AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANNON
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Méchanical Draughts.
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CANNON."A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th January 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 IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CANNON, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture cannon of great strength and
power. To this end, a cannon is first cast in the usual manner, but having in
its largest part a diameter only about twice as great as the calibre intended to
be bored in it. The cannon is then bored and turned, so as to give it two
or three different diameters of periphery, the cylindrical portions, extending
from the breech to a little beyond the trunnions, being somewhat larger in
diameter than the others. Upon these cylinders a screw is cut, and over these
threads several hoops or rings of wrought iron, tapped on their inside, aré
fitted. The internal diameter of the finished hoops is about one-thousandth
part less than the male screw that they are to encircle. The hoops being heated

page_text: to expand them sufficiently to fit on the cast cannon, they are then screwed
into their place. Where a break occurs in the
adjoining hoop will lap the one over the other.
diameter of the cannon, the
When one covering of hoops
is arranged, the outside of this first series is turned, and a screw formed of
several threads is made thereon, and a second set of hoops is applied thereto,
the like provision for expansion being made, as above explained, and one of
the hoops having the trunnions forged upon it.
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 30th July 1856.
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 Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth 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 IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANNON," being a
munication 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.
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
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, is to manufacture cannon of great strength and power. To this
end, a cannon is first cast in the usual manner, but having in its largest part
a diameter only about twice as great as the calibre intended to be bored in it.
The casting is then bored and turned, so as to give its periphery two or threo
different diameters, as represented at A, A, in the Drawing, the cylindrical
portions, extending from the breech to a little beyond the trunnions, being
somewhat larger in diameter than the others. Upon these cylindrical portions
a screw is formed, consisting of about eight threads, each thread taking about
an eighth of an inch space, so that one turn advances each thread about an
inch. The next thing is to form several hoops or rings of wrought iron,
represented at B, B, B, &c. in section. These hoops are turned upon the
inside, and have a female screw cut upon their inner surface to fit the threads
before described as cut upon the cast-iron cylinders forming the
gun body.
The internal diameter of the finished hoops is about one-thousandth part less
than the male screw that they are to encircle. The hoops are then heated to
expand them sufficiently to fit on the cast cannon; they are then screwed into
their places, as shewn in the Drawing.
It will be seen that the hoop marked B¹ must be first put in its place, and
a portion of its outer side turned, and have the threads formed upon it, before
the hoop B, that partly covers it, can be put in its place. When one cover of
hoops (B, B, B, &c.) is arranged as herein described and shewn, the gun is
placed again in the lathe, and the outside of this first series of hoops is
turned; a screw formed of several threads is also cut thereon, as was before
done upon the cast-iron body. This may be done upon all, or only (as
shewn in the Figure) upon those from the breech to the trunnions inclusive.
Another set of hoops C, C, C, &c. is next prepared, with female screws,
corresponding to the male screws upon the first series, and having a
diameter about one-thousandth part less than the screw they are to cover.
These hoops having been expanded by heat, as was practised with the first
set, are shrunk on the cannon in their respective places, as are shown in the
Drawing. One of these hoops has the trunnions forged upon it, as shown at
D, D. It will be noticed that the series of hoops C, C, break joint with the
hoops B, B. The Drawing is a section of the cannon made through its axis,
5 and the several parts cannot fail to be at once known and understood. The
proportions in this Drawing are intended for a cannon of twelve inches
calibre.
Having now set forth the nature and object of the Invention communi-
cated to me by my foreign correspondent, I would remark that I do not claim

page_text: the using of hoops generally in making cannon, as the earliest cannon known
were formed in part by hoops brazed upon them; but I claim, under the above
in part recited Letters: Patent, constructing cannon with hoops screwed and
shrunk upon a hollow body, formed in the manner herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord' One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)