US382226A - The geaydon - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

J. W. GRAYDON- SHELL.

No. 382,226. 7 Patented May 1. 1888.

m0 Model) 2 Sheets-Sheen J. W. GRAYDON.

SHELL.

8 No. 382,226. Patented May 1, 1888.

' MW Vim/Q! JAMESW. enaynon, or wheel-heron, DISTRICT OF conniunrafnss enon,

BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To. THE GRAYDON DYn'AMITE i nioanorite, CARTRIDGE AND HIGH EXPL'OSIVE COMPANY, OF SAi lnBL- I .3.

SHELL.

srecrr-rca'riorr ormin part of Letters Patent No. 382,226, flat ed May Application filed May 7, 1887. Renewed February 15, 1888. Serial No. 264,l42i.

To all whom it rim/y concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES W. GRAYDON, of

NVashington city, in the District of Columbia,

haveinvented certain, new and useful I mp'rove- 5 .mentsin Shells; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a central longitudinal sec 1 10 tion of my shell; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same on line mm of Fig. 1; Fig. 3,2. front end view of the shell; Fig. 4, a detail view showing a shell in the gun with asbestus wads between it and the propelling charge, and Fig.

r 5 5 an enlarged detail view of one of the pellets with" which the shell is shown as loaded in.

Fig. 1. I

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts-in each of the figures.

The object of myinvention is to provide improizernents in explosive shells; and to this end my invention consists in the shell and in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts thereof, "as hereinafter specified.

In the drawings, A designates the shell-casing, which, as usual, is preferably made of metal. The metal which I prefer is steel, as with that material a goodpenetrating-point can be formed on theshell. Onthe exterior b of the casing are two rings, 13 and B, of brass 'or other soft. metal, set or .let into annular grooves, as indicated in Fig. l in the drawings. Of these ringsthercarone, B, is thicker than the other, so as to-take the rifiing of the 5 gun strongly. The front ring, especially where the projectile used is a long one, is of less diameterthan the other ring, so that it does not project so far beyond the casing A, and only takes the rifling slightly.

In order to increase'the interior capacity of the shell for the reception of the explosive, I desire that the shell should be as long as possible, and intend, where the shells are specially manufactured, to make them longer than they 5 have usually heretofore been made. i

Ihave only shown two of thesoft-metal rings; but a greater number of them can of course be used if desired.

For facility in loading the shell, I prefer to go masses rear end of the shell removable, as

shown in full lines in Fig. .zSucln-rearend there shown consists,ofctheahaearytand strong piece or block 0, having; the threaded forweirdly-projecting portion !O:-screwed,intothe rear end of casing A.a,IllStQEld.,-Qf-;th;l8=G021- 5 struction, I can, as indicated in dotted lines 1 at the rear end. of the,shellinsaidfigure,have

a smaller opening inthecasing end, withia mere plug screwed intothesame :The rear end of the casing must:thenwheiparticulaply 6o 1 strong to prevent the plug {being blowni'nto the shell by the explosionof --th,e. propelling charge in the gun. The plug-eani havea flange or head adapted to engage the end of the (13S:

ing, or an annular shoulder; thereon around the plug-hole. I also contenrplatcgif desired, having the loading-opening at, the forward part of the casing, as indicated o dettedor broken lines,-instead of at the re ,j-as;al'ready described. In such case L do not,"- as hash'ere- 7o tofore been done, makefthe openingesztending from the extreme point of thesheil rearward into the shell-casing interior as such acon struetion interferes with and spoilsthc sharp penetrating-point whiclrit isdesirable. to have.

Thewhole front end of tlieiqshellawith its I thick solid portion and penetratingpoint,,.i-s screwed or otherwisev fastenedlto, the front p033; tion of the cylindrical or.main port-io gof the shell. lVhen this front endofthe shell is un s screwed or removechit leavesthechamber end open, to be freely and easily loaded.-.

I have shown the chargecontainin'gchainber made not cylindrical, but enlarged from each end toward th'e-centralpoint-so as to, increase its carrying capacity; but I do, notlimit myself to such construction t" "-n-jy particular shape. A'great cause of danger ii hen ,o hells, and especially those containing high explo' 9o sives-as gun cotton, dynamite; chc ehas been .th'etransrnission or passage. of :he2 i;t -.:from th,e

shell consists of one of the high explosives. To guard against this great source of danger of premature explosion of the shell and con sequent bursting of the gun, I line the interior of the shell-chamber D with a lining ofsome material which is a non conductor of heat that is, I inte'rpose between the charge E, within the shell and the inner walls of'the casing, a layer or layers of material which will effectually prevent the heat from the outside of theshcll reaching the charge.

The material which I prefer for lining the shell-chamber is asbestus felting, paper, or cloth; but I do not limit myself to any particular material therefor. Mineral wool or any of the well-known non conductors of heat can be used. Whatever the material is it should of course be in itself not capable of being burned or destroyed by the heat reachin it.

I is dynamite and other high explosives are fired by 360 of heat, it will be readily seen that without some non condncting material interposed between the shell-charge and the walls of the shell the charge is liable, in fact very certain,to be fired by heat coming from the intense flame of the propelling-charge in the gun.

In practice, before placing the exploding charge within the shell-chamber I put the asbestus or other lining in place,then fill in the explosive, and lap the ends of the lining over the charge, as shown Fig. 1. The end or plug'to close the open end of the chamber is then screwed in place.

To make most sure that the charge shall not come in contact with the walls of the shell where the lining is lapped over, I sometimes fill in a space between the charge and the end of the chamber with scraps or pieces of the asbestus or other non conducting material used. VVhcre desired, asbest'us or other wads, F F,of material which is a non-conductor of heat can be placed between the rear end of the projectile and the propelling-charge G in the gun, as shown in Fig. 4.

tion of the actively explosive portion of the material by the shock of the propulsion of the projectile in the gun. Dynamite, which is one of the most convenient of the high explosives to make and handle, consists, as is well known, essentially, of nitro-glycerine and absorbent material used to take up and absorb the nitro-glycerine.

-far more sensitive than when is absorbed and held by the absorbent material in dyna or time fuse.

mite, is concentrated out of the dynamite by the shock. The charge in the shell is thus put in a too highly sensitive and very dangerous condition, and is quite certain to be fired by any shock by friction,or by 860 of heat reaching any portion of the nitro-glycerine before the projectile has time tov leave the gun. To prevent this concentration and dangerous change in the nature of the explosive charge, I separate the charge into anumber, of small portions, each wrapped in an envelope, so as to make a number of balls or pellets, ff, of any desired shape.

In practice I have put up the high explosive, preferably dynamite, in packages of thin strong paper, and then have dipped the packages in paraffine to hermetically scal them and render the paper non-absorbent. The size that I have found best for dynamite packages is a halfinch tube. The shape is, as indicated above, immaterial. Where each pack age is made up into a ball, f, as shown in Fig. 5, the open end of thepaper package is tied up with a thread or string,f, and the ball is then dipped in paraffine. Other material besides pa per can obviouslybe used, such as cloth made non-absorbent and impervious by means ofparaifine or other substance; or the explosive, being gathered or made into pellets or balls, can be dipped in or coated with some substance adapted to form a thin, tough, non-absorbent and impervious film to inclose and hold the shock as the charge would get if in a projectile thrown t'rorna gun by ordinary black powder. The charge is not then put in a highly sensitive condition while in the gun.

'With the wrapping material of the packages or pellets made of a substance non-conductrve ot'hat, the non-conducting lining of the shell or wrapping of the whole charge could be dispensed with; but Iprefer to make assurance doubly sure by using such lining or charge-wrapper.

The shells loaded as described will explode upon striking an object, as is desirable; but I prefer to use with them either a contact Any of the ordinary time or contact fuses can be used instead of the spe* cial form that I show at H in Fig. lot the drawings. Such special form of contact-fuse I do not intend to coverby claims inthe present application, as it is more fully shown and described, and is covered by claims in another application for patent executed on even date with this case.

hatever kind or construction of fuse is used, it should have connected with it, so as to be tired therefrom, a charge, h, of powder sufficient to shatter the envelopes or wrappings of the pelietsff, forming the burstingcharge. This insures the sudden explosion of the outside to the inside of the shell is used to protect the explosive charge from transmission of heat along the fuse-plug from the propelling-charge to put some of the asbestos or other nonconducting material used between the charge in the shell and the sides of such ping.

The point of the shell can be either the ordinary plain conical one, or, as I prefer, it can be formed like the end of a bit or drill, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to out its way into iron or stell armor as the shell rotates. With this purpose in view, the point of the shell is provided with the series of spirally and rearwardly extending grooves a a, starting from the extreme forward and central. part of the shell-point. Each groove is, as'shown, ratchet-shaped in cross-section, so as to fern: e series of sharp spiral cutting-shoulders to bite and out into the object struck.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1 1. In an explosive shell, in combination with the shell-casing and the charge of explosive, one or more layers of material non-con dnctive of heat entirely-inclosing the charge, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

2. In an explosive shell, in combination with the charge of explosive, a, wrapping made of asbestos around the charge and entirely inolosing the some, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In combination with the casing of an explosive shell, a charge consisting of a number of pellets or packages made of small portions of high explosive, each portion inolosed by it flexible envelope and separated from the other portions only by a flexible medium, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

4. A shell loaded with a mass of rounded l 5 pellets, each pellet consisting of a portion of high explosive inelosed in e flexible wrapping or envelope, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In combination with esniteble casing, an explosive charge for shells and the like, consisting oi portions of high explosive wrapped in. parsffinetreated pspensubstentielly as and for the purpose specified.

6. In an explosive shell, in combination with the charge made up of portions of high explosive inclosed in'envelopes or lwrappings, a, fuse for firing the charge, provided with a quantity of explosive to shatter the envelopes of the separate portions of the shell-charge, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. '2. In an explosive shell, in combination with the shell-casing having the charge-chember, thelining of material nonconductive of heat, and the pellets packages of explosive inolosed in envelopes,substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

8. In an explosive shell, in combination with the shell-casing having the charge-eontaining chamber, the lining nonconductive of, heat and the bursting-charge made up ofseparete small portions of dynamite inclo'sed in wrappings or envelopes, substantially as and forthe purpose specific 9. In an explosive-shell, in combinatio I with the shell-casing having the charge-receivin chamber, the lining of asbestos within the some, the hl'lrsting-cherge of dynamite sepsrated into smell portions, with each portion separately inclosed in an envelope, and ofnse provided with charge of explosive to ter the envelopes inclosing; the portions of (lynamite and fire the whole chzlrge, sohstan tielly as and for the purpose shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing l. have hereunto set my hand this 3d of May, 1887. v JAMES W. GBAYDON, Witnesses:

Geo. E5. PRINDLE, PHILIP G. ltUssELL.

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