US1202198A - Armor for vessels. - Google Patents

Description

M. LOWY.

ARMOR FR VESSELS. APPLICATION HLED 1AN.6,1916.

Patented Oct. 24, 19M.

/f i /NVENTOR @y j ATTORNEY LQTED STATES PATENT OFFICE Monnrs LovrY, or NEW troni; n. Y.

ARMOR FOB. VESSEIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

atented Got. 24, Iiiii.

Application filed January 6, 1916. Serial No. 70,645.

The present invention relates to an armor for war vessels, and is based upon the well known principle that a projectile will not penetrate a yielding obstruction as readily as it will a rigid and stationary one. Armors of this type usually comprise protecting,- plates which are mounted upon the vessels in a manner to permit of their yielding in order to Y rrest or absorb the force of the projectile thrown against the same. These plates are either partly or wholly submerged in water and thereby, obviously, greatly retard the normal speed of the vessel.

The main object of the present invention is to obviate this defect of the protecting devices heretofore in use, and with this object in view, it consists, broadly, in so mounting the armor or protecting` plates upon the vessel that said plates can be raised or lowered, at will, to protect certain belts or portions of the vessel, or, said plates may be raised out of the water to permit the vessel to assume its normal full speed, if so desired.

lli/lith these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better-understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter` fully described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit` or sacriiicing any of the advantages of the inycntion.

@ne of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which z* Figui-o 1 is a side elevation of a 'vessel provided with an armor constructed 1n accordance with thc present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of said vessel lforl? and State of New York, have invented on a larger scale; Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; a .d Fig. 4 is a section taken on line e-flof Fig.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1G indicates the hull of a war vessel or the like, to which the improved armor is designed to be applied. Upon the outer face of the hull are mounted vertically extending bars l1, arranged in pairs. These bars are provided with horizontal portions 12, which are ati-' tached by rivets 13, or otherwise, to the said hull, thereby holding` the said bars at a suitable distance from the outer face of the hull. W ith cach pair of bars is associated a frame 1l, carrying' in a manner hereinafter to be described an armor plate l5. lnasmuch these frames and the armor plates connected therewith are all`alike, only `one of the same will be described herein.

The frame .1.1i may be made in the form of a. vertically extending plate. denoted in. the drawings by the numeral lo. Upon the four corners of this plate are formed lugs 17, through which extend apertures 18. ln these apertures are seated the bars 1.1. abovementioned. Upon the plate are furthermore formed horizontally inwardly extending legs 19, which carry at their inner free ends anti-friction rollers 20, that are seated in the grooves 2l of channehirons 22, the said channel-irons being` disposed in parallel relation to their respective hars 1l and attached to the hull. Upon each plate are formed two pairs of legs, each pair beingconnected by tie-rods 23, to properly brace the same.

The'armor plate associated with the frame is made of two sections, to wit: Q4 and The section Q5 extends in parallel relation to the plate 1G of the frame, and has attached thereto in any suitable manner a plu rality of planners 26, which extend in hori- Zontal directions through apertures :27 in the plate 16. To the inner ends of the plungers is attached a vertically disposed frame 28, that is connected to the plate 16 hy a plurality of heavy, normally closedspring's 29. These springs are interposed between the plate 16 and the frame 28, their ends being` attached to the. said plate and frame. The springs 29 are of such dimensions that, when. vthey are in their normally closed or compressed state, they hold the armor plate CIK - y is` to be protected 25 a suitable distance from the outer face of the plate 16. The second section of the armor plate, that is to' say the plate 24, has ixed thereto a plurality of horizontally arranged bolts 30, which extend through openings 31 in the armor plate section 25, and carry upon their inner free ends heads 31. Between the two sections of thev armor plate are interposed normally open or expanded springs 32, which are fastened to the said two sections of the armor plate, and hold the same normally at a suitable distance from each other.

To the upper legs of the frame 14 is attached in any suitable manner a pair of cables 33, which run over sheaves 34 and 35, the latter bein carried by brackets 36, which are attache to the hull. The cables extend into the body of the hull, and are connected with suitable means for raising or lowering the frame 14 and the armor plates carried thereby. The mechanism for effecting this movement has not been shown, inasmuch as the same may be of any suitable construction and does not form part of this invention.

The height and width of the armor plates may be of any suitable size, their height depending mainly upon the 'height of the portion of the hull which they are intended to protect. Their to the requirements, their arrangement being such that they form a row of plates which embraces, as it were, the hull.

The operation of this device is as follows: When the armor is to be made use of against submarine attack, the frames 14 with the parts carried thereby are lbrought into their lowermost positions (Fig. 3).. If, on the other hand, that portion of the hull against attack which is above water, the frames and the armor plates are brought into their raised positions. Une of the armor plates is shown partly raised in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and three of the same in their highest positions in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It is obvious that when the armor plates are in their lowermost positions, they reduce to some extent the speed of the vessel. If the vessel, for some reason, is to go at its highest possible speed, all frames and armor plates are raised out of the water, in which case, obviously, they do not a'ect the speed of the vessel.

A projectile striking the section 24 of an armor plate meets with a yieldin resistance, and causes both sections of the p ate to move toward the hull, thereby expanding the springs 29. Before the springs 29, however, are acted upon, the springs 32 must be compressed. The shock received by the section 24` of a plate is transmitted to the plate section 25 associated therewith. The shock, however, is not transmitted to the number varies according hull, inasmuch as nok springs are interposed -l between the armor and the hull. The yielding of an armor plate bythe expansion of the heavy springs 29 prevents a penetration of the said armor plate, and the projectile is brought to rest before it. could reach the hull of the vessel. The frames 2S must be disposed at a distance from the outer face of-the hull, which is greater than the .length to which the springs 29 would be expanded upon being struck by the heaviest projectile.

It is to be observed that the protecting device is mounted in such a manner upon the vessel that itv can' be conveniently detached therefrom. This may be desirable in times of peace. v

1. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of a frame slidably disposed upon the outer face thereof, an armor plate carried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom, and springs connecting said plate and said frame.

2. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of a vertically slidable frame disposed upon the outer face thereof, an armor plate carried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom, and springs connecting said plate and said frame.

3. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of a frame slidably disposeduponzthe outer face thereof, an armor late carried by said frame in kparallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom, springs connecting said plate and said frame, and means for raising or lowering, at will, said frame and the plate carriedl thereby.

4. In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of vertically disposed guide rails upon the outer face thereof, a frame slidable upon said guide rails, an armor plate carried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom, and springs connecting said plate and said frame.

5l In an armor for vessels, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of vertically disposed guide rails upon the outer face thereof, a frame slidable upon said guide rails, an armor plate carried by said frame in parallel relation to the outer face of said hull and spaced therefrom, springs connecting said plate and said frame, and means for raising or lowering, at will, said frame and the plate carried thereby.

6. In an armor for vessels, the combina- I spaced therefrom, plungers carried by said f am? ssby suppote by spaced heefrom, plungers carfed sal :and normally clos-c Sprmm f plate'and shdably supported by sind famme, said phmgels and Sad 'ffma and normally cosd sprulgs connecting plunge? and said. frame.

Signed at New Yay@ in the @Gumy New York, and Sti/wie New Yolk, ibis dii-h' day of Jan., A. D. 1916 gna

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