US32376A - Improvement in ordnance - Google Patents

Description

T. J. MAY-ALL FIELD ORDNANGB, 6w.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented May 21, 1861.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, &c.

No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

Mz'incsses:

5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGB, &c. No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, &c.

No. 32,376. Patented May 21, 1861.

d x'znessesz I cwj r 5 Shaets-Sheet; 5.

T. J. MAYALL. FIELD ORDNANGE, 820.

-EQAM I Patented May 21, 1861.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

THOMAS J. MAYALL, or ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 82,376, dated May 21, lt'ltil.

scription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, formsa full and exact specification of the same, wherein -I have set forth the natnre and principles of my said improvements, by which my invention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as'I'claim and'desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plates of drawings represent.myimprovements. Plate 1, Figure 1 is a plan or top View. Plate 2, Fig. 2, and Plate 3, Fig. 3, are side elevations. Fig. 4, Plato4, is a central longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 5, Plate 5, is a view of one end. Fig, 6, Plate 5, is a transverse vertical sectiontakeu' in plane of theline A B, Fig. 1, Plate 1.

The present invention relates to certain improvements'in ordnance for field-pieces, &c., for which I have: made other applications for separate Letters Patent, .i'u which the various necessary operations required in loading and firingcannon, &c., are performed automatically by machinery. llhe particular arrangement of devices for accomplishingthese objects will constitute the subject of the present application for Letters Patent.

A A in the drawings represent a base-such as the deck of a vessel, 850.; B B, a platform or carriage supported on four wheels, 0 G (J G, having elastic tires of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material.

It has been found, particularly on board of ships, to be a source of inaccuracy in firing, and as greatly interfering with the taking aim, when, in consequence of a succession of discharges of the guns, the jars or vibrations imparted t0 the ship are so great as to cause it heavily to roll from one side to the other. To obviate, or at least to reduce or decrease, the vibrations thus imparted to the ship I interpose between the deck and the wheels an elastic or yielding substance by providing said wheels withan indie-rubber orgutta-percha tire, as shown.

Upon the carriage B B is placed, so as to swing round upon the same upon suitable friction-rollers, a circular plate, D D, the standards'E E of which serve as hearings to the axles F F of a frame, G G, which serves to support the gun-barrel H H and its revolving cylinderI I, and is susceptible of being raised and depressed and set-at any desired angle with the horizon (turning loosely on the axles F F) by means of devices the operation of which will be hereinafter described. The cylinder I I has formed in it a series of chambers, J J, &c.,..aud hasan intermittent rotary motion in a verticalplane imparted to it, so as to bring-each of the chambers J J, &c., in apposition with the gun-barrel E H, as follows:

K-K in the drawings represent a drivingshaft having a conical-shaped pulley,L, and laterally-sliding friction-clutch M, operating together so as to produce any desired amount of speed. .A band or belt moving by steam or horse power-canbe applied to the clutch M, or the main shaft may be driven by handpower. On the end of the driving-shaft K is a gear-wheel, N, which, by means of an intermediate gear, 0, communicates motion to 'a-gearwheel, P, the cluster of gears N, 0, and

P being connected-bytoggle or swingingarms Q Q R R, turning loosely upon bearings at S, T, and U. By thus connecting and supporting the gears N, O, and P it will be seen that the two gears O and P can he brought nearer to the.gear N or travel away from the same, as the case may be, without disengaging any one of them with the others. The importance of this arrangement of gearing will be manifest, as it permits the main carriage'to travel freely in a longitudinal direction when the recoil and resetting of the gun takes place without disconnecting the devices which communicate motion from the driving-shaft. The gear P is on one end of a horizontal shaft, V, extending under the carriage, on the other end of which is a bevel-gear, W, that engages with a similar gear, X, on the lower end of a short vertical shaft, Y, that passes upward loosely through thecarriage B B and circular plate -I) D, and has on its upper end a bevel-gear, Z, that engages with a similar gear, a, placed a emai s on a-horizontal shaft, F F turning loosely in proper bearings formed in the standards E E of the circular plate D.

Fixed, to one end of the shaft E is a gearwheel, b, which, by means of gears c' and d, im

partsa rotary motion to the shaft 0, upon which the geard is placed.

On the shaft 0 is a projection, f, the office of which is to disengage at proper intervals of time a spring-clutch, g, from a series of holes in the chambered cylinder or magazine, the

[said spring-clutch, when not thus disengaged by the action of the projection f, serving to firmly hold the cylinder in position while being loaded, 86c. i g

On one end of the shaft 0 is a crank, i,having attached to it, or forming a part thereof, a suitable projection or stud, j, which as the said shaft e revolves abuts against and moves a lever-pawl, k l, swinging upon a fulcrum at m.

The spring-pawl h l is-thus made to engage at intervals with a ratchet-wheel, it, placed on.

the same shaft 0 with the magazine I, which will thus receive an intermittent rotary mQ-f tion.-

Iwill next proceed to describe the manner in which the several sections or chambers J J,

850., of the cylinder 1 are loaded or charged with suitable cartridges, itbein g premised that the same movement which causes the several chambers or chamber J to be brought in apposition to the gun-barrel also causes one'of the several sections or chambers J J, &c., to

be brought in snccessionin proper position for the insertion of cartridges.

To-the crank B of the shaft 0, above referred to, is attached,so as swing'loosely thereon,- a connecting-rod, p. The connecting-rod pengages at or near one end with a short shaft, 1g of the traveling carriage r, which thereby receives a reciprocating rectilinear motion.

Attached to the travelingcarriage r, or forming a part thereof, is the stock 8 of a rammer, t, which rammer t consequently receives the same motion-as the traveling carriage, so that the charges or cartridges being fed into a suitable hopper, u, will at the proper intervals of time be driven into the several sections or chambers of the magazine.

In case from any accident the contents of any one chamber of the magazine should fail to be discharged the rainmer is prevented from driving in another cartridge by its being connected with a bent rod, '0, which, playing in suitable bearings of standards w to, abuts :against an arm, w, turning upon a center at y, and so actuates it as to disengage the connect-- ing-rod from the short shaft of the sliding carriage r, above referred to, the rammer t and arm a: being retracted by means of springs z and A, one of which is coiled around the rod 1: and the other around the center or shaft 'of the arm a. Simultaneously with the loading or charging of one 'of the chambers J J, &c., one of the said chambers is being sponged or swabbed outby means of devices which Iwill uowproceed to describe.

The swabbingout isaccomplished by somewhat substantially similar means as was described for the loading, e being a'crank-shaft, before referred to,,towhich is'attached, so as to swing loosely thereon, a connecting-rod, 0. This connecting-rod G is attached at its other end too short shaft, l), of the traveling ear riage E, which carriage has consequently imparted to it a reciprocating rectilinear motiom, E is the stock of the swabber G, the stock F being attached to or forming apart of the traveling carriage. The swabher, in consequence of the reciprocating.rectilinear motion imparted to the carriage E, as above described, will travel in andout of the several sections or chambers of the magazine successiyely, there- .by completely cleansing and sponging the same during the entire revolution of the maga zine.

' H is 'a bent rod connected with .the swabber, which, in case of thenon-discharge of any of the several sections, will, by reason of the, swabb'er abutting against the charge in the section, abut against the arm I, which arm I, turning upon a center at'J, will disconnect the connecting-rod O and traveling carriage E. The rod H and arm I are retractedby means of springs K and L1on'e coiled around the rod H andthe other around the center of the arm I. I

The discharge of each chamber or section successively is provided for by the following means: V

' M isa vertical sliding frame, which has a vertical motion imparted to it by meansof two studs or projections, N, one onthe interior surface of the crank-shaft i and the other on the same surface of the crank-shaft B, which studs N, upon the revolution of the cranks'i and B, interlock or engage with suitable notches, O, of vertical sliding pieces P P of-the sliding frame M.

'To the vertical sliding frame M isattached a suitable rod, Q, which, upon the successive chambers or sections being'brought in proper position, will, by means of the downward motion imparted to the frame M, as described, enter into suitable touch-holes, B" B1,; &c. formed in the several sections or chambers. At the moment that the rod Q enters one of thetouch-holes a spark of electricity may be sent through the same, the said rod being connected at one end with a suitable battery. The sliding vertical frame is retracted after the rod has entered the touchholes by means of springs S S, coiled around suitable rods, T T, uponwhieh the frame'slides.

The th umbing ot'lthe touch-holesafter each discharge is effected by means of a sliding piece U which, upon the downward motion horizon, as follows: VV' is a verticalscrew passing through a rocker-shaft, X, of the rear portion of the swinging frame, so that upon turning a nut, Y, to the right-or left the swinging frame G G, and, consequently the gun-barrel, magazine, &c., will be elevated or.

depressed. The screw-shaft W terminates in a forked strap, Z attached by swinging joints to a carriage, a, made to travel upon the arc of a circle by means of a gear-wheel, b, that engages with the teeth of a toothed are, 0', thereby slewing the gun to the right or left,

as may be desired. The traveling carriage is set and held at any desired position upon the toothed are by means of .a wedge-shaped sliding rod, d, which, upon a forward motion being imparted toit, causes a strap, 0, to bear upward against the shoulders f of a grooved way upon which the carriage bears. The strap is disengaged from the shoulders by the pulling' out of 'the wed ge-shaped rod.

In the accompanying drawings the gun is represented as being susceptible of traveling horizontally upon a portion of the arc of acircle; but it will be obvious that by continuing the toothed arc so as .to fo'rma complete circle the gun canbe made to travel around the'entire circumference thereof.

From the foregoingdescription it will be seen that the guiding'or steering of the gun, so as to discharge projectiles in every possible direction,can be readily efi'ected during the time of and without interrupting the various operations of loading, discharging,-&c.

To provide for the recoil of the gun, so as to reset it in the exact position which it occupied previous to a discharge, I attach to each end of the gun-carriage B powerful rubber or other springs, g g, 81.0., so arranged and operating that both their tension and compression will act equally upon the gun'carriage. These springs I prefer to construct as follows: h h arecrossheads which slide freely upon side bars, 6 5. These bars'are connected to an eye, j, which is fittedover a suitable standard, It. The heads h bear upon the ends of a hollow elastic cylin der of indie-rubber, l, or other suitable elastic spring. Through the center of the spring and through the cross-heads passes a rod, m, terminating in a loop that is fastened to the gun-carriage B B. n n are washers of indiarubber. It will be seen by this arrangement that the gun in recoiling will be acted upon so as to completely and accurately reset it by a double force-via, that of theexpansive force of the compressedsprings at each end of the gun-carriage.

Having thus describedmy invention, I shall state my claims as follows:

1. The arrangement herein described of supporting the gun-barrel and its revolving cylinder, so that the same may be swung round horizontally and be raised, depressed, and set at any desired angle with the horizon, by means of a brace or frame extending under said barreland cylinder,'and being pivoted or hung on a stationary axle in suitable brackets fast on a plate capable of horizontal rotation, substantially as shown and described.

2. The. arrangement and application, substan tially as described, with respect to the frame supporting the gun, and the mechanism 'for automatically performing its functions, of

the devices for pointing the gun in any desired direction, so that the latter maybe eflected independentlyof, simultaneonslyand without interferingwith, the operation of the former, substantially' as shown and described;

3. Arranging the two shafts thatreceive and impart motion to the gun-operating mechanism in such a'manner tliatthey shall belocated within the vertical plane passing transversely through the center of gravity of the gun and its appurtenances, or thereabout, whereby the gun may be operated with ease, substantially as shown and described.

4. Providing the rotary shaft 0 with a stud or projection, f, when so arranged as to actuate the' spring-clutch with which it is combined at every revolution of said shaft and at proper intervals of time to release its hold on the breech, as herein se3t'orth.

5. The rotary shaft 8 and the stud or projectionj, when the same are combined with and arranged in relation to the breech-operating lever-pawl to actuate the same to perform its functions, as shown and described. v

THOS. J. MAYALL. Witnesses:

' J osnru GAVETT, A. W; Bsown.

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