CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE IGNITION OF MARRED CARARED OR TANITION OR COMBUSTION."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert Allman, of 10, Ampthill Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE IGNITION
OF MARRED CARARED OR TANITION OR COMBUSTION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert Allman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
June 1865.
I, HERBERT ALLMAN, of No. 10, Ampthill Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE
IGNITION OF MATTER CAPABLE OF IGNITION OR COMBUSTION," to be as follows:-
The means I employ for the prevention of ignition of gunpowder or other
combustible or explosive matter is to deposit the said matter in an air-tight
chamber made of wood or other similar material lined with lead, copper, or .
other suitable material not liable to produce sparks or fire. The said vessel
being properly closed at the entrance, into the chamber I pour carbonic acid
gas until it completely surrounds the said inflamable matter, thus preventing
the access of fire. My Invention is the application of the well-known property
of carbonic gas of extinguishing inflamation or ignition to preserving powder
magazines from fire as herein described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Herbert Allman in the (Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
ALLMAN, of 10, Ampthill Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Herbert Allman, Her special licence that I, the said Herbert Allman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Herbert Allman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE IGNITION OF
MATTER CAPABLE OF IGNITION OR COMBUSTION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Herbert Allman, 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 Herbert Allman, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 (that is to say):-
in
My Invention may generally be described as being the employment of
certain gases, such as carbonic acid gas or other gases of a similar, character
in which combustion cannot be easily maintained. The matter to be preserved
from ignition must be kept in an atmosphere of the said gases, being, placed
a proper chamber to prevent the emission of the gas. I prefer the use of
carbonic gas on account of its great specific gravity, which enables it to be
poured into the chamber, and further, on account of its being so cheaply and
readily obtained in all parts of the world, from any of the carbonates. This
Invention is principally applicable to powder magazines on board of war ships,

page_text: or it may be in vessels carrying, powder, and also in powder stores. In all
these receptacles and stores I prefer that they should be entered only from
the upper part, and that no opening should be at the lower part whereby the
carbonic acid may flow out and escape, for which purpose these stores or
magazines must be made of sufficiently close material, and the joints thereof
sufficiently tight to prevent the escape. The entrance at the top should be
provided with a wind lock or other contrivance for entrance, and at same time
preventing the distribution and escape of the inner atmosphere of the ma-
gazine. The magazine or store might also be furnished with a jacket and
surrounding space into which I pour carbonic acid. In this manner the kegs
or other vessels containing gunpowder, or it may be in bulk, will be entirely
separated from atmospheric air, and therefore cannot possibly explode. For
entrance to the magazine the person so entering may be provided with a kind
of light diving dress, or head covering, or apparatus through which he can
breathe the pure external atmosphere, and so be protected from the deadly effects
of the gas. Kegs or vessels containing gunpowder may also be simultaneously
protected by a jacket enclosing the vessel and combining and confining it in a
surrounding film of carbonic acid or other gas in which gunpowder will not
ignite.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same,
declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the enveloping of gunpowder
in carbonic acid and other similar gas in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert Allman, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
HERBERT ALLMAN. (L.S.)