AN IMPROVEMENT OR IM- PROVEMENTS IN PACKING OR STORING GUNPOWDER."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Horton, of Birmingham, in the County 'of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PACKING OR STORING GUNPOWDER.""
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Horton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th January 1855.
I, JOSHUA HORTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-.
PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING OR STORING GUNPOWDER" to be as
follows:-
My said Invention consists in the manufacture and use of vessels of iron
coated with zinc or tin, to be used for packing or storing gunpowder. The
said vessels may either be made of a cylindrical, prismatic, or other form, and I
prefer to make them by the process or processes described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to me, and bearing date the Seventeenth day of December,.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. After the vessels are made by
the said process, or by any other suitable process, they are coated or covered
with zinc or tin, or both, the said coating being effected by processes commonly
used for similar purposes. Vessels for packing or storing gunpowder made
according to my Invention are cheaper and stronger than the tinned copper.
vessels ordinarily employed for that purpose..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joshua Horton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
HORTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joshua Horton, Her special licence that I, the said Joshua Horton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joshua Horton, my exccutors, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING OR STORING GUNPOWDER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joshua Horton, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joshua Horton, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the manufacture and use of vessels or cases made
of iron and coated with zinc or tin, for the purpose of packing or storing gun-
powder. The accompanying Drawing represents vessels or cases constructed
according to my Invention.
Figure 1 represents, in elevation, and Figure 2, in plan, a vessel or case
having the figure of a four-sided prism; and Figure 3 represents, in elevation,
and Figure 4, in plan, another vessel or case having the figure of a hexagonal
prism, the said vessels or cases being made according to my Invention. I
sometimes construct the said vessels or cases of a cylindrical form, but I prefer

page_text: to make the said vessels or cases of such shapes as that when stored or packed
together there is no unoccupied space between them. The forms represented
in the Drawing are those which I prefer before all others. I prefer to fix or
weld the tops and bottoms of the said vessels or cases to the bodies of the
same, by the process or processes described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to me, and bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. I do not, however,
confine myself to the use of the said process or processes, as I sometimes fix the
said tops and bottoms in the bodies of the said vessels or cases, as well as join
the sides of the said vessels or cases by rivets, and I prefer to use copper or
tinned iron rivets for the last-named method. After the vessels or cases are
made by the processes described, or by any other suitable process, the said
vessels or cases are covered or coated with zine or tin, or they may be coated
first with zinc and afterwards with tin; or any easily fusible alloys consisting
mainly of zinc or tin may be used for the purpose of coating the said vessels
or cases.
The coating or covering of the said vessels or cases with zinc or tin, or both,
or with alloys consisting mainly of zinc or tin, is effected by processes well
known and commonly practised, and as the said processes constitute no part
of my Invention I do not think it necessary to describe the same.
I prefer
to close the said vessels or cases by means of lids or covers, the construction
of which will be understood by reference to the Drawing, in which said
Drawing the same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures. a is
the lid or cover, jointed at 6 to the neck c of the vessel or case; an annular
recess d is formed on the under side of the lid, and immediately over the top
of the neck ca ring of vulcanized caoutchouc is placed in the annular
recess d; and when the lid a is closed down, the said ring of caoutchouc is
compressed between the said lid and the top of the neck c, and constitutes
an air-tight washer or packing. The lid a is held down by a screw fat
a point opposite to the joint b. Vessels or cases for packing or storing
gunpowder made according to my Invention may be made much stronger
at lower cost than the tinned copper vessels ordinarily employed for that
purpose.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, the improvement or improvements in packing or storing gunpowder

page_text: herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing; that is
to say, the manufacture and use of vessels or cases of iron, constructed in the
manner herein described; and afterwards coated with zinc or tin.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Horton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JOSHUA HORTON. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.,