Year: 1885

page_text: I OWEN BOWEN of 66 Mark Lane in the City of London, Civil Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce a comparatively smokeless and
odourless gunpowder, without detracting in any way from its projective force, and
which will have a less corrosive effect on the arm of precision with which it is
used, than the gunpowders hitherto employed.
According to my invention, I am enabled to produce gunpowder at about half
the cost of the ordinary gunpowders, as I make use of what is now practically as
a waste product.
In carrying out my invention, I employ the ordinary ingredients; viz: sulphur
and saltpetre, which I mix in the usual manner with a charcoal obtained from the
refuse of beech wood or birch wood, preferably the former, used by chair makers,
and which can be obtained in large quantities at a comparatively low rate.
These woods, which possess certain qualities highly conducive to obtain the
desired result, I employ when undercharred, in which state they will have a light
brown appearance like cocoa.
The proportions which I prefer to use, as giving a good result, are :-
Sulphur
Undercharred beech wood
3.5 per cent by weight
22.5 per cent by weight

page_text: I OWEN BOWEN of 66 Mark Lane in the City of London, Civil Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of this invention is to produce a comparatively smokeless and
odourless gunpowder, of high projective force, at a low cost.
The improved gunpowder will have a less corrosive effect on the arm of
precision with which it is used, than the gunpowders hitherto employed.
According to my invention, I am enabled to produce gunpowder at about
one third less cost than the ordinary gunpowders, as I make use of what is now
practically a waste product.
In carrying out my invention, I employ the ordinary ingredients, viz.,-Sulphur,
Saltpetre, and Charcoal, which I mix in the usual manner.-The charcoal I obtain
from the refuse of beech wood or birchwood, preferably the former, used by chair
makers, and which can be obtained in large quantities at a low cost.-Besides the
economy in the cost of manufacture by thus using the refuse of beechwood or
birchwood for making the charcoal, these woods possess certain qualities highly
conducive to obtain the smokeless and odourless gunpowder above mentioned.-
The charcoal is produced by under-charring the wood in any convenient manner,
and it will have a light brown appearance, like cocoa, when thus charred.
The proportions which I prefer to use, as giving the best results, are
f my sont her waight
100
but I do not wish to confine myself to these proportions, as I may find it desirable,
in some classes of powder, to more or less vary them.
The improved powder is admirably suited for use with big guns, as it has an
increased projective force over ordinary powder, and is somewhat slow in igniting.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
In the manufacture of gunpowder, the use of a charcoal prepared from refuse
beechwood or birchwood substantially as set forth.