IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND IN PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Nightingale Palmer of Lansdowne Road Dalston,
in the County of Middlesex for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC
BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND IN PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME communicated
to him from abroad by David Mefford Mefford, of Toledo, Ohio, United States
of America
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Nightingale Palmer
at the Office of the Cominissioners of Patehts on the 7th June 1883.
THOMAS NIGHTINGALE PALMER of Lansdowne Road, Dalston in the County of
" IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC BREECH-LOADING GUNS AND
PROJECTILES FOR THE SAME [a communication to him from abroad by David
Mefford Mefford, of Toledo, Ohio, United States of America]
Middlesex
IN
The said invention relates to pneumatic breech-loading guns for discharging
shells or projectiles charged with dynamite or other powerful detonating powder,
and to projectiles for use with the said guns.
The said gun consists of a tube the length of which varies according to its
calibre, but the length of said tube should be very much greater in proportion to
the size of its bore than that of the ordinary gun. Thus when the calibre is
twelve inches the length of the said tube or barrel should be fifty feet. The said
tube may be comparatively thin but should have a perfectly straight and smooth
bore and have a strong rigid support beneath it so as to prevent it from warping
by its own weight and also to prevent any lateral vibration or springing when it is
being discharged. As there is no sensible recoil, the said gun does not need a
carriage but may be pivoted to a pivot post or other suitable support in such a
manner as to admit of the said gun being swung around so that its muzzle will
describe the segment of a circle, and also to admit of the elevation or depression of
the muzzle.
The said gun is provided with a magazine made of boiler-iron of a thickness
governed by the capacity and shape of the said magazine and the pressure to
which it is to be subjected. The capacity or size of the said magazine should be
in proportion to the size and length of the bore of the gun with which it is to be

page_text: used. The said magazine is provided with a pressure-gauge and is charged with
compressed air by means of a suitable air pump operated by hand or steam power,
the said pump being connected to the magazine by means of a suitable pipe which
may or may not be provided with a stop-cock. The gun and magazine are
connected by means of a flexible hose or pipe of any desired length, the union of
the said hose with the breech end of the gun being effected by means of any
suitable coupling which will admit of the said hose or pipe being readily secured
to and removed from the gun. The inside diameter of the said hose should be the
same as that of the bore of the gun and a stop cock or valve is arranged between
the magazine and the breech of the gun.
In operating the said gun the hose or tube connecting the said gun and magazine
is disconnected from the gun by means of the coupling, the projectile is placed
into the bore at the breech and the hose reconnected. The desired pressure having
been obtained in the compressed air magazine and the gun elevated and aimed
the stop valve between the magazine and gun is quickly opened and the gun is
discharged.
My improved projectile is charged with dynamite or other sensitive detonating
powder and is designed to be shot or discharged from a smooth bore pneumatic
gun without danger of its exploding in the said gun but exploding it only by
concussion against the object aimed at. The said projectile consists of a shaft of
wood, or other light strong substance a thin cylindrical shell for containing the
explosive and a head with a rod or pin passing through it, on which is placed an
explosive cap. The circumference of the rear end of the said shaft approximates
closely to the size of the bore of the gun in which the projectile is to be used, the
said shaft tapering from, its rear end to its point of union with the said metallic
shell. In a projectile for a gun of six inch calibre the said shell may be six feet
long independent of the shaft which should be about two feet long as the length of
the projectile does not militate against its accuracy of flight. Between the said
shaft and the said shell is arranged a band having three or more equidistant wings.
The diameter of the said wings should correspond with that of the rear end of the
shaft and the said wings may be spirally attached to the band. The head of the
projectile has a rod or pin passing through it upon the rear end of which a highly
explosive cap is adjusted for the purpose of exploding the shell but when the said
shell is used against masonry or ironclad ships no cap need be employed, as the
concussion of the shell will be sufficient to explode it.

page_text: parts.
Figure 2 is a side view of the said improved projectile.
Figure 3 is a view of the head of the said projectile.
a is the gun which consists of a tube of a length corresponding to the size of
the calibre, and the length of the said gun should be made very much greater in
proportion to the size of its bore than that of an ordinary gun for the reason that
the volocity of the projectile discharged through its bore is dependent upon
accelerated motion, being continuously acted upon by the force of the compressed
air from the time it leaves the breech until it reaches the muzzle. In the construc-
tion of a gun upon this plan when the calibre is as much as twelve inches in
diameter, the barrel should be fifty feet long and if the calibre is fifteen inches in
diameter the gun should be still longer, if great length of range be desired. The
walls of the gun or the shell surrounding the bore may be made comparatively
thin, not thicker than the walls of the magazine containing the compressed air, but
should be perfectly straight and smooth inside and the said gun should have either
a strong stiff support along the underside of the barrel or should be trussed with
rods or wire ropes to prevent the warping of the gun by its own weight or any
lateral vibration or springing when being discharged.
As there is no sensible recoil to the barrel when it is discharged it does not,need
a carriage but may be pivoted on top of a pivot post properly secured at its base as
seen at b.
The pivot should be so constructed as to permit the gun to be swung around so
that its muzzle will describe the segment of a circle and also admit of elevation and
depression at the muzzle.
The gun is to be breech-loading, the hose connecting the gun with the magazine
being furnished with any suitable mechanism for attaching or detaching it from the
gun, for loading purposes.
The magazine c is made of boiler iron of a thickness governed by the capacity,
shape and the pressure to which the said magazine is to be subjected and in con-
struction as to the capacity or size of the said magazine regard should be had to
the size and length of the bore of the gun intended to be used in connection there-
with. The said magazine should have a compressed air gauge k connected with it
so as to correctly designate the amount of pressure of the air it contains as this is

page_text: important in securing uniformity of range with the projectiles for if the projectiles
are of uniform weight and the pressure and elevation of the gun the same, the
range of the projectiles will be the same.
dis an air compressing pump which, for heavy guns where ease in rapid firing
is desired, is operated by means of a steam cylinder and the steam cylinder may be
connected with a steam boiler by a pipe; or the gun may be operated by means of
a hand compressing pump but this is both slow and laborious. The pump d is
connected to the magazine c by means of pipe i which may or may not be provided
with a stop-cock. The gun is connected to the magazine c by means of the flexible
hose or pipe f with any suitable coupling f¹ at the breech so that the said pipe can
be readily attached, or detached for loading purposes, whilst at its other end it is
permanently secured to the magazine c.
The hose or pipe f may be of any desired length so as to admit of traversing the
gun on its pivot or to admit of the magazine being placed in the hold of the vessel
whilst the gun is on deck. The inside diameter of the flexible hose f should be as
large as the diameter of the bore of the gun to which it is attached, so as to allow
a free passage through it into the gun in order that the full force of the compressed
air may act on the butt end of the projectile whilst it is passing through the calibre
and out at the muzzle.
The stop cock or valve h is situated near the magazine c or it may be situated at
any desired point in the hose f between the gun and the said magazine but when
the projectile shell is filled with anything that is exceedingly liable to detonate it
should be sufficiently distant from the gun to give a space for an air cushion in
the hose between the gun and the stop cock so as to ameliorate the blow caused
by an immediate rush of the compressed air on instantaneously opening the stop
cock h.
1
In operating the gun; and the means for giving velocity to the projectile without
detonating the dynamite or even more sensitive explosive, the hose f is discon-
nected from the gun by means of the coupling f¹ the projectile charged with
dynamite or other explosive is placed into the bore at the breech and the hose
coupling reconnected to the breech. The compressed air in magazine c being
up to the desired pressure as ascertained by the gauge k and the gun elevated and
aimed, the stop cock h is quickly turned, opening a free passage for the compressed
air to pass through from the interior of magazine c into the breech of the gun
driving and compressing the air in the hose or pipe if a space has been allowed
between stop cock h and the breech and starting the projectile at first comparatively
slowly but immediately powerfully accelerating its motion by its continuous action
on the butt of the projectile until it reaches and passes out of the muzzle.
valve being closed almost as rapidly as it has been opened economizes the com-
pressed air in the magazine c so that by the time another projectile is placed in
the bore at the breech the continuous working of the air pump d will have raised
the pressure in the magazine c to the degree at which the last discharge was
made.
The
The said invention also consists in an improved projectile shell shown in
Figures 2 and 3 charged with dynamite or other sensitive detonating powder and
designed so as to be shot or discharged from a smooth bore pneumatic gun without
danger of exploding it in the said gun, but exploding it only by concussion against
the object aimed at.
represents the shaft of this arrow-shaped projectile terminating at the rear end
in an enlargement approximating closely to the size of the calibre of the gun in
which it is to be used. This shaft is made of wood or other light strong substance
or it may be made of metal, if made hollow and light and should be tapering from
the end at to the point of its union with the metallic shell m. The shell m
should be a cylinder and may be thin and sufficiently long to contain the amount
of dynamite required. When the shell is intended to be used in a gun of six inch
calibre the shell alone may be six feet long independent of the body or shaft las
length does not militate against the accuracy of the flight of the projectile; its

page_text: diameter should be about one inch less than the rear end of the stock at so as to
give about a half inch projection on every side to serve as a feather in directing
its flight through the air. A tenon should be turned on the forward end of the
wooden body or shaft so as to fit snugly and firmly into the end of the shell m.
A band with wings n (three or more equidistant around it) should be adjusted on
the tenon of the shaft between the shoulder of the tenon and the end of the shell m
and the extreme diameter of the said band and wings should correspond with the
diameter of the shaft at the object of which is to hold the shell centrally in the
calibre of the gun.
These wings should be spirally attached to the band or sleeve
so as to rotate or have a tendency to rotate the projectile in its passage through
the air or they may be straight with the line of the axis of the projectile and the
rear end at may be gashed in spiral lines so as to cause the desired rotation.
The distance from the extreme rear end of the shaft at to the sleeve or band
with its wings n in a projectile of six inches in diameter should be about two feet
more or less. In Figure 3 is shown the head o of the projectile with the rod or
pin p passing through it and upon the rear end of the said pin a highly explosive
cap is adjusted. The said explosive detonating cap should never be adjusted to
the end of the rod p until just before the shell is to be used in the gun then the
cap should be slipped on carefully and not be pushed so far on as to cause the
fulminate in the bottom of the cap to come in contact or touch the end of the
nipple or rod. When this has been done the head should be adjusted in the forward
end of the shell. The shell however may be filled with dynamite at any time for
it is not liable to explode by any ordinary jar such as that occasioned by falling a
few feet unless the cap is with it in the head of the shell. The only object in
using the cap is to explode the dynamite in the shell and the best way to prevent
accident by premature explosion is to not adjust the cap until the shell is ready to
go into the gun to be shot or discharged.
When the shell is to be used against
masonry or iron-clad ships no cap need be employed for the concussion of the shell
alone will explode the dynamite.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent I claim
First In pneumatic breech-loading guns such as above described the combi-
nation of the pump d the compressed air magazine c the flexible hose or pipe f
having stop cock h with the gun a substantially as described.
Second The combination of the magazine c the flexible hose pipe having
stop cock and the coupling f¹ with the gun a substantially as described.
Third-An elongated shell projectile having a body 7 provided with guide
wings and shell m charged with dynamite or other detonating powder
substantially as and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof I the said Thomas Nightingale Palmer have hereunto set
my hand, and seal this thirtieth day of November in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
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