US109181A - Improvement in gun-carriages - Google Patents

Description

T.O0UGHLAN1 Gun Carriage. No. 109,181. Patented Nov. 15, 1870.

L T\ a; l) E, E e 1 555* IUJ\ A c R H! Fig.1

I "fi a nesses Invanfar yaw 1 N, PEYERS. PHOTO'LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, n c.

, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

T.GOUGHLAN.

Gun Carriage. No. 109,181. Patented Nov. 15, 1 70.

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Wz inayses ln'fwntor N. PETERS, PHOTO-LJYNOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON, D O.

tater j'fittznt dffim THOMAS OOUGHLAN, OF NEWTON, MASSAOHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 109,181, dated November 15, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN GUN-CARRIAGES.

The Schedule referred to In these Letters Patent and making part of the game.

' with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

Nature and Objects of the Invention.

My invention relates more especially to carriages to be .used in fortifications, en barbette; and

Its object is the production of a carriage for heavy ordnance, so constructed and arranged that the gun may be readily and easily raised to such a height that it may be discharged over a parapet of sutficient height to protect the gunners from the fire of the enemy, and also be run into batteryby the same operatiouthat raises it, and be held in that position untilz'it is discharged, when the recoil occasioned by the discharge will run the gun back and cause it to descend below the parapet again, where it can be again loaded, the gunners being completely protected by the high p'arapet.

.My invention consists, first, in mounting the gun in bearings formed in the cheeks, the lower and back edges of which are formed to an arc of a circle, which is eccentric to the trunnion of the gun; or it may be in the form of a segment of an ellipse, the trunnion of the gun occupyingthe position of one of the focuses of the ellipse, these curved edges of the cheeks being provided with a series 0f cogs or gear-teeth, fitted to work in corresponding teeth formed in the upper edges of the traversing-rails, said teethbeing so arranged on said rails that their pitch-lines form re-- versed curves, as shown in the drawing, said cheeks being so mounted upon the traversing-rails that, when the gun recoils by being discharged, the checks will roll upon said rails, and, by virtue of the eccentricity of the curves of the cheeks, and the falling away of the upper edge of the rails due to the curve formed therein, the gun will be lnade to run back, and descend at the same time, until it is brought into a convenient position for loading, and in raising the gun the reverse operation takes place.

It consists, in the second place, in counterbalancing the weight of the gun by applying weights to the forward ends of the cheeks, and to the levers by means of which the gun is raised to the position for firing, so that the gun may be readily and easily moved in either direction with the exercise of very little power.

It consists, in the third place, in the arrangement and combination of a system of levers, rocker-shafts, and links or connecting-rods, by which the gun may be raised or depressed at pleasure; that is to say, raised above the parapet or caused to descend below it, as may be desired; and it also consists in the use of rubber or other springs, inserted in the rear part of the curved portion of the traversing-rails, to receive the shock of the recoil.

Description of the Drawing.

Figure l is an elevation of a gun-carriage embody: ing my improvements, showing the-gun in position for loading;

Figure 2 is a plan with the parts in the same posi General Description.

AA are the traversing'rails, connected together by suitable girts, the rearend being mounted upon a pair of trucks, B B, and the front end pivoted by the pin 0, in the usual manner.

"The upper edge of the rails Aare cutaway to a curved form, as shown, and provided with the gear-teeth A, arranged upon said curve, so that the pitch-line of said teeth shall forina reversed curve, the forward portion being convex and the rear portion concave.

Just in the rear of said teeth the springs or cushions a are secured to of the recoil.

D are the cheeks of the upper carriage, having their lower edges cut to a curved form, and provided with the gear-teeth D which are made to fit the teeth in the upper edge of the rails A A.

E is the gun, the trunnions Eof which are fitted to bearings placed eccentricall y tothe curved lower edges of saidcheeks, in such a manner that the weight of the gun tends to roll the cheeks back on the rails A until they fall into the curved recesses formed in the upperedge of said rails.

The cheeks, thus formed, become variable levers, upon which the mechanism, to be hereafterv described,

said rails, to receive the shock acts to raise the gun, the bearing of the trunnion being the upper end, and the lower end or fulcrum being the point of contact with the rail, which, as the gun is raised, is constantly moving forward upon said rail by a.rolling action, and thereby lengthening the lever, and thus raising the gun and moving it forward at the same time.

The checks D are held in position on the rails A by the flanges b I) on the inner sides of the rails, said cheeks being firmly connected together by the tie-girts G and H. V l

I I are short rocker-shafts, fitted to suitable bearings in the rails A, upon the projecting'ends of which are mounted the sockets J, to receive handspikes for operating the same, and the ratchet-wheels K, upon.

which the pawis L rest when the gun is discharged, to hold the gun in the position to which it recoils.

M M are two levers firmly secured to the rockershafts I I, between the rails A, the upper ends of which are connected by the pin 0 to thelinks NN, the upper ends of said links being secured to the girt H, and forming, with the levers M, a toggle-joint, by which the gun is raised.

' The lower ends of the lovers M are connected together by the rod (1, upon which is suspended the weight 0, and to which is also attached one end of the chain I, the other end of which is attached to the crank Q, formed in the shaft R, which is mounted in bearings on the rear ends of the rails A A, and having the sockets S firmly secured upon its projecting ends, for the reception of hand-spikes, by which said crank may be operated to assist in raising the gun to position for firing.

T T are the counterbalance-weights on the forward v ends of the cheeks; and

U is the elevatingscrcw, constructed and operating in the usual manner. v

e e are abutments formed on the rails A A, against which the toes of the cheeks D D rest when the gun is in the position for firing.

The operation of my improved carriage is as follows:

The gun and carriage being in the position'represented in fig. 1, and the gun being loaded, handspikcs are placed in the sockets J and S, and the pawls L are thrown out of gear with the ratchet-wheels, when the rocker-shafts are rotated in adirection toward the muzzle of the gun, when .the action of the levers, assisted by the counter-weights, will cause the cheeks to roll along upon the curved surface of the rails, the point of contact constantly changing, and the distance between said point of contact and the trunnion of the gun constant-1y increasing, which, in connection withthe rolling of the point of contact over the convex portion ofthe curve on the rail, raises the gun to the proper height, and, at the same time, it is moved for ward into position for firing,'when the straight portion Dof the cheeks rests upon a corresponding straight part, A, of the rails, with the toe or extreme forward end of the cheeks resting against the abutments e e, and thecounter-weights T T, assisted by the position of the levers, serveto hold the gun in this position until it is fired. I

The pawls L are now thrown into gear with the ratchet-wheels K, when the gun is discharged.

The recoil of the gun occasioned by the discharge causes the rocker-shaft I to: be rotated by its action 'upon the levers M M, and, overcoming the resistance of the oounter-weightsthe cheeks will roll along the curved-tooth surface of the rails until theyassume the position from which they were previously raised, if the recoil is powerful enough to move the gun the whole distance, shock. If the recoil should not be powerful enough to bring the gun toits original position, the pawls L, acting upon the ratchet-wheels K, will hold the gun in that posit-ion, when handspikes maybe inserted in the sockets J, and a slight rotation of the rocker-shaft I will bring the gun to the position for loading.

. Claims.

I claim 1. The cheeks D D, constructed to roll upon the traversing-rails, as set' forth, when the gun is mounted in bearingsiformed in said cheeks, without an intervening carriage or frame, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a gun mounted eccentrically in cheeks D, constructedito roll upon the traversingrails, as set forth, constructing that portion of the upper edges of the traversing-rails A, over whichthe cheeks D roll, in a curved form, to increase the rise and fall of the gun, substantially as described.

3.. In combination with agun mounted in cheeks constructed to roll upon the trzwersing-rails, the rocker-shaft I, levers M, and links N, arranged and operating substantially as described.

4.111 combination with a gun mounted in cheeks constructed to roll upon the traversing-rails, as set forth, the lovers M, the rocker-shaft R, crank Q, and I chain 1?, arranged and operating substantially as described. v

Executed at Boston this 20th day of April, 1870. THOS. COUGHLAN.

Witnesses:

N. O. LOMBARD, G. E. WHl'INEY.

when the rubber spring will receive the.

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