US1033494A - Sighting device for guns. - Google Patents

Description

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.5, 1911.

Patented July 23, 1912.

PELOPIDAS TSUKALAS, OF ATHENS, GREECE.

SIGHTING DEVICE FOR GUNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912.

Application filed October 1911. Serial No. 653,062.

y T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PELGPIDAS TsnKALAs, a subject of the King of Greece, residing at Athens, in the Kingdom of Greece, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sighting Devices for Guns, of which the following is a specification.

"The present invention relates to sighting devices for guns, used in firing againettz1rgets of varying distance; and the object of the invention is to provide sights of this character which tllllOlTlEltlCElll) adapt themselves to the change of the target distance. This object is attained according to this in vention, by inserting between that part of the sighting device that serves for setting the firing to correspond to the distance and the guide for said part, a rhange gear that can be driven ly a motor of practically uniform speed (a clockwork for instance), the ratio oi transmission of which change gear is so adjusted by hand to correspond with the speed of the target referred to upon the. direction of tire, that. the part serving to adjust th tiring angle is automativrally adjusted an amount correspondin to the, change of target di tanee when the change q'euris being driven by the motor.

()ne illustrative embodiment of the invention is Shown in the aeeompairv'ing drawing in which:

l igure 1 is a rear View, partly in section of an atta hment. sighting); devirc together with parts of the gun that have to he uon' sidert-d iii (-onnection therewith: Fig. a side view of Fig. l seen from the left. and, Fig. 2 a Seetiou of Fig. l on line ---3, ritllil from the ri lit.

The gun barrel A is in the usual manner carried in a cradle ii, on which a bracket (J is lirmly allavhed. near the breech "lid ot the. gun. Upon this arm is arranged a guide I" constituting; the atlaehmeul housing for the untualely vurved zllliH'llllHllt liar l-l which itil'l'ltF, a trlesvope ll. By means of a hand wheel f and a pinion l both carried by the allarhmeul housing w" and raelc teeth (I' on the :illlllllllillll liar l lwith \\lll(ll said pinion meshes, he latter may be adjusted by hand lo the elevation that veoiiesimnds to ill! H\ 't'l'l.lil:!(l distance. The tooth gear l w need have no automatic (alt-h, A clamp wrew ll (:Hl'ltll by the a turbulent housing 0, is provided for clamping the attachment bar. A'range-scale a (Fig. 1) on the bar E and an index mark 0 on the sleeve guide 0 enables the reading of the range.

For automatic setting of the sight for targets with varying range, a cam gear has been provided driven by a motor (as for instance a clockwork) of which the following is a description.

A drum G, with a cam surface 9 is seated on a shaft H, at right angles to the gun axis; said shaft H being; mounted to turn in its hearings in the sleeve housing a and the arm ("'1 A. motor {a clockwork for instance) is innloeed in a easing c on the arm 0' adapted to drive the drum in the direct-ion ot' the arrow .w, Figs: and 3, with a eoi'nparat-ively small uuilorin angular speed. A vsuitable zapeed is: for inetance one turn of the shaft in twelve minute. To transmit the turning movemeiit. of the shaft H to the drum (l. which latter runs loose on the shaft, a claw-coupling is provided, of which one half 11. is firmly Connected with the shaft H, and the other half formed by the hub of the drum. A Spring J, Fig. 1,, ix pushing the two halves of the coupling; together.

()uly that part of the ram surtave that. lit. n the outer side of the annular space it 1 Fig. 3. ix utilized for automatically setting the sight for a target of varying dislance. Said part of the ram surface has been given such a shape that a section taken in the middle of the drum (l and perpendicular to it1 revolving axis will cut it along the t'll'kli line g Fig. 1. the renter of which is v\ iluated in the revolving axis of the drum: while all the oth r parallel sections ot'lhe drum are ineloncd' by Archimedic spirals Haid spirale on the one Side of the middle section of the drum inelosed by circle 1 ronverge toward the revolving llXlS Ol the drum: they on the other Side of said middle section diverge from the same axis.

\ll. of the curves 1, .start from a line parallel wvith the revolving axis of the drum in a plane y u, siluat d in the unused part of the angular spare llltlllrilll fl' lheiam surl'rur y, the projei-lion of said line being a point y" in Fig.3. 'lhe curves are all brought back in straight linei: to their start A ing points on the inner side of the angular space M y 2.

.The member adapted to cooperate with the drum G in the said cam gear consists of an arm P, resting with its spherical head f, situated at its free end, on the cam sur face 9 At its other end this arm is carried to slide-parallel with the axis of the drum, in a sidewise projecting sleeve k of a slide K, which loosely incloses the sight rack E and may be clamped thereto by a thumbscrew M.v By means of an adjusting screw N mounted in the sleeve 10 the arm P may be so adjusted that it can cofiperate with any one of the curves of the cam surface 9 The head 79 of the arm P is constantly drawn down against the cam face g of the ilrrum G by means of two helical springs Q,

V hen the slide K is clamped to the bar E by the clamp screw M, and the arm P is. so adjusted through the adjusting screw N;, that it can cooperate with one of the spirals g", the sight rack E must, through the turning of the drum G, move up or down with a practically uniform. speed in consequence of the properties of the Archimedic spiral, according as the arm P moves closer to, or away from the axis of the drum G, the tangent point of the arm P following one of the spirals as the drum turns.

By the choice of suit-able constants for the spirals g and by adjusting the arm P, it is easy to obtain a movement of the sight bar adapted to the speed with which the range changes, 2'. e. the speed of the target referred to the direction of fire. In other words, the sight bar is so set that when the speed of the target is constant, its position atevery moment corresponds to the target distance. When the arm P is so adjusted -.that its spherical head 'p rests on the circular line 9 of the cam surface g, no change in,the position of the sight ar E will take place by the rotation of the drum This positioi: of arm-P expresses that particular case, when the target distance is constant.

In the following description of the manner in which this device is to be operated, we will suppose that the distance of the target is measured on a range finder at certain intervals. After the first observation, the setting is done by hand .for a heightcorresponding with the observed target distance. The thumb screws M and R are for this purpose first loosened. Then the sight bar, which is now free to run in the housing 0 and the slide K, is elevated by turning the hand wheel f until the index 0 points to the line on the scale e which corresponds to the observed range. Now, in order to have the sight bar move automatically with the varying range, one proceeds as follows. The thumb screw M is first tightened so that the slide K is firmly connected with the sight bar E. The motor, coupled to the drum G, is then started, driving the drum with uniform speed in the direction of the arrow ac, Figs. 2 and 3. The arm P is at the same time set over any desired curve of the drum G. The turning of the drum G is transferred to the sight bar E, through the cam drive g P, in such a manner that the sight bar is elevated or depressed an amount corresponding with the movement of the arm P. The pinion F is simultaneously turned by the teeth (2 and partakes of the movement of the rack without interfering with the automatic setting of the sight rack. After the second reading of the range on the range-finder, the new found range does as a rule not agree 0 In that case, it will be enough to shift the arm P, along one of the meridians of the cam surface 9 by turning the adjusting screw N, until the sight rack E, which hereby runs in the housing 0 has arrived at tion of the range finder will show a small difference between itself and the reading on scale e This difference will be still further diminished by turning the adjusting screw in the above-described manner. After each following range observation, the same operation is repeated. Should the drum G from. continuous turning have arrived at such a position that the spherical head 77 of the arm P touches the drum'anear the idle part of the cam surfaceis limited by the legs of the anglefrui-g' z, the thumb screw M has to be loosenedand the sight rack E clamped by tightening thumb screw R. Thereupon the coupling 71. g is released and the drum G revolved so far in the direction of the arrow a: around the shaft H,

with the one indicated on the scale e bythe index that the spherical head again touches the operating part of the cam face. After the coupling between-the drum G and the shaft H has again been put in action, and the thumb screw M tightened, the thumb screw R is loosened and the sight bar E will again be automatically elevated with the same speed as before.

It will be evident from the above description that the sighting device forming the subject of this invention is suitable for firing against a moving target (from a stationary or moving gun mount); but may be equally well applied for firing at stationary targets from a movable gun mount (as for instance on board ship).

I claim z 1. In a gun sighting device for guns tor firing at targets with varying range, the combination with a member used for setting the sight at a firing angle corresponding to the range, and a guide for said member; of a change gear having a revol ing cam drum inserted between said member and said guide, and a motor for driving the gear at a uniform speed.

2. In a gun sighting device for guns for firing at targets with varying range, the combination with a member used for setting the sight at a firing angle corresponding to the range, and a. guide for said member; of a change gear having a revolving cam drum inserted between said member and said guide, and a motor for driving the gear at a uniform speed, said gear when driven by the motor and after having been regulated by hand for a ratio of transmission depending on the speed of the target as regards the firing direction, being adapted to automati- Cally operate said member to follow the change of the range.

In a sighting device for guns for firing at targets with varying range, the combination with a bar used for setting the sight at a firing angle corresponding to the range and a guide for said bar; of a slide on said bar adapted to be firmly secured thereon,

a cam drive, comprising a drum revolubly mounted in bearings on said guidi and an arm resting with its free end on the cam surface of said drum, and its other end slidahly mounted in said slide in a direction parallel with the axis of the drum.

-1 In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating bar and a guide for said bar: of a slide on the bar. a clamp ing device between the slide and the bar: a cam drive for said elevating bar and a motor operatin said cam drive tor the purpose o't auton'iatically varying the sight elc vation in accordance with the variation in range, said cam drive comprising a rcvolnble drum mounted on said guide, an arm resting with its free end on the cam suriace of the drum, and its other end mounted in said slide and an adjusting screw for regu' lating by hand in the direction of the. axis of the drum, the position of said arm relative to the drum.

5. In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating bar and a guide for said bar; of a slide on the bar, a clamping device between the slide and the ha]; a cam drive for said elevating bar and a motor operating said cam drive for the purpose of automatically varying the sight elevation in accordance with the variation in range, said cam drive comprising a revoluble drum mounted on said guide, an arm resting with its free end on the cam surface of the drum, and its other end mounted in said slide and an adjusting screw for regulating by hand in the direction of the axis of the drum the position of said arm relative to the drum, the middle cross section of said drum having a circular outline, concentric with the drum axis, the other parallel cross sections all having outlines formed by increasing Archimedic spirals on one side of the middle section and decreasing ones on the other.

6. In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating bar and a guide for said bar; of a slide on the bar; a clamping device between the slide and the bar:

a cam drive for said elevating bar and a motor operating said cam drive tor the purpose of automatically varying the sight elevation in accordance with the variation in range, and a releasable clutch, normally in engagement, between said motor and said cam drive.

7. In a gun sighting device for guns firing at targets with varying range, the conr bination with a member used for setting the sight at a tiring angle corresponding to the range; of a motor running with uniform speed for driving said member: a change gear inserted between the motor and said member, said change gear comprising a revolving drum and an arm resting with its free end on the cam surface f said drum; and means for displacing the arm and the drum relatively to each other in the ("r 0- tion of the axis of said revolving diiu whereby to adjust said change gear o" ratio of transmission depending on the speed of the target as regards the fil'llh; direction.

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

PELOPIDAS TSUKALA \Vitnesses:

C, M. CoRArA, M. G, COHAIA.

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