US1598004A

US1598004A - Gun mount

Info

Publication number: US1598004A
Application number: US644455A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles L Paulus
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1923-06-09
Filing date: 1923-06-09
Publication date: 1926-08-31
Anticipated expiration: 1943-08-31

Description

Aug. 31, 1926. 1,598,004

C. L. y PAULUS GUN MOUNT Filed June 9. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 31, 1926.

C. L. PAULUS GUN MOUNT Filed June 9. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles u Z606 Patented Aug. 3i, ltlZti.

rea m error.

CHARLE L. PAUL'US, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

Gun Mon-n51.

Application filed. June 3,

This invention relates to machine gun mountings more particularly designed for use upon airplanes or similar vehicles and of the lzind comprising an elevating arm or bracket upon which the gun is mounted and which is carried by a horizontally rotatable member.

One object of my invention is to provide a mounting of the kind referred to in which a plurality of elevating arms are separately pivoted to a gun supporting member in order to aid in the easy manipulation of the gun.

A second object is to provide a tumbler support for the gun which is pivotally sup ported from a plurality of movable arms so that the angular position of the gun is varied as the arms are moved.

Further objects are to provide a means for selectively locking or releasing either the arms or the rotatable ring as desired without releasing the other, unless such a release is intended; to provide means for locking the arms capable of taking large strains due tothe weight of a large gun; and to provide a fulcrum for a large gun upon its center of gra ity and very close to its line of recoil.

Other objects will be more fully set forth he attached specification and claims, and the drawings, in which in t Flg. l is a perspective view of in v the gun r 2 is a vertical side elevation partly in vertical section, of Fig. l and showing the in dotted lines in. one position.

3 is a plan view of the gun. l is a sectional view through one of supporting arms showing the lock-open sting member or grip in detail, and

5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

A tired ring 1 supports the movable ring 2 by means of the rollers 3, the movable ring being shown as of channel formation. Upon this movable ring or rotatable training member 2 are 1 gidly fastened reinforcing rings 3 and i by rivets or any other suitable fastenings means and these reinforcing rings pivotally support arms and 6 by means of the ln'ackets 7 and 8, respectively. Upon these arms 5 and 6 is mounted a tumbler casting 9, the arm 5 being pivotally mounted on the casting 9 by means of a suitable bearing 10 and the arm 6 being pivotally attached by means of the bearing member 11 to this tumbler casting.

The arm 5 has an effective length shorter 1923. Serial No. 644,455.

than the arm 6 and the arms are pivoted on parallel axes on the training ring at. points removed a considerable distance which is greater than the distance between the pivotal connections of the arms to the tumbler, the whole arrangement serving to adjust the angular relation of the tumbler as the elevating arms are moved, both of the arms serving to divide the weight of the gun and the recoil of the gun between them. lVith the gun in the position as shown in Fig. 2, the arm 6, would be located substantially horizontal and the arm 5 would be at a slight angle and above arm 6. In thisposition the tumbler would be so tilted that the gun would point straight down over the side, of the fuselage. ll hen the operator manually nulls upon the arms to raise the gun, the tumbler is moved and tilted at the same time it is raised so that when the arms are positioned as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, withthe arm 6 now above the arm 5, the gun would be pointing practically straight up into the air. In this'posit-ion, the recoil would be taken mostly by the arm 5, but a considerable part of it would also be taken by the arm 6. Similarly inany other position the recoil of the gun would be taken by both of the arms. since, one cannot move without moving the other.

The tumbler casting 9 which is provided with suitable lightening holes 12 is provided with a hole in the end thereof at a point considerably. removed from the bearings 10 and 11 of the arms 5 and 6 and this hole serves as a bearing for a pin on the member 13 so. that the member 13 is pivotally connected to permit a slight rotation of the gun about the axis of the hole. is fork-shaped, a member of the fork extending along each side of the gun and each fork member being pivotally connected to a plate or strap 1d by means of suitable trunnions- 15. These straps are rigidly connected to the gun by means of bolts 16 which pass through lugs provided. on the gun. The machine gun which is designated by the numeral 17 is supported by these trunnions 15 in such a manner that the trunnions 15 are substantially in alignment with the center of gravity of the gun. The center of gravity of the gun being above the forked member 15, when the-gun is in a horizontal position. The line of the recoil of the gun would also be located so that it would be very close to the line of'the axis of the trun- The member 13.

nions l/Vith the gun supported in this manner. a slight movement ot the gun is permitted about the axis of the trunnions 15 which is a horizontal axis; as well as the slight movements about the axis at right angles to this horizontal axis. These two movements of the gun are provided for so as to allow the gun to be quickly and readily adjusted after the gun has been adjusted to its approximately correct position by the elevating arms and rotatable training ring. With the support for the gun close to the 'center of gravity and the'line of recoil, a

minimum amount of efi'ort is required on behalf of the operator in adjusting the gun and in holding the gun when it is fired and with the gun mount on the fork 13, a considerable distance away from the bearings 10 and 11 of the arms on the tumbler the rear end of the gun will always be 11mintained within easy reach of the operator and yet never be permitted to crowd him too closely. ,A link and shell ejection bag 18 may be attached to the lower portion of the machine gun and'will vbe located within the outlines of the tumbler block as more clearly shown in Fig. 1. This bag is constructed of canvas or other suitable material and is used to hold the shells and links as they are ejected from the gun.

In Order to compensate for the weight of the gun, I provide a spring compensator 19 on each side of the training member. Each compensator consists of a casing 20 pivotally F connected at 21 to the supporting bracket 8,

the axis of the elevating arm 6 being aligned with the axis of the casing 20. Within the casing is'a spring 21 which is between the head 22 of the casing and a head, 23 on the end of a rod orplunger 24. Thisspring serves to normally'force or tend to force the head 23 and plunger 24 to the right, (see Fig. 2). As the head 23 is moved or forced to the right, the force exerted by the spring would be decreased. The rod or plunger 24 is pivotally connected at 25 to thelever 26 which is pivoted at 27 to the training ring 2. The lever 26 is constructed integral with a segmental gear 28 which is provided with teeth meshing with the teeth of a segmental gear 29 upon the end of the elevating arm 5, the elevating arm 5 being pivoted at 30 to the bracket 7 on the training member 2. The arrangement is such that as the force exerted by the spring 21 decreases, due to a counter-clockwise movement of the lever 26 in Fig. 2, as the gun is elevated, the effective lever arm through which this spring forceis efiective, tween the pivot 27 and the rod 24, increases. In the position as shown in Fig. 2 a great force is exerted by thespring through a comparatively small lever arm but which is nevertheless sufficient so that the weight of the gun would be practically balanced by which is the distance be-.

the two com aensatin sarin 's. A suitable guard 31 is provided in order-to prevent the clothing oi the operator from becoming entangled with the segmental gears mentioned.

The training ring 2 is locked in any desired position to the fixed ring 1 by means of a pin 32 operating in a hole in the training ring 2 and which is adapted to engage a series of holes 33 in the fixed ring 1. The pin 32 is attached to a bell crank lever 34 by a pivotal connection 35, the bell crank lever being pivoted at 36 to a suit-able lug on the training ring 2. A spring 37 is provided 3-lin the position shown in Fig. 2 in which the training ring 2 is locked to the fixed ring 1. Such a locking 'pin is provided on each side of the training ring and are adapted to be sinniltaneously operated by a cable 38 which is attached to the upper end of each bell crank lever 34 and which extends within the hollow elevating arm 6, passing around a guide pulley 39 which is rotatably mounted on the elevating arm 6 in a fixed position. The cable then passes part way around a pulley 40 which is pivotally mounted upon a movable hand grip 4-1 after which the cable passes around a pulley 42 which is rotatably mounted on the arm 6 in a similar manner to the pulley 39. The cable then passes through a suitable eyelet in an internal wall of the elevating arm 6, and then passes to the other bell crank lever 34. The hand grip 41 is provided with a plurality of slots l-l within which operate pins 45, one at each end of the hand grip, the pins being provided on lugs 4E6 made integral with the elevating arm 6. Suitable slots 47 permit the; rip to move inwardly toward the arm 6 without interfering with the pivots of the pulleys 39 and In the position shown in Fig. 4:, a tension is maintained upon the cable 38 by the springs 37 of the bell crank locking pins and this cable tension is suflicient to maintain the hand grip away from the arm 6 as shown in this figure. hen, however, the grip is operated by the hand of the operator exerting an inward force upon the right-hand end 01" the grip, the pulley 40 will operate in moving relatively to the pulleys 39 and 4:2, to pull upon the two ends of the cable 38 and release the locking pins 32 simultaneously so that the training ring 2 will be permitted to move when the hand pressure is released from the right-hand end 01": the grip. The springs 37 maintain the cable 38 against pulleys 39, l0 and 42 and return the pins 32 to their locking positions.

In order to lock the gun in its elevational movements in a vertical plane, I provide a fixed transverse member 48 extending from one side to the other and fixed to the ring 2. Within this transverse member is pivotally mounted at 4-9 a socket member 50 so as so as to maintain the bell crank lover lit) to be movable about a horizontal axis. This socket. member is interiorly threaded for the reception of a screw-threaded rod 51 which is held at its upperend by a socket 523 which is pivotally mounted by means of trunnions 53 mounted in bearing members 5 1- which are in the side plates 55 of the tumbler block 9. The socket member 52 is permitted to move freely about a horizontal transverse axis parallel to the axis of the pivot 50 so that as the gun and mount are moved from the position shown in solid. lines in Fig. 2 to the posit-ion shown. in dotted lines, the screw threaded member or rod 51 may be permitted to pivot about horizontal axes at each support so as to as sume an inclined position, as shown. The threads 51 are of quite a steep pitch so that when the gun is manually elevated the threaded rod will freely rotate about its own longitudinal axis, threading itself alongthe socket member 50 without requiring any substantial physical exertion on the part of the operator, the rod 51 being permitted at this time to freely rotate at its upper end within socket member 52. Lock teeth 56, of which six are shown, are provided at the upper end of the threaded rod 51, the upper and lower surfaces 57 and 58- of these teeth preventing the rod 51 from moving longitudinally in relation to the socket member 52. A spring-projected plunger 59 is adapted to be pressed by the spring 60 so as to be engaged between two of the teeth 56 in order to prevent the rotation, when desired, of the threaded rod 51 and thereby prevent the longitudinal movement of the rod 51 in relation to the socket member 50. In the position as shown in Fig. 5, this plunger 59 is in its normal locking position preventing the rotation of the threaded rod 51. A. cable 61 operating within a tube or casing 62, is attached to the locking member 59 at one end and at the otherend is attached to a lever 63 at the point 6 1. This lever 63 is pivotally mounted at 65 to the elevating arm 6 and is provided with an end 66 adapted to operate against a fixed pin 67 in the left-hand end of the hand grip 11 so that when the spring 60 has forced the locking pin 59 to its locking position, then the end of the lever 66 will be forced against the pin 67 and the left-hand end of the hand grip will be forced away from the elevating arm 6. YVhen it is desired to unlock the threaded rod 51 the left hand end of the hand grip ll is pressed toward the elevating arm and the pin 67 and lever 63 will. cooperate to rotate the lever about its axis 65 and pull upon the cable 61. Either end of the hand grip 41 may be operated without correspondingly changing the position of the opposite end in order to operate one side only of the locking device, or, if desired, by grippingthe part 41 at its center,

both ends of the grip may be simultaneously moved inwardly to unlock both sets of look-- ing devices at the same time by a simultaneous pull upon cables 38 and 61. Either end of the grip may be released first or both ends maybe'released at the same time as desired.

It will be seen that I have provided a mount which is extremely well suited for large guns where the gunis of an unusual length, it is extremely desirable to provide a tumbler such as I have described and to mount the gun at the end of the tumbler so that the rear end of the gun will not be in the way of the operator. The elevating arms 5 and 6 and the threaded locking rod 51 all serve to take the strain of the recoil and all help in supporting the gun in a stationary position. The operator, when it is desired to chan e the direction of the gun in a vertical plane, places one hand upon the hand grip and the other upon the rear end of the gun and applies a comparatively small force to the elevating arm, after having first unlocked the threaded locking rod. is so balanced by the compensat'ng springs, that it is very easily handled. A ring 68 is attached to each side of the elevating arm 5 at a point removed from the pivotal mount of this arm 5 upon the training ring 2. The operator fastens his safety belt to these rings by the usual fasteners on the belt and the weight of the operator being thrown upon the belt, may be usedat any time to assist him in changing the direction of the gun.

I claim 2- 1. In a flexible gun mount the combination with a mounting ring support, of a plurality of angularly related elevating arms pivoted to said support to move about parallel spaced axes and assumevarious angles relatively to one another, a part pivotally connected to both of said arms and means for adjustably connecting a gun to said part.

2. in a flexible gun mount, the combination with a rotatable training member, of a plurality of elevating arms pivotally connected to said member to move about horizontally spaced parallel axes, a tumbler upon which a gun is adapted to be supported, and means for pivotally connecting said tumbler to both of said arms so that the angular position of the gun is changed as the arms are moved.

3. In a gun mount, in combination, a rotatable training member, a base member upon which said training member is rotatably mounted, a plurality of elevating arms of unequal length pivoted to said training member, gun supporting means mounted on 1 said arms and adapted to adjustably support a gun, two sets of locking devices, one for locking the training member and the other for locking the arms, a single hand-operated control member, and means connecting said The gun control member and locking devices so that the sets of locking devices may be selectively operated or so that both sets of locking devices may be simultaneously operated.

4. In a gun mount in combination, a rotatable training member, a base member upon which said training member is rotatably mounted, an elevating arm pivoted to said training member, a second elevating arm ot shorter length pivoted to said training member, gun supporting means mounted on saidarms and adapted to adj ustably support a gun, a transverse member fixed to'said training member, and means for locking said arms in adjusted position comprising rod adjustably inter-connecting said transverse member and said gun supporting means and means for locking said rod in anydesired position.

5. In a gun mount in combination, a training member, a plurality of arms of unequal length pivoted to said training member, means adapted to adjustably support a gun and supported by said elevating arms, a spring compensating meansconnected to one of said arms to compensate forthe weight of the gun and acting upon said arm through varying effective lever arms, the force exerted by the spring means decreasing as the effective lever arms through which it acts, increases. a i

a 6. A gun mountas set forth in claim 1,

said gun being connected to said part at a point distantly removed toward the gun muzzle from both of said pivotal connections between the part and the arms, 7. A gun mount as set forth in claim 1, said part serving as a tumbler and said arms being suitably bent and of suitable lengths so that the angular position of the gun is determined by the position of the arms.

8. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2,

together with means for locking said tumbler with relation to said training member. 9.The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means for locking said tumbler with relation to said training member comprising a rod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, a transverse member on the training member, adevice pivotally connected to said transverse member and operably connected to said rod so as to adjustably interconnect the said rod and transverse member, and mechanism for locking said rod to said device to hold the tumbler and arms in adjusted position.

10. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means for locking said tumbler with relation to said training member, comprising a rod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, a transverse member on the training member, a device within which said rod is threaded pivotally connected to said transverse member and operably connected to said rod so as to adjustably interconnect said rod and transverse member, and'mechanism for locking said rod to said device and to prevent rotation of said rodto hold the tumbler and arms in adjusted position.

11. The gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means for locking said tumbler with relation to said training member, comprising a rod rotatably mounted at one end on said tumbler, a transverse member on the training member, a device within which said rod is threaded pivotally connectcd to said transverse member and operably connected to said rod so as to adjust ablyinterconnect said rod and transverse member, and-mechanism for locking said rod to said device and toprevent rotation of said rod to hold the tumbler and arms in adjusted position, and a weight compensat- Ing device comprising a member operably connected to one of said arms and exerting various forces on said arm through various etlective lever arms, the forces decreasing as the effective lever arms increase so as to approximately counterbalance the weight of.

the gun.

12. A gun mount as set forth in claim 2, together with means forcounter-balancing the weight of the gun comprising a lever geared to one of said arms and mounted on the training member, a rod connected to said lever and exerting a force at various distances from the mounting of the lever on the training member, and a spring engaging said rod and exerting various forces thereon. i i

13. In a flexible gun mount in co1nbination, a fixed base, a rotatable training member adjustably mounted thereon, an elevat' ing arm pivotally connected to said training member and adapted to support a gun, a

locking device for said elevating arm, a locking device for said training member, and a single means on said arm for selectively operating either of said devices or for operating both said devices simultaneously.

1a. A gun mount as set forth in claim 14, in which said means comprises a hand grip, a cable, means operably connecting said cable to one endof the grip, a second c his, and means operably connecting said second cable to the other end of the grip. each cable being connected to a locking device.

15. The gun mount as set forth in claim 14 in which said means comprises a hand grip, a cable, means operably connecting said cable to one end of the grip, a second cable, and means operably connecting said second cable to the other end of the grip, each cable being connected to a locking device, and means for interconnecting said grip and elevating arm so that either end of the gripmay be moved towards said arm without correspondingly moving the opposite end of the grip.

16. A flexible machine gun mount for aircraft, comprising a support, a ring rotatably mounted on said support and a plurality of supporting arms of different effective lengths pivoted to said ring and a gun supporting tumbler pivoted to said arms.

17. A flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 16, together With means interconnecting said gun and tumbler and permitting vertical and horizontal pivotal movements of said gun in relation to said tumbler.

18. In a flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 16, said tumbler providing a pivot connection for said gun below the center of gravity of the gun, at a point removed from the said arms.

19. In a flexible machine gun mount as set forth in claim 17, the effective lengths of the arms being such that the gun is pointed downwardly by the tumbler at one extreme position and pointed upwardly by the tumbler in the other extreme position.

20. In a gun mount in combination, a training ring, an elevating arm pivoted to said training ring, means adapted to adjustably support a gun on said elevating arm, a spring compensating means connected for compensating for the Weight of the gun comprising a lever geared to said arm and mounted on the training ring, a rod connected to said lever and exerting 'a force at various distances from the mounting of the lever on the training ring, and a spring engaging said rod and exerting various forces thereon, the force exerted by the spring decreasing as the effective lever arms through Which it acts increases.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES L. PAULUS.