AN IMPROVED PORTABLE BATTERY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Billinghurst and Josephus Reqüä, of
Rochester, in the State of New York, United States of America, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE BATTERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Billinghurst and
Josephus Requa at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th December 1862.
:
We, WILLIAM BILLINGHURST and JOSEPHUS REQUA, of Rochester, in the
State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature.
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PORTABLE BATTERY," to be as
follows:-
We make use of a range of rifle barrels attached at their rear ends to a
metallic plate that is sustained on suitable wheels and adjusted by a screw to
regulate the elevation or depression of the barrels. The centre barrel of the
range is stationary and the others are parallel thereto, or may be diverged (to
spread the balls as fired) by means of diagonal or toggle joint bars with collars.
to each barrel. When these bars are moved nearer into a straight line the
barrels are diverged as held by said collars on the bars, or the barrels are
drawn together by the reverse movement given to these bars. The barrels
are open at the rear end, and loaded metal cartridge chambers, having a

page_text: flange around their rear end, are placed in holes in a binged carrier plate,
and said carrier plate is applied at the rear end of the barrels, and the
cartridge chambers all forced together into the barrels by a breech bar that is
moved up behind them by a sliding plate and levers, the said sliding plate
dropping within a flange on the main bed plate so as to sustain the recoil of
the explosion. The breech bar has a hole running lengthways through it and
a branch hole to the rear of each cartridge chamber. A nipple is provided on
this breech bar receiving a cap that is exploded by a hammer, and fires the
barrel that is on the line of the said nipple, and the explosion of this com-
municates through said breech bar with all the other cartridge chambers, firing
the balls off through all the barrels almost simultaneously. The cartridge
chambers are drawn out of the barrel as the breech bar is drawn back by
means of a notched plate that also serves as a guide in entering another set of
chambers contained in a hinged carrier as before. By having a number of
these hinged carriers and cartridge chambers this battery can be fired very
fast, for the soldiers can be loading and preparing the chambers for use while
two or three persons fire the battery itself. The hammer that fires the battery
is so arranged that it cannot strike the cap except when the parts are all
correctly in place, hence an accidental discharged is avoided. The breech bar is
fitted so that it can be instantly removed to render the piece entirely useless
to an enemy in case of sudden capture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Billingburst and Josephus Requa in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
BILLINGHURST and JOSEPHUS REQUA, of Rochester, in the State of New York,
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Billinghurst and Josephus Requa, Her special license
that we, the said William Billinghurst and Josephus Requa, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Billing-
hurst and Josephus Requa, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: mes thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
ake, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
d Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for. "Ax
IPROVED PORTABLE BATTERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
e said William Billinghurst and Josephus Requa, by an instrument in
iting. under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
e nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
rformed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
thin six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
etters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Billinghurst and Josephus
equa, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
anner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
ined in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
reunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
say):-
Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of the Invention.
"
"
カラ
2. is a vertical section taken through the parts in the direction of the
red line
y.
3 is a rear elevation of the cartridge holder or clamp, shown open, and
containing the cartridges.
4 is a longitudinal central section of the cartridge case, breech bar,
and part of the barrel in full size.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
The nature of this Invention consists in a series of barrels, to be loaded
in the breech and fired nearly simultaneously, the barrels being fitted so
t they can be diverged more or less at pleasure to regulate the spread of
balls as fired, and the construction and operation of this Invention is as
ows:-The bed a is of iron, and may be of skeleton form. There is a
ess made in the upper face of the bed transversely to receive the pivot
nks or projections c of the barrels 6; this recess is formed on the front side
ularly under each barrel, as seen by dotted lines, Fig. 1, a portion of one
rel, the clamp d, and of the bar e, being broken away for that purpose.
ch barrel is pivoted to the stock by a screw or bolt f passing through the
nks c, and the shanks. being held down by the plate c'. The center barrel
the series is fixed to the bed a by a screw or otherwise. A ring his
vided on each barrel and fitted to slide, except the two end rings encircling
outer barrels which are fixed thereto. They are all pivoted to the bars i
threaded shanks and nuts k), and said
bars are placed diagonally under

page_text: the barrels, as seen in Fig. 1, and are halved together forming a hinged or
toggle joint under the center barrel, where they are connected to the rod m
and by that to the lever ?. By moving the said lever toward the rear of the
battery the barrels are diverged or radiated to cause the balls when fired to
spread. The red lines in Fig. 1 represent the position of the toggle bars i,
and by a center line to each barrel shows the amount they are spread. The
breech bar e is made solid, and is entirely detached from the barrels and also
from the cartridges; there is a holes drilled through it longitudinally, as
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, and branches leading therefrom to the
side of the bar opposite each barrel, and one from the cone f¹ intersecting the
branch opposite. The bar is countersunk at the mouth of each branch to fit
the spherical form of the heads h¹ of the cartridge cases, as shown in Fig. 4;
the ends of the hole or tube s are closed by the transverse pin 6. The flame
passes from the cone f¹ to the cartridge opposite, and from that back into the
tubes, and communicating through all the other branches produces a simul-
taneous discharge. There is a cap piece o at each end of the breech bar e,
and said cap pieces slide in slots, indicated by the dotted lines, made through
the side pieces n for that purpose; the breech bar e is connected to one of
these cap pieces by two dowels (at r), and to the other by the sliding bolt a',
which allows the bar to be removed at any time; and in case of a forced
abandonment of the battery it should be taken away, thus rendering the
battery entirely useless to its captors. The plate p is hinged at each of the
front corners to the cap pieces o by a pivot or screw v, seen in Fig. 1, and the
rear corners are provided with journals that reach through the levers s².
The latter are fixed to the rock shaft t which forms their fulcrum. The rear
edge of the plate p drops in front of the heavy rib x on the bed a, as seen in
Fig. 2, and it thereby constitutes a solid backing to the breech bar e to
sustain that against the recoil of the explosion. The center of the journals ?**
drops below that of the rock shaft t before the plate p rests on the ledge t¹, so
that the levers s' act as diagonal braces to keep the plate p
in its proper
position during the discharge. The hammer u is pivoted to the plate p by
means of the screw k³, which passes through the bracket v and through the
cam-shaped portion of the hammer into the plate, and as the rear edge of the
plate p is raised by the movement of the levers s¹, the head p¹ of the hammer
is thrown back from the cone by the upper corner of the bar e striking the
cam face of the hammer to the right of the line of its axis, the latter being
so arranged as to cause the said cam face to just touch the bar e when the
head p¹ is against the cone f', and by this construction and relative arrange-
ment of the hammer with the breech bar the possibility of a premature

page_text: head p¹ cannot
The hammer is
discharge of the battery is entirely prevented, because the
touch the cap until the backing plate p is down to its place.
operated by a lanyard in the ordinary way. There is a thin metallic rack or
guide w, Figs. 2 & 3, placed between the sliding or breech bar e and the
bed a; the front and rear edges are turned up as seen in Fig. 4, the front
edge being scalloped on the line of each barrel, and the distance between the
two edges should be equal to about one half the length of the cartridge cases
added to the width of the bar e, and this rack w is moved by a lip under the
front edge of the plate p. By making the guide of such a width it only
traverses about one-half as far as the bar e, which leaves the scalloped front
edge between the ends of the barrels and the bar when the latter is withdrawn.
The cartridge holder or clamp d is composed of two wings made of thin sheet
metal and hinged together. The openings through the wings are made to
receive the cases g, and retain said cases by the flange m¹ which are clasped
between the wings of the clamp d when closed, whereby the cartridges may
be moved about as when being transferred from the caisson to the batteries,
&c., without danger of being misplaced or lost. The cartridge cases are
composed of a thin metallic cylinder g; one end is closed by a solid metallic
head h¹, the outside of which is made spherical to fit against the cavity in the
bar e, and allows the barrels 6 to be diverged without impairing the joint
between the cartridge head and the bar e, which is a very important feature..
The head h¹ is encircled by a projecting flange m¹. The cylindrical portion of
the head is made to fit snugly into the case g, and is bored out about in form
of a parabola, thus leaving a thin, edge against the case 9, and these heads
may be soldered in. The object of making the head so heavy is to give
proper strength to that portion of the cartridge case necessarily intervening
between the end of the barrels b and the breech bar e, which space is occupied
by the clamp d and the scalloped rest or guide w. These cases may be loaded
with patched bullets, and a wad also, if desired, saturated with. grease, which
allows any number of discharges without stopping to clear the barrels. A
quantity of holders or clamps d are supplied with charged cartridges and
placed in suitable caissons for transportation. There is a sight d' fixed to the
center barrel, and there may be another attached to the rear of the bed a in
the center as at æ¹.
The whole battery is designed to be placed upon a light field carriage, and
to be provided. with an elevating screw z similar to ordnance.
Summary of the operation.-The levers s' are thrown back, placing the
plate p in the position indicated by the red lines in Fig. 4, which also draws
back the breech bar e and leaves the scalloped edge of w between the rear end

page_text: of the barrels and the bar e. A clamp containing the cartridges is then placed
between the breech bar and the barrels, the cartridges resting in and being
guided by said scallops, and the levers s¹ are thrown forward, which forces the
cartridges into their respective barrels. Either of these movements, that is,
forward and back of the plate p would force the hammer u away from the cone,
so that the cap may be placed upon it without any further preparatory adjust-
ment of the hammer, and the battery can be fired at will. After the discharge
the levers are again thrown back, which by the plate w withdraws the
empty cartridge cases, when they may be removed and another set supplied as
before.
What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First, the combination of the barrels & with the cartridges g and breech
bar e, substantially as specified..
Second, we claim the cartridge holder or clamp d, constructed substantially
as. and for the purposes set forth.
Third, we claim the guide plate w, construeted and operating substantially
in the manner and for the purposes specified.
Fourth, we claim the breech bar e in combination with the backing plate p.
arranged and operating as specified.
Fifth, we claim throwing the hammer back by the edge of the bar e, as and
for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Billinghurst and Josephus
Requa, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twentieth day
of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three.
Witnesses,
JAMES W. RUSSELL,
Rochester, N. Y.
P. V. BRYAN,
Rochester, N. Y.
WILLIAM BILLINGHURST. (L.S.)
JOSEPHUS REQUA.
(L.S.).