Improvements in the Construction of Gun Carriages.
Year: 1886

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Gun Carriages.
We, HENRY CHARLES EDEN MALET of Wilbury Lodge Brighton, in the county.
of Sussex, a Lieutenant Colonel in Her Majesty's Reserve of Officers, late of the
Grenadier Guards, and AMBROSE MYALL of 21 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross in
the county of Middlesex, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
Invention to be as follows:-
The object of our invention is to provide a convenient form of elevating
apparatus for guns, which recoil in a curved path on their carriages, so that the
handwheel or other device which may be used to actuate the elevating gear shall
be wholly unaffected by the motion of the gun in recoil.
Our apparatus is more especially applicable to guns mounted after the manner
shewn in sheet 2 of the drawings accompanying the specification of the Letters
Patent granted to Henry Charles Eden Malet bearing date February 12th 1884
and numbered 3149.
In this mounting the gun is supported by its trunnions in a small cradle or
carriage which is suspended from the main carriage by links of equal length, so
that when the gun recoils, any point in the cradle or gun moves in a path which
is an arc of a circle described by a radius equal in length to anyone of the said
suspension links
Our improved elevating gear consists of the following arrangement. A curved
rack is affixed to the side of the gun such rack being formed with worm-teeth and
being struck by a radius from the centre of the gun trunnion.
A shaft forming &
tangent to the said rack is carried in bearings on the aforesaid cradle and is
capable of sliding lengthways therein. The upper end of the said shaft is grooved
for a part of its length and has a worm or tangent screw fitted thereon to engage
with the rack on the gun. The shaft can slide within the said tangent screw, but
compels the said screw to rotate with it by reason of a feather in the screw which
enters the groove in the shaft. The screw is fitted between bearings on the cradle
which prevent it having any end motion. The lower end of the shaft has a bevel
wheel keyed thereon. The said bevel wheel has a sleeve with collar at the back
cast in one piece therewith.
Upon the main carriage a long shaft is carried in bearings at a suitable
inclination, having at its outer end a handwheel or other suitable device by which
it can be rotated. This said shaft is grooved for the greater part of its length and

page_text: carries a bevel wheel which can slide thereon, but which being provided with a
feather must rotate with the said shaft. The said bevel-wheel has a sleeve similar
to that on the first named bevel-wheel and gears with such bevel-wheel and the
two wheels are kept in gear by means of an angle-piece which is bored to receive
the sleeves before mentioned.
The shaft fitted on the cradle translates the curved backward path of the gun
into a straight backward motion along the second shaft and such second shaft with
its handwheel or other similar device is thereby wholly unaffected by the recoil
motion of the gun..
The above arrangement gives a rigid attachment between the gun and its cradle
and does not afford any relief to the downward blow of the breech of the gun
when fired. Suitable relief for this purpose may be given in various ways, thus
the tangent screw may engage with a wormwheel which drives a pinion through
the medium of a friction clutch, such pinion gearing directly into a curved rack having
spur teeth on the side of, the gun, or actuating the said rack through the medium
of a train of spur wheels; or the tangent screw may be supported upon a spring or
elastic cushion which will give to the downward blow..
In place of a rack affixed to the gun, we may, when preferred, employ a screw
and nut, such screw and nut being worked from the vertical grooved sliding shaft
by any convenient arrangement of gear.
In cases where the two grooved shafts are arranged at right angles to each other,
in place of connecting them by bevel-wheels, we may affix a wormwheel upon the
lower end of the vertical shaft and provide a tangent screw to slide upon the
horizontal shaft, the said screw and wheel being kept in gear by a suitably formed
casting or forging to take the place of the angle-piece fitted to the bevel wheels as
before described.

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Gun Carriages.
We, HENRY CHARLES EDEN MALET of Wilbury Lodge, Brighton, in the county
of Sussex, a Lieutenant Colonel in Her Majesty's Reserve of Officers, late of the
Grenadier Guards, and AMBROSE MYALL of 21 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross,
in the county of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 :-
The object of our invention is to provide a convenient form of elevating
apparatus for guns which recoil in a curved path on their carriages, so that the
handwheel or other device which may be used to actuate the elevating gear shall
be wholly unaffected by the motion of the gun in recoil.
Our apparatus is more especially applicable to guns mounted after the manner
shewn in Sheet 2 of the drawings accompanying the specification of the Letters
Patent granted to Henry. Charles Eden Malet bearing date February 12th 1884
and numbered, 3149.
In this mounting the gun is supported by its trunnions in a small cradle or
carriage, which is suspended from the main carriage by links of equal length, so
that when the gun recoils, any point in the cradle or gun moves in a path which
is an are of a circle described by a radius equal in length to anyone of the said
suspension links.
In the accompanying two Sheets of drawings Figure 1 is a partial side elevation,
and Figure 2 a partial end elevation, of a gun carriage similar in action to that
shewn on the aforesaid Sheet 2 of the drawings accompanying the Letters Patent
No 3149 of 1884, but having the improved elevating gear, which is the subject of
our present invention, applied thereto.
The same letters of reference denote similar parts in both figures.
A is the gun supported by its trunnions B, in a cradle or carriage C. F is one
of the four links by which the said cradle and gun are slung from the main
carriage D. G is a hydraulic cylinder pivotted to the cradle Cat E. A curved
rack H is affixed to the side of the gun, such rack being struck by a radius from
the centre of the trunnion B. A pinion J carried on the cradle C gears with the
rack H. K is a worm wheel connected with the pinion J by means of a friction
clutch in the usual manner. A shaft L is supported in bearings on C, and has a
worm or tangent screw M, keyed upon it or made solid therewith. N is a worm
wheel sliding upon the shaft L but a longitudinal groove is provided in the shaft
and a feather in the wheel, so that they are compelled to rotate together.
A shaft O is supported in bearings on the main carriage D. A quick pitched worm
or tangent screw P, sliding on, but rotating with the shaft O, similarly to the
wheel Ň on the shaft L, gears with the said wheel. A casting or forging Q, is
provided with four bosses, two of the said bosses are bored to receive the shaft L
on each side of the wheel N and the other two the shaft O on each side of the
worm P. The said piece Q keeps the wheel N and worm P.in gear, while
permitting sliding motion to take place on either or both of the shafts Land O.
A hand wheel R is provided on the shaft O and it will clearly be seen, that by the

page_text: rotation of the said shaft, the gun may be elevated or depressed and that the
sliding motion on the shafts L and O will permit the recoil of the gun in a curved
path without in any way affecting the shaft O and its handwheel R.
Various modifications may be made in the arrangement of this elevating gear
without departing from the essential principles of its construction. Thus in cases
where the use of a friction clutch (to give to the downward blow of the breech
end of the gun when firing) is not considered necessary, the rack H may form the
segment of a wormwheel, the teeth being placed on the convex side of the rack
and the worm M may gear directly with such teeth. Again in place of the tangent
wheel N sliding on the shaft L it may be keyed thereon, and the shaft L may itself
slide within the worm M, a key way and feather being employed to compel them
to rotate together. In place of the tangent wheel N and screw P, a pair of bevel
wheels S, S¹, Figure 3, gearing with each other, may be used to communicate
motion from the shaft O to the shaft L, such bevel wheels being kept in gear by
means of a suitably shaped casting or forging T, within which their hollow bosses
are journalled as shown."
.
If it be desired to reduce the diameter of the said bevel wheel S, S¹, an idle
bevel wheel S', Figure 4, may be inserted. It will be understood that the wheel S
may either be fast on the shaft L, or may slide thereon, in the same manner as
previously described in reference to Figures 1 and 2.
Where it may be desired to employ a screw in place of a rack H, such screw
or its nut may be connected with the shaft L by any suitable arrangement of
gearing.
In place of employing a friction clutch, as described in reference to Figures 1
and 2 the screw M may be supported upon a spring or elastic cushion as indicated
in dotted lines at M¹.
In putting our invention into practice, we do not necessarily confine ourselves
to the precise details of construction herein shewn and described, provided the
essential principles of the invention are retained, but having now particularly
described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:-
•
The construction and arrangement of elevating gear adapted for guns which
recoil in a curved path on their carriages, substantially as herein set forth, or any
mere modification thereof.
Dated this 22nd day of October 1886.
AMBROSE MYALL, C.E.,
Agent for the Applicants.