IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING GUNS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, of the Firm of
Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Strect, in the
City of London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BREECH-LOADING GUNS."-A communication from abroad by Lewis
Wells Broadwell, of Carlshuhe, in the Duchy of Baden.
Sealed the 29th June 1809, and dated the 19th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th January 1869.
I, CLINTON EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Flect Street, in the City of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING GUNS," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in constructing the ring employed in
closing the breech of guns of large calibro as hereafter explained, the
present Invention being an improvement upon that patented by Lewis

page_text: Wells Broadwell on the 29th April 1865. In the Specification of that
Patent the ring was described as recessed in the bore, and an annular
chamber was formed in the face of the ring. I now construct the ring
with a curved exterior, forming part of a sphere, the bore of the gun
being formed to correspond, as shown in the accompanying diagram.
The annular chamber is dispensed with, and thus no space remains for
the powder residuum or other dirt to lodge in. A. out or recess is formed
in the inner face of the ring in order that should it become fixed in the
barrel a tool can be employed to remove it. The spherical curve with
which the back of the ring is formed as described allows it to move in
the chamber so as to attain an equal and uniform contact with the recoil
plate when that plate is forced into its place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLINTON
EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Com-
pany, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Clinton Edgcumbe
Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Broo-
man, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING
Guns," (a communication from Lewis Wells Broadwell, of Carlshuhe, in
the Duchy of Baden,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, my executors or administrators,

page_text: by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascerta ned
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to tho
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
I
These improvements consist in constructing the ring employed in
closing the breech of guns of large calibre as hereafter explained, the
present Invention being an improvement upon that patented by Lewis
Wells Broadwell on the 29th April 1805. In the Specification of that
Patent tho ring was described as recessed in the bore, and an 'annular
chamber was formed in the face of the ring. I now construct the ring
with a curved exterior forming part of a sphere, the bore of the gun
being formed to correspond with the annular chamber is dispensed with,
and thus no space remains for powder residuium or other dirt to lodge in.
A cut or recess is formed in the inner face of the ring in order that
should it become fixed in the barrel a tool can be employed to
remove it.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a section of a ring
constructed according to my present Invention.
The outer periphery a, a, is shaped to a portion of a sphere to fit a
corresponding shaped aperture in the breech end of the bore of the gun.
6 is a recess in the inner face of the ring for enabling a tool to obtain a
firm hold on the shoulder of the recess to withdraw it should it become
fixed in the aperture from the effects of the explosion of the powder or
from any other cause; c is the recoil plate in the breech block or
wedge d; when the block is forced home it causes the rim or face of the
recoil plate to act against the ring and press it home. The spherical
curve with which the back of the ring is formed or described allows
it to move in the chamber so as to attain an equal and uniform
contact with the recoil plate when that plate is forced into its place.
Figure 2 is a similar view of a ring shaped with a spherical edge for
the same purpose as the first-named ring; it is formed with a recess and

page_text: shoulder for a tool to withdraw it as before explained. The recess in
this ring is curved from the base or inner edge of the shoulder towards
the front e, where it is brought to nearly a fine edge where it meets
the sphere. This shaped ring will be found serviceable when small or
for the
light charges of powder are employed, as it offers great
ring to expand in the apperture when the explosion takes place.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
the construction and employment of a ring with a rounded or spherical
elge for breech-loading guns in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before described and represented in the Drawings.
I also claim the recess in the ring as and for the purpose herein-
before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, 1
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.