Improvements in Cartridges for Scattering Oil upon Water to Allay the Energy of Waves, and also for Marine Signalling.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 27th June, 1890-Accepted, 2nd Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cartridges for Scattering Oil upon Water to Allay
the Energy of Waves, and also for Marine Signalling.
I, AUGUST LOCHER, of 2 Washington Street, Tompkinsville, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a cartridge for scattering oil upon the surface of the water
and thereby allaying the energy of the waves; and my said improvements consist in
an oil-containing shell that is entirely independent of and separate from the powder
holder from which it is projected, and the parts are so constructed as to prevent the
fuse, by which the second charge is exploded, being blown into the second powder
chamber by the first explosion.
The oil holding shell is preferably of sheet metal with an open rear end which is
closed by an oil-tight plug or cork after the oil and powder chamber have been
introduced. This powder chamber may be spherical or cylindrical in form; it is made
of thin sheet metal, or other suitable material, and contains explosive powder. This
powder chamber is provided with a tubular neck which passes into a hole in the plug
before referred to, and through this neck passes a tube that has within it a suitable
fuse. The outer end of said tube is surrounded by a plate that comes against the
outer face of the plug, and said plate may be sufficiently large to lap upon the edges
of the rear end of the oil-holder. The tubular neck of the powder chamber may be
introduced into the plug either before or after powder has been placed into said
powder-chamber, then the tube with the fuse is passed through said neck and the
plate of said tube rests against the plug, and this plug is inserted into the open end of
the oil-holding shell, after the oil has been introduced into said shell, and closes said
shell oil tight.
The oil holding shell or cartridge is thus complete in itself regardless of the
explosive material made use of to explode the same, or the fire-arm in which it may
be used.
The oil-holding cartridge before described is introduced within a receiving shell
either of metal or of paper, and explosive powder is introduced into said shell between
the rear end of the oil holding cartridge and the closed end of said shell, and when
the powder in said receiving shell is exploded the oil-holding cartridge is projecte
and the flame ignites the fuse, and the powder in the powder chamber of the
oil-holding cartridge is ignited before said cartridge reaches the water, hence the
explosion scatters the oil upon the surface of the water, and the receiving shell
can be reloaded and used with another oil-holding cartridge.
The receiving shell may be adapted to either a rim fire or a central-fire gun. The
oil holding cartridge may be fired from a muzzle loading gun, in which case it will
not be necessary to use the receiving shell or cartridge.
A strip of paper or fabric may surround the oil holding shell to fill any space
between the cartridge and the bore of the gun.
My improved cartridge may be fired either from a cannon or a mortar, or from a
gun held in the hand. The said cartridge may be used for signalling at night, or in
foggy weather, by using a highly inflammable oil in said cartridge and causing the
powder within the oil holding shell to ignite the oil when the powder explodes; this
may be accomplished by making the powder chamber of the oil holding vessel of thin
sheet metal, of glass, or of other weak material, so that it will be ruptured by the
explosion of the powder and the flame ignite the oil.
Dated this 22nd dor of Ci 1000
ERNEST DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cartridges for Scattering Oil upon Water to Allay
the Energy of Waves, and also for Marine Signalling.
I, AUGUST LOCHER, of 2 Washington Street, Tompkinsville, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Merchant, 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, reference being had to
the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
The use of oil in allaying the energy of waves at sea is well known, and various
devices have been made for scattering the oil upon the surface of the water, and shells
have been proposed containing within one case the poder for projecting the case,
the oil to be scattered, and a cartridge to be exploded by a fuse for bursting the oil-
shell but the explosion of the first charge of powder is liable to break the oil
container of the shell and render the cartridge inefficient.
In my improvements the oil-containing shell is entirely independent of and separate
from the powder-holder by which it is projected, and the parts are constructed in such
a manner as to prevent the fuse, by which the second charge is exploded, being blown
into the second powder-chamber by the first explosion.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the oil cartridge.
Fig. 2 is a similar view with a cylindrical chamber for the second charge of
powder, and
Fig. 3 is a modification of the holder for the first charge of powder.
The oil-holding shell A is preferably of sheet metal with an open rear end, into
which is inserted an oil-tight plug or cork B after the oil and the powder chamber C
have been introduced. This powder chamber preferably contains gunpowder
within a thin sheet-metal case, or a case of other suitable material having a tubular
neck 2 passing into the plug B, and within the tubular neck 2 is a similar tube 3
having within it a suitable fuse 4, and to the tube 3 a plate 5 is attached, which
plate 5 is sufficiently large to cover the plug B, or nearly so, and its edges may lap
upon the edges of the sheet metal of the oil cartridge A.
It is to be understood that the tubular neck 2 of the powder chamber is to be
introduced into the plug B either before or after powder has been inserted into such
powder chamber and thereafter the tube 3 containing the fuse + is passed in
through the neck 2 and the plate 5 rests against the plug B. This plug B is inserted
into the case A after the oil has been introduced, and is adapted to close the oil-
holding cartridge A tightly. In this form the oil holding cartridge is complete in
itself, regardless of the character of the explosive material made use of to explode
the same, or the fire-arm with which it may be used.
In Fig. 1 I have shown the oil-holding cartridge as introduced within the shell E,
that is adapted to a breech loading gun having a central fire, and at 6 is an
explosive pellet, and powder is to be introduced between the same and the rear end
of the oil-holding cartridge A and when the powder in the shell E is exploded the
oil-holding cartridge A is projected therefrom with the desired velocity, and the flame
ignites the fuse 4 so that the powder in the chamber will be ignited before the
cartridge strikes the water and will scatter the oil upon the surface of the waves, and
the shell E can be reloaded and used with another oil-holding cartridge, as usual in
sporting cartridges.
In Fig. 2 the same oil-holding cartridge A is represented, but the powder is
inclosed in a cylindrical case C instead of a globular case, the other parts being the
same; but I have shown a shell E adapted to a rim-fire fire-arm instead of a central-
fire gun. In Fig. 3 the oil-holding cartridge is shown corresponding to that in Fig. 2,
but the powder is represented as within a paper case, such as is usual with muzzle

page_text: loading fire-arms; the oil holding cartridge, however, may be fired from a muzzle
loading gun without using the paper shell E.
It is to be understood that this oil-holding cartridge is to be adapted in size to the
fire-arm or gun with which it is to be used, and it is preferable to employ only
sufficient powder to project the oil-cartridge a few hundred feet in advance of the
vessel, or in whatever direction may be desired, for calming or stilling the waves as
they come toward the vessel.
The powder in the shell or holder E may be fired in any desired manner, such as
by a pin acting at one side of the cylindrical portion and against the fulminate, as
common in some kinds of fire arms.
A strip of paper or fabric may surround the oil-holding shell, as at 10 to fill any
space between the cartridge and the bore of the gun.
My improved cartridge may be used for signalling at night or in foggy weather by
using a highly inflammable oil in said cartridge and causing the powder within the
oil-holding shell to ignite the oil when the powder explodes: this may be accomplished
by making the powder chamber of the oil-holding vessel of very thin sheet metal, or
of glass or other weak material, so that it will be ruptured by the explosion of the
powder and the flame ignite the oil.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination, with the oil holding shell A, of the plug B to close the rear
end of such shell, a powder chamber within the oil-holding chamber, a fuse passing
through the plug into the powder chamber, a shell E around and enclosing the shell A,
and a separate independent charge of explosive material within the shell E and between
the same and the rear of the oil-holding cartridge, and by which such oil-holding
cartridge is projected from the shell E and fire-arm, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with oil-holding shell A having an open rear end, of the plug B
for closing such end, and having a hole through the same, a metallic powder chamber C
within the oil holding shell, and having a tubular neck 2 passing into the hole in the
plug B, and a fuse inserted into such tubular neck, and by which such cartridge is
exploded, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination, with the oil-holding shell A and the plug B for closing its rear
end, of the powder chamber C having a tubular neck 2, a plate 5 and tube 3 attached
thereto and inserted into the tubular neck 2, and a fuse passing through the tube 3,
substantially as set forth.
Dotadth: 71
ERNEST DE PASS,
78, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicant.