PASCAL'S LAW AND THE PASCAL CAN Cans with a distinctive shape placed on retailers shelves attract attention and stimulate sales. That is why can producers in Europe and throughout the world are constantly striving to come up with innovative shapes. Seeing things from this perspective, in 1996, Toyo Seikan Kaisha of Japan developed a shaped steel packaging for the «general line« segment of the market, according to the principles of Pascal, from where the name Pascal Can is derived. The company won a gold medal for its shaping methods at the Cannex 1997 exhibition in Singapore. The Pascal Can has been used for the packaging of tea, coffee and biscuits ever since.     Following its success, Toyo Seikan Kaisha launched the latest version of the Pascal Can aerosol in February, to be used, in the initial stage, for hair spray. The wide variety of shaping options of the Pascal Can are the direct result of the Pascal principle : the body of the previously welded tin is moulded, through the action of a liquid, with the help of internal and external moulds. Any shape is possible, on all or part of the tin, including relief work. The surfaces remain smooth, pleasing to the eye and to touch. Moreover, the 3-D effect sets it apart from competing products. Finally, the Pascal aerosol is able to withstand internal pressure of 13 kg/cm2.     The Pascal Can method allows for small-scale production, thanks to the relatively low-cost basic equipment. The filling of the containers can be carried out on standard aerosol production lines. These attributes signal a promising future.