IMPROVEMENTS IN RIDER ORDNAN
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lynall Thomas, of No. 9, Union Street, Berkeley
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RIDER ORDNAN
Sealed the 22nd April 1862, and dated the 1st November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lynall Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1861.
I, LYNALL THOMAS, of No. 9, Union Street, Berkeley Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RIPLED ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in forming the outlines of the greater portion of the
corresponding surfaces in the cannon and shot of identical curves, straight
lines, or polygons; this is shown in the annexed Drawing, which represents a
cross section of a shot and cannon. It will be observed that the radii of
each corresponding pair of segments are equal. I do not confine myself
to the segmental form; I use it merely as an example on the present

page_text: occasion. I make the same reservation in reference to the forms in the
other parts of the example. The only exceptions to this identicalness are
at the curved parts marked A, A, where the principal amount of friction is
first expended when the shot is fired. The lines in the groove and pro-
jection marked B, C, represent the edges of surfaces, which, when the shot
is fired, are rapidly brought into contact, and to which the whole amount of
friction is confined. The straight line B, which forms part of the section of
the shot, and the straight line C, which forms part of the section of the cannon,
are made to radiate each to the centre of its own particular body. I extend
throughout nearly its whole length the bearing of the shot on the grooves of the
gun, thus diminishing its longitudinal play; when the projections are on the
shot the bearing is not so long. In this case a species of screw may be added
to the hinder part of the shot to prevent its deflection without impeding its
velocity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lynall Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LYNALL
THOMAS, of No. 9, Union Street, Berkeley Square, in the County of Middle-
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Lynall Thomas, Her special licence that I, the said Lynall
Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Lynall Thomas, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RIFLED ORDNANCE AND PROJECTILES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Lynall Thomas, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: 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 Lynall Thomas, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and Figures marked thereon, that is to say: -
My Invention is particularly directed to the centring of the shot in the
cannon, and to the equalization of a minimum friction upon surfaces, the wear
of which neither impairs to any appreciable extent the strength of the cannon
nor affects its efficiency.
I propose to form the curved surfaces, of what character soever they may
be, in both the cannon and shot identical. This identity will render the usual
contact of the two bodies a contact of surfaces, thereby avoiding the inequality
of wear and friction which accompanies any angularity of collision.
I propose that the surfaces of the shot and cannon which are brought into
contact when the shot is fired shall radiate each to the axis of its own particular
body. Any movement of the shot from the breech to the muzzle of the gun
tends to the approximation of these surfaces, and to the concentring of the shot
and cannon. Immediately these friction surfaces meet the centring of the
shot in the cannon is effected. The friction surfaces are reduced to the
minimum area, and in wearing have no tendency to alter the primary con-
ditions of the cannon and shot, and therefore have no deteriorating effect.
The annexed Sheet of Drawings will exemplify my Invention, and render
its parts and effects more evident.
Figure 1 is a cross section of a cannon and shot. It will be observed that
from the identity of the curved lines marked a, a, when the shot is in a state
of rest in the cannon, the contact of the two bodies will be such as to secure
the stability of the shot. The shot may have its longitudinal play still further
diminished by extending its bearing in the cannon throughout nearly its entire
length.
In the Figure under consideration, the shot is shewn centred in the cannon.
The radii of each of the corresponding pair of segments b, b, are equal, as shewn
by dotted lines, so that when the shot passes out of the cannon the contact
between the two bodies may be confined to the projections and grooves at c, d.
The straight line c, which represents a cross section of the side of the groove
in the shot, and the straight line d, which represents a cross section of the side

page_text: of the projection on the cannon, radiate each to the centre of the body to which
it belongs, as shewn by dotted lines. In the groove of the shot the radiating
line c and the curve a are united by a small segment of a circle e, which springs
tangentially from the aforesaid lines. The corresponding lines in the projection
on the cannon are similarly joined by a segment f, with a somewhat smaller
radius.
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, are various examples of differently formed projections.
Figure 2 represents an isolated section of a projection having the junction of
the radial and curved surfaces at 9 nearly angular, the curvature of that part
not being essentially necessary for the effective working of my Invention;
on the other hand, the form of this part may consist of a double curve, as
shewn in Figure 3. In Figure 4 the cross section of the top surface of the
projection is represented by straight lines h, h. In Figure 5 the section of
this surface is represented by a curved line, which is concentric with the
cannon. These forms may be applied to grooves in the cannon, as well as to
projections thereon. The examples I have adduced will sufficiently illustrate
my Invention; but I do not confine myself to the forms indicated, neither do
I confine myself to three or any other definite number of grooves or projections.
The action of the shot and the position which it assumes in passing out of
the cannon may be thus described. In discharging the shot, the distance
which it has to move before it becomes centred in the cannon is so incon-
siderable that the shot may practically be assumed as centred immediately it is
impelled by the charge of powder. It has to move but little more than double
the windage, that is to say, somewhat further than the distance between the
two radial lines c, d; greater windage being allowed between these lines when
the shot is in a state of rest in the cannon. The small curve e in the shot is
forced rapidly up the corresponding curve f on the cannon, and raises the shot
into the position indicated by dotted lines, that is to say, the shot slides up the
curved surface f, until the two radial surfaces c, d, come in contact, when its
loose rotary process is arrested it becomes centered in the cannon, as a slight
inspection of Figure 1 will prove, and passes out of the cannon, the radial
surfaces in the grooves and on the projections alone being in contact. The
shot may be coated with zinc to ease the friction to which it is subjected and
to preserve it from rust..
Having described my Invention, and the peculiar nature of its operation, I
conclude by observing that I consider novel and original, and therefore
claim,―
Firstly, the construction of ordnance and projectiles having an identity or a

page_text: sameness in their corresponding surfaces, whether between the grooves or
projections, or forming the broad surface of the grooves or projections, as
herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction of ordnance and projectiles in which a uniform
contact of friction or radiating surfaces, and the final position which the shot
occupies with regard to the cannon, are effected simultaneously with the
enforced concentring of the two bodies, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lynall Thomas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
LYNALL THOMAS. (L.S.)