US2946263A - Gun equilibrator - Google Patents

Description

Filed Sept. 12, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

LAWRENCE BRUEHL BY ATTORNEY July 26, 1960 BRUEHL sun EQUILIBRATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 12, 1952 LAWRENCE BRUEHL ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 12, 1952 m w 0 R N ms mm E m A L ATTORNEY GUN EQUILIBRATOR Lawrence Bruehl, Vestal, N.Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 12, 1952, Ser. No. 309,345

7 Claims. (CI. 89-37) In modern weapon design it'has been the general practice to move the gun forward relative to the carriage and locate the trunnions of the tipping parts closer to the breach of the gun and considerably in the rear of the center of mass of the gun parts. In guns mounted on tanks, such mounting with the trunnions close to the breach is an advantage in that larger and longer shells can be handled more easily and also more room is available for crew and equipment. This creates a condition of muzzle preponderance which must be equalized, otherwise there will be undue strain on the elevating mechanism and diificulty in elevating the gun. Devices known as equilibrators have been used for this equalizing purpose. Such equilibrators exert a force on the tipping parts which tends to elevate the piece, the torque being substantially equal and opposite to that produced by the unbalanced weight of the gun forward of the trunnions. Equilibrators of the prior art have been of the counterbalance type, spring type, or of the pneumatic type.

In the use of guns in tanks, space limitations have hindered the application of equilibrators. Equilibrators of the counterbalance type are extremely heavy and those of the spring type are also bulky.

According to the present invention a hydropneumatic equilibrator is provided which is compact and designed to be mounted above the gun between the gun and turret. Equilibrating force is applied to the gun by the compression of gas in the equilibrator system and, in addition, provision is made for applying a supplemental or augmenting equilibrating force when such supplemental force is needed. Guns used in tanks usually are provided with an elevating system and in modern designs this elevating system is of .a hydraulic type. There is an elevation cylinder, and provision is made to force liquid from one side of the piston to the other, thereby elevating or depressing the gun.

According to the present invention and as an object thereof, use is made of the elevating cylinder to detect unbalanced forces which would impede elevation of the gun. After detection of such unbalanced forces, provision is made to use these forces for'operating a valve, which valve in turn, through a hydraulic arrangement, applies supplemental counterbalancing pressure to the equilibration system. This supplemental counterbalancing pressure may be positive or negative, i.e. it may be a pressure added to or one subtracted from the normal pressure created by the compression of gas in the equilibration system.

Provision is made in the equilibration system by means of a diiferential piston arrangement for applying the augmenting pressure to the equilibration system when unbalanced forces are detected. The augmenting pressure could be directly applied to the equilibration system if a sufficiently large equilibration cylinder and piston were used. But, in order to conserve space, a small equilibration cylinder and piston is preferable in which case a differential piston arrangement is necessary to boost the pressure of the tanks main hydraulic system.

B-y the provision of the foregoing improved equilibration system, the equilibrator structure can be made quite compact, turrets may be kept relatively low, and a lower silhouette may be obtained. Additionalspace will also be available in the turret for ammunition storage and elevation of the gun can be effected with less physicaleifort.

In the design of equilibrators, provision is made to change the counterbalancing pressurein accordance with the angle of elevation of the tipping parts of the gun. This is done by properly locating the point of attachment' of the equilibratorto a fixed structure such as a tan-k turret and also locating the point of attachment of equilibrator to the gun and by properly coordinating these geometrical relations to the counterbalance force exerted by the equilibrator throughout the various angles of elevation assumed by the gun. The weight of the unbalanced parts of the gun and their distribution about thecenter of mass is-also a factor. However accurate the design may beastothe location of attachment parts and taking into account the location of the center of mass of the unbalancedtipping parts of the gun, .the designed equilibrator frequently does not accurately compensate at certain angles of tipping of the gun. Accordingly, there is frequently a residuum of unbalanced forces at certain elevational angles and according to the present invention, such residual-forces may be compensated and counterbalanced to thereby facilitate elevational adjustments 'of the gun.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved equilibrator with means for supplying augmenting equilibrating force when such force is needed.

The improved system of the present invention has;further utility in tank application because in tanks there is another angle which affects equilibration. This is the angle of the tank itself with respect to the horizontal. This angle varieswith undulations ofterrain and obviouslythe-designrelations of point of attachment of the equilibrator cannot take into accountsuch supplemental angular variations. Bydetecting unbalanced forces and utilizing these forces to applyaugrnenting equilibrating pressure, the forces dueto supplemental tank angle may be compensated for and counterbalanced. Accordingly, gun elevation may be effected without undue effort both at various elevational angles of the gun itself withrespect to a horizontal plane.

While the improved system ;is well adapted for tanks provided with manual elevating means, the system is also advantageous for use in automatically stabilized tank systems.

Further and other objects of the present invention will'be set forth in the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a schematic elevation showing fragments of the turret and gun and showing the equilibration cylinder and piston as well as the elevation cylinder and piston;

\Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-section'of the equilibration cylinder and piston; I

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the differential piston and its control valve;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the differential piston device, taken along the line 4-4 of'Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, transverse, longitudinal crosssection taken along the line '5--5 of Fig. 4; and

.Fig. 6 is a schematic hydraulic diagram .of the entire equilibrator system.

A specific embodiment ofthis invention is illustrated in the drawings, in which 'Fig. 1 shows schematically a gun 11 which is pivoted about its trunnions one of which is illustrated at 12, a fragment of a turret 13 is shown and, pivotally connected to both the turret 13 and the gun 11, are two cylinder and piston arrangements. Together these constitute certain elements of the equilibrator of this invention, one of them being the elevating means. The complete system of this equilibrator includes a cylinder and piston device 16 which is pivotally attached to the turret 13 and the gun 11 as illustrated. There is also an elevation cylinder and piston means 17, the primary purpose of which is to position the gun in elevation. However, there is a further means common to this elevation cylinder and piston which operates in conjunction with the equilibration cylinder and piston device 16. This further means is not shown in Fig. 1 but will be described below in connection with the other figures of the drawings.

The general purpose of the equilibrator, as has been explained above, is to apply a balancing force to the gun which is mounted in a muzzle-heavy manner. It will be evident that the force necessary to balance the gun will vary with the elevation positions of the gun about its trunnion axis. By using an equilibrator of the hydropneumatic type, such as that of the present inven tion, a cylinder and piston may be arranged to apply a counterbalancing force to the gun about its trunnion aixs. By arranging the location of the pivot points for the hydraulic cylinder and piston relative to the gun and turret, and by providing a proper amount of pressure on the hydraulic fluid of this cylinder and piston, the counter-balancing force may be made to closely match the unbalanced forces of the gun in its various elevation positions. This matching of forces is never accomplished exactly throughout the range of elevational positions of the gun. At the positions of the gun where the force applied by the equilibration cylinder does not match the unbalanced force of the gun about its trunnions, a correction may be made by means of the system of this invention which makes changes in the hydraulic pressure of the equilibration cylinder.

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically the hydraulic system for an equilibrator of this invention. The equilibration cylinder and piston device 16 is composed of a cylinder 21, a piston 22, and a piston rod 23. The cylinder 21 has a bracket 24 at the top, which bracket carries a bearing 25 for pivotally fastening the cylinder by means of a pin 26. Pin 26 is carried by brackets 28 (shown in Fig. 1) which are integrally fastened to the turret 13. Piston rod 23 has a similar bracket 29 which carries a bearing 30 for pivotally fastening the piston rod to the gun 11 (Fig. 1) by means of a pair of brackets 31 fastened to the gun. The position of equilibration cylinder and piston device 16 may be reversed so that the cylinder bracket 24 is fastened to the brackets 31 on the gun, and the piston bracket 29 is fastened to the brackets 28 on the turret. This is a matter of choice. Hydraulic fluid is introduced into a space 35 above the piston 22 by means of a passage 36 which runs longitudinally down the center of piston rod 23 and which is connected to the hydraulic system by means of an ofi-set junction 37.

There is a separate hydraulic system for this equilibration cylinder and piston device 16 which is composed of an accumulator 40 which has a gas filled bladder 41 to act as the elastic means of this separate hydraulic system. The bladder 41 may be charged to an initial pressure of the hydraulic system by means of a valved gas port 39. This separate hydraulic system includes also a valve 42 for isolating the system from the main hydraulic system of the tank. The remaining elements of this separate system include fluid pipes 43, 44, 45 and 46 which connect accumulator 40 to equilibration cylinder and piston device 16 and to differential piston regulating device 48. The equilibration cylinder and piston 16, together act to apply a counterbalancing force to the gun 11 as pointed out above. It will be evident that this force varies as the gun is elevated or depressed since such elevation or depression will cause piston 22 to move up or down within cylinder 21. Such movement of piston 22 causes a variation in the hydraulic pressure of the separate hydraulic system because these movements of the piston displace hydraulic fluid in a positive or negative manner which fluid is then forced into or out of accumulator 40 where the bladder 41 will be compressed or expanded. Compression of the bladder 41 increases the pressure in this hydraulic system, since the hydraulic fluid is substantially incompressible and bladder 41 is acting as an elastic member of the system in a well-known manner.

As was pointed out previously, the variations of counterbalancing force applied by the equilibration cylinder and piston 16 do not correspond exactly to the unbalanced forces set up by the gun in its various positions. To compensate for this failure to exactly counterbalance the unbalanced forces, differential regulating device 48 is used to regulate the pressure in the closed hydraulic system of the equilibration cylinder and piston 16. In device 48, there is a piston 49 which travels in a cylinder 50. The position of piston 49 in its cylinder 50 determines the amount of hydraulic fluid in space 51. Whenever the position of piston 49 is shifted, the amount of fluid in space 51 will be varied, and this in turn will vary the pressure in the closed hydraulic system of equilibration cylinder and piston 16 because space 51 is connected by means of a passage 52 to fluid pipe 46 which, in turn, is connected to fluid pipes 44 and 43 and thence to accumulator 40. Therefore, piston 49, if moved to the right as viewed in the drawings, will force hydraulic fluid into accumulator 40 and thereby increase the pressure. The change of volume of hydraulic fluid in accumulator 40 is absorbed by bladder '41 which then applies greater pressure to the hydraulic system since the gas within the bladder has been further compressed. The positioning of piston 49 in order to regulate the pressure in the equilibration cylinder and piston system is accomplished by means of a second piston 58 which travels in a cylinder 59 and which is directly connected to piston 49 by means of a heavy piston rod 60. Piston 58 has a somewhat greater diameter than piston 49 and may be positioned by means of introducing more or less hydraulic fluid into a space 61. The introduction of fluid into space 61 is controlled by means of a double-acting valve 64. This valve is connected to the pressure supply and the return side of a general hydraulic system which may be the main hydraulic system of the tank. The positioning of doubleacting valve 64- is accomplished by means of an unbalance detecting device which, in this instance, may be composed of the combination of hydraulic pipes 65 and 66 and the elevation cylinder-and-piston means 17. Pipes 65 and 66 lead from each side of a piston $4 in the elevation cylinder-and-piston means 17. There are throttle valves 67 and 68 which act to reduce the effect of any transient pressures due to shock conditions encountered in traveling over rough terrain. When the gun is unbalanced in such a way that pressure in pipe 65 is increased (and pressure in pipe 66 is decreased), a valve core 71 of the double-acting valve 64 will be forced upward from the neutral position as illustrated in Fig. 6. This will open a passageway for fluid from a hydraulic pipe 72 through passageways to be described in detail later, into space 61. Hydraulic fluid under system pressure will then flow into space 61 where it will act to force the larger area piston 58 to move to the right carrying with it the smaller area piston 49. Piston 49 in turn will force hydraulic fluid out of space 51 and into accumulator 40 where the gas in bladder 41 will consequently be compressed and the hydraulic pressure of the equilibration system will be increased. This means that the force applied to the gun by the equilibration cylinder unit 16 will be increased, until the gun is in balance again, at which time the pressure in pipe 65 will no longer exceed that in pipe 66 and valve core 71 will be returned to its neutral position.

apropos Actually valve core 71 is not returned to its-neutral position until pressure on the top exceeds that on the bottom of the valve core because there are no springs or other means of biasing the valve core 71 to its neutral position. Therefore, there is a continual hunting action which takes place but which is maintained at a non-harmful amplitude by the natural damping forces and effects of the system. Considering the valve core '71 as being effectively its neutral position, no more fluid may flow into or out of space 61 of the differential piston unit 48.

it will be obvious that the reverse action takes place when an unbalance of forces on the gun tends to pull the piston in the elevating cylinder-and piston means down, because such action will increase the fluid pressure in hydraulic pipe so and decrease the pressure in pipe'65 which will force valve core 71 down (as viewed in Fig. 6), and in this instance passageways will be connected from-space 61 to hydraulic pipe 73. Hydraulic pipe '73 is connected to hydraulic common return pipes 74 and 75, which, in turn, lead back to the sump and common return of the main hydraulic system which may be the casing of a hydraulic pump 77. Therefore, fluid will flow out of space 61 and pistons 58 and 19 will move to the left as viewed in Fig. 6 which will reduce the pressure on the equilibration hydraulic system in the reverse manner from that described above when an increase was assumed. That is, the movement of piston 4-9 to the left will increase the volume of space 51, which will allow fluid to flow into the added volume and the fluid so flowing will be supplied by the accumulator 4% where the gas in bladder 41 is allowed to expand, reducing its pressure on the equilibration system.

When the equilibrator is first energized, the main hydraulic system will be turned on so that the hydraulic pump 77, which is schematically illustrated, will produce system pressure in pressure pipes 73, 79, 8d, 81, 82, 83 and 72. The equilibration hydraulic system may then be charged to main system pressure by opening a valve 85 located in pressure pipe 79, and valve 42 located in a connecting pipe as illustrated. This will charge the equilibrator system and accumulator 4b to system pressure. Then valve 85 will be closed and a hand-operated booster pump 86 will be operated to increase the pressure of the equilibration system until the gun 11 is balanced, i.e., until no difference of force is necessary to operate a hand elevation pump 37 in either direction (to elevate or depress the gun). After this, valve 42 will be closed to isolate the equilibration hydraulic system and avoid any leakage back through the booster pump as.

The elevation cylinder and piston means 17 is operated by hand elevation pump $7 to determine the elevational position of the gun 11. A piston 94 is secured to a piston rod 95 which is plvotally fastened to the gun 11 by means of a conventional bracket illustrated. A cylinder 96 has a bracket member 97 for pivotal connection to the turret 13. By circulating fluid from one side of the piston 94 to the other by means of hand elevation pump 87, the piston 94 and cylinder 96 may be relatively displaced which will in this instance vary the position of elevation of the gun 11. There is a conventional noback hydraulic valve device lilll located between hand pump 87 and the cylinder 96 in order to prevent reverse circulation of fluid caused by road shocks or other causes from being felt back in the hand pump 87. Pressure pipe 31 is connected to hand pump 87 and acts to keep a bias pressure on the elevation cylinder and piston 17 to eliminate friction inside the casing of the pump 87. Without such a pressure pipe the handle of pump 87 could only be turned with great difficulty. Furthermore, pressure pipe 81 provides a small pressure leak into the elevation system.

There is a bleed valve 103 inhydraulic pipe 104 which is connected to one end of space 51 in cylinder 50 of the diflerential piston regulating device 48. The purpose of this bleed valve is to bleed off any trapped air in the equilibration hydraulic system when it is first put into operation. There is also an indicator rod 105, which may be seen through a perforated guard sleeve 131. Rod 105 is connected into-piston 58 andextendsthrough the left end of differential piston regulating device 48 operating to give visual indication of the position of pistons 5-8 and 49. Fluid is maintained in space '88 behind piston 22 oft-he equilibration cylinder 16 by means of hydraulic pipes :89-and 90 which are connected to common return pipe 75. Likewise, there is a hydraulic-pipe 126 which is connected to-centra-l-space 127 which is between'the two-pistons SS and 49. The purpose of-these hydraulic connections is to drain the spaces 88 and 1270f hydraulic fluidso that the pistons 58, 49 and 22 will not becomelockedin position by hydraulic fluid which may leak into these spaces.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show details of the differential piston regulating device. A poppet valve 53, located at the right hand end of the 'diiferential piston device as illustrated, is shown in its closed position but will be open whenever there is a predetermined amount of pressure on the mainsystem. This valve is pressure-operated and acts to isolate the differential piston regulating device from the equilibration hydraulic system Whenever hydraulic pressure of the main system falls below a given level. Hydraulic pipe 83 introduces hydraulic fluid under pressure from the main hydraulic system to a cylindrical space 1136. This fluid being under pressure tends'to-raise poppet valve 53 by means of an integral piston 107. In opposition to this force, thereis a'spring which tends to force the poppet valve downward onto its seat. Whenever the hydraulic pressure in the-main-system falls below a given level, spring 110 will close the poppet valve 53 and isolate the equilibration system from regulating piston 51. The reason for having this provision is to keep the equilibration cylinder and piston 16 (Fig. 6 operating properly (even though not being regulated for minor discrepancies) in the event of hydraulic system failure of any sort. To illustrate this point, assume that main hydraulic pump 77 has failed, and an unbalanced condition of the gun is detected by valve 64 which calls for addition of fluid to chamber 61. Valve core 7-1 will therefore be moved so as to connect pressure pipe 72 to the chamber -61. There being no pressure on the fluid in pipe 72 because of the failure of pump 77, fluid would flow in-the reverse direction out of chamber 61 and this would only make the unbalance of thegun-worse instead of improving it. By having poppet valve 53, however, the

failure of pump 77 would cause the-poppet valve to close by the action of the spring 111 and then no actions of the differential piston device 48 would eflect the equilibration cylinder and piston 16 in any Way. The poppet valve 53 is hydraulically balanced by means of an internal passage 111 which introduces fluid from the equilibration hydraulic system into the space 112 above the poppet. When the poppet valve is open, cha mber 51 of the differential piston regulator is directly connected to the equilibration hydraulic system by means of the passage 52 and fluid pipe an. Upper cylindrical space 114, .in

which the piston 167 travels, is vented to the air by a passage 115 to allow free movement of the ,air above the piston 167 whenever it is moved up or down inv the space 114.

The details of double-acting unbalance detector valvethe gun 11 about its trunnions 12. Such an unbalanced condition might be evidenced by numerous devices which would actuate valve core 71, but I prefer to use the means shown which utilizes the differential of pressure taken from the elevation cylinder by means of hydraulic pipes 65 (see Fig. 4) and 66 as previously explained with reference to Fig. 6. The hydraulic pipes 65 and 66 are connected to the spaces 121 and 122 at the ends of pistons 117 and 116 respectively. Pipe 65 is not shown in Fig. 3 because of the location of the view taken.

Assuming a diiferential of pressure exists which will cause the valve 71 to be moved upward, this will open the upper valve passage which is formed between piston 116 and a sleeve 123. Hydraulic fluid may then flow from pressure pipe 72 into annular passage 119 and from there past the edge of piston 116 into a central annular section 124. From here, fluid may pass directly through passage 125 into space 61. The increase of fluid in space 61 thus occasioned, tends to force piston 58 and connected pis ton 51 to the right as viewed in Fig. 3 and hence to increase the pressure in the equilibration hydraulic system as explained above.

The reverse action takes place at the regulating piston 49 if the unbalanced forces on the gun about its trunnion axis are in the opposite direction. For example, assume that the gun 11 has come to rest in a position where it is breach-heavy, i.e. the equilibration unit 16 is applying more than enough force to balance the gun about its trunnions. In such case, elevation piston 94 (Fig. 6) is being pulled down in its cylinder 96 (Fig. 6), and so pressure in hydraulic pipe 66 is greater than that in pipe 65. This means that pressure in space 122 is greater than that in space 121, and so valve 71 will move downward. When valve core 71 moves downward, upper piston 116 slides down in its sleeve 123, and so the upper valve connecting annular passage 119 with central annular space 124 remains closed while lower valve, connecting annular passage 120 with central space 124 around the edges of piston 117 and a lower sleeve 129, is opened. The result is that chamber 61 is connected to return pipe 73 via passage 125 and the lower valve path just described as open, which connection withdraws fluid from chamber 61 and so acts to reduce the pressure on the equilibration hydraulic system in a manner described above.

The indicator rod 105 is clearly illustrated in Figs. and 3. The indicator rod 105 is threaded into the face of piston 58 at the center thereof and has a lock nut to securely fasten it in place as may be seen in Fig. 3. The rod 105 extends out the left end of the differential piston unit 48 and has an appropriate type of oil seal 128 to prevent hydraulic fluid from leaking out around the rod. The free end of rod 105 is encased in a perforated sleeve 131 which is threaded into the cap or head end of cylinder 59 of the differential piston unit and secured by a nut shown. The perforations in sleeve 131 allow the position of indicator rod 105 to be visually observed. The purpose of this indicator is to determine the position of pistons 58 and 49 in their cylinders so that an initial position of operation which is at the center of travel of these pistons may be obtained when the equilibration system is first set up.

There are adjustable stop members 132 and 133 located in the housing of double-acting valve 71. These stops act to limit the travel of the valve 71 in either direction by contacting the pistons 116 and 117 of the valve. There are appropriate seals used wherever they are necessary to keep the hydraulic fluid system tight. Also, within the system, there are 0 rings or piston rings used, as illustrated, to obtain the desired hydraulic action.

The details of the equilibration cylinder and piston 116 are clearly shown in Fig. 2. It Will be seen that the pressure on the hydraulic fluid in chamber 35 at the end of piston 22 will determine the force applied at the bearings 25 and 30 which are rigidly attached to the cylinder 21 and the piston 22 respectively. This pressure is not hampered by any back pressure from space 88 because the fluid behind the piston 22, i.e. in the space 88, is

under no pressure and is directly connected to the return side of the main hydraulic system by pipe 89.

Operation Referring to Figs. 1 and 6, a rsum of the operation of the system, covering the main features, is as follows: Whenever the gun 11 (Fig. l) is not in balance about its trunnions 12, there will be an unequal pressure created on the two sides of the elevation piston 94 within the elevation cylinder 17. This unbalance of fluid pressure will be transmitted via the illustrated hydraulic pipes 65 and 66 (Fig. 6) to the double acting valve 64 and will cause the core 71 of this valve to be positioned in one direction or the other, so as to either admit additional hydraulic fluid to the chamber 61 (behind large piston 58) or allow some fluid to be extracted from this chamber 61. This action will cause large piston 58 of the differential piston regulating device 48, to be moved in one direction or the other, and therefore to move at the same time and to the same extent the small piston 49 of the same regulating device 48. The movement of small piston 49 will either compress or expand the fluid located in chamber 51, at the end of the piston 49. This compression or expansion of fluid in the chamber 51 is actually only a change of volume of this chamber, because it takes place in a separate independent hydraulic system that includes the passage 52 and the hydraulic pipes 46, 44, 43 and accumulator 40, as well as hydraulic pipe 45 and the cylinder and piston device 16 to which hydraulic pipe 45 leads. It is the gas in bladder 41 which is compressed or expanded. The change in pressure of the hydraulic fluid in this independent hydraulic system that is thus created, changes the force upon the piston 22 within the cylinder and piston device 16 so that the equilibration force applied to the gun 11' by the cylinder and piston device 16 is also varied the corresponding amount. The variation in equilibration force that is thus created will be of such nature as to tend to reduce the unbalance that was detected by the fluid pressures on elevation cylinder 17, to zero. Thus it will be evident that the action of the system is such as to tend to maintain the gun 11 in complete balance about its trunnions 12 at all times.

While I have described a specific embodiment of the invention, many equivalent variations will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, and this disclosure is to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. An equilibrator of the hydropneumatic type for exerting balancing forces at various angles of elevation of a gun and including in combination, a source of system pressure, detecting means for detecting unbalanced forces which impede elevation of the gun, means controlled by said detecting means and utilizing system pressure for creating augmenting equilibration pressure, and means for applying said augmenting pressure to the hydropneumatic system of the equilibrator for the purpose described.

2. An equilibrator of the hydropneumatic type for exerting balancing forces at various angles of elevation of a gun and including in combination, detecting means for detecting unbalanced forces which impede elevational adjustments of the gun, and means controlled by said detecting means for regulating the balancing forces of the equilibrator to compensate for any unbalanced forces detected.

3. An improved equilibrator for a gun comprising hydro-pneumatic means for exerting variable balancing forces at various angles of elevation of the gun, and including in combination unbalanced force detecting means for detecting unbalanced forces which would impede elevational adjustments of the gun, a pressure regulating means for regulating the equilibrating pressures of the hydropneumatic means of the equilibrator, and means controlled by said detecting means for controlling the said pressure regulating means.

4. An improved equilibrator for a gun comprising hydraulic cylinder means for exerting variable balancing forces at various angles of elevation of the gun, and including in combination unbalanced force detecting means for detecting unbalanced forces which would impede elevational adjustments of the gun, differential piston hydraulic means for varying the pressure in said hydraulic cylinder means to regulate the balancing force of the equilibrator, and means controlled by said detecting means for controlling said difierential piston hydraulic means.

5. An improved equilibrator for a gun comprising a hydraulic cylinder and piston coupling for exerting variable balancing forces at various angles of elevation of the gun, and including in combination hydraulically actuated unbalanced force detecting means for detecting unbalanced forces which would impede elevational adjustments of the gun, difierential piston hydraulic means connected to said hydraulic cylinder and piston coupling for varying the pressure in said cylinder to regulate the balancing force of the equilibrator, and hydraulic valve means controlled by said detecting means for controlling said differential piston hydraulic means.

6. An equilibrator for guns adapted for tank use, said equilibrator having components operatively connected to the tank and to tilting parts of the gun, an elevating cylinder and piston structure also operatively connected to 1% the tank and to tilting parts of the gun, said equilibrator having associated hydropneumatic means to provide variable counterbalancing forces to the gun at variable angles of elevation of the gun, means to detect pressure dilferentials upon opposite sides of the piston in the elevating cylinder, diiferential piston hydaulic means for supplying regulating equilibration pressure to the hydropneurnatic means of the equilibrator, and means controlled by said detecting means for controlling the differential piston hydraulic means to efiect regulation of the equilibration pressure.

7. An equilibrator for guns adapted for tank use, said equilibrator comprising a hydraulic cylinder and piston coupling operatively connected to the tank and to tilting parts of the gun, an elevating cylinder and piston structure also operatively connected to the tank and to tilting parts of the gun, said equilibrator having a hydraulic pressure system connected to said cylinder and piston coupling for providing variable counterbalancing forces to the gun at variable angles of elevation of the gun, said pressure system including a differential piston for superimposing regulating equilibrium pressures into said pressure system, means to detect pressure diiferentials upon opposite sides of the piston in the elevating cylinder, and hydraulic valve means controlled by said detecting means for determining the position of said ditierential piston to cause the regulation of the pressure in said pres sure system.

No references cited.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEicE CERTIFICATE I REQllQN Patent Nos 2 946 263 July 26 1960 Lawrence Bruehl It is hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters- Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 10, line 6, for "hydaulic" read hydraulic line 22, for "equilibrium" read equilibration Signed and sealed this 4th day of April 1961a A tiE Q ERNEST W. SWIDER WXXXGE5 ARTHUR W. CROCKER Attesting Oificer Acting Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT erricr CERTIFEQATE i Q ECHQN Patent Noe 2 946 263 July 26 1960 Lawrence Bruehi It is hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters- Patent should read as corrected below,

Column 10 line 6, for "hydaulic" read hydraulic line 22 for "equilibrium" read equilibration Signed and sealed this 4th day of April 1961,

iii? ERNEST w. SWIDER WWW ARTHUR W. CROCKER Attesting ()fiiccr Acting Commissioner of Patents

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