Patent ID: 7743962

Claim:
A method of producing a closed container with a tight and mechanically strong seal by fastening together: a metal body having an axis with a shape that is one of cylindrical and prismatic, said body having a base with at least one axial wall parallel to said axis and an open top axial end; and a metal cover having an axis coaxial with said axis of said body and at least one end wall parallel to said axis, said end wall of said cover to be positioned at said top axial end of said body facing said at least one axial wall of said body; wherein at least one of said body and said cover includes a docking guide having a groove therein, said groove including a degassing chimney; wherein at least one of said body and said cover includes a degassing vent; and wherein the method comprises the following steps, carried out in a hostile environment in an automated manner, under remote control; docking said body and said cover so that said axial wall of said body in the vicinity of said open top thereof and said end wall of said cover face each other and are maintained in contact, said docking being performed by guiding said cover and body together by said docking guide; producing a continuous penetrative weld over the entire periphery of said cover and said body at the ends of their respective walls which are maintained in contact, said weld being produced by open jet plasma with melt-bath back cover, wherein said open jet opens into said groove; limiting the internal overpressure in the container produced; and blanking off said degassing vent after said weld has been produced.