GB761708A - Improvements in and relating to carriages for guns and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

761,708. Wheeled gun carriages. VERWALTUNGSGES DER WERKZEUGMASCHINENFABRIK OERLIKON. July 6, 1954 [July 28, 1953], No. 19755/54. Class 92. A wheeled gun carriage is converted into a fixed position mount by raising the wheels 16, Fig. 1, relatively to tripod ground supports 6, this being effected by tilting upwardly a pivotally mounted fork-shaped draught pole 12 as shown in Fig. 4, the pole 12 being connected through linkage 19, 18, 17, 15 to the wheels. According to the invention springs 22 connected between the pole 12 and the upper gun carriage portion 7 are loaded during the tilting of the pole 12 but pass through a dead centre position shortly before the wheels reach their final position which is effected while partly unloading the springs 22. The pole 12 is pivoted to the upper gun carriage portion 7 at 50 and is formed with cranked arms 19 on which are pivoted the links 18 ; carrier arms 15 for the wheels are pivoted to the upper portion 7 at 13 and are connected to the links 18 via levers 17. The ends of the two arms are connected by a tubular piece 21, Fig. 3, in which are slidably arranged two bolts 25 urged apart by a spring 26 to engage in eyes 27 on the tripod supports 6 for locking the pole 12 in the travelling position. Pins 28 on the bolts 25 engage in slots 29 in the tube 21 and in order to unlock the pole 12 prior to tilting, a fork-shaped component 31 provided with oblique slots 33 also engaged by the pins 28, is pulled by means of a handle 32 so that the bolts 25 are pulled out of the eyes 27 and the pole 12 released. Fig. 4 shows the position in which the centre lines of the springs 22 have crossed the pivot 50, i.e. just past the dead centre position and the springs 22 now tend to tilt the pole 12 further in the anti-clockwise direction, further tilting being prevented however by abutments 30. The wheels are thus held up by the springs 22. A safety device Fig. 5 (not shown) prevents the pole 12 from being tilted downward from the firing position as shown in Fig. 4 where the wheels 16 are detached.