US1954748A - Metal container - Google Patents

Description

April 10, 1934. l w. F. PUNTE ET AL uEgrAL CONTAINED Filed Jan. 5, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 Am 6. Killian: E'Buhi'g? Chat 1e: JAulbach, 1 MPPx;

April 10, 1934. w. F. PUNTE Er AL 1,954,748

METAL CONTAINER Filed Jan. 3, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I o I 25 Fig.4. 21

12 7 VACUUM 6 4 3mm VfilZiamEBunZ'e, Chades .IAuZIgach are Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,054,748 METAL CONTAINER William F. Punte and Charles J. Aulbach, Syracuse, N. Y., assignors to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a metal container and more particularly to a container having means whereby it may be readily sealed after the container has been placed under vacuum.

In the patent granted to James T. ONeil August 25, 1931, No. 1,820,481, there is shown and described a container and method of vacuumizing the same. I1. this container there is an aperture in the wall thereof through which the interior of the container is placed under vacuum. Within the pocket formed in the wall of the container is a sealing material so disposed that when the pocket is deformed the sealing material will close the aperture through which the vacuum is drawn on the container. The present invention has to do with improvements in the type of container shown in this patent.

An object of the invention is to provide a container wherein the sealing material for closing the aperture in the container is on the exterior of the container, and so disposed relative to the aperture in the wall of the container that atmospheric pressure against the sealing material will close said aperture.

A further object of the invention is to provide a metal container of the above type wherein there is a metal part exterior of the sealing material which may be deformed for forcing the sealing material into the aperture for permanently sealing the container.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In Figure 1 of the drawings there is shown a container embodying the improvements and a portion of an apparatus for vacuumizing the container and permanently sealing the same.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the container.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the container.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the closing means as having deformed the metal and sealed the opening through which the vacuum was drawn.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view through the sealed container.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a portion of the sealed container.

In carrying out the invention a container is constructed which includes a body portion having the ends joined thereto by double seaming. One wall of the container, preferably one of the end walls, is provided with an opening through which the interior of the container can be placed under vacuum. On the outer face of the container and overlying said opening is a disk of sealing material, preferably rubber, which has openings there through staggered relative to the opening in the container, so that when the container is placed under vacuum atmospheric pressure against the outer face of the sealing disk or valve will temporarily close the aperture or opening in the end of the container. Attached to the container, and

housing this sealing disk, is a metal cap also provided with openings so as to permit the vacuum to be drawn on the interior of the container. A die-punch is provided for deforming or shaping this cap so as to force the sealing disk underlying the same into the aperture and permanently close the aperture, and thus seal the container. This punch as shown is associated with the head through which a vacuum' is drawn on the container. It may be operated so as to seal the container before the container in the region of the opening or aperture therethrough is exposed to atmospheric pressure.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the container includes a body portion 1 having an end 2 secured'thereto by the usual double seam 3. There is a bottom end similarly secured to the container. The double seams each are provided with a sealing material so thatthe joints between the ends and the body of the container are sealed.

The end 2 is shaped so as to provide an inset portion 4 having an annular pocket 5 and a central dome-shaped portion 6. At the center of this dome-shaped portion 6 the metal is bent in wardly to form a recess 7, and an opening or aperture 8 is provided in the bottom wall of this recess.

A metal cap or housing 9 has attached thereto an elastic disk 10, preferably of rubber. This housing 9 is shaped so as to provide an annular shoulder 11. The sealing disk 10 is placed thereagainst and the edge portion 12 of the housing is rolled or curled inwardly so as to bear against the sealing disk and firmly clamp the same against the shoulder 11. The sealing disk is provided with openings l3, l3 therethrough. The housing or cap 9 is provided with openings 14. This cap or housing carrying the elastic disk 10 is placed on the container with the rolled portion of the housing in the pocket 5. The metal of the container end is then forced inwardly at 15 so as to overlie the outer wall forming the shoulder 11, and this firmly unites the housingor cap 9 to the container end. The dome-shaped portion 6 projects upwardly into the cap and contacts with the disk stretching the same so that normally it is in tight contact with the upper face of the domeshaped portion 6.

There is sufficient room between the top of the cap and the dome so that the flexible disk 10 may be lifted from contact with the dome when the air 'or gas within the container is forcibly extracted therefrom through a vacuum creating apparatus.

. The punch 22 has a cylindrical shank 23 fitting the bearing 21 and having a sealed connection thereto. At the lower end of the punch is a tapered portion 24.

The head 16 is placed in contact with the end wall of the container and engages said wall so that the cap or housing 9 is enclosed within the chamber 18. When the vacuum creating apparatus is connected to this head 16 air or gas will be drawn from the container passing out through the aperture 8, thence through the openings 13 in the sealing disk which are staggered relative to the aperture 8, and thence through the openings 14 in the top wall of the casing or housing 9. This lifts the disk out of contact with the dome 6 as shown in Figure 1 and the container may be placed under vacuum. If the vacuum closing head is removed from the container, atmospheric pressure through the air entering the openings 14 and bearing against the outer face of the disk will force said disk against the -dome and close the aperture 8 so that the container will be retained under the vacuum placed thereon even after the vacuum head has been removed. It may be desirable, however, to permanently close the aperture before removing the vacuum head, and this can be accomplished by forcing the punch downward against the casing or housing 9 and deforming the same so as to force the central portion 25 of the disk into the recess 7 as clearly shown in Figures 4 to 6. When the punch is removed, the metal will retain its deformed position as shown in Figures 5 and 6, and this will hold the sealing material in the recess '7 so as to close and permanently seal the container. The container as shown in Figures 2 and 3, where it is temporarily sealed by the atmospheric pressure on the outer face of the disk, may also be permanently sealed through the operation of the punch such as that shown in connection with the vacuum head. All that is necessary is to deform a central portion of the cap 9 so as to press the sealing disk into the recess I as shown in Figures 5 and 6.

It will be noted from the above description that the sealing disk is on the exterior of the.end wall of the container so that the contents of the container has little contact therewith. It will also be noted that the sealing disk is attached to the casing or housing forming a unit therewith prior to its attachment to the container, and this greatly aids in the assembling of the parts. Again it will be noted that the cap or housing carrying the sealing disk is attached to the container end merely by a bending of the metal in the container end. No solder whatever is used in the forming of applicants container or in the sealing of the same. It will also be noted that applicants container does not have to be sealed permanently while it is still under the influence of the vacuum creating means. It may be disconnected therefrom and retain its vacuum through the atmospheric pressure bearing on the sealing disk until said container is subjected to a separate closing operation for deforming the metal and permanently sealing the container.

It will be obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A container comprising a body portion having ends joined thereto by seaming, one of said ends having a depression formed therein, the

bottom wall of which is domed outwardly and provided with an aperture, a cap having an elastic sealing disk attached thereto secured in said depression, said sealing disk having openings therethrough out of alinement with the aperture in the container so that when said disk is pressed against the dome the aperture will be closed, said cap at the upper portion thereof being normally spaced from said sealing disk and being adapted when deformed inwardly to permanently clamp said sealing disk against the dome for closing the aperture and sealing the container.

2. A container comprising a body portion having ends joined thereto by seaming, one of said ends having a depression centrally thereof, the bottom wall of which is domed outwardly and provided with an inwardly bent portion forming a recess centrally of the dome, said recess portion having an aperture in the bottom wall thereof, a cap and an elastic sealing disk secured to said cap by a bending of the metal of the cap, said disk having openings out of alinement with the aperture in the end and said cap having openings, said cap having the outer wall thereof normally spaced from the dome so as to permit the disk to move away from the dome and a vacuum to be drawn on the container, said wall being adapted when deformed inwardly to press the sealing disk intothe recess for permanently closing the opening and sealing the container.

WILLIAM F. PUNTE. CHARLES J. AULBACH.

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