IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES " THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lewis Wells Broadwell, of Vienna, in the Empire
of Austria, temporarily residing at 37, Bedford Street, Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES
"
THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Wells Broadwell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th August 1875.
I, LEWIS WELLS BROADWELL, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria,
temporarily residing at 37, Bedford Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates particularly to projectiles into which a bursting
charge is inserted to cause them to break up into pieces under the force
of the explosion, and consists in making an inner body of a series of
rings of separate castings each being smooth on the inner face, so that
when arranged one above the other a tube or chamber is formed in

page_text: which to place the powder or other explosive. The exterior of these
rings forming the inner body have angled or other equivalent shaped
projections upon them arranged radially, and when the rings are placed
one upon the other the projections of one ring occupy a position above
the openings between the projections of the next lower ring. The series
being built up to the required height in that order. One face of each
ring has an angled fillet or projection of ring form upon it, the other
face having a corresponding inner angled faced recess, so that the face
projection of one fits into the recess of the other, and retains the rings
in a superposed manner.
In some cases I recess both the top and the bottom of each ring, and
then in building the rings up I cause the face projections of one ring to
fit into the recesses of the neighbouring ring above or below, as the case
may be, taking care in every instance to arrange the outer periphery
projections to break joint as first described.
These rings prior to being built up are washed or coated with founders'
blacking or other body to keep them apart as separate rings, and also
apart from actual adhesive contact with the casing or outer wall of the
projectile, the casing or outer wall being cast in a mould in the usual
manner, but with the superposed layer of rings as a matrix.
The layer of rings as an inner tube can be washed or plastered over
with the blacking or other body if desired after they are built up.
I do not confine myself to the number of rings nor to the number of
rays or projections on the outer peripheries on such rings nor to the
shape of the projections, so long as they are so arranged that the
smallest sectional areas of one ring are directly above and below
the largest sectional areas of the next adjoining rings, the object being
in this Invention to construct a projectile for containing a bursting
charge, in which the force of the explosion shall cause a disintegration
of the parts forming the projectile.
The breaking-up action of my projectile longitudinally and trans-
versely is, all the rings being out of adhesive contact with each other,
and also with the outer case separate at the lines of jointure, and also at
the smaller sectional areas, and exert a corresponding influence upon the
outer case, which thereby becomes broken up into fragments instead of
into large pieces from longitudinal splittings under the bursting charge,
as such projectiles do under present construction.

page_text: The outer casings of my projectiles can be grooved or channelled for
the insertions of the windage rings or rifling bands or strips, as is usual.
An alternative method of constructing the rings consists in making
the upper and lower faces plain, and in this instance I arrange them one
above the other over a tin plate or other thin metal tube, which thereby
becomes the lining of the projectile and preserves the powder charge
intact.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lewis Wells Broadwell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEWIS
WELLS BROADWELL, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, temporarily
residing at 37, Bedford Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Lewis Wells Broadwell, Her special
license that I, the said Lewis Wells Broadwell, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lewis Wells
Broadwell, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTILES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Lewis Wells Broadwell, 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, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lewis Wells Broadwell, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 relates particularly to projectiles into which a bursting
charge is inserted to cause them to break up into pieces under the force
of the explosion, and consists in making an inner body of a series of
rings of separate castings, each being smooth on the inner face, so that
when arranged one above the other a tube or chamber is formed in
which to place the powder or other explosive. The exterior of these
rings forming the inner body have angled or other equivalent shaped
projections upon them arranged radially, and when the rings are placed
one upon the other, the projections of one ring occupy a position above
the openings between the projections of the next lower ring, the series
being built up to the required height in that order. One face of each
ring has an angled fillet or projection of ring form upon it, the other
face having a corresponding inner angled faced recess, so that the face
projection of the one fits into the recess of the other, and retains the
rings in a superposed manner.
In some cases I recess both the top and the bottom of each ring, and
then in building the rings up I cause the face projections of one ring to
fit into the recesses of the neighbouring ring above or below, as the case
may be, taking care in every instance to arrange the outer periphery
projections to break joint as first described.
These rings prior to being built up are washed or coated with founders'
blacking or other body to keep them apart as separate rings, and also
apart from actual adhesive contact with the casing or outer wall of the
projectile, the casing or outer wall being cast in a mould in the usual
manner, and with the superposed layer of rings as a matrix.
The layer of rings as an inner tube can be washed or plastered over
with the blacking or other body if desired after they are built up.
I do not confine myself to the number of rings nor to the number of
rays or projections on the outer peripheries of such rings, nor to the
shape of the projections, so long as they are so arranged that the
smallest sectional areas of one ring are directly above and below the
largest sectional areas of the next adjoining rings, the object being in

page_text: this Invention to construct a projectile for containing a bursting charge
in which the force of the explosion shall cause a disintegration of the
parts forming the projectile.
The breaking up action of my projectile longitudinally and trans-
versely is, all the rings being out of adhesive contact with cach other,
and also out of contact with the outer case separate at the lines of
jointure, and also at the smaller sectional areas, and exert a corre-
sponding influence upon the outer case, which thereby becomes broken
up into fragments instead of into large pieces from longitudinal
splittings under the bursting charge as such projectiles do under present
construction.
The outer casings of my projectiles are grooved or channelled with
dovetailed or angled sides, for the insertions of the windage rings or
rifling bands of corresponding or other shape, as that they hold them-
selves within the grooves after leaving the gun, and not become detached
by "stripping off" as is usual.
An alternative method of constructing the rings consists in making
the upper and lower faces plain, and in this instance I arrange them one
above the other over a tin plate or other thin metal or a paper tube,
which thereby becomes the lining of the projectile and preserves the
powder charge intact.
My Invention is clearly represented in the annexed Drawings. In
Figure 1, A is the outer casing; B, B, the tier or superposed layer of
rings with projections or rays C, C, arranged above and below the spaces
of the rings next adjoining, as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 2,
this being a transverse section on the line X, X, Figure 1.
Each ring
of the superposed layer forming the interior casing or body of the
projectile has a fillet D with an inclined face to take a seating without
actual metallic contact upon a corresponding inclined face E in the
inner periphery of the ring next below. The blacking coated rings in
arranging them previous to casting the outer casing A are thus held in
position as a column or tube, the interior being filled with loam as a
core; F, F, F, are special forms of windage rings in specially shaped
annular recesses formed in the outer surface of the casing A for the
purpose hereafter referred to. Figure 3 is a section of a shell built
up of rings, and an exterior casting similar to that shown in Figures 1
and 2, with this exception the rings have no fillet or inclined seatings,

page_text: but are held in position superposed by an inner tube I of tin, paper, or
other body. If a paper tube be used it would be protected from
excessive heat in the casting process of the outer casing by founders'
blacking. Each of these rings has the rays or projections arranged to
break joint with the rays or projections of the rings next above and
below, as shown by Figure 4.
The annular grooves or recesses in the exterior of the projectile have
angled sides undercut, as in Figures 5 and 6, for the reception of strips
of metal of a corresponding shape or of a shape that by compression will
readily conform thereto. These strips are inserted into a cutaway
portion of the shot at the groove, and are then pushed round within the
groove as will be understood by reference to Figure 7 until the ends
meet, which are then secured by solder or other agent and form perfect
rings known as windage rings or windage bands. The bands thus being
within the undercut or dovetail of the grooves, which has a less width
at the periphery than the thickness of the band within it, the bands by
this special formation of groove and band cannot in any case be thrown
off by the centrifugal force of the revolving projectile when fired.
It will be understood that cach ring as a separate article is coated
interiorly and exteriorly with founders' blacking, or similar heat resisting
agent to preserve the isolation of cach ring, and also of the outer casing
which is cast upon the rings as on a matrix or core.
I am aware that rings with projections have been used in bursting
shells before the date of my Patent, but from the peculiar and imperfect
construction or method of building them up, there has not been the
distribution of particles which it was expected would happen at the time
of the explosion of the bursting charge. It will therefore be understood
that I make no claim broadly to the system of constructing shells or
bursting shot of rings with projections, and with an outer casting or
casing, but what I do consider novel and desire to claim under these my
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
Constructing projectiles with an inner column or tube of superposed
rings with star or ray like projections, which break joint or have the
projections of one ring above and one below the spaces formed between
the projections of the intermediate ring of the series specially, as and
for the purposes described and shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed
Drawings.

page_text: Secondly. I claim the employment of a tube within and as a lining to
a series of superposed rings, as described and shown substantially with
reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the annexed Drawings for the purposes
set forth.
Thirdly. I claim the application of specially formed windage rings or
bands to undercut side annular grooves in projectiles, as described with
reference to the Figures annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Wells Broadwell, have herc-
unto set my hand and scal, this Second day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
L. W. BROADWELL. (L.S).