Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 20th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 9th Mar., 1888
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
When the bursting charge of shells consists of gunpowder, the flame of a suitable
percussion cap suffices to set it off, but sometimes a small special charge of quick
powder is added for the purpose of rendering the ignition more sudden, or carrying the
fire at once to the centre of the charge. When, however, the chamber of a shell or
torpedo is charged with moist guncotton or other refractory explosive, which neither a
spark nor a small charge of quick powder, as hitherto applied, will fire, detonators
containing a heavy charge of fulminate, and even special primers, consisting of
cartridges of dry guncotton, have been resorted to. Such appliances, besides being
complicated, are by no means free from danger.
In order to obtain, with a small charge of gunpowder, the effect, to securo which,
now necessitates the use of fulminate and dry guncotton, it is now proposed to fit
shells and torpedoes with a primer of peculiar construction, which may be termed shell-
detonator. It consists of a steel tube or recipient of any other suitable shape, screwed
on or otherwise affixed to the shell, or forming part thereof, the peculiarities of said
tube or recipient consisting in having the powder charge absolutely, or almost
absolutely, confined, and in being made so resistant as to burst only under explosive
pressure, of great magnitude. Such steel tubes can easily be made to stand a pressure,
nearly equivalent to the utmost strain which gunpowder can exercise, and it is clear that
in such case the action of jets of flame rushing into the bursting charge of a shell
with a pressure of up to 4000 or 5000 times that of the atmosphere, will fire the
refractory explosive therein contained, as well as it is now being accomplished by
ulminate and guncotton charges, the efficacy of which, for such purpose, is due only
to the high tension and high temperature developed by their explosion.

page_text: The size and thickness of the aforesaid steel tubs or receptacle will of course depend
on the size of the shell or torpedo to which it is to be adapted, and also on the nature
of the explosive which it has to fire. The aforesaid steel tube may be made to reach
through the entire length of the powder chamber of the projectile. The powder
chamber inside the aforesaid steel tube is to have no outlet, if it is intended that the
shock received on striking against an armour plate, or other sufficiently resisting
medium, should fire its priming charge. An appreciable time, then, clapses before the
explosive combustion inside the tube of the shell detonator brings up the pressure to
the point needed to burst it, and carry the flame to the main charge, and that
retardation is of great importance, as it gives time to the projectile to penetrate into
or through an armour-plate before the bursting charge coines into operation, always
provided that the bursting charge is so composed as not to be itself set off by the shock
when striking. In order to gain more time, the charge inside the shell-detonator can
Ire made to consist wholly or partly of a powder of slower nature than ordinary gun-
powder, such as large sized grains or very compressed grains of ordinary powder,
or powder made from saltpetre and charcoal only, or from nitrate of Barium and
charcoal.
The aforesaid shell-detonator can of course be connected with a time fuse or
percussion fuse, but in such case the aperture through which such fuses lead the firo
into the powder chamber of the shell-detonator, should be reduced to the narrowest
possible size, in order not to weaken, by windage, the explosive pressure produced by
the primer charge.
The special detonator herein described is useful for firing bursting charges in shells
or torpedoes, not only when they consist of moist guncotton or other very refractory
explosive, but also when the charge consists of gunpowder, which thus firel, explodes
with increased velemence, in consequence not only of the higher pressure or tension
of the igniting flame, but also because of its extending throughout a great portion of
the charge, which it thus ignites instantaneously and simultaneously at inany points.
Dated this 21st day of April 1887.-

page_text: Improvements in Explosive Projectiles.
I ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
When the bursting charge of shells consists of gunpowder, the flame of a suitable
percussion cap suffices to set it off, but sometimes a small special charge of quick
powder is added, for the purpose of rendering the ignition more sudden, or carrying.
the fire at once to the centre of the charge. When, however, the chamber of a shell
or torpedo is charged with moist guncotton or other refractory explosive, which neither
a spark nor a small charge of quick powder, as hitherto applied, will fire, detonators
containing a heavy charge of fulminate, and even special primers consisting of
cartridges of dry guncotton, have been resorted to. Such appliances, besides being
complicated, are by no means free from danger.
In order to obtain, with a small charge of gunpowder, the effect, to secure which it
has hitherto been the practice to use fulminate and dry guncotton, it is now proposed
to fit shells and torpedoes with a primer of peculiar construction, which may be termed
a shell-detonator.
In the accompanying drawing, I have shown in longitudinal section a shell fitted
according to the present invention.
In this Figure, A is the shell, which may be made of any approved form and con-
struction, and B is the shell-detonator. It consists of a steel tube which constitutes a
recipient for ordinary gunpowder; the recipient may however be of any other suitable
shape. This tube B.is screwed into the nose of, or it may be otherwise affixed to, the shell,
and after being filled with powder, it is closed by a screw plug b. The peculiarity of
this detonator consists in having the powder charge absolutely or almost wholly con-
fined, and in being made so resistant as to burst only under explosive pressure of great
magnitude. Steel tubes can easily be made to stand a pressure nearly equivalent to
the utmost strain which gunpowder can exercise, and it is clear that in such case the
action of jets of flame rushing into the bursting charge of a shell with a pressure of up
to 4000 or 5000 times that of the atmosphere, will fire the refractory explosive
therein contained, as well as it is now being accomplished by falıminate and guncotton
charges, the efficacy of which, for such purpose, is due only to the high tension and
high temperature developed by their explosion.
The size and thickness of the aforesaid steel tube or receptacle will of course depend
on the size of the shell or torpedo to which it is to be adapted, and also on the nature
of the explosive which the detonator has to fire. The aforesaid steel tube, it will be
seen, reaches through nearly the whole length of the powder chamber of the projectilo.
The chamber of the detonator will be formed with no outlet when it is intended that
the shock received on striking against an armour plate, or other sufficiently resisting

page_text: medium, shall fire its priming charge. In this case an appreciable time elapses before
the explosive combustion inside the tube of the shell detonator brings up the pressure
to the point needed to burst it, and carry the flame to the main charge. Retardation
is of great importance, as it gives time to the projectile to penetrate into or through
an armour plate, before the bursting charge of the shell comes into operation, always
provided that the bursting charge is so composed as not to be itself set off by the
shock when striking.
In order to gain more time, the charge inside the shell-detonator can be made to
consist wholly or partly of a powder of slower nature than ordinary gunpowder, such
as large size grains or very compressed grains of ordinary powder, or powder made
from saltpetro and charcoal only, or from nitrate of barium and charcoal.
The aforesaid shell-detonator can of course be connected with a time fuse or per-
cussion fuse, but in such caso the aperture through which such fuses lead the fire into
the powder chamber of the detonator, should be reduced to the narrowest possible
size; in order not to weaken, by windage, the explosive pressure produced by the
primer charge.
The special detonator herein described is useful for firing bursting charges in shells
or torpedoes, not only when they consist of moist guncotton or other very refractory
explosive, but also when the charge consists of gunpowder, which, thus fired, explodes
with increased violence in consequence not only of the higher pressure or tension of
the igniting flamo, but also because of its extending throughout a great portion of
the charge, which it thus ignites instantaneously and simultaneously at many points.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
ma by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what i claim is :-
The application to explosive projectiles of a detonator constructed and operating as
above described.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.