Talk:Tin can

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[edit] Ribbed Design?

Virtually all tin cans have ridges or grooves on the side of the can. What is the purpose of this? If someone can find out and incorporate it, that would be great.--160.39.213.168 00:19, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I think that the purpose is to strengthen the can walls against buckling. This is roughly analogous to the flanges on I-beams: while the beam's web (central part) supports the load in the vertical plane, the flanges keep the beam from buckling in the horizontal plane due to any lateral forces.
---------------
|    FLANGE   |
-----     -----
     |   |
     | W |
     | E |
     | B |
     |   |
-----     -----
|    FLANGE   |
---------------
— ¾-10 21:24, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Role of Tin

Tin isn't used on steel in tin cans to prevent corrosion. Tin is used as a lubricant on steel to prevent ripping during the forming process. Corrosion is prevented through the application of specially formulated polymeric lacquers that are applied in one or two coats dependant on substrate to be coated and product to be stored and protected. [Per history, added by IP 14:02, 2004 Mar 6 83.112.11.173 ]

Important to the article if true; anyone got a source to back up this anon tip? (I am skeptical of the idea that that is the full story rather than at most a side issue, since dented tin cans, IIRC, can have the inner tin coating cracked, leading to corrosion of the steel and people getting sick. --Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

[edit] Tin Cannikin?

I doubt it, but is the name "tin can" derived from or a shorterned version of "tin cannikin"? I assume the can stands for "canister". Treasure Island: "...[Long John Silver] drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin..." --Joshtek 21:41, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Doesn't look good at first: in the Collegiate, we have "cannikin ... : a small can or drinking vessel" probably from a Danish diminutive for "can" vs. "can ...: a usu. cylindrical receptacle: ... a vessel for holding liquids: specif.: a drinking vessel" with no mention of Danish in the etymology. And "tin can...: a can made of tinplate" w/o etymology.
From the context as far as given, it sounds more like a mug than a hip-flask (which would fit better with storage), and bear in mind that the book is set in a time when people thot that eating off of lead-tin alloy was a good idea; "tin" probably means solid pure or alloyed metal, rather than "tin plated", steel being something that i think was then mostly reserved for edged weapons.
Can someone with OED handy comment?
--Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

[edit] Photo

The lighting is too dark, making it useless at illustrating the pull-top. --Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

[edit] History

I removed from Can opener the following (re cans):

invented in 1810 by Peter Durand in Britain

as later and less documented in WP than the Frenchman. But no doubt his contribution was important and should be described on this talk page's article.
--Jerzy (t) 19:42, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

The history ought to be expanded in this article, or a clear link given to a main article on the history of tinning. Njál 19:41, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Structure of a Can Rim, and Rim's Role in Opening Cans

What i've writ on this subject is accurate, but for our purposes, far too hard to follow. Maybe a good drawing or set of drawings of successive stages would make it more comprehensible with fewer words.

Here's an attempt at a sketch:

 _________
|  ____   |
| |    |  |  Outer edge of top                                     etc., symmetrically
| | |  |  |                                                       |
|___|  |  |_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___|
       | 
       |
       | Upper portion
       |  of tube wall

It may be important to say that i know nothing about the machinery that accomplishes this but what i could deduce by tearing apart a can rim, which took a pair of pliers, a screwdriver, and maybe a half hour. It's much easier to do and grasp than to describe the knowledge gained; a competant graphic artist with a spirit for manual adventure may find repeating my manual effort more valuable than my verbal account in the article.

I can't see nor feel (in the form of resistance to prying apart surfaces) any sign of the solder i expected inside the rim. But i also deduce its absence from the 5 layers: the trouble of getting that structure must be great enough to be unjustified if you were using solder to seal the joint. It also makes sense to avoid the solder for the sake of avoiding contamination of the food with melted lead (about 50% of solder), or any liquid that's not part of the cooking process for that matter. Steel, cut and guided by a well adjusted precision machine, goes exactly where you want it. Liquids -- Huh! (Possible; look at ink-jet printers, but more troublesome.) --Jerzy (t) 08:09, 2005 May 5 (UTC)

[edit] hide stuff in can

Special cans can be used as a concealment device. It looks like an ordinary can with hairspray or food in it, but you can hide secret things in it like money or keys. :D