Year: 1899

page_text: We, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, late Lieutenant of Royal Navy, and Louis
SILVERMAN, Engineer, both of 32, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County
of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to loading mechanism of the kind referred to in
the specification of our prior application for Patent No. 8046 filed on the 17th
April 1899.
One of the improvements which formed the subject of our said application for
patent consisted in arranging the cartridge magazine or hopper above the carrier
and permitting the cartridges to drop one by one therefrom into the carrier,
which under the weight of the cartridge was caused to descend and liberate a
spring piston that acted to throw the cartridge from the carrier into the charge
chamber of the barrel.
We have since found that there is a liability of the cartridge in the carrier
to rebound when the latter drops into position to bring the cartridge in align-
ment with the charge chamber of the gun, with the result that, as the spring piston.
operates simultaneously with the descent of the carrier, there is a possibility of
the cartridges being projected from the carrier during such rebound and of
their not being truly directed into the charge chamber.
It is one of the objects of our present invention to obviate this objection. For
this purpose we construct, the carrier with internal beads or flanges at its upper
edges and we make the rear end of the carrier curved or inclined on its. inner
surface. The aforesaid beads or flanges do not extend completely to the rear end
of the carrier but leave a space sufficient for the flange of the cartridge to freely.
pass, when the said cartridge falls from the magazine or hopper into the carrier.
The curved or inclined formation of the rear end of the carrier acts as a cam
surface for the cartridge, so that as the latter falls from the magazine or hopper
its flange meets the aforesaid curved or inclined surface and it is thereby caused
to advance longitudinally in the carrier a sufficient distance to bring its flanged
end beneath the aforesaid beads or flanges. The said cartridge cannot then
rebound in the carrier nor leave it except by a longitudinal movement under the
action of the said spring piston.
Another feature of our present invention relates to the means whereby the
descent of the carrier into the position to bring the cartridge it contains in
alignment with the charge chamber of the gun is delayed for a sufficient time
to enable the ejected cartridge case to get entirely away from the path of the
ensuing cartridge before the latter is projected from the carrier. For this purpose
we so arrange the said carrier that its under side will be struck by the ejected
cartridge case and be thereby prevented from falling until said cartridge case has
fallen clear of the carrier. We prefer to form the underside of the carrier with

page_text: a longitudinal curve or incline which is of such shape that as the empty cartridge
case is ejected from the gun, it will collide with or slide against said curve
or incline and thereby more effectually direct the ejected cartridge case in a
downward direction and prevent its striking the gunner. By providing the carrier
with this curve or incline we may dispense with the shield which is usually
employed for protecting the gunner from the ejected cartridge cases.
Dated this 31st day of July 1899
HASELTINE LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Automatic Guns.
We, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, late Lieutenant of Royal Navy, and Louis
SILVERMAN, Engineer, both of 32, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County
of London, 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:-
This invention has reference to loading or cartridge feed mechanism of the
kind referred to in the complete specification of our prior application for Patent
No. 8046 dated the 17th April 1899.
One of the improvements forming the subject of that application consists in
arranging the cartridge magazine or hopper above the carrier and in permitting
the cartridges to drop one by one therefrom into the carrier, which, under the
weight of the cartridge, is caused to descend and liberate a spring-piston that acts
to throw the cartridge from the carrier into the charge chamber of the gun.
We have since found that there is in some instances a liability of the cartridge
in the carrier to rebound when the latter drops to bring the cartridge in align-
ment with the charge chamber, and as the operation of the spring-piston is
simultaneous with the descent of the carrier, there is a possibility of the cartridges
being protected from the carrier during such rebound and of their not being truly
directed into the charge chamber.
It is one of the objects of our present invention to obviate this objection. For
this purpose we make the rear end of the carrier curved or inclined on its
inner surface, so that as a cartridge falls from the magazine or hopper its flange
meets the aforesaid curved or inclined surface, whereby it is caused to advance
longitudinally in the carrier a sufficient distance to bring its flanged end beneath
longitudinal beadings or flanges with which the edges of the carrier are provided.
The said cartridge cannot then rebound in the carrier, nor can it leave the carrier
except by a longitudinal movement such as that which it receives under the
action of the said spring-piston.
Our present invention also relates to means whereby the descent of the carrier
to bring its contained cartridge in alignment with the charge chamber of the
gun, is delayed to enable the ejected cartridge case to move entirely out of the
path of the succeeding cartridge, before the latter is projected from the carrier.
For this purpose we so arrange the said carrier on the gun that its under side will.
be struck by the ejected cartridge case and the carrier thereby prevented from
descending until said cartridge case has moved clear of the same. We prefer to
form the underside of the carrier with a longitudinal curve or incline of such
shape that the ejected cartridge case will collide with or slide against said

page_text: curve or incline and be thereby effectually directed in a downward direction
and thus prevented from striking the gunner.
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect we will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the rear part of an automatic gun provided with
our improved cartridge feed mechanism.
Figure 2 is a detail sectional view shewing the cartridge carrier on a larger
scale.
Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 1, 1, of Figure 2.
A is the breech-block which slides in a vertical plane to open and close the.
breech when the gun is working automatically or when the handle A¹ is operated
as is well understood. B is the recoiling barrel. C is the cartridge magazine or
hopper. D is the cartridge carrier which is hinged at D¹ to the stem E¹ of the
shoulder-piece or crutch E, and which is supported in its elevated "position"
by a pivoted arm G carried by the barrel. F is the spring-piston located within
the stem E which is made hollow for its reception, the said spring-piston operat-
ing at the proper time to expel from the carrier the cartridge it contains and so
throw it into the breech chamber of the gun.
As explained in our aforesaid prior specification the cartridges fall by their own
weight from the hopper, when a releasing device thereon is actuated by the part d
of the carrier in rising. As the carrier descends, the portion d' thereof disengages
a catch and permits the piston to fly forward under the action of its spring, thus
projecting the cartridge into the charge-chamber.
to
is the curved inner surface of the rear end of the carrier and d d are the
beadings or projections with which its edges are provided. These beadings do
not extend completely to the rear end of the carrier but leave a space
permit the flanged ends of the cartridges to pass, as they descend from the hopper.
As each cartridge enters the carrier, its flanged end meets and slides along the
aforesaid curve d³. By so doing the cartridge is directed forwardly a sufficient
distance to bring its flanged end beneath the said beadings d', as shewn in
Figure 3 whereby the said cartridge is retained in the carrier without
rebounding, when it enters the carrier or when the said carrier descends
to its lowered position. The said beadings also serve to guide the
cartridge truly into the charge chamber while it is being pushed from the
carrier by the spring-piston. As described in our aforesaid prior specification,
we provide a resilient stop di forming part of a blade spring connected to the
carrier; said stop being so situated relatively to the flange of the cartridge in
the carrier that it will operate to prevent the escape of the cartridge therefrom
longitudinally except when the spring-piston acts to thrust said cartridge from
the carrier, at which time the said resilient stop gives way and permits the
cartridge to escape.
His the shield which is rigidly connected to the shoulder piece E of the
gun as usual.
The connection of the carrier to the gun is such that the position which it
assumes when elevated, relatively to the breech and to longitudinal axis of the
gun, will enable the ejected cartridge cases to strike the underside thereof and so
delay its premature descent.
is the longitudinally curved part of the underside of the carrier along which
the ejected cartridge cases slide. The shape of this curve is such that as the
ejected cartridge cases strike it, they will be directed downward and thereby
prevented from striking the gunner. Therefore when the underside of the carrier
is curved as shewn, we may, if desired, dispense with the shield H which would
not then be required to protect the gunner from the ejected cartridge cases.
underside of the carrier or of the said curve is preferably grooved or channelled
longitudinally so as to assist in guiding the empty cartridge cases along the
underside of the carrier or its curve.
The

page_text: 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 :-
1. The trough-shaped carrier formed with a curved or inclined rear end and
with longitudinal beadings or projections at its edges substantially as and for the
purposes specified.
2. The hinged carrier so attached to the gun that when elevated its under-
side lies in such a position as to be struck by 'the cartridge cases' as they are being
ejected for the purpose specified.
3. The carrier formed with a curved or inclined underside against which the
ejected cartridge cases strike and by which they are directed downwardly for the
purpose specified.
4. The improved loading or cartridge feed mechanism having its parts con-
structed arranged and operating substantially as described with reference to the
accompanying drawings for the purposes specified.
HASELTINE LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.
HASELTINE LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.