IMPROVEMENTS APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS INTO GRAINS OR GRANULES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Joseph Mackie and Camille Alphonse
IN
Faure, both of No. 2, Delahay Street, Great George Street, in the
City of Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS INTO GRAINS OR
GRANULES."
Sealed the 19th March 1874, and dated the 24th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Joseph
Mackie and Camille Alphonse Faure at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 24th November
1873.
We, SAMUEL JOSEPH MACKIE and CAMILLE ALPHONSE FAURE, both
of No. 3, Delahay Street, Great George Street, in the City of Westminster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS INTO GRAINS OR GRANULES,"
to be as follows..

page_text: ->
we employ a pair of rollers each having a number of V grooves formed
around its periphery, and also a number of similar grooves formed
along it parallel with its axis in such manner as to divide its surface
into a number of pyramidal projections, each having a square base; the
longitudinal V grooves and projections on the two rollers are caused to
gear with one another in a similar manner to a pair of toothed wheels,
so that they shall revolve together, and the rollers are also adjusted so
that when the rollers meet together the apex of each of the pyramidal
projections on one roller come opposite a point where the two sets of
grooves on the other roller cross one another. The projections on the
two rollers thus brought together enclose between them a number of
spaces each of the form of a pyramid having a triangular base.
The explosive compound to be formed into granules is drawn from a
hopper between these rollers when they are caused to revolve, and as
the explosion compound passes between the rollers it is by the form of
the projections upon them compressed in all directions, and formed into
dense grains or pellets of the shape of the spaces enclosed between them.
As the rollers continue to revolve the grains are scraped off from them
by comb-like scrapers, the teeth of which enter into the grooves formed
around the peripheries of the two rollers, and the grains thus detached
from the rollers fall into a hopper or receptacle. In order also to
remove any of the grains which may not have been detached by these
scrapers, there is caused to gear with each of the moulding rollers
another roller having corresponding grooves and projections upon it, so
that these clearing rollers revolve at the same surface speed as the
moulding rollers, an endway to-and-fro motion is also imparted to the
cleaning rollers by means of cam surfaces on the axis of the moulding
rollers, which acting upon projections on their axis give to them an
endway to-and-fro motion, the projections upon them are thus caused to
push off any grains or pellets still adhering to the moulding rollers.
Afterwards the surfaces of the moulding rollers are each acted upon by
a cleaning brush, and then before again arriving at the point where they
gear together a lubricating material is applied to them adapted to impede
the explosive compound from adhering to them. The lubricating
material is applied to them by rollers which have upon their surfaces
corresponding projections and gear with them, and the rollers which
apply this lubricating material are themselves supplied with it by a
revolving brush to which a continuous supply of the lubricating material

page_text: is imparted by a blade or cup carried by arms from a revolving axis, and
as it is thus carried round caused alternately to dip into a trough
containing the lubricating material and to come into contact with the
revolving brush.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Joseph Mackie and Camille Alphonse
Faure in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
JOSEPH MACKIE and CAMILLE ALPHONSE FAURE, both of No. 3, Delahay
Street, Great George Street, in the City of Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie and
Camille Alphonse Faure, Her special license that we, the said Samuel
Joseph Mackie and Camille Alphonse Faure, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Joseph
Mackie and Camille Alphonse Faure, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR MANUFACTURING EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS INTO GRAINS OR GRANULES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie
and Camille Alphonse Faure, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, on
behalf of myself and the said Camille Alphonse Faure, do hereby declare

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the manufacture of
explosive compounds into dense grains or granules. For this purpose
we employ a pair of rollers each having a number of V grooves formed
around its periphery, and also a number of similar grooves formed along
it parallel with its axis in such manner as to divide its surface into
a number of pyramidal projections each having a square base. The
longitudinal V grooves and projections on the two rollers are caused to
gear with one another in a similar manner to a pair of toothed wheels,
so that they shall revolve together, and the rollers are also adjusted so
that when the rollers meet together the apex of each of the pyramidal
projections on one roller comes opposite to and nearly touches the point
where the two sets of grooves on the other roller cross one another. The
projections on the two rollers thus brought together enclose between
them a number of spaces each of the form of a pyramid having a
triangular base.
The explosive compound to be formed into granules is drawn from a
hopper between these rollers when they are caused to revolve, and as
the explosive compound passes between the rollers it is by the form of
the projections upon them compressed in all directions, and formed into
dense grains or pellets of the shape of the spaces enclosed between them.
As the rollers continue to revolve the grains are scraped off from them
by comb-like scrapers, the teeth of which enter into the grooves formed
around the peripheries of the two rollers, and the grains thus detached
from the rollers fall into a hopper or receptacle. In order also to
remove any of the grains which may not have been detached by these
scrapers, there is caused to gear with each of the moulding rollers
another roller having corresponding grooves and projections upon it, so
that these clearing rollers revolve at the same surface speed as the
moulding rollers, an endway to-and-fro motion is also imparted to the
clearing rollers, and they are thus caused to push off any grains or
pellets still adhering to the longitudinal grooves of the moulding rollers.
Afterwards the surfaces of the moulding rollers are each acted upon by a
a clearing brush and then before again arriving at the point where they
gear together a lubricating material is applied to them adapted to impede
the explosive compound from adhering to them. The lubricating

page_text: material is applied to them by rollers which have upon their surfaces
corresponding projections, and gear with them, and the rollers which
apply this lubricating material are themselves supplied with it by a
revolving brush to which a continuous supply of the lubricating material
is imparted by a blade or cup carried by arms from a revolving axis, and
as it is thus carried round caused alternately to dip into a trough
containing the lubricating material and to come into contact with the
revolving brush
corresponding projections, and gear with them, and the rollers which
apply this lubricating material are themselves supplied with it by a
revolving brush to which a continuous supply of the lubricating material
is imparted by a blade or cup carried by arms from a revolving axis, and
as it is thus carried round caused alternately to dip into a trough
containing the lubricating material and to come into contact with the
revolving brush
In order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we have shewn in the Drawings hereunto annexed
two views in section of a machine constructed in the manner we prefer
for carrying out our Invention.
Figure 1 shews a transverse section of the machine, and Figure 2 a
longitudinal section of the same.
a, a, are the moulding rollers each of which has longitudinal and
circumferential V grooves cut in it from end to end, and the rollers are
mounted so that they gear with one another like a pair of toothed
wheels. The central portion of each roller has also V grooves cut
around it as before stated, whilst the two end portions simply act as
toothed wheels to ensure that the two rollers shall revolve together at
equal surface speeds; is the hopper from which the explosive
compound to be moulded into grains is supplied between the rollers a;
c, c, are fixed serrated scrapers the points of which enter into the grooves
formed around the rollers a; d, d, are rollers mounted below the
rollers a and which are formed with corresponding grooves and pro-
jections so that they may gear with them. These rollers in addition to
being driven at the same surface speed as the rollers a also have an
endway to-and-fro motion given to them by cam surfaces e, e, at their
ends acting against other fixed. cam surfaces carried at the ends of the
bearings in which the rollers turn. Any other suitable arrangement for
giving this to-and-fro endway motion to the cleaning rollers may however
be adopted in place of the means above described; f, f, are revolving
brushes for cleaning the moulding rollers from any dust which may
adhere to them; g, 9, are rollers mounted above the rollers a and which
like the rollers d are formed to gear with the rollers a, and are for the
purpose of applying lubricating material to the surface of these rollers.
The rollers are themselves supplied with the lubricating material by

page_text: revolving brushes h to which the material is applied by a blade k. This
blade is carried by arms from an axis as shewn, and is by it caused
alternately to dip into the material contained in the trough 7, and to
come into contact with the revolving brush; m, m, are shoots to convey
away the grains as they are detached from the moulding rollers and
deliver them into a suitable receptacle; n is the driving shaft from which
motion is conveyed to the various parts of the machine. The whole of
the gearing for transmitting motion to the various parts is not shewn in
the Drawings.
The action of the machine is herein-before fully described so that it is
unnecessary to give any further description of it.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention we would state
that in some cases it is unnecessary to coat the surfaces of the moulding
rollers with lubricating material as herein-before described, and also that
other means may be adopted for supplying the explosive compound to
be moulded between the moulding rollers, and that other means for
removing the grains from the rollers after they have been moulded into
form by them may be adopted, what we claim is,-
1. The employment of a pair of rollers with V grooves formed both
around and along them, and geared together in the manner herein
described for moulding explosive compounds into grains or granules of a
defined shape.
2. The combined arrangement of machinery substantially as herein
described for moulding explosive compounds into grains or granules..
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy
four.