US2317392A - Portable emplacement for machine guns - Google Patents

Description

' Apr-ii 27, 1943. R. B. LORD PORTABLE EMPLACEMENT FOR MACHINE GUNS Filed Sept. 27, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l 8 TOR April 27, 1943. R, B, LORD 2,317,392

PORTABLE EMPLACEMENT 'FOR MACHINE GUNS FiledSept. 27, 1940 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 EE- a 9 4a 9 4 1 2/ 1- II] w HTTORNEY A ril 27, 1943. R. B. LORD 2,317,392

' PORTABLE EMPLACEMENT FOR MACHINE GUNS Fi led Sept. 27, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 //v vz/v TOR HTT'ORNEY me of any royalty thereon. This invention relates to a portable emplacestrategic positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide an Patented Apr. 27, 1943 PORTABLE EMPLAGE MEN'r FOR MACHINE Royal B. Lord, Fort Riley, Kans. Application September 27, lfl im eriall lo. 358,694

6 claims. (01. st- 36) (Granted under the act of" March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. Vl. 57.) o

This invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Governmentfor governmental purposes, without the paymentto ment for machine guns and the primary object thereof is' to provide a device of this character having fabricated parts which may be readily transported to a strategic position and readily assembled for defense against an enemys artil- 'lery and infantry attack and also readily disassembled for transportation and assembly atother armored portable emplacement for machine guns ofsuch a character that additional armor may be readily added thereto to increase the thickness thereof for protecting the operating personnel of the machine guns against all infantry weapons. the 75 mm. artillery gun, and fragmentations of heavy shells or bombs and also assembled'in such a manner as to resist the crushing effect of heavy tanks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fabricated portable emplacement for machine guns including firing ports or a bombproof pill- ;boX with or without the firing ports which may be readily demountable to flat plates and sections easily nested, requiring a small amount of space when disassembled, which may be stored indefinitely without deterioration, readily transportable from place to place, which is substantially cheap in construction, designed in such a manner asto preclude obsolescence, and provided with universal mounts for the machine guns which are adapted to permit the machine guns to have-the I maximum field of fire from the ports without any detrimental dead space.

Briefly stated, the fabricated portable emplacement or bombproof pillbox isconstructed on the basic principle of a laminated box-like struc-l ture adapted to be partially buried in the ground and having lapped end joints or edges and interchangeable side walls containing elongated firing ports, also interchangeable upper sidecover plates, containing elongated apertures registering with the firing ports in the side walls, vertical angle bars bolted to the side Walls and'tolthe upper side cover'plates, interchangeableupper and lower firing port cover supporting members detachably bolted to the side walls and side cover i "plates, port covers slidably mounted in the cover supporting members, a central beam supportedby certain of the upper port cover supporting members, removable armor top cover sections res-ting Fig. 5 is an earth in which--i-s dugllan excavation on and supported by said beam, the upper cover supporting members and "the: upperiends of. the angle bars,- and-universal gunnmountstmounted on saidside '-wall's and adapted to 1permitv.-ma chine guns mounted thereon to have Iamaximum ----Witli the above and other objects and advantages in-viewtheinventionconsist-s oflc'ertain features oi construction and operation of parts which will hereinafterappear and in-whic'h'z' 11.

' Fig.' -1 is a perspective assembly View or the improved fabricatedportable armored-emplacement or bombproof pillbox includinga removable armor top covering;firingports and machine-gun f barrels projecting from certain of thefiring po'rts, one of the firing ports-being clo'sedandillustr'ating the --emplacement L partially buried in the iwwr v Fig. 2 is a top view of the emplacement with the armor top covering -and-machine--'g-1ms re- --moved therefrom and exposing a.-plurality oi universarmounts for the machine guns positioned beneaththefiringports;

' ""Fig2 3--is an enlarged top view of one of the universal mounts including a portion of -a 'side walland upper-side cover -plates-of 1 the emplace- 1 Fig. l -is a partialside view of Fig. 3 and illustrating the universalfmount adj-ustably mounted on-aside Wall and showing the relative-po'sition of the universal mountwith-respect to aifiring port; i

enlarged vertical sectional view of the emplacementtaken on the lined- 5 ofyFig. 2 and illustrating the: manner of-slidably supporting a pair ,ofport coversfor a firing port, withfthe pair of port covers-shown in ;an open position with respect to the firing port 7 f f;

' Fig. 6-is anenlargedrvertical sectional view of the emplacement taken on the -line -6 6 ofFig.

' 1 showing a side wall having its firing portclosjed the machine guns through thefiringports;

- .'Referring-more particularlyto Fig. 1 of the dr-awings l designates generally the level-lof the ,z ii kj j a trench 3 leading to the improved emplacement indicated generally by A, with barrels 4 of ma chine guns projecting outwardly therefrom.

The emplacement or bombproof pillbox A is constructed of fabricated interchangeable parts of any suitable material such as heavy steel armor of any suitable size and thickness, and comprises a plurality of interchangeable base or side wall plates or members 5 and 5' which are adapted to partially fit into the excavation 2 and to provide exposed portions on the upper sides there-;

of. The interchangeable base plates 5 and 5' are assembled to provide a vertically extending rectangular or box-like structure having lapped endjoints or edges 6 with one edge of one of each of the plates lapping over one edge of another plate and with one inner edge of a plate abutting against the inner surface of another plate or in other words the plates are symmetrically arranged in pairs with the diagonally opposite ends of one pair of plates abutting diagonally opposite ends of another pair. These interchangeable base plates 5 and 5' are all of the same size and shape and are held in an assembled position by means of Vertically extending interchangeable heavy structural angle members or bars i, one of each of which is provided on one of each of the inner corners of the base plates and bolted thereto by bolt 8 and 8 which extend through vertically aligned holes provided in the angle bars and base plates 5 and 5 and held in position thereon by nuts 9. One of the base plates 5' is provided with an opening Hi normally closed by a door I I adapted to slidably operate on supporting members l2 suitably secured to the base plate 5', such as by being welded thereto, as more particularly illustrated in Fig. 6, the said door opening into the trench 3 and providing means of access from and to the emplacement A.

The exposed upper side portions of the base v plates 5 and 5' are provided with central elongated firing ports [3 and mounted on the uter exposed upper side portions of the base plates are a plurality of interchangeable side cover plates [4 preferably of a greater thickness than the base plates and having elongated apertures l5 therein which register with the firing ports IS in the base plates, whereby laminated firing ports are provided in the emplacement. The upper side cover plates 14 are illustrated as being in pairs and arranged around th exposed upper surface of H the base plates to provide lapped end joints or edges with diagonally opposite ends of one pair of side cover plates abutting diagonally opposite ends of another pair. These upper side cover plates M are detachably bolted to the outer exposed upper side portions of the base plates by the bolts 8 which secure the upper portions of the base plates to the heavy angle bars 7. Any

I suitable number of the upper side cover plates l4 may be added to the structure without any change in design except for providing longer bolts 8' which secure them to th upper portions of the base plates and the angle bars I. The ends of the heavy structural angle members or bars I port cover supporting members [8 and I8" respectivel'y, is provided with a central recess 2| on one of the side edges thereof which does not engage th port covers H, as more particularly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. Fitting into the recesses 2i of any two of the upper cover supporting members I8 are the ends of a central supporting beam or heavy structural T-support 22 including a horizontally extending portion 23 and a vertically extending portion 2d, the horizontally extending portion 23 of the T-support 22 having a thickness equal to the depth of the recesses 2| in the port cover supporting members, whereby the upper surface thereof is flush with the upper surface. of the port cover supporting members, and th end members It on the angle bars I and is of a less width than the recesses 2| to pr vide free movement of the supporting beam 22 therein for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. In order to lock each pair of port covers I! in, a closed position a pivotably mounted catch 25 is provided on one of the port ccvers'which is adapted to engage a projection 26 provided on the other port cover of the pair as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. a To close the top end of the emplacement it t removable armor plate bombproof cover sgetipns 21 are provided which are adapted to seat, on and; be supported by the horizontal portion 23 of the. supporting beam 22, the heavy upper port cover supporting members I8 and the triangular shaped; end members It on the upper ends of the vertie. cally extending bars 1. The top cover plate sec-l tions 21 are of a less width thanthe upper inner:- area of the emplacement whereby they may freely movable therein and are of a thickness ta are adapted to slidably operate in interchangecause the upper surface thereof to be fiush with the upper edges. of the base plates 5 and 5 and the outer side cover plate l4. By raising the top cover plate sections 21 from th inside the em}. placement, mortar or anti-aircraft fire is pose sible. V

. The emplacement is provided with a plurality of universal gun mounts indicated generally by B, one for each firing port l3 in the base plates 5 and 5. The universal gun mounts are adamed to fit the firing parts and are designed to receive and lock the standard base plate of a machine gun. Each of the universal mounts B comprises substantially Z-shaped horizontally arranged angle bars 28 having their outer ends provided with vertically extending elongated slots 28 and adjustably mounted on the base plates 5 and 5' adjacent to the lower edge of the firing ports l3 by bolts 30 which extend through holes provided in the base plates and the vertically extending slots 29 provided on the outer .ends of the bars where they are detachably secured in place by nuts 3!. On the inner ends of the angle bars 28 is mounted a horizontally extending supporting member 32, which is suitably secured to the angle bars 28 by being welded thereto or the like. Slidably mounted on the supporting member 32 is a gun carriage 33 including a downwardly extending portion 34' having'projecting 1 portions 35 extending therefrom which are adapted to slidstruction the maximum use of the firing ports I3 is obtained for permitting guns (not shown) which are adapted'to be supported on the universal mounts to horizontally slide toeither ex- "tremity'o-f the ports and to Vertically raise or lower the guns to the top or bottom of the ports [with a minimum port areahexposed, yet not re-' stricting the field of fire from any port. The .50

caliber machine guns with anti-aircraft. type portions of the base plates 5 and 5' not exposed to attack can lbeused to increase the'thi'ckness base'can be mounted on the universal mounts without change For the mount, a small plate 37 is inserted in each unij versal mount. to hold the front leg of the guns (not shown)."

The maximum traverse provided by the firing ports I3 at 'a horizontal angle for the machine guns when constructed of a size started below is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. '7 as being 2500 mils or l40.63 and the maximum elevation The small flag-like members 42 indicate the direction of fire.

In a pilot model it has been found satisfactory to make an emplacement which is adapted to allow four feet of the structure to be received by the excavation 2 with a height projecting above the level I of the earth approximately 1 foot 6 inches. The vertical target exposed for each base being 6 feet 4 inches by 1 foot 6 inches and the top target being 6 feet 4 inches square. Additional protection and. camouflage are easily possible by use of sand bags, or natural cover. If the firing ports l3 are made 8 inches by 24 inches a 360 observation and field of fire is permitted with no detrimental dead space 43 indicated in Fig. '7, and the fire from machine guns in any two adjacent firing ports IS on the emplacement will intersect within a distance of less than 6 feet from the emplacement.

By eliminating the'universal mounts B for the machine guns from the emplacement A a portable low-cost steel bombproof shelter may be provided with or without ventilating ports. Should the bombproof shelter be provided without ventilating ports the base plates 5 and 5 and the side cover plates It would be constructed without the firing ports l3 and the apertures l5 respectively, thereby eliminating the necessity for the inside port covers I! and the lower port cover supporting members Hi. It is therefore within the scope of this invention to provide a portable bombproof shelter constructed in the manner as described above with or without ventilating ports.

The structure above described can be transported in trucks of normal body size. The heavier top-plate sections of which there are two, will require little handling as they are not bolted to the structure. The plates used in the structure cannot be damaged by rough handling and may be skidded behind tractors if conditions prescribe the use of the emplacemet in normally inaccessible locations. If penetration of the emplacement occurs in the field the upper side cover plates [6 on the upper outer standard tripod is precluded. s It will thus be seen that there is herein proof the metal on the sides exposed to theLenemy,

therefore by the 'use'ofthisdesign obsolescence vided a novel and useful form of portable Jemplacement for machine guns or bombproof fpillbox which is designed as a whole as a box girder to offer the maximum strength of the materials used to resistthe separated blows of infantry and artillery weapons and the crushing effect of heavy tanks. Transmission of side blows is through heavy structural angle bolts to the plates, materials produced for commercial practice only are required and fabrication is possible in'any steel manufacturing or :fabrication plant. No special tools are required to fabricate the component parts of the emplacement and the design incorporates the maximum of interchangeability and standardization...1.;1Even though there has herein been shown certain features of construction and operation of parts, it is nevertheless to be understood that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A machine gun emplacement comprising a fabricated structure adapted to be partially buried in the ground and having interchangeable base plates containing firing ports, interchangeable cover supporting members mounted on said base plates, port covers slidably mounted on said cover supporting members, and adapted to be operated to open and close said firing ports in the base plates; a central supporting beam adapted to seat on certain of said cover supporting members, bombproof cover section plates provided on the upper portions of said base plates and adapted to be partially supported by said beam and certain of said cover supporting members and interchangeable upper side cover plates mounted on the exposed upper side portions of said base plates, said side cover plates having apertures therein registering with the firing ports in said base plates.

2. A machine gun emplacement comprising a fabricated structure adapted to be partially buried in the ground and having interchangeable base plates containing elongated firing ports, angle bars bolted to said base plates, interchangeable upper and lower port cover supporting members mounted on said base plates, port covers slidably mounted on said cover supporting members and adapted to be operated to open and close the firing ports in said base plates, a central supporting beam adapted to seat on certain of said upper cover supporting members and removable bombproof top cover section plates adapted to rest on and be supported by said upper cover supporting members, the central beam and upper ends of said angle bars.

3. A machine gun emplacement comprising a fabricated structure adapted to be partially buried in the ground and having interchangeable base plates containing elongated firing ports, angle bars detachably secured to said base plates, interchangeable upper and lower port cover supporting members detachably secured to said base plates, recesses formed in said port cover supporting members, port covers slidably mounted on said port cover supporting members and adapted to be operated to open and close the firing ports in said base plates, a central support int? beam adapted to seat in the recesses in certain of said upper port cover supporting members, removable bombproof cover section plates prov ided on the upper portion of ,said base plates,

said. bombproof cover section plates adapted to rest (on and be supported by the upper port cover 4. A machine gun emplacement comprising a 4 fabricated structure adapted to be partially buried in the ground and having interchange- .able base plates containing firing ports, angle "bars bolted to said base plates, interchangeable upper and lower port cover supporting members bolted to said base plates adjacent to the upper :and lower edges of said firing ports, port covers :slidably mounted on said port cover supporting :members and adapted to be operated to open and rclOse the firing ports in the base plates, a central supporting beam adapted to movably seat on certain of said upper port cover supporting members, removable bombproof section plates provided on the top portions of said base plates and adapted to rest on and be supported by said upper port cover supporting members, the cen tral beam and upper ends of said angle bars, interchangeable upper side cover plates mounted on the exposed upper side portions of said base plates, said side cover plates containing apertures registering with the firing ports in said base plates, and gun supporting members vertically and horizontally adjustably mounted on said base plates adjacent to said firing ports,

5. A fabricated frame structure of size as to provide a bombproof shelter and adapted to be partially buried in the ground, sai d structure including interchangeable angle bars, having upper and lower end members provided thereon, interchangeable steel base plates with lapped ended edges bolted to said angle bars, interchangeable upper steel side cover plates with lapped ends bolted to the exposed upper side portions of said base plates and to said angle bars, a central supporting beam mounted on upper portions of certain of said base plates and removable bombproof armor plate sections pro vided on the upper portion of said base plates and adapted to rest on and be supported by said central beam and the upper end members of said angle bars.

6. A machine gun emplacement comprising pairs of interchangeable base plates containing firing ports, said base plates symmetrically arranged, with diagonally opposite ends of one of said pairs of base plates abutting diagonally opposite ends of another pair, supporting members mounted on said base plates, port covers slidably mounted on said supporting members and adapted to be operated to open and close said firing ports, side cover plates mounted on said base plates, said side cover plates having apertures therein registering with the firing ports in said base plates, a beam mounted on certain of said port cover supporting members, and bombprooi top cover section plates adapted to seat on said beam and certain of Said port cover supporting members.

ROYAL B. LORD.

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