US2872847A

US2872847A - Multibarrel gun with skewed bore axes

Info

Publication number: US2872847A
Application number: US450827A
Authority: US
Inventors: Company Schenectady Trust
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-08-18
Filing date: 1954-08-18
Publication date: 1959-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-10

Description

Feb. :10, 1959 H. M. OTTO MULTIBARREL GUN WITH SKEWED BORE AXES Filed Aug. 18, 1954 4 1|. a r m R fi m E wu m NE E Each- MU Vmax .fi 4. aw m HW w m United States Patent 2,872,847 MULTIBARREL GUN WITH SKEWED BORE AXES Application August 18, 1954, Serial No. 450,827

6Claims. .(Cl.89--12) This invention relates to a multi-barrel gun of the socalled Gatling type wherein a group or cluster of barrels are mounted for rotation as a unit about a common axis generally parallel with the bore axis of the barrels and wherein all barrels are loaded in succession at a definite point in their path of rotation and subsequently fired at a succeeding point as more fully explained in my copending application serial No. 420,760, filed April 2, 1954, now Patent No. 2,849,921, for Gatling gun.

Such guns can be built to have a very high sustained rate of fire. Because of the large moment of inertia of the rotating barrel cluster and the high initial acceleration required to bring the cluster quickly to the high speed necessary for maximum rate of fire, the intial power requirements are severe. However, after the gun is up to its normal rate of fire, the power requirements become much less and sustained fire at normal rates can be maintained with only nominal power expenditure.

It'is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide a gun of the type aforesaid, wherein at least a portion of the power required to rotate the barrel cluster is supplied from the explosives being consumed in the ammunition fired.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a gun of the rotating multi-barrel type wherein a certain and substantial proportion of the power required to rotate the barrel cluster is supplied from the barrels themselves as successively fired, while an auxiliary source of power, such as an electric motor, supplies power as needed over and above that supplied from the barrels.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a gun of the type mentioned wherein the bore axis of the barrels are inclined or skewed" at a small angle to then common axisof rotation so that as each barrel is fired the forces of recoil have a component torque about the common axis sufficient for sustained rotation of the cluster.

The arrangement may be visualized by assuming two axially-spaced parallel circles of equal radii, one at the breech ends of the barrels and one at the muzzle ends,

with the axes of all barrels parallel with each other equi-,

angularly spaced, and with the common axis of the cluster defined by the centers of the circles. Now, if one of the circles is rotated slightly with respect to the other through a small angle, say the axes of the barrels take up the positions contemplated by the invention wherein each barrel is skewed in the same direction and at the same angle to the common axis of rotation. In this position the component torque will be proportional to the sine of the angle of inclination of the axis of each barrel to the common axis and the force of recoil of each barrel will have a component torque about the common axis, all in the same direction.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a Gatling type gun, the bands of which are skewed;

i'ice Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional detail view to an enlarged scale illustrating the manner'in which the barrelsare mounted for rotation within the gun casing;

. Figure 3 is a front view of the barrel cluster illustrat ing the skewed barrel formation, and

Figure 4, is a section taken along line 4-4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

' Referring more particularlily to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, 1 indicates generally a gun of the rotating barrel cluster type having a cluster 2 rotatably' mounted within a cylindrical casing 3 and supported therein by a forwardly disposed mounting member 4 consisting of a pair of plates 5 and 6 and a series of roller bearings 7 journaled on and between the plates 5 and 6 and adapted to ride on the inner forward bearing surface of the cylindrical casing 3. Rearwardly disposed mounting means are provided for the barrel cluster 2 comprising aperforated disc 8 within which the breech ends of the barrels are rigidly secured. Bearings 9 normally riding on the rear inner bearing surface of easing 3 are disposed between the disc 8 and the casing. A central axially-extending barrel post 10 completes the barrel bearing assembly and holds the barrels against whip during firing. The barrels 2 are skewed with respect to the common axis of rotation of the barrel cluster, as best seen in Figures 3 and 4, and are held in spaced relation by a spool 11 at their muzzle ends.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that a novel method of providing a torque assistance to a rotating barrel cluster has been provided. Due to the mounting of the barrel cluster, as a round is fired from each barrel in succession, the recoil forces have a component torque about the axis 12 of the cluster which is sulficient to maintain the cluster at the desired rate of rotation once it has been brought up to speed.

As a result, the separate power means for starting and bringing the cluster up to speed can be smaller and the entire gun can be made lighter and more easily maneuverable.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions of equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art after a study of the foregoing disclosure. Hence, the disclosure should be taken in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense; and it is the desire and intention to reserve all modifications within the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a multi-barrel gun, aplurality of gun barrels rigidly connected for conjoint rotation about a common central axis, each barrel of said plurality having its bore axis inclined at a small angle with respect to a plane passing through the base of the barrel and said common axis to diverge in a counterclockwise direction toward its muzzle thereof.

2. In a multi-barrel gun, a plurality of gun barrels rigidly connected for conjoint rotation about a common central axis, each barrel of said plurality having its bore axis inclined at a small angle with respect to a plane passing through the base of the barrel and the common axis to diverge in a counterclockwise direction toward the muzzle thereof, said bore axis of each said barrel lying in one surface of a respective side of a regular parallelepiped and with each axis making the same angle to a line forming a right angle with the respective sides of the parallelepiped.

3. In a multi-barrel gun, a plurality of gun barrels rigidly connected for conjoint rotation about a common central axis, each said barrel of said plurality having its longitudinal axis skewed in a counter-clockwise direction toward its muzzle end thereof and each said longitudinal'axis of 'said'barrels being equidistant from said central 'axis throughout its entire length.

4. In a multi-barrel gun, a cluster of gun barrels rigidly connected for conjoint rotation about a common central'axis; the longitudinal axis of'each said barrel in said cluster being inclined in a counter-clockwisedirection towards its muzzle end and through an angle equal with respect to a plane passing through the base of the barrel and said central axis.

5-. In a multi-barrel gun including astationary casing and a cluster of barrels rigidly mounted for conjoint rotation about a common central axis within said casing, each said barrel having its longitudinal axis equidistant from said central axis throughout its entire length and being inclined towards its muzzle end'through an equal angle with respect to-a plane passing through the base of the barrel and said common axis in a counter-clockwise direction.

6. In a multi-barrel gun, a plurality of gun barrels rigidly connected for conjoint rotation about a common central axis, the breech and muzzle ends thereof lying respectively in a pair of axially-spaced parallel circles of equal radii, said muzzle ends of said barrels being to tated in a counter-clockwise direction in its respective circumference through an angle of substantially 5 with respect to the circumference of the circle formed by the barrels at the breech end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED'STATES PATENTS 45,623 Natcher Dec. 27, 1864 502,185 Gatling July 25, 1893 594,710 Simpson Nov. 30, 1897 598,822 Simpson Feb. 8, 1898