A NEW OR IMPROVED TRANSDORMA MACHINE OR ADDADANG DAN PERLING CON" IMPROVED TRANSPORTADEN MA LOTLEND NE OR APPARATUS FOR RIFLING CANNON 1
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah Vavasseur, of 28, Gravel Lane, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED TRANSDORMA MACHINE OR ADDADANG DAN PERLING CON"
IMPROVED TRANSPORTADEN MA
LOTLEND
NE OR APPARATUS FOR RIFLING CANNON
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Vavasseur at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
August 1861.
I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, of 28, Gravel Lane, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW OR IMPROVED TRANSPORTABLE MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR RIFLING
CANNON," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists is so constructing and arranging to be driven by
manual power the machinery used for rifling cannon, in combination with new
or additional parts, so as to produce a machine capable of being readily moved
or transported from gun to gun, and place to place, in order that the operation
of rifling may be carried on in the place where the guns are used, as, for
example, in fortresses or ships, thereby avoiding the expence and inconvenience
of removing the guns any distance from their position to the arsenal or other
place where the rifling is usually done.
My new transportable machine for rifling consists of a bed similar to a
lathe bed, fitted with a saddle travelling along the bed carrying the end of the
rifling bar, cross slide, rack, radius bar, and screw for travelling saddle similar

page_text: to an ordinary rifling machine. At one end of the machine is fitted a bracket
and chuck, with a hole large enough to receive the muzzle of the largest
cannon the machine is designed to rifle; four or more set screws are tapped
thro' this chuck for the purpose of setting the gun or other piece of
ordnance concentrically with the rifling bar, and securing it in its position
when so set. At the other end of the machine may be mounted a fly wheel,
so that the machine may be driven by manual power where from position or
other circumstances other motive power is not available. The bed of the
machine is carried on four wheels, on the axles of which are fitted eccentrics,
by means of which the wheels may be raised or lowered, so that the bed of the
machine can rest upon suitable standards fixed to the machine, or can be
lifted on to the wheels and transported from gun to gun, as may be required.
The bar used for rifling is hollow. On the end to which the cutters are
attached a block is fitted, which fits the bore of the gun, so as to slide up and
down the barrel freely; the hole at this end of the bar is enlarged to admit of
a cone, on the surface of which, at right angles to the axis of the cone, the
cutters rest; the cone is fastened to the end of a small rod, which is continued
right thro' the end of the bar carried by the travelling saddle. This end of
the rod is screwed, and a small hand wheel is tapped to fit the screwed end of
the rod. Between the boss of the wheel and the end of the bar a cam is
run back up
placed; the object of this cam is that previously to the bar being
to the breech of the gun or other piece of ordnance to be rifled, the cam is to
be so placed as to allow the cone to recede back towards the breech of the
gun, a spiral spring pressing against the cone for this purpose; this allows
the cutters to fall in towards the centre of the bar, a small spring being used
to press on them for that purpose. When the bar has arrived at the breech
end of the cannon, the cam is turned so as to bring the cutters back to the
same place exactly in which they were at the finish of the last cut; the
necessary feed is then given by the small hand wheel, the cut being taken
while the bar is coming out of the barrel; this operation is continued till the
grooves are of sufficient depth and of the shape required. One or more
cutters may be used so as to cut one or more grooves at a time. The block
at the end of the bar thro' which the cams project is made so as to be
changed to suit the different sizes of gun or other piece of ordnance it may be
required to rifle.
The carriage on which the gun or other piece of ordnance is to be placed
during the operation of rifling is mounted on four wheels, so as readily to b
moved alongside the gun it is proposed to opera'e upon. The gun is lifte
into the carriage, the trunnions resting on V-shaped carriers, with a screwe

page_text: piece beneath cach, and a nut worked by a worm and wheel similar to a screw
jack. This arrangement allows the gun to be readily raised, if necessary, for
the purpose of adjusting it for rifling. The carriages which carry the V-shaped
carriers and screws can also be moved transversely by means of a screw; this,
with the screws for the muzzle, allows the gun to be adjusted readily and
accurately. With my machine the cannon may in some instances be rifled
without even moving it from its carriage.
The machine is also fitted with a bar for reboring the cannon previous to
rifling when necessary through the cannon being old or badly bored.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah Vavasseur in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
VAVASSEUR, of 28, Gravel Lane, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and. grant
unto me, the said Josiah Vavasseur, Her special licence that I, the said Josiah
Vavasseur, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Josiah Vavasseur, 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
"A NEW OR IMPROVED TRANSPORTABLE MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR RIFLING
CANNON," upon the condition (amongst others). that I, the said Josiah Vavas-
seur, my executors or administrators, 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Josiah Vavasseur, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, that is to say:-
My Invention for a "New or Improved Transportable Machine or Apparatus
for Rifling Cannon" consists in so constructing and arranging to be driven by
manual power the machinery used for rifling cannon in combination with new
or additional parts so as to produce a machine capable of being readily moved
or transported from gun to gun, and place to place, in order that the operation
of rifling may be carried on in the place where the guns are used, as, for
example, in fortresses or ships, thereby avoiding the expence and inconvenience
of removing the guns any distance from their position to the arsenal or other
place where the rifling is usually done.
In order that the nature of my Invention, and the means by which the same
is effected, may be distinctly ascertained and understood, I append to this
Specification a Sheet of Drawings having figures and letters of reference
marked thereupon, corresponding letters of reference being used to denote
similar parts in each Figure.
In these Drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of my improved
transportable machine or apparatus, with the carriage for holding the gun in
position for the purpose of rifling the same; Figure 3 is a plan of the same
machine and carriage; and Figure 2 is a view, drawn to an enlarged scale,
of the arrangement for rifling or cutting the grooves to be herein-after
referred to.
My new transportable machine for rifling consists of a bed A, similar to a
lathe bed, fitted with a saddle B, travelling along the bed carrying the end of
the rifling bar C, cross slide D, rack E, radius bar F, and screw G, for
travelling saddle similar to an ordinary rifling machine. At one end of the
machine is fitted a bracket and chuck H, with a hole large enough to receive
the muzzle of the largest cannon the machine is designed to rifle. Four or
more set screws i, i, i, i, are tapped through this chuck for the purpose of
setting the gun or other piece of ordnance concentrically with the rifling bar,
and securing it in its position when so set. At the other end of the machine
may be mounted a fly wheel J, so that the machine may be driven by manual
power where, from position or other circumstances, other motive power is not
available.
The bed of the machine is carried on four wheels, on the axles of which are
fitted eccentrics K, K, by means of which the wheels may be raised or lowered
so that the bed of the machine can rest upon suitable standards fixed to the
machine, or can be lifted on to the wheels and transported from gun to gun as
may be required.

page_text: The bar C used for rifling is hollow; on the end to which the cutters are
attached a block L is fitted, which fits the bore of the gun, so as to slide up
and down the barrel freely; the hole at this end of the bar is enlarged to admit
of a cone M. On the surface of this cone, at right angles to the axis of the
same, the cutters rest. The cone is fastened to the end of a small rod N,
Figure 3, which is continued right through the end of the bar carried by the
travelling saddle B. This end of the rod is screwed, and a small hand wheel O
is tapped to fit the screwed end of the rod. Between the boss of the wheel
and the end of the bar a cam P is placed; the object of this cam is, that
previously to the bar being run back up to the breech of the gun or other piece
of ordnance to be rifled, the cam P is to be so placed as to allow the cone M
to recede back towards the breech of the gun, a spiral spring pressing against
the cone for this purpose; this allows the cutters to fall in towards the centre
of the bar, a small spring being used to press on them for that purpose. When
the bar has arrived at the breech end of the cannon, the cam P is turned so as
to bring the cutters back to the same place exactly in which they were at the
finish of the last cut; the necessary feed is then given by the small hand
wheel O. The block L at the end of the bar, through which the cams project,
is made so as to be changed to suit the different sizes of guns or other pieces
of ordnance it may be required to rifle.
The carriage on which the gun or other pieces of ordnance is to be placed
during the operation of rifling is mounted on four wheels R, R, so as readily
to be moved alongside the gun it is proposed to operate upon. The gun is
lifted into the carriage, the trunnions resting on V-shaped carriers S, S, with a
screwed piece T, T, beneath each, and a nut worked by a worm and wheel
similar to a screw jack. This arrangement allows the gun to be readily
raised, if necessary, for the purpose of adjusting it for rifling. The carriages
which carry the V-shaped carriers and screws can also be moved transversely
by means of a screw; this, with the screws i, i, i, i, for the muzzle, allows the
gun to be adjusted readily and accurately. With my machine the cannon
may in some instances be riffed without even moving it from its carriage.
The machine may be also fitted with a bar for reboring the cannon previous
to rifling when necessary through the cannon being old or badly bored.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be clearly
understood that what I claim as my Invention is,―
Firstly, the construction of a machine for rifling cannon, which is, by means
of the improved arrangements as herein described, rendered transportable or
capable of being removed from place to place, so as to rifle guns in the place

page_text: in which they are used, and for accurately adjusting the position of the guns
for rifling, the providing of the rifling machine with wheels, with the eccentrics
as and for the purpose described, making that portion of the machine which
holds the gun in position a separate carriage, and the arrangement in this
carriage for the easy adjustment of the position of the gun.
Secondly, I claim as applied for the purpose of rifling cannon, the improved
arrangement of hollow rifling bar, with internal rod, cone, and cutters, for
rifling and cutting the grooves as the cutters are coming from the breech
towards the muzzle, as shown more particularly in Figure 2, and the apparatus
at end of bar to allow the cutters to recede while the bar is running up-
the gun.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Vavasseur, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first-day-of-January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
JOHN FISHER.
JOSIAH VAVASSEUR.
(L.S.)