US1374144A - Control means for guns or the like - Google Patents

Description

S. A. FARRELL.

CONTROL MEANS ron mms OR THE LIKE.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 23, I916- 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

awn/ran TI'ORNEY S. A. FARRELL. CONTROL MEANS FOR GUNS OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, I916. 11,374,144. Patented p 5, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z- S. A. FARRELL.

- CONTROL MEANS FOR GUNS OR THE LIKE. l APPLICATION man NOV. 23. 1916.

1,37%, 144 atented Apr. 5, 1921.

a SHEETS-SHEET a.

STEPHEN A. FARRELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AUTOMATIC GUN CONTROL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONTROL MEANS FOR GUNS OR THE LIKE Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may con cern Be it known that I. STErHE A. FARRELL, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of lungs and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Control Means for Guns or the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for corn trolling guns or the like, and the object of the invention is to provide a device by means of which two or more men may work sin'iultaneously and independently for training the guns, the work of one man being subject to approval and modification by another.

more specific object is to provide a device as indicated. particularly adapted for use on shipboard, by means of which one man. to be referred to as the smooth weather man. may work to counteract the unstable condition of the guns mounting, due to the rolling of the ship, while a second man. known as a pointer, may work to point. the gun in the usual manner as if the mounting were Stable.

A further object is to provide means whereby the work of the gun men is reduced and simplified and rendered more accurate and reliable.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out -in the course of the following description of the elements. combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles, constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings which are to be taken a part of this specification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invention:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through a gun turret showing a practical application of the device of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the use of a variable speed gear in connection therewith; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a modification whereby more than two men tmay operate simultaneously and independently for controlling the gun.

Referring to the drawings for describing in detail the structure illustrated therein, L indicates the gun which is pivotally mounted as at l in the usual manner.

The smooth weather man is stationed at a hand lever or wheel 2 which is connected by suitable shaft-mg and gears with one side of an equal zing mechanism G. He stands before a cllnometer 3 or other similar instrument which is subject to the rolling motion of the ship and which will indicate the extent of such motion, in a well understood manner not requiring minute illustration or description here. He will operate his hand wheel or wheels in accordance with the indications observed.

The pointer is stationed at a hand lever or wheel 4 which is connected by suitable shaftmg and gears with the opposite side of the equalizing mechanism G. He stands hetore a sighting instrument 5 which is movable with the gun.

The equalizing mechanism G comprises a cylindrical casing 6 which is journaled to rotate within suitable bearings 7 Gear teeth 8 are provided exteriorly upon its annular surface and mesh with the teeth of a gear 9 which transmits the rotarv movement of the casing through suitable shatting and gears 10 and 11 to a gear pinion 12 which operatively engages the teeth of a rack 13 fixed to the gun. Thus rotary movement of the casing 6 is transmitted as a swinging motion to the gun to alter the ele- 'ation and depression of the gun.

lVithin the casingG the shafting controlled by the smooth weather man is connected to a gear 1-l while the shafting controlled by the pointer is connected to a gear 15. Gears 16 and 17 mesh with the gears 14 and 15, being carried upon stub shafts journaled in the side walls of the casing to rotate at right angles to the plane of rotation of the gears 14 and 15.

One complete rotation of the gear 14 will move the casing one-half of a complete rotation, supposing the gear 15 to be at rest. If the gear 15, however. is moved, the rotation ofthe casing will be modified accordingly.

Thus the efforts of the smooth weather man are imparted to the gun in accordance with the indications upon the device 3 and serve to alter the position of the gun relatively to its mounting in such manner as to Patented Apr. 5, 1921. I

' ment, or other devi maintain the gun in a position relatively to the target substantially the same as if the gun mounting were stable.

The efforts of the gun pointer are imparted to the gun according to the indications observed through the sighting instrument 5 in the same manner as if the gun mounting were stable.

The two men work independently for accomplishing their functions as if no connection existed between them and yet their efforts are automatically subjected to modification one by the other.

In the diagrammatic illustration Fig. 2, a slight modification of the structure above described is illustrated, in that the gears 11 in said diagrammatic illustration are shown to be associated with a variable speed mechanism represented by the casing 18. The details of the construction of this variable speed mechanism are not shown herein slnce this is a well-known and previously used construction. The variable speed mechanism is controlled by what is known as a tilting-box which consists of certain valve mechanlsm, the operation of which determine the direction of rotation as well as the relative speed of the driving and driven shaft. This valve mechanism is also not shown but it will be understood that the gear wheel 11 controls said valve mechanism to accomplish the functions above 1ndicated. A constantly driven motor H is employed for driving the shaft 19 which carries a worm pinion 20 operatively engaging a rack 21 fixed to the gun, the gearing 11 constituting control means whereby the smooth weather man and the pointer operate through the tilting-box to alter the speed, or reverse the direction of rotation imparted to the shaft 19 from the motor H, in a well understood manner, which does not require further description here.

The essential difference between the structures illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is simply that in Fig. 1 the man power is depended upon entirely for moving the gun, whereas in Fig. 2 the power of the motor is depended upon for moving the gun and the man power is employedsimply to modify the action of the'motor upon the gun.

It should be pointed out, with reference to the structure of Fig. 1, that at the point where the gears 11 are illustrated it may be understood that the variable speed mechanism 18, and motor are also indicated and that the gears 11 operate upon the tiltingbox mechanism as shown in Fig. 2, if desired.

Also it should be noted that each of the men operating the device may be guided in their work by the use of a sighting instruce, associated with the gun, if desired.

. Referrin now to the modification shown in Fig. 3, 1t will be seen that the shafts as and 23 which extend from opposite sides of the, equalizing mechanism G are each connected to be rotated by two men instead of by one man, as in the previous structure.

The two men, known as smooth weather men, are stationed at the hand wheels 24 and 25 and operate through suitable shafting 26 and gears 27 upon opposite sides of an auxiliary equalizing mechanism 28, the casing of which is connected to rotate the shaft 22 through suitable shafting and gears 29 and 30. The shafting 22 is operatively connected to a pointer 31 for moving the pointer in response to the movements of the.

shaft 22 and said pointer is of course arranged for proper observation by the smooth weather men in the same manner as heretofore described.

The pointers are stationed at hand wheels 32 and 33 and operate through suitable shafting 34 and gears 35 upon opposite sides of an auxiliary equalizing mechanism 36, the casing of which is connected to rotate the shaft 23 through suitable shafting and gears 37 and 38.

The pointers are, of course, positioned with respect to a sighting instrument associated with the gun.

Of course, the so-called smooth weather men may also employ a sighting instrument if desired, in the same manner as above suggested with respect to the other figures. It will be understood, of course that there is a predetermined relation established between the clinometer mechanism and the mechanism for moving the gun whereby a certain angular movement of the pointer 3 will cause a proportional movement of the gun.

By this mechanism the rotation of the casing of the equalizing mechanism G is placed under the control of four men. Each of these may perform his office as if the others were not present. His action will, however, be subject to refinement and alteration by the others and the result will be transmitted to the casing of the equalizing mechanism Gr so that the actual movements imparted to said casing will be highly refined and of great accuracy.

Although not illustrated, it is apparent that each of the shafts 26 and 34 could be connected with the casings of other equalizing devices in the same manner as the shafts 22 and 23 are connected to the equalizing devices 28 and 36, so that two men could be utilized for operating each of the shafts 26 and 34, making eight men in all. This division of control could be carried on to any extent desired.

In this modification the casing of the equalizing mechanism G may be connected to operate through the gear 9 and shaft 10 directly upon the. gun, as suggested in Fi 1, or upon the variable speed mechanism 18, as suggested in Fig. 2, as desired, or it may operate through an auxiliary equalizing mechanism 39, as illustrated in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3 thevariable speed mechanism 18 is shown associated with the motor H and the drive shaft 19 with pinion 20 and rack 21 for moving the gun. The control gear as 40, of the tilting-box is operatively connected with the casing of the equalizing device 39 through suitable gears 41 and shafting 42 so that the rotation of the casing will rotate the 'gear 40 and control the effect of the motor upon the shaft 19. The shaft 10 from the equalizing device. G communicates with one side of the auxiliary equalizing device 39 through the, gear 9 and shaft 10. The opposite side of is operatively connected with the shaft 19 through suitable shafting 43 and gears 44.

y this arrangement the rotation of the casing of the equalizing device G operates through the auxiliary equalizing device 39 and-gear 40 to control the effect of the motor upon the shaft 19 and the gun and this operation is modified by the effect of the rotation of the shaft 19 upon the opposite side of the auxiliary equalizing device 39 so that the operators, stationed at the hand wheels 24, 25 and 32,33, are required to rotate their hand wheels in one direction only while the gun is being moved in a certain direction. lVhen the'operators stop moving their hand wheels the connections between the shaft 19 and the gear wheel 40 will close the valve mechanism whereby the shaft 19 will come to rest. Then the operators move their hand wheels in the opposite direction and the gun will be moved in a reverse direction and will likewise be brought to rest where the operators cease operating their the equalizing device 39 hand wheels. The mechanism justdescribed is known as follow up mechanism.

f course the manner of connecting the equalizing device G with the gun, as shown in Fig. 3, is not necessarily limited to association with the other devices shown in said figure, but may as well be employed in connection with the two-man control shown in Fig. 2, if desired.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departing from the scope of the following claims, it is intended thatall mattercontained in the above desciption or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

aving thus described my invention what i I claim as new and desire ters Patent is:

In a device of the class described the combination with a member to be trained, of a motor for training said member, connections between the motor and the member including a tilting-box having a control elementassociated therewith for modifying the effect of the motor upon the member, a manually operable hand wheel, connections from the hand wheel to the control element for operating the control element, and means associated with the member and with said last mentioned connections for modifying the effect of the hand wheel upon the control element in response to the movements of the member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

STEPHEN A. FARRELL.

to secure by Let- Witnesses:

CHARLES S. FOLTZ, EMMA WEINBERG.

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