IMPROVEMENTS THE MAN
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Joseph Mackie, of No. 3, Delahay Street,
Great George Street, in the City of Westminster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS T THE MANN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Joseph Mackie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th September 1872.
I, SAMUEL JOSEPH MACKIE, of No. 3, Delahay Street, Great George
Street, in the City of Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND STORING OF GUN
COTTON," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
and storing of gun cotton. For this purpose cotton waste is employed,
and to remove from it all trace of grease it is subjected to the action of
superheated steam. The fibre is next opened and carded, and the sliver
obtained is taken in suitable lengths and immersed in a mixture of
nitric and sulphuric acid. The gun cotton is thoroughly washed to
remove all trace of acid, and it is then cut up. The cutting machine
is provided with a trunk or passage into which the gun cotton is forced
by a reciprocating plunger, and immediately in front of the mouth of

page_text: this passage is a rapidly revolving disc armed with steel cutters. From
this machine the material passes to crushing rollers or edge runners.
In this way it is obtained in a finely divided state, and in this condition
it is stored under water until it is convenient to complete the manu-
facture.
The gun cotton in the state in which it comes from the wet magazine
is mixed with sugar, and it is stirred about and partially dried until it
assumes a granulated condition, which it does whilst still quite moist;
or it may be passed into a granulating machine, or into moulds or dies,
in which any suitable form may be given to it. It may be squeezed
through a die and cut off in short lengths; or it may be rolled out and
cut up into pieces or discs of uniform size. It is then placed in a
drying vessel, kept warm upon a steam heated bath of sand mixed with
metal filings. The drying vessel is enclosed beneath a dome-shaped
cover, which is counterpoised so that it can readily be raised and
lowered. The cover when it its place rests air tight upon a ring or
footing of vulcanized india-rubber, leather, or other suitable material
and by opening a cock it is placed in connection with an exhaust, so
that the drying is carried on in vacuo. When completely dry the gun
cotton is ready for use, or if not immediately required it is stored in a
magazine. The granules of gun cotton may be surfaced with black lead
as the grains of gunpowder are surfaced.
The magazine is constructed of a cylindrical form, and it is surrounded
by water, the outer wall being water-tight. Within the outer wall
another cylindrical wall is built, and the space between the two forms
a passage way all round. The inner space is divided into a convenient
number of compartments for storage, and the whole is covered by a
light flat roof which is made thoroughly water-tight, and is surrounded
by a ledge, so that a few inches of water may lay upon it and protect it
from the heat of the sun. This magazine I. propose, to construct of
light tiles set in bitumen, and means are provided for raising the level
of the water so as to entirely cover it if danger threatens. I also
provide an exaust fan by which air may be driven out of the magazine.
The loading magazine I construct in a similar manner, except that it
is not entirely surrounded by water, but a passage is provided on one
side for a truck to enter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Joseph Mackie in the Great Seal Patent
☐ Office on the 11th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
JOSEPH MACKIE, of No. 3, Delahay Street, Great George Street, in the
City of Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of, Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, Her special license
that I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND STORING OF GUN CUTTON," upon the
"condition (amongst others), that I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackie, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 has for its object improvements in the manufacture
and storing of gun cotton.
It has before been proposed to reduce gun cotton to a state of pulp by
means of machinery, such as is used in the manufacture of påper, and
which usually consists of a drum revolving in a trough of. water. This
-
"

page_text: drum has steel blades on its periphery which work against other blades
fixed in the trough, and the blades shear the fibre between them again
and again until it becomes very short. This process is open to the
disadvantage that the capillaries of the fibre retain the acid used in its
conversion with the greatest obstinacy. The product also is not suitable
for granulation so as to form a preparation which can be used like
gunpowder, as the short fibre makes the granules to cling together so
that they will not run from a flask. The preparation of the gun cotton
by reducing its fibres by the crushing operation into a state of powder
I consider to be an important improvement in my process of manu-
facture.
Now according to my Invention in place of cutting up the fibre so
as to form a kind of paper pulp I crush it to an impalpable powder
by crushing rollers or edge runners. In this way I break down the
fibre, entirely destroying its capillaries and tube like character. In this
way any acid which may have been retained by the fibre up to this
point is thus set free, and it can then be washed away without any
difficulty. I store the pulverised gun cotton under water until it is
convenient to complete the manufacture as herein-after described.
The processes required to complete the manufacture, are, as will be
seen, analogous to those employed in the manufacture of common gun-
powder. I thoroughly mix in an incorporating mill the gun cotton
after it has been crushed into powder as above-mentioned with sugar and
nitre. Suitable proportions are,-
Powdered cun cotton
67 nonto

page_text: a belt passing around a pulley on the axis and also around another
pulley n upon the driving axis h, and thus motion is given to the lifting
wheel. The gun cotton when it has been washed sufficiently to remove
all or all but a very small per-centage of acid, and for convenience and
safety sake whilst still moist is placed in the hopper f, from whence it
passes through the rolls; it is caught by the wheel. g which returns it
to the hopper, and so it is caused to pass through and through between
the rolls until it is completely broken down. A tray is then put in over
the top of the hopper, and in this way the charge is collected and
carried away to the storing tank. When the powdered gun cotton is
required for use the water is run off, and it takes with it any traces of
acid which the cotton may have contained when it was passed through
between the rollers.
In place. of using a pair of rollers, one roller travelling over a surface
or running around a pan as in an edge runner mill may be employed,
but the arrangement shewn in the Drawings is preferred...
Figure 3 is a front elevation, and Figure 4 a transverse section of the
apparatus I employ for drying the granules or gun cotton.
a, a, is a
framing supporting a series of plates b, one of which is shewn separately
in plan at Figure 5. The plates are warmed by placing them over a
trough containing sand mixed with an equal weight of iron borings.
to render it a better conductor than is sand alone; d is a hot water or
Or in
steam pipe by which the plate b is kept at the warmth desired.
place of this arrangement the room in which the drying is effected may
be heated to the temperature at which it is desired to work. e is a ring
of vulcanised india-rubber placed on the plate b; the counterpoise.
cover frests upon it when it is lowered into its place; g is a pipe in
which a vacuum is maintained; and h is a branch connecting this pipe
with the space beneath the cover, so that on opening a stop cock h² on
the branch pipe a vacuum is established around the moist and warm
gun cotton or granules contained in the copper vessel i, and under these
circumstances it rapidly dries.
'
:
:
. Figure 6 is a sectional view of the magazine in which I store gun
cutton when dry. a, a, is earth work; b is concrete in which the
chamber c is partly imbedded; d is water surrounding and covering this
chamber. The chamber c is constructed of zinc plates, and within it
are shelves on which the goods are arranged; e is the entrance to the
magazine; and f is a ladder passing down into it; 9 is a light roof to

page_text: shelter the entrance e when open from wet; h is a bridge by which the
magazine is approached.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have
it understood that it does not consist in reducing gun cotton into paper
pulp and forming therefrom sheets, discs, cylinders, and other forms, but
what I claim is,―
1st. The manufacture of a granulated gunpowder from gun cotton,
substantially as described.
2ndly. The preparation of gun cotton by crushing it with rollers,
substantially as described.
3rdly. The means of drying gun cutton and compounds thereof in a
vacuum, substantially as described.
4thly. The construction of magazines for storing gun cotton and
compounds thereof, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Joseph Mackic, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
S. J. MACKIE. (L.S.)