US783167A - Device for protecting fruit in cans. - Google Patents

Description

No. 783,167. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

- T. T. ATKINSONL DEVICE FOR PROTECTING FRUIT IN CANS.

- APPLIOATION FILED mm: 11, 1903.

IJNTTED STATES Patented February 21, 1905.

PATENT UEEicE.

DEVICE FOR PROTECTING FRUIT IN CANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,167, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed June 11, 1903. Serial No. 161,002.

To (all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THoMAs T. ATKINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Devices for Protecting Fruit in Cans from the Heat of Capping-Tools,of which the following is a specification.

In putting up fruit and vegetables in metal cans for the market, as is well known, the final step is to cap or close the opening in the top after the can is filled with the fruit, in which operation the joint between the can-body and the cap or cover is soldered by means of a soldering-tool applied to the joint. This mode of closing and sealing the can, however, is often attended with the serious objection of injuring the contents by the heat from the solderingtool, and it not infrequently happens that on opening the can the contents will be found to have an unsightly appearance, the result principally of the action of the heat from the soldering-tool upon the saccharine matter in the fruit or the syrup.

The present invention has for its object to prevent this burning or objectionable action of the heat on the contents of the can during the operation of capping or closing and sealing the top, as before described, thereby preserving the fresh appearance and natural condition of the contents as demanded by the trade and the consumer; and to this end and object the invention comprises a novel shield or protector insertible in place through the opening in the top of the filled can before the cap is placed on and by its form and its heat-resisting qualities adapted to keep the fruit from actual contact with the head of the can immediately under the region of greatest heat or the part lying directly beneath the soldering-tool and at the same time shield or protect the fruit from the heat given off by the iron.

The following description explains at length the nature ofthe said invention and the manner in which I produce, apply, and carry out the same, the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, being referred to therein by letters.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a top view of a metal can of the well-known form now generplaced in the can.

ally used in canning fruits and many other substances for the market and showing my protecting device placed in.position between the top layer of the fruit and the head of the can before the can is closed. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the protecting device before being Figs. 3 and 4 are dilferent forms of blanks from which the protecting device may be produced within the scope of my invention.

A indicates the head of a fruitcan of wellknown form, and B the groove in the metal around the opening C, in which the cap is fitted, and the joint made in the usual way.

D is the protecting device, that is interposed between the'metalof the top surrounding the opening C and the top layer of the fruit. In its simplest form the device is a thin disk or plate preferably of circular outline and in dimensions somewhat greater superficial] y than the size of the opening in the can, so as to extend beyond the line of the joint made between the top of the can and the cap after being introduced and centrally placed in position. To facilitate the work involved in introducing the disk D in place through the relatively smaller opening in the head of the can, the disk is slitted from the circumference toward the center, as seen at (Z, Figs. 1 and 2, and an opening is provided in the center both for greater convenience in handling and placing the device in the can and also for more readily introducing the syrup or liquid where the same is to be added to the contents before the capping is done. This is the best form of the device where it is made in one piece. It can be inserted through the opening in the top of the can by a rapid and easy movement and brought in position in the center by introducing one end at the slit (Z and giving the device a circular movement.

The device can also be made in two pieces, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, where the pieces are sufiiciently smaller in one dimension to be introduced separately through the opening and then brought to place, one crossing and lying on the other. This construction enables scraps and small pieces of stock or material to be utilized for the purpose; but aside from the possible greater economy of their manufacture it offers no particular advantage over.

the form seen in Fig. 2, where the device is produced in the form of a disk. The purpose of the slit d in the form there shown is to facilitate the insertion of the protector through the opening in the top of the can and enable the same to be readily introduced and placed without bending or folding it, particularly where the same is made of sheet metal or similar stiff material that cannot be reduced in size by' bending or folding sufiiciently to permit of its ready introduction through the opening in the can and afterward brought to the desired flat or expanded condition to shield or protect the top of the contents lying directly under the line or region on the head of the can, where the heat of the capping-tool is the greatest.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the forms of the sections composing the complete protector are made with a vlew to provide an opening or openings in oraround the center for introducing syrup or liquid into the can after the protector is placed in position. The pieces or sections also are of a size sufficiently less in linear dimension at their broadest part than the diameter of the opening in the top of the can to allow the pieces to be inserted and brought to position between the top of the can and the contents with which the can is filled.

The non-conducting quality of the device is increased by forming ribs or projections on the top face of the protector, as seen at 0, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, as those ribs standing above the top face will prevent the protector from coming in contact with the metal of the head around the central opening, excepting at the points where the ribs touch the head, and will thereby materially reduce the conductivity of the protector where the same is made of metal.

Sheet-tin of the same quality as that used for the can is considered the best material for making these protectors on account of its the quality ofthe contents either in appearance or flavor, and having besides the requisite heat-resisting properties, can be utilized for the manufacture of this protector instead of sheet metal. When made of any material having less degree of conductivity than sheet metal and possessing also suflicient heat-resisting qualities to stand the direct contact of its top surface with the metal of the can immediately under the line of the joint between the head of the can and the cap, the ribs 0 may be omitted and the top face of the protector may come in contact at all points with the metal immediately around the opening.

As thus formed or produced this protector is introduced through the opening in the head of the can after the can is filled and is brought to a central position, so as to interpose a practically continuous shield between the contents and the under surface of the head of the can. The cap is then placed in position to cover the opening, and the operation'of soldering the cap is performed by bringing the filled and closed can under the cappingtool in the usual manner. The protector re mains inside the can until the latter is opened to remove the contents, and at that time the protector is easily removed through the larger opening made by cutting into the head with the can-opener. Usually the upward pressure of the fruit will be found suflicient to hold the protector in place during the capping operation, and no special means is ordinarily required to hold the device in position.

What 1 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is p The herein-described protector for the top layer of fruit in a fruit-can, comprising separate segments each of smaller superficial dimensions in one direction than the diameter of the opening in the can, and of greater dimensions in another direction than the size of said opening, said segments being adapted when inserted in the can to constitute a heatprotecting shield between the top layer of the fruit and the top of the can both within and beyond the line of the solder-groove in the head of the can, said segments having standing projections on the top face.

THOS. T. ATKINSON. Witnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN, HARRY J. LASK.

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