AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BATTERY
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Minton, Mining Engineer, and Richard
Handley Thomas, Engineer, both of Clough Hall Collieries, Staffordshire,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BATTERY."
Sealed the 22nd September 1858, and dated the 3rd April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Minton and
Richard Handley Thomas at the Office of the Commissiouers of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 3rd April 1858.
We, SAMUEL MINTON, Mining Engineer, and RICHARD HANDLEY THOMAS,
Engineer, both of Clough Hall Colleries, Staffordshire, do hereby declare tho
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BATTERY," to
be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is so to construct batteries that they shall
afford protection to the men employed at the guns, and facilitate the bringing
of the guns to bear upon the enemy. For this purpose we construct a tank
or well, in the centre of which is firmly fixed a vertical shaft, and we place
within the well a wrought-iron caisson, which is intended to float in water
contained in the well. This caisson is constructed with a bomb-proof roof,
and so that it will move round the vertical shaft which passes through its
This shaft forms the support for gearing intended to impart rotary
motion to the caisson. The caisson stands up partly above the edge of the
tank, and is divided into two main compartments by a platform, upon which
the guns that arm the battery are mounted. In the sides of the caisson,
Price S

page_text: above the edge of the tank, port holes are made, through which the muzzles of
the guns project. On a level with the platform that divides the caisson, and
occupying a central space made therein, is a fixed platform secured to the
central shaft. A hand wheel, mounted on a rod that passes down this central
shaft, and is worked by manual power, communicates through spur gearing
rotary motion to a ring of teeth bolted to the caisson platform, and by that
means rotates the caisson, whereby the guns are brought to bear in turn upon
the enemy. The guns may be mounted on any convenient arrangement of
carriage. To protect the lower part of the battery from gun shots, we propose
to sink the tank in the earth, or surround it with masonry or other protecting
medium
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Minton and Richard Handley Thomas in the Great
Seal Patent. Office on the 2nd October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
MINTON, Mining Engineer, and RICHARD HANDLEY THOMAS, both of Clough
Hall Colleries; Staffordshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Samuel Minton and Richard Handley Thomas, Her special license that we,
the said Samuel Minton and Richard Handley Thomas, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Minton and
Richard Handley Thomas, our 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 "AN
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF BATTERY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Samuel Minton and Richard Handley Thomas, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand seal of
one of us, 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
Heat and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Minton, on behalf of myself and
of the said Richard Handley Thomas, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of battery, by the use of which
any given number of guns may be brought to be r in rapid succession pou an
enemy, and that with the employment of a comparatively small number of
men, who may work under shelter secured, or partially so, both from rifle
shots and the shot and shell of an enemy's batteries.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 shews in vertical section our
improved construction of battery; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken in the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan taken in the line 3, 4, of
Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a partial sectional elevation, shewing the guns projecting
from the port holes, and also illustrating a modification in the details of fitting
the battery. a, a, Fig. 1, is a tank or well formed of masonry or other suitable
material, and sunk into a mound or below the natural level of the ground.
Set up in the centre of this tank is a vertical shaft. b, b, which is firmly fixed
in position by suitable stays. This shaft is intended to carry a wrought-iron
caisson c, c, which is divided into compartments, and made of such strength as
to be capable of receiving in the upper compartment the battery guns. The
caisson we propose to construct with a bomb-proof roof, and to mount it in
such a way thatit may move round the vertical shaft which passes through its
centre, and thereby bring round the guns in succession to bear upon any given
point within the circle commanded by the guns.
To facilitate this rotary
movement we relieve the central shaft of the dead weight of the caisson by
letting water into the tank a, a, to a height sufficient to lift it clear of the
supports d, d, d, which are provided to sustain it when it is required to run off
or pump out the water from the tank. The caisson is provided with a hollow
shaft e, which surrounds the fixed shaft b, and forms the central support
for the wrought-iron girders which constitute the framework of the caisson.
The concentric position of this shaft is preserved by means of the collars.
e, e, which fit closely to the fixed shaft b, and are bolted to the opposite ends
of the shafte. The gearing intended to impart rotary motion to the caisson is
carried by the fixed shaft b, the upper end of which is made hollow to receive
an axle f, on the upper end of which is mounted a hand wheel f', and at its
lower end a pinion f2. A concentric platform y and a strong bracket arm g¹,
both secured firmly to the fixed shaft, b, serve to carry the axles of a train of

page_text: wheels, which communicate the axial motion of the hand-wheel shaft to the
caisson. The platform which supports the ways for the gun carriages is shewn
ath, h, it being formed of plate iron, supported by columns and radial girders
of wrought iron. Fig. 5 is a cross section of one of the lowermost of these
girders, shewing the principle of construction which we prefer to adopt. In
the centre of the upper platform is a circular opening, which is surrounded by
an annular rack . Into the teeth of this rack gears the last wheel of the
train that is actuated by the hand-wheel shaft. When, therefore, an axial
motion is required to be given to the caisson it is only necessary to set the
train of wheels f,f,f4, in action by turning the hand wheel f", and any
amount of rotary motion may thus be quickly given to the caisson. By
reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the caisson stands sufficiently high
above the tank to afford a clear range for the guns, embrasures or portholes for
which are made through the periphery of the exposed part of the caisson. To
secure this part of the caisson the more effectually from damage by the enemy's
shot, we propose to cover it with timber, as shewn at i, i, and to cover this
again with thick plates of iron or steel k, k, securing the same in place by bolts
passed through to the internal iron framing. The upper edge of the tank we
may also find it desirable to secure against damage from the enemy's shot by
facing it with a layer of timber l, covered with plates of steel or iron m. In
order to allow for a change of level in the caisson caused by its varying amount
of buoyancy or the running off of the water from the tank, the teeth of the
annularrack h¹ are made sufficiently broad to keep in gear (under all changes
of level) with the pinion f. Access may be had to the battery by a covered
way running any required distance underground inland, as indicated by the
passage n, Fig. 1. Corresponding in level with the upper end of this passage,
which must necessarily be higher than the highest water level of the tank, an
opening is made in the caisson, and through this supplies of all kinds may be
carried to the garrison without fear of interruption from the enemy. The
powder magazine we propose to place in the lower part of the caisson, dividing
it for convenience into two or more compartments by means of the main
girders. In the space surrounding the powder magazine we let in water, so as
to ballast the caisson and checkits tendency to vibrate during the firing of the
battery. The remaining space in the caisson may be appropriated in any
desirable manner. A natural ventilation may be obtained by the passage of
air through the port holes or embrasures, assisted or not by a central vent in
the roof, as shewn, and by a blast of air drawn from the covered way n. For
the purpose of more effectually protecting the battery from injury by a shot or
shell striking between the shot-proof covering of the caisson and the edge of

page_text: the tank, we propose in some cases to make the plate covering extend down-
wards, as shewn at Fig. 4, and dip into an annular trough filled with water,
and placed at the edge of the tank a, by which means any shot that may
strike the battery will be effectually intercepted by the shot-proof covering.
It will be readily understood that the battery is susceptible of any modifi-
cations as far as the details of construction are concerned. Thus, instead of
getting the rotary motion from a central train of wheels working on the annular
rack, as described, the gearing may all be outside of the caisson, and worked
by manual labour or otherwise, in an adjoining chamber connected with the
covered passage way n. So also the arrangements of the internal framing of
girders and pillars(which forms no essential part of the Invention), as indicated
in the Figures, may be adopted or changed to suit varying requirements.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "An Improved Construc-
tion of Battery, "and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we
would have it understood that we do not confine ourselves to the details above
set forth; but what we claim under the above in part recited Letters Patent
is, the construction of floating caissons fitted with guns, and capable of receiv-
ing an axial motion, for the purpose of bringing them to bear upon any given
spot within the circumferential range of the battery.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Miuton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
SAMUEL MINTON, JUN. (1.S.)