A NEW OR IMPROVED SUBSTANCE OR COMPOUND TO BE EMPLOYED FOR EXPLOSIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Olof Nordenfeldt, the younger, of Chislehurst,
in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
SUBSTANCE OR COMPOUND TO BE EMPLOYED FOR EXPLOSIVE PURPOSES."-A.
communication from abroad by Captain E. A. Bjorkman, of
Stockholm, Sweden.
Sealed the 28th December 1875, and dated the 8th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Olof Nordenfeldt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th July 1875.
I, OLOF NORDENFELDT, the younger, of Chislehurst, in the County of
Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED SUBSTANCE OR COMPOUND TO BE EMPLOYED FOR EXPLOSIVE PURPOSES,"
(a communication to me from abroad by Captain E. A. Bjorkman, of
Stockholm, Sweden,) to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to the manufacture of a new or improved
explosive substance or compound, the principal advantages to be derived

page_text: from the employment of which are, that in use it will be much more
effective in its action than gunpowder or other explosive compounds at
present known; that it can be manufactured with less risk or danger or
fear of accident, as nothing but wooden or india-rubber or similar
implements are intended to be used in its preparation; that it will be
free from the well-known disadvantages affecting other explosive
substances; that it can be made in the shape of a powder or as or of
the consistency of a tough wax; that it will not require warming or
heating before being used when previously subjected to the influence of
cold; that it will not explode with the application of heat or of flame,
but it will simply melt or ignite and burn harmlessly away; and that
it will be much less liable to explode from friction or from blows than
any other known explosive substance. Thus all material risks of the
occurrence of accident during the manufacture, storage, and use of a
most powerful explosive agent will be reduced to a minimum, and these
constitute the principal objects of this Invention.
»
This new or improved explosive substance which I term "vigorite
is compounded or prepared from three substances incorporated with a
compounded material which I term "nitroline." The "nitroline" is
compounded of or prepared from about―

page_text: compounded substances will be within the limits placed opposite, each
such limits being the results of numerous experiments extending over
many years, and which give the greatest advantages.
The "nitroline" is mixed or compounded in a wooden or india-rubber
vessel, and all the tools and piping or other implements to be used in
the manufacture of the "nitroline" and the "vigorite," as well as for
charging cartridges or blasting charges with these explosive substances
are intended to be made of wood, india-rubber, or of other. similar
materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Olof Nordenfeldt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OLOF
NORDENFELDT, the younger, of Chislehurst, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Olof Nordenfeldt, the younger, Her
special licence, that I, the said Olof Nordenfeldt, the younger, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Olof Nordenfeldt, the younger, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED SUBSTANCE OR COMPOUND
TO BE EMPLOYED FOR EXPLOSIVE PURPOSES,” (a communication to me from

page_text: abroad by Captain Eric August Bjorkman, of Stockholm, Sweden,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Olof Nordenfeldt,
the younger, 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

page_text: and 5% to 20% of saccharine matters (such as sugar, honey, molasses,
or treacle, or other saccharine matter).
The "
about-
vigorite" is subsequently compounded of or prepared from
25% to 50% of "nitroline,"
15% to 35% of "nitrate of potash,
10% to 30% of chlorate of potash,
and 15% to 35% of "cellulose" or cellulosoe, the "cellulosoe" being
fibrous substances, such as wood or sawdust (boiled or not with a
solution of potash) or charcoal or other vegetable substances, or even
coal or tannin, or substances containing tannin, and being reduced into
the state of powder; or a compound may be used, into which two or
more of the above-named substances are introduced or mixed therewith.
The proportions of the above-named materials, of which the "nitro-
line" and the "vigorite" are compounded; will necessarily vary with
the different forms, or according to the different circumstances or
situations' in which the resulting substance (the " vigorite"), is required,
and the uses to which it will be subjected, and the requirements it will
be desired to fulfil, and the proportions may also be varied according to
the quality and strength of the ingredients used. In nearly all cases
however (and indeed in all as far as have at present been ascertained) the
proportions of the compounded substances will be within the limits, as
herein-before placed opposite each ingredient, such limits being the
results of numerous experiments extending over many years, and which
give the greatest advantages.
The "nitroline" as well as the "vigorite" is mixed or compounded
in wooden or india-rubber vessels of convenient size, and all the tools
and the necessary piping or other implements to be used in the manu-
facture of the "nitroline" and the "vigorite," as well as for charging
cartridges or blasting charges with these explosive substances are made
of wood, india-rubber, or of other similar kind or description of materials
of suitable and convenient shapes and sizes.

page_text: The manner or means in or by which the " vigorite " is exploded will
necessarily depend upon the object of its application and use, and the
place where it is to be applied or used, but it can be exploded either by
percussion cap, by powder, by electricity, or in blasting by a fuse.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that what
I claim as the Invention communicated to me by the said Eric August
Bjorkman is, the manufacture, application, and use of a new or improved
substance or compound for explosive purposes prepared from the
ingredients or substances herein-before mentioned, and with tools or
implements made of wood, india-rubber, or other similar kind of
materials, all substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Olof Nordenfeldt, the younger,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.