IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CARTRIDGES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Horace Brandon, of 13, Rue Gaillon,"
Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC CARTRIDGES."-A communication
from Edwin Martin of Springfield, United States of America.
Sealed the 25th January 1870, and dated the 10th August 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Horace Brandon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 10th August 1869, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEX-
ANDER HORACE BRANDON, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METALLIC CARTRIDGES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been
communicated to me by Edwin Martin, of Springfield, United States of
America.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE that I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement.
My Invention relates to that class of metallic cartridges known as
centre-fire cartridges, and consists in forming the pocket or receptacle
for the fulminate and disk or anvil from the whole thickness of the head of
the cartridge by forcing it in from the outside, and then forcing the top
of the recess so formed back again to the plane of the head of the shell,
whereby the annular flange or projection which forms the pocket upon
the interior of the head of the shell is made of double thickness, and
thereby strengthened, securing more firmly the disk in its place; and it
also consists in strengthening the base or head of the shell with the said
pocket therein by means of a perforated cup or disk, the inner edge of
which is carried over and is firmly pressed down upon the top of the
pocket or receptacle for the fulminate and disk or anvil.
In the manufacture of central-fire cartridges now in use wherein the
metal is forced up on the interior of the head of the shell to form the
interior flange or pocket, the power required to force up the metal is
so great that very great wear and tear of tools and machinery is the
result. This is obvious when it is known that the pocket is formed by
a blow or by repeated blows of the tool placed upon the interior of the
head of a shell, and the result must be a great outlay of expense in
keeping the machinery and tools in repair, while on account of such
wear and tear of machinery it is extremely difficult to make all the
shells of the same size, form, and quality.
As my improvement dispenses with a large amount of the power
heretofore required, much of the difficulty and expense attending the
manufacture of cartridges is obviated, while by my improved manu-
facture cartridges are made cheaper, with less wear of tools and
machinery, are more equal in size, form, and quality, and are more sure
in their explosive properties.
That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my im-
provements I will proceed to describe the same, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawing making a part of this Specification, and to
the letters of reference marked thereon, in which Figures 1, 2, and 3

page_text: are plan views of the inside of a cartridge shell made according to my
improvements at different stages of completion; Figure 4 is a longi-
tudinal section through line A, B, of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a longi-
tudinal section through line C, D, of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a longitudinal
section through line E, F, of Figure 3; Figure 7 is a plan and side
view of the disk; Figure 8 is a plan view of a reinforcing cup used in
one modification of the shell; Figure 9 is a vertical section through
line H, I, of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of one
modification of a shell having the interior of the shell strengthened by
means of the reinforcing cup shewn in Figures 8 and 9; Figure 11 is
a plan of the face of the heading tool; Figure 12 is a plan of the face
of the tool used for making the pocket or receptacle for the fulminate
and disk; Figure 13 is a plan of the tool employed for introducing
the fulminate and disk, and for reducing the pocket and also the shell,
and which I denominate the reducing tool; Figure 14 is a longitudinal
section through line N, O, of Figure 12; Figure 15 is a longitudinal
section through line K, L, of Figure 11; Figure 16 is a longitudinal
section through line R, S, of Figure. 13; and Figures 17 and 18 are
enlarged longitudinal sections shewing more fully and clearly the
details of Figures 6 and 10. In the Drawing Figures 11 and 15 repre-
sent the heading tool, which is cylindrical in form and having a plain
face h, upon which is the projection h¹. This tool however I do not
claim as new. Figures 12 and 14 represent the tool for forming the
pocket, m being the face of the tool, having an annular groove / therein,
leaving the cylindrical projection n at the center, the outer end or face
of which is upon the same plane with the face m of the tool. The
reducing tool, as represented in Figures 13 and 16, consists of a cylin-
drical piece of metal, having a cylindrical bore therein, the lower
portion of the bore being somewhat smaller, making a shoulder at x.
The face m' of the piece r has a flat surface upon a plane at right angles
to the axis of the tool and that part of the face near the center, and
immediately contiguous to the small part of the bore is chamfered or
bevelled as shewn in section in Figure 16 at o¹. A metallic piston r
properly fitting the bore 8' is inserted therein, the lower end o of said
piston being of a size to fit properly the small bore in the lower end
of the cylinder r, a shoulder being made at x. The piston is some-
what shorter than the large bore 8', and a spiral spring is inserted
within the bore g¹ and above the piston r¹. At the upper part of
the hollow portion 8' of the cylinder is made the thread v, into which.

page_text: is turned the screw or threaded plug c¹. By turning this plug v¹ either
in or out the proper and desired adjustment of the pressure of the
spring against the piston is accomplished. The parts of the tool
being put together as thus described it is ready for use.
Figures 8 and 9 represent a reinforcing cup after it has been placed
within the shell, consisting of the base f, the side a', and the conical
part b', having the perforation therein. This is at first simply a disk
of copper, which may be somewhat larger than the inner diameter of
the shell and perforated at the center, its particular form, as shewn in
Figure 9, being given to it by driving it into the shell by means of
the reducing tool, at the same time the shell is primed as herein-after
described. I take the shell as ordinarily left when drawn, and inserting
a proper tool therein I force the face h of the tool g firmly against
the end of the shell, which with the tool therein is grasped by a die,
against which the outer flange of the head is formed. This die for
forming the head is well known and in common use, and needs no
particular description here. The above-described operation forces in
the metal at the center of the head forming the recess e at the same
time it forms the head of the shell. This brings the shell to the first
stage of completion, as shown in Figure 4. The tool is next inserted
within the shell a, and the shell with the head foremost and the tool
within the shell is forced down upon a flat hard surface.
By this
operation the small center projection n of the tool forces the top c
of the recess e back into the said rccess to nearly or quite the same
plane with the head or base f of the shell, thus doubling the wall or
rim of said recess e or. making it of two thicknesses, and leaving an
annular or circular flange or projection 6 upon the interior of the head
of the shell, which serves as a receptacle or pocket for the fulminate
and anvil, as shown at i in Figure 5. This method of forming a pocket
or receptacle for the fulminate and anvil has never been used hereto-
fore to my knowledge, and constitutes a particular feature of my Inven-
tion, and this operation brings the shell to the second stage of completion.
The anvil or disk d having the fulminate thereon may now be placed
upon the small end o of the piston 7, the whole tool being inverted
or placed with the small end o upward, and the tool being then forced
into the shell a the disk d with its fulminate is forced into place at the
bottom of the pocket or receptacle i and the tool being forced still
further in the piston is forced back against the spring until the
circular projection 6 enters the groove o'. The tool is then forced
b

page_text: in firmly against the interior of the head of the shell, and the inner
part of said groove o' being slightly smaller than the diameter of
the top of the circular flange b, that part of said flange is pressed
together or is reduced in size of diameter. The size of the pocket i
which before the last operation described was just large enough to
admit the anvil or disk d is now so reduced in its diameter above the
disk as to prevent said disk d from passing out of the pocket i or being
forced out by any ordinary blow, and the shell is then complete and primed.
I am aware that a shell has heretofore been made in which the
anvil or disk was attached to the interior of the head of the shell, as
shown in (French) Letters Patent, No. 65,774, granted June 11th, 1867,
to Dexter Smith; and I disclaim any and every part of said device
when considered irrespective of my improved manufacture and construc-
tion, inasmuch as the details of construction of said Smith's Invention
differ very materially from mine in every particular. The circular
flange forming the pocket for the fulminate and disk in said Smith's
Invention being drawn or forced up upon the interior of the head of
the shell of course necessitates the use of very thick copper from which
to form the circular flange, while the wear and tear of machinery and
tools in applying the power necessary to form said flange is so very
great as to render that process quite expensive or too impracticable.
. By my Invention I am enabled to use much thinner copper at much
less expense, while the wear and tear of machinery and tools is so slight
as to be unappreciable, as very little application of power is required.
If desirable in the manufacture of cartridges for some purposes a re-
inforcement may be placed in the interior of the shell and over the
flange b for the purpose of strengthening the shell and forming a more
perfect gas check. For this purpose I take a disk of copper or suitable
metal of a suitable diameter and perforate it at the center, said per-
foration being sufficiently large to pass over the small end of the piston r¹,
and when the reducing tool is to be forced into the shell for the purpose
of securing the anvil or disk d'in place this disk of copper is placed
upon the face m' of the tool, the small end o passing through the per-
foration i, and as the tool is forced into the shell the copper disk is
turned up around the edge if its diameter is larger than the interior
diameter of the shell, and is forced to the base of the shell, and as the
tool is pressed firmly against the interior of the head the copper disk
takes the form of the face of said tool r, the top of the cone 6' of the
cup being turned over and down upon the top of the circular flange b,

page_text: and forming a gas check to prevent the gas from entering between the
reinforcing cup and the head of the shell, as shown more fully in
Figures 10 and 18. This reinforcement necessitates no additional
operation in securing it in place within the shell, while its efficiency
renders it of great value, especially in the use of cartridges containing
what is known as electric powder when very great and sudden explosive
force is exerted upon the shell. This cup or reinforcement may be
of a length to cover only the head, or may cover a portion of the sides
of the shell, as may be desirable. I am aware that cartridge shells
have been reinforced, but never to my knowledge has a reinforcement
been employed constructed and operating as that herein described. It
will be seen that the circular flange or projection b is of double thickness,
and formed so as to give a stronger and firmer seat for the disk or
anvil than any other center-fire cartridge shell of similar construction
now in use, while the peculiar manner of forming it facilitates the
manipulation of the metal, and enables the manufacturer to bring the
circular flange to just the desired degree of elevation and size.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim as new and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,―
Firstly. An interior conical shaped pocket or receptacle containing
the fulminate and anvil when the wall of said pocket is formed of two
thicknesses of metal contiguous to each other, substantially as described.
Secondly. Turning over the upper part of the perforated conical
portion of the reinforcing cup upon and into the pocket or receptacle
for the fulminate and anvil, forming a gas check substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexender Horace Brandon, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
D. H. BRANDON,
13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris.
A. H.
(L.S.)