IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Court, junior, of Sheerness, in the County-of
.Kent, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS."
Sealed the 5th June 1855, and dated the 13th December 1854.
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROCKETS
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object several improvements in rockets, both in
respect to those which are to be thrown from guns as projectiles, and those
which depend only on their own construction for obtaining the requisite powers
of. flight.
The first improvement consists in making the fore end of a rocket, or
that end which in its flight is to go first, more heavy than the other end, and
of such form as to admit of the rocket being passed with the heavier end
first into the gun, and to construct such end with a compressible ring of lead,
which is caused to expand within the gun, so as to prevent windage. By this

page_text: arrangement, when a rocket is thrown it will in its flight turn and fly with the
heavier end forward.
The second improvement consists of forming the ignition tube of copper
or suitable material through the centre or longitudinal axis of a rocket, and
the fore ends of rockets are in some cases made to admit of being removed
and a solid shot fixed in place thereof.
The third improvement consists of forming the after end of a rocket with
surfaces curved or inclined to the central axis, in such manner that the rush of
ignited products in passing out at the after end of a rocket shall, by pressing
against such curved or inclined surfaces, cause the rocket to rotate on its
longitudinal axis, and yet that the rush of the ignited products shall pass direct
from the end of the rocket, and not laterally to the axis, as has heretofore been
the case in some constructions of rockets. !
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Court in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th June
1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COURT, junior, of Sheerness, in the County of-Kent, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Court, Her special licence that I, the said John Court, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Court, 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 John Court, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Court, 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) :-
This Invention has for its object several improvements in rockets, both in
respect to those which are to be thrown from guns as projectiles, and those
which depend only on their own construction for obtaining the requisite powers
of flight.
The first improvement consists in making the fore end of a rocket, or that
end which in its flight is to go first, more heavy than the other end, and of
such form as to admit of the rocket being passed with the heavier end first
into the gun, and to construct such end with a compressible ring of lead,
which is caused to expand within the gun, so as to prevent windage. By this
arrangement, when a rocket is thrown it will in its flight turn and fly with the
heavier end forward..
The second improvement consists of forming the ignition tube of copper
or suitable material through the centre or longitudinal axis of a rocket, and
the fore ends of rockets are in some cases made to admit of being removed
and a solid shot fixed in place thereof..
The third improvement consists of forming the after end of a rocket with
surfaces curved or inclined to the central axis, in such manner that the rush of
ignited products in passing out at the after end of a rocket shall, by pressing
against such curved or inclined surfaces, cause the rocket to rotate on its
longitudinal axis, and yet that the rush of the ignited products shall pass direct
from the end of the rocket, and not laterally to the axis, as has heretofore been
the case in some constructions of rockets.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Plate 1, Figure 1, shows a longitudinal section of a rocket constructed
according to my Invention; and Figure 4 shows a section of a gun with a
rocket therein in the position it would assume when about to be fired there-
from; that is, the head or heavier end of the rocket is towards the breech of
the gun; but it will be found that such a rocket as is shown at Figure 1
will, after proceeding a distance, turn over, and the head or heavier end will
proceed first. The object of this part of my Invention is to insure the
direction which a rocket shall take in the first part of its flight, and at the same
time the direction of the remainder of the flight will be rendered certain, and

page_text: so that the parties throwing rockets will be insured against such rockets
coming back amongst them. C, C, is the outer tube, of metal or any other
suitable material, containing the rocket composition D, D, which is, as hereto-
fore, so rammed as to leave a hollow conical space E, E, unoccupied, which is
to offer a more extensive burning surface of the composition within the case
than would be presented if the burning of the composition only took place on
an area equal to the transverse section of the rocket. The tail or rear end
F, F, of the rocket is formed conical, as shown in Plate I., Figure 1, and the
openings out of it are curved or inclined partly around the central longitudinal
axis of that part of the rocket; in fact, the conical end F, F, of the rocket is
divided by a partition G, which is bent or curved, so that the inner edge 1
comes across or at right angles to the outer edge 2, as is shewn at Figures
2 and 3, which respectively represent the inner and outer view of the conical
end of the rocket, but the extent of inclination may be varied; the head or
heavy end H, H, may be made solid, or of the form shown, with a shell, but in
either case it is to be heavier than the other or tail end of the rocket. This
head or heavier end H, H, is moveable, and may be fixed by screws or other-
wise to the outer case of the rocket C, C; the Drawing shows the head H to
be hollow, with a hole, into which a screw plug X is introduced, for the pur-.
pose of charging it with powder or explosive matter. In order to insure the
rocket fitting the gun when discharged, and yet to admit of it passing some-
what freely into the gun, a ring of lead A, or any other suitable material, is
applied in such manner as to be expanded by the discharge of the charge of
powder S contained in the gun. For this purpose, the end of the rocket at H
is formed conical, and there is a compressing plate B fixed to the end of the
rocket, leaving, however, a small space between the plate B and the outer
serface of the end H of the rocket, so that when the charge of powder in the
gun is fired, its explosion will act on the plate B, and drive it against the end
of the rocket, and will thereby expand the ring A of lead, and cause the same
to fill the bore of the gun, and thereby prevent windage; and plate B is
secured by a screw of suitable material to the ignition tube I, with an aperture
through its centre, as in Plate I., Figure 1, to allow of the fire from charge
passing through it; and plate B, in Plate 2, Figure 1, is secured by an hollow
percussion cap U, over ignetion tube I, with springs T, T, attached thereto,
entering into the screwed cavity within the head of the rocket H, there being
in this case no aperture open to the charge of the gun. The charge of the gun
drives the plate B and screw U on to the end of the ignition I, through
which the denotation fire is conducted, and the springs T, T, on percussion cap
is driven into the screw of H, capable of being turned out, if required. I is a

page_text: tube of copper or other suitable material, fixed through the end H of the
rocket, and also through the body of the rocket, as shown. The end of this
tube I, near the tail end of the rocket, has in Plate I., Figure 1, two bent plates
K; K, which may be called deflecting or distributing plates, as they deflect or
distribute the fire (coming through the tube I) towards two points of the com-
position, and thereby prevent the fire from rushing through the tube without
touching the rocket composition. For this purpose, the end of the tube I is
closed at L, and two passages are formed therefrom in such manner that
the rush of fire passing through the tube I may be deflected off by the two.
bent plates K, K, as is indicated by the Drawing.
I would remark, that although I have shewn only two screw or inclined
passages in the tail end of the rocket, Plate I., Figures 1, 2, and 3, I do not
confine myself thereto, as any other numbers of passages may be used, as in
Plate II., Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, nor is it essential that the tail end of a rocket
should be formed into a hollow cone, so long as the inclined or screw-like
passages open out at the tail end of the rocket. If desired, the outer case
may be continued to the end of the rocket, as at M, M, Plate II., Figures 1
and 4, and the passages 0, 0, 0, 0, and inclined planes N, N, N, N, to the
longitudinal axis of the rocket may be formed within such cylindrical end of
the rocket, and the inclined planes N, N, N, N, of any number or angle, may
be used with or without the case covering them, as at Figures 2 and 3, also
with or without the apertures 0, 0, 0, 0, under them. I have, however, shewn
the form which I have used in carrying out my Invention, and in place of the
fire, which passes through the tube I, igniting the composition directly, as
in Plate I., Figure 1, it may be made to do so indirectly, by forming a fuse
P, P, at the tail end of the tube I, with quick match Y, Y, or other suitable
conductor, to the rocket compositions, as shewn in Plate II., Figure 1. When
the head or end H is made hollow and filled with an explosive material, I
ignite such explosive by means of the composition contained in the rocket,
either directly or indirectly, at Q, Q, which are two passages leading to the
interior of the head II of 'the rocket. These may be left unfilled, in which
case, when the burning of the composition is nearly completed, it will fire
the combustible matter Z in the head H; or if a fuse be formed in each of the
passages Q, Q, the time of firing of the explosive compound in H may be
regulated by its length of time in burning. In using such a rocket as is above
described, it is placed into a gun with the head H towards the breech of the
gun, as shewn in Plate I., Figure 4. When the gun is discharged, part of the
fire of the powder in the gun will pass through the tube I, and either ignite
the composition immediately, or it will ignite an interposed fuse P, P, Plate II.,

page_text: Figure 1, and thus will a greater or less portion of the first flight of a rocket
depend on the length of fuse in the fuse cup R, R, of any, suitable material,
as well as the weight of charge S put into the. gun; the heavy.end H of the
rocket will reverse ends by the force of charge, and the flight will be continued
in the same direction by the burning of the rocket composition. If the rockets
made according to my Invention are not to be fired by a gun, then, in place of
igniting them through tubes I, those tubes may be dispensed with, and means
of igniting them provided at the tail ends, as at P, P, of the rockets, or fuses
may be formed in the tubes I.
.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that what I claim is,-
First, the construction of a rocket, as herein described, arranged suitably to
be introduced into a gun and to prevent windage, as described, and to reverse
its ends by the force of the charge in its flight.
Secondly, I claim constructing rockets with an igniting tube leading from
the fore end to the tail end, for the purpose herein explained.
And, thirdly, I claim the making the tail end of rockets with passages and
planes inclined to the longitudinal axes thereof, so that the ignited products of
the rocket composition rushing through the apertures shall, when they have
escaped those passages, pass direct from the ends of the rockets, for the purpose
of obtaining rotary motion.
t.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Court, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
JOHN COURT, JUNE. (L.S.)