Improvements in Gun Carriages or Mountings.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by DIE ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT GRUSONWERK,
of Magdeburg, Buchau, in the Empire of Germany.]
Improvements in Gun Carriages or Mountings.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the Courty of Middlesex, 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 improvements in armour-plated gun-mountings wherein
the gun is connected with the armour-plate cover or crown without the intervention
of recoil-brakes, so that the recoil is transmitted directly to the carriage.
One object of the preset invention is to diminish the shock or concussion imparted
to the armour-plated gun-carriage by the recoil, and thus reduce the liability of
injury to the mounting.
Another object of the said invention is to facilitate the raising of the armour-
plate cover or crown from the armour-plate, to permit the horizontal pointing or
training of the gun.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in vertical central section, showing one
form of the improved gun carriage or mounting.
Figures 2 to 5 are different views illustrating details of construction.
A is a shallow curved armour-plate cover or crown, provided with an embrasure B,
and resting upon and secured to the cheeks C of the gun-carriage. These checks
are connected together at their lower end by a cross-piece D, on the underside of
which is a pivot E. This pivot is provided with a plane under surface adapted to
turn upon a step-bearing F which is supported by a column or pillar H adapted to
be moved vertically through a short distance in the guide-block or standard G, but
restrained from rotation therein.
The cheeks C are provided with arc-shaped guide-grooves J, in which are fitted
correspondingly shaped sliding pieces K on the gun, whereby the gun is guided so
that it can be turned, for vertical pointing or elevation, about a virtual horizontal
pivot or axis extending through the centre of the embrasure B.
For training the gun, it is necessary to turn the cross-piece D with the pivot E
upon the step-bearing F. To facilitate this operation, the column or pillar H is
provided at its lower end with a second guide H' working in a box M in the
foundation-plate N, and with a screw-threaded portion h on which is fitted a nut O.
The under surface of this nut O bears upon springs or buffers P, of which there
are four in the apparatus shown, and the tension or compression of which can be so
regulated, by the turning of the put O, that the armour-plate cover A will bear
very lightly upon the armour-plate Q while in the position which it occupies when
no firing is taking place and no training is required.
If, however, the position of the gun is to be changed in a horizontal direction, or
if the gun is to be fired, the armour-plate cover A must be raised a short distance
above the armour-plate Q. This operation can be performed with very little power
by raising the column H, this movement being facilitated by the reaction of the
springs P.
The raising of the column or pillar H is effected by turning the crank R, which
acts, through the medium of the draw-rod S, upon a lever T connected by a pin or
bolt U with the column H, and turns the said fever about its fulcrum t.
In the raised position shown in Figure 1, the gun and its carriage and armour-
plate cover are in a state of stable equilibrium, as the centre of gravity of the

page_text: mass is in such a position that the vertical line passing through the same is situated
within the plane bearing-surface of the pivot E.
Accordingly if, in this raised position, the gun is fired, the recoil will effect the
tilting of the moving parts about the rear edge e of the pivot E, and move them
out of the position of equilibrium, until the rear edge of the armour-plate cover A
bears against the armour-plate Q. By this means, the greater part of the force of
the recoil is absorbed in raising the mass at its centre of gravity, and the remainder
of such force is taken up by the armour-plate Q. The moving parts then return
to their original position, so that the stable equilibrium is reestablised.
For enabling the gun-carriage to keep in the exact horizontal position during the
firing, the rear edge e of the pivot E, which is opposite the mouth of the gun, can
be made rectilineal as represented in Figures 3 and 4, the pivot having the shape of
a cylinder flattened at the rear.
It is obvious that the position of the step-bearing F and the pivot E may be
changed, the former being arranged on the cross-piece D and the latter being
secured upon the column or pillar H, as illustrated in Figure 5, without necessitating
any change in the mode of operation of the apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is:-
First. A gun carriage or mounting so constructed that the gun and parts
connected therewith will, in the recoil, be tilted or turned through a small angle
about the rear edge of a pivot provided with a plane or approximately plane
bearing-surface, which is beneath the centre of gravity of the moving parts, and
upon which the said moving parts are arranged to turn for horizontal pointing or
training, for the purpose above specified.
Second. An armour-plated gun-carriage in which the gun is connected, without
the intervention of recoil-brakes, to the armour-plate cover or crown by the cheeks
of the carriage, and which is provided with a pivot having a plane or
approximately plane bearing-surface upon which the carriage is adapted to turn
for horizontal pointing or training, and which is so arranged beneath the centre of
gravity of the moving parts that the latter will, in the position of rest, be in stable
equilibrium, but, on the firing of the gun, will be tilted or turned about the rear
edge (e) of the said pivot until the armour-plate cover or crown bears against the
armour-plate, and will then return to the position of stable equilibrium, substantially
as, and for the purpose, above specified.
Third. The combination, with the column or pillar which supports the gun and
its carriage and armour-plate cover, and with the lever for raising these parts to
permit the training of the gun, of springs or buffers arranged between the said
column or pillar and the foundation-plate, for counter-balancing more or less the
weight of the parts, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Fourth. The improved gun carriage or mounting constructed substantially as
described with reference to the accompanying drawing and arranged to operate,
as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Dated this 24th day of July 1891.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.