AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION FOR BLASTING PURPOSES Communicated him.
Year: 1882

page_text: '
LETTERS PATENT to Henry Harris Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co Patent Agents Southampton Buildings London for an invention of
" AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE COMPOUND OR COMPOSITION FOR BLASTING
PURPOSES Communicated to him from abroad by Jean Gemperlé, of Vienna,
Austria.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Harris Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd May 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings London AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE COMPOUND OR
A communication [to him from abroad by
COMPOSITION FOR BLASTING PURPOSES
Jean Gemperlé of Vienna, Austria.]
"
_
The present invention relates to an explosive composition for blasting purposes.
According to these improvements a blasting composition is prepared in the form
of hard compressed cylinders or cartridges which have the following properties;
1. They cannot be ignited by concussion, blows, or pressure.
2. If ignited in the presence of air, they burn off quietly without explosion and
explode only if ignited in an air-tight closed space.
3. Frost has no influence on them, and even a heat of 170 degrees centigrade
does not ignite them.
4. The action in blasting is both upwards and downwards, the rock is broken off
in large pieces without being crumbled, the detonation is much less loud than when
dynamite is used, and no dangerous gases are evolved.
5. Non-exploded charges can be bored out without danger.
6. The manufacture and compression of the cartridges are perfectly free from
danger.
7. The blasting is effected without mixing the material with dynamite or any
other explosive material.
8. The material is cheaper than dynamite.

page_text: The blasting material prepared according to the present invention is made of the
following substance.
The above proportions have proved advantageous in practice, but the relative
proportions of charcoal and bran to each other may be somewhat varied without
departing from the substance of the said invention.
When the blasting cartridges are to be used soon after their manufacture,
nitrate of soda may be substituted for the more expensive nitrate of potash, but on
account of the hygroscopic properties of nitrate of soda, it is not suitable for the
manufacture of blasting cartridges which have to be kept in store for a length of
time.
The manufacture of the blasting cartridges takes place in the following manner.
The nitrate of potash and the sulphate of magnesia are dissolved in about one
third of their weight of boiling water in a boiler heated by steam or hot air to
about 140 degrees centigrade. The boiler is fitted with a stirring arrangement of
any suitable known construction. As soon as the nitrate of potash and the
sulphate of magnesia are dissolved, the other materials which have been previously
mixed in a dry state, viz; the charcoal, sulphur, and ground bran are added. The
composition then well stirred for about two hours at a temperature of about
140 degrees centigrade. The composition is then dried at a temperature of about
50 degrees centigrade for about 5 hours. When the composition is dry it is pressed
into the form of small cylinders or cartridges of preferably about one inch in
thickness and one and a half inches in height, by means of a hydraulic or other
press yielding a high pressure.
For the trade it is preferred to pack about four of these cylinders, one behind
the other, in a paper case in the form of a cartridge.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Harris Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1882.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE COMPOUND OR
-A communication to me from abroad by
COMPOSITION FOR BLASTING PURPOSES
Jean Gemperlé, of Vienna, Austria..
This invention relates to an improved explosive composition for blasting
purposes.
If
According to the said invention a blasting composition is prepared in the form
of hard compressed cylinders or cartridges which have the following properties,
that is to say. They cannot be ignited by concussion, blows, or pressure.
ignited in the presence of air they burn off quietly without explosion, and explode
only if ignited in an air tight or closed space. Frost bas no influence upon them,
and even a heat of 170 degrees Centigrade does not ignite them. The action in
blasting is both upwards and downwards; the rock is broken off in large pieces
without being crumbled; the detonation is much less loud than when dynamite is
used, and no dangerous gases are evolved. Non-exploded charges can be bored
without danger. The manufacture and compression of the composition are
perfectly free from danger. The blasting is effected without mixing the material.
with dynamite or any other explosive material, and the material is cheaper than
dynamite.
The blasting material prepared according to the present invention is composed
of the following ingredients
100 10
"
The above proportions have proved advantageous in practice, but the relative
proportions of charcoal and bran to each other may be somewhat varied without
the departing from the nature of the said invention.
When the blasting cartridges are to be used soon after their manufacture,
nitrate of soda may be substituted for the more expensive nitrate of potash, but on
account of the hygroscopic properties of nitrate of soda, it is not suitable for the
manufacture of blasting cartridges which have to be kept in store for any length
of time.
The manufacture of the blasting cartridges takes place in the following manner,
that is to say-The nitrate of potash and the sulphate of magnesia are dissolved
in about one third of their weight of boiling water, in a boiler heated by steam or
hot air to about One hundred and forty degrees Centigrade. The boiler is fitted
with a stirring arrangement of any suitable construction, As soon as the nitrate
of potash and the sulphate of magnesia are dissolved the other materials which
have been previously mixed in a dry state, viz, the charcoal, sulphur and ground
bran are added, The composition is then well stirred for about two hours at a
temperature of about One hundred and forty degrees Centigrade; the compositiou
is then dried at a temperature of about fifty degrees Centigrade for about five
hours. When the composition is dry it is pressed into the form of small cylinders

page_text: or cartridges, preferably about one inch thick and one and a half inches high by
means of a hydraulic or other press yielding a high pressure.
For the trade it is preferred to pack about four of these cylinders, one behind
the other, in a paper case in the form of a cartridge.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
Foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it
understood that I Claim.
A blasting composition consisting of nitrate of potash or soda, sulphur, charcoal,
bran and sulphate of magnesia mixed in the manner and in the proportions
essentially as above described and pressed so as to form hard cylinders or cartridges.
In witness whereof I the said Henry Harris Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty second day of November in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two