US2268297A

US2268297A - Closure means for sealing vacuumized containers

Info

Publication number: US2268297A
Application number: US339177A
Authority: US
Inventors: James H O'neil
Original assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Current assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Priority date: 1940-06-06
Filing date: 1940-06-06
Publication date: 1941-12-30
Anticipated expiration: 1958-12-30

Description

30, 1941. J, H, Q'NEIL 2,268,297

CLOSURE MEANS FOR SEALING VACUUMIZED CONTAINERS Filed June 6, 1940 flrromvsys Patented Dec. 30, 1941 CLOSURE MEANS FOR SEALING VACUUM- IZED CONTAINERS James H. ONeil, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application June s, 1940, Serial No. 339,111

3 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a sheet metal container which is particularly adapted for packaging dry products in vacuum. t

An object of the invention is to provide a sheet I metal container having an opening in the closure end whereby a vacuum may be drawn on the container after it is filled and closed, with a closure member for said opening which is loosely attached to the end as a unit so as to permit a vacuum to be drawn on the container through the opening, and which may be solder-bonded to the end for sealing the container while said container is under vacuum.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closure member for the opening in the container end of the above type, wherein said closure member is provided with a shank extending through said opening, which shank is spread and clinched to the end for loosely holding the closure member associated with the end as 'a unit.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a closure member of the above type which has a depending peripheral portion coated with solder so that when heat is applied to said perlpheral portion, the closure member will be solder-bonded to the container end at a distance away from the opening so as to prevent molten solder from passing through the opening into the container.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a container closure means of the above type wherein the metal in the end surrounding said opening is bent upwardly so as to provide a dam for preventing the molten solder from passing through the opening into the container when the closure member is solder-bonded to the end.

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

In the drawing which shOWs by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention- Figure 1 is a sectional view through the upper portion of a container which has been sealed by my improved closure means after a vacuum has been drawn thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the container end and the closure cap before the shank of the cap has been expanded to secure the same loosely to the container end;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but showing the shank portion of the closure cap expanded into a position which holds the closure cap associated with the end as a unit, the closure member being shown as raised by the vacuum pull during the vacuumizing of the container;

Fig. 4 i a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the closure member as solderbonded in sealed engagement with the container end;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the closure member before it is attached to the container end, and

Fig. 6 is a bottom view similar to Figure 5, but showing the expanding of the hollow shank for clinching the same to the container end.

The invention as shown, is applied to a sheet metal container which includes a body portion l to which the bottom end, not shown, is secured by the ordinary double seam. After the container is filled, it is then closed by double-seaming an end 2 with the closure cap loosely attached thereto, to the container. This closure end 2 has a depressed portion 3, preferably at the center thereof. The depressed portion 3 is surrounded by a substantially vertical wall 4. At the center of the depressed portion is an opening 5, and the metal surrounding the opening is turned upwardly as indicated at 6. This may be produced at the time of punching the opening. Associated with the end is a closure member 1 which is in the form 0! a cap which is of much larger diameter than the opening and preferably of substantially the same diameter as the depression in the end, so that said cap will loosely slip into the depression.' The cap has a solid or imperforate head, and a hollow shank 8 which i split as indicated at 8, 9. This hollow shank is of considerably less diameter than the opening 5. A 010- sure member is attached to the end as a unit by extending the shank through the opening as shown in Figure 2, after which the shank is spread to the position shownin Figure 3.- The out-turned flange l0 formed by the spreading of the shank provides a holding member which is of larger diameter than the opening through the end. This spreading of the shank does not force the same tightly against the end so that the closure member has a limited endwise movement, but remains associated with the end as a unit.

The closure member on its outer face is preferably dome-shaped and at its peripheral edge has a depending portion ll. There is also a depending annular rib I2 disposed inwardly from the peripheral portion II, but outwardly from the raised portion 6 surrounding the opening 5. The closure member 1 is made up in the shape of a rivet before it is attached to the end 2 and is preferably coated inside and out with tin. While a coating of tin is specifically mentioned, any other non-corrosive metal which will alloy with solder might be used as a coating, or the rivet could be formed as a solid unit of such an alloy. The member 1 is finally coated with solder in the region of its peripheral edge as indicated at 13, in the drawings, and loosely attached to the end 2.

The container is filled with the product after which the end 2 with the closure member I loosely attached thereto is double-seamed thereto. The container by any suitable means is then placed under vacuum. Preferably the container is placed in a bell or a vacuum chamber and the air and gases drawn from the container through the opening 5. The closure member is at this time loosely attached to the end and will raise to the position shown in Figure 3. The air and gases will pass out through the

slots

9, 9 in the shank and from beneath the head of the closure member. When the vacuum on the container reaches the same degree as the vacuum on the chamber, then the closure member will descend into engagement with the container end. Disposed in the vacuum chamber is a soldering iron which is preferably so shaped as to contact with the closure member in the region of the peripheral portion only. The soldering iron is pressed against the closure member, and thus heat is ap plied to the solder-coated region of the periphery of the closure member, which solder will be melted and caused to flow down into the depression in the end, as shown in Figure 4, and thus the closure member is solder-bonded to the end and the opening sealed.

The closure member is of considerably larger diameter than the opening, and therefore, the

solder bond which is located at the peripheral portion of the closure member is some distance from the opening and is not likely to flow to any great extent toward the opening. The annular rib I2 will serve to restrict the flow of the molten solder toward the opening, and the solder should pass this annular rib, then the raised portion 6 will serveas a positive dam for preventing any solder passing into the container.

My improved closure means for a container which is sealed in vacuum is particularly adapted for a dry product or any product which becomes staple under the action of vacuum before applying the hot soldering iron to seal the container. While solder is described as applied to the peripheral edge portion of the cap, it will be understood that the solder may be otherwise applied to the cap or the end, the essential feature being that the solder shall be present for the bonding of the cap to the container end for sealing the same, after the vacuum has been drawn on the container, and so applied as not to pass into the container during the solder bonding of the cap. While a solder bond is described as means for sealing the cap, it will be understood that the cap ,may be welded to the end for sealing the container.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

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

1. A sheet metal container having ends seamed thereto, one of said ends having an opening therethrough permitting a vacuum to be drawn on the container after it is filled and the closing end attached thereto, a metal closure cap overlying said opening, said cap having means whereby it is initially loosely attached to the end, the head of said cap being imperforate and larger than the opening whereby said cap may be solder-bonded at the peripheral portion thereof to said end while the container is under vacuum for sealing the same, said closure cap having a depending peripheral portion and an annular rib on its under face spaced from said peripheral portion and surrounding said opening, said closure cap being coated with a non-corrosive metal such as tin and having the peripheral edge thereof coated with solder'so that when a solder iron is applied to the peripheral portion thereof, the closure cap will be solder-bonded to the can end and the molten solder will be restrained by said rib so as to prevent the solder from flowing through the opening into the container.

2. A sheet metal container having ends seamed thereto, one of said ends having an opening therethrough permitting a vacuum to be drawn on the container after it is filled and the closing end attached thereto, a metal closure cap overlying said opening, said cap having means whereby it is initially loosely attached to the end, the head of said cap being imperiprate and larger than the opening whereby said cap may be solc'ienoonded at the peripheral portion thereof to said end while the container is under vacuum for sealing the same, said container end having a depression surrounding said opening with the metal at the edge of the opening turned upward, and

on and an annular rib on the under face disposed between said peripheral portion and. 1e upturned edge portion at the opening, said closure cap being coated with a non-corrosive metal such as tin and having the peripheral edge thereof coated with solder whereby when a soldering iron is applied to the peripheral portion, said cap will be solder-bonded to the end.

A sheet metal container having ends seamed thereto, one of said ends having an opening therethrough permitting a vacuum to be drawn on container after it is filled and the closing end attached thereto, a metal closure cap overlying said opening, said cap having a hollow shank extending loosely through said opening, said hollow shank being split and the ends thereof turned outward to form a holding flange of larger diameter than the opening, which flange is initially out of contact with the end so as to permit said closure cap to move away from the end when a vacuum is drawn on said container, said end having a depression surrounding said opening with the edge portion of the metal at the opening turned upward, said closure cap having 9. depending peripheral portion and an annular rib on its under face disposed between said peripheral portion and the upturned edge at the opening, said closure cap being coated with a non-corrosive metal such as tin and having the peripheral edge thereof coated with solder whereby when a soldering iron is applied to said peripheral portion, the cap will be solder-bonded to the end, said annular rib-and upturned edge portion at the opening preventing any solder from flowing through the opening into the container.

JAMES H. O'NEIL.

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