Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
SIMON DAVEY, of Rouen, France, Merchant, and ADOLPHE LUDOVIC
CHANU, of Paris, France, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
by Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster,
the Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the fifteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Simon Davey and Adolphe
Ludovic Chanu, our exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said Simon Davey
and Adolphe Ludovic Chanu, our exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Simon Davey and Adolphe Ludovic. Chanu, our
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein

page_text: expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also
in all Her said Majesty's Colonics and Plantations abroad, our Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS AND FUSES, AND ALSO IN
METHODS OF FIRING THE SAME;" in which said Letters l'atent is con-
tained a proviso that we, the said Simon Davey and Adolphe Ludovic
Chanu, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the
said Simon Davey and Adolphe Ludovic Chanu, hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to
be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the present
Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:
Firstly, our Invention, in so far as it relates to improvements in
explosive compounds, consists of the improved compounds to be used
in manufacturing fuses according to our Invention, which we will now
describe. We form the first of these compounds of six parts of
chlorate of potash, five parts of nitrate of potash, five parts of sulphur
of antimony, two parts of yellow prussiate of potash, and two parts of
bichromate of potash. We form our second compound of six parts
chlorate of potash, three parts nitrate of potash, three parts sulphuret
of antimony, and four parts of prussiate of potash. Each of these
ingredients is separately and carefully ground to a fine powder, and
the whole of them when thus ground are thoroughly mixed together.
The compositions thus formed are then ready to be used, as herein-
after directed, or for other purposes for which the same may be
adapted.

page_text: Secondly, our Invention, in so far as it relates to fuses, has relation
to those used for mining and military operations, and consists of an
improved method of manufacturing the same by the employment of an
interior thread or threads, saturated with an explosive composition, in
lieu of the gunpowder ordinarily used. The miner's fuse at present
most generally used for conveying fire to the charge in blasting ope-
rations is composed of a train of gunpowder in a granulated state,
enveloped by strands of flax, jute, or cotton yarns, or with tape, so as
to form in external appearance a hard cord, having the train of gun-
powder at the centre. Now, in place of manufacturing fuses as thus
described, we propose to substitute for the central train of granulated
gunpowder a thread or threads of cotton or other suitable material,
previously saturated with an explosive or combustible compound, by.
which means we are enabled to guard against any possibility of a
division in the centre of communication, which not unfrequently occurs
in fuses of the ordinary manufacture, but which in fuses of our im-
proved construction could not possibly take place, except in the event
of the actual disrupture of the fuse.
By employing different compositions for saturating the threads we
are enabled to make slow or fast burning fuses, and to adjust the time
of burning of the fuses to the particular uses for which they are
intended. Thus to make a slow burning fuse we merely saturate the
threads with gunpowder, or the component parts thereof ground to a
paste, with thin gum water. We thus produce a fuse such as used by
miners and suitable for ordinary blasting operations. To produce a quick
burning fuse, such as used in military and other operations, where a
rapid transmission of the fire is required, we use one of the explosive
compounds first herein-before described, which we grind to a thin paste
with gum water. We do not, however, confine ourselves to these, as
there are other explosive or combustible compositions which will answer
the purpose equally well, provided only nitrate of potash, or chlorate of
potash, or a combination of these agents, is retained as the basis of
such compositions.
The manner in which we prepare threads or yarns to be used in
manufacturing our improved fuses is as follows:-We take the threads

page_text: (composed of cotton or other material) and place them in skeins or
hanks in a thin paste, composed of one or other of the combustible
compounds before named, or any other suitable compound, ground up
with half its weight of gum water, and we leave the threads in the
same until thoroughly saturated. The saturation may be facilitated by
the application of pressure. We then place the skeins of saturated
threads on swifts, and draw them through a thicker paste of the same
compound. The proper consistency of paste for this second operation
may be obtained by using one fifth part of gum water to four fifths of
the explosive compound. When the threads, thus thoroughly saturated
and slightly coated, become quite dry, they are wound on bobbins and
wrought into the centre of fuses, instead of the train of granulated
powder, in the manner and by the machinery described. in the Specifi-
cation of a Patent granted to William Bickford, of date the Sixth
September, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, or by any
other suitable machinery. The gum water to be used as above de-
scribed is prepared by dissolving one ounce of gum arabic in one pint
of water.
An arrangement of machinery suitable for passing the threads
through the composition paste is represented in Figure 1, of the Draw-
ings annexed. A, is the swift on which the skein of cotton or other
thread is placed after the first operation; B, a box containing the
composition in a thick pasty state; C, a hollow wheel on which the
thread is wound after passing through the compound in the box and
on which it is left to dry. Care must be taken to prevent the threads
touching until thoroughly dry. E, is the framework of the swift, and
F, that of the wheel. D, is a weight suspended from the lever G,
resting on the cover of the box B, and by which the compound is
forced to penetrate into the interior of the thread, which passes through
a small hole into the lower part of the box and is drawn out through a
similar hole on the opposite side, carrying with it a sufficient quantity
of the paste to ensure its combustibility.
Thirdly, our Invention, in so far as it relates to firing explosive
compounds, consists in the employment of an apparatus, tube, or holder,
containing a compound of a highly explosive nature, inserted in the

page_text: Our
body of the charge to be fired. Figures 2; 3, 4, 5, and 6, of the
Drawings annexed represent such a tube or holder filled with an ex-
plosive compound, with the arrangements for igniting the same.
improved apparatus consists of a tube a, which may be made of brass
(and formed in the same manner as netal penholders). or other metal
or material, such as paper, glass, porcelain, earthenware, woven fabrics,
or other substance capable of offering sufficient resistance and of
adequate strength. Into this tube or cap, which may be of the form
represented in the Drawing, Figure 5, or any other convenient form,
we introduce through an orifice a', about fifteen grains troy of some
explosive compound, of any of the kinds employed in the manufacture
of fireworks, or of the second compound herein-before described. We
then fit into the cap one end b, of a safety fusc, or any other kind of
match answering the same purpose, the match closing up the opening
a, by which the before-mentioned explosive compound has been intro-
duced into the cap, and which is also the orifice by which ignition is
communicated thereto. One end of the tube a, is then pressed or bent.
inwards at the point c, so as to form the throat or recess c, which keeps
the end b, of the safety fuse firmly in its place in the cap. I fasten on
to the end of the tube a, at the recess c, a tube d, the length of which
is about one half of the length of the charge. The object of this tube
dis to prevent the premature ignition of the charge from the sparks
flying off from the fuse during the combustion, and before the flame
reaches the end of the match inserted in the tube a, at the point where
it comes in contact with the powder in the tube or cap. This tube d
(which may be called the guard tube) is formed either on a mandril or
in any other suitable manner, and may be made of paper, or of any of
the materials before mentioned as suitable for making the cap a. This
tube d, should be rendered fire proof or incombustible (if made of any
combustible material, such as paper,) by previously immersing it in a
solution of boracic acid, or in a compound of gelatine, alum, silex, or
other mixture proper for the purpose. The guard tube d, is joined on
to the tube a, at the recess c, by wire or other suitable means, but it
must be very closely and firmly fastened thereto. The combination of
the three parts a, b, and d, from the apparatus for firing the charge,

page_text: which, as thus prepared, is ready for use. The method of employing
it is as follows:-The passage being ready for the reception of the
charge, we pour in one half of the proper quantity of powder; we
then insert one end b, of the fuse into the guard tube d, and pass it up
therein until the end of the match in the fuse comes in contact with
and closes up the opening a', in the cap a; the cap with its guard
tube is then lowered on to the half charge of powder in the excavation,
the remaining half is then poured in, and the ramming operation
commenced; when this has been completed the outer end of the
fuse may then be ignited, and the charge will be fired through the
explosion of the contents of the .cap.
By the employment of this apparatus we are enabled to effect the
instantaneous ignition of the charge powder or blasting material, by
projecting in all directions very dense jets of flame, which produce
gas of a more explosive nature and more complete expansion than is
obtained by the methods now in use.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is,-
First, the explosive compositions herein-before described, and the
employment of the same in the manufacture of fuses, according to our
Invention.
Second, the manufacture of fuses with an internal thread or threads
of fibrous material, saturated with an explosive compound, for commu-
nicating fire to a charge, as herein-before described.
And, third, we claim as our improvements in firing explosive com-
pounds the employment of a tube or holder containing a compound of
an explosive nature, ignited by means of a fuse, and inserted in the
body of the explosive compound to be fired.
In witness whereof, I, the said Simon Davey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
SIMON (L.s.) DAVEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of Octo-
ber, in the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Simon Davey came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
and specified, in form above written. And also the Specification afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
DURDOse
Enrolled the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.