Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Mar., 1886.
Complete Left, 24th Dec., 1886.
Complete Accepted, 28th Jan., 1887.
JAMES FARNSWORTH, Builder & Contractor 67 Stanley Grove Longsight, Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This Invention is the construction of a bomb for giving alarm, for signalling
exploding, blasting or other destructive purposes. Its novelty consists in its being so
arranged as to form a simple, easy, safe effective and perfectly controlled method of
exploding a blasting or detonating compound. It can either be exploded at will when
required without the use of the elaborate and expensive electrical method and is free
from the dangers and uncertainties of a time or other fuse or the usual crude methods
of touch paper and trains of powder; or when used for purposes of alarm it explodes
only when acted upon and for all purposes can be used with equal facility either on or
under water.
It consists of a bomb which may be made of any size or shape according to the
purpose required; it may be made of metal, wood, paper or any other material which
may be found suitable or convenient. I make it in two parts or halves. Through the
surface or shell of one of these I have a hole drilled to permit of a pin passing through.
The head of the pin is deep to permit of its being grooved to give a rough surface for
purposes of friction. Preferably I make the head of a conical form with the grooves
of a triangular shape M like the teeth of a saw. The head is larger than the hole to
prevent the pin being pulled out. At the point of the pin which projects outside
the bomb I drill a small hole to permit of a string, cord, wire or chain to be attached.
The bomb being. filled with the necessary explosive or detonating material and
arranged for use, when the string or wire is pulled, the friction produced by the
rough or serrated head of the pin, explodes the bomb. This pin can also be used to
move a lever or hammer, or liberate a spring and so by concussion or friction explode
the bomb. The bomb can be used to explode large blasting charges by being
embedded in the powder, and by means of the string or wire can be exploded at a
safe distance after every person has got safely away. By means of a washer over the
hole of the bomb and made of india-rubber or other suitable material, preferably of
india rubber, pressing closely on all sides of the pin the bomb can be used under
water. The bombs may be laid upon the ground and by aid of the strings attached
to the pins and laid in various directions any person walking across the strings and
catching them or becoming entangled in them with their feet explode the bombs.
The advance of a night attack of soldiers can thus be made known to the sentries or
the presence and whereabouts of poachers on preserves to the watchers. The bomb
can be floated on water and thus used to make known the approach of a hostile boat
or vessel.

page_text: I JAMES FARNSWORTH of 67 Stanley Grove, Longsight, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Builder and contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings :-
:-
My said Invention has reference to explosive bombs for signalling, blasting and
other purposes, and consists in an improved igniting arrangement whereby the gun-
powder or other explosive contained in the bomb can be exploded with ease, safety
and certainty. The improved bomb can be used either on land or in water and the
construction will be best understood from the following description and accompanying
illustrative drawing. The said drawing is a vertical section of a useful type of my
improved bomb. The outer case a of the bomb represented in the drawing is made of
paper or thin sheet metal and is cylindrical in form. The case a may be in one piece
as shown or it may be in two parts slipped telescopically into one another. The gun-
powder or other suitable explosive b is placed in this case a being run in through the
opening at the end into which the igniting apparatus is afterwards introduced. The
said igniting apparatus consists of a thimble c soldered or secured to a screwed
collar d which screws into a ring e surrounding the hole in the end of the case a.
The thimble c is finely perforated or roughened in its interior and is open at both
ends. Within the thimble I place a knob or head f made of a phosphoric or other
compound which will ignite under friction. The head f might be of a conical shape
if desired. A pin g projects from this head fand is formed at its outer projecting end
with an eye or ring as shown, to which a connecting hook, wire, or cord i can be
readily attached. A layer h of gun cotton is preferably interposed between the top of
the head and the explosive so as to prevent it from accidentally leaking past the
head into the thimble c. When the wire cord i is pulled the head fis drawn sharply
up the thimble c and is ignited by frictional contact with the sides thereof so as to
explode the charge b in the bomb. The bomb may be anchored or attached by the
part a¹ to a suitable holdfast so as not to be drawn out of position by the pull of the
cord i. When the bomb is intended to be used under water or in wet situations
I pack the sliding pin g with a rubber washer which may be jammed and held in
position by the screwed collar d as shown the pin passing through the centre of the
rubber washer which prevents the ingress of water to the thimble_c. If thought
requisite the rubber washer k may be supported by a backing of thin sheet metal. In
order to prevent the exploding head f from being accidentally drawn out during
transport or packing I might box in the igniting end of the bomb by a cap or cover 7
(represented in dotted lines) made of paper or thin metal and pasted or placed over
the end of the bomb which is thus protected from accidental firing during handling or
transmission. This protector might however be dispensed with. The bomb may
either contain the full charge of explosive for blasting or other purposes or it might
be embedded in a larger charge. In the accompanying drawing I have shown what
I consider to be a useful type of bomb but I wish it to be understood that I do not

page_text: limit myself to any particular shape disposition or proportion of the case a as these
may be varied as thought desirable the igniting head f and thimble e being applied in
a manner most suitable to the shape of bomb employed. Bombs constructed with or
ignited by the improved arrangements set forth can be used for a variety of purposes
such as exploding mines on land or on sea, blasting rock or they may be disposed as
alarum signals in connection with the operations of military forces, fleets and the like
or they might be employed to warn keepers of the presence of poachers in preserves
and generally to indicate the approach or locality of persons or animals.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
(1) The general arrangement construction and combination of parts composing an
explosive bomb substantially as hereinbefore described and shown.
(2) In explosive bombs of the indicated nature and for the described purposes the
application of a knob, head or part f composed of a material which will ignite under
friction and connected to a wire or cord operated from a distance the said knob, head
or part being capable of sliding in a thimble or cylinder c having a roughened or
perforated surface so as to ignite the sliding knob or part f by frictional contact
substantially as described and shown.
(3) In bombs of the indicated nature and construction the india rubber packing
washer h for preventing the ingress of water to the bomb substantially as described
and shown.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.