US693702A - ?evating and sight-adjusting gear for ordnance. - Google Patents

Description

' .ELEVATING AND (No Model.)

HQ". GRENFELL.

SIGHT ADJUSTING GEAR FOR ORDNANCE (Application filed July 15, 1901.

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5 Sheets-Sheet N0. 693,702, Patented Feb. l8, I902.

' '35"; ll. GRENFELL.

'ELEVA'UNG AND, SIGHT ADJUSTING' GEAR FOB OBDNANCE.

H (Application filed July 15, 1901.) (N0 Modal.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

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No. 693,702. Q Patented Feb. l8, I902.

H. H. GRENFELL.

GLEVATING AND SIGHT ADJUSTING GEAR FOB OBDNANGE,

(Application flied July 15, 1901.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Shoat 3.

No. 693,702. Patented Feb. !8, 1902.

- H. H. GRENFELL.

I .-.-E|.'"VAT|RG AND SIGHT ADJUSTiNG GEAR FOB oauwnucz.

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"N0. 693,702. i Patented Feb. I8, I902.

' H. H. GRENFELL.

ELEVATING AND $iGHT ADJUSTING GEAR FOR OBDNANCE.

lApplicat ion med July 15, 1901.;

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UNITED STATES PA ENT Orricn.

IIUBERT H. GRENFELL, OF l-IANT S, ENGLAND.

-EVATING AN D SIGHT-ADJUSTING GEAR FOR ORD NANCE.

SIPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,702,date d February 18, 1902.

Application filed July 15, 1901. Serial No. 68,396. iNo model.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern:,

Be it known that I, HUBERT HENRY GREN- FELL, a subject of the King of Great Britain,

residing at Hants, England, have invented.

certain new and useful Improvements in Elevating and Sight-Adjusting Gear for Oldnance, of which the following is a specification.

To insure the maximum of accuracy combined with rapidity in the fire of naval ordnance, the attention of the captain of the gun should be concentrated on the soleduty of discharging it as soon as his sights come in line with the object to be fired at. This being in itself a difficult and delicate task, demanding his undivided attention, any improvement in the direction of removingcauses likely to disturb the captain is of the utmost importance, and any arrangements by which the other duties he is at present charged with and which distract his attention from his chief and all-important duty are removed tend directly to increase the accuracy and rapidity of his fire. With the arrangements heretofore in use in addition to firing his gun at the correct instant the captain of the gun has to alter his sights for every change of range (and the range under modern conditions of high speed at sea is in a state of continuous change) and also to conduct both the elevating and training of his gun. These are three distinct and separate operations, requiring'the working 'of three different hand-wheels in three difierent places with one hand, the other hand having to be kept continuously on the firing-key, and since the captains eye should never leave the sights he has to feel for the elevating and training hand-Wheels. When, however, he is adjusting his sights his eye must necessarily be taken 0% the object, after which he has again to find his'object and bring his gun to bear on it.

.Now bymy invention not only can the cap: tain or firer keep his eye continuously along the sights, but whatever alterations is being made in the adjustment .for change of range the rear sight does not move from his eye, and thealinement is therefore not altered. Moreover, as theoperations for these changes are conducted by means of myimproved'gear independently of the firer it follows that he may keep -l's eye continuously along the sights while having one hand on the firingkey and the other on the elevating-wheel, neither hand being required to he moved from these positions.

,By my invention I provide gear for adjust-' ing the sights for range so constructed and arranged that the said gear operates to turn the gun with respect to the sights instead of, as heretofore, turning the sights with respect to the gun, so that the'line of sight is notdisturbed when making the change for range. This constitutes the chief feature of my invention. Further, I combine with this rangegear the gear for elevating and depressing the gun to bring the same to bear on the object to be fired at. Although these gears are combined and both operate to elevate anddepress the gun, yet they work independently of each other and are controlled by separate hand-wheels, one of which is worked by the captain of the guns crew, who has his eye applied to the sights, and theother of whichviz., that for effecting the adjustment for range--is work ed by another member of the crew. The hand-wheels maybe worked si m ultaneously as well as at different times, and in the former case they produce on the gun an aggregate or differential effect according to their direction of movement. The combination of the two gears is in some cases effected by a differential trainof wheels, which constitutesanotherimportant feature of my invention. The sight-bar is pivoted in some cases at the trunnion and in others not at the trunnion, and in the latter case the motion of the actuating-gear is transmitted to the sights by means of a sliding arc.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate various modes of carrying my invention into practice, Figure is a side elevation of a portion of a gun and 'of its mounting, show- Referring to Figsl and 2,A isthe gun. l is geared a worm it Jo, rings on the mounting. in said shaft is arranged a dififerential gear, comprising a.

crossarm E, fixed on the shaft D and carryin" a pair of bevel-wheels F F, gearing with driving--wheels G H, attached toslce'res mounted loosely on the shaft. of the wheel G is mounted. a worm-wheel J, daptcd to be locked to said sleeve by a suitable friction device. To this worm-wheel. is I which is driven through wheels L and 5 ti hy ahand-Wheei N under the control ol' he captain of the bringing the gun to hear on the object 210 he fired at without altering the sights relatively to the gun; On the sleeve of the Wheel H is mounted a worm-wheel 0, adapted to beloclzed to said sleeve by another friction device. P is a worm gearing with the worm-wheel O and driven by a ll8.lld-Wll681 it under the control of a member of the guus crew for adjusting the gun for range. The power of the hand-wheel gears above described may he arranged to suit any requirements. I

S is a pinion fixed on the sleeve of the wheel G and gearing through an intermediate pinion U with a curved rack T, attached to the sight-bar V, which is pivoted on the trunnion W" of the gun or about the same axis as the trunnion, the center of curvature'of the raclc'l being the center of the trunnion. The velocity ratio of the pinion S and rack T is the same as that of the pinion C and elevating-arc B.

To elevate or depress the gun without altering the sight-bar relatively to the gun, the captain turns his wheel N'in the required directiou, thus turning the corresponding driving-wheel G of the differential gear, which imparts a rotary motion to the radial bevel-- Wheels F F of said gear. As the opposite driving-Wheel H of the differential gear is meanwhile held fast by the worm. P, the driving-wheel G causes the radial wheels r to roll on the stationary wheel H, thus turning the elevating-shaft D, the angular motion imparted. to saidshaft being halfthat of the driving-rrheelGr and in the same direction.

The gun is thus elevated ordepressed, as the case may be. At the same time by the pin ion S above described the urved rack T is elevated or depressed withthegun, and the general result, therefore, is thatthe gun and eight are raised or lowered through the same angle without altering the adjustment "of the sight-bar'-t". 6., its relative position to the axis of the gun.

To alter the adjustmentof the sights for an increase or decrease of range, the hand-wheel. R, controlling the driving-wheel H of the differential gear, is turned in the required direction and a corresponding motion is given to the elevating-pinion C, the radial wheels F Fin thisoase rolling on the drivingurheel G.

the sleeve This wheel G being held statonsry by" the worm iii, no motion is given to the curved rack'l, and consequently the gun turns,while the sight-bar remains stationary. It will be seen, therefore, that the very important advantage is gained of adjusting the gun for any alteration of range without disturbing the line of sight-that is to say, if the sight was prior to the change accurately on the object it will remain on during the change and he found. on at its completion. Consequently the position of the eye of the firer remains the same. during the adjustment.

To alter the adjustment of the sights fora 8o variation in the range and at the same time to alter the elevation of the gun to bring the same on the object to he fired at, both hand- Wheels N and R are worked simultaneously. The speed of both operations is entirely dependent on the speed with which the wheels are-turned, and the motion of the gun is the sum or re difference of the motions impart ed b 3 the separate gears. No matter in which direction each wheel is being turned the power go necessary for any given speed of adjustment is constant, the movement of one wheel having no effect onthe power necessary to move the other. Wit-h gearing heretofore in use in such a case-t', e., the range being altered 5 while the gun is being relaideithor the relaying has to be stopped for the adjustment of the sights and the gun relaid subsequently or the gun is laid, the sights adjusted, and then the gun is relaid. \Vith my new method rco of gearing the operation becomes a single one, and either motion may cease before the other without affecting the completion of the movement.

In the modification illustrated in Figs.3 and ithe sight-bar instead of being pivoted on .tne trunnion is pivoted on a bar 20, carried by the gun-cradle, and its; curved rackT-gears with a pinion 1, carried by the cradle and fixed to turn with a pinion 2, which gears with a no curved rack 3, mounted with a capability of sliding in a curved gui le 4, fixed to the cradle.

'l he center of curvat'u' ."e of the rack 3 and of its guide is the trunnion of the cradle. 5 is another pinion geared to the rack 3 and fixed v to rotate with a worm-wheel 6, gearing Witha worm '7, fixed. on a shaft 8,;that is driven through a bevel-pinion 9 from bevel-teeth on the back ofthe Wheel G of the dififerential train. thus con vcycd to the on rved rack 3 and thence to the sight-bar. The ratio of the radius of the elevating-arc B to that of the ele vat'lngpinion O is the same as that of the curved rack 3150 its pinion 5 and also as that of the seg-v 1 25 mental. rack T ou'the sight-bar to its pinion 2. Moreoveigthe gearing is so proportioned; that the two pinions Zand 5 rotate at the some speed as the elevating-pinion 0. When the adjustment is being made for range, the wheel 1 0 G, as in the first arrangement describod,zi held. stetionary,-and consequently the rack-3i is locked, while the guide 4 moves with the cradle. The pinion 2 also moves with the The movements of the wheel G are r20.

cradle, and consequently rolls on the stationary rack 3, thereby turning the sight-bar relatively to the gun-cradle through the same angle as that through which the cradle moves, but in the opposite direction. The angle of the sight-bartherefore remains constant during the change for range. On the other hand, when the wheel G is rotated by the turning of the captains hand-wheel the gun-cradle and sight-bar turn in unison. I

The connection of the gear with the gun and sight-bar can be varied in many ways, as illustrated, forexample,in the diagram inatic views, Figs. 5 to 11.

In Fig. 5 the elevating-arc B is fixed to the mounting and the elevating and sight-adjusting gear is carried by the cradle.

In Fig. 6 the elevating-arc B is fixed to the cradle, as in the first-described arrangement; but the shaft D of the elevating and sightadjusting gear is connected directly to the sight-bar, a'nd'the pinion S on the sleeve of the wheel G of the difierential train is geared to a curved rack 10,fixed to the mounting.

Theprincipal cause of a slow rate of fire in large guns is found in the constant relaying of-the gun, demanded by the conditions of modern naval warfare, and the advantages are obvious of a system of gear by which the speed of carrying out these frequent alterations in laying the gun is largely increased and whereby the radicalfaultof the firer having frequently to remove his eye from his sights is entirely obviated. As an example, take the case of two ships passing at a high rate of speed. Assuming that the gun is loaded and laid on the extreme bow bearing,

as soon as the enemy comes into View from the gun the captain of the gun alines the sights and fires. If the ship is steady, he need not touch the elevating-wheel again while the enemy is in View, although his sights are being constantly adjusted for change of distance. Similarly, if theship is rolling and the amplitude of her roll is approximately uniform his first alinement is again sufficient throughout the whole run, and his whole attention can be devoted to firing his gun whenever the sights roll onor come in line with the object. It is evident that this is the only way to attain a maximum of accuracy and rapidity of fire.

What I claim isa 1. The combination with a gun and its mounting of pivoted sights, elevating-gear controlling said sights and gun together, other elevating-gear controlling the gun alone, an J epicyclic train connecting these two gears,and

means for actuating said train from either end, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a gun and its. mounting of pivoted sights, two sets of gears for controlling the elevation of the gun and sights, hand-wheels for actuating said gears,

ated from either end alone, or from both ends simultaneously, substantially as described.

In'testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- I nesses.

1 H. H. GRENFELL. Witnesses;

GEO. HARRISON,

ALEXANDER W. ALLEN.

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