Process for forming can bodies

Claim 1

A process for forming a can body comprising: forming into a roughly cylindrical shape a can body blank having the opposite ends thereof coated with adhesive films of thermoplastic organic polymer under the guidance of a cylinder kept at an atmospheric temperature, bending inwardly said opposite ends into flat ends, transferring the thus formed can body blank along said cylinder to a succeeding position, melting by high-frequency induction heating said adhesive films coated on said opposite ends of said blank placed at said succeeding section while avoiding overheating the corner portions of said blank, transferring said blank to one end of said cylinder while said adhesive films are in a melted state, placing said can body blank in a can body contact-bonding section defined by said one end of said cylinder and a pair of pushing members which are moved oppositely to and from each other laterally of said cylinder, forming said roughly formed can body blank into a predetermined cylinder under the guidance of the outer periphery of said one end of said cylinder by the closing motions of said pushing members in such a manner that said flat opposite ends are lapped one on the other, cooling and bonding said adhesive films by striking in a spline portion in the lower part of said one end of said cylinder the thus lapped ends by a hammer having only its striking part cooled against a cooling and pressure-receiving part which exerts its cooling action only externally radially with said cylinder not otherwise being substantially cooled throughout its length except by room air, and retaining the thus struck state of said lapped ends for cooling and curing said melted adhesive films to complete a can body.