IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING CHARGING AND CLOSING BREECH-LOADING CARTRIDGE CASES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cecil Duncombe, of Nawton Grange, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING
Sealed the 17th April 1868, and dated the 21st October 1867.
Sealed the 17th April 1868, and dated the 21st October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cecil Duncombe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
October 1867.
I, CECIL DUNCOMBE, of Nawton Grange, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CHARGING AND CLOSING BREECH-LOADING CARTRIDGE CASES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for charging
and closing breech-loading cartridge cases. For these purposes the empty
cartridge cases to be filled are placed in a row in a trough, towards one end
of which they are moved by a vibrating lever. The cartridge cases are stood
up on end, and the last case in the row comes under a horizontal table, which
is capable of turning on a vertical axis; the last case in the row is by a piston
or plunger forced upwards into a hole formed through the revolving table, the
charge of powder is then introduced into the open end of the case, and the
table is afterwards caused to make a partial revolution to bring the case into

page_text: position for receiving a wad. The supply of wads is contained in a vertical
tube, and the lowest wad is pushed out from the bottom of the tube and
brought over the top of the cartridge case; when the wad has been brought
into this position it is forced into the case by a suitable piston or plunger; the
table then makes another partial rotation to bring the cartridge case into
position for receiving the charge of shot, or to receive a bullet; the table then
makes another partial rotation to receive a second wad, and afterwards another
partial rotation to bring the top of the case under a tool suitable for turning
over the top of the cartridge case to secure the charge therein; the table then
makes another movement, by which the cartridge case is brought under a
piston or plunger, by which the case is pushed out from the hole in the table,
and is caused to fall into a suitable receptacle, and afterwards the hole from
which the completed cartridge has been discharged is brought into position
for receiving a fresh case. Six, or it might be other number of different
cartridge cases will thus be held in holes in the table, and each case will be
subjected in succession to the several operations required. The requisite
movements are given to the various parts of the machine by cams or eccentrics
on a cam shaft which is placed horizontally below the revolving table. The
table is driven round by a pawl taking into ratchet teeth on its periphery.
The pawl is actuated by a lever to which motion is transmitted from a cam on
the cam shaft, so that for each revolution of the cam shaft one empty cartridge
case will be placed in the revolving table, and one properly charged, closed,
and finished will be expelled therefrom.
The apparatus for measuring the powder and shot may be of any ordinary
construction. For turning over the top of the cases a revolving tool is
employed, which is driven at a high velocity, and pressed down on to the top
of the cartridge cases by a moveable weight at the end of a lever which is
raised by an arm attached to a lever (and worked by a crank on the cam shaft)
at a proper moment to allow the table to make a partial rotation. The
pistons or plungers which force the wads into the cartridge cases are both
connected to one cross lever actuated by a crank on the cam shaft, and
attached thereto by a connecting rod at one end. At the other end of the
cross lever is an arrangement for preventing the powder and shot being
crushed in the event of wads of different thickness or different charges of
powder and shot being used, which may be thus described. The end of the
lever is allowed to play between two adjustable nuts screwed on to an upright
bar fixed to the frame carrying the machinery; it is kept in its place by an
india-rubber spring which forms a fulcrum while the wads are being rammed

page_text: down. In the event of the spring not having sufficient strength the lever will
strike against the upper adjustable nut, which will then become the fulcrum
till the wads are forced in; as soon as the resistance is overcome the spring
will again come into play, and will give way in the event of the crank con-
tinuing to descend after the wads are driven home by the rammers.
To the
same cross lever is attached the apparatus for measuring the powder and shot,
and also the arm for raising the tool which turns down the ends of the covers,
so that five operations are carried on by one crank. When the cartridge is
to be made up with a bullet or projectile suitable for being used with a
breech-loading rifle, both wads or the second wad only may be dispensed with,
and then the apparatus is modified accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Cecil Duncombe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CECIL
DUNCOMBE, of Nawton Grange, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Cecil Duncombe, Her special licence, that I, the said Cecil
Duncombe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Cecil Duncombe, 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 Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
HENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CHARGING AND CLOSING BREECH-LOADING CARTRIDGE
CASES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Cecil Duncombe,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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
Lettors Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cecil Duncombe, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for charging
and closing breech-loading cartridge cases. For these purposes the empty
cartridge cases to be filled are placed in a row in a trough, towards one end
of which they are moved by a vibrating lever. The cartridge cases are stood
up on end, and the last case in the row comes under a horizontal table which
is capable of turning on a vertical axis, the last case in the row is by a piston
or plunger forced upwards into a hole formed through the revolving table, the
charge of powder is then introduced into the open end of the case, and the table
is afterwards caused to make a partial revolution to bring the case into position
for receiving a wad. The supply of wads is contained in a vertical tube and the
lowest wad is pushed out from the bottom of the tube, and brought over the
top of the cartridge case; when the wad has been brought into this position it
is forced into the case by a suitable piston or plunger; the table then makes
another partial rotation to bring the cartridge case into position for receiving
the charge of shot or to receive a bullet, the table then makes another partial
rotation to receive a second wad, and afterwards another partial rotation to
bring the top of the case under a tool suitable for turning over the top of the
cartridge case to secure the charge therein; the table then makes another move-
ment by which the cartridge case is brought under a piston or plunger, by which
the case is pushed out from the hole in the table, and is caused to fall into a
suitable receptacle, and afterwards the hole from which the completed cartridge
has been discharged is brought into position for receiving a fresh case. Six
or it might be other number of different cartridge cases will thus be held in
holes in the table, and each case will be subjected in succession to the several
operations required. The requisite movements are given to the various parts
of the machine by cams or eccentrics on a cam shaft, which is placed horizon-
tally below the revolving table. The table is driven round by a pawl taking
into ratchet teeth on its periphery. The pawl is actuated by a lever to which
motion is transmitted from a cam on the cam shaft, so that for each revolution
of the cam shaft one empty cartridge case will be placed in the revolving
table, and
one properly charged, closed, and finished will be expelled
therefrom.
The apparatus for measuring the powder and shot may be of any ordinary
construction. For turning over the top of the cases a revolving tool is employed,

page_text: which is driven at a high velocity and pressed down on to the top of the cartridge
cases by a moveable weight at the end of a lever which is raised by an arm
attached to a lever (and worked by a crank on the cam shaft) at a proper
moment to allow the table to make a partial rotation. The pistons or plungers
which force the wads into the cartridge cases are both connected to one
cross lever actuated by a crank on the cam shaft and attached thereto by a
connecting rod at one end. At the other end of the cross lever is an arrange-
ment for preventing the powder and shot being crushed in the event of wads
of different thickness or different charges of powder and shot being used
which may be thus described. The end of the lever is allowed to play
between two adjustable nuts screwed on to an upright bar fixed to the frame
carrying the machinery; it is kept in its place by an india-rubber spring which
forms a fulcrum while the wads are being rammed down. In the event of
the spring not having sufficient strength the lever will strike against the
upper adjustable nut, which will then become the fulcrum till the wads are
forced in; as soon as the resistance is overcome the spring will again come
into play, and will give way in the event of the crank continuing to descend
after the wads are driven home by the rammers. To the same cross lever
is attached the apparatus for measuring the powder and shot, and also the
arm for raising the tool which turns down the ends of the covers, so that five
operations are carried on by one crank; or this may be done by separate cranks,
cams, and levers if required.
When the cartridge is to be made up with a bullet or projectile suitable for
being used with a breech-loading rifle, both wads or the second wad only
may be dispensed with, and then the apparatus is modified accordingly.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The machine shewn in the Drawings is arranged for filling and closing shot
cartridges.
་
Figure 1 is a front view, Figure 2 a back view, Figure 3 a right-hand
side view, and Figure 4 a plan in section of the machine.
a, a, are two side frames carrying at their upper end the horizontal bed
plate b; projecting up from this plate is the stud or pin c¹, upon which turns
the circular revolving table c, through which are formed the holes which are
to receive the cartridge cases to be filled. Around the outer circumference of
this table are formed ratchet teeth by means of which the step-by-step motion

page_text: is given to the table.
is transmitted to the
Below the bed plate is the axis d, from which motion
several parts of the machine. Motion is transmitted to
the axis d by a band which passes around the pulley d¹ upon one of its ends
and also around a pulley on the main or driving axis e, to which motion is
transmitted in any suitable manner. The step-by-step motion is given to the
revolving table c, by means of the eccentric f on the shaft d; this eccentric by a
rod f¹ gives a to-and-fro motion to the lever f, the axis of which is carried
by a bracket from the under side of the bed plate b. The upper end of the
lever f is received in a slot in the end of a rod f³, which is capable of sliding
endwise to and fro in a guide carried on the top of the bed plate b. The
opposite end of the rod f³ is jointed to a ratchet lever f', which turns around
the axis of the revolving table c, and carries at its outer end the ratchet f³,
which on the forward movement of the sliding rod engages with one or other
of the teeth formed around the circumference of the revolving table, but on
the backward movement of this rod the ratchet slips over the teeth formed on
the table, leaving the table during this time at rest. The time during which
the table remains at rest is also prolonged by reason of the upper end of the
lever f being received in a slot in the rod, so that the lever during a great
part of its movement is not acting on the rod, and consequently is not moving
the ratchet f. The cartridge cases to be filled are placed on end in the
trough g, the open end of the cases being uppermost. The cases are by hand
fed one by one into a tube h which hangs downwards from the under side of
the bed plate 6. A portion of the side of the tube is cut away to allow of the
empty cases being so fed into it. Within the tube h is a plunger k, the top of
which when the plunger is in its lowest position comes just below the surface
of the trough upon which the cartridge cases are placed. When the plunger is
in this position an empty case is pushed forward into the tube through the
opening in its side, and the bottom of the cartridge case then rests on the
top of the plunger. From the plunger projects a pin entering a slot in the
end of a lever ; this lever carries a roller that is acted on by the cam kon
the shaft d; the cam is suitably shaped to cause the lever and plunger to
rise after the table has been moved round one step; the plunger then lifts the
case which is resting on its upper end and pushes it up into one of the holes
in the revolving table. Upon the next movement of the table the plunger
descends so that a fresh cartridge case may be fed into the tube h and be
similarly raised by the plunger into the next hole in the revolving table, and
so on continuously. When a cartridge case has been fed up as above
described into one of the holes in the revolving table it is on the next movement

page_text: of the table brought below the end of a pipe l' leading from a powder measuring
apparatus 1, which is then caused to discharge a measured quantity of powder
down the pipe into the cartridge case; this is effected by a crank / on the
axis d, giving motion by a rod 11 to a lever 12; this lever carries a T-piece 1³,
one of the horizontal arms of which carries a pin that is received in a slot in
the lever arm, which is fixed to the revolving chamber 13 at the lower end
of the measuring apparatus 1. The construction of the measuring apparatus and
revolving chamber is well understood, so that it is unnecessary to describe them
here. The opposite arm of the T-piece ³ actuates in a similar manner the
revolving chamber of a shot measuring apparatus, so that at the same time that
a measured charge of powder is being discharged down the pipe 17 into one
cartridge case a measured charge of shot is similarly being discharged down
the pipe 18 into another case which has previously been supplied with powder
and also with a wad above the powder. After a cartridge case has thus been
supplied with a measured charge of powder it is at the next movement of the
revolving table brought below a plunger *, which is caused to force down a
wad on to the top of the powder in the case; the supply of wads for this
purpose is placed in a tube m*, which is of slightly larger diameter than the
wads, so that the wads may pass freely to the bottom of the tube. The wads
are pressed down to the bottom of the tube by a weight which is placed upon
the top of the wads in the tube; this weight is prevented descending entirely
to the bottom of the tube by a cord attached to it being passed through a
small hole or eye, and at the end of the cord is attached a small weight
which cannot pass through the eye or hole, and forms a stop to prevent the
weight descending too far in the tube. The bottom of the tube is closed by a
slide m³, which has a to-and-fro movement given to it by an eccentric m on the
shaft d; this eccentric by a rod m¹ gives motion to a lever m², the axis of
which is carried by a bracket from the under side of the bed plate b. The
upper end of the lever enters a slot in the slide m³ and imparts a to-and-fro
motion to it. When the slide is in its backward position a recess in the slide
is then below the end of the tube, and the lowest wad drops into the recess.
When the slide moves forward it carries this wad with it along a trough
until it has brought the wad below the end of the plunger 1*, which is to force
it down into the cartridge case. The trough is made slightly tapered, so that
as the wad is pushed forward along it the sides of the trough nip the wad and
prevent its being carried back by the slide on its return stroke. The wad thus
brought below the end of the plunger 1* is by it forced down into the cartridge
case on to the top of the charge of powder, and this is effected by the plunger

page_text: being fixed to the lever 12, which, as before described, is caused to descend at
the time that the revolving table is at rest. The plunger is of smaller
diameter than the wad, and before the wad enters the cartridge case it is by
the plunger forced down through a conical funnel, the lower end of which is
likewise of smaller diameter than the wad; the wad being thus compressed is
readily forced down into the cartridge case. After a wad has thus been
forced down on to the charge of powder, the cartridge case at the next move-
ment of the table is brought under the end of the tube leading from the shot
measuring apparatus, and has a measured quantity of shot delivered into it, as
before explained. At the next movement of the table the cartridge case is
brought under a plunger 1**, which is caused to force a wad down on to the
top of the charge of shot. The manner in which the wads are by a slide m³
brought in succession below the end of the plunger from a tubular wad holder,
and are then by the plunger forced down into the cartridge cases is precisely
similar to the arrangement just described for forcing a wad on to the top of
the charge of powder, the plunger 1** being (like the plunger (*) connected
to the lever 12 and the two slides m³ being formed in one piece they both
move together. The lever 1' does not turn on a fixed centre, but rests on a
nut 3*, which can be raised and lowered on the standard 7º, and the lever is
held down on to this nut by a vulcanized india-rubber spring 710, which allows
this end of the lever to rise if too great a strain comes upon it. 11 is a nut for
limiting the distance the end of the lever 1 is allowed to rise. When a
cartridge case has been filled, as above described, it only remains to close
over the top of the case; to effect this it is carried round with the table until
its upper end is brought below a revolving closing tool n such as is ordinarily
employed; the revolving tool is then caused to descend upon the top of the
cartridge case and turn over its upper edge, as is well understood. The axis
of the closing tool is slid up and down in its bearing by the lever n¹, which
turns at one end on a pin carried by a standard fixed to the bed plate b, and
at the other end the lever carries a weight which constantly presses it down-
wards, so pressing down with it the revolving closing tool n. When the
revolving tool is to be raised to free it from the top of a cartridge case to allow
the revolving table to be turned round, a pin 118 on the T-piece 13 carried
by the lever comes below the lever n', and at the time that the lever 12 is
raised by the crank the pin / coming below the lever n¹ raises this lever
also, and consequently raises the closing tool. The revolving tool is driven by
a band passing from a wheel on the driving shaft to a small pulley on the
axis of the revolving tool. The cartridge case thus filled and closed is subse-

page_text: quently by the movement of the table brought below the end of a plunger o³,
which is caused to descend after each movement of the table by an eccentric o,
which by a rod o¹ gives motion to a lever o³ that is connected at its end with
the plunger os. Each time that this plunger descends it forces a cartridge com-
pletely closed and filled out from the revolving table, and the cartridge drops
into the trough p, from which it is received in any suitable receptacle. The
hole in the revolving table from which a cartridge is thus removed is afterwards
brought round by the movement of the table to again receive an empty case
to be filled and closed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cecil Duncombe, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand hundred and sixty-eight.
CECIL DUNCOMBE. (L.S.)