US2477253A - Mortar - Google Patents

Description

J. R. JASSE MORTAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1947 [L mw M m 2 Vm WM m r g m a w M9/ QIB C II a Q Nu a Q m Jy 2%, 14. v J. R; JASSE 2,77,353

I MORTAR Filed May 24, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig- f/VVENTUR Jam/v RAY/7M0 was;

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2,477,253 MORTAR J osephRaymond J asse, Paris, France, assignor to 'Etablissements Edgar Brandt, Paris, France, a French company Application May 24, 1947, Serial No. 750,254 In France July 1, 1946 6 Claims. (01. 89-1) 1 2 v The present invention relates to a mortar or appropriate control mechanism, said mortar be- Om rO r a p d to b muzzle leadeding remarkable in particular in that the mecha- S m t s a s Often Provided t a nism for controlling said percussion device artionary striker which projects from the end of ranged i a independent case housed in a rear the gun-barrel and is intended to produce the 5 xt i of th b ee h i n 0f the prepelling cartridge arran d a This particular arrangement of the controlling t e ar o the p j a 50011 as Said D mechanism mounted in an independent case has j et by th force o y, impinges on said the main. advantage of enabling, at any instant, striker. in case of failure, said case with its mechanism to However, for various reasons, it may be an adbe replaced quickly by a pare e,

anta for t to be possible in certain cases According to another characteristic of the in-' Operate t Striker y hand- It y happen, e vention the independent case is located in a mp t the Cartridge misfiles; this housing which, as it has to be readily accessible,

dent may be caused, either by the fact that the is wide open for this purpose on the outer sidecap is faulty, or because the projectile s brfaked in a radial direction relatively to the axis of the as it falls into the gun-hertel and only lmpmges gun, in such a manner that the independent case On the striker insufilclent force to produce can be emoved and replaced by another case the ignition of the cartridge; this may Occur if without its being necessary to alter the laying of the firing angle is small or if the gun-barrel is the gum clogged. If there is no means for enabling the In a particular embodiment f a device Shot to he fired when the Percussion has h cording to the invention, the mechanism for erahedi'recourse has he had to .extractlhg the controlling the percussion is contained in the molecule from the gun'barr Whlch may neces' independent case, whereas the percussion device,

Sitate first 9 an removing its inside the constituted for instance by a striker and a rear barrel. It w1ll be understood that this operation, thrust element connected by a hook to said which is delicate, wastes precious time when the Striker is located i an axial housing provided n my i at handin the breech body.

h prohlem may be solved byfusing, a m? The fact of dividing the percussion device into provided with a manually operated firing device two separateelemernts has the advantage of 06m and provided with a means for temporarily placa siderably simplifying the construction of the h point 3 out of reach of the vice. As the striker. comprises a mechanism which car of t e promo operates axially, it is preferably located in a Mortars are already known in which a removable finger is interposed between the projectile cylmdrical housing. arranged in the axis of the and the stationary striker, an accessory firing g5 device making it possible to fire the shot at will. Bomb-throwers are also known which comprise a controlled percussion mechanism, but which does not permit of automatic percussion. The combination, in a single device, of automatic pera cussion and controlled percussion would require a fairly complicated mechanism, the various elements of which would have to be separately in the thickness of the breech body.

The case for controlling the percussion, on the contrary, comprises members which, to enable them to be controlled from the outside, are only arranged at right angles,

The control mechanism contained inv the percussion case comprises a device which effects the changerofthe strikerrfrom controlled percussion gun-barrel, and it is quite naturally positioned mounted in the breech of the mortar; in the tb automatic percussion and vi'ce'versa" and event of failure of this mechanism, the mortar itcontrol device for the controlled percussion self would be out of action, which would be a other advantages and peculiarities of the i serious drawback for a. firearm which plays such Veritmn W111 become apparent from the ensulng an important part. descriptwn" The present invention is intended to avoid In h accompanymg drawihgi which 15 glVen these drawbacks and has for its object a mortar m by way a cqnstructwnal example, of the type having, in its breech, a perc i Fig. 1 shows, in axial sectionrand in a hor1- device which is adapted either to be locked in a Zentel DOS tIOn, the breach of a mortar provided projecting position for efi ti to t erwith a striker and a percussion case arranged accussion, or to be made movable for effecting percording to the invention, the assembly being incussion which is controlled by the action of an the inoperative position.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the percussion case alone, along the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the percussion case alone.

Referring to said drawing, I is the gun-barrel of a mortar adapted to be loaded through the muzzle; 2 is the breech body; 3 the breech head of spherical shape, adapted to engage in the recess of a base plate not shown in the drawing; 4 is the tang of the breech connecting the head 3 to the body 2. The breech body 2 is provided with a longitudinal hole 6 adapted to receive the percussion device; said hole opens respectively in the tube I and in a housing tt'menaged'in the tang 4. Said housing which is of rectangular parallelepipedic shape opens on the lateral face of the tang. In said housin is located a removable case I which is shown separately on Figs. 2 and 3. Said case I is constituted in fact by a block (see Figs. 2 and 3) provided with a shoutder 5! which engages a rebate 5I ofthehousing 8. Said block comprises-two cavities 52' and 53' in communication througha longitudinal hole 54 tFig. l). a

The percussion device, which is movable in'the longitudinal hole 6 comprises a-striker 9 which is axiall movable. in a stationary frame Ill, and which is urged by a spring ll, through the intermediary of a bush I2, towards a rearposition in which its head l3 rests against a seat I4 provided in the frame Ill; said frame [9 is screwed to the end of asleeve-shaped case I5 in which slides behind the striker a bolt member It provided, on the one hand, at. its front end with a transversal hook 16a disposed with a little-gap before the rear head 91: of the striker and, on the other hand at its rear end with a buffer knob "ending in the form of a head IIb. A projection IB' of the sleeve I5 outwardly limits the travel of the bolt member IE; 2. spring [9 urges said bolt member towards the projection 18.-

The striker 9 is provided, at its front end, with a point 90. which, in the percussion position, projects outside the frusto-conical housing 20. provided in a cap 21 which is screwed in the breech body 2 andholds the striker; in its housing.

At its rear end, the striker 9 is provided with abufferknob 9b.- p

In Fig. I, the detonator 9 isshown in'the inoperative position, ready to be actuated by the control mechanism carried by the case or block 'I'. The change from this positionto the automatic. percussion position andv vice-versa' is effected by a device adapted'to be actuated by means of a control knob 22. Said knob 22 is secured, by means of a screw 23, to an internally screw-threaded sleeve 24 in which is screwed a rod 25 which is provided at its lower part with a slot 25c and at its upper part with a head 25b sliding in the knob 22 and adapted to project outside said knob. V j

A bent lever 26, mounted on. a spindle 21, in the cavity 52 of case Lengages with one of its arms 26a in the slot 25a of the rod'25,jaga inst the bottom of which it is kept pressed by a spring 28, whereas with two other arms 25b, arranged parallel in the shape of a fork straddling the buffer knob I! before the rear head I'Ib in a directionat right angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the striker, it is adapted toexert a pressure against the bolt member I6.

By screwing the knob 22 on the rod 25, as shown by the arrow A (Fig. 3) said rod is caused to move axially downwards; by means of the bent lever 26 the movement is transmitted inthe axial direction to the member I6; said member compresses the spring I9, comes into contact in its turn with the buffer knob 9b and, continuing its travel, drives back the striker 9, against the action of the spring II, until the instant when the percussion point 9a bears firmly against the tapered bottom ofthe housing 20. By screwing the knob 22 right home, the striker 9 is thus locked in theautomatic percussion position, the end of its point 9a permanently projecting inside the gun-barrel.

The reverse operation is effected by unscrewing the control knob 22 in the direction shown by the arrow C (Fig. 3); by the action of the springs II and I9, the'stri-ker 9 and the bolt member I6 respectively return to their original positions, as soon; as the bent lever 26 ceases to exert a pressure on the member I 6, which occurs when, owing to the unscrewing of the knob 22, the rod 25 itself returns to its upper position.

The position assumed by the striker, i. e. either the automatic percussion position, or the controlled percussion position, is continually shown on the outside by the head 25b of the rod 25 which acts as a pointer; when said head projects outside the, control knob 22, the striker is in the controlled percussion position, whereas when it is completeiy retracted, the striker is locked in the automatic percussion position.

The control device for controllingthe percussion, which is entirely enclosed in the removable case I, comprises a hammer 29 movable in the longitudinal hole 54 of said case. Said hammer, of hollow cylindricalshape, is so arranged as to enable it to strike axially the buffer knob ll of the bolt member I'G when said hammer 29.is subjected to the expansion action of the percussion spring 3! housed in its cylindrical part.-

Said hammer is prolonged at its front end bya finger 29awhich ends in the form of a transversal,

hook, the plane rear face of which is at right angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the percussion device and is disposed with somegap before the rear head Ilb of the bolt member I6 between the two arms 26b of the lever 26.

The spring St is enclosed between the front'end' spindle 34 which is itself rotarily actuated by a cocking lever 35 (Fig. 3).

A cylindrical sear 36, which is located in the rear cavity 53 of the case I and continually urged by a spring 31 towards its engaged position, is so arranged as to engage with its nose 33 in an opening 39 provided in the hammer and to lock said hammer while, by the action of the cooking lever, the pusher 32 compresses the percussion spring 3|.

A disc 15, which is preferably secured to the finger 33, is fixed on the spindle 34 and is provided with a trip nose 4i arranged so as to impinge, at the end of its travel, on an abutment 42 secured to the sear 36 and is adapted to lift same slightly, thereby disengaging the escapement pawl 98; said pawl releases the hammer 29 which suddenly drives back the member it against the knob 91; of the striker and produces the percussion;

The device is automatically returned to' the 7 and its bearing point on the pusher 33, with a part 44 ,of the hammer forming an abutment. Owing to the difference of leverage between the axis of rotation of the finger 33- and these two points of contact, the couple acting, by the action of the spring 3!, on the finger 33 is stronger than that acting, in the opposite direction and by the action of this same spring, on the hammer 29; said hammer is thus driven back by the cooking finger which is itself returned to the original position by the pusher 32, up to the point where the sear 36 engages again and locks the controlled percussion mechanism.

In this return movement, the hammer 29 carries with it by means of its hook finger 29a, the buffer knob l1 and the bolt member l6, said bolt member in its turn, carrying with it the striker 9 by means of its hook finger "3a. This arrangement has the advantage of its always being certain, when the cocking lever 35 is returned to its starting position, that the striker is not in its automatic percussion position in which it could otherwise have been locked by seizing for example, the springs II and 19 not having in that case sufiicient force to retract it of their own accord, whereas the head 25?) projecting from the control knob 22 would nevertheless continue to show the controlled percussion position, which might involve the gunners in serious accidents.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, the cooking finger has, at the point 43 where it is in contact with the abutment 44 of the hammer, a domed shape such that the perpendicular which is common to this shape and to the abutment of the hammer at their point of contact constantly extends in a direction which is as nearly as possible that of the axis of the hammer, the force applied by the finger to the hammer being thus directed in a direction parallel to said axis.

The cocking device can be locked in the inoperative position by means of a bolt 46 adapted to engage in a groove 41 of the trip disc 40, said bolt being secured to a spindle 48 which is controlled from the outside by means of a knob 49. When said knob 49 is in the direction of arrow A (Fig. 3) the cooking device is unlocked. On the contrary, when said knob is in the direction of arrow S, the cooking device is locked in its inoperative position and the firearm is thus completely safe.

It is obvious that the invention has only been illustrated and described by Way of example and that, without exceeding its scope, various modifications could be made therein.

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

1. In a muzzle-loading mortar a gun-barrel and a breech comprising a breech body provided near the front with means for fixing it to the barrel of said mortar and near the rear with an axial extension provided with a cavity which is open towards the outside in a radial direction relatively to the longitudinal axis of the breech, a percussion device adapted to move in said breech body between a front position in which it projects from said body into said barrel in order to enable an automatic percussion of the cartridge to be fired when said cartridge is inserted into said barrel and a rear position in which said percussion device is retracted in said body to adapt said percussion device for controlled percussion of said cartridge, and a removable case housed in said cavity and containing means for moving said percussion device from any of said positions to the other and a control device for controlling said controlled percussion by means of said percussion device, said means and control device being in contact with said percussion device, only by plane transversal surfaces perpendicular to said longitudinalaxis of said breech and said control device comprising a hammer adapted to move axially in said case and to impinge on the rear end of the percussion device when this latter is in its rear position, a percussion spring bearing with one of its ends on said hammer on the opposite side to the percussion device, a pusher bearing against the other end of said spring, a cooking finger enabling said pusher to be moved in the direction of the compression of said spring, a cooking lever acting on said finger, and a sear detent for locking said hammer until the instant when the pressure of said spring is suflicient to produce the percussion.

2. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said hammer is provided with an opening while said sear detent comprises in combination: a scar adapted to move in said case in a direction at right angles to that of the hammer and provided with a pawl adapted to engage in said opening, a spring acting on said sear to cause said pawl to penetrate into said opening, and means provided on said cocking lever for retracting said pawl at the end of the cocking stroke of said pusher and thereby releasing the hammer.

3. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said hammer is provided with an opening while said sear detent comprises incombination: a sear adapted to move in said case in a direction at right angles to that of the hammer and provided with a pawl adapted to engage in said opening, a spring acting on said sear to cause said pawl to penetrate into said opening, a disc provided with a trip nose fixed on the spindle of said cocking lever and an abutment secured to the sear in such a position that at the end of the travel of said lever the sear is moved by said nose against the action of said spring, there by releasing the hammer.

4. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said cocking finger is in contact with a rear extension of said hammer in a rear-ward axial direction, at a point located between its axis of rotation and its point of contact with the pusher.

5. A breech according to claim 1, wherein said cocking finger is in contact with a rear extension of said hammer, in a rearward axial direction, at a point located between its axis of rotation and its point of contact with the pusher, said finger having, at the point where it is in contact with said hammer, a domed cross-sectional shape which is fairly nearly circular, so that the perpendicular which is common to this cross-section and to the hammer at their point of contact constantly extends in a direction which is as nearly as possible that of the axis of said hammer.

6. A breech according to claim 1 wherein said percussion device comprises a front striker and a rear thrust element connected by a hook to said striker, said element ending at the rear by a bufier knob provided with a rear head located before said hammer which is provided with a front hook disposed before said rear head, said means for moving said percussion device comprising a lever which ends in the shape of a fork straddling said bufier knob.

JOSEPH RAYMOND JASSE. (References on following page)

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