IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR NIGHT SIGNALLING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR NIGHT SIGNALLING."-A commu-
nication from abroad by Eugéne François Désiré Ruggieri, of Paris,
in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 13th August 1872, and dated the 5th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th March 1872.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR NIGHT SIGNALLING," a com-
munication from abroad by Eugène François Désiré Ruggieri, of Paris,
in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-

page_text: specially constructed box or case containing any desired number of
signal rockets with or without their sticks; the said box or case being
furnished on one side or end with a metal socket and plate flush with the
face of the box for the reception of an upright support for holding the
rocket when being fired. This support may be of metal or other suitable
material not liable to be burnt by the fire from the rocket composition.
To the upper end of the support there is hinged a forked piece which
when placed horizontally serves as a seat for the rocket, the stick passing
down between the two branches of the fork, which moreover are turned
up slightly at their extremitics to prevent the rocket from being acci-
dentally displaced from its seat by the wind, or by the rolling of the
vessel when used on board ship. Lower down the stem of the support
there is a ring for the reception and guidance of the rocket stick.
The box or case should be of a capacity to contain from 20 to 100
rockets, and each rocket should contain at least 30 illuminating stars of
white, red, or green fire, or other colors as desired.
case.
The rockets are made perfectly proof against damp and changes of
climate. Their cases consist of a paper tube of a length sufficient to
contain the charge or composition, over which tube another and longer
one is formed, the protuding part forming a chamber for the reception of
the stars, whilst the other portion adds strength to the main body of the
At the breech end of the case there is fitted an annular plug of
clay, upon which inside the case there is placed a thin metal ring or
washer on which the filling or composition is rammed, a space being left
as usual down the centre of the charge for the reception of the match or
fuse which passes out through a central perforation in a cardboard disc
placed over the end of the rocket. Over this again there is placed a sheet
tin cap which joins a sheet tin covering placed outside the case, the whole
being enclosed in a covering of bitumenised or other waterproof paper or
fabric. A match or fuse passes also through the diaphragm which
separates the charge chamber from the chamber containing the stars.
For the facility of attachment to the stick each rocket has two metal
pins secured thereon by wire, the said pins passing through the stick, and
being then fastened by having their ends bent over the sides of the stick.
By using the rockets in different orders of colors it is obvious that a
system of night telegraphy may be easily established.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the 35th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 NIGHT SIGNALLING," a communication to
me from abroad by Eugéne Désiré Ruggieri, of Paris, in the Republic
of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in night signals,
and consists, ûrst, in the use of a species of night signal box intended

page_text: to contain a certain number of star rockets; and, secondly, in the mode
of constructing these rockets, which admits of their being obtained of
excellent quality, of great power, and at a small cost.
It is well known that sky rockets have been long employed as night
signals, but their bad quality and high price have hitherto prevented
their being widely used. Now this Invention has for its object to provide
an apparatus for navigators which may be readily transported and used,
and yet be exceedingly cheap. The night signal box is constructed with
this view. It contains from twenty to one hundred rockets, each pro-
vided with at least thirty strong stars of a total illuminating power equal
to two thousand one hundred Carcel burners, that is to say, they are
capable of carrying their light to a distance of nearly fifty-six miles in
clear weather and to about twelve and a half miles in foggy weather;
their minimum ascent is about two hundred and twenty yards, and they
may attain to about four hundred and forty yards if necessary. These
rockets are so constructed as to be perfectly fluid tight and protected
from the variations of temperature and atmospheric changes. Inde-
pendently of the rockets the box contains a support for the rocket when
being fired, which is fixed to the box in a simple and easy manner; the
rockets may thus be made use of in all weathers, and the salvage of
the signal box in case of shipwreck would enable signals to be made in

page_text: shews in elevation the mode of attaching the rocket support to the box;
Figure 3 is a plan; and Figure 4 is a vertical section of the same.
Figure 5 shews in vertical section the base of a rocket on this
system.
Figure 6 shews in longitudinal and transverse sections a rocket with
thirty stars.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal and transverse section of a rocket with
thirty-five stars.
Figure 8 shews two views of the rocket support on this system;
Figure 9 shews two other views of the same apparatus.
Figure 10 shews in detail the mode of attaching the rocket to its
stick.
The night signal box is arranged to contain from twenty to one
hundred rockets of about one and a quarter inches diameter, as shewn in
Figure 1, such rockets being provided with thirty strong stars (these
rockets are herein-after described). The box also contains a rocket
support, as herein-before stated, such support consisting of a metal rod a
(Figures 8 and 9), the upper part of which carries a jointed piece b,
which is fork shaped and intended to receive the base of the rocket, the
stick of which is also supported by a ring c fixed towards the lower end
of the rod a. It results from this arrangement that if the rocket in
starting rubs against the forked piece 6 this piece turns down, moving
around its joint, and thus offers no resistance to the upward motion of
the rocket, care is taken to slightly curve the extremities of the fork of
the jointed piece b, in order to prevent the rocket from escaping from
its seat under the action of the wind or through the oscillations of the
vessel.
The rocket support is attached in a very simple manner to one side of
the box, an example of which mode of fixing is shewn in Figures 2, 3,
and 4. The side dis provided with a lateral notch e, of the same
dimensions as the rod a of the rocket support, which notch, together
with a metal plate fattached to the wood by screws, forms a solid
bearing for the red of the rocket support, which is fitted thereto, as
shewn in Figures 2 and 4, without the box presenting external pro-
jection. The box may be secured by means of locks or fasteners g, the
pieces of which enter the hasps attached to the lid i, or by hooks, or

page_text: in any other suitable manner. The box is also provided with handles j
to facilitate the handling of the same.
I shall now proceed to describe the mode of constructing the rockets:-
In order to form the case of the rocket a piece of paper coated with
adhesive material is first coiled on a mandril, so as to form a tube of the
length y, z, Figures 6 and 7, then over the tube thus formed there is
coiled a second piece of paper, also coated with adhesive material, of
the total length y, w, of the rocket; by this means there is obtained at
one operation a tube strengthened at the place which is to contain the
charge, the weakest part being intended to receive the series of stars.
This mode of constructing the tubes is entirely novel and forms one of
'the salient points of this Invention.
The charging of the tubes thus prepared is effected in the ordinary
manner on a pin of the form of the internal cavity of the rocket; the
loam or clay k is first introduced, then a metal washer 1, intended to
maintain the latter during the outlet of the gases which are produced
at the time of the ascent of the rocket, and then the charge m is intro-
duced.
When the operation of charging is completed a washer o of paste-
board is attached to the base of the rocket, which serves to retain the
match n for igniting the charge, which match penetrates to the bottom
of the central cavity of the rocket and is prolonged to the outside in
order to facilitate the lighting of the rocket. The base of the rocket is
next closed by tin foil p, the edges of which are turned down and
covered by the tin foil in which the rocket is entirely wound, the whole
is lastly covered with adhesive bitumenised paper and secured at its
extremities by ligatures. By these means rockets may be obtained
which are perfectly fluid tight and protected from damp and changes of
temperature. It will be understood that before applying over the
rocket the cases of tin and tarred paper care should be taken to insert
the stars q with which it is provided, and which are formed as before
stated of a composition of white, red, or green fire compressed. A
washer of pasteboard separates the stars q from the charge m, and is
also provided with a match which traverses in front the central portion
of the space occupied by the stars. The rocket having been thus formed
the stick is attached thereto by two ligatures, as in the ordinary
manner....

page_text: Figure 10 shews a peculiar mode of attaching the rocket to its stick,
which admits of the dimensions of the signal box being reduced by
inserting therein only the rockets proper and delivering the sticks
separately in packets. In this arrangement the rocket is provided with
two metallic hooks or pins & which are attached thereto by iron wire
entering a hole formed in the base of the hook, the stick - is perforated
with holes corresponding to the double hooks, which it is simply
necessary to insert therein and turn down their extremities over the wood,
as shewn in Figure 10, in order to attach the stick to the rocket in a
strong and expeditious manner.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I con-
sider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The herein-before described peculiar night signal apparatus,
consisting of a readily portable box for containing either the rockets
and sticks or the rocket bodies only, such box being provided with a
special support for the rocket when being fired, the said support being
fixed on one side of the box, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawings.
Second. The peculiar mode of constructing the rockets for signals,
consisting essentially in the mode of making up the tube, the charging
of the rockets, the mode of attaching the stick, and the means employed
to render the rockets perfectly fluid tight, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Fourth day
of September One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)