US478819A - Addison crittendi-n rand - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON CRITTENILN RAND, on NEW YORK, n. r.

E'XPLOSIVE COMPOUND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,819, dated July 12,1892. Application filed April 1, 1891. Serial No. 427.388. No specimens.) Patented incanada April 21, 1892, H; 88.779.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON CRITTENDEN; RAND, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Explosive Compounds, (for which Letters Patent have been granted to me in Canada,-No. 38,779, dated April 21, 1892,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to that class of ex-' plosive compounds which are composed of a solid ingredient, usually in a finely-powdered state, and a liquid ingredient, the said i ngredients being in and of themselves non-explosive and being combined to constitute the explosive compound by the incorporation of the fluid'with the solid by the absorption by the pulverulent mass of the latter of the forand a mineral substance of the character hereinafter set forth in theform of coarse granular particles, the said powdered chlorate of potash and said mineral grains being mechanically mixed together in about the proportions hereinafter stated to constitute the solid ingre-. dient of the explosivecompound, and a fluid hydrocarbons uch as nitro-benzoL-co'nstituting the liquid ingredient of the explosive compound, the explosive compound being formed bythev incorporation with the intermingled powdered chlorate oi potash and 1 minoralgrains of the fluid hydrocarbon, which is efiected by causing the mass of said solid ingredients to absorb said fluid ingredient.

1 In selecting a mineral substance to constitute the mineral grains in the said mixture thereof with the chlorate of potash to form the solid ingredient of the aforesaid compound the substance chosen should be hard, dense, and to a high degree non-porous, and it may be a mineral which is of. itself inexplo'siveand 1 wholly inert in the explosivecompound; or,

which is preferablefit may be a mineral which is to'some degree an oxidant-as, forexample, manganese peroxide. This material isobt-ainable from the hard ores of manganese, such aspyrolusito. The manganese should be reduced by crushing or adegree of pulverization to the form'of' coarse grains or particles It will thus form granular particles,

which are exceedingly hard, dense, and practically non-porous'and which are irregularly angular in contour, which conditionssr charaoteristics aredesirable in the mineral grains employed with the powdered-chlorate of potash in constituting the solidingredient of the explosive compound for the attainment of the best results in carrying'ont this invention. f

In fabricating the explosive compound in accordance with this inventiotlfthe employment in mixture of equal parts, by weight, of powdered chlorate-of potash andmanganese peroxidein coarse grains and the incorpora tion therewith by the absorption by the mess I of this mixture of fifteen per cent.,-by weight, of nitro-benzol will produce an explosive'compound which will be serviceable and effective in all usual-blasting operations where the use of a high explosive'is required.- "The propor-.

with the effect of diminishing or augmenting,

respectively, the'dynamic force of a serviceable high explosive. When a mineralwhich is inexplo'sive and inert in the compoundis used in the mixture with the chlorate of potash to form the solid iugredient,'an' effective explosive 'compoundwill be constituted 'by' employing about forty per cent, by weight, of: said mineral grains to about sixty per cent.

of the powdered chlorate of potash and cans ing. to-be absorbed by the mass of this mix"- ture about fifteen per cent, by weight, of 'a I fluid hydrocarbon, such asnitro benzol. The

, strength or dynamic force of this compound may be altered or graded by variations some-- what from the said proportions ofthe said mineral grains in the said mixture torming" the solid ingredient.

In an explosive of the classstated, in which the final compound is prepared for use by the incorporation with the solid ingredient-f 1 a fluid ingredient-such as nitro-benzol-by the absorption of the latter by the mass of the former, the presence of the coarse hardnonporous mineral grains in the mixture with the powdered chlorate of potash constitnting't-he solid ingredient, separates or divides the fine i particles of powdered chlorate of potash into pound.

the said-mass. non-deliquescent character of the mineral small groups or masses in and throughout the porous cartridge case or shell in which the solid ingredient is usually placed preparatory to saturation with the fiu' d hydrocarbon, and thesaid mineral grainsthus dispersed throughout the powdered chlorate 0t potash in said cartridge-case form by their irregular angular and hard surfaces interstices or quasi-channels throughout the entire chlorate of potash.

The incorporation of the fluid ingredient with the solid ingredient inthe porous cartridge-case by the absorption of the former with the mass of the latter and the desired uniform distribution of said fluid throughout the mass of the solid ingredient are greatly facilitated and promoted both in the period of time required therefor and the-completeness of the result attained Whenthe described mineral grains are present in the solid ingredient over what occurs when the solid ingrcdient, the fluid ingredient, is whoIly composed of a finely-powdered material, such-as pulverized chlorate of potash. The fluid hydrocarbon is quickly brought into intimate mixture with the entire quantity of chlorate of potash throughout the cartridge, and hence the most favorable conditions are tridge upon ignition of its-contained com- The waterproofing .ot the cartridge by the fluid hydrocarbon isaleo made more certain and eifective by this uniform distribution of the hydrocarbon throughout Owing to thenon-pbrous and grains :intheeomposition, the foregoing-described c'ouditibns are preserved in the cartridge after its saturation with the fluid hydrocarbo'n. i

' Upon the ignition of the explosive'cartridge, which maybe effected. by a detonator in the usual manner, the quick traverse of the heat thereby generated throughout the entire mass of the cartridge is facilitated by the interstices or ehannelsin the body of the combined powdered chlorate of potashand hydrocarbon formed, as hereinbefore set forth, by the deexplosion.

the mass of which is to ab sorb established for the complete and efiectiveaexplosion of the carscribed mineral grains, so. that quickness of explosion of the entire mass of the compound in the cartridge is attained; and it is believed thatthe said coarse hard mineral grains in and of themselves assist in promoting the quickness and certainty of the explosion of the said united ingredients by the heat generated by the exceedingly-rapid friction of theatomic particles .into which said coarse grains are instantly reduced bythe explosion against each other and against the particles of the powdered chlorate of potash or some portion thereof at the initial moment of tho \Vhen manganese peroxide is employed to form the said mineral grains, the disintegration of said grains into atomic particles by the explosion will not only promote the instantaneousness of the explosion of the entire mass by the attrition of said particles as above set forth, but will also co-operate as an active agent in the generation of gas by the yielding up of oxygen from' the minute particles under the action of the developed heat;

The herein-described compound may be exploded under conditions of imperfect confinement-as, for example, in soft, loose, or rotten rock-and will be effective under all circumstances in general blasting operations where the use of a high explosive is required.

What I-claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An explosive compound composed of an oxidant, as chlorate of potash, in a powderedstate, and a hard dense non-porous mineral substance in the form of coarse grains, said mineral grains being distributed in about the proportions named throughout the mass of thepowdered oxidant, and a fluid hydrocarbon, as nitro-benzol, incorporatedin about the proportions named in the mixture of said powdered oxidant and said mineral grains, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. An explosive compound composed of an oxidant, as chlorate of potash, in a powdered state, and manganese peroxide in the form of coarse grains in about the proportions named, said grains being distributed throughout the mass of the powdered oxidant, and a fluid hydrocarbon, as nitro-benzol, in about the proportions namcd, incorporated in the mixture of said powdered oxidant and said grains, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

ADDISON CRITTENDEN R AND.

W itn esses:

GEO. H. SAMPSON, JAMES F. LEWIS.

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