Improvements in or connected with Field Gun Carriages.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 27th Feb., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Field Gun Carriages.
I, CARL RÖSTEL, of 48 Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, in the Empire of Germany,
Engineer, 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 :-
The invention relates to the mechanism of field gun carriages for adjusting the
gun for both aim and elevation and to a recoil brake which returns the gun after
firing to its initial or firing position.
The first part of the invention which relates to the sighting device is arranged
with a view to enable the gun to be readily lowered from the firing position into
that for running the gun from place to place.
Instead of lowering the gun by screwing as heretofore it can according to the
present invention be lowered in a very brief time by simply collapsing or folding
the sight adjusting device which, for that purpose, is connected to the gun or
rather to the gun carrier by means of a rod or plunger arranged below the
such a manner as to enable the said sight adjusting device to follow all the
movements of the gun.
gun in
The second part of the invention relates to a recoil brake for the gun which
constitutes the means for returning the gun after firing to its initial or firing
position by causing a piston in the recoil brake cylinder to force liquid between
two spring actuated discs or plungers in the interior of the hollow axle of the gun
carriage which latter acts as an accumulator and forces the gun again forward
after each. recoil. The said cylinder and parts connected thereto also form the
gun carrier.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a gun and gun carriage, fitted with
my improvements,
Fig. 2 is a plan partly in section of the recoil mechanism,
Fig. 3 is a rear view partly in section of parts shown in Fig. 1 and
Fig. 4 is a sectional view, drawn to a larger scale, of a throttle device which
may be used in connection with the present invention for regulating the action of
the recoil brake.
d is the sight adjusting spindle which is different from those hitherto in use by
being connected by a cross pin d² to the gun or to the gun carrier by a swivelling
plunger d' arranged parallel to the axis of the gun with capability of moving
endwise as well as of turning round on its own axis.
The manner of adjusting the gun both for aim and elevation is clearly shown at
Figures 1 and 3 whilst the collapsed or folded position of the parts d. d' is indicated
by dotted lines in Fig. 1. For the purpose of lowering the gun, it is only necessary
to pull-back the rod d¹ by means of the handles d³ on the cross pin d² so as to cause
the carrier D together with the gun R to be lowered at the rear or breech end by
turning on their common axis at a until the carrier comes to rest on the cross bar e.
It is obvious that for changing the gun from the manoeuvring to a firing position
the reverse action to that above described is effected. For this purpose the breech

page_text: end of the gun is raised by lifting the handles d³ and at the same time pushing the
plunger rod d forward in its guide.
If desired the said plunger rod may be secured against accidental shifting by
means of pins or by other means which may be easily disconnected or removed.
Also if desired the cross bar or rest e may be arranged adjustably on the gun
carriage so as to serve for adjusting the gun in case of highly elevated firing.
In such case however it is necessary to first remove the sight adjusting spindle d by
disconnecting it from the plunger rod d' by removing the cross pin d².
The improved recoil brake apparatus consists mainly in the employment of two
hydraulic brake cylinders of different diameters, the larger one being formed by
the hollow axle of the gun carriage wheels and containing springs which cause the
return of the gun into the firing position after each recoil. The arrangement
herein described enables a distribution of the mass in relation to the weight which
is specially valuable for field guns, by which the recoil of the gun can be obtained
to any desired length without interfering with the indispensable movability of the
gun carriage itself.
Figures 1 and 3 show, by way of example, how the gun carrier A, forming the
small cylinder, is placed in communication with the large cylinder B formed by
the hollow axle of the gun carriage by means of the hollow pivots a and b and
passages c without interfering with the vertical or horizontal movements of the
gun and carrier. The respective cross sections of the two cylinders are arranged
as 1 to 3. If therefore the piston A¹ during the recoil forces the liquid from the
cylinder A through the passages c into the cylinder B between the discs or
plungers B' these latter will both together make only one third of the movement
of that of the recoil and will thereby compress the springs C which latter not only
increase the efficiency of the brake but serve at the same time to store up the
necessary power for returning the gun to the position for firing.
The throttle device shown at Fig. 4 is employed for regulating the opening in
the passages c in such a manner as to regulate the action of the recoil brake to any
force and speed of recoil and to ensure a constant brake power.
For this purpose I provide at the underside of the gun a rail or web R¹ so
constructed as to cause it to act on the spring actuated levers f¹ of cocks fsuitably
arranged in the passages c. In this manner the said cocks f will be regulated by
the speed of the recoil and allow more or less liquid to flow through the passages c
into the large cylinder B.
In field guns provided with brakes for the hubs of the wheels such brakes may
with advantage be easily operated by the plunger dises B' in such a manner as to
act immediately at the start of the recoil and only release or loosen automatically
after the gun has returned to its firing position.
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. A field gun carriage provided with collapsible or folding sight adjusting
device acting both vertically and horizontally and with a hydraulic recoil brake
constructed and operating substantially as herein shown and described.
2. In field gun carriages, a collapsible or folding sight adjusting device in which
the connection with the gun or with the gun carrier is effected in such manner as
to enable the said sight adjusting device to turn around an axis parallel with that
of the gun and to be folded up when required for the purpose of speedily lowering
the breech end of the gun substantially as herein shown and described.
3. In field gun carriages a hydraulic recoil brake in which the real brake
cylinder is formed by and within the wheel axle substantially as herein shown and
described.
4. In a hydraulic recoil brake for field guns the arrangement of a rail or
web R adapted to act on spring actuated levers f¹ of cocks f arranged in the

page_text: passages c to regulate such cocks by the speed of the recoil so as to vary the
openings for the passage of liquid for the brake power substantially as herein set
forth.
HARRIS & MILLS,
23 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.