US547172A - Blasting-shield - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

M. J. MAGUIRE.

BLASTING SHIELD.

Patented Oct UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MATTHEW J. MAGUIRE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BLASTING-SHIELD.

`SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 547,172, dated October 1, 1895.

Application tiled June 10, 1895. Serial No. 552,211. (No modell) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LMATTHEW J. MAGUIRE, of Boston, county of Suifolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Blast Coniiners or Shields, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specificatiomlike letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In blasting rock and other refractory material it is usual to pile heavy logs, sometimes chained together, over the mouths of the holes after the latter are charged in order to preventthe force of the explosion from scattering.

bits of rock and dbris about. -This is cumbersome and inconvenient, and frequently the force of the blast will separate the protecting material and scatter bits of rock around, with great danger to persons or property in the vicinity, and if the charge blows out the wood is generally splintered and o'ften set on tire.

This invention has for its object the production of a blast coniner or shield of compact yet elastic nature, which may be readily transported from one place to another, as needed, and which will effectively protect surrounding objects from flying dbris. v

Figure l is a perspective View of a blast conner or shield embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View of a .modified form of confiner to be described; and-Fig. 3, in elevation and section, represents my invention in position ready for use.

In constructing my improved confiner or shield I take a quantity of scrap wire, the more interlaced and twisted or tangled the better, and compress it by suitable power in a mold or die into preferably a substantiallyrectangular mat, as at a, Fig. l. For use in quarries or where a large amount of blasting is being done the thickness of the compressed mass or mat may be about eighteen inches and about six feet wide by eight feet long and weighing in the neighborhood of two thousand pounds, the amount of compression determining the density of the mat. To maintain the shape of the compressed mat of wire I preferably place retaining-,ban ds b of strap-iron about it, which will prevent distortion to any great extent when in use.

For convenience in transporting from place to place I partially embed in the mass of wire a loop c of wire cable or chain prior to compression, and the hook of a tackle may be in'- serted in the loop to move the confiner from l covering the mouth of the hole or holes, and

the blast tired. The weight of the confineris amply sufcient to prevent any scattering of rocks, &c., as it will be lifted from the ground but a few inches by the force of the blast, and the elasticity inherent in the interlaced and compres/sed mass of wire prevents its distortion or breakage.

Owing to the porous nature, as it were, of the confiner the gases can readily escape, and in event of a charge blowing out the products of combustion pass readily therethrough.'

I thus obtain a cheap, compact, and efficient confiner or shield, ready for instant use at all times, easily transportable and very tenacious and elastic in its nature, and consequently possessing great durability.

The conner may be of any convenient shape and size, according to the nature of the Work being done, and it is particularly useful in blasting trenches, as one or more of the coniners can be lowered into the trench right over the charges and after the blast can be lifted out of vthe way with no loss of time.

I claiml. A blast continer or shield, consisting of a mat of interlaced and compressed wire, and metallic retaining bands therefor, substantially as described.

2. A blast coniiner or shield, consisting of a mat of interlaced and compressed wire, metallic retaining bands therefor, and a lifting loop partially embedded in the compressed mass, substantially as described.

8. A blast confiner or shield, consisting of a mat of interlaced and compressed wire, and

one or more lifting loops partially embedded in the compressed mass, substantially as described.

v 4. An elastic blast confiner or shield, con- 5 sisting oa mat of interlaced and. compressed wire, and lifting loop secured thereto, substantially as described.

MATTHEW J. MAGUIRE. Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, AUGUSTA E. DET/LN.

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