IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUNPOWDER, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR Apparatus emploYED THEREIN
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman; for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUNPOWDER, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR Apparatus emploYED THEREIN."-A communication from
abroad by James Samuel Brown, of St. Valéry sur Somme, in the
Republic of France, Agent.
Sealed the 25th August 1871, and dated the 27th February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th February 1871.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
3 of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said ·
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAnufacture of GUNPOWDER, AND IN

page_text: THE MACHINERY Or Apparatus empLOYED THEREIN,” a communication to me
from abroad by James Samuel Brown, of Saint Valery sur Somme, in
the Republic of France, Agent, to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the subdivision of gunpowder cake
into uniform or nearly uniform squares, cubes, or lozenges, with as little
waste as possible, and consists essentially in first cutting the cake into
long strips and then re-cutting these strips transversely either at right
nugles or otherwise so as to form squares, cubes, or lozenges.
In carrying out this Invention it is preferred to use two pairs of
cutting or breaking rollers placed at right angles or other convenient
angle to each other, the first pair of rollers serving to subdivide the cake
into long strips and the second to cut the sd strips transversely into
squares, cubes, or lozenges. These cutting rollers are fluted or provided
with parallel sharp cutting edges running longitudinally along them, tho
rollers of cach pair being so geared together as that the cutting edges on
one roller will come exactly opposite to but not in contact with those of
the fellow roller. The bearings of one of the rollers of each pair should
be adjustable, and if necessary made yielding, so as to enable the distance
between the rollers to be varied according to the thickness of cake to be
operated upon and the depth of cut to be made, which cut should by
preference not exceed about one-sixteenth of an inch in depth.
In order to ensure a clean strip being separated from the cake
without crushing it is proposed to make one cut only at a time and to
nip off the said strip at once regularly and continuously.
If desired the said strips may be cut off by means of a rising and
falling knife edge in lieu of by a pair of cutting rollers. The severed
strips are received on to an inclined shoot or travelling endless band,
which conveys them endways to the second pair of rollers for cross
cutting the strips into squares, or cubes, or into lozenges, provided the
angle of the feeder with the rollers be other than a right angle.
In order to ensure an even distribution of tho strips upon the shoot
or band a slow to-and-fro lateral motion may be imparted to it and the
second pair of rollers by means of a crank or otherwise, and longitudinal
ridges or divisions may be formed on the shoot for receiving and guiding
the strips between them; or the second pair of rollers and the shoot a

page_text: or travelling band connected therewith may be stationary and the first
pair caused to move to and fro.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the 34th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GUNPOWDER AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me
from abroad by James Samuel Brown, of Saint Valery sur Somme,
in the Republic of France, Agent, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.
"

page_text: 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 said Invention has for its object the subdivision of gunpowder
cake into uniform or nearly uniform squares, cubes, or lozenges, with
as little waste as possible, and consists essentially in first cutting the
cake into long strips, and then recutting these strips transversely, either
at right angles or otherwise, so as to form squares, tubes, or lozenges.
The essential parts of the machine required for carrying out this
Invention are two pairs of gun metal or copper cutting rollers, or other
equivalent cutting device, and a shoot (or endless band if preferred) for
conveying the work from the one pair of rollers to the other. The two
pairs of rollers are exactly alike and of equal diameters, but one pair may
be rather shorter than the other if desired. The rollers should be at least
eight inches in diameter; they are fluted longitudinally, that is to say,
they have ridges or chisel-shaped teeth or ribs running lenthwise along
them. Sections of portions of these rollers are shewn at Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawings. The form of the teeth or ridges a is im-
material, provided they come to a tolerably sharp edge, as shewn. The 2
pitch of the teeth must be regulated according to the size of the cubes
they are required to cut, thus, if the cubes are to be half an inch square
the pitch of the teeth must be half an inch. Each pair of rollers must
be set in bearings, and the driving pinions should be so arranged that
when in motion the edges of the teeth of one roller come exactly 2
opposite the edges of the teeth in the corresponding roller, as shown in
Figure 1. The distance apart of the rollers must be regulated by the
thickness of the powder cake required to be cut, and should be so
arranged that the teeth do not penetrate into the cake more than one-
sixteenth of an inch. The bearings of one roller of each pair should be 3
made to slide, and should be pressed against by weights or springs, so
as to ensure a yielding pressure and enable pieces of cake of different
thicknesses to be seized and cut by the rollers.

page_text: shaped pieces is shewn in elevation at Figure 2 and in plan at
Figure 3. The first pair of rollers A, A, is set horizontally in any
suitable fixed frame, over them should be placed a small hopper (not
shewn in the Drawing, through which the powder cake must be fed
5 by hand as the rollers revolve. For convenience of work the cake
should be made of a thickness only slightly exceeding that of the cubes
required, say about 5/8″ for ½ inch cubes, and should be broken into
large rectangular pieces. This first pair of rollers A, A, should be
driven at a speed of from 10 to 15 revolutions a minute by the band
O pulley B or otherwise. It will be found that as the rollers revolve each
ridge or fluting a, a, will nip off a clean solid strip or oblong parallel
piece from the cake. One of the distinctive features of this machine
is that it makes only one cut at a time, thereby ensuring a clean strip
being nipped off or separated at once without crushing the cake. It is
5 not intended however to limit this first cutting to the action of rollers,
which are only adopted as the most expeditious way of accomplishing
the work. For example, strips may be cut if desired by a fixed knife
edge, and a moveable one rising and falling. It is essential however
that these strips shall be cut off from the powder cake continuously and
) in regular succession.
Immediately under the first pair of rollers A, A, there is a slide or
shoot C composed of wood, gun metal, or copper, placed at such an
angle that the strips as they fall on to it from the rollers A shall slide
rapidly down it. This shoot, which is shewn in plan at Figure 4, has a
number of ridges or divisions b, b, on it to receive the strips of powder.
cake as they fall and to ensure their being evenly distributed over it
and not falling on the top of each other; if found desirable it may.
receive a slow motion from side to side at right angles to the axes of
the rollers A by means of a crank D and connecting rod E. It is per-
manently attached to the frame F which carries the second pair of rollers
G, G, and which frame moves on pivots or centres c, c, passing midway
through the rollers G. This second pair of rollers G is placed in the
frame F, one above another, but not perpendicularly, they being in such
a position that the shoot C that delivers the strips of powder cake end-
ways to them shall be tangential, or nearly so, to the surfaces of both
rollers. This pair of rollers should be driven at the rate of from thirty
to fifty revolutions a minute.

page_text: An endless travelling band may ne sudsLITHECⱭ1, 11 (Csired, for the shoot
or slide C.
The action of the machine will be sufficiently apparent from the
foregoing.
The powder cake fed into the first pair of rollers A is cut off in parallel
oblong strips by the ribs a, which strips fall on to the shoot C and are
immediately conveyed endways to the rollers G, G, which cut the strips
into cubes.
If it be required to cut lozenge-shaped pieces having more or less acute
angles it is simply necessary to set the shoot or slide C at an angle
laterally to the second pair of rollers G, but in the same plane always,
so as to remain tangential to both rollers and according to the angle at
which the strips are made to pass between the second pair of rollers, that
is more or less obliquely, so will be the angles of the lozenge-shaped
pieces cut by such rollers.
It is obvious that the arrangement, though always substantially the
same, may be modified in various ways. Thus the second pair of rollers
G, G, and the shoot or feeding band C leading thereto may be fixed,
and the first pair of rollers A be made to move from side to sido over
the band or shoot C or the frame F carrying the second pair of rollers G :
and the shoot C may be traversed from side to side by any simple
mechanical contrivance other than a crank.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The peculiar combination and arrangement of cutters and
feeding shoot or band, as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second. The imparting a to-and-fro lateral motion to the feeding 3
shoot or band, or to the first pair of cutters, for the purpose herein-before
described.
Third. The cutting of strips from powder cakes successively and con-
tinuously by cutters arranged so as to sever one strip only at a time, and
the subsequent cross cutting of a number of these strips simultaneously 3

page_text: by other cutters arranged at the required angle to the first cutters, for
the purpose herein set forth.
Fourth. The use of the inclined shoot subdivided by ribs or partitions,
as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings annexed.
A
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of
August One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.