USRE3211E - Improvement in breech-loading gannon - Google Patents

Description

. F. BROWN.

Breach Loading Cannon. i

Reissued Nov. 24, 1868.

UNITED STArEs PATENT (.lrrflcE.,v

cHARLEs E. BROWN. or WARREN, RrtofDR ISLAND.

|MPRovEMENT IN BREEcH-#Lo-AolNc-CANNON.

Speoiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,045, dated September 18, 1860 3 Reissue No. 3,2 l l, dated November 24, 1868.

Figure lis a longitudinal vertical vsection of v a light eld piece with my improvements.`

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same.

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

The object of my invention .is to facilitate the' discharge of a breech-loading gun, as well as to enablea piece of breech-loading ordnanceto be fired repeatedly by the act of its being drawn over the ground,so that it maybe made fvery eifective in advancing tofmeet'on pursuer or in retiring from before an enemy; also, to cause the automatic discharge of the charge by the same motive-power xwhich locates the same in the barrel of the gun.

The invention consists, chiefly, in the use of a hollow reciprocating plunger or breech-pin arranged in the breech end of the barrel, said plunger carrying within-its longitudinal bore another sliding dischargeplu'nger. l The hollow plunger locates the cartridge in the barrel. VVhen the same has arrived at the proper place, the inner plunger `is released by the action of al cam, .and -is forced against 'the charge, so as by percussion to ignite the same;

The invention also consistsv in Ymounting an eccentric for moving the hollow plunger on 'a transverse shaft that has its bearingsin the breech end of the gun, and in mounting -on thesarne shaft a cam which, during its revo' lution', operates fa lever by which the inner. plunger is held b ack, causing this lever to rclease' thein'ner plunger' as soon as the cartridge has been located. Thus bythe same lmotion,

which locates the cartridge thel sameisalso discharged. l The. invention finally consists in connecting the aforesaid driving-shaft with one of thewheels of the gun carriage in such manner that it is rotated by the revolution of the wheel,

Vthe said plunger'or hammer.

so that when the carriage is 'moved backward or forward the gun may be automatically loaded and discharged. v

To enable others skilled in the art to. make and use my invention, I will proceed to devscribe its construction and operation.

A represents the gun, having its bore continued right through the breech, and counterbored from the breech of a size larger than the regular bore c c, as shown at a a in Figs. l and 2,' and having a narrow slot, b b, cut vertically through the counterbored portion. The counterbore is, however, not essential,

and maybe omitted. Some distance in front' of the counterbore c a there is an aperture,

ff, in the topofthe gun for vthe admission-of the cartridges.

B is the hollow plunger-like'sliding breechpin, fitted to Work snugly vbut easilywithin the rear portion of the bore c c, and having-near its rear end a flange, d d, which fits easily but snugly to the count-erbore aa, if such coun terbore isv used, and `in rear of this flange a slot, e e, extending to its rear end, said slot being of the same width'as the slotb b. In the front portionof this slot ee there is arranged a roller, g, which is iitted to turn freely on a fixed pin or axle, h, inserted transversely through the breech-pin or across the said slot.

This breech-pin Buis also bored from the front end nearly through to Areceive the sliding cyl` inder pin or plunger C, which constitutes the hammer; and in the rear portion of the said bore there is placed, behind the said plunger G, a spiral spring, which serves to drivethe said plunger forward to effect the explosion of the cartridgeswhich are intendedto contain intheir` rearA ends a'portion of fuln'iinat ing compound to be exploded by the blowof- From one side of the said sliding plunger C thereprojects a.

pin, j, which passes through a slot, K, in the side of the breech-pin, and a'slot, b, in the side of the gun.

S is a spiral spring coiled round the breechpin B,within thecounterbore aV o t between .the flange -'of the breech-pin and the shoul der t, th'at is formed at the frontof the coun` terbor'erand exerting a constant tendency to force baekthe breech-pin by its pressure.I

againstthe flange.

suitable manner in the carriage a hole in the top of the said frame, and the said nut being fitted to the said screw above the said frame, and resting on .the top thereof. To the under side of the gun, opposite to and in line with the said screw m, there is secured a pin, p, which passes freely through a hole inthe bottom of the frame F, and between the frame and the gun there is coiled aroundthe saidpin p a spiral spring, q,

G G H is a frame` having the front ends of- .its parallel sidesiitted loosely to the axles E E inside of thewheels' D. D, and having. handles r 'r at its rear end, by which the gun may A be laid hold of by men. to push or draw it.

The' gun may, however, .be hung, inlany other I is ashaft fitted to bearings .in the sides G G H, and passing transversely-through the.

'slotted rear portion of the gun, or otherwise,

having its bearings in the breech end of `the J is a wheel of the same size as D D, orthereabout, secured to the shaft I, close to one side of thegun.V This Wheel J' and the wheels D D support the lgun and the. frames Fand G G H andl axles E E, and they all constitute the carriage, and in running over the ground the wheels all revolve, and the revolution of the wheel 1I causes the shaft I to revolve in .its bearings in the frame G G H. However, the shaft I maybe entirely disconnected from the wheel J, and the wheel .I may also be left off.,V The said shaft I-has secured toit an eccentric, K,which works in the slots b and e of thegun and breech-pin, and in contact with whose periphery the roller g in the slot c of the breechpin is held by the back-pressure of the spring S on the breech-pi n, the said eccentric serving by its revolutionto drive forward thebreeehpin beyond the aperture ff tolclose the breech for firing, and the said spring to force it back behind the said aperture f f to permit the insertion of the cartridge through the said aperture. The pin B niay'beconnected in any other suitable manner with the eccentric K, so as to be moved back and'fort-'h by the same, in which case the spring S and roller g h' may be entirely dispensed with. The said shaft I has also secured to it a lateral-ly-operating cam, u, to operate on a roller, w', on the rear end of a lever, L, which works on a fulcrum-pin, o, attachedt-o one side 0f the gun, and which has in front of thesaid fulcrum-pin a slot, w, in which is received the pinj, that is attached to the nring-plunger C. Behind the fulcrum-pin v there is applied, between -the gun and the "lever L, a spiral orother spring, w, which A aan l kept in place by a pin, y, said'spring serving to press out the rear portion of the lever 4to- Ward the cam 'K and keep the slot w in thepin j. Instead of this arrangement, there may be a pin formed on the lever L,working through a slot in the barrel and breechfpin directly into the plunger. In this case the pin- 7' would form part of the lever L, and the slotw would become superfluous.l l l g The operation is as follows: As the gninwhen it has been brought to the proper elevation, is moved from place to place, the revolutionof the shaft I with the wheel J. causes the 'eccenv tric K by its revolution to drive 'forward the breech-pin B beyond the aperture ff'and close the breech once during4 every revolution of the shaft; but the'said pin is driven or drawn back by the spring S, or otherwise, as the eccentric recedes. In each revolution theaperture j' f is opened to permit the insertion of a cartridge- As the breech-pin B advances, theplunger C moves with it for acertain distance, its pin g being held in contact with the front end of the slot'K in the breech-pin, but at a certain point in. the advance of the breech-pin thepinj comes in contact with the front end of the slot w in the lever L, and is thereby arrested during the continued ad; Vance of the breech-pin, causing its springf to be compressed by such continued advance, or otherwise the plunger is'arrested 'bythe lever. Just as thebreeohpi'n completes its ad- -Vanceand after it has closed the aperture f j", the caml u, which up to this point has left .the lever L stationary during the advance of the breech-pin, forces the rear endof the said -lever laterally toward the gun, and s'o 'causes its frontrpart to move outward far enough to liberate the plunger C, which, under the uncontrolled influence of the spring z',- is suddenly driven forward in the breech-pin with great force so far that its front` extremity pro-- of the breech-pin, Y

trdes through the front,l

thereby exploding the charge. Asthe breechpin recedes again, the plunger l,C comes back lwith it, and the pin j, coming back with them, arrives opposite the slot w before the cani .u permits the lever L to be movedback by the spring :v far enough to interfere with it, ,so that when the vsaid lever arrives at the'rstmentioned position (represented in Fig.` 2) I the said pin will be in a condition to be againl arrested by the Said lever the next time the breeclrpin moves forward. The inner -face of thefrodteild ofthe lever. may,` however, be so beveledthat-the' pin j in moving back may pass it independently of the action ofthe' cam u. In advancing toward an enemy, or in retreating, the same action of the breechl'pin and firing-plunger G is produced, and one of the men attending the gun lhas in readiness 'a ball-cartridge to drop into the aperture f f every time the breech-pin `is drawn back; and as the breech-pin advances the said cartridge is pushed forward beyond the said aperture, and after the said aperture has been ,closed by the breech-nin theplungefr C, being liberated aan f' 5 from 'the lever L, as above described,.' and driven forward by the springt, effects the ex- `plosion of the charge in/ the cartridge and causes the ball to be discharged. In this way a rapidly-repeated fire is kept up so long as cartridges are supplied on the withdrawal ofl the breech-pin beyond the aperture f f. If

- the shaft I is not connected with a wheel of the carriage, it may have a crank, so as to be turned by hand.

` Instead of supplyinr the cartridges one by one to the aperturef. by hand, as above described, a number of cartridges may be arl ranged one above'another in an upright iixed magazine. above thesaid aperture, and they will drop into and through the said aperture one by one, as the said aperture is opened by the retreat of the breechpin during each evolution of the shaft I. The same rapid repettion of-.the fire may be effected while the gun is stationary by raising thel rear end of the carriage high enough for the wheel J to clear the ground, and applying a crank to one or to each endof the shaft I to give it and the cam K a rotary motion. Y.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Exploding thecartridge of abreech-loadspecified.

ing fire-arm by means of a reciprocating plunger held within the hollow breech-pin, said plunger being detained by means of a lever, released by means of a cam actuating s aid' lever, and forced forward by -means of a springv held in theibreech-pin, substantially as set vforth. ,v

2. Locating and exploding a cartridge in a breech-loading tire-arm by the action of one -rotating shaft, I, and by means of an eccentric, K, and cama, mounted on said shaft, substantially as specified, the shaft being ar- `with the eccentric K 0r its equi'alent, for. the purpose of producing the rotation of saidk eccentric to effect the ring of the 'ordnance during the motion of the gun-carriage, as

CHARLES F. BROWN .f

Witnesses: a Y l FRANK BLOGKLEY, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

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