Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 24th Dec., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 12th Feb., 1889
AVE CO
I, THORSTEN NORDENFELT of 53 Parliament Street, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of the invention is to construct a carriage for quick firing guns which
with a convenient total weight, will absorb all the recoil of the gun, and which
can be so arranged that it can be taken to pieces conveniently to carry on mules.
The gun rests in a crosshead which can slide rearward on two guides and which is
kept in its place by spring buffers which are compressed when the gun recoils. I use
2 or more springs which come into action successively so that by regulating their
strength, the amount of resistance at any point of the recoil can be adjusted. The
arrangement I adopt is to have the springs one in advance of the other with
a stop between them. The first portion of the recoil is taken up by the front
spring alone until the stop between the springs is released when the two or more
springs operate together. The stop rests against the front end of a lever whose other
end is pivotted to the carriage. Upon this lever is an incline and when the gun has
recoiled a certain distance a pin or roller on the crosshead of the slide comes against
this incline causing the lever to turn about its pivot carrying its nose out of the path
of the slot thus freeing it. The lever is provided with a tail which comes behind the
rear spring which thus tends to make the lever resume its original position as soon as
the gun has been run out again.
The spring buffers are kept between 2 trail sides which are provided with a pivot
in front and a toothed segment at the rear end. A worm fixed to the lower part
of trail of the carriage working in this segment gives traversing movement to the
carriage. The elevating gear is placed between the two sides of the top carriage.
The trail is of ordinary shape, and has a socket in the front into which the pivot of
the top carriage drops.

page_text: Attached by keys to the front of the trail is a shield which can be divided into
2 parts; to the lower part are attached 2 strong legs with a claw shaped foot. The
carriage is provided with 2 small wheels for transporting the carriage from one place
to another when the shield is taken off. Two removeable seats are arranged on the
carriage for the convenience of the gunners.
For transport, the gun mounting can be divided as follows :—
Top carriage with spring buffers, crosshead, elevating gear and traversing gear.
Trail, wheels, axle and seats.

page_text: I, THORSTEN NORDENFELT of 53 Parliament Street in the City of Westminster,
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 the invention is to construet a carriage for quick firing guns which
with a convenient total weight, will absorb all the recoil of the gun, and which can be
so arranged that it can be taken to pieces conveniently to carry on mules.
The gun rests in a crosshead which can slide rearward on two guides and which is
I use
kept in its place by spring buffers which are compressed when the gun recoils.
2 or more springs which come into action successively so that by regulating their
strength, the amount of resistance at any point of the recoil can be adjusted. The
arrangement I adopt is to have the springs one in advance of the other with a stop
between them. The first portion of the recoil is taken up by the front spring alone
until the stop between the springs is released when the two or more springs operate
together. The stop rests against the front end of a lever whose other end is pivotted
to the carriage. Upon this lever is an incline and when the gun has recoiled a certain
distance a pin or roller on the crosshead of the slide comes against this incline
causing the lever to turn about its pivot carrying its nose out of the part of the slot
thus freeing it. The lever is provided with a tail which comes behind the rear spring
which thus tends to make the lever resume its original position as soon as the gun has
been run out again.
The spring buffers are kept between 2 trail sides which are provided with a pivot
in front and a toothed segment at the rear end. A worm fixed to the lower part of
trail of the carriage working in this segment gives traversing movement to the
carriage. The elevating gear is placed between the two sides of the top carriage.
The trail is of ordinary shape, and has a socket in the front into which the pivot
of the top carriage drops.
Attached by keys to the front of the trail is a shield which can be divided into two
The
parts; to the lower part are attached 2 strong legs with a claw shaped foot.
carriage is provided with 2 small wheels for transporting the carriage from one place
to another when the shield is taken off. Two removeable seats are arranged on the
carriage for the convenience of the gunners.
For transport, the gun mounting can be divided as follows:-
(a), top carriage with spring buffers, crosshead, elevating gear and traversing
gear.
:

page_text: Figure 1 is a section on the line X X Figure 3, of a gun mounting made according
to my invention.
Figure 2 is a combined front and rear view of the same.
Figure 3 is a plan.
Figure 4 is a side elevation.
Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are views of the parts carried by mules.
The gun
is supported on trunnions carried by a crosshead a which slides upon two
guides at the top of two trail sides bb. Between these trail sides are two
springs c and d which take the recoil of the gun; they are separated by a stop e.
During the first part of the recoil the stop e is prevented from moving rearward by
the end of the lever f, so that the whole of the first part of the recoil is taken by the
spring c. The lever is pivotted at f¹ and has upon it an incline against which the
pin g carried by the crosshead a comes as the gun recoils, thereby causing the lever
to turn about its pivot f¹ and free its end from the stop e, thus bringing the spring d
into operation. The tail end of the lever ƒ comes against a stop at the rear of the
spring & and the pressure of the spring tends therefore to make the lever resume the
position shown in Figure 1, which it does as soon as the gun runs out again. The two
trail sides bb are carried by the trail h and have at their front ends the pivot k,
and at their rear ends the toothed segment ; for traversing the carriage, a worm m
upon the trail h gears with the segment; n is the elevating screw worked by the
wheel n-these are carried by the trail sides bb; o and paro the two halves of the
shield which are connected together by keys 7 passing through eyes rr upon the shield.
At the lower part of the half p are claw shaped feet ss, tt are two small wheels by
which the gun can be transported from place to place, and vu are the seats for the
gunners. ww are keys attaching the trail h to the shield.
Figure 5 shows a mule carrying the unmounted gun.
Figure 6 shows a mule carrying the trail h, the wheels tt, the axle, the worm mand
the seats vv.
Figure 7 shows a mulo carrying the top carriage consisting of the trail sides bb, the
springs c and d, the stop e, the lover f, the crosshead a, the elovating screw and wheel n
and n¹ and the traversing segment 1.
Figure 8 shows a mule carrying the two parts o and P of the shield.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A gun mounting provided with two or more springs which successively come
into operation during the recoil substantially as described.
2. The combination of the stop e separating the springs, the pivotted lever fand the
pin or roller g, substantially as described.
3. The method of supporting the gun when in action upon the shield and the rear
end of the trail, substantially as described.
4. The general arrangement and construction of the parts whereby the gun can
be readily taken to pieces and conveniently carried upon the mules, substantially as
described.
Dated this 24th day of December 1888.