IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS FOR CARRYING LINES TO STRANDED VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED THERE WITH
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hale, of Lower Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS
FOR CARRYING LINES TO STRANDED VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED
THERE WITH"
Sealed the 22nd April 1873, and dated the 26th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1872.
I, WILLIAM HALE, of Lower Norwood, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS FOR CARRYING LINES TO STRANDED VESSELS, AND IN
APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
For carrying lines to stranded vessels I propose to employ rockets of
a construction similar to that described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to William Hale, on the 20th April, in the year 1865, and
around the fore and after part of the rocket I apply a ring, within which
the rocket can revolve freely; to these two rings I connect a short chain
or frame to which the end of the line to be thrown can be attached.

page_text: Projecting from the sides of the two rings are pins, which when the
rocket is to be thrown are received in parallel grooves in two parallel
plates or frames which are mounted on the axle of a carriage similar to
a gun carriage. Upon this axle is also fixed a trailing frame, the end of
which is to rest upon the ground when firing a rocket from the carriage;
the parallel plates or frames which swing upon the axle are connected
to one another by tie bolts to form them into one frame, and they have
quadrants fixed upon them by which they can be made fast to the
trailing frame, and so set at any angle desired according to the elevation
at which it is desired to throw the rocket. The rear ends of the grooves
in this swinging frame are curved downwards so, that the rocket shall be
in a vertical position or inclining upwards when started, whilst the fore
ends of the grooves are straight and can be set to incline upwards to the
extent desired by fixing the swinging frame to the trailing frame, as
above described. By inclining downwards the back ends of the grooves,
as above described, the starting of the rocket when fired will be delayed
and the rocket will leave the carriage at a greater initial velocity. I
prefer to form two parallel grooves in each side of the frame, one below
the other, so that the pins on one of the rings upon the rocket may
enter the upper grooves, whilst the pins on the other ring enter the
lower grooves, and the grooves into which are to enter the pins at the
tail end of the rocket I make to terminate before the other grooves in
order that when the pins at the front end of the rocket pass out from the
ends of their grooves the pins at the tail end may simultaneously pass
out from their grooves; thus the rocket will always leave the firing
carriage at the same upward inclination whatever may be the initial
velocity at which it is started.
In some cases in place of employing a rocket which is capable of
rotating during its flight a rocket weighted at its fore end may be used
and similarly fired from a carriage such as is above described. I also
construct such rockets so that the composition shall be ignited and burn
from the outer circumference instead of from the usual central bore.
The composition being supported on a central rod and ignited at its outer
circumference in place of being ignited as heretofore at the circumference
of a hole formed through its centre.

page_text: SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HALE, of Lower Norwood, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Hale, Her special license that I,
the said William Hale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Hale, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS FOR
CARRYING LINES TO STRANDED VESSELS AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREWITH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hale, 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 Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hale, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of my improvements is mainly to carry a line by means of
a rocket to a stranded vessel at a greater distance and with more
certainty than can be attained by the means at present employed. I
accomplish this, firstly, by attaching to the rocket a frame which shall
allow the rocket to rotate without twisting up the line, so that a rotating

page_text: rocket may be used for this purpose; and, secondly, by using an
apparatus from which the rocket with the frame and line attached can
with certainty be fired at any angle desired.
Similar apparatus is also applicable for use when firing off other
rockets, as the apparatus overcomes a defect which now attends rocket
practice, viz., that the head of the rocket when leaving the stand from
which the rocket is fired dips downwards before the tail of the rocket is
free, and the amount of dip varies with the initial velocity at which the
rocket leaves the stand. The amount of dip is greater with a rocket,
than with an elongated shot or shell fired from a piece of ordnance
owing to the difference in initial velocity.
With my improved apparatus no dip takes place as both ends of the
rocket are liberated simultaneously; this is of great importance as it
considerably affects the rocket's range and consistency of flight at any
given elevation.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I will proceed
to describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
At Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn a side
view partly in section of the apparatus to be used for firing a rocket to.
convey a line to a stranded vessel; and at Figure 2 I have shewn a full
size view of the rocket itself.
The rocket is for the most part constructed in a similar manner to
that described in the Specification of a Patent granted to William Hale,
on the 20th April, 1865, and is embraced, as shewn, at its two ends by
rings a, a, which are connected together by a light rod b, and to this rod
the line c to be thrown is connected; each ring has two pins d, d, pro-
jecting from it on two opposite sides; these pins when the rocket is put
into the firing apparatus, shewn at Figure 1, are received in two grooves
cut in two plates e, e, which form the rocket stand. The grooves in each
plate are placed one above the other, and the pins on the ring at the head
of the rocket run in the upper groove, whilst the pins on the after ring
run in the lower groove. The upper grooves are also made longer than
the under grooves, the difference in length being equal to the distance
between the pins on one ring and the pins on the other ring. By this
means when the rocket is fired all four pins will be simultaneously
liberated from the stand. The upper and lower grooves in each plate

page_text: are formed as close together as is practicable. The two plates e, e, are
connected together by tie bars so as to form one frame, and this is
mounted upon the axle f; this axle also carries a trailing frame 9, the
end of which is to rest on the ground; the frame formed by the two
plates e, e, has quadrants h attached to it, through which pass set
screws i by which the quadrants can be made fast to the trailing frame
and the frame e so set to fire the rocket at any angle desired.
It will be seen that the rear ends of the grooves in the plates e, e, are
curved downwards, whilst the fore ends of the grooves are made straight.
By thus making the rear ends of the grooves to incline downwards the
starting of the rocket when fired will be delayed, and this will cause
the rocket to leave the firing carriage at a greater initial velocity.
Apparatus constructed on a similar plan to that above described, that
is to say, constructed so that the front and rear ends of the rockets shall
simultaneously leave the stand when the rocket is fired from it may be
used when firing off other rockets, as for example, a rocket weighted at
its fore end by forming it with an enlarged head may be thrown from it
and serve to carry a line to a stranded vessel the rocket being made
with pins projecting from it to enter the grooves in the frame e;
or when such a rocket is used I prefer that the stand from which
the rocket is fired should be formed of two troughs or pairs of
bars, one below the other; the head of the rocket rests on the upper
trough or pair of bars, and the tail of the rocket on the lower one,
the bottom of the upper trough being open or the distance between
the bars sufficient to allow the rocket case to drop through and on
to the under bars or trough. The difference between the length of
the bars or troughs will be the distance between the bearings of the.
head and after end of the rocket; such an apparatus may also be used
for firing off similar rockets without any line attached to them, and
whether such rockets be formed to rotate or not.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim
is,―

page_text: 2nd. The combined arrangement of apparatus for firing rockets,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hale, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
WILLIAM HALE. (L.S.)