History of Aluminium beverage cans

Early cans were iron, but tin can now most food cans are steel, and drinks cans are aluminium. In 1810 Englishman named Peter Durand introduced the first metal container using the Tin Plate. The can could also be sealed airtight to retain the freshness and prevent the penetration of water, light and oxygen. The metal can was more robust that the fragile glass container.

In same year Peter Durand was granted a patent for a tin-plated food container by King George III for the idea of preserving food in vessels of glass, pottery, tin and other metals.

At that time, cans were made of iron and coated with a thin layer of tin. But even the best craftsmen could only produce up to 60cans a day, whereas today's modern beverage can making lines are producing over one million cans a day.

In 1846 Henry Evans invents a die device for making a can in a single operation. His invention enables the production of cans to be increased from 6 to 60 per hour.

Evaporated milk was first canned in the United States in 1885. These cans are opened by punching two holes on opposite sides of the can lid or top.

By the 1930s the technology had advanced to a stage when drinks could be packaged in cans. Continental European producers introduced beverage cans shaped like bottles. These cans are constructed from three pieces of metal and have a cone-shaped top closed by a "crown" cork.

The invention of C-enamel allowed the flat top and bottom beer can to be introduced in 1835. Later that year the cone-top beer can was also introduced. The "Church Key" was invented to open the flat top beer can.

Frozen juice concentrate was among the first products packaged using aluminium, which according to consumer polls, price a popular material among the general public. In 1959 Adolph Coors Co introduces the first all aluminum beer can in the U.S. This was a 7-oz. can.
History of Aluminum beverage cans