A NEW OR IMPROVED BLANK CARTRIDGE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Henry, of Edinburgh, in the County
of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Gun and Rifle Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED BLANK CARTRIDGE."
Sealed the 2nd June 1871, and dated the 13th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Henry at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th December 1870.
I, ALEXANDER HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, Gun and Rifle Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED BLANK CARTRIDGE,"
to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object to supersede the blank cartridges
at present in use for fire-arms, and to save the expense of gunpowder
and cartridge cases which is incurred by the explosion of blank cart-
ridges as at present constructed, as well as saving the weapon from
the unnecessary wear and tear of cleaning, by the employment of the
blank cartridge now to be described.

page_text: The cartridge referred to as constituting this Invention consists
of a wooden, metallic, paper, or other plug of the size and shape of
a cartridge which corresponds to the shape and size of the cartridge
chamber of fire-arms. The base of the plug referred to in place of being
provided with a "percussion ignition" is provided with a small central
pad, which may be formed either of elastic material or of solid material
upon the elastic or spring base.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HENRY, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Gun and Rifle Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 34th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Henry, Her special license that
I, the said Alexander Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Henry, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED BLANK
CARTRIDGE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alexander Henry, 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.
KNOW NOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Henry, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accompanying

page_text: Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
-
My said Invention has for its object to supersede the blank cartridges
at present in use for fire-arms, and to save the expense of gunpowder
and cartridge cases which is incurred by the explosion of blank
cartridges as at present constructed, as well as saving the weapon from
the unnecessary wear and tear of cleaning, by the employement of
the blank cartridge now about to be described.
The cartridge referred to as constituting this Invention consists
of a wooden, metallic, paper, or other plug of the size and shape of a
cartridge which corresponds to the shape and size of the cartridge
chamber of fire-arms. The base of the plug referred to in place of
being provided with a "percussion ignition" is provided with a small
central pad which may be formed either of elastic material, or of solid
material upon the elastic or spring base.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I now
proceed more particularly to set forth several systems or modes in or
under which it is or may be used or carried into practice, and for the sake
of more complete elucidation I have hereunto appended an explana-
tory Sheet of Drawings on which Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, represent
in longitudinal section, different modifications of my said new or
improved blank or "dummy" cartridge.
The blank or "dummy" cartridge now referred to consists of a plug
or tube a, of the size and shape of a cartridge, and the exterior of which
may be made of various forms as shewn on the Drawings to suit the
shapes and sizes of cartridge chambers of different arrangements of
fire-arms.
In Figure 1 the base of the plug a is provided with a small central
pad or piston b, against which a spiral spring c presses, the said piston
and spring being retained in position in a cavity d in the base of the
plug a by means of a pin or screw e, the inner extremity of the pin
or screw e entering a groove or slot in the said piston b, as shewn.
The base of the cartridge is provided with the usual metallic flanchf,
in order to facilitate its removal from the cartridge chamber of the
fire-arm in which it is employed.
Figure 2 represents a section of another arrangement of the said
improved blank or "dummy" cartridge and it consists in providing

page_text: that portion of the piston b, which is acted upon by the hammer or
striker of the fire-arm with an india-rubber or other elastic pad c, as
shewn, and in this instance the piston 6 and spiral spring d are retained
in position in the cavity in the base of the plug a, by forming the
opening in the flanche of less diameter than the piston b.
The blank or "dummy" cartridge may also be constructed after the
arrangement shewn in longitudinal section at Figure 3, which consists
in placing a pad c of india-rubber or other elastic material at the
forward or inner end of the piston b, in lieu of a spiral spring as in
the two preceding modifications, and the said piston may be retained in
position either by forming the opening in the flanch d of less diameter
than the piston b, as shewn, or by means of a screwed pin, as shewn
at Figure 1. In lieu of any of the arrangements herein-before set forth
the base of the plug a may simply be provided with an india-rubber
or other elastic pad b, as shewn in longitudinal section at Figure 4,
or a piece of metal of the shape of a 'percussion ignition" may be
inserted through the flanch 6 into the base of the plug a, as shewn
at c, Figure 5, which when acted upon or struck by the hammer or
striker of the fire-arm may either be compressed against an elastic
pad as shewn at d, Figure 5, or against a spiral spring.
In each of the arrangements of blank or "dummy" cartridge
herein-before described and shewn at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the
annexed Drawings, the plug a is shewn formed of wood, but a paper,
metallic, or other plug, or tube, or a combination of both may also
be employed.
Figure 6 of the Drawings illustrates in longitudinal section an
arrangement of hollow or tubular metallic plug a, which is provided
with a piston 6 and elastic pad c, similar to those herein-before
described in reference to Figure 3, but any of the other arrangements
of piston and pad or spring may be employed therewith.
66
Figure 7 of the Drawings represents in longitudinal section an
arrangement of blank or dummy" cartridge, consisting of a metallic
casing a of the shape and size of the cartridge desired, into the rearward
portion of which a wooden or other plug d is inserted, (on the Drawing
a wooden plug is shewn so inserted) after which the rearward end
of the metallic casing a is closed over the base of the plug d so
as to constitute a flanch as shewn at c, Figure 7. The blank or
"dummy" cartridges constructed according to any of the arrangements

page_text: herein described may be covered with leather, wool, or other suitable
substance which may be saturated with oil, or other lubricating
substance, so that when the cartridge chamber and rifling of the barrel
of the fire-arm are cleaned the "dummy" cartridge may be inserted
into the cartridge chamber and remain there whilst the fire-arm is
not in use, thereby preventing air from passing through the barrel,
or rust or dust accumulating therein.
The arrangement of piston and pad herein-before described in reference
to the different modifications of blank or **
dummy" cartridges, illustrated
on the appended Sheet of Drawings, may be applied to empty cartridge
cases, and it is to be here understood that I do not confine myself
to the arrangements of pad herein-before described and shewn, as such
pads may obviously be further modified.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrange-
ment and construction of the several blank or "dummy" cartridges
herein-before described and shewn upon the annexed Sheet of Drawings
or any mere modification thereof. -
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Henry, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.
ALEXANDER HENRY. (L.S.)