audley Street, London, W.,
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.
This invention relates to metal canisters and cases, especially of the kind in which
a wire contained therein or thereon, on being pulled at one end, cuts or forces its
way through the substance of the canister or case, thereby detaching wholly or
partially a piece of the same so as to render the contents accessible.
We will hereinafter refer to such a canister or case as a "tin," the term commonly
applied to these receptacles, when used for containing small quantities of preserved
goods, such as meat, fruit, condensed milk, or the like.
Our improvements consist of a simple, effective, and expeditious method of
applying and retaining in position the cutting wire, by which not only is a great
saving of time effected in putting together and sealing the tin, but greater facility
in the actual opening or cutting of the tin is attained.
On the accompanying sheet of drawings are shown six figures illustrating our
invention.

page_text: Figure 1 is a view showing the upper end of a so-called "tin" to which has been
applied the cutting wire now ready in position for the lid to be introduced and
soldered.
Figure 2 is a separate view of said cutting wire.
Figure 3 is an interior edge view showing the wire lying within the bulging when
the lid is secured upon the tin" as hereinafter described.
Figure 4 is an interior edge view of the lid showing the cutting wire fitted
thereto according to a modification of our said invention.
Figure 5 is a plan of part of same.
Figure 6 is an elevation of the upper end of the "tin" when sealed down ready
for storage or transport.
According to our invention, instead of having to thread the wire through a hole in
the circumferential bulging, in order that it may be in position for cutting or opening
the tin, we are enabled by our invention to prepare and finish off the wires A before-
hand and afterwards attach them to the tin B in the manner hereinafter described.
Each wire A is doubled over itself at one end for about inch, as shown by C,
Figures 1 and 2, and is of sufficient length to pass around the circumference of the
tin B and leave the other end projecting, said end being looped as at D or provided
with a convenient form of attachment, such as a bar, ring or equivalent.
The body of the tin B is preferably groovel near to its edge, as at E, and the wire A is
laid therein, the doubled end C being first hooked in a V-shaped niche F cut out of
the edge, so as to allow it to jamb, and while the tin is being held in the left hand,
the right may be employed in bringing the wire A round the circumference nearly
as far as the point of starting. At this particular point are two small slots G G of a
depth to suit the width of the rin of the lid, and the wire is slipped behind the
tongue G'so formed, whereby it is held in position for the lid to be put on, which is
the next stage in the operation. Instead of the niche F and slots GG, we may
provide a single slot or niche into which the hooked end of the wire may engage and,
after being passed around the circumference of the tin, be held temporarily so as to
leave one hand at liberty for reaching and applying the lid.
The rim H of the lid, Figures 3 and 4, before being applied to the body of the
tin B, is severed from a point at the lower edge to a point at the top of the bulging
as shown by J, Figure 3, where it terminates in a perforation, of the same gauge as
the wire A, or a similar fine slit may be produced by cutting out a wedge shaped
piece from the border of the sheet or disc before it is pressed or bent up to form the
rin of the lid.
On the lid being applied with its slit J somewhere near the loose end of the
wire A, the latter will almost adjust itself into position, said slit. J expanding
sufficiently to permit the wire A to travel up into the small perforation before
mentioned, which, being of the exact gauge of the wire, closes tightly, as does the
slit J in the rim a perfectly air-tight joint being ensured by soldering the lid on in
the usual way.
As a modification of our invention, we propose to have the cutting wire attached
to the inside of the lid itself instead of around the body of the tin. According to
this method which is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, we hook the end C of the wire A
in the slit J of the rim H, pass it round into the concavity of the bulging at the
edge of said lid, until it comes round again to the slit J or to another slit.
specially provided near to the point where the hook C was inserted, and the free
end of the wire is then drawn through the slit into the perforation which is
sufficiently large to embrace said wire, the latter being thus effectually jainbed or
held in position. The slit and perforation may then be soldered by the ordinary
process of soldering, and it will be seen that by this method, a lid already Turnished
with a cutting wire may be supplied for use upon tins or canisters of any ordinary or
other pattern without previous preparation. It is advisable, however, though not
absolutely necessary that the rim of the lid he made as shallow as possible, and
the stamping or dishing should be fairly deep so as to present a sufficiently broad

page_text: surface for winding the wire upon, thus facilitating the operation of fitting the wire
in position.
The end of the wire A containing the loop D or attachment or equivalent may
then be turned over on to the side of the tin, as shown by Figure 6 or on to the
surface of the lid, or a narrow channel terminating in a ring, or other shape
adapted to fit the loop or other equivalent device, may be formed for receiving this
end of the wire or attachment.
We prefer that the bulging at the bending of the rim with the top of the lid should
be made so that (in section) its apex lies as closely as possible in line with the
upturned rin, for where the circumference of the bulging is considerably less than
that of the riin, the cut is neither so regular nor so easily formed.
The tin is opened by releasing the loop D or attachment or equivalent, and giving
the wire A a pull upwards (in the case of a loop, by placing therein a pencil, piece of
wood, key, or the like, if more convenient,) after the manner of drawing a cork from
a bottle, when the wire A will sever the tin clean round its edge, leaving, if con-
sidered advisable, a quarter of an inch to serve as a hinge.
In very thick tins where more leverage power is required in cutting the tin open,
the method then employed should be by a "T" shaped piece of metal known as a
key. This is so nicked as to allow the wire to fix itself so that the act of turning the
key will cut the tin every time.
The above improvements are applicable to cases or canisters of any shape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. In metal canisters and cases in or upon which is employed a cutting wire the
method of severing or providing a slit within the rim of the lid, said slit terminating
in a hole equal to the gauge of the cutting wire or thereabouts whereby said wire not
requiring to be threaded may be hooked, looped or otherwise finished off or prepared
previously to being applied to the metal canister or case substantially in the manner
hereinbefore described.
2. The method of applying a cutting wire to metal canisters and cases and retaining
the same in position while the lid is being applied the rim of latter being severed or
slotted in order to allow of said wire to project from the bulging in said lid without
any necessity for threading the wire through a hole, thereby enabling the wire to be
hooked, looped or otherwise finished off or prepared beforehand substantially in the
manner herein before described.
3. The method of applying a cutting wire to the lids of canisters and cases,
whereby a lid already furnished with a cutting wire may be provided for use upor
tins, canisters or cases of any desired pattern, substantially as herein before described.
4. The improvements in and relating to metal canisters and cases substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings.
Dated this 9th day of August. 1897
STANLEY, POPPLEWELL & CO.,
7 and 8 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London,
Chartered Patent Agents, Agents for the Applicant.