US783050A - Breech-loading ordnance. - Google Patents

Description

No. 783,050. y r PATENTED EEB. 21, 1.9-0.5.

J. J. KNAPP G. W. DUNN. L

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION lFILED JUNE 10. 1904.

- SuwMtopJ Kaw b 19W @Mmmm MZ? UNITED ST ATES Patented February 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. KNAPP, OF THE UNITEDl STATES NAVY.AND GEORGE W. DUNN,

OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT "OF COLUMBIA. ASSIGNORS TO JOHN J.

KNAPIJ, TRUSTEE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BREEGHMLOADINGv ORDNANC-E.

SPECIFICATION' forming partV of Letters Patent No: 783,050, dated February v21, 1905.

Application filed J une 10, 1904. Serial No. 212,009.

specification, and to the letters of reference` marked thereon.

This invention has for its object primarily nto provide an eective means for preventing the flare-back or the escape from the breech of a gun ofthe gaseous products or of any residue o`r material remaining in the gun after a discharge, although by the usel of the present invention it is designed notonly to accomplish these objects,but also to effectually' clean the bore of the gun prior to the entire removal of the breech-block of all products or matter remaining in the bore and breechchamber of the gun, as well as toi provide a means whereby the temperature of the gun may. be kept down to overcome the liability 'of the premature discharge of ithe next suc? ceeding charge, or the deterioration of said charge should it remain in the gun for any length of time without being fired.

A further o bject of the invention is to provii-ie a device of such character that itmay be readily applied to guns at present in use withoutthe necessity of alteration such as would require the dismounting and returning of 'the guns to the shops and which when applied `will not to any appreciable extent change the 40 balancing-point of the gun or in any, Way af-l" feet its normal accuracy and operation.

A further ob'ject of the invention isl to pro.-A

vide a means whereby the gun may b'e cleared of objectionable products remaining'at'ter a' discharge without imposing. upon the gunl crew any labor or care other than is ordinarily required in the opening of the breech, the recharging of thejgun, and the closing of ,the-

this feature ofthe invention the apparatus is made automatic in its `action and is conordinarily and necessarily'moved inl opening and closing the breech-chamber of the gun. A still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism whichwill not be liable to destruction by reason of the recoil movements of the gun.

Figure 1 is a perspective View looking at the breech of an veight-inch gun,I the gun" itself, with its attachments and Working parts, being shown in dotted lines and the portion of the apparatus pertaining to the present invention being shown in full' lines. Figs. 2 and 3 are detail diagrammatic views illustrating more particularly. the details of construction of theapparatus and showing its application lto the gun. Figs.l 4, 5, and 6 are details of the valve, handle telescoping sections, and re,- lief-valve, respectively. A

Like letters of reference in the several {igures indicate the same parts. l The gun illustrated in the accompanying drawings is of a well-known type and will not be particularly described further than to say that the stationary portionoi:` 'the mount or .carriage is indicated bythe letter A, the slide pivoted in the carriage sion is'made for recoil action in the usual manner and suitable recoil-checks, such as indi catedat D, are provided for arresting. therecoil and returning the gun to its normal position.`

.The removable breech-"block is` shown in Fig. 1 1n its'open position, and from this Elgfore, provided with an enlarged chamber for the reception of the breech-block and a reduced bore, the riiiing of the latter being shown in Fig. 2.

In accordance with the present invention vprovision is made for injecting a medium of a gaseous lor iuid nature into the breech of the gun during the initial stagesof the opening trolled in its operation by the parts which are' l by the letter B, andv the body ofthe gun by-the letter C. Proviure it will be seen that the gun-is, as hereto-4 breech. In othenwords, in accordance with Referring to the accompanylng drawings,

movement of the breech-block, the injection of this mediumcontinuing for a period sufficiently long to insure the sweeping or cleaning out of the gun throughoutits whole length and the effectual extinguishment of any burning material or material liable to. ignite upon exposure to air. The medium which is injected in the breech of the gun may for convenience be termed a cleaning medium, and it may consist of air or water ora mixturel of air and water, with either or both of which chemicals may be combined to increase the cleaning or extinguishing effects, said medium being forced into the breech of the gun under high pressure and preferably through a nozzle or, nozzles opening into' the breechchamber around the breechblock when in place in the gun. f

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that, as illustrated, two nozzles are provided in the gun, said nozzles being lettered E. Said nozzles have their apertures, as before stated, in the enlarged breech-chamber, and they are so positioned and pointed as to direct the medium issuing therefrom in spiral lines toward the nozzle of the gun. The angleof the nozzles is preferably such that their discharge will just escape the shoulder at the inner end of the breech-chamber and will enter the bore of the gun with a swirling motion conforming in a greater or less degree to the spiral lines -of the riiing in the bore. `The nozzles may be formed by simple ducts in the wall of the gun itself or ducts may be formed in the gun and suitably lined to constitute the nozzles, as may be found most desirable. For supplying the cleaning medium to the nozzles branch ducts F extend from their outer ends to a suitable valve to be presently described, in which they unite and to whichy the medium is supplied under pressure by a duct in communication with any suitable source, such, for instance, as an air-pressure system and the water-pressure system, the two systems beingindicated diagrammatically in Fig. 2 at g and g',^re Y spectively.

The valve before referred to is preferably a valve which will control the supplyof cleaning medium to both nozzles; or a greater o r less number of nozzles are employed will control the supply of cleaning medium to all of Athe nozzles employed, and it is preferablyanautomatic valve-that is to say, a valve which will be automatically opened bye the opening of the breech-block and again closed aftenit has remained opened for a sufficient length of time. As illustrated, the valve is oi an ordinary type of plug-valve adapted to be opened or closed by means of a handle orprojection H, 'connected' with the upper portion of the valve-stem t. The projection H extends into the path of the breech-block or into the path of a projection thereon and is adapted to be moved so as to open the valve by the movement of the breech-block itself as it moves 'to its open position. As illustrated, the handle I or projection on the valve extends into the path of the spiral projections on the breech-plug, which constitute one of the-portions of the. mutilated thread for holding the breech-block in its closed position. Thus the turning of the breech-block does not of itself release or open the valve; but the initial outward movement of the breech-block instantly opens the valve, and the injection of the cleaning, cooling, and the extinguishing medium commences simultaneously with the opening of a vent around the breech-block, thus enveloping the breechblock in said medium, and the instant the bore of the gun is opened any and all products or materialremaining in said bore and around the inner portion of the 'breech-block will be affected by the said medium and ordinarily will be swept forwardly and out of the muzzle of the gun before the breech-block reaches its full open position or a sufficient aperture is formed to permit of a flare-back. It is obvious that the valve', having been opened by the opening movement of the breech-block, could be permitted to remain opened until closed by hand or until an inspection through the breech-opening discloses the fact that the gun had been effectually cleaned, or ifcooling be the object sought ro be attained it could remain open until sufficiently cooled by the medium injected through the nozzle. 1n the preferred arrangement, however, the valve is adapted to be automatically closed by a spring,

`(indicated at I in lFig. 2,) such spring operating to return the valve to its normal position the instant the breech-block moves out of engagement with the handle or projection., It Will be understood, however, that the valve may be opened by hand at any time and held v :o5

opened should it seem necessary or desirable to continue the injection of the cleaning and cooling medium for a longer period. To perlmit the breech-block to be again entered into its chamber without affecting the valve itself, the end of the handle or projection is preferably arranged to yield upon the return move- IIO ment of the breech-block, and for this purpose the arrangement may be as illustrated, wherein the end'of the projection lor handle adapted to engage the breech-block is shown in the form of a spring-pressed pawl K, having one of its faces c inclined at such an angle that on the return movement of the breechblock the pawl ,will be retracted without affecting the valve; but on the opening movement of the breech-block vthe pawl will engage therewith and cause .the valve to be opened, as before described.

Inasmuch as the gun has arecoil movement, it is necessary to provide some means whereby the medium for cleaning, cooling,` &c., may be conveyed to the valve and nozzles without danger of having the connections broken by the said recoil movement. Obviously extensible or flexible' connections may trated in the accompanying drawings, a cylinder M, constituting one of the telescopic sections of the duct, is securedto the gunmou'nt, preferably by brackets m, whlch may for convenience be connected. with the supports for one of the recoil-check cylinders, and sliding into this cylinderl through a stuiing-box n is atelescopic section N, secured at its outer end by a bracket O to a portion of the gun itself. The telescopic section N forms a c on-D tinuation of a pipe O', leading to the valve, and it will be understood that the two telescopic sections Nand M extend in a line parallel with the line of gun movement during recoil. A iiexible hose or metallic swiveljoint, preferably a metallic hose, (indicated at P,) connects with the forward end of the cylinder M, and from the hose P suitable connections at p and p extend to-air and water systems or supplies for feeding air or Water under pressure, in practice such pressure being preferably in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds to thesquare inch, although wide variation may be made without departing from the invention.

To prevent any possibility of a bursting pressure in the system, a relief-valve Q is provided, such valve being loaded to maintain the required pressurein the system and to` permit of an escape should the pressure exceed the limit.

It will be noted particularly that the iiexible hose or jointed connection P permits of the gun movements for elevation` and depression, while the telescopic sections permit -of the gun movements for recoil action, and such parts are preferably made relatively lightfso as to avoid any appreciable increase in the weight on one side of the pivot of the gun.

- A s a consequence the entire attachment does not appreciably alter the balance oftlie gun nor does it in any way afect the accuracy -or the convenience and speed with which the ordinarymanipulations of the gunN may be performed. c A

rI`he cooling eifect of the medium due to its expansion as it leaves the nozzles within the breech of the gun is a material factor in keeping down the temperature of the gun, and in operation it is found 'that the expansion of the medium, together with the Vair drawn in with the same around. the breech-block during the opening of the latter, is suicient in volume to entirely ll the bore of the gun almost instantly and to form a violent sweeping draft through the gun from the breech to the muzzle, thereby eiiectuallypreventing any possibility of a flare-back or -1 the escape into a turret of any of the gases, sparks, burning or partially-burned powder-bags, or any material liable to remain in the gun after a shot has been fired.

, In addition to the advantages enumerated the arrangement is effective in preventinga hang-fire. For instance, when the primer is fired and the cartridge-bag ignitedv without igniting the charge the bag Smolders and on the opening of ,the breech is formed into a ame; but withA the present arrangement a strong force of water may be-turned on and the breech-plug just started, so that the wathe access of air thereto.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Lett'ers Patent` is 1. In a cleaner for the purpose specified, the combination with the gun and removable breech-block therefor, of the supply for cleaning medium, nozzle for directing the cleaning medium into the breech of the gun and a valve controlling said supply having an operatinghandle' extending into the path of the breech block to be moved thereby to open the valve and contacting with a side portion of. the breech-block to hold thevalve open during the opening movement of the breech-block; sub- Y stantially` as described. 2.v In a cleaner for the purpose specied, the

- combination with the gun and removable breech-block therefor, of the supply for cleaning medium, nozzle for directing the cleaning l medium into the breech of the gun'and a valve controlling said supply having anoperatinghandle extending vinto the path of the breechblock to be moved lthereby to open the valve, and having a yielding end portion to permit the breech-block to return to its seat when the lvalve is closed'.

3. In a cleaner for the purpose specified the ,combination with" the gun and removable ter will extinguish thesmoldering bag before IOO IIO

breech-block therefor, of the supply for cleaning medium, nozzle fordirecting the cleaning medium intothe breech of the gun and a valvs; controlling said supply having an operating handle with a yielding end portion extending into the path of the b'reech-blck to be moved thereby to open the valve, and contacting with aside portionl of the breech-block to hold'the valve open during the opening movement of the breech-block, said yielding end portion permitting of the return of the breech-block I'IS n to itsse'atwhen the valve-is closed. f

4. Ina cleaner for' breech-loading ordnance, the combination with the gun and removable breech-block, of a'nozzle. and s\'1p.ply-duct foi-l the cleaning medium,a cock for opening and closing 4the same, 'a spring for automatically closing the cock and a projection for opening 'the' cock adapted to be moved by the opening of the breech-block; substantially as described.

5. 'In breech-loading ordnance, a supply for cleaning medium and a self-closing valve and means whereby said valve is automatically opened by the opening o f the breech; substantially as described. Y

6. In breech-loading ordnance` the combi nation with the gun-mount, the gun novably mounted thereon and a nozzle for the admission of cleaning medium to the breech of the gun; of an extensible duct for the supply of cleaning medium and a relief-valve in said duct; substantially as described.

7, In breech-loading ordnance, the combination with the gub-mount the gun movably mounted thereon and a nozzle for the admission of cleaning medium to the breech of the gun, of a duct embodying telescoping sections one connected with the mount and another with the gun and a relief-valve in said duct; substantially as described.

8. In'breech-loading ordnance the combination with the gun and nozzle directed into the b reech of the gun, of an air-supply duct vanse 9. In breech-loading ordnance, a supply for cleaning medium, a self-closing valve, means whereby the valve is automatically opened by the initial opening movement of the breechblock and means whereby it is automatically held open duringthe continuedopening movement of the breech-block. v

10. In breech-loading ordnance.a supply for cleaning medium, a self-closing valve, means whereby the valve is automatically opened by the opening movement of the breech-block and means whereby the breech-block may be returned to its seat while the valve is closed; substantially as described. 4

` JOHN J. KNAPP.

GEORGE W. DUNN. Witnesses:

H. G. MAYnRLoUD, GEORGE N. HAYWARD.

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