Improvements in or connected with the Mounting and Working of Ordnance.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1891-Accented, 28th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Mounting and Working of
Ordnance.
We, CHARLES GUSTAV MELLSTROM and AXEL BREMBERG, both of 32, Victoria
Street, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates mainly to automatically regulating the recoil of ordnance
so that the amount or length of the recoil shall be the same whatever be the angle
of elevation or depression of the gun, or whatever be the nature of the charge. Our
invention also relates to regulating the velocity of the return or restoration of the
recoiling parts.
In carrying out our invention we employ hydraulic buffers with pistons as hitherto,
and arranged for either the cylinders to be stationary and the pistons to be moveable
or vice versa.
In order to effect the automatic regulation of the recoil we form the orifice through
which the liquid passes from one side of the piston to the other of a suitable shape
and provide it with a slide adapted to be operated by the movement of the gun on
its trunnions. This may be effected by means of a screw and a nut operated by
gearing or in any other suitable manner.
By this arrangement it will be obvious that as the gun is elevated or depressed,
the said slide will be moved so as to vary the size of the orifice and thereby
govern the passage of the liquid from one side of the piston to the other and thus
regulate the recoil.
Means are provided for adjusting or setting the slide by hand according to the
charges to be fired. In order to regulate the velocity or restoration of the recoiling
parts we provide an additional buffer having a slide as above named and adapted to
be operated by the same movements of the gun.
In practice we find it advantageous to construct our buffers of two cylinders one
fitting in the other as this allows of the orifice being made right through the surface
of the inner cylinder in a very simple manner. This method of forming the orifices
in the cylinders of hydraulic buffers for ordnance is applicable to buffers which are
not worked automatically.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Mounting and Working of
Ordnance.
We, CHARLES GUSTAV MELLSTROM and AXEL BREMBERG, both of 32, Victoria
Street, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineers, 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:-
Our invention relates mainly to means for regulating the recoil of ordnance so
that the amount or length of the recoil shall be the same whatever be the angle of
elevation or depression of the gun, or whatever be the liquid in the buffers. Our
invention also relates to regulating the velocity of the return or restoration of the
recoiling parts.
In carrying out our invention we employ hydraulic buffers with pistons as hitherto,
and arranged for either the cylinders to be stationary and the pistons to be movable
or vice vane

page_text: In order to effect the automatic regulation of the recoil we form the orifice,
through which the liquid passes from one side of the piston to the other, of a suit-
able shape and provide it with a slide adapted to be operated by the movement of
the gun on its trummions. This may be effected by means of a screw and a nut
operated by gearing or by any other suitable means.
By this arrangement it will be obvious that as the gun is elevated or depressed,
the said slide will be moved so as to vary the size of the orifice and thereby govern
the passage of the liquid from one side of the piston to the other and thus regulate
the recoil.
Means are provided for adjusting or setting the slide by hand (according to the
liquid used). In order to regulate the velocity or restoration of the recoiling parts
we provide an additional buffer having a slide as above named and adapted to be
operated by the same movements of the gun.
In practice we find it advantageous to construct our buffers of two cylinders one
fitting in the other as this allows of the orifice being made right through the surface
of the inner cylinder in a very simple manner. This method of forming the orifices
in the cylinders of hydraulic buffers for ordnance is applicable to buffers which are
not worked automatically.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which —
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gun provided with a buffer having regulating
mechanism according to our invention, the said buffer being partly shewn in longi-
tudinal section :
Figure 2 is a plan view of the rear end of the buffer:
Figure 3 is an end view of the buffer and adjacent parts looking in the direction
of the arrow A, Figure 1:
Figure 4 is a section on the line yy, Figure 1, looking in the direction of the
arrow B:
Figure 5 is a section on the line = Figure 1; and,
Figure 6 is a section on the line ¹¹ Figure 1:
Figures 7 and 8 are an end view and section respectively of means for enabling
our regulating mechanism to be operated either automatically or by hand:
Figures 3 to 8 are drawn to a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2.
a indicates the body of a gun of ordinary construction, and the cradle in which
the same is adapted to slide, the said cradle being carried by trummions e upon the
mounting d.
e is the buffer-cylinder carried by the cradle and containing two pistons f, g
mounted upon a single rod h, the rear end of which is connected to a bracket i
secured to and recoiling with the gun. jis a spring surrounding the rod and
serving during the recoil to store sufficient energy to return the gun to the firing
position. This spring is enclosed in a cylinder fixed within the buffer-cylinder,
and bears at one end against the said cylinder & and at the other against the piston g.
1, m are valves placed upon the pistons fa respectively and operating as herein-
after described to open and close the passages formed in the said pistons and
indicated by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 5. n, o are the orifices or passages
formed in the walls of the cylinders e, k respectively and serving for the passage
of liquid from one side of the piston to the other, and p, y are the slides working
in conjunction with the passages n, o respectively."
In order to facilitate the formation of these passages and also to provide suitable
recesses in which the slides can operate we introduce linings, into the
cylinders e, respectively, which linings in Figure 1 for the sake of clearness are
shewn in elevation.
It will be noticed that the passages n, o and p, q are bevelled or inclined in such
a manner that, when the said slides are moved from the position shewn in full lines
in Figure 1 to the position indicated by the dotted lines tu, the area of the said
passages will be reduced, thereby lowering the speed at which the liquid, during
the motion of the pistons, can pass from one side to the other thereof, and at

page_text: the same time increasing the velocity of the liquid flowing through the said
passages.
The slide q is provided inside the cylinder with a lateral extension g' to which is
attached a spindle q'extending through the front end of the buffer-cylinder, which
spindle is screw-threaded and extends through a correspondingly internally screw-
threaded worm-wheel q³, mounted in the front end of the buffer in such a manner
that it is prevented from moving longitudinally but is capable of rotation upon the
said spindle, the result of which arrangement is that the rotation of the said worm-
wheel in one or the other direction causes the corresponding movement of the
slide and the corresponding opening or closing of the passage o.
Motion is imparted to this worm-wheel 3 through the medium of a spindle v
mounted in bearings », on the end of the buffer and carrying a worm ² in
engagement with the worm-wheel q³, and a pinion 1 in engagement with the rack
secured upon the mounting or carriage concentrically with the trunnions.
Motion is imparted to the slide p through the medium of a worm w mounted
upon the shaft, a worm-wheel secured to one end of a shaft w³ extending
longitudinally along the buffer-cylinder, and having at the other end a gear-
wheel w engaging with a gear-wheel w mounted upon a screw-threaded extension p'
on one end of the said slide p, the said wheel to acting as a nut in the same
manner as the worm-wheel q³ herein before described.
These gear-wheels, worm-wheels and worms must be so arranged that, when the
gun is elevated (in which position the weight of the gun will tend to increase the
recoil and to retard the return of the gun), the channel n will be reduced in area
to increase the resistance to the movement of the buffer-piston f and the channel o
increased in area to lessen the resistance to the movement of the piston g during
the return of the gun to its firing position, and vice versa when the gun is depressed,
that is to say, when the weight of the gun tends to retard the recoil and to accele-
rate the return of the gun to its firing position.
:
12
After the inclination of the gun has been adjusted and by this movement the
area of the passages n, o correspondingly adjusted, the operation of the apparatus
hereinbefore described is as follows, that is to say, when the gun is fired and begins
to recoil the liquid behind the piston f passes through the passage n from behind
the piston to the front thereof, the area of the said opening regulating the back-
ward movement of the piston at the same time the liquid in the cylinder kand
behind the piston g passes freely through the said piston, the valve m automatically
opening. On the return of the gun, however, the valve of the piston opens
automatically to allow the liquid in front of the said piston to pass behind the same
and at the same time the valve m closes, so that the liquid in front thereof is caused
to pass through the passage o, thereby regulating the speed at which the said
piston y returns under the action of the spring j.
If it is desired to operate the slides p and q by hand instead of automatically as
hereinbefore described, we advantageously employ the arrangement shewn in
Figure 8. In this arrangement the screw-threads are not formed directly inside
the wheels q or w but are formed in a loose nut x adapted to rotate within the
said wheels, and the said nut is provided with a bush or extension carrying an arm a
provided with a thumb-screw, adapted to be engaged with one of a series of
holes formed in the said wheels. With this arrangement it is obvious that when
the thumb-screw is moved out of engagement with its wheel, the latter can move
without imparting any movement to the slide.
Instead of fixing the buffer-cylinder as hereinbefore described the pistons may
be fixed and the cylinder adapted to recoil with the gun.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The method of regulating the recoil of guns having hydraulic buffers by

page_text: providing means whereby the passages through which the liquid flows from one side
to the other of the buffer pistons can be varied in size, substantially as described.
2. A buffer for ordnance provided with a slide, the movement of which in one or
the other direction causes the corresponding increase or diminution in the size of
the passage through which the liquid passing from one side to the other of the piston
flows, substantially as described."
3. The combination with a gun provided with recoil-buffers having adjustable
passages as herein before described, of means for automatically adjusting the slides
which control the area of the said passages, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with a gun or piece of orduance of recoil mechanism con-
structed substantially in the manner hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated the 28th day of January 1891
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.