What
is 52 times greater than the distance between the Earth and the
Moon?
The number of aluminium cans created world-wide in one year (if
they were put end to end, the distance would be approximately 20
million km! - 12.5 million miles) The 210 billion cans produced
each year are so integrated into our daily lives that we don’t
even notice them anymore. But how was the aluminium can born? The
aluminium can owes its success to two parallel technological developments:
the development of aluminium tin cans, and the creation of the easy
open lid. This market had its true beginnings in the 1970s.
Origins
The beverage container is derived from the tin can. The idea of
preserving liquids in hermetically sealed containers stems from
the needs of soldiers during World War II. To open the tin can filled
with liquid, the user himself had to poke two holes in the lid.
Only one operation is needed to make an aluminium can: stamping.
However, in the beginning, the process was the same as the one for
tinplate: rolling, seaming and welding.
In
the 30s
Aluminium
tin cans first appeared in the 1930s. The lack of tinplate and the
disputed use of tin fueled the use of aluminium. It was in this
era that l’Ardèche first began using aluminium tin
cans for their chestnut butter, a practice that continues to this
day. Aluminium in particular is technically and economically well
suited to manufacturing small individual containers.
World
War II
The military was highly interested in integrating lightweight, unbreakable
metal containers used to preserve mineral water into their survival
rations. Research was conducted in conjunction with aluminium manufacturers.
In the years following World War II, a cartridge factory in France
produced aluminium cans: the techniques and the production tools
are similar and the workers were already trained to work with metals.
1950:
the decisive invention
In 1959
Erman C. Fraze, an American equipment manufacturer, invented the
easy-open aluminium lid: a significant innovation! The preincision
in the aluminium lid is already present, and the lid is fitted with
a ring, attached via an integrated rivet. The preincision is made
by local deformation without tearing or placing holes in the metal.
This device can be used in both aluminium and steel cans. In 1977
the process was improved upon thanks to a new system that left the
ring attached after opening. In 2003 a beer manufacturer even made
the aluminium can a star in one of its ads.
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