US36273A - Improvement in mounting ordnance - Google Patents

Description

Ilnirrnn rares artnr Ormes.

CHARLES E. BROXVN, OE WARREN, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOUNTING ORDNANC.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,2173., dated August 26,1862.

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Grammes F. BROWN, of Warren, in the county of Bristol and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mounting Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that the following is a l'ull, clear, and exactdescription ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figurel exhibits a transverse vertical section of part of the deck and side of a vessel, a side view of a gun, and a longitudinal section of its carriage, showing the gun run out and ready for firing. Eig. 2 exhibits a side view of the gun and carriage, and shows the position of the gun after it has recoiled in nring. Fig. 3 exhibits a top view of the gun and a horizontal section of the carriage, and of the side of the vessel, and shows the position in which the gun is kept until the time of preparation for action. i

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several igures.

rlhis improvement relates, principally, to the invention ,which constitutes the subject-matter of Letters Patent No. 13,249, granted to me on the 17 th of July, 1S55-viz., mounting` a cannon in a carriage of circular form, which is arranged to close the port-hole or embrasure through which the piece works, but to turn freely in a horizontal direction, and'which has an opening through it of suitable size and form to receive the gun and to allow it the necessary upward and downward movement to give it the desired elevation. The object 4of that invention was more especially the p romuzzle or breech loading gun to be used equally well as may be desired, and the said improvement consists of a novel mode of applying the gun in combination with the carriage for those purposes.

To enable others to make and apply my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation. Y

A is the portion of the carriage made of spheroidal or spherical form, as described in my before-mentioned Letters Patent, with upright journals a c', and with an opening, s,

through-it for the passage of the gun G, and

having firmly secured to the lower part of its rear a long tail-piece, b. rIhe lower journal, a, is received in a step-bearing, o, secured to the deck B, andthe upper journal, a', in a bearing, c', secured to the interior of the side of the vessel; and the tail-piece b has attached to it a roller, d, which runs on a semicircular iron way, c, bolted to the deck, and the upper journal'and its bearing and the side of the vessel are thereby relieved in a great degree of the strain to which they would otherwise be subject. rBhe port-hole t i in the side of the vessel is made of a form for the spheroidal or circular main portion A of the carriage, to fit closely within it, in the manner shown in Figs. l and 3. v

Instead of making the gun with trunnions and fitting the trunnions to bearings in the opening s of the carriage, as described in my before-mentioned Letters Patent, I now propose to make the gun without trunnions, and to provide it on its under side with one or more projections or rigidly-attached pieces, f, tted to a dovet-ail groove, g, in a slide, B, and attach this slide to the carriage by a pin, h, passing transversely through it and through the carriage, the axis ofthe said pin intersecting the axis of the journals a a. A portionof the slide B is received wit-hin the opening s in the main portion A of the carriage, but the said slide extends far enough back to support the breech of the gun when the latter is drawn back far enough to bring its muzzle entinely within the spheroidal or circular part of the carriage, as shown in Fig. 2; and the elevating-screw C, which screws through the tail-piece 1) operates upon the rear portion of the said slide, to adjust the elevation of the gun, the gun having no movement relatively to the said slide but in alongitudiual direction, and moving with the said slide in a vertical direction. The longitudinal movement permitted to the gun upon the slide B should be sufficient to allow the muzzle to be projected through the carriage, as shown in Fig. l, as far as is desirable for ring, and to be drawn entirely within the spheroidal or circular portion of the carriage, as shown in Fig. 2, for the purpose of permitting the carriage to make a quarter-revolution in either direction about the axis of its journals a a', by which means the muzzle of the gun is brought within the vessel, as shown in the plan view Fig.V 3, the gun being then in line with the side of the vessel, and one side of the spheroidal or circular main portionv A of the carriage being then made to constitute a port which not only closes the port-hole M more effectually and affords a better protection to the men workA ing the guns than when the opening s is toward the outside of the vessel, but effectually protects the gun if the said portion A of the carriage be made of lproper material and strength. I propose to build this portion of the carriage of wrought-iron 'or of Wrought and cast iron combined, in such manner as to have the greatest power of resisting the impact of cannon-balls or other heavy projectiles.

The loading of the gun either at the muzzle or breech is performed after turning the carriage to the position shown in Fig. 3 without the necessity of running the gun forward in the carriage to such a position as shown in that figure, which is the position in which the gun is secured by lashings to the sides of the' vessel until the time of preparation for action or exercise. v

. The above-described construction of the gun-carriage is applicable to the casemate-guns of fortifications as well as to those on board ships, the portion A o f the carriage being applied to the walls of the fort in the same manner as to the side of the vessel and the embrasure being made to t the said portion of the carriage in the same manner as the port i i.

The second feature of my improvement is illustrated in Figs. l and 2. D is the air-cylinde'nrmly secured to the slide' B below and parallel with the bore of the gun; and E is the piston, which works in the said cylinder, firmly secured to a rod, j, both ends of which are firmly secured to the under side of the gun, and which passes through air-tight stuffing-boxes in the heads of cylinder D. vThe cylinder must be of a length a little greater than the intended lengthof the movement of the gun on the slide B with the thickness of the piston added, and the rod must be long enough between its connections with the gun to permit the movement of the gun on the slide, the piston being at the middle of the length of the rod. Near the front end of the cylinder there is attached to it a cock, k, and near the rear end a cock, 7d, to regulate the admission or escape of air. I

To one side of the slide B, near the rear end thereof, there is attached by a fu1crum pin, Z, a catch-lever, F, whose tooth m is intended to catch the projection f on the gun and hold it back after the recoil in ring, as shown in Fig. 2, the top of the said tooth being beveled' to allow the said projection to pass easily over it, and the lever having. applied to it a spring, a, the duty of which 1s to press the tooth upward-as far as permitted .by the projection f, or, in case of the projection being out of the way, by a stoppin, p, which is attached to the slide.- llhe cocks Ic la are intended to be wholly or nearly closed when the gun is in the forward position shown in Fig. l, and when the recoil of the gun in firing takes place air is compressed in the portion of the cylinder in rear of the piston E, and a partial vacuum is produced in the portion of the cylinder in front thereof, and the gradually-increasing excess of pressure of the air in rear of the piston over that in front of it tends to resist the recoil; but this excess should be so regulated, when necessary, by a proper relative opening of the two cocks k 7c that the cannon will just arrive with its muzzle within the portion A of the'carriage, and that the projection f will pass over and be caught by the tooth my of the catch-lever F, which will prevent the gun from being driven forward again by the expansion of the air in the rear portion of the cylinder when the force of the recoil has beenspent. When the gun is thus caught, the cocks 7c k should be closed to enable the expansive force above mentioned to be held in reserve for the purpose of aiding in moving the gun forward upon the slide B after the loading has been ,performed. This closing of the cocks may be performed by tappet-s on the gun itself or by hand. After the gun has been brought Within the vessel by turning the carriage to the position shown in Fig. 8, and been loaded,'

either at the muzzle, in the usual way, or at the breech by any convenient method, the carriage is turned back again to the position I shown in Figs. l and 2, and the rear end of the lever F raised by hand to remove the tooth m from in front of the projection f, and so unlock the gun and allow it to be moved forward. While the pressure of the air in the rea-r portion of the cylinder is greater than that of the atmosphere, it aids in effecting the above movement, its effect being increased while there is a partial vacuum in the portion of the cylinder in front of the piston 5 but when the pressure before or behind the piston is equal to that of the atmosphere,`the front or back cock, 7c or 7c', as the case may be, should be opened, as by remaining closed any longer it causes an obstruction to the forward movenient of the cylinder.

The power required, in addition to that obtained from the expansion of the air in the cylinder, to move the gun forward may be applied by tackles or other mechanical means.

This mode of iirst preventing and afterward aiding in the return of the gun after the recoil may be applied in combination with guncarriages of other construction than that specified.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Combining the gun with the spheroidal,

-eoil or move back fer enough to bring its muz spherical, or circular portion A of the carriage at the muzzle or breech, substantially as herein by Ineens of a vertically-moving slide, B7 or speeifed. 1ts equlvelent, whereby 1t 1s permlttecl to re- CHARLES F. BROWN.

zle Within the said portion of the slide7 and so Witnesses:

permitted to be brought Within the Vessel in JOHN T. CHILD7 such manner as to enable it to be loaded either BELLE F. BROWN.

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