Year: 1896

page_text: ROCKET
I ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON of The Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to he as follows:-
This invention relates to the combined action of the usual propulsive force imparted
by powder in a gun to projectiles, and of the more protracted impulse given by an
ignited rocket charge. In order to attain the desired result, my communicant says:-
provide projectiles with a rearward chamber open at the hinder end, which chamber
receives a rocket charge. And in order that such rocket charge may not be fired by
the powder charge of the gun, I close the end of said rocket chamber with a bottom
or so-called sabot, which fits hermetically, and may even be soldered to the hinder end
of the projectile, but which, on being exposed to sufficient pressure developed inside
said rocket chamber, is thrown out, leaving said chamber open. In the aforesaid
bottom or sabot, is placed a time fuse of any suitable construction, but so arranged
that it cannot prematurely lead the fire into said rocket chamber.
A good fuse for such purposes is obtained by having the bottom or sabot, or part of
it, made undulated or corrugated, or slightly elastic, and provided inwardly with a
needle or point, which, when pushed forward by the pressure of the powder gases in
the gun, strikes against a small fulminate cap, which communicates fire to a small
charge of greatly compressed powder, acting as such charges do in ordinary time
fuses. This powder may either set fire directly to the aforesaid rocket charge, or
indirectly, by firing a minute powder charge contained in a special chamber, which
its explosion bursts, thereby opening access for the flame to the rocket chamber.
The projectile herein described works as follows:-When charged in a gun, the
aforesaid hermetically closed bottom or sabot receives, and transmits to the projectile,
the propulsive force of the powder charge. The pressure acting on said bottom, or
sabot, gives it,a slight inward motion, thereby causing the needle which it carries to
strike the fulminate cap, which, as already stated, sets the aforesaid time fuse in
operation. The projectile leaves the gun as an ordinary missile, but as soon as the
time fuse has carried the fire into said rocket chamber, the pressure produced by the
burning charge therein detaches the bottom or sabot, and the projectile then begins to
act as a rocket, thereby keeping up or accelerating the motion of said projectile.
The aforesaid rocket charge is applicable to all sorts of projectiles capable of
carrying a time fuse. Seeing that it is advantageous to give them a greater length
than to ordinary projectiles, it is desirable, in such case, to secure a quick rotatory
motion capable of steadying their course, and preventing undue deviation.
For such purpose, the gun used for throwing such projectiles should be rifled with
s sharp a twist as can, without inconvenience, be given. Moreover, the rocket
charge itself can be made to keep up and increase the rotation of such projectile. For
uch purpose, said rocket chamber is provided in its rear end, immediately behind the
ocket charge, with a fixed propeller, or with fixed wings or blades, which compel the

page_text: hot gases of the rocket charge to exude into the outer atmosphere in an oblique
direction, thereby increasing the spinning motion of the projectile.
Dated this 924th day of June 1896
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in War Rockets.
I ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON of The Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Hitherto, as is well known, it has been impossible to give to war rockets a sufficient.
accuracy of aim to make their use practically important, and, moreover, the only
practicable way of increasing the range of the projectile, has been by correspondingly
increasing the length and strength, and consequently the cost, of the gun from which
it is fired. The present invention purposes to obviate both these inconveniences, by
combining the rocket with the projectile in such a manner that the combined rocket-
projectile is fired from a gun with sufficient initial velocity and rotation to give it a
steady motion, said velocity and rotation being afterwards maintained or increased by
the action of the rocket driving composition.
For such purpose, a projectile (preferably a shell) is formed with a tubular
extension open at its rear. This tubular extension contains a charge of rocket or
driving composition, and is closed by a detachable bottom, or so-called sabot, which
contains a time-fuse arrangement to be fired on the discharge of the projectile from
the gun.
In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 represents, in longitudinal section, a war
rocket constructed according to this invention.
A is the projectile with its rocket case extension, and carrying a gas check or
guide B.
Cis an explosive charge in the head of the projectile, and D is the driving
or rocket composition contained in the tubular extension or rocket case. E is the
detachable bottom or sabot, which closes the rocket case, and is fitted with the time-
fuse arrangement F.
The projectile, when fired from a rifled gun, receives an initial velocity and rotation
sufficient to give it a steady motion, and the time fuse F being acted upon, as will be
presently explained, by the gases from the charge of the gun, fires the driving compo-
sition D, which, throwing out the bottom or sabot E, serves to maintain or increase
the velocity of the projectile. It will be understood that the time-fuse should be so
regulated as not to fire the driving composition until the projectile has left the barrel
of the gun, as otherwise much force would be lost, besides there being some danger of
injury to the gun. For the same reasons, it is important that the sabot E closes
sufficiently tight to prevent the ignition of the driving composition direct by the
propelling gases of the charge in the gun, and, to that purpose, said sabot E may even
be soldered to the end of the projectile with solder of little strength.
The time-fuse may be variously constructed, but the arrangement shown in the
drawing is preferred.
It consists of a thimble screwed into the sabot E, and rebated at bottom to receive a
spring plate G carrying a point or pin H in line with a percussion cap I. This cap is
carried by a central plug, which is screwed into the thimble, and is pierced with a
channel J leading to a chamber K. This channel is filled with compressed powder or
similar composition, and the chamber K is filled with a small powder charge, it being
closed by a readily detachable disc, to separate it from the driving composition D.

page_text: The pressure of the propelling gases in the gun, acting on the plate G, presses the
point H into the cap I, which, exploding, fires the powder in the channel J. This
powder leads the fire, at a determined speed, to the charge in the chamber K,.
which charge, exploding, ignites the driving composition D. The rapid generation
of gases caused by the firing of this driving composition, throws out the sabot E,
from the rocket case, and the gases from thellcomposition begin their propelling action..
on the projectile.
In order further to ensure the steady flight of the projectile, the rotation which.
it receives from the rifled gun may be maintained or increased by the action of
the gases from the driving composition, by inserting in the rear end of the rocket.
case, below the driving composition, inclined webs or ribs forming a kind of fixed:
propeller, which will compel the gases to escape in an oblique direction. Figs. 2.:
and 3 show such an arrangement with ribs or wings a, Fig. 2 being a sectional.
plan, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal section of the lower end of the rocket case.
The-
The above described invention, it will he understood, may be applied to all
kinds of projectiles whose sizes permit of the necessary arrangements.
projectiles will generally be longer than ordinarily, in order to contain a sufficient
amount of driving composition, and should therefore be given a quicker rotation,
which requires a sharp twist, preferably as sharp as possible, in the rifling of
the gun.
The advantages of these projectiles are, that in consequence of the propelling-
action of the driving composition, the initial velocity of their flight may be..
comparatively low, thus rendering it possible to obtain efficiency of action with a.
lighter and cheaper gun than heretofore. Furthermore, a thinner and lighter
rocket case may be used, thus giving increased space for the explosive or other
charge, without enlarging the external diameter of the case.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to m
from abroad, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In war rockets and such-like projectiles, designed to be shot from guns with.
a certain initial velocity and rotation, an arrangement for maintaining or increasing
said initial velocity, consisting in providing such projectiles with a chamber open
at its rear end, and containing a driving (rocket) composition, with a detachable.
bottom or so-called sabot, closing tightly the end of said chamber, and with a
time-fuse arrangement in said sabot, designed to effect the igniting of said driving:
composition after the projectile has left the barrel of the gun, as and for the purpose
above set forth.
2. In projectiles such as described in Claim 1, an arrangement for maintaining
and increasing the initial rotation, consisting in placing ribs or wings in the
driving-composition chamber, inclined in relation to the axis and direction of
motion of said projectile, for the purpose above set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1907
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant..