Apparatus for Automatically Regulating the Firing of Ordnance on Ships.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Automatically Regulating the Firing of Ordnance on
Ships.
I, MANUEL JOSE CUADROS, of 21 Rue Nysten, Liege, Belgium, 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 :-
It is owing to the comparatively slight stability of ships that precision of firing
ordnance on board them is very difficult to effect. The gun having been aimed at the
desired angle, the slightest shifting of the centre of gravity of the ship has for result
to alter the angle of firing, the consequence being that many projectiles when fired do
not reach the object aimed at.
This invention has for object to remedy this serious drawback by means of an
apparatus of simple construction as I will now proceed to describe with reference to
the accompanying drawings in which
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view shewing the application of my invention to a
ship;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section partly in elevation, and
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of gimbals for carrying a pendulum.
a is a pendulum suspended by a universal joint, as for instance by gimbals
(Figs. 2 & 3) so as to be capable of oscillating in all directions in the ship. b is a
rod that hangs down from the deck of the ship or battery and is jointed to one arm
of a lever that is capable of rotating about an axis d. The other arm of this
lever c carries a jointed and upwardly extending rod that works through a
suitable guide, the arrangement being such that when the ship occupies its
normal position, the rod f is situated directly under the lower thinned point of the
weight a' of the pendulum, and the rod f, when in a state of rest, does not come in
contact with the pendulum.
The firing of the gun is effected electrically by an electric current the circuit for
which is broken when the rod f is out of contact with the pendulum, but can be
completed when the rod f comes into contact with the pendulum; if the electric
circuit be complete at other parts, contact of the rod f with the pendulum will
automatically close the circuit.
Assuming the gun to have been aimed at a particular angle for firing, then if, by
any mechanical or electrical means (for instance by causing the rod 6 to descend),
the lever c be made to turn about its fulcrum, the rod will rise but can only
come into contact with the lower point of the pendulum a, when the latter is in a
perpendicular position above the rod f, that is to say, when the ship occupies its
normal position. Then only will the axis of the gun be situated at the particular
angle desired for correct firing, and the electrical circuit be closed or be capable of
being closed and the gun fired. In all other positions of the ship, that is to say when
during the oscillations of the ship, the angle chosen for firing is changed, the
pendulum will be no longer in a perpendicular position above the rod f, and contact
of one with the other cannot take place. As will be obvious the ascending move-
ment of the rod can be effected in a great variety of ways and I therefore do not
limit myself to the arrangement shown and described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
Apparatus for automatically regulating the firing of ordnance on ships of war,

page_text: a rod capable of vertical movement, the arrangement being such that the rod can
only be brought into contact with the pendulum, and effect the closing of an
electrical circuit, when the axis of the gun is situated at the required angle for
correct firing, that is to say, when the ship occupies its normal position, substantially
as herein before described.
M. J. CUADROS.
Per L. W., per F. B.