IMPROVE- MENTS IN ROCKETS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hale, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ROCKETS."
Sealed the 24th October 1862, and dated the 25th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1862.
J, WILLIAM HALE, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS," to be as follows:-
The object of my improvements is to insure a more correct line of flight
and longer range in the employment of war rockets than can be obtained by any
other arrangement hitherto made use of, and also to effect a rapid rotation in
the rocket without having any of its power subtracted for that purpose, so
that the whole power of the gas shall be exerted in giving the onward motion.
Whereas in my former improvements in rockets one-third of the whole power
is devoted to the exclusive purpose of effecting rotation, and but two-thirds for
producing the onward motion. I accomplish this improvement by screwing
three tubes into the cast-iron end piece of the tail of the rocket in lines
parallel to its longitudinal axis at equal distances from each other around a
central aperture, from which tubes and central aperture the gas when

page_text: generated in the rocket escapes freely and direct, and as these openings
are all parallel with each other and in the direction of the rocket's longi-
tudinal axis, the whole force of the gas in its escape acts to impel the rocket
forward, and I produce a rapid rotation at the same time without the
necessity of having tangential apertures or inclined planes for the gas to
impinge on (as I required in my former Patents for effecting rotation), by
simply cutting away from each of the three tubes that project from the tail
piece one half of the side, for the purpose of allowing the gas as it escapes in
its compressed state to expand on one side of each tube in a direction that
makes a tangent to the circle in which the tubes are placed, while on the
opposite side it is prevented from expanding by the half tubes that remain,
thus producing an unbalanced pressure, which causes the rocket to rotate
rapidly about its longitudinal axis; or instead of screwing the tubes into the
tail piece, the half tubes and central aperture may be formed with the tail
piece in one casting, which plan I very much prefer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HALE, of No. 6, John Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hale, Her special licence that I, the said William Hale, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Hale, my executors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hale, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-

page_text: formed, 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 William Hale, do hereby declare the.
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,.
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-.
ment thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my improvements is to insure a more correct line of flight:
and longer range in the employment of war rockets than can be obtained by
any other arrangement hitherto made use of, and also to effect a rapid
rotation in the rocket without having any of its power subtracted for that
purpose, so that the whole power of the gas shall be exerted in giving the
onward motion. Whereas in my former improvements in rockets one-third
of the whole power is devoted to the exclusive purpose of effecting rotation,
and but two-thirds for producing the onward motion. I accomplish this
improvement by screwing three tubes into the cast-iron end piece of the tail
of the rocket in lines parallel to its longitudinal axis at equal distances from
each other around a central aperture, from which tubes and central aperture
the gas when gencrated in the rocket escapes freely and direct, and as these
openings are all parallel with each other, and in the direction of the rocket's
longitudinal axis, the whole force of the gas in its escape acts to impel the
rocket forward, and I produce a rapid rotation at the same time without the
necessity of having tangential apertures or inclined planes for the gas to
impinge on (as I required in my former Patents for effecting rotation), by
simply cutting away from each of the three tubes that project from the tail
piece one-half of the side, for the purpose of allowing the gas as it escapes in
its compressed state to expand on one side of each tube in a direction that
makes a tangent to the circle in which the tubes are placed, while on the
opposite side it is prevented from expanding by the half tubes that remain,
thus producing an unbalanced pressure, which causes the rocket to rotate
rapidly about its longitudinal axis; or, instead of screwing the tubes into the
tail piece the half tubes and central aperture may be formed with the tail
piece in one casting, which plan I very much prefer.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
The Drawings shew three views of a rocket constructed in the manner I
prefer for carrying out my Invention.
Figure 1 is an end view of the rocket, and shews the tail piece A, A, with
the three half tubes and central aperture in one casting; b, represents the

page_text: central aperture; and c, c, c, the three circular apertures, which are all bored
through the tail 'piece in lines parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rocket;.
d, d, d, represent the half tubes projecting from the tail piece A, A. Figure 2
is a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 an extérior view of the rocket. A, A, is
the tail piece; B, B, the case of the rocket, and D the bursting shell; the
shell and tail piece are rivetted or otherwise securely affixed to the case B, B;.
E, E, represent the burning composition of the rocket; F; the conical cavity.
formed in the composition, and g, the fuse for exploding the shell.
hand
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hale, have hereunto set my
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
WILLIAM HALE. (L.S.)