Improvements in or relating to Line-throwing Apparatus.
Year: 1894

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Line-throwing Apparatus.
1, EZRA LOFTS, of 32, Station Road, Sandown, Isle of Wight, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to communication devices between the ship and the
shore or any two required points, the propelling power being obtained from a
gun and the apparatus arranged to carry a cord or equivalent in the following
manner; -
In one form of the apparatus the shot is fired from an ordinary gun and from
its nose projects a bar or tube upon which is carried a ring or equivalent having
one or more wings or arms extending backwards so that before the shot is fired
these wings project backwards over the muzzle end of the gun towards the breech.
The arms, of which there may be any desired number, are connected in any suitable
manner and preferably with the intervention of a swivel with the cord or equivalent
to be carried by the shot or shell; the ring and arms together form what I will for
convenience call a cage. Any suitable means for preventing concussion between
the shot and the cage when the former is discharged may be provided, say for
example one or more springs surrounding the bar carried by the shot or one or
more rubber balls of suitable shape surrounding the bar and adapted to be
compressed and their contained air expelled when the shot is projected into
the cage.
In another arrangement the bar may be dispensed with, the nose of the shot
being constructed in the usual manner and the cage placed upon and supported
by the muzzle or tube of the gun; the cord may be connected with the cage as
before and when the shot leaves the muzzle of the gun it engages with the interior
of the cage (the end of which may if desired form a cap or cover into which the
shot enters) and thus carries the cage with it. In this instance also any suitable
means either in the cage or in or upon the shot may be employed for reducing the
concussion; also in this and other arrangements springs or anti-concussion devices
may be employed where the cord is connected with the cage.
In another modification the gun is provided with a central tube the shot having
a hole so as to fit over this tube and occupying the annular space between the bore
of the gun and the tube. The cage may be placed outside the gun barrel as before
and may have a central tube or rod projecting into the barrel of the gun and
fitting into, upon or against the tube in the gun. In this case when the shot is fired
it will travel along the tube in the gun on to the tube of the cage and will then
carry the cage or equivalent with it, the central tube or bar thereof keeping it in
position upon the shot. In this and other arrangements the muzzle of the gun
may be coned internally or externally to receive the cage or equivalent which may
be correspondingly coned if required.
As it is desirable particularly for use at night that the shot should give a light
I prefer to charge it in any convenient manner with rocket composition, or other
suitable fire or light giving device which may be carried in the body of the
shot, an ordinary shell body serving conveniently for this purpose. As in some
cases the centre of the shell would not be available for this powder or lighting
device, suitable openings may be provided in it for its admission as well as that of
the fuse, if required, to light it. Or the lighting device may be carried in any
convenient position in or upon the cage or equivalent or in a special canister or

page_text: equivalent upon the cord. Rocket composition is very suitable for giving the
necessary light as it makes a noise as well and may even assist in propelling
the shot.
Any suitable material may be employed for the cage, the shape of which may
vary; for example, the cage may be made of wrought iron as a rigid material, with
springs etc. to lessen the concussion or it may be made of resilient or flexible
material such as rubber, various kinds of fibre or rubber fibre, leather or hide, rope
or the like, in which case it might take the form of a bag into which the shot would
be discharged. Or the bag or cage may be made of a number of helical springs
connected together by a suitable cap spring or other connecting device at the
forward end and by a spring or other ring or the like at the end which would lie
outside the barrel of the gun, the cord or equivalent being connected in any
convenient manner.
If desired a telegraph wire or wires may be conveyed either alone or inside or in
conjunction with the other line or cord so that telegraphic communication can be
established between two distant places or objects-two vessels at sea for example-
and special connections to facilitate the connecting of the telegraph line or lines
with the instruments at both ends may be provided or the end of the wire or
wires may simply be disconnected and connected up to the instruments in any
suitable manner.
Dated this 31st day of January 1894.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Of London, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Manchester,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, EZRA LOFTS, of 32 Station Road, Saudown, in the Isle of Wight, Engineer,
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:
My invention relates to communications between distant or separated places, as
between a ship and the shore, or between other places.
According to my invention I preferably employ a gun as a propelling agent and
a projectile therefor arranged to carry or trail a cord or the equivalent of a cord
for the establishment of communication.
These are used in a manner well-understood, but certain novel and important
improvements are included in my invention which I will now proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central section through the gun and the projectile,
showing the apparatus ready for use.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the projectile in flight through the air after being
discharged from the gun and
Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of one of the alternative constructions of
apparatus according to my invention.
Like reference-letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
I will first describe Figs. 1 and 2.
0
A is the gun. A' is the powder charge. B is the shot which in the present
instance is hollow and contains a charge B¹ of rocket composition, iguitable by the
powder charge A' through the time fuze B². B° is an orifice in the end of the shot
closed by a plug which the rocket composition forces out so as to allow a jet of
gas to issue rearwardly therefrom. B³ is a rod fixed in the head of the shot and
extending forward therefrom as shown. B is a helical spring which encircles the

page_text: rod B at the point of the shot. C is a ring or short tube free to slide upon the
rod B³ and provided with wings or arms C, extending rearward therefrom. These
wings or arms are so arranged that when the ring C is close up to the muzzle before
the shot is fired they reach back over the chase of the gun towards the breech; the
ring and its arms are hereinafter for convenience termed a 'cage.' To the arms C¹
a cord D or its equivalent to be carried by the shot and cage is connected by the
spring swivel D¹ and a bridle D' which latter is connected to the arms C₁ by eye-
bolts D³. The eye-bolts pass through holes in the bent ends C2 of the arms and
have springs D' interposed between the said ends and washers D' on the eye-bolts.
The springs B and D and those in the swivel D' are for the purpose of preventing
the breakage of the cage or the cord by the sudden impact of the shot upon the
cage. The friction between the ring or tube C and the rod B³ also aids in
lessening the impact by lessening the speed of the former relatively to the latter.
Instead of these springs any other suitable buffering devices may be used for the
same purpose; for example hollow balls of rubber adapted to be compressed and to
have their contained air expelled when the shot strikes the cage.
The cage need not be constructed precisely in the manner described; for it may
have only one arm, or three or more arms.
When the charge A¹ is ignited it blows the shot B out of the gun into the cage
which is carried away by the shot to its destination, trailing the cord D behind it.
The charge B¹ of rocket composition is caused by the time-fuse to take fire after
the ignition of the main charge A', and during the flight of the shot a luminous
jet issues at its rear (see Figure 2) so that its path is easily visible by night.
Any suitable light-giving materials can be substituted for the rocket composition.
As in some cases the centre of the shell would not be available for this powder
or lighting device, suitable openings may be provided in the shell body for its
admission as well as for the admission of the fuze if a fuze be required to light it.
Or the lighting device may be carried in any convenient position in or upon the
cage or equivalent or in a special canister or equivalent upon the cord. Rocket
composition is very suitable for giving the necessary light as it makes a noise as
well and may even assist in propelling the shot.
The rod B can be dispensed with and the cage provided with buffering devices
and simply placed upon the muzzle of the gun or in or upon a rocket tube or
trough or otherwise used so that the shot or rocket enters the cavity or the cage
or a cap-shaped portion thereof, and carries the cage with it.
In the modification illustrated in Figure 3 the gun is fitted with an axial tube
or core A2 and the shot B is annular, having an axial hole B³, so as to fit over the
core A² and slide thereon. The powder chamber, similarly, is annular. The cage
differs from those shown in the preceding example; it has a central tube or rod C³
which projects into (and may fit upon or against) the tube A' in the gun so that
when the gun is fired the annular shot travels along the core A2 and on to the
rod C3 and by the latter the shot and cage are kept coaxially or approximately so
during flight. In this and other arrangements the muzzle of the gun may be
coned internally or externally to receive the cage or equivalent which may be
correspondingly coned if desired.
Any suitable material may be employed for the cage, the shape of which may
vary; for example, the cage may be made of wrought iron or other rigid material,
with buffering devices to lessen the concussion. Or it may be made of resilient or
flexible material such as rubber, various kinds of fibre or rubber fibre, leather or
hide, rope or the like, in which case it might take the form of a bag into which
the shot would be discharged. Or the bag or cage may be made of a number of
helical springs connected together by a suitable cap or spring or other connecting
device at the forward end and by a spring or other ring or the like at the end or
part which would lie outside the barrel of the gun, the cord or equivalent being
connected in any convenient manner. It will be clearly seen from the foregoing
that no practical obstacle to the use of a long and thick line such as is used with
the present Board of Trade rocket exists in my apparatus.

page_text: If desired a telegraph wire or wires may be conveyed either alone or inside or in
conjunction with the other line or cord so that telegraphic communication can be
established between two distant places or objects-two vessels at sea for example―
and special connections to facilitate the connecting of the telegraph line or lines
with the instruments at both ends may be provided or the end of the wire or wires
may simply be disconnected from the shot and connected up to the instruments in
any suitable manner.
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. The combination with a shot or rocket or shell of a cord-carrying cage or its
equivalent adapted to lie upon or at the muzzle of the gun or to be otherwise
employed to receive the travel with the projectile substantially as hereinbefore
described.
2. The combination with a shot of a cord-carrying cage or its equivalent adapted
to lie upon or at the muzzle of a gun to receive and travel with the issuing projectile
and a charge of light or fire-giving material substantially as described for the
purposes specified.
3. The combination with a cord-carrying cage or its equivalent such as is herein-
before described of buffering devices for both the cord and the cage or for either
substantially as hereinbefore described.
4. A gun with an axial core substantially as hereinbefore described for the
purpose specified.
5. The combination of a gun having an axial core with an annular or perforated
shot and a cord-carrying cage specially adapted to operate in conjunction therewith
substantially as herein before described.
6. The combination of gun and shot and cage and the appurtenances thereof
substantially as herein before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 or
Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 29th day of November 1894.