IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROCKETS."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hale, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROCKETS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1865.
1, WILLIAM HALE, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-.
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS," to be as follows:-
The object of my present improvements in rockets is to obtain a more rapid'
rotation in the rocket, and thereby insure a more correct line of flight, and
longer range than has hitherto been attained, and also to obviate a practical
difficulty that exists in my late improvements patented on the 25th of April,
1862, No. 1220, wherein I represent the whole power of the gas generated
by the combustion of the composition as exerting its full force to impel the
rocket forward, but. a proportion only of about one half of this power I

page_text: represent to be used in generating the rotary motion, whereas in my present
improvements the whole power of the gas produces rotary motion without
detracting from its effect in impelling the rocket forward. I accomplish this
improvement by dispensing with the central aperture, represented in my last
Patent, from which the egress of the gas has no other effect than to propel the
rocket forward, and thus a great part of the force of the gas is ineffectual to
give rotary motion, and in the before-mentioned arrangement the three
apertures with balf tubes projecting had to be placed so far distant from the
axis of the rocket as to render it necessary to rivet in the cast-iron base,
(having the three apertures and central aperture formed in one piece) after
the rocket was charged, an operation which was liable to loosen the compo-
sition from the inside of the case, and so materially injure the rocket.
In my present improvement by dispensing with the central aperture and
bringing the three apertures with the half tubes near the axis of the rocket,
and making this part a separate casting, I ani able to rivet in the base of the
rocket before charging. The central part of the base is previously bored out,
and tapped to receive the separate casting upon which a thread cut to suit,
and thus the separate casting can be screwed in at any time after the rocket
is charged. In charging the rocket. a plug the thickness of the base is
inserted in the central aperture for the purpose of filling up this aperture for
the time, and it is afterwards withdrawn, and the rocket bored up in the
ordinary way. By adopting this plan, the composition after being driven,
remains perfectly undisturbed, and the difficulty referred to as existing in my
last Patent is entirely obviated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1865.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HALE, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Hale, Her special licence that I; the said
William Hale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others

page_text: as 1, the said William Hale, my 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
5 Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Hale, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Hale. do hereby declaro
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 my present improvements in rockets is to obtain a more rapid
rotation in the rocket, and thereby ensure a more correct line of flight and
longer range than has hitherto been attained, and also to obviate a practical
difficulty that exists in my late improvements Patented on the 25th of April,
1862, No. 1220, wherein I represent the whole power of the gas generated
by the combustion of the composition as exerting its full force to impel the
rocket forward, but a proportion only of about one half of this power I
represent to be used in generating the rotary motion, whereas in my present
improvements the whole power of the gas produces rotary motion, without
detracting from its effect in impelling the rocket forward. I accomplish this
improvement by dispensing with the central aperture, represented in my last
Patent, from which the egress of the gas has no other effect than to propel the
rocket forward, and thus a great part of the force of the gas is ineffectual to
give rotary motion; and in the before-mentioned arrangement the three
apertures with half tubes projecting had to be placed so far distant from the
axis of the rocket as to render it necessary to rivet in the cast-iron base
(having the three apertures and central aperture formed in one piece) after
he rocket was charged, an operation which was liable to loosen the composition
rom the inside of the case, and so materially injure the rocket.
In my present improvement by dispensing with the central aperture, and
ringing the three apertures with the half tubes near the axis of the rocket,
nd making this part a separate casting, I am able to rivet in the base of the
ocket before charging. The central part of the base is previously borel out

page_text: and tapped to receive the separate casting, upon which a thread is cut to suit,
and thus the separate casting can be screwed in at any time after the rocket is
charged. In charging the rocket a plug the thickness of the base is inserted
in the central aperture for the purpose of filling up this aperture for the time,
and it is afterwards withdrawn and the rocket bored up in the ordinary way.
By adopting this plan the composition after being driven remains perfectly
undisturbed, and the difficulty referred to as existing in my last Patent entirely
obviated.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, the
Drawings shew the several parts of a rocket constructed in the manner I prefer
for carrying out my Invention.
Figure 1 represents an external view of the case or body of a rocket, to
me end of which the shot, shell, or other head is fixed by rivets, screws,
or otherwise, and at the other end the base piece is similarly fixed,
which may be of cast or wrought iron, or it may, if preferred, be welded in
the case.
Figure 2 represents an end view of the base piece and rotator. The
ase plate is bored out centrally, and tapped to receive what I term the
rotator.
Figure 3 represents a side view of the rotator, I give it this name because
it is the mechanical agent by which the rocket is caused to rotate rapidly
bont its longitudinal axis, as hereafter explained.
Figure 4 shows a section of the rear end of a rocket case and rotator. Ou
the rotator a screw is cut corresponding with the female screw in the centre
of the base piece or plate, into which it is to be screwed when the rocket is
ready to be fired.
In the rotator are three circular apertures a, a, a, near the centre equi-
istant from each other, and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the rocket.
From these apertures three half tubes project in the same line which corres-
pond with the three bored apertures. The gas generated by the combustion
of the composition being allowed only to escape from the three apertures a, a, a,
it will by its elastic force exert a lateral pressure against the projecting balf
Lubes while it is free to expand on the opposite side, and as this pressure being
in a direction at right angles to the rocket's longitudinal axis a rapid rotatory
motion is thereby given to the rocket. The base piece or plate being aflixed
before the rocket is charged, and the composition driven upon it, the difficulty
existing in my former rocket is obviated at the same time, as the gas is allowed
only to pass through the three apertures a, a, a, the whole force of the gas is

page_text: effective to generate rotatory motion while it exerts its entire force in gene-
rating rectilinear motion, and by this means greater rotation is given to the
rocket than with the same power was effected by my former improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hale, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
W. HALE. (L.S.)