IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO BREECH-LOADING AND OTHER GUNS
Year: 1884

page_text: I HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM, of 57d Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO BREECH-LOADING AND OTHER GUNS" to
be as follows:-
My invention relates to ordnance as well as to machine or battery guns and
other fire-arms.
The object of my said invention is to provide means whereby the smoke, which
issues from the muzzle of a gun when it is fired, will be immediately confined
within a chamber so as to leave the atmosphere around the gun clear, and thus
enable the gunner to adjust the gun for the next discharge without his aim being
impaired by the smoke, and in the case of a gun used on board of a ship, to prevent
the attacks of torpedo boats under cover of the smoke. The smoke may be
extracted or permitted to escape from the said chamber in any suitable manner.
To effect the object above mentioned I fit around the barrel of the gun a tubular
chamber or casing, which extends some distance in front of the muzzle of the gun
and is provided with a series of baffle-plates or deflecting plates which are preferably
bent into the form of truncated cones having their smaller ends towards the muzzle
of the gun. These plates are so arranged that, after the gun has been fired, the
smoke issuing from the muzzle thereof will, by reason of its expansion, come against
the said plates and thereby be directed into the said tubular chamber or casing.
This chamber or casing is connected with any suitable exhaust apparatus, or other
suitable means for removing the smoke from the said chamber or casing.
When a gun provided with my improvements is to be used on board ship, I prefer
to connect the said chamber, by means of a tube provided with a blower or the
like, with the furnace-tube of one of the boilers, below the fire-grate so that the
smoke will be rendered transparent by its passage through the incandescent fuel
and will then escape through the funnel.
A
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.

page_text: I, HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM, of 57d Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AND RELATING TO BREECH-LOADING AND OTHER GUNS " and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
My invention relates to ordnance as well as to machine or battery guns and
other fire-arms.
The object of my said invention is to provide for arresting and conducting away
the smoke which issues from the muzzle of a gun, in order to leave the atmosphere
around the gun clear or unobscured after each discharge, so that, amongst other
advantages, I obtain that of permitting the pointing or aiming of the gun, during
an action, to be effected without inconvenience or impediment from the smoke;
this advantage is of great importance in naval actions, as it obviates or removes
the danger arising from the facility with which torpedo-boats can attack a ship
under cover of the smoke.
The main feature of my invention is the combination, with a gun, of apparatus
comprising a chamber or casing fixed upon, or around, the muzzle-end of the barrel,
which chamber or casing extends beyond the muzzle, and is provided with baffle-
plates or deflecting plates for arresting the smoke, and with a pipe for conducting
the same away from the said chamber or casing.
In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated different methods of carrying
my said invention into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal central section of one form or modification of
my improved apparatus fixed on the muzzle-end of a gun-barrel.
Figure 2 is an elevation partly in transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal central section of another form or modification
of the said apparatus.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
a is the gun-barrel, b is a tubular chamber or casing, of brass or other suitable
metal, fixed thereon by screwing it into, or upon, the screw-cap c which forms the
forward end' of a water-chamber d surrounding the said barrel. The chamber b is
formed with apertures 61 for the purpose hereinafter explained. e, e are the baffle-
plates or deflecting plates, which are of brass or other suitable metal, and which
are fixed within the said casing at suitable intervals. These plates are made with
central holes e¹, which permit the passage of a projectile through the said plates.
f is a second chamber or casing, which, in the apparatus shewn in Figures 1 and 2, is
arranged on the top of the casing b, and, in that shewn in Figure 3, surrounds the
said casing b.
In the apparatus shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the chamber or casing b is provided,
at its forward end, with a screw-cap g having a central hole g¹ for the passage of
the projectile. h is a pipe for conducting the smoke away from the chamber f
i is a short tube, which is, by preference, made slightly conical, and which is
connected at its base with the chamber b, between the gun and the first or rearmost
plate e, and extends a short distance into the pipe h. The chamber b is, in this

page_text: case, formed with a single aperture 6¹ behind each of the plates e, with the exception
of the first of the said plates. The said chamber, moreover, has an aperture 6² in
front of the foremost plate e. These apertures permit the passage of the smoke
from the chamber b into the chamber f. A deflecting plate j is fixed on the chamber
or casing b above each of the apertures 6 to direct the smoke, which passes through
the said apertures, towards the pipe h..
When the gun is discharged, the projectile passes through the holes e¹ in the
plates e and through the hole g¹ in the screw-cap g; but, by reason of the expansion
of the smoke or gaseous products of combustion, on leaving the muzzle of the gun,
the greater portion of the said smoke or gaseous products is arrested by the first
or rearmost-plate e, and passes, with considerable velocity, through the tube i into
the pipe h. This passage of the smoke through the tube i produces a result some-
what similar to that obtained in the well known Giffard's injector, that is to say,
it induces an upward current of air between the said tube and the pipe h, thereby
creating a partial vacuum, within the lower part of the said pipe and in the
chamber or casing f. If any of the smoke passes through the hole in the first
plate e, it is arrested by the succeeding plate or plates and passes through one or
more of the apertures b¹, into the chamber f, the partial vacuum in this chamber
assisting or facilitating the passage of the smoke through the said apertures. If
any of the smoke passes through the hole in the last or foremost plate e it is
arrested by the screw-cap g and passes through the aperture 62 into the chamber f.
The whole, or very nearly the whole, of the smoke which issues from the muzzle
of the gun is thus arrested and conducted away through the pipe h.
This pipe is arranged to conduct the smoke upward for a short distance and
permit it to escape into the atmosphere; or the said pipe is made with a movable
portion which can be adjusted so as to conduct the smoke for a short distance to
the leeward side of the gun; or it is connected with an apparatus or device, such
as that described in the specification filed with my application for Letters Patent
dated 2nd October, A.D. 1884, N° 13,113, for purifying the smoke or depriving it
of its visible particles. When the apparatus is to be used on board of a ship,
I prefer to connect the said pipe h with one of the boiler flue or furnace tubes
beneath the fire-grate, and to provide a blower or the like for forcing the smoke
through the incandescent fuel so that it will be rendered transparent or deprived
of its visible particles; it is then allowed to escape through the funnel into the
atmosphere.
same.
In the modification of my invention shewn in Figure 3, the pipe h is connected
with an annular piece k fixed on the chamber f and enclosing a space around the
The chamber fis, in this case, formed with apertures f¹ through which the
smoke will pass into the said space and into the pipe h. The chamber b is made
with a series of apertures b' behind each plate e. These apertures are situated at
suitable intervals around the chamber b, and the deflecting plates j are made
circular so as to surround the said chamber and extend over the apertures b'. The
chamber 6 is open at its forward end and the chamber f is provided with a screw-
cap having a central hole for the passage of the projectile. The action of this
apparatus is similar to that above described, the passage of the smoke through the
apertures f¹ into the pipe h creating a partial vacuum in the chamber faround,
and in front of, the first deflecting plate j.
I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the two methods of
constructing my apparatus above described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing, as it is obvious that its construction may be considerably varied without
departing from the nature of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First. The combination, with a breech-loading or other gun, of an apparatus or
device for arresting the smoke which issues from the muzzle and conducting it
away therefrom as above anecified

page_text: Second. The combination of the said apparatus applied to a gun as above
described with the furnace-tube of a steam-boiler and with a blower or other
suitable means for forcing the smoke through the incandescent fuel, as, and for the
purpose, specified.
Third. The improved apparatus consisting of the parts constructed and combined i
substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, or Figure 3 of the
drawing, for the purpose specified.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant,