US2404777A

US2404777A - Container and closure therefor

Info

Publication number: US2404777A
Application number: US428731A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter S Gaines
Original assignee: Republic Industries Inc
Current assignee: Republic Industries Inc
Priority date: 1942-01-29
Filing date: 1942-01-29
Publication date: 1946-07-30
Anticipated expiration: 1963-07-30

Description

Jmiy 30, 1946 w. s. GAINES CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 29, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- ammwg W. S. GAINES CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR July 30, 1946.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1942 Patented July 30, 1946 2,404,777 CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Walter S. Gaines, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Republic Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 29, 1942, Serial No. 428,731

1 Claim. (01. 220-61) This invention relates to containers and particularly to containers of the class having walls coated with vitreous enamel, and provided with closures Operable to close and seal, or open, the same.

One of the particularly useful applications of the invention herein to be described is to the containers of chemical fire extinguishers; and the invention will therefore, for illustrative purposes, be described herein as applied to that use, although as Will become apparent hereinafter some of the features of the invention, such for example as the container closure, are applicable to other classes of containers.

The corrosion-proof properties of a vitreousenamel-coated container adapts it obviously to the field of chemical fire extinguishers, but its application to such use introduces problems to be solved, the most difficult of solution being the provision of a practical corrosion-proof closure which can be manually operated to seal the container after it has been charged and to unseal it and seal it again repeatedly when the charge is to be renewed. The problems arise from the fact that the vitreous enamel coating prohibits the use of the usual conventional simple threaded closure, because it is diilicult if not impossible to coat the wall of the container so as not to leave bare corrodable metal adjacent the threads, and because when the wall of the container is made of thin steel for purposes of economical manufacture, threads of suificient depth and strength cannot be formed on it; and if the thin steel enamel-coated wall is put under any considerable bending stress by operating the closure construction, it will crack the enamel coat and destroy its corrosion-proof usefulness.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention:

To provide generally an improved enamelcoated steel container;

To provide an enamel-coated steel container having an improved sealing closure which may be opened and closed;

To provide generally an improved sealing closure for enamel-coated containers;

To provide an improved construction of fire extinguisher container and closure therefor;

To provide an improved construction of sealing gasket for the closure of a container.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

the fire extinguisher type embodying my invention and with a part broken away for convenience of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken from the plane 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a. fragmentary longitudinal sectional view. of a lower corner of the container of Fig. 1, and the View may be referred to the plane 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but referred to the plane 8-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a View illustrating a part which is broken away from Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view to enlarged scale approximately full scale, taken from the plane 88 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 8 showing a part in a different operative condition.

Referring now to the drawings, Figs. 1 to 9 inclusive, there is shown generally at I the main body wall of the container, the upper end of which is Open, and terminating in an outwardly flaring flange i, which for purposes to be described, is generally of frusto-conical form; and preferably, between the main body and the flange 2, the diameter of the body is reduced to form a, neck 3.

For purposes of economy the wall of the body is fabricated from sheet steel; and to render the inner wall surfaces corrosion-proof, they are coated with vitreous enamel; and for the sake of appearances as well as to avoid discoloration and rust, the exterior surfaces of the body are also coated with vitreous enamel, and to this end the enamel coat is preferably continuous over the inner and outer surfaces of the body wall.

The lower end of the body is closed by a bottom 3, press-formed from sheet steel, and inserted within the side wall of the body and sealedly joined thereto as will be described.

Th enamel coat on the outside of the body wall 6, neck 3 and flange 2 is shown at 5, Figs. 5 and 8, and on the inside thereof at 6; and the enamel coat on the inside and outside of the. bottom l is shown, in Fig. 5, at 1 and 8 respectively.

The bottom wall, which as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 is 01 downwardly concave dished form, has a peripheral skirt or flange 9 telescoped into the lower end of the side wall I. The juncture between this skirt and side wall is indicated gen-.

erally in Fig. 5, and may be variously constructed and constitutes no essential part of the present invention, and one particular method of making this form of juncture is illustrated and described more completely in the co-pending application of Gaines and Meyers, Serial No. 390,631, filed April 26, 1941 to which reference may be had. But it may be noted here that the skirt 9 of the bottom, and the lower portion of the side wall I, are integrally connected by welding material at 10 and that the outer enamel coats and -8, Fig. 5, may, if desired, be formed continuously over the welding material I8; and that between the body wall juncture is made mechanically rigid and strong and whereby there is no point on the inner wall surfaces of the container at the juncture that are not protected by corrosion-proof material.

To further protect the juncture, and to give it a more finished appearance, and to cushion it against shocks which might crack the enamel in the event that the container is roughly handled, the lower end of the container, which, as will be apparent from Figs. 1 and 5, is generally tubular, is embraced by a channel of rubber or like material l2, pro-molded to shape and pressed upon and gripping the said tubular end of the container, see Figs. 5 and 4.

It is usually desirable to provide containers of this fire extinguisher type with a handle grip on or within the bottom thereof, and such a handle carrying at their upper ends a pair of-ring sectors 2!l--20, one of the ring sectors having connected thereto a loop hanger 21.

Each of the sectors I6, its posts Ill-l9, and its ring sector 22, may be formed all in one piece either by casting the same or by welding the parts thereof integrally together; and the purpose of making two such assemblies separate from each other as described and as plainly indicated in Figs. 1 to 3, will now be considered in connection with the closure for the upper end of the container.

At 22, see Fig. 8, is a cover element, preferably in the form of a steel disc, enamel coated inside and outside as at 23 and 24 respectively. The peripheral portion 25 of the disc slopes oppositely to the slope of the flange 2, and this may conveniently be provided by making the disc 22 of or grip is shownat 13 Figs, 1, l, 6. It consists of a strap or rod of metal extending diametrically in Fig. 6, the said end portions 14 being bent down wardly to lie generally parallel to the skirt 9 of the bottom, and th lower end thereof being integrally joined to the skirt 9 and the side wall I by the weldin material ill. The rubber channel l2 embraces the end portion IA of the handle asshown in Fig. 6.

Projecting from the side of the container and integrally joined with the side wall I is a tubular spout i5 over which the usual flexible hose of the fire extinguisher may be telescoped and attached; and as will be understood without further illustration and description, such spout will be attached, for example by welding, to the wall I before the enamel coats are applied whereby the spout may be enamelled both inside andoutside with enamel coats continuous with the outside and inside coatsof the body; such a spout being shown in detail in Fig. 7 and illustrated as broken off in Fig l.

Custom and commerce demand that the upper end of a fire extinguisher of this class be provided with an annulus or ring which serves both as a carrying handle, and as a support upon which the fire extinguisher may stand when turned upside down for use; and a hanger by which it may be supported right side up on a hook or the like when not in use; and a closure to seal the container; and these features which have been incorporated in the present invention will now be described.

dish form; and preferably the cone angle of the cover portion 25 is made approximately the same as the cone angle of the frusto-conical flange 2 of thebody.

The inner confronting portions of the sectors Iii-l6 are generally of channel form, as plainly shown in Fig. 8, the flanges of the channel having'frusto-conical surfaces 2626 and 212'| corresponding approximately to the form of the frusto-conical flange 2 and disc portion 25 respectively.

With such a construction, and as will now be apparent, when the bolts l8|8, referred to in connection with Figs. 1 and 3, draw the sectors I6--l5 toward each other, the peripheral portion 25 of the cover will be drawn towardthe flange 2 with a wedging action; and this is utilized to mount the cover 22 on the container and to seal it upon the flange 2 as follows.

Referring to Fig. 9, a gasket or sealing device shown generally at 28 is made of pliable, yieldable, corrosion-proof material, and preferably of a malleable metal such as lead. The gasket 28 is preformed from sheet material into the general form of an annulus, and comprising axially aligned tubular portions 29 and 3f); integralwith an intermediate portion 3| extending inwardly radially, and which in cross-section is of loop form as shown in Fig. 9.

Before putting on the cover 22, one of the tubular portions, for example the tubular portion 30 is telescoped downwardly over the flange 2, and is of such internal diameter as to substantially fit the periphery of the flange. The loop 3| then lies upon the enamel coat 6 of the flange; The cover 22 is then put into position by telescoping it within the other tubular part 29 of the gasket as shown in Fig. 9, and substantially fits therewithin, and rests upon the loop 3| of the gasket. The

tubular portions

29 and 30 are then bent inwardly and caused to conform respectively to the enamel coats 24 and 5 externally of the cover 2| and flange 2, being finally in the condition shown in Fig. 8.

The wedging sectors IBIB are then put into the position of Fig. 8 and the said bolts l8 are mounted in the ears IT as described for Figs. 1 and 3, and the bolts 18 are then drawn up tight- I ly, drawing the sectors Iii-l6 toward each other,

The closure, externally considered, and as causing them to exert the aforesaid wedging action. The wedging action, as will be apparent,

tightly clamps the walls of the loop 31 together upon each other and thereby rigidly mounts the cover 22 on the container end. It will also be observed from an inspection of Fig. 8 that the enamel coats on both the outer and inner walls of both the flange 2 and the cover element 22 are subjected to the wedging pressure and this produces liquid and pressureproof seals thereat; and that these coats are protected from being mutilated or cracked by the pressure, by the yieldable property of the gasket material.

Various materials may be used for the gasket, but as stated, lead is preferred because it is corrosion-proof, and because, being malleable, it may readily be bent to conform to the frusto-conical shape of the cover and the flange, when the cover is put on as described, so that this operation may be performed by hand; and because it will retain its original form of Fig. 9, which facilitates the assembling operation.

To unseal the container and remove the cover 22 for the purposes mentioned, the portion 29 of the gasket, after removing the clamping sectors Iii-46, may be again bent upwardly into tubular form, and the cover 22 then lifted out;

and after the charge in the fire extinguisher has been inspected or renewed, the cover may be again replaced and the gasket again restored to its sealing condition and the Wedging sectors I6--l 6 again assembled and drawn up tight. And in this manner the cover may be unsealed and removed and again put on and sealed, repeatedly, the malleable property of lead, when lead is used for the gasket, providing the durability desirable in the gasket when thus repeatedly formed and deformed.

It will be observed that notwithstanding that seal is effected by pressure engagement between the gasket and the enamel coats on the container and the cover, it is effected in such manner that there is no liability that the steel coated partswill bend and crack the enamel.

While all of the advantages and improvements set forth hereinbefore may be embodied in a container and closure having enamel coated walls, some of the advantages and improvements may be utilized in containers and closures in which the walls are not coated at all, or in which they are coated with coatings that are not non-corrosive.

The invention is not limited in all of its features to the exact details of construction illustrated and described. Changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention without sacrificing its advantages and within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A sealing closure for the opening of a steelwalled vessel having an outwardly and upwardly flaring frusto-conical flange surrounding the opening, and a coat of vitreous enamel on the inside of the vessel extending outwardly over the flange; a yieldable sealing gasket of generally annular form having its mid-zone folded inwardly on such enamelled flange and its lower margin turned under the flange; a cover overlying the opening and having a peripheral frustoconical portion; a coat of enamel on the portion of the cover engaging the gasket, said gasket having its upper margin folded over onto the top of the cover; and means to force the cover toward the opening to sealingly press the margins of the gasket against the under surface of the flange and the top surface of the cover and press its mid-zone between the enamel-coated surfaces of the flange and cover.

WALTER S. GAINES.