US627232A - Fusee thrower and guide - Google Patents

Description

No. 627,232. Patented lune 20, |899.

6. B. HDWARD.

Fuses Tnnowsn Arn sums.

(Application lod 1m. 19, 1899.)

(Nu'Model.)

, K- INVENTDR:

Nirnn STATES GEORGE B. HOWARD, OF SOMERVlLLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

F-USEE THROWER AND GUIDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,232, dated June 20, 1899.

Application filed January 19, 1899. Serial No. 702,657. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE B. HOWARD, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fusee Throwers and Guides, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a'simple and effective device for throwing and guiding fusres from moving railway-trains in such manner that the fusee, which is provided at its lower end with a spu r-will strike the surface at which it is thrown with the spur end in advance, thus providing with reasonable certainty for the planting of the fusee in the desired position-Lthat is, supported in a vertical position by the spur, so that the lame-of the fusee will be directed upwardly and thus be seen to the best advantage.

The fusee now in common use is a tube charged with suitable combustible material and having atonc end a spur and at theother end an igniting device, which is usually a part of a complete self-igniting compound,

the other part of said compound being placed v on the outer end of a cap or cover, which-is applied to the fusee when it is not required for use. When the fusee is to be ignited, the cap is removed, and the igniting material on its outer end is rubbed against the complemental material on the fusee, thus igniting the charge. The fusee is held in one hand of the operator during this operation and is then thrown downwardly upon the railwaytrack, the trainman aiming as accurately as possible in the eiort to cause the spurto penetrate the surface which it strikes.

Owing to the fact that the fusee ignites very quickly and projects its iiame to a considerable height the trainman is obliged to act very quickly and often to avoid being .burned throws the fusee so hurriedly and inaceuratel y that it falls flat upon the ground, its flame being thus obscured wholly or in part.

My invention, which is intended to enable the trainman to accurately and carefully `throw the fusee without risk of being burned,

consists as `a whole in a fusee'thrower and guide open at one end and having at the other end a handle whereby the guide may be wielded and a stop to limit the entrance of Vthe fusee into the guide, the guide being of such length that a complemental igniting device and the fusee may be inserted and the latter ignited within the guide and then forcibly thrown by giving the guide a downward Aswinging movement.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a sectional view of an ordinary fusee. Fig. 2 represents a sectional view ot' my improved fusee thrower and'guide, the fusee and its cap being shown in the position they occupy in the guide when the fusee is being ignited and thrown. Fig- 3 represents a perspective view showing a fusee properly planted and in the act of discharging.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

4In the drawings, a represents a f usee which consists of a tubular body containinga charge of suitable combustible composition, said body having at one end a closing-plug provided with a spur b and at the other end a cap` provided with a core or plugof combustible material.

d represents a cap which is removably applied to the f usee in position to cover the combustible tip c, said cap having on the outer surfaceof its outer end la coating fl, containing a chemical which when rubbed against the tip c will'cause combustion, the tip c and' the coating d' resembling the two parts which cause the com-bustion of a safety-match.

In carrying out my invention I provide a thrower or guide for the said fusee, which comprises a tube f, which is open at one end and is adapted to receive the fusee a and its cap d and is provided at its inner end with a stop f3 to limit theentrance of the fusee into the guide, the lengthof the -guide between its open end and the stop f8 being sufiicient to receive the cap d and a considerable portion of the body'of the fusee when said parts are separated and arranged so thatthe surface d of the cap is in contact with the tip c of the fusee, the spur end of the fusee projecting far enough to enable it to be grasped and rotated to cause suflieienty friction to ignite the tip c and the charge of the fusee. The stop f3, as here shown, is the end of a handle f', which is preferably of- Wood and is inserted in one end of the tube f.

A contracted orce f2 extends through the handle to permit the entrance of air into the l places it in the tube or guide f with its coating d' outward and then inserts the fnsee in the guide with its tip c next the ycoating d', I

the spur b projecting. He then, holding the handle f in one hand and grasping the projectingend of the fusee in the other, rotates one of saidparts su'iciently to cause the ignition of the tip. He then by a quick downward swinging movement of the guide throws the fusee from the guide and causes its spur b to penetrate the surface it strikes, as shown in Fig. 3..

The handle f is preferably protected against the heat generated within the guide by making it of a suitable material which is a non-conductor of heat, the handle being in this case made of Wood. It is obvious, hoW` ever, that any other suitable non-conducting material may be used to protect the surface of the handle.

Ido not limit myself to the employment of the air-admitting oricefz, although the same is desirable, particularly when the fusee fits 1. The combination with a fusee anda cap therefor the outer ends of which are provided with complemental igniting means, of a fusee thrower and guide comprising a tube which is open at one end and has an unobstructed.

inner surface along which the fusee is adapted to slide freely, and a handle affixed to the other end of the tube and composed of a material which is a non-conductor of heat, said' dnctor'of heat, said handle having an unob structed orifice extending through it for-the admission of air to the guide while the fusee is being thrown.

In testimony whereof I have aixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. HOWARD.

Witnesses: y

C.' F. BROWN, A. D. HARRISON.

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