Year: 1886

page_text: I, ANDREW CAMPBELL, of 36 Pembury Grove, Lower Clapton, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The improvements forming the subject of the present invention are applicable to
explosive projectiles for ordnance, machine guns, or small arms, and have for their
object the increase of the destructive power of such projectiles by delaying their
explosion until they have actually penetrated to a certain extent the iron plates or
other objects against which they may have been fired.
In order to effect this object, I make the projectile in three parts, the front or
head and the back or base of the usual hard metal, such as steel or iron, and the
middle part of softer material, such as copper for example. When such a projectile
strikes or penetrates an object, the front or head is the first to be retarded, but the
momentum of the back or base will cause the latter to continue its motion towards
the front part and to press against the middle softer part, upsetting, crushing, or
bending the same. The bursting charge is placed in a suitable cavity in one or
other of the parts of the projectile but preferably in either the front or middle
part, and it is exploded by the base of the projectile, or a pin projecting therefrom,
striking against a detonator in communication with the charge as the said back or
base moves towards the front or head in the act of upsetting, crushing, or bending
the middle part, as above explained.
The several parts of the projectile may be connected together by screwing one
part into, or on to, the other, or by any other suitable means according to the
nature, size, and shape of the projectile.
Projectiles constructed in accordance with this invention are well adapted for
the use of certain highly explosive and powerful compounds which are not sensitive
to change of temperature or percussion. They may be handled, stored, and
transported with perfect safety when fully loaded and ready for use in the gun, as
no force short of what is sufficient to upset, crush, or bend the middle part of the
projectile, can possibly explode it, and the said middle part is, by preference, made
of such material and dimensions that it cannot be upset, crushed, or bent, by the
exertion of much less force or energy than is imparted by firing the projectile from
a gun. The delay and danger of screwing percussion, or time fuses, into a
projectile while in action is by this invention entirely avoided as the complete
missile is always ready for use and is always safe.

page_text: I, ANDREW CAMPBELL, of 36 Pembury Grove, Lower Clapton, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of my 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
accompanying sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and Figures marked thereon,
that is to say :-
The improvements forming the subject of the present invention are applicable to
explosive projectiles for ordnance, machine guns, or small arms, and have for their
object the increase of the destructive power of such projectiles by delaying their
explosion until they have actually penetrated, to a certain extent, the iron plates,
or other objects, against which they may have been fired.
In order to effect this object, I make the projectile in three parts, as illustrated
in the Drawings hereto annexed, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a
longitudinal section, of a projectile constructed in accordance with my invention.
The front or head A, and the back or base B, are made of the usual hard metal,
such as steel, or iron, and the middle part C of softer, or more yielding, material,
such as copper, or gun metal, for example, or of other material not necessarily
softer than that composing the front and back parts of the projectile, but thinner,
or otherwise more yielding, than such front and back parts. When such a projectile
strikes, or penetrates, an object, the front or head A is the first to be retarded, but
the momentum of the back or base B will cause the latter to continue its motion
towards the front part, and to press against the middle softer or more yielding
part C, upsetting, crushing, or bending, the same. The bursting charge is placed
in a suitable cavity in one or other of the parts of the projectile, but preferably in
either the front or middle part, as in the space C₁ for example, and it is exploded
by the base B of the projectile, or a pin B¹ projecting therefrom striking against a
detonator in communication with the charge as the said back or base B moves
towards the front or head A in the act of upsetting, crushing or bending the middle
part C, as above explained; or it may be exploded by a detonator being forced by
the base B against the front or head A, or against a pin A¹ projecting therefrom.
The several parts of the projectile may be connected together by screwing one
part into, or on to, the other, or by any other suitable means according to the
nature, size, and shape, of the projectile.
In Figure 2 the middle part C is shown as a hollow cylinder adapted to contain
the explosive charge, but it is obvious that if a sufficiently soft or yielding material
be employed for the said middle part C; it may be made solid and the explosive
charge be placed in a chamber in the front or head A, the said charge being, in
that case, exploded by a detonator acted on by the middle part C as it is upset or
crushed, or by a rod of harder or more resisting material passing through the
middle part and connected to and driven forward by the base B.
Projectiles constructed in accordance with this invention are well adapted for
the use of certain highly explosive and powerful compounds which are not sensitive
1

page_text: to change of temperature, or percussion. They may be handled, stored, and
transported with perfect safety when fully loaded and ready for use in the gun; as
no force short of what is sufficient to upset, crush or bend the middle part C of the
projectile, can possibly explode it, and the said middle part is, by preference, made
of such material and dimensions that it cannot be upset, crushed, or bent, by the
exertion of much, if any, less force or energy than is imparted by firing the
projectile from a gun. The delay and danger of screwing percussion or time fuses
into a projectile while in action, is by this invention entirely avoided, as the
complete missile is always ready for use, and is always safe.
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:-
The construction of explosive projectiles in three parts, namely, a front or head,
and a back or base, of comparatively hard or unyielding material, and a middle
part of comparatively soft or yielding material, the said three parts being combined
and operating substantially as herein before described, and illustrated in the Drawings
hereto annexed, and for the purpose specified.
.