US1541981A - Breech loading gun - Google Patents

Description

me 15s, 1925. 1,541,931

0. D. LUCAS BREECHLOADING GUN Filged March 5,1923

Patented June 16, 1925} team OWEN DAVID LUCAS, or BAYSWATER, LONDON, EflGIIAND, assieivoa r0 VICKER S LIMITED, or nonnonnnemnn, a BRITISH COMPANY.

*IBREEGH LOADENG GUN;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OWEN DAVID LUCAS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, r'esiding at 49, Linden Garden's, Bayswater, in the county-Of London, England,chave invented certain new and useful I-mprovements in or Relating to Breech Loading Guns, of which thecfoll'owilrg is a specificae tion. I

This invention relates to. breech loading guns of the kind intended for projecting signal shells into the air for signalling to aircraft from aerodromes or ships, these guns being usualy non-recoilingand smooth bored. I

According tothe present invention the breech screw is rotatably mounted in a calrier or cradle which is slidably carried by strut or stay members forming part of the mounting for the gun tube or barrelfthe said carrier being moved: along these members away from the breech end of the tube for loading. The said carrier is preferably made in two parts or halves held together, with the breech screw between them,by en vgagement 'with the said strut members. These carrier parts may havelateral projection-s provided with recesses conforming to the shape of the strut members, these re ces'ses being of curved formation when, as is preferred, the said members are of circul-a-r crosssection; Gn one side the lower wall of the recess in each part of the carrier is cut away and the corresponding strut memberris also cut away at a point near its rear or lower end so that when the carrier has been moved into the appropriate position the upper part ofthe "carrier can be lifted 'outto permit the breech screw to be removed, after which the other part of the carrier can also beqlifte'd out.

In-order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now bedescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Y Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a rear elevation showing a Application fi'l'ed March 3, 1923. Serial No. 622,516.

gun constructed iniaccordance with the in vention, I

Figure 3 is an axial section-ofthe breech screw, a 1

Figures 4 and 5-areen'd elevations of the upper and lower halves of thea'foresaid breech screw carrier, and; V Figure '6 is an axial section of "the right: hand strut member. 1 Y A, arethe a-foresald strut memters forming part of the mounting for the gun tube or b'arrelB. {Dhese strnt' members are carried by a ring" B connected to the barrel which ring has alug'fb trunnioned'to a pillar vC carried by' a base membeni'C having an are C to whieh across member A carried by the lower ends'o f the *s'aid strut members can be; clamped by a'olalnp ing handle C to hold the gun-tube atthe desired angle ofelevation The mounting shewn is the navaltype and is-attached by clips to the bridge of the vessel or to stan-chions. Ifthe mounting is required to be self-supporting, the ring B may have two additional lugs to which are attached two additional strut members soclr'eting' their lower ends into an extension 'of 'th'e base member G D is the breerh' s'crew which, in the example shown-," is in the form of a cup having internal interrupted tl reads or collars for engaging with external interrupt'e'd threadsor collars on the rear end of the gun tube or barrel'B-. E, E are the upper and lower halves oft'he breech "screw carrier in which the breech screw is rotatably mounted, the said breech screw having a circumferential recess (itSShOWH in Figure in which partsof the said halvesfof the breech SCTGYS'Y carrier are disposed, The upper carrier half E has lugs or lateral projections e, 6 (one each side) I having curved recesses for engaging with the strut members A, A whiehare of circular crosssection. The lower wall; of the ri hthand' recess is" out away as shown in Figuree to still leave a portion of the curved recess below the centre line of the recess so that the said'carrier half cannot be raised so long as the right'h'and recess engages with the breech screw rotatably" carried thereby) by Q the engagement of these recesses with the strut members A, A. At its lower part the: righthand strut member is cut away atfa/ (Figure 2) on its inner surface sufliciently to enable the carrier halves to be lifted without impedimentwhen the carrier has been. moved rearwards into a position to bring the right hand lugs or'lateral projections on the carrier halves opposite the said cut away part of the strut member. The uppen carrier half is first'lifted with the left hand strut serving as a pivot and is then removed. ZThe lower carrier half is then similarly lifted and removed with the breech screw. in position and the latter, can

i then be'removed-fromthe lower carrier half after a firing mechanism casing E? (which is connected by detachable. pins 6 6 Fig re-2, to inwardly projecting lugs 8 e Figure, 5, on the lower carrier half) has been removed. This casing is situated between the strut 'members A, A and does not offer anyimpedi'ment to the removal of the said lower carrierhalf. The firing mechanism is preferably constructed in accordance with the specification of my.copendihgapplication, Serial No. 622,765 filed Marchfi, 1923.

The breech screw carrier has a handle'VE (forming part of the lower: carrierhalf) for moving the carrier and the parts carried thereby along the strut members A, A and. thebreechscrew has on its rear part a twohandled lever D by which the breech'screw can be angularly displacednfor locking it to and unlocking it fromthe gun .barrel. The said breech screw isheld in its unlocking position during the movements of the carrier on the aforesaid strut members by" a cartridge extractor E (Figure 1 which-is pivoted to the lower carrier half and which engages with a notch in thebreech screw. The nose of this extractor engages with an inclined surface b on the rear part of the gun tube as the carrier approaches the :breech end .ofthis tube and-is thereby disengaged from I the notchin'the breech screw. In orderto prevent accidental rotation of the breech screw after such disengagement has taken place and before the breech screw has reached its correctposition forlocking, the aforesaid ring B secured to the rear part of the gun tube has a rearwardly extending narrow plate B having a nose 6 which eng ges Witha recess 51 the front collar of casing E the breech screw until the latter occupies the correct position for rotation (with the said front collar disposed within the ring B at which time the said recess lies in front of the nose?) and the latter does not then impede the locking vmovement of the breech screw.- The aforesaidupper carrier-halfis formed with a pa'ssage Ffi (see Figure 4) to accommodate the nose'b during the above described operation. l

I The muzzle'of the guiiltubeis'closed when required by a cap Fpivoted to a' ring F on the tube and means are provided whereby the gun cannot be-fired unless the cap is .sufliciently opento Jpermit firing to occur without danger. For this purpose the pivot pin f of the said cap has an eccentric op erating upon a rod F connected to a member which, when the cap is closed or partly open,

occupies a position obstructing the firing k movement of part of the firing'mechanism but which, when the/cap issufficiently open,

occupies a position permitting firing movement of the said part to occur. The Said member may for example comprise a rod slidably mounted in one ofthe' aforesaid 7 strut members which are made tubular.

This particular strut member has a hole in its inner wall for the passage of the end of the firing plunger described in the aforesaid ed by the said-rod when the cap F is-closed or onlyppartly open and lfiring-is thereby prevented.

The gun is fired by a lanyard passing overa swivellin ulle T G onthe aforesaid cross member A this lanyard beingflcone nected tov a spring-controlled slide a (F igure 8 disposed in the right hand strut memcarried by I What I claimand desire to secure by Let 'ters Patent of the United States is-;

1. In a breech loading gun mount, a breech screw, a carrier in which the breech screw 7 is rotatably mounted, and inclined shockresisting strut members comprising part of said mount on which said carrieris slidably mounted, the said carrier"being'movable along the strut members away from the breech end of-the tube for loading.

2. In a breech loadingguma breech screw,

a carrier in which the breech screw is ro:

tatably mounted, and strut "members: on

whichsaid carrier is slidably mounted, said carrier compr1s1ng two sect1ons held together by engagement withthe strut members, the breech screw being located between said sections. 7 r I 3. Inia breechloading gun, a breech screw, .a carrier 1n WhlCh the breech screw is ro- 95 application Serial No. 6227 65. The pass V fthe plunger through this hole is prevent tzitably mounted, strut members on which said carrier is slidably mounted, said carrier comprising two sections provided with lateral projections having recesses for cooperation with the strut members to hold the sections on the strut members and to render the carrier slidable thereon the lower Wall of one recess in each carrier section being cut away and the corresponding strut member being also cut away at a point near its rear or lower end to permit removal of the carrier sections.

OWEN DAVID LUCAS.

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