IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHRAPNEL SHELLS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Maurice Delmard of Plumstead Common in the County
of Kent, Gentleman for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF SHRAPNEL SHELLS
"
[
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Maurice Delmard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th December 1882.
MAURICE DELMARD, of Plumstead Common, in the County of Kent, Gentleman,
'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHRAPNEL SHELLS"
My invention relates to the manufacture of shrapnel shells, and is chiefly
applicable to that class of shrapnel shell in which a hollow body is constructed
with a recess for gunpowder or other explosive substance, part of the said body
being filled with bullets which are separated from the recess containing the powder
by a diaphragm (resting upon a shoulder) in such a manner that, when the shell
has been fired from a gun, the powder within the shell is ignited by a fuze, the
shell is burst by the explosion, and the bullets are either scattered or continue their
flight
I am aware that some shrapnel bodies have heretofore been made in one piece
of cast iron but they have the disadvantage of requiring to be of great thickness
to withstand the pressure on being fired from a gun, the space for bullets being
consequently small as compared with the size of the body of the shell. I am also
aware that such shells have been constructed of steel or iron tubes with the head
and bottom screwed and rivetted therein, and that attempts have been made to
cast shrapnel bodies of steel, The results being unsatisfactory and unsound.
But by my methods or processes of manufacture hereinafter described, the
shrapnel bodies are formed of one piece or of two or more pieces of wrought iron
or steel welded together or otherwise united to form practically one piece; I thas
ensure their soundness, and by reason of their great tenacity, I am enabled to make
them so thin as to contain a considerably larger number of bullets than sharpnels
of the same size as heretofore constructed; moreover, they offer sufficient resistance
to the pressure of the gas, on the gun being fired to prevent their being set up or
bulged thereby.

page_text: f
The methods or processes which I adopt for the manufacture of my improved
shrapnel bodies are as follow, that is to say;-According to one method I take a
steel or iron tube and form a bottom piece therefor, by stamping or other suitable
means, from steel, iron or other metal capable of being welded, and I insert the
said bottom piece into the said tube far enough to allow one end of the tube to be
bent over the said bottom piece. This piece is formed with a chamber for containing
the busting charge, and the part surrounding the top of the said chamber forms a
shoulder within the tube for supporting the diaphragm. The said tube and
bottom piece are then welded together to form one piece which is then forged to
the desired shape.
I sometimes form the said chamber and shoulder by combining with the bottom
piece (which forms a part of the said chamber) a ring which is inserted in the tube
while the latter is hot, the tube being then shrunk upon the ring.
According to another method I make the bottom piece in the form of a disc and
secure it in the tube as above described, and I then insert a ring in the said tube
to form the chamber for the bursting charge and the shoulder for supporting the
diaphragm. The three parts are in some cases united by welding, and in other
cases the bottom is welded into the tube and the ring is inserted therein while
the tube is hot, the latter being afterwards shrunk upon the said ring
In some cases I make the bottom piece in the shape of a disc smaller in diameter
than the inside of the tube, and reduce the diameter of the tube at one end by
means of stamps or swages so as to form the chamber for the bursting charge and
the shoulder for the diaphragm, I then fit a ring on the reduced part of the tube
to make the same of uniform external diameter, the end of the tube is then bent
over the bottom piece and the several parts are welded together. In other cases I
heat the tube to a welding heat and close up one end thereof by hammering or
otherwise, thus forming the bottom, and a ring is then inserted as above
described.
For muzzle-loading guns the shrapnel should have a cap or gas check of copper
which is designed to be set up when the gun is fired and thus be caused to enter
the grooves in the bore of the gun. To provide for this in my improved shrapnel
I make the bottom piece with a part which projects beyond the end of the tube,
and thus forms a shoulder which is serrated to prevent the gas check from turning
round upon the body of the shell.
According to another method I construct the shrapnel bodies in the following
manner, that is to say:-In a disc of iron or steel, of suitable thickness and
diameter, I first form a circular groove by swaging, stamping or other suitable
means, I then reduce the thickness of the part surrounding the said groove, leaving
a circular part in the centre of the disc of the diameter required for the shell, this
part forms the base of the shell and I bend the remainder of the disc, by stamping
or other suitable means, until it has assumed the form of a tube, of the desired
external diameter, A ring is then inserted in the tube as above described to form
the bursting chamber and shoulder for the diaphragm.
The methods above described are applicable to shrapnels in which the bursting
chamber is at the base of the shell. In some cases, however, the said chamber is at
the apex of the shell and I form shrapnels of this class in the following manner,
that is to say, I take a tube of steel or iron and thicken the end thereof by means
of a ferrule of steel, iron, or other metal capable of being welded, this ferrule I weld
inside the tube and I then close the latter to the required spherical or conical
shape to form the apex of the shell and drill a hole therein or if the other end of
the tube be first welded up, I use a mandril, thus leaving a small hole to allow the
gas to escape,
According to another method I thicken the end of the tube by jumping or
up-setting the same and thus avoid the necessity for welding a collar or ferrule
therein

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Maurice Delmard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th June 1883.
MAURICE DELMARD, of Plumstead Common, in the County of Kent, Gentleman,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHRAPNEL SHELLS."
My invention relates to the manufacture of shrapnel shells, and is chiefly
applicable to that class of shrapnel shell in which a hollow body is constructed
with a chamber or cavity for gunpowder or other explosive substance, part of the
said body being filled with bullets which are separated from the chamber containing
the powder by a perforated disc or diaphragm resting upon a shoulder in the said
body, the shell being arranged in such a manner that, when it has been fired from
a gun, the powder within the said chamber is ignited by a fuze, the shell is burst
by the explosion, and the bullets are either scattered or continue their flight.
I am aware that some shrapnel bodies have heretofore been made in one piece of
cast iron, but they have the disadvantage that the metal must be of great thickness
to withstand the pressure, on the shell being fired from a gun, the space for bullets
being consequently small as compared with the size of the body of the shell. I am
also aware that such shells have been constructed of steel or iron tubes with the
head and bottom screwed and rivetted therein, and that attempts have been made
to cast shrapnel bodies of steel, the results being unsatisfactory.
But according to my present invention the shrapnel bodies are formed of one
piece of wrought iron or steel, or of two or more pieces welded together, or other-
wise united as hereinafter described to form practically one piece; I thus ensure
their soundness, and, by reason of the great tenacity of wrought iron or steel, I am
enabled to make them so thin as to contain a considerably larger number of bullets
than shrapnels of the same size as heretofore constructed; moreover, they offer
sufficient resistance to the pressure of the gas, on the gun being fired, to prevent
their being "set up or bulged thereby.
"
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of one of my shells complete.
Figures 2 and 3 are central longitudinal sections illustrating one mode of
manufacturing such shells.
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are central longitudinal sections illustrating different
modes of manufacturing the said shells.
In each of the Figures 9, 10 and 11, A is a plan and B is a transverse section
illustrating different stages in the manufacture of the shells according to another
method.
Figures 12 and 13 are central longitudinal sections illustrating further stages in
such manufacture.
Figure 14 is a central longitudinal section illustrating one mode of manufacturing
a shell in which the powder chamber is at the head instead of at the base of the
shell, and
Figure 15 is a central longitudinal section also illustrating this mode of
manufacture.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.
The methods which I adopt for the manufacture of my improved shrapnel
shells are as follow, that is to say:-According to one method I take a steel or
iron tube a and form, by stamping or otherwise, a bottom or base piece b therefor,
of steel or iron. This bottom or base piece, as shewn in Figure 2, is made with a
flange or shoulder 6¹ of a diameter equal to the external diameter of the tube a,

page_text: while the portion 6s of the said piece is of suitable diameter to fit closely within
the said tube, I insert this part 63 of the said bottom piece into the end of the
said tube far enough to bring such end of the tube into close contact with the said
flange or shoulder; the tube and bottom piece are then welded together to form
one piece. The bottom or base piece b is formed with a chamber or cavity c for
containing the bursting charge, and the inner end 6 of the said piece forms a
shoulder within the tube a for supporting the perforated disc or diaphragm d, as
clearly shewn in Figure 1.
Instead of making the bottom piece and fitting it to the tube as above described,
I sometimes make the said piece in the form illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 and
insert it far enough into the tube a to allow the end of the latter to be bent
inward over it as shewn in Figure 5. The said tube and bottom piece are then
welded together to form one piece, which is forged to the desired shape..
I sometimes form the said chamber and shoulder by making the bottom piece
.b in the form of a disc and combining therewith a ring e as shewn in Figure 6,
which ring is inserted in the tube while the latter is hot, the tube being then
.shrunk upon the ring so as to hold the same firmly in position. These three
-parts, that is to say, the tube a, the bottom piece b, and the ring e, are, in some
cases, united by welding, and in other cases the bottom is welded in the tube, and
the ring is inserted therein while the tube is hot as above described, the tube
being afterwards shrunk upon the said ring.
In some cases I adopt the mode of manufacture illustrated in Figure 7, that is
to say, I make the bottom piece in the form of a disc smaller in diameter than
the inside of the tube a, and I reduce the diameter of the said tube at one end by
stamping, swaging or other suitable means, so that it will closely fit the piece b
and thus form the chamber c for the bursting charge and the shoulder for the
perforated disc or diaphragm; I then fit a ring f on the exterior of the reduced
part a¹ of the tube a, this ring having the same external diameter as the main
portion of the tube. The end of the tube is then bent inward over the bottom
-piece b as above described, and the several parts are welded together. In other
cases I heat the tube to a welding point and close up one end thereof by
hammering or otherwise, thus forming the bottom piece b, as shewn in Figure 8;
'a ring e is then inserted and secured as above described.
Shrapnel shells to be used with muzzle loading guns should have a cap or gas-
check of copper which is designed to be "set up or expanded when the gun is fired
and thus be caused to enter the grooves in the bore of the gun. To provide for
this device in my improved shrapnel, I make the bottom piece with a part which
projects from the rear end of the shell to receive the gas-check and which is made
with a groove or grooves into which the copper gas-check is compressed, the
gas check being thus firmly secured upon the body of the shell.
I also manufacture the shrapnel bodies in the manner illustrated in Figures 9
to 13, that is to say -I take a disc of iron or steel, of suitable thickness and
diameter, and I form therein a circular groove g, as shewn in Figure 9, by swaging,
stamping or other suitable means. I then reduce the thickness of the metal
around the said groove, leaving a circular part b in the centre of the disc as illus-
trated in Figure 10; this part b forms the base or bottom piece of the shell. I then
bend the remainder of the disc, by stamping or otherwise, in the manner illustrated
in Figure 11 and continue bending the same until it has assumed the form of a
tube of the desired external diameter closed at one end, as shewn in Figure 12; a
ringe is then inserted in the tube as above described to form the chamber for the
bursting charge and the shoulder for the perforated disc or diaphragm, as shewn in
Figure 13.
The methods above described are applicable to shrapnels in which the chamber
for the bursting charge is at the base of the shell. But in some shrapnels as
'heretofore constructed the chamber for the bursting charge is formed in the apex
or head of the shell which is usually secured to the tube by screwing or rivetting,

page_text: but according to my invention I form the tube and the apex or head of the shell of
one piece, or of two or more pieces welded together.
In carrying this part of my invention into practice, according to one method I
form a ring h of steel or iron, and insert it in the end of the tube a as shewn in
Figure 14, I then introduce a mandrel into the ring and close the outer ends of
the tube and ring upon it, by hammering or otherwise, so as to give the desired
conoidal form to the apex or bead of the shell and leave an aperture therein for
the reception of the fuze as shewn in Figure 15. In some cases the end of the ring
is bevelled or chamfered before it is welded in the tube.
I thus form the shrapnel body in one piece and it is loaded from the rear end
which is afterwards closed by rivetting, or otherwise securing, a base piece therein
in the manner heretofore practised.
According to another method of making these shells, I thicken the end of the
tube by jumping or up-setting the same and then forging it to the desired shape,
thus avoiding the necessity for welding a collar or ring therein.
Having thus fully described my said invention and the manner of performing
the same I wish it understood that I do not claim an exclusive right in, or to, tho
use, in the manufacture of shrapnel shell bodies, of wrought iron or steel, nor the
making of the body in one piece of cast metal, but I claim the above described
improvements in the manufacture of shrapnel shells, viz:-
--
First. The making of the body of a wrought iron or steel tube to which a
wrought iron or steel base piece provided with a chamber for containing the
bursting charge is fitted and welded so that the said body (without the conoidal
head) consists of a single piece, substantially as set forth.
Second. The modifications of my invention, wherein I use, in combination with
the tube and base piece, a ring which is secured in the tube either by welding or
by shrinkage, substantially as set forth.
Third. The modification of my invention wherein I reduce the size of the end of
the tube which receives the base piece and fit a ring thereon and then weld the parts
together, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The mode of manufacturing shrapnel shells by first forming a groove in
a disc of iron or steel, then reducing the thickness of the metal surrounding the
said groove and working the metal to the form of a tube of the desired diameter
closed at one end, and then inserting a ring therein, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. A shrapnel shell whose body consists of a wrought iron or steel tube
having the apex or head formed in one piece therewith, and having the base
rivetted or otherwise secured thereto, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Maurice Delmard have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Second day of June in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
MAURICE DELMARD (LS.)