Patent GB-439739-A (GB)
Title: Hydraulically controlled devices for driving rotating turrets for fire-arms
IPC: F41A27/18
Filed: 1934-05-08
Abstract: 439,739. Aircraft gun mountings. SOC. ANON. A. CALZONI, S. Viola, Bologna, and CEBRELLI, M., 29, Via Caffara, Genoa, both in Italy. May 8, 1934, No. 13940. Convention date, Aug. 11, 1933. [A Specification was laid open to inspection under Sect. 91 of the Acts, Nov. 9, 1934.] [Class 92 (i)] Relates to hydraulically-controlled gun turrets for use on aircraft of the kind in which training is effected by servomotor means brought into operation by manual traverse of the gun itself in a slot or gap in the turret, the servomotor controls being engaged at the limits of travel to cause power training of the turret in the same sense as the manual traverse of the gun. According to the invention, the ring 2 supporting the turret is coupled to a second movable ring 17 by a series of rollers 4 on one ring engaging shaped slots 5 on the other ring, the arrangement being such that manual traverse of the gun on its pivot 13 causes limited traverse of the ring 17 relatively to the ring 2, the rise and fall of the ring 17, caused by the slots, being used to operate the valve 24 controlling the training servomotor 22. In the construction shown, the gun is mounted by its pivot 13 on an arm 7 hinged at 8 to the ring 2 for elevation purposes. The pivot 13 is connected to opposite sides of the ring 17 by a sector 14 and Bowden wires 15. The ring 17 carries on each side brackets 6 formed with the slots 5 and with spring-controlled bolts 12 which engage the brackets 3 on the ring 2 that support the rollers 4. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 also describes with reference to Fig. 1 (Cancelled), a cockpit gun mounting of the " ring type comprising a rotary ring 2 supporting the gun g on an elevation pivot 8, a cage 3 accommodating the gunner on a seat 21 and an upper adjustable windscreen in the form of horizontally pivoted flaps 34 which can be raised and lowered by levers 37 bearing by rollers 38 on cams 39 mounted on a rotary ring 40. The elevational movement of the gun on the pivot 8 is communicated to the seat 21 by links 17, 18 and a helically grooved shaft 19, the seat moving down when the gun is elevated and vice versa. The gun is locked in elevation by a clutch 10 controlled by a Bowden wire device 15 on the gun grip. Power training is effected by a servomotor 22 controlled by a valve 24 moved in opposite directions by pedals 32 and centralized by a spring. In a modification, Fig. 8 (Cancelled), the gun 18 is mounted on a U-shaped arm 19 elevated about pivots 20 on the ring 2 by a servomotor 60 controlled by a pedal 62, the ring being rotated for training by a servomotor 22, the control valve 32 of which is operated, by a manual movement of the gun itself, through a sector 67 and Bowden wires as previously described. The servomotors are fed through an axial distributer 48 with oil under pressure produced by a rotary pump P. In a further modification Fig. 9 (Cancelled), the movements in elevation and training of a telescope or gun 18 in a control turret C are communicated to a gun 4 in a repeater turret R. A single servomotor 11 effects the elevation and a single servomotor 22 the training. The elevational movement of the telescope or gun 18 at the turret C rotates gearing 23, 24, 25, 15, 14, 13, connected to the control valve 12 of the servomotor 11 at the turret R. The training servomotor 22 is controlled by a valve 32 operated by a shaft 31 rotated by a sector 67 and Bowden wire 28 leading from the gun or telescope at the turret C as previously described. By means of distributers 42, 48 on the vertical axes of the revolving turrets, oil under pressure produced by a pump P is conveyed to the servomotors and from piston-and-cylinder devices 39, 40 on the control turret to similar devices 55, 56 on the repeater turret for firing and recharging the repeater gun from the control turret. To prevent firing under endangering conditions, a valve 51 in the transmission pipe is operated by a fixed safety cam 52 to byepass the pressure liquid. The Specification states that the hydraulic control devices may be replaced by their electrical equivalents. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.