IMPROVE- MENTS IN MAGAZINES FOR STORING GUNPOWDER AND OTHER EXPLOSIVES AND INFLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Burney, of Millwall, in the County of
Middlesex, Iron Tank Manufacturor, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MAGAZINES FOR STORING GUNPOWDER AND OTHER EXPLOSIVES AND
INFLAMMABLE LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 30th April 1875, and dated the 16th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Burney at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th November 1874.
I, GEORGE BURNEY, of Millwall, in the County of Middlesex, Iron
Tank Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMents in MagaziNES FOR STORING GUNPOWDER AND OTHER EXPLOSIVES
AND INFLAMMABLE LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in magazines for storing gun-
powder, petroleum, and other explosive substances, and being of
inexpensive construction is particularly adapted for use by retailers of
gunpowder and petroleum, although they may also be used on board
ship and in other cases.
In oil shops there is generally very inadequate precaution taken
against fire in the house extending to the store of explosive, and to

page_text: guard against this danger and prevent other similar accidents is the
object of my Invention. To this end, according to one arrangement
which I term the dry magazine, I construct a metal tank or receptacle
with double bottom and sides, and fill in the intervening space which
should not be less than an inch, but may be more, with sand or other t
non-conducting material. This tank or receptacle is open at top and the
upper edges of the inner and outer side walls are made flush with one
another, the intervening space being also open and filled up to the top
with sand as before mentioned.
This magazine is provided with a movable cover; made double, that is ]
to say, in the form of a flat close box filled with sand or other non-
conducting material. This cover is provided with two downwardly
projecting flanges, the outer one extending around the four sides of the
cover at the extreme edges thereof, and overlapping the outer wall of
the magazine or receptacle, and the other or inner one, which is similar:
to tho first, being placed at a short distance within the outer one, so as
to embed itself in the sand space between the inner and outer walls of
the receptacle or magazine when the cover is applied, and thus form a
fireproof closure of the magazine.
The second arrangement, which I term the water magazinc, consists
of a tank furnished with a door or doors in front at the lower part or
magazine proper, where the powder or other explosive is stored, which
doors may either be hinged or in the form of detachable covers secured
by means of a swinging bar and reversed catches, or lugs, the door being
in either case furnished with a ring or lute of india-rubber or other air:
and water tight material.
At about mid-height of the tank there is a water-tight partition
forming the bottom of a cistern to hold water, which occupies the upper
half of the magazine; the water being constantly supplied. The bottom
of the water cistern is provided with a valve or cock which by suitable
arrangements may in case of fire be operated from another part of the
building or ship, more or less distant from the magazine; just beneath
the bottom of the water cistern there is a perforated distributing plate
to ensure the equal distribution of the water to the contents of the
magazine, which may be thus easily flooded in case of an alarm of
fire.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Burney in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th May 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BURNEY, of Millwall, in the County of Middlesex, Iron Tank Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Burney, Her special licence that
I, the said George Burney, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Burney, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 MAGAZINES
FOR STORING GUNPOWDER AND OTHER EXPLOSIVES AND INFLAMMABLE LIQUIDS,” upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Burney, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Burney, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in magazines for storing gunpowder,
petroleum, and other explosive substances relates more particularly to
magazines adapted for use by retailers of gunpowder and petroleum,
although they may also be used on board ship and in other cases.

page_text: The precaution taken by retailers to prevent a fire in one portion of
the building igniting the store of gunpowder or petroleum are generally
very inadequate, and to guard against this danger and prevent other
similar accidents is the object of my Invention, which comprises two
different arrangements of magazine, both characterized by their simple
and inexpensive construction.
One arrangement, which I term the dry magazine, is illustrated in
sectional elevation in Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing, and
consists of a receptacle of wrought iron or other suitable metal, having
double sides and bottom, formed by an inner box or tank a standing in
an outer and larger box or tank b, with a layer of sand or other fire-
resisting material, about one or more inches thick, between the sides and
bottom of the inner and outer boxes. The upper edges of the two boxes
or tanks are made flush and the intervening space is left unenclosed and is
'filled up to the top with the sand to form a self-acting fireproof joint for
the cover, as hereafter mentioned. c is a removeable cover made hollow or
box like, and filled with sand or other non-conducting material. This
cover is provided with a downwardly projecting flange & about one and
¨a half inches in depth, placed at a short distance within the edges of the
cover, so as to dip down and embed itself in the sand between the double
walls of the receptacle when the cover is applied, thus forming a fire-
proof joint which admits of the cover being readily lifted on and off, as
required. For further protection the cover may have a second flange e
at the extreme edges so as to overlap the outer wall b, as shown.
The second arrangement, which I term the water magazine, is shown
⚫in sectional elevation at Figure 2, and consists of a wrought-iron tank
or receptacle f in which the powder or other explosive is stored. It
is furnished with openings closed by doors g in front at the lower part,
by which access is had to the magazine. These doors are furnished with a
ring or lute of india-rubber, or other air and water-tight material, and
they may either be hinged or they may be wholly detachable and secured
by a swinging bar and reverse catches and lugs.
"E
"
Above the magazine there is a cistern i to which water is constantly
supplied from the main or other source by means of a
ball-cock; at
the bottom of this cistern there is a valve or cock j connected to a
vertical rod which may be operated from another part of the building or
ship to open communication between the water cistern and the magazine

page_text: in order to flood the latter in case of fire. I is a perforated distributing
plate in the magazine just beneath the bottom of the water cistern for
ensuring an equal distribution of the water.
The receptacle f is made double, as before described, for the first
arrangement, and the double walls and bottom filled with sand or other
fire-resisting material. The cistern i is a separate tank resting on the
receptacle and provided with a flange k, which dips down and is
embedded in the sand in the double walls of said receptacle to make a
fireproof joint, as in the case of the cover before described.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
1st. The employment, for the purposes of this Invention, of a tank
or box within a larger tank or box with an intervening layer of sand
between them, and the obtaining a fireproof joint between the cover and
body of the magazine, by means of a flange in the former dipping down
into the sand contained between the double walls of the latter, sub-
stantially as herein specified.
2ndly. The combination with a magazine of a cistern constantly sup-
plied with water, a valve operated as described, and a perforated
distributing plate, the whole being constructed and arranged, as shown
and described.
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Burney, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.