THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED SAFETY FUSE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jobn Solomon Bickford, of the Parish of Camborne,
in the County of Cornwall, Safety Fuse Manufacturer, for the Invention
M
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Solomon Bickford
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th April 1865.
I, JOHN SOLOMON BICKFORD, of the Parish of Camborne, in the County of
Cornwall, Safety Fuse Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED SAFETY FUSE," to be as
follows:-
The fuse employed is the ordinary Bickford's Patent Fuse, No. 6159, dated
the 6th day of Sept., 1831, specially prepared so as to prevent the fire
from bursting through the coating, so that it shall ignite a charge only at
the end of it. The means I employ for the accomplishment of this object
are as follows: The fuse is first varnished with the usual tar varnish, and
then covered with another layer of yarn. It is then passed through a varnish
composed of 17 parts of fine potters clay, one part of glue, one part of red lead

page_text: and one part of alum. The glue and alum are dissolved together in hot water
and then mixed with the clay and lead with sufficient water to form a thin
paste. The fuse is then passed through this composition and again covered
with another layer of yarn, and this process is repeated five or six times, or
more if required.
What I claim in this Patent is, the covering of a fuse with a sufficient
coating of firm and uninflammable substance to prevent the firing from breaking
through the coating, so that it insures the contact of the fire with the charge
only at the end of the fuse.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Solomon Bickford in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SOLOMON BICKFORD, of Camborne, in the County of Cornwall, Safety Fuse
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, 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 John Solomon Bickford, Her special licence, that I, the said
John Solomon Bickford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Solomon Bickford, my executors, admin-
istrators, 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 "THE MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED SAFETY FUSE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Solomon Bickford, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their bands 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 John Solomon Bickford, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say:
The fuse employed is the ordinary Bickford's Patent Fuse as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent (bearing date the Sixth day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, specially prepared so as to prevent
the fire from bursting through the coating, so that it shall ignite a charge
only at the end of it. The means I employ for the accomplishment of this
object are as follows:-The fuse is first varnished with the usual tar varnish
and then covered with another layer of yarn. It is then passed through a
varnish composed of seventeen parts of fine potters clay, one part of glue, one
part of red lead, and one part of alum, by weight. The glue and alum
are dissolved together in hot water, and then mixed with the clay and lead
with sufficient water to form a thin paste. The fuse is then passed through
this composition, and again covered with another layer of yarn, and this
process is repeated six times or more according to the thickness of external
covering, or the degree of protection required to prevent the fire breaking
through.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim as the Invention intended so so to be secured by the said Letters Patent
is, the covering a fuse with a coating of firm and uninflammable substance
sufficient to prevent the fire from breaking through the coating, and thereby
insure the contact of the fire with the charge only at the end of the fuse.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Solomon Bickford, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
J S RICKFORD
J.S. BICKFORD. (..)