IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CHARGES FOR AND IN CHARGING ORDNANCE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horatio Sutherland, of No. 34, Great George
Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, and Edward Suther-
land, of No. 64, Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the said County,
Executors of Douglas Sutherland, of No. 34, Great George Street,
Westminster, deceased, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING
Sealed the 16th May 1865, and dated the 29th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Douglas Sutherland at
'the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th December 1864.
I, DOUGLAS SUTHERLAND, of No. 34, Great George Street, Westminster,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING CHARGES FOR AND IN CHARGING ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is so to prepare a charge of explosive material
for ordnance purposes that the useful effect of the gas evolved from the igni-
tion for the conveyance of mechanical force to a projectile may be economized
to as great an extent as possible, while the damaging or destructive effect upon
ordnance of the sudden conversion of a solid explosive material into gas may
be nullified, and the strain upon the gun diminished.

page_text: I effect this in the following manner :-I enclose or surround the explosive
material (which I prefer should be compressed gunpowder or gun cotton)
within (by preference) a hollow cylinder composed of wood or some material
or materials of sufficient dimensions in relation to the bore, and sufficiently
compressible in their nature to receive and deaden, and thus neutralize, the
sudden bursting effect or action of the gas. This enclosing mass may com-
pletely envelope the charge, or the charge may be enclosed in such a manner
that the explosion will encounter the resistance of the interposing mass, and
then, as far as may be, nullify the sudden nature of its action in every direc-
tion except where it is exerted upon the projectile. I prefer that the ignition
should first take place in the charge in the line of the axis of the bore, and at
the end in contact with or nearest to the projectile, to the end that momentum
or force may be first conveyed to the projectile in the line of its axis. I also
place a disc or some other suitably shaped body of the explosive material
behind the charge and the mass enclosing it, and I make arrangements
causing this body to be the last ignited, so that it may expel that mass from
the gun. The charge of explosive material may be enclosed in a cartridge,
or, if preferred, the charge and compressible surrounding material and the
arrangements for ignition may be all enclosed in a cartridge, which may or
may not be attached to the projectile itself, and the projectile may be of any
suitable form or dimensions, it may be a solid shot or a shell, and the whole
or any of the above arrangements may be applied to a smooth bore or to a
rifled gun.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward Sutherland, as Executors of 25
the said Douglas Sutherland, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HORATIO
SUTHERLAND, of No. 34, Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, and EDWARD SUTHERLAND, of No. 64, Albany Street, Regent's 30
Park, in the said County, Executors of Douglas Sutherland, of No. 84, Great
George Street aforesaid, Civil Engineer, deceased, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty, by Her Letters Patent, bearing
date the Twenty-ninth day of December One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign, after reciting that the said 35
Douglas Sutherland did, by his Petition, humbly represent to Her said Majesty

page_text: that he was in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING
CHARGES FOR AND IN CHARGING ORDNANCE," which the Petitioner believed would
be of great public utility, that he was the first and true Inventor thereof, and
that the same was not in use by any other person or persons to the best of his
knowledge and belief, and that the Petitioner therefore most humbly prayed
that Her said Majesty would be graciously pleased to grant unto him, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the sole
use, benefit, and advantage of his said Invention within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, for the
term of fourteen years, pursuant to the Statute in that case made and pro-
vided; and reciting that the said Douglas Sutherland departed this life on
the Thirtieth day of January One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five,
leaving us, the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward Sutherland, joint execu-
tors of his will, and that Her said Majesty, being willing to give encourage-
ment to all arts and inventions which might be for the public good, was
graciously pleased to grant to us, the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward
Sutherland, as such executors as aforesaid, Her Royal Letters Patent, and
did give and grant unto us, the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward Suther-
land, our executors, administrators, and assigns, Her especial license that we,
the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward Sutherland, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Horatio Sutherland and
Edward Sutherland, our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend the same Invention within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Horatio Sutherland and Edward
Sutherland, or one of us, should, by an instrument in writing under our hands
and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 Horatio Sutherland, on behalf of myself
and the said Edward Sutherland, as such executors as aforesaid, 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 statement thereof, that is to say :—
The object of this Invention is so to prepare charges of explosive material

page_text: for ordnance purposes that the useful effect of the gas evolved from the igni-
tion for the conveyance of mechanical force to a projectile may be economized
to as great an extent as possible, while the damaging or destructive effect
upon ordnance of the sudden conversion of solid explosive material into gas
may be nullified, and the strain upon the gun diminished.
This is effected in the following manner :-The explosive material (which it
is preferred should be compressed gunpowder or gun cotton) is surrounded by
or enclosed within (by preference) a hollow cylinder composed of wood or
some material or materials of sufficient dimensions in relation to the bore and
sufficiently compressible in their nature to receive and deaden, and thus
neutralize, the sudden bursting effect or action of the gas. This enclosing
mass may completely envelope the charge, or the charge may be enclosed in
such a manner that the explosion will encounter the resistance of the inter-
posing mass, and then, as far as may be, nullify the sudden nature of its action
in every direction except where it is exerted upon the projectile. It is pre-
ferred that the ignition should first take place in the charge in the line of the
axis of the bore, and at the end in contact with or nearest to the projectile,
to the end that momentum or force may be first conveyed to the projectile in
the line of its axis. A disc or some other suitably shaped body of the explo-
sive material is also placed behind the charge and the mass enclosing it, and
arrangements are made causing this body to be the last ignited, so that it may
expel that mass from the gun. The charge of explosive material may be
enclosed in a cartridge, or, if preferred, the charge and compressible sur-
rounding material and the arrangements for ignition may be all enclosed in a
cartridge, which may or may not be attached to the projectile itself, and the
projectile may be of any suitable form or dimension, it may be a solid shot or
a shell, and the whole or any of the above arrangements may be applied to a
smooth bore or to a rifled gun.
And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings hercunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The annexed Drawings show the arrangements it is preferred should be
adopted.
A is the charge of explosive material, and B is the enclosure which con-
tains it, formed of a single piece of wood or cork or other similar and suitable

page_text: may be in contact, as at C in Figure 2. D is the channel or groove, filled
with an explosive material, by which the ignition is conveyed to the charge
(which is here shown by preference as taking place at the front end in the
axis of the bore). At E there is an increased surface of connection between
the priming and the charge. F shows a disc of an explosive material in rear
of the charge, and its enclosure, for the purpose of blowing the latter clear of
the gun, and the whole is contained in a casing or cartridge of suitable con-
sistency or strength. These arrangements may be varied, if desired, but the
Drawings show the object of the Invention, viz., to interpose between the
charge and the surface of the bore of a piece of ordnance a material which
shall be of a nature to nullify to the greatest possible extent the effect upon
the gun due to the sudden ignition of an explosive material, while the useful
effects to be obtained from the gas evolved are economized.
In witness whereof, I, the said Horatio Sutherland, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
HORATIO SUTHERLAND.
(L.S.)