IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, FIRE-ARMS, AND APPARATUS GENERALLY IN WHICH GUNPOWDER IS EMPLOYED
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lynall Thomas, of Union Street, Berkeley
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, FIRE-ARMS, AND APPARATUS GENERALLY IN
WHICH GUNPOWDER IS EMPLOYED."
Sealed the 11th January 1859, and dated the 22nd July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lynall Thomas
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd July 1858.
I, WILLIAM LYNALL THOMAS, of Union Street, Berkeley Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, FIRE-ARMS, AND APPARATUS GENERALLY
IN WHICH GUNPOWDER IS EMPLOYED," to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is principally the construction of strong and
effective ordnance.
My Invention consists in constructing ordnance (fire-arms and apparatus.
generally in which gunpowder is used) according to the impulsive force or
action of impact, which I have discovered that gunpowder exerts on the shot.
or object to be moved (instead of according to the mode heretofore adopted,
based on the assumption that it acts merely by pressure), and also according.
to the fact that the initial force of relative quantities of powder exerted on the
shot (the charges being of the same form), increases in a greater ratio than
the cube of the quantity.
In carrying the Invention into effect the metal material of the gun has to
be distributed or arranged peculiarly, the precise forms and dimensions to be
adapted of course varying according to the material and the shot's weight and

page_text: shape, but in my improved arrangements the gun or piece is made thick about
the breech for or in proportion to greater strength of quality or degree of con-
finement of the powder, or greater weight of projectile; but to increase
velocity of projection where the powder is of a quality occupying a less
restricted space or slower of ignition, a lengthened tube may be employed.
The charge chambers may be made of such forms as to hold the powder in
more or less confined space to regulate its effects.
A testing apparatus exemplifying the impulsive force of gunpowder may be
constructed, consisting of a block (of metal) with a chamber or recess for the
powder; on the surface of the powder a ball or other object is set; a guide
frame to keep this in place, and graduated rod, are added; or an air-tight
tube for the ball to travel in may be fitted over the charge chamber to calculate
the powder's continuous action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Lynall Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LYNALL THOMAS, of Union Street, Berkeley Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Lynall Thomas, Her special licence that I, the said William Lynall
Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Lynall Thomas, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE, FIRE-ARMS, AND APPARATUS GENERALLY IN WHICH
GUNPOWDER IS EMPLOYED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Lynall Thomas, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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

page_text: 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 William Lynall Thomas, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The object of the Invention is principally the construction of strong and
effective ordnance.
My Invention consists in constructing ordnance, fire-arms, and apparatus
generally in which gunpowder is used, according to the impulsive force or
action of impact, which I have discovered that gunpowder exerts on the shot
or object to be moved (instead of according to the mode heretofore adopted,
based on the assumption that it acts merely by pressure), and also according
to the fact that the initial force of relative quantities of powder exerted on the
shot, the charges being of the same form, increases in a much greater ratio than
the quantity.
In carrying the Invention into effect the metal material of the gun has to
be distributed or arranged accordingly, the precise forms and dimensions to be
adopted of course varying according to the material and the shot's weight and
shape; but in my improved arrangement the gun or piece is made thick
about the breech for or in proportion to the greater strength of quality or
degree of confinement of the powder, or greater weight of projectile; but to
increase velocity of projection where the powder is of a quality occupying a
less restricted space or slower of ignition, a lengthened tube or bore may be
employed. The charge chambers may be made of such forms as to hold the
powder in a more or less confined space to regulate its effects.
A testing apparatus exemplifying the impulsive force of gunpowder may be
constructed, consisting of a block of metal, with a chamber or recess for the
powder, on the surface of which powder a ball or other object is set; a guide
frame to keep this in place, and graduated rod, are added; or an air-tight
tube for the ball to travel in may be fitted over the charge chamber to calculate
the powder's continuous action.
In order practically to apply the principles herein-before set forth to the
construction of fire-arms, ordnance, and apparatus in which gunpowder is used,
the distribution of metal in large pieces will differ from what is at present
customary, comparatively greater strength of metal having to be placed at the
breech, and comparatively less along the bore.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the Drawings, are sections of guns constructed

page_text: according to my Invention, illustrating the nature of the force of relative
charges of powder when fired in guns of different calibres, and their pro-
portionate influence upon the construction of guns. Figure 1 is a section of a
gun, the bore of which is supposed to have a diameter of 3 inches, and length
of 25 calibres; Figure 2, diameter of bore 6 inches, length 17.75 calibres;
Figure 3, diameter of bore 12 inches, length 12.75 calibres.
The powder before being fired occupies the space from a, a, to b, b. In these
guns the metal material is arranged according to the principles I have set
forth, whereby to obtain greater strength and efficiency; and in the case of
large guns especially, to guard against their bursting, to which they are liable
when constructed on the old method. Guns as ordinarily constructed are so
contrived as to resist an alleged constant initial pressure on the square inch; so
that in constructing a gun of twice the size of that represented in Figure 1,
for example, the metal material would be increased in the same (or nearly the
same) ratio as the calibre; but according to my improved mode of construc-
tion the metal material is so distributed as to resist a constantly increasing
pressure at the breech end or parts round the charge, and the strength of
metal at the breech must thus increase in a higher ratio than that of the
calibre. As the gun increases in calibre the projectile begins to move with a
continually increasing velocity, and therefore the strain upon all other parts
of the gun, except at the breech (where it continually increases) becomes less;
a greater portion of the force of the charge being exerted before the shot
is moved.
As fire-arms, ordnance, and apparatus in which gunpowder is used vary so
considerably in form and dimensions, the foregoing have been given merely as
illustrations of the mode of performing the Invention, the various applications
thereof being based on the same principles. These principles may be applied
with advantage to the arrangement of blasting contrivances.
Figures 4 and 4ª are sectional views of testing apparatus constructed
according to my Invention. A is a block of metal, having formed in it on the
top surface a charge chamber or recess B, supplied with powder; C is a
channel leading from a touch-hole c at the side of the block to the recess B
for igniting the powder; D, ball resting on the charge chamber, kept in place
by a frame E. A graduated rod F may be added to measure the ball's ascent.
If the powder be ignited, the ball, instead of dropping off laterally as it would
if the powder merely acted by pressure, is actually driven upward in a straight
line to a considerable distance, thereby clearly proving that the initial force of
the powder on the ball is impulsive. When a larger apparatus is used, the
form and quantity of charge being proportionate, the greater height to which

page_text: larger shot would be driven, and which would be in a ratio about as the
diameter, shews that the initial impulse is increased with the calibre of the
gun in a ratio which, instead of being as usually supposed, is nearly as the
fourth power of the diameter of the calibre (the charges being proportionate.)
Figure 2 shews an apparatus for ascertaining at what distance the action of
the powder ceases; here adjustable bars a, a, are used, which, by their points
b, b, lift the ball just off the powder to an extent regulated by the screws d, d.
A, block; B, charge chamber; C, passage; and c, touch-hole, as before. The
frame may be dispensed with, and an open block and chamber alone employed.
My improvements in the construction of ordnance, &c., are applicable on
the supposition that powder of similar quality is used for pieces varying
in calibre.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and shewn how
the same may be performed, I declare that, believing the principles I have
herein-before set forth to be both new and useful in respect of their application
to the construction of guns, ordnance, and instruments and apparatus generally
in which gunpowder is used; and having also shewn how the application
thereof may be practically carried into effect, I declare that what I claim
is, the application of the principles herein-before. stated to the construction of
fire-arms, ordnance, and apparatus generally in which gunpowder is used, that
is to say, the mode of constructing the same according to the impulsive force
or action of impact exerted by gunpowder on the object to be moved, and
according to the fact of the initial force of relative quantities of powder
exerted on the shot, the charges being of the same form, increases in a much
greater ratio than the quantity.
I also claim the arrangement and combination of parts of testing appa-
ratus herein-before described, constructed according to the principles of my
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lynall Thomas, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
MARY ANN BALL.
W. LYNALL THOMAS. (L.S.)