IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRAVERSING GUNS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic John Reed, of No. 3, Gresham Street,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR TRAVERSING GUNS."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Atkinson Yates, residing at Charleston, in the State of South Carolina.
Sealed the 5th May 1863, and dated the 18th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic John Reed
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th February 1863.
I, FREDERIC JOHN REED, of No. 3, Gresham Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR TRAVERSING GUNS," to be as follows:-
Upon the outer
hand rail is a
Directly under the left rail of the chasses, and near the rear transom, is a
shaft called, the upper horizontal shaft; it is attached by and turns in two
bosses or bearings affixed to the under surface of the left hand rail near the
rear transom. Upon this shaft directly outside of the rail is a pinion, and
upon the outer end of the shaft there is a cranked handle.
and lower edge of the rear transom directly under the left
horizontal countershaft; this shaft is secured by two boxes or bearings to the
rear transom. Upon the outer end of this shaft, and driven by the pinion
before mentioned, is a cog wheel, and on the inner end of the shaft is a
bevilled pinion which drives a large bevilled cog wheel on an upright shaft,

page_text: which turns in boxes or bearings fixed to the rear transom. Upon the
lower end of the upright shaft is fixed a pinion which works into a circular
toothed rack.
By these means the heaviest gun can be traversed with perfect ease with
one hand, heretofore requiring the utmost exertion, in many cases of six to
ten men, thereby dispensing with the service of several men to each gun and
traversing handspikes, consequently making the effective force of a garrison
in the service of heavy guns one half as strong again. Added to these facts,
by the gradual turning of the crank, the gun can always be kept directed
upon a passing object, and is not liable to the delay and inaccuracies of point-
ing resulting from the use of the handspikes for traversing; besides the gun
can be kept directed upon the object during the loading and firing, without
the necessary delay, under the old system, of laying down the truck hand-
spikes and using the traversing handspikes, which invariably moves the gun
either not enough or beyond the point of fire, and consequently enabling the
gun to be fired with much more rapidity and precision.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic John Reed in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
JOHN REED, of No. 3, Gresham Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederic John Reed, Her special licence that I, the said Frederic
John Reed, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Frederick John Reed, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR TRAVERSING GUNS," a communication
to me from abroad by Joseph Atkinson Yates, a person resident at Charleston,
in the State of South Carolina, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Frederic John Reed, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Frederic John Reed, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Directly under the left rail of the chasses, and near the rear transom, is a
shaft called the upper horizontal shaft; it is attached by, and turns in two
boxes or bearings affixed to the under surface of the left hand rail near the
rear tramsom; upon this shaft, directly outside of the rail, is a pinion, and upon
the outer end of the shaft there is a cranked handle. Upon the outer and
lower edge of the rear transom, directly under the left hand rail, is a horizontal
counter shaft; this shaft is secured by two boxes or bearings to the rear
transom. Upon the outer end of this shaft, and driven by the pinion before-
mentioned, is a cog wheel, and on the inner end of the shaft is a bevilled
pinion which drives a large bevilled cog wheel on an upright shaft, which
turns in boxes or bearings fixed to the rear transom. Upon the lower end
of the upright shaft is fixed a pinion which works into a circular toothed
rack.
The annexed Drawing shows an end view of apparatus for traversing guns
constructed according to this Invention. a, a, are the rails of the chasses,
and is the rear transom. c is the upper horizontal shaft; it is carried by
two boxes c*, c*, each secured by two large square-headed screws to the
under surface of the left-hand rail a near the rear transom 6; c' is the driving
pinion upon the shaft c, and c is the cranked handle upon the same shaft; it
is secured by a screw nut or otherwise. d is the lower countershaft; this
shaft is carried also by two boxes represented by d', d'. On the counter-
shaft d is the spur wheel d³, which gears with and is driven by the pinion c¹;
and ds is the bevilled pinion on the same shaft, which gears with and drives
the bevilled wheel e on the upright shaft e', which is carried in boxes e³, e³,
secured to the hinder face of the rear transom. The shaft has shoulders
upon it to prevent it sliding longitudinal in its bearings; is a pinion
secured to the lower end of the shaft e', and this pinion & gears with the
toothed arc f, which is fixed upon the traverse bed just outside the traverse
circle. Thus it will be seen that by turning the crank handle & in one or

page_text: other direction, the rear end of the carriage may be traversed to the right or
left as may be desired.
. By these means the heaviest gun can be traversed with perfect ease
with one hand, heretofore requiring the utmost exertion, in many cases of
six to ten men, thereby dispensing with the service of several men to each
gun and traversing handspikes, consequently making the effective force of a
garrison in the service of heavy guns one half as strong again. Added to
these facts, by the gradual turning of the crank, the gun can always be kept
directed upon a passing object, and is not liable to the delay and inaccuracies
of pointing resulting from the use of the handspikes for traversing; besides
the gun can be kept directed upon the object during the loading and firing
without the necessary delay under the old system of laying down the truck
bandspikes and using the traversing, handspikes, which invariably moves the
gun either not enough or beyond the point of fire, and consequently enabling
the gun to be fired with much more rapidity and precision.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic John Reed, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
FRED. JNO. REED. (L.S.)