Year: 1889

page_text: REGINALD HEBER EARLE of 216 Water Street, St. Johns, Newfoundland,
Jeweller, 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 :-
.
This invention relates to marine signals, the object of the invention being to provide
a signal bomb which will not be affected by dampness, which may be ignited irrespective
of the state of the weather, and which shall be so constructed that in exploding it will
send aloft a heavy volume of flame and smoke, an explosive giving a heavy detonation
being preferably employed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specifica-
tion, in which figure 1 is a central sectional elevation of my improved signalling
bomb. Figure 2 is a central sectional elevation of a modified construction. Figure 3
is a plan view of the construction shown in figure 1, the top disc or plate, however
being removed. Figure 4 is a sectional plan view taken on line a- of figure 2.
Figure 5 is a side view of the screw cap; and figure 6 is an end view of said cap.
Similar letters and figures of reference inilicate corresponding parts in all the views.
In constructing such a bomb as the one forming the subject matter of this applica-
tion, I provide an outer vessel 10 which is preferably cylindrical but which might be
made of any desired form. Within the vessel 10 there is placed a vessel 11 which
rests upon the bottom of the vessel 10, and in connection with the vessel 11 1 arrange
tubes 12 and 13, said tubes extending through a disc 14 which is tightly connected to
the vessel 10 thus forming an air and water-tight compartment A. The tube 12

page_text: extends downwards within the vessel 11, the walls of this extending section of the
tube being perforated as shown at a.
Above the disc 14 there is arranged a removable disc 15 formed with an. upwardly
extending and threaded nipple 16, which nipple serves as the support for the fuse 1.7,
this fuse being carried downward within the tube 12, as is clearly shown in
figure 1.
In preparing the bomb for use, the vessel 11 is filled with any proper explosive, the
material being introduced through the tube 13. After the vessel 11 has been filled
with the explosive, a small amount of the explosive is introduced through the tube 12,
the lower end of the fuse 17 resting upon the explosive so placed within the tube 12.
To the upper end of the fuse there is attached an instantaneous fuse igniter b which
extends slightly above the upper end of the nipple 16. After the fuse has been
properly prepared and placed the nipple 16 is covered by a cap 20 that is internally
threaded to engage the thread of the nipple. In the outer face of the cap 20 there
are formed one or more concave grooves c, the exposed face of the cap within these
grooves being roughened. Such in short is my improved form of bomb.
In using the bomb, the cap 20 is removed and any one of its roughened faces is
drawn against the igniter above the upper end of the fuse.. The bomb is then thrown
overboard and upon striking the water will float and assume a position that is sub-
stantially vertical, care being taken in the filling of the bomb to secure sufficient
weight within or below the vessel 11 to hold the vessel 10 in a vertical position.
When the explosion takes place the water in which the bomb is immersed acts as a
confining medium, and the products of combustion will rise vertically to a great
height so that they may be seen for many miles around.
In selecting the explosive it is desirable that an explosive which will produce a
heavy smoke and a great noise be employed. In certain cases it might be well to
provide the bomb above described with a rocket, and to this end I would in some
cases attach a cup 23 to the vessel 11, the tubes 12 and 13 being in this case placed
at one side as shown in figure 4. The cup 23 serves as the support for the lower end
of a rocket 30, the upper end of the rocket being held by a disc 31 that is arranged
below the disc 14, the disc 31 being centrally apertured to provide for the passage of
the rocket, as is clearly shown in figure 2. With this construction the rocket would
be ignited by the explosive within the vessel 11.
The advantages of such a bomb as the one above described are great and varied,
inasmuch as the signal is of a nature such that it would be understood by persons of
every nationality, and the construction of the bomb is such that it might be used
where other signalling appliances could not be employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is―
1. A signal bomb formed with an air chamber, a chamber adapted to receive the
explosive material, a tube leading from the chamber containing the explosive material
upward through the air chamber, said tube being adapted to receive a fuse, sub-
stantially as described.
2. A signal bomb formed with an air chamber, a chamber adapted to receive an
explosive material and provided with a tube which leads from the explosive receiving
chamber through the air chamber, said tube being adapted to receive a fuse, a disc
arranged above the upper end of the tube, a nipple extending upward from the disc,
and a cap formed with a roughened surface adapted to fit upon the nipple, substan-
tially as described.
'
3. In a bomb, the combination, with a vessel 10, of a vessel 11 arranged therein,
a disc 14 also arranged within the vessel 10 and above the vessel 11, tubes 12 and 13
leading from the vessel 11 upward through the vessel 10 and through the disc 14, a
disc 15 arranged above the disc 14, a nipple formed upon said disc, and a roughened
faced cap arranged in connection with the nipple, substantially as described.

page_text: 4. In a bomb, the combination, with a vessel formed with an air chamber and
provided a chamber adapted to receive an explosive below said air chamber, of a
rocket arranged within the air chamber, and a fuse tube leading downward through
the air chamber to the explosive chamber, substantially as described.
5. In a bomb, the combination, with a fuse receiving nipple, of a cap formed with a
roughened surface and arranged to engage the nipple, substantially as described.
R. H. EARLE.
By A. M & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.