US439133A - Seal for vessels and means for opening the same - Google Patents

Description

N M d 1. A. P. PITZ GERALD.

SEAL FOR VESSELS AND MEANS FOR OPENING THE SAME.

No. 439,133. Patented 001;. 28, 1890.

W, a QAd JI MMJ W 52:2

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

AUGUSTINE F. FITZ GERALD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SEAL FOR VESSELS AND MEANS FOR OPENING THE SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,133, dated October 28, 1890. Application filed April 16, 1890. Serial No. 848,196. (No model.)

T0 00% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTINE F. FITZ GERALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals for Vessels and Means for Opening the Same, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof. This invention relates to devices for sealing vessels, and has for its object to provide animproved seal which can be readily and quickly applied, which effectually prevents leakage or admission of air, and which can be readily and quickly broken or opened without the use of any tools.

The invention consists of certain improvements in the construction of such devices, which are hereinafter fully set forth.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a plan view of a rectangular vessel, the cover of which is secured thereto according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective of the same, but with the cover partly opened. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a cylindrical vessel sealed according to my invention; and Fig. etis an elevation, partly in section, of the same, but with the cover partly opened.

The vessels or receptacles shown in the drawings are of ordinary construction except as to the face, which is to be provided with my improved seal. A large rectangular opening is formed in this face, and my seal is adapted to cover this opening. In the rectangular box shown in Figs. 1 and 2 this rectangular opening extends nearly to the edges of the top of the box, leaving only a narrow rim or frame between the opening and the outer edges of the top of the box. This rim should be of a material that can be united to a metallic sheet by solder. The coveringpiece a is shaped to fit the opening, so that its edges will slightly overlap the edges of the same. This covering-piece a, should be of thin sheet metal, such as tin-plate. A narrow strip 79 is secured to the under side of the coveringpiece (0, extending diagonally along the covering-piece and projecting out beyond the edge of the covering-piece at one of the corners of the same. This strip should be of metal, and is to be secured to the coveringprovided with a handle 0.

piece a by solder or other suitable means. It may be secured to the covering-piece throughout the length of the part in contact with the covering-piece or only at its inner end. his essential, however, that it should be secured to the covering-piece at its inner end. The outer end of the strip 1) is shaped to form or Beneath the covering-piece a and the strip 17, and at the corner where the strip projects out from the covering-piece, I provide a sweater cl, which is a small piece of metal soldered to the top of the box.

In the cylindrical can shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the opening is in the shape of a square and allows considerable margin between its edges and the circular edge of the top of the can. The covering-piece a is shaped to fit over this opening so that its edges will slightly overlap the edges of the opening. A strip 1) is secured to the covering-piece a, and has a handle 0 at its projecting end, and a sweater dis secured to the top of the can under the corner where the strip 0 emerges, all as is in the construction above described. The sweater cl is soldered in place upon the face of the vessel, and the strip 1) is secured to the covering-piece a before the covering-piece is applied to the vessel. In soldering the sweater to the vessel the soldering-tool is passed over the surface of the sweater. As the soldering-tool always contains more or less solder adhering to its surface, a thin film or coating of solder is thereby deposited on the upper surface of the sweater. WVhen the vessel is to be sealed, the covering-piece a, with its attached strip 6, is placed upon the vessel so as to extend over and to cover the opening and to overlap the edges of the same. The covering-piece is then soldered to the face of the vessel, theheated soldering-tool being quickly moved entirely around the edges of the covering-piece a. As the soldering-tool passes over the sweater cl and .over the upper face of the strip b, the thin film of solder upon the upper face of the sweater becomes softened or is remelted and unites the under surface of the strip 1) to the surface of the sweater, and, with the solder above the strip 19, forms a tight joint at this place between the covering-piece and the surface of the vessel.

It is evident that the soldering-tool in pass- I ing around the edges of the covering-piece c0 will pass over the upper face of the part projecting from this covering-piece-to wit, the strip 1). If no means were provided for securing the lower face of this projecting part to the vessel, an unsealed opening would be left at this place, and thus the vessel would leak water and admit air. The sweater (1, however, as above described, insures a tight joint at this place by the remelting of the thin film of solder on its face. The sweater may, however, be omitted, and a similar result accomplished by dropping a small portion of solder on the corner of the vessel at the point which will.be located under the projecting end of the strip 6. It is essential that some solder be placed at this point before the cover is applied, and the use of the sweater insures the proper quantity at the proper place.

The seal can be broken and the cover removed at any time without the aid of any tools bypulling the handle 0 in a direction nearly at right angles to the face of the ves sel, thereby tearing away the covering-piece a from the vessel and opening the vessel. As the covering-piece is thus pulled away from the face of the vessel it tends to curl or roll up, and I generally find that the corner of the covering-piece breaks away from the strip 1), which is held nearly straight by the tension imparted to it, and rolls up, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. I find in practice that the freedom thus allowed to the covering-piece in my improved seal due to imparting the tension to the strip considerably diminishes the work of opening the seal, as it saves the work which would otherwise be expended in holding the covering-piece in the direction of tension. Another advantage of this construction is that although sufficient solder is thus secured between the sweater and the strip 1) to make an air and water tight joint, still but a small portion of the solderis present at this place, and it readily breaks away when tension is applied to the strip 19 in opening the vessel. My improved sealing device thus, while producing a tight seal, enables the vessel to be opened easily without tools.

It is essential with any device used to seal the lower face of the strip 1) that it should be so placed as to be located exactly under the strip when the vessel is sealed. This is insured with my sweater d, as it extends in all directions some distance beyond the effective position, and also because its size and shape may be so adjusted that it can be properly located by registering its corners with the edge of the vessel (see Figs. 1 and 2) or with the corner of the opening. (See Fig.3.) Any portion of the sweater will of course be effective, so that such slight variations in the positions of the strip b and sweater d as will necessarily occur in practicing the invention will not prevent their proper registration and the tight sealing of the vessel.

One of the advantages resulting from the use of my sweater d is that it provides a slightly-raised and a flat surface at the corner of the vessel, and will thus compensate for any depression and cover any unevenness at this point.

My improved seal is simple in construction. It can be readily and quickly applied and sealed. Indeed, in the operation of sealing it is only necessary to pass the soldering-tool once around the edges of the covering-piece, and this simple operation produces a watertight and air-tight seal. The seal can be readily and quickly broken and the vessel opened without the use of any tools.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a vessel, of a seal consisting of a flat covering-piece fitted over an opening in the vessel and a narrow strip between the vessel and the covering-piece extended substantially across the inner face of the covering-piece and projecting out beyond the edge of the covering-piece and adapted to form a handle outside of the line of seal for use in breaking the seal, the narrow strip being secured at its inner end to the coveringpiece and the covering-piece and strip being sealed to the vessel entirely around the edges of the covering-piece, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a vessel, of a seal consisting of an angular covering-piece fitted over an opening in the vessel and a narrow strip between the vessel and the coveringpiece extending substantially across the inner face of the angular covering-piece and projecting out beyond the edge of the covering-piece at one of the angles thereof and adapted to form a handle outside of the line of seal for use in breaking the seal, the narrow strip being secured at its inner end to the covering-piece and the covering-piece and strip being sealed to the vessel entirely around the edges of the covering-piece, substantially as set forth.

3. A seal for vessels, consisting of a covering-piece fitted over an opening in the vessel and secured to the vessel entirely around its edges and provided with a projecting strip forming a handle in breaking the seal, in combination with a sweater soldered to the vessel beneath the projecting'jstrip and at the edge of the covering-piece, substantially as set forth.

4. A seal for vessels, consisting of a covering-piece fitted over an opening in the vessel and secured to the vessel entirely around its edges and provided on its inner face with a strip secured at its inner end thereto and extending substantially across the same and projecting out beyond the edge thereof, such extendingfpart of the strip forming a handle in breaking the seal, in combination with a sweater soldered to the vessel beneath the projecting strip and at the edge of the coveringpiece, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with a vessel, of a seal consisting of the angular covering-piece a, fitted over an opening in the Vessel, the narrow a, the strip 17 being secured at one face to the strip 12 on the inner face of the cover a, ex sweater d and the cover a and strip 1) being I0 tending substantially across the inner face sealed to the Vessel around the edges of the of the cover and projecting out beyond the cover, substantially as set forth. 5 edge of the cover aand forming a handle out- AUGUSTINE F. FITZ GERALD.

side of the line of seal for use in breaking the WVitnesses: seal, and the sweater d, soldered to the Vessel HENRY D. WILLIAMS, beneath the strip 1) at the edge of the cover EDWIN SEGER.

Images