Improvements in Cannons.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 13th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 25th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cannons.
I, THOMAS LEOPOLD WILLSON, of Leaksville, in the County of Rockingham,
and State of North Carolina, United States of America, Electrician, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention. to be as follows:-
--
This invention relates to the construction of cannons or heavy guns or ordnance.
Its object is to provide an improved and cheapened construction of composite or
built-up gun, in order to produce guns of superior resistance to bursting strain,
and to admit of the manufacture of heavy guns in any well equipped machine
shop.
According to my invention I construct the gun with a body portion built up of
disks or lamina in planes perpendicular to the axis of the gun, and enclosed within
and held tightly together by an exterior sheath or tubular jacket. The laminated
body of the gun is designed to resist the bursting strain, while the function of the
jacket is to hold the lamina pressed firmly together and resist longitudinal strains
and strains of flexure. Within the laminated body is arranged by preference a
tubular lining forced tightly into place, and within which the rifling is formed.
This may, however, be omitted and the rifling formed directly against the bore in
the laminated body.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a longitudinal mid-section of a heavy
gun constructed according to my invention;
Fig. 2 is an edge and face view of one of the disks or lamina of which the body
of the gun is built up:
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing a modified construction of the gun;
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a modified method of constructing the
gun;
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing a further modification of the gun;
Referring to Fig. 1, let A designate the outer jacket, which may be assumed to
be of cast iron or steel. B the laminated body portion of the gun built up of a
succession of disks juxtaposed and forced together, one of which is shown separately
in Fig. 2, and C the tubular lining of the gun. D is a fixed breech piece, and E is
any usual removable breech block, by removing which the gun may be loaded.
In the construction of this gun I proceed preferably in the following manner.
Disks a a similar to that shown in Fig. 2, are cut, forged, cast or otherwise
formed from any suitable metal, preferably being forged or cast from steel plate of
the proper quality, and are surfaced off to fit accurately together face to face. All
are bored to the same size, and they are threaded upon a mandrel. The disks are
exteriorly of different sizes, so that when placed upon the mandrel they constitute
a tapering mass, and preferably a thicker disk b is placed at the breech end. The
disks are forced intimately together either by hydraulic pressure or by a screw or
otherwise, after which the mass of disks is placed in a suitable lathe and turned
down exteriorly to a suitable taper, preferably to a true cone. The laminated
body B having thus been prepared, it is placed in a mould and the shell or jacket A
is cast around it. This shell is preferably made of the finest cast iron, but a
casting of steel, bronze or other metal may be employed. This casting in cooling
shrinks tightly around the body portion B, and in contracting longitudinally draws
the disks of which the body portion is composed into even more intimate contact
than before. The molten metal forms a union with the exterior surface of the
disks after the manner of a weld, as is well understood in the art. The exterior
shell A may then be turned off in order to remove any irregularities due to the

page_text: casting. The diameter of the body B at each point in its length being known, the
shell may be turned to any desired thickness by turning it down to the corresponding
external diameter. The concentricity of the shell is assured by it being thus
turned from the same centres as the body. The mandrel being now no longer
needed is unscrewed and withdrawn. The body portion B is then bored out to a
larger bore, and preferably to a gradual taper, and the lining tube C of fine steel
is turned exteriorly to the same taper and to the same or very slightly larger
diameter, and this tube is then forced into the body under suitable pressure so that
it shall be compressed exteriorly to an extent at least equal to the bursting strain
to which it shall be subjected, less its own capacity for resisting such strain. The
lining tube C is bored out to the proper diameter and is rifled in the usual manner,
these operations being performed either before or after it is forced into the. body,
preferably after. The breech end of the cast shell A is bored out and screw-
threaded and a breech block D screwed in tightly against the disk b, and also
preferably against the breech end of the lining tube. The usual removable breech
block E is then applied having segmental screwthreads or other means for locking
it in place, engaging reciprocal threads or provisions in the fixed breech block D.
In order to mount the gun, it is provided with trunnions ce formed on a ring d,
which is preferably shrunk on a suitably turned portion of the exterior of the
shell A. In order to form a neat finish at the muzzle where the cast metal
projects at e beyond the end of the body portion in order to cause it to exert in
shrinking a longitudinal contraction against the body portion, this projecting
portion e may be turned out and screwthreaded and a nipple g screwed into.it.
The lining tube C preferably projects through this nipple as shown.
A gun thus constructed has its body portion B, which alone is relied upon for
resisting the bursting strain, made of juxtaposed disks or plates of the finest rolled
steel which has the utmost tensile strength and the plates of which are so thin as to
admit of the most perfect inspection and testing of each piece before incorporating
it into the gun. This body portion therefore for a given diameter affords the
highest possible resistance to a bursting strain. The sole function of the outer shell
or jacket A is to hold the disks of the body portion together in proper alignment,
resisting both flexure and the longitudinal strain due to the rearward pressure
against the breech-block. in firing. The rearward strain being exerted against a
much less area than the bursting strain, requires much less strength to resist it, so
that the outer jacket even if made of only moderate thickness affords ample strength
for this purpose. By reason of the tightness with which the jacket is shrunk or
applied around the body portion, it embraces each of the laminæ thereof with a
strongly frictional grasp probably sufficient of itself to resist and prevent any
end wise displacement of the laminated body due to the strain in firing. Flaws in
the casting of this outer jacket are not likely to occur because its thickness is
nowhere great, and if they do occur they can be readily discovered, and only a very
extended and improbable flaw would seriously impair the strength of the gun. The
lining tube has the same function as the lining tube of segmental guns heretofore
made, namely, to prevent the entrance of powder or gases between the segments of
the body portion and to form an uninterrupted surface for receiving the rifling.
Fig. 3 shows a modified construction wherein the outer jacket A instead of being
cast around the body is formed of. forged steel and is accurately bored out before-
hand, and the disks constituting the body are forced into it either singly or together.
The body portion is first mounted on a mandrel and turned down upon the exterior
to precisely the same outline.as the interior of the jacket, after which the body
portion as a whole is, or the individual disks thereof in succession are, forced into
the jacket under hydraulic or screw pressure. The fixed breech-piece D is then
screwed in holding the disks of the body portion firmly in place within the jacket.
Subsequently the body portion is bored out and the lining tube is forced in, a capg¹
being screwed on its projecting end at the muzzle. In Fig. 3 I have shown the
body portion B as extending part way only to the muzzle, terminating at h some
distance back from the muzzle. This may be done in order to avoid the expense of

page_text: cutting so many disks at the muzzle portion of the gun where the bursting strain is
much less than toward the breech, and where the strength of the comparatively
inferior metal of the jacket is ample for resisting the strain. I have also shown in
this figure the construction of the body of disks of varying thickness, being thinnest
at the breech portion of the gun and becoming thicker toward the muzzle, whereby
the finest steel is secured for the breech portion where the greatest bursting strain
occurs, and steel which is somewhat less perfect by reason of being rolled in thicker
plates is employed toward the muzzle.
Fig. 4 shows still another method of making the gun. Instead of assembling the
disks of the body upon a mandrel they are assembled upon the lining tube C. This
tube is turned exteriorly to a uniform and very gradual taper,, that is, to the same
taper that it is eventually to have in the gun, and the disks are bored out accurately
to the same taper and are forced on from the small end of the sleeve toward the
large end, being seated thereon against the disk b, which is screwed upon the sleeve.
The disks may be thus forced on by hydraulic or screw pressure one by one until
all are applied, whereby by overcoming their friction against the tube individually
they may be forced on much tighter than if the tube were forced into them
subsequently. The final disk is held in place by screwing on a nut i. The disks
are turned down exteriorly, either before or after applying them on the tube. The
whole is then placed in a mould, and the outer jacket A is cast around it in the
manner first described; as shown in dotted lines. Or it may be made of forged steel
and turned out as described with reference to Fig. 3, and the body portion forced
into it. In this figure I have shown the omission of the breech-piece D, the cast
metal jacket being carried around the breech and inwardly as far as the bore, or
sufficiently far for engagement with the removable breech-block.
When the gun
is otherwise completed, the tube C and its nut i may be cut.off at the muzzle on the
line xx.
The use of the lining tube C is not strictly essential to my invention, and may be
omitted as shown in Fig. 5. In this.case the gun. may be constructed by the same
method as described with reference to Fig. 1, with the exception of the insertion.of
the tube C. After the mandrel is withdrawn, the body B. should be accurately
rebored and then rifled. In case this construction is adopted, the disks should be
very accurately surfaced so as to leave no interstices between them into which
powder or gases might find their way during the firing of the gun.
The disks or lamina used in the construction of my improved cannon may be
made from any cast or wrought metal having suitable qualities, as. for example
disks cast from aluminium or other bronzes of great strength, or from cast steel may
be used.
I am aware that several constructions of so called wire-wound' guns have been
devised in all of which layers of wire or ribbon have been wound around a lining
tube or section in order to afford the requisite. resistance to bursting strains. The
strength of a gun thus constructed is necessarily dependent upon the wire or ribbon
being wound under heavy tension in order that when at rest the wound body portion
may exert a compressive stress upon the tube sufficient to reinforce it against the
expansive stress to which it will be subjected during the firing of the gun. The
winding of a wire or ribbon while it is held extended under the heavy pressure
requisite to accomplish this result is an operation of great difficulty requiring
special machinery, and even. with the utmost care it is impossible to wind. on the
successive convolutions under a tension sufficiently uniform to secure an equal
distribution of the strain. For these reasons wire-wound guns are necessarily
expensive and difficult to construct, although when properly constructed they give
adinirable results. My invention avoids the difficulties incident to their manufacture,
and produces a gun of equal or even greater strength. By the subdivision of the
metal of the body into disks, the complete inspection and testing of the metal is
rendered possible, while the operations required are such as can be performed in
any machine shop adapted for handling heavy work, and by exact boring and
finishing the parts may be put together so as to afford.an equal distribution of the

page_text: strains. I also avoid the loss of strength due to the numerous interstices that are
necessarily left in the wound body portion of a wire-wound gun.
Dated this 16th day of May 1892.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cannons.
I, THOMAS LEOPOLD WILLSON, of Leaksville, in the County of Kockingham,
and State of North Carolina, United States of America, Electrician, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
This invention relates to the construction of cannons or heavy guns or ordnance.
Its object is to provide an improved and cheapened construction of composite or
built-up gun, in order to produce guns of superior resistance to bursting strain,
and to admit of the manufacture of heavy guns in any well equipped machine shop.
According to my invention I construct the gun with a body portion built up
of discs or laminæ in planes perpendicular to the axis of the gun, and enclosed
within and held tightly together by an exterior sheath or tubular jacket. The
laminated body of the gun is designed to resist the bursting strain, while the
function of the jacket is to hold the lamina pressed firmly together and resist
longitudinal strains and strains of flexure. Within the laminated body is arranged
by preference a tubular lining forced tightly to place, and within which the rifling
is formed. This may, however, be omitted and the rifling formed directly against
the bore in the laminated body.
Fig. 1 of the drawings left with my Provisional Specification is a longitudinal
mid-section of a heavy gun constructed according to my invention;
Fig. 2 is an edge and face view of one of the discs or lamina of which the body
of the gun is built up;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing a modified construction of gun;
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a modified method of constructing the
gun;
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section showing a further modification of the gun;
Referring to Fig. 1, let A designate the outer jacket, which may be assumed to
be of cast iron or steel, B the laminated body portion of the gun built up of a
succession of discs juxtaposed and forced together, one of which is shown separately
in Fig. 2, and C the tubular lining of the gun. D is a fixed breech piece, and
E is any usual removable breech block, by removing which the gun may be
loaded.
In the construction of this gun I proceed preferably in the following manner :-
Discs a a similar to that shown in Fig. 2, are cut, forged, cast or otherwise
formed from any suitable metal, preferably being forged or cast from steel plate of
the proper quality, and are surfaced off to fit accurately together face to face. All
are bored to the same size, and they are threaded upon a mandrel. The discs are
exteriorly of different sizes, so that when placed upon the mandrel they constitute
a tapering mass, and preferably a thicker disc b is placed at the breech end. The
discs are forced intimately together either by hydraulic pressure or by a screw or
otherwise, and are held in this condition by the mandrel which has a head at one
end and a nut screwing on the other, or the threaded end may screw into the thick
disc b. The mass of discs is then placed in a suitable lathe and turned down
exteriorly to a suitable taper, preferably to a true cone, the ends of the mandrel
receiving the lathe-centers to accurately centre the discs. The laminated body B
having thus been prepared, it is placed in a mould and the shell or jacket A is cast
around it.
This shell is preferably made of the finest cast iron, but a casting of

page_text: steel, bronze or other metal may be employed. This casting in cooling shrinks
tightly around the body portion B, and in contracting longitudinally draws the
discs of which the body portion is composed into even more intimate contact than
before. The molten metal forms a union with the exterior surface of the discs
after the manner of a weld, as is well understood in the art. The exterior shell A
may then be turned off in order to remove any irregularities due to the casting.
The diameter of the body B at each point in its length being known, the shell may
be turned to any desired thickness by turning it down to the corresponding external
diameter. The concentricity of the shell is assured by it being thus turned from
the same centres as the body. The mandrel being now no longer needed is
unscrewed and withdrawn. The body portion B is then bored out to a larger bore,
and preferably to a gradual taper, and the lining tube C of fine steel is turned
exteriorly to the same taper and to the same or very slightly larger diameter, and
this tube is then forced into the body under suitable pressure so that it shall be
compressed exteriorly to an extent at least equal to the bursting strain to which it
shall be subjected, less its own capacity for resisting such strain. The lining
tube C is bored out to the proper diameter and is rifled in the usual manner, these
operations being performed either before or after it is forced into the body, pre-
ferably after. The breech end of the cast shell A is bored out and screwthreaded
and a breech block D screwed in tightly against the disc b, and also preferably
against the breech end of the lining tube. The usual removable breech block E is
then applied, having segmental screwthreads or other means for locking it in place,
engaging reciprocal threads or provisions in the fixed breech block D. In order to
mount the gun, it is provided with trunnions cc formed on a ring d, which is pre-
ferably shrunk on a suitably turned portion of the exterior of the shell A. In
order to form a neat finish at the muzzle where the cast metal projects at e beyond
the end of the body portion in order to cause it to exert in shrinking a longitudinal
contraction against the body portion, this projecting portion e may be turned out
and screwthreaded and a nipple g screwed into it. The lining tube C preferably
projects through this nipple as shown.
A gun thus constructed has its body portion B, which alone is relied upon for
resisting the bursting strain, made of juxtaposed discs or plates of the finest rolled
steel which has the utmost tensile strength and the plates of which are so thin as
to admit of the most perfect inspection and testing of each piece before incorporating
it into the gun. This body portion therefore for a given diameter affords the
highest possible resistance to a bursting strain. The sole function of the outer
shell or jacket A is to hold the discs of the body portion together in proper align-
ment, resisting both flexure and the longitudinal strain due to the rearward pressure
against the breech-block in firing. The rearward strain being exerted against a
much less area than the bursting strain, requires much less strength to resist it, so
that the outer jacket even if made of only moderate thickness affords ample strength
for this purpose. By reason of the tightness with which the jacket is shrunk or
applied around the body portion, it embraces each of the lamina thereof with a
strongly frictional grasp probably sufficient of itself to resist and prevent any
end wise displacement of the laminated body due to the strain in firing. Flaws in
the casting of this outer jacket are not likely to occur because its thickness is
nowhere great, and if they do occur they can be readily discovered, and only a
very extended and improbable flaw would seriously impair the strength of the gun.
The lining tube has the same function as the lining tube of segmental guns
heretofore made, namely, to prevent the entrance of powder or gases between the
segments of the body portion and to form an unint.rrupted surface for receiving
the rifling.
Fig. 3 shows a modified construction wherein the outer jacket A. instead of being
cast around the body is formed of forged steel and is accurately bored out before-
hand, and the discs constituting the body are forced into it either singly or together.
The body portion is first mounted on a mandrel and turned down upon the exterior
to precisely the same outline as the interior of the jacket, after which the body

page_text: portion as a whole is, or the individual dises thereof in succession are, forced into
the jacket under hydraulic or screw pressure. The fixed breech-piece D is then
screwed in holding the discs of the body, portion firmly in place within the jacket.
Subsequently the body portion is bored out and the lining tube is forced in; a
cap g being screwed on its projecting end at the muzzle. In Fig. 3 I have shown
the body portion B as extending part way only to the muzzle, terminating at h
some distance back from the muzzle. This may be done in order to avoid the
expense of cutting so many discs at the muzzle portion of the gun where the
bursting strain is much less than toward the breech, and where the strength of
the comparatively inferior metal of the jacket is ample for resisting the strain.
I have also shown in this figure the construction of the body of discs of varying
thickness, being thinnest at the breech portion of the gun and becoming thicker
toward the muzzle, whereby the finest steel is secured for the breech portion where
the greatest bursting strain occurs, and steel which is somewhat less perfect by
reason of being rolled in thicker plates is employed toward the muzzle.
Fig. 4 shows still another method of making the gun. Instead of assembling
the discs of the body upon a mandrel they are assembled upon the lining tube C.
This tube is turned exteriorly to a uniform and very gradual taper, that is, to the
same taper that it is eventually to have in the gun, and the discs are bored out
accurately to the same taper and are forced on from the small end of the sleeve
toward the large end, being seated thereon against the disc b, which is screwed
upon the sleeve.. The discs may be thus forced on by hydraulic or screw pressure
one by one until all are applied, whereby by overcoming their friction against the
tube individually they may be forced on much tighter than if the tube were forced
into them subsequently. The final disc is held in place by screwing on a nut i.
The discs are turned down exteriorly, either before or after applying them on the
tube.. The whole is then placed in a mould, and the outer jacket A is cast around
it in the manner first described, as shown in dotted lines. Or it may be made of
forged steel and turned out as described. with reference to Fig. 3, and the body
portion forced into it. In this figure I have shown the omission of the breech-
piece D, the cast metal jacket being carried around the breech and inwardly as far
as the bore, or sufficiently far for engagement with the removable breech-block.
When the gun is otherwise completed, the tube C and its nut i may be cut off at
the muzzle on the line xx.
The use of the lining tube C is not strictly essential to my invention, and may
be omitted as shown in Fig. 5. In this case the gun may be constructed by the
same method as described with reference to Fig. 1, with the exception of the
insertion of the tube C. After the mandrel is withdrawn, the body B should be
accurately rebored and then rifled. In case this construction is adopted, the discs
should be very accurately surfaced so as to leave no interstices between them into
which powder or gases might find their way during the firing of the gun.
The discs or laminæ used in the construction of my improved cannon may be
made from any cast or wrought metal having suitable qualities, as for example
discs cast from aluminium or other bronzes of great strength, or from cast steel
may be used.
The
"I am aware that several constructions of so called wire-wound guns have been
devised in all of which layers of wire or ribbon have been wound around a lining
tube or section in order to afford the requisite resistance to bursting strains.
strength of a gun thus constructed is necessarily dependent upon the wire or ribbon
being wound under heavy tension in order that when at rest the wound body portion
may exert a compressive stress upon the tube sufficient to reinforce it against the
expansive stress to which it will be subjected during the firing of the gun. The
winding of a wire or ribbon while it is held extended under the heavy pressure
requisite to accomplish this result is an operation of great difficulty requiring
special machinery, and even with the utmost care it is impossible to wind on the
successive convolutions under a tension sufficiently uniform to secure an equal
distribution of the strain. For these reasons wire-wound guns are necessarily

page_text: expensive and difficult to construct, although when properly constructed they give
admirable results. My invention avoids the difficulties incident to their manu-
facture, and produces a gun of equal or even greater strength. By the subdivision
of the metal of the body into discs, the complete inspection and testing of the
metal is rendered possible, while the operations required are such as can be
performed in any machine shop adapted for handling heavy work, and by exact
boring and finishing the parts may be put together so as to afford an equal
distribution of the strains. I also avoid the loss of strength due to the numerous
interstices that are necessarily left in the wound body-portion of a wire-
wound gun.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. The improved construction of cannon hereinbefore described, comprising a
body-portion built up of juxtaposed discs or laminæ, and a shell or jacket enclosing
and closely embracing the discs of such body-portion, whereby the discs resist
bursting strains and the jacket resists longitudinal strains and holds the discs
together longitudinally.
2. Such a cannon with the outer jacket shrunk upon the laminated body portion,
whereby by its contraction it forces the discs or laminæ intimately together in
longitudinal direction.
3. Such a cannon comprising a laminated body portion, an outer shell or jacket
enclosing it, and a lining tube tightly enclosed by the body portion, substantially
as specified.
4. The described method of constructing such a composite cannon, the same
consisting in uniting the discs or laminæ on a mandrel, forcing them together by
endwise pressure, turning off the exterior, applying the outer shell or jacket, turning
down its exterior if necessary from the same centres, withdrawing the mandrel,
and boring out the laminated body, with or without subsequently forcing into the
same a lining tube, substantially as specified.
Dated the 13th day of February 1893.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.