IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES AND IN TAMPINGS FOR CARTRIDGES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Theophilus Moore, of Upper Teddington, in
IMPROVEMENTS
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for an Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Theophilus Moore
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th August 1880.
BENJAMIN THEOPHILUS MOORE, of Upper Teddington, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES AND IN TAMPINGS
FOR CARTRIDGES."
The chief object of my Invention is to dispense with the ordinary mode of
tamping bore holes by driving in earth and stones, or other material, and the
Invention essentially consists in manufacturing cartridges with which devices
which act as tamping are combined, and also in making tampings separately for use
with cartridges.
My Invention is carried out as follows:-I take a tube of paper or other
convenient material and partly fill it with gunpowder or other explosive. Over
the explosive I place a block or plug of hard wood or other material in the form of
a cone or frustrum of a cone, or a cylinder with ogival pointed head, or of other
tapering form. A wad may be placed between the powder or explosive and the
plug to keep the powder more securely in its place.
At a short distance in front of the block or plug I place in the tube a hollow
cylinder or prism of papier-maché, wood, metal, or any other suitable hard substance,
the interior of which is conical or tapered, similar or somewhat similar to the plug,
so as to admit the smaller end of it. This cylinder may with advantage be divided
longitudinally into two or more parts. It is forced tightly into the tube of the
cartridgo; the open end of the tube is then securely covered. A fuse passes through
this cover and the cylinder, and through or by the side of the plug and wad into
the powder beyond.
The tube of the cartridge is made of such diameter that it will just admit of
being pushed into the bore hole. To provide against the case of the bore hole

page_text: being too large I drive a wedge or plug into the front end of the hollow cylinder,
so as to jam it more securely against the walls of the hole.
Tamping in the ordinary way is not required for these cartridges. When the
powder is fired the plug is driven forward into the hollow cylinder in advance of
it, and acting like a wedge opens out the cylinder and jams it with great force
against the containing walls of the bore hole on all parts of its circumference. The
motion of the plug is thus arrested or retarded, causing the force of the explosion
of the powder or other explosive to expend itself chiefly in rending the rock in
which the cartridge is placed.
The plug and hollow cylinder may be used independently of a cartridge, that is
to say, with loose powder placed in the bore hole, or with any form of blasting
cartridge, and will then take the place of the tamping now commonly used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Benjamin Theophilus Moore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th February 1881.
BENJAMIN THEOPHILUS MOORE, of Upper Teddington, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARTRIDGES AND IN TAMPINGS
FOR CARTRIDGES."
The object of my Invention is to dispense with the ordinary mode of tamping
bore holes by driving in earth and stones, or other material, and at the same time to
increase the effects of the explosion. The Invention essentially consists in
manufacturing cartridges with which devices which act as tamping are combined, and
also in making tampings separately for use with ordinary cartridges or other
explosives.
My Invention is carried out as follows:-
-
I take a tube of paper or other convenient material and partly fill it with
gunpowder or other explosive. Over the explosive I place a block or plug of hard
wood or other material in the form of a cone or frustum of a cone, or a cylinder
with ogival pointed head, or of other tapering form. A wad or gas check may be
placed between the powder or explosive and the plug to keep the powder more
securely in its place and to check the escape of gas.
In front of the block or plug I place in the tube a hollow cylinder or prism
made of papier-maché, wood, pulp, metal, or any other suitable hard substance, the
interior of which is conical or tapered, similar or somewhat similar to the plug, so
as to admit the smaller end of it. This cylinder may with advantage be divided
longitudinally into two or more parts. It is fixed into the tube of the cartridge; the
open end of the tube is then securely covered. A fuse passes through this cover and
the cylinder, and through or by the side of the plug and wad into the powder beyond.
The tube of the cartridge is made of such diameter that it will just admit of
being pushed into the bore hole. To provide against the case of the bore hole
being too large I drive a wedge or plug into the front end of the hollow cylinder,
so as to jam it more securely against the walls of the hole.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents in longitudinal section a
cartridge made according to my Invention; x, x, x, x, represents the rock, bored in
the usual manner, into which the complete cartridge is inserted, as shewn ; a, a, is
the outer tube of the cartridge, made of paper or other suitable material; b is the
chamber or space for the explosive material, which may be gunpowder, loose or
compressed, or any other explosive; c is the conical plug, and d, the hollow
cylinder; e is a small conical plug or wedge inserted into the mouth of the
cylinder d for the purpose of tightening it against the sides of the bore hole before
the charge is fired; fis the fuse (or wire, when electricity is used) passing through
the plug e, the cylinder d, and through (or by the side of) the plug c into the
chamber b containing the explosive; g is a gas check placed behind the plug c for
preventing as much as possible the escape of gas round the circumference of the
plug, but this gas check is not essential to the cartridge; h is a wad of any suitable
material, which closes the end of the chamber b.
Tamping in the ordinary way is not required for these cartridges. When a
cartridge is inserted into a vertical bore hole, a little fine dry sand poured into the
hole fills up the interstices or inequalities between the cartridge and the hole with
advantage and improves the action of the cartridge. When used, in a horizontal
or slightly inclined hole the cylinder d will generally require to be tightened by
driving in the plug e with a smart blow after the cartridge is in place.
When the powder is.fired the plug c is driven forward into the hollow cylinder d
in advance of it, and acting like a wedge opens out the cylinder and jams it with

page_text: great force against the containing walls of the bore hole on all parts of its circum-
ference, the cylinder, in fact, becomes a "choke." The motion of the plug c is thus
arrested or retarded, causing the force developed by the explosion of the gunpowder
or other explosive to expend itself with great effect in rending the rock in which
the cartridge is placed.
The plug c and hollow cylinder or choke d may be used with loose powder or
with any form of blasting cartridge previously placed in the bore hole, and will then
take the place of the tamping now commonly used. Figure 2 represents a tamping
composed of the plug c and hollow cylinder or choke d, as just explained. They
are fitted in a tube a of paper or other material; e is the small conical plug or
wedge in the front of the cylinder d, and g is the gas check, as before.
This tamping is inserted into a bore hole in the same manner, as already
explained, for the cartridge after the explosive has been put in, and by its use any
length of chamber for the explosive can be obtained.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The improved tamping for cartridges, consisting substantially as herein-
before described, of the plug c and hollow cylinder fitted in a tube or holder a,
so that when the explosion takes place the plug c opens out the cylinder d, which
then forms or becomes a choke, substantially as hereinbefore explained.
Second. The improved cartridges with tampings combined therewith, such
tampings being made substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in
the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Theophilus Moore, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty one.
B. T. MOORE. (L.S.)