US1027243A - Means for securing caps to projectiles. - Google Patents

Description

T. DIXON.

, MEANS FOR SECURING CAPS T0 PROJEGTILES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1912.

Patented May 21, 1912.

Thamas fiimqn UNITED sTArns mm. ra ns.

THOMAS DIXON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO WASHING-- TON STEEL & ORIDNANCE COMPANY, OF' WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A

CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

MEANS roe SECURING cars TO momcuirnns. 1 p

. I Specification of'Letters Patent. PatentedB Iay21, 1912.

Application filed March 25, 1912. Serial No. 686,047.

To all wlwm it may concern: Be it known that I, THOMAS Dixon, :1- citizen of the United States, residing at "Washington, in the District of Columbia, havev invented certain new and useful Improveinents in Means for Securing Caps to Projectiles; and I do hereby declare the follow- 'ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I,

This invention relates to devices for se-- curing caps to shells, and has for its object to 'producea means which will hold the cap at all times in tight contact with the shell,

and thereby operate more" eflicient-ly'in ac-; have been heretofore tion than those which proposed. v a v As is well known, it is difiicult to maintain the ordinary caps in tight contact with the projectile, because during shipment, as well as in handling aboard ship, they are subjected to knocks and strains that are liable to loosen them. It is further well known when a cap once becomes loose, not only is its axis liable to be out of alinement with 3 the axis of the projectile during flight, but this defect is liable to be accentuated owing to the fact that, its inertia, while vthe shell is rotating, tends to prevent it: from revolving with the shell body, and therefore acts 1 to further loosen it-, and to increase the inaccuracy of fire.

In orderto keep the projectile,- it has been heretofore pro-l caps in I tight contact with posed to provide the cap and shell with registering grooves and to force metal into said grooves to lock thecap. But, not only do these grooves tend to weaken the shell, but in practice, it has been found that a few hard knocks on the tip of such caps are apt to loosen them, and when they are once i loosened, the metal being cold, there is no tional means for securing the cap to the projectile "proposed heretofore, [involves 'raised and sunken portions of metal on the shell and cap, but is equally objectionable owing to its expense, as well as owing to the decreased penetration due to the said raised portion. It has even been proposed to secure the cap to the shell with the aid of screw devices, but the screws have pointed toward the base of the projectile, so that upon tightening the same, the cap would not tend to be drawn over the pointed end of projectile, and therefore, such devices have failed to secure the desired tight contact between the cap-[and projectile and resistance to'loosening strains, as in the previous cases. I avoid all of the above objections .by the means constituting my invention, 'as will 'now be more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims. Referring to the accompanying drawings forming apartof this specification in which llke numerals designate like vparts in all the views :--Figure 1 is an elevational view 'partly in section of the forward portion of a shell provided with'a cap equipped with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the parts -shown in Fig. 1 with the fastening means omitted; and, Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view of my fasteningmeangj showing a slightly modified form of lock;

1 indicates the body of the forward portion-0f the shell; 2 the well known cap fitting over the same; 3 an orifice bored through the straight portion of the cap inclined to the axis of the shell and cap, when the parts are in place, and slanting toward the point of said cap and shell, as illustrated." The said orifice 3 is further screwthreaded, as. best indicated in Fig. 3. In addition to the orifice 3, I form a pocket 4 in the forward portion of the shell'whose axis coincides with the axisvof theorifice I may force the metal 8 surrounding the orifice 3-over the rim of said bolt 6 in order to firmly lock the same in place. But, in

i be go'uged. out, or the l in the first instance,

ordinary cases, it is found, as indicated in Fig. 1, that the bolt 6 holds the parts sufficiently tight to render this locking means unnecessary.

The operation of my invention will be clear from the foregoing, but may be briefly summarized as follows :The cap 2 is placed over the shell 1, and by a jig, or other suitable means, the orifice 3 and pocket 4 are formed in the cap and shell, respectively, whereupon a. bolt such as 9, Fig. 1, is screwed into said orifice, as illustrated, and cut off or otherwise severed, so that its extreme outer end will either lie even with the surface 7- of the cap, as shown in Fig. l, or slightly beneath the same, as shown in Fig. 3. In order that the said outer end may lie slightly beneath the surface, it can bolt itself can be weakened so as to break off a portion 6 of just the right length to occupy the position shown in said Fig. 3, In all cases the outer head of the bolt 9 .is removed when such bolts "are employed. In some cases, however, a bolt, such as 6, may be employed and provided with a slotin its outer end a screw-driving tool.

The important feature of my invention resides in the fact that the orifice 3 and pocket 4 have their axes inclined to the axes 'of the cap and shell, and point in a forward direction. The effect of this disposition of parts is to cause the cap to be tightly drawn over the surface of the shell, while applying the bolt 6, and to be thereafter tightly and firml held against said surface at all times.

Furt er, byv providing the abrupt flat bottom 5 to the pocket 4, against which the extreme end of the bolt 6 abuts, .it is found to be impossible to loosen this cap by any ordinary knocks or strains to which the cap is usually subjected. It, therefore, follows that'by the simple expedient above disclosed,

I avoid all the objections which have been inseparable from the for engagement with tofore proposed. a

It is obvious that those skilled-in the art may vary the details of construction and the arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and there-, fore I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

What I claim is 1. The combination of a projectile pro vided with a toward the point longitudinal axis provided with an pocket whose axis extends orifice whose axis coin- .cides with the axis of said pocket; and a fastening means here of and is inclined to the of said projectile; a cap.

fastening means adapted to hold said cap in tight contact with said projectile secured in said orifice and pocket, substantially as described. Y

2. The combination of a vided with a forwardly inclined pocket; 8. cap provided with a screw-threaded orifice registering with saidv pocket; and a screwthreaded member fitting said orifice and pocket adapted to draw said projectile and to firmly hold the same in tight contact therewith, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a projectile provided with a plurality of partially open, forwardly inclined rality of inclined registering with said pockets; and screwthreaded plug members fitting said orifices and pockets adapted to draw and hold said cap in tight contact with said surface, sub stantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

THQMAS DIXON. Witnesses:

GEo. F. BENKER, J. N. WHEELER.

pockets extending be-f neath its outer surface; a, cap having a plu screw-threaded orifices projectile pro- 7 cap toward said 7

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