AN IMPROVED CHARGER FOR SHOT POUCHES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CHARGER FOR SHOT POUCHES."-
A communication.
Sealed the 9th December 1856, and dated the 1st September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st September 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CHARGER FOR SHOT POUCHES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of the devices
for securing the barrel of the charger to the pouch, and for gauging the
charges, by which means the pouch is simplified, cheapened, and made more.
durable, while it is susceptible also of being divided into two or more chambers
without having the tops or barrels with their thumb levers or pieces to interfere
with each other when removing them to fill the chambers with shot.
The Invention also relates to an arrangement for locking.and unlocking the

page_text: gates or slides, so as to prevent their accidental opening and wasting the shot;
and also to the arrangement of catches and springs for working and holding
the charger more securely.
The bag or pouch may be divided into two or more chambers for containing
shot of different sizes, by means of a division or partition extending from top
to bottom thereof. Each chamber is fitted with a barrel or tube, which is
secured in the orifices of the pouch or chamber. These barrels are slightly
conical within the pouch, so as to prevent their being drawn out when pro-
perly inserted and secured, and are moreover further secured by a set screw.
On the inside of the tube a short distance below its top a groove is cut, which
forms a flange on top. From the top of this flange towards and into the
groove are cut one, two, or more slots or openings, also a square slot. On
the bottom of the charger are left projections which fit into the openings,
whilst a thumb catch slips into the square slot, and when the charger is turned
a portion of a revolution, the charger and pouch are united. This arrange-
ment admits of two chargers being in close proximity, and of being readily
removed and replaced when filling the chambers with shot, or for any other
purpose, without one interfering in the least with the other.
The tops or chargers have an outer and an inner tube, made to fit snugly
one within the other, and on the outer one are cut vertical and transverse slots
in which a pin works for gauging the charge of shot.
On the outer tube is a pair of lugs to receive the pivots of a thumb lever,
which is hollow and forms a socket for a rod which is adjustable therein.
This rod carries the upper slide which works entirely within the inner
tube, so that the inner tube may be free to slide up or down within the
outer one, and yet the slide which is worked from the outside will not be
impeded thereby. The lower slide is pivotted to the thumb lever itself,
and its position is a permanent one with regard to the tubes. This slide
also works entirely in the inner tube, so that the tube may be run up or
down without affecting the action of the lower slide. A bent spring is used
for keeping the upper slide closed, and the lower one open. Now, by turning
down the top of the pouch the shot will run into the chargers, press down the
thumb lever, and the lower slide closes, and the upper one opens, and so
alternately in measuring and using the charges.
To make the charger still more perfect a piece is punched or cut out of the
centre of the lower slide, into which a strip of metal furnished with a series
of holes is fitted. These holes receive a pin or stud fast on the outer tube. A
slot is cut also in the lower slide, so as to form a spring tongue, which presses

page_text: against the lower side of the pierced strip to throw its holes on to the stud or
pin, and thus lock the slide, so that anything striking the thumb lever could
not move the slides or waste the shot. To release the slide a lever is pro-
vided for pressing down the pierced strip clear of the stud.
Another improvement consists in holding and adjusting the tubes one within
the other for gauging and changing the charge of shot, by means of a vertical
slot in the outer tube, from which branch opposite to each other several hori-
zontal slots, and into which takes the end of a spring carried by the inner tube.
By this arrangement the pressure of the finger on the end of the spring will
cause the disengagement of the two tubes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED CHARGER
FOR SHOT POUCHES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, of an improved charger for shot pouches, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, relates to the construction and arrange-
ment of the devices for securing the barrel of the charger to the pouch, and
for gauging the charges, by which means the pouch is simplified, cheapened,
and made more durable, while it is susceptible also of being divided into two
or more chambers, without having the tops or barrels with their thumb levers
or pieces to interfere with each other when removing them to fill the chambers
with shot.
The Invention also relates to an arrangement for locking and unlocking the
gates or slides, so as to prevent their accidental opening and wasting the shot;
and also to the arrangement of catches and springs for working and holding
the charger more securely.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention, I will pro.
ceed to describe the same with reference to the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a double shot pouch, constructed
according to the improvements, one of the tops being raised up or removed,
to shew the method of connecting it to the bag; Fig. 2 represents a vertical
section, taken through the centre of one of the tops; and Fig. 3 represents a
view of one of the tops, directly from the side opposite the thumb piece;
Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 represent a modified form of charger, which is made to
lock and unlock as required.
The bag or pouch A may be made of leather or any other suitable well-
known material, and may be divided into two or more chambers for containing
shot of different sizes, by means of a division or partition B extending from
top to bottom thereof. C represents the barrels or tubes, which are secured
in the orifices of the pouch or chambers. They are slightly conical within the
pouch, so as to prevent their being drawn out when properly inserted and
secured, and are moreover further secured by a set screw a.
The tubes or barrels C have heretofore had a screw or thread cut on their
inner peribpery, into which a male screw on the tops or chargers was run, to
hold the two together. The objection to the screws or threads arises from the
fact that there must be a considerable number of threads to secure the proper
degree of firmness in the connection, and that in taking off or putting on the

page_text: tops or chargers they must make an entire turn for each thread. Now, by
this old method but one top or cap could be used, unless they were removed at
some distance from each other, or be otherwise inconvenient, because the
thumb lever would strike against the opposite top or charger, if made compact,
and prevent its turning. I avoid the use of the screws, and get a more simple
fastening as follows:-A groove 1 is cut on the inside of the tube or thimble
C, a short distance below its top, this forms a flange 6 on top. From the top
of this flange b, towards and into the groove 1, are cut one, two, three, or
more slots or openings 2, 2, also a square slot 3. On the bottom of the charger
D (Figures 1 and 3) are left projections 4, 4, which fit into the slots 2, 2,
whilst a thumb catch c slips into the square slot 3. Now, by turning the top
or charger a portion of a revolution, and letting go the thumb catch c, the
charger and pouch are united. The top D (Fig. 1) is similarly connected,
and, as one may turn to the right and the other to the left, they may be in
close proximity to each other, and be removed and replaced when filling the
chambers with shot, or for any other purpose, without one interfering in the
least with the other.
I would remark that I am aware that lugs and slots very similar to those
now proposed to be employed have been used for hose couplings and other
purposes, but then without the thumb latch, for securing the coupling after it
is made. I am aware also that a thumb latch, as such, is not new, and there-
fore, taken separately and independently of the complete connection, I do not
lay any claim to it, or to the lugs and slots. But my coupling would not be
useful without the thumb latch or catch or its equivalent, because the top
would be liable to get loose and be lost. My claim to novelty, therefore, under
this part of the Invention is, the manner of arranging the several parts, and
combining them as a whole.
The tops or chargers are constructed as follows:-D is an outer, and d, an
inner tube, made to fit snugly one within the other; and on the outer one
(Fig. 3) are cut the vertical and transverse slots, in which a pin 5 works, for
gauging the charge of shot. The charges may be measured by a scale, as seen
in Fig. 3, or may be subdivisions of the quantity indicated, as the adjustment
is not limited to stated amounts, as will be described.
On the outer tube D of the top or cap is a pair of lugs e, e, to receive the
pivots of a thumb lever E. The thumb lever E is hollow, and forms a socket
for a rod f, which is adjustable therein. This rod carries the upper slide g
and, as will be seen in Fig. 2, the slide 9 works entirely within the inner tube
d, so that the inner tube may be free to slide up or down at any time within

page_text: the outer one, and yet the slide g, which is worked from the outside, will not
be impeded thereby. The top of the thumb lever is slit, as at i, and a small
nut h works on a screw cut thereon (see Fig. 2), by which means the rod f
and its slide g may be adjustable to any of the charges on the scale, or to any
intermediate ones. The lower slide is pivoted to the thumb lever itself, and
its position is a permanent one with regard to the tubes. This slide also works
entirely in the inner tube d, and so that the inner tube may be run up or down
without affecting the action of the lower slide. A bent spring K is used for
keeping the upper slide closed and the lower one open. Now, by turning down
the top of the pouch the shot will run into the chargers, then press down the
thumb lever, and the lower slide closes and the upper one opens, and so alter-
nately in measuring and using the charges.
In shot pouches or powder flasks of the ordinary construction, the numbers
of charges which can be measured is limited generally to two, with no inter-
mediate division, because the upper slide had to be unscrewed, taken off, and
pivotted at another place; these screws became lost or loose, and the pouch
or flask was useless. In this pouch there is no part which can become loose
or lost. The adjustment is made by running up the nut h, adjusting the rodf,
and its slide and barrel, and then running it back again. The top neither can
become detached, unless the thumb latch, lugs, and slots, are all acted on
simultaneously.
Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, represent the same general construction of charger, as
above described, but with the following additions, to make the charger still
more perfect (viz.), a piece is punched or cut out of the centre of the lower
slide or gate j, into which a piece m is fitted, the said piece m being furnished
with a series of holes n, n, n, which receive a pin or stud X, fast on the outer
tube D. A slot is cut also in the lower slide, so as to form a spring tongue o,
which spring presses against the lower side of the piece m, to throw its holes n
on to the stud or pin X, and thus lock the slide or gate j, so that anything
accidentally striking the lever F could not move the slides or waste the shot.
The slide is pivotted to the lever E at r, and on the same pivot is hung the
piece m, it having a lever s projecting beyond the fulcra r, and coming imme-
diately above the thumb lever F, so that the operator by sliding his thumb
between s and F, forces up s and throws down the piece m from the stud or
bolt X, then by pressing in the thumb lever F, the slides will operate as above
described. By releasing the thumb from the levers s, F, the spring k, which in
this case is a folded one, for the sake of length and convenient placing of it,
throws the levers and slides into the position shown in Fig. 4, when it is again

page_text: locked. The slide ; may be made of thin steel, the better to force its way
through the shot. The object in folding the spring is, that a greater length of
spring can be placed in the small space allowed for it, which makes it more
efficient and less liable to break than a shorter one moving through the requisite
space.
Another improvement in this modification consists in the devices for holding
and adjusting the tubes D, d, one within the other, for gauging and changing
the charge of shot. It is usual to apply the common bayonet fastening for
this purpose, but this requires two motions to change it, (viz.) a horizontal
and vertical one. The improvement under this head of the Invention consists
in forming in the outer tube a vertical slot 6, from which branch opposite to
each other five, six, or more horizontal slots 7, to receive a spring 8, carried
by the inner tube d. This spring 8 (represented on an enlarged scale in Fig. 7)
is provided with two buttons 9, 10, which stand at right angles to each other;
the button 9 passes through the vertical slot, and the other one, 10, through
the horizontal ones. In order to adjust the tubes D, d, the buttons are forced
in towards the inner tube, and then the tubes will readily slide one on the
other. When the button is released from pressure it will spring out at the
first cross slot, and there hold the tubes. By this arrangement the tubes
merely slide in one direction, and are not so likely to bind as where they have
two motions to make for the purpose of changing the charge. In other respects
this last-described charger is like that first described.
Having now explained the nature and object of the Invention of an im-
proved charger for shot pouches, as communicated to me from abroad, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
First, the devices arranged as described for securing the chargers to the
pouch, (viz.) the lugs, slots, and thumb catch, operating as set forth.
Second, I claim the method of gauging the charges, by means of the inner
and outer tubes moving one within the other, and the slides g,j, working therein
and made adjustable by means of the hollow thumb lever E, rod f, and nut h,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
Third, I claim, in combination with the slide of a shot charger, a locking
apparatus, substantially such as described, for preventing the accidental open-
ing of the charger, but capable of being readily unlocked by the user, as set
forth.
Fourth, I claim the device for adjusting and holding the tubes when adjusted
as set forth.

page_text: And, finally, I claim the folded or crimped spring k, arranged as described,
and for the purpose and objects stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of February in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)