Improvements in and relating to Recoil Presses for Ordnance.
Year: 1891

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Recoil Presses for Ordnance.
We, JOHN BECHER ORMSBY, Colonel Royal Artillery and GEORGE HENRY
BANISTER, Civil Engineer, both of the Royal Arsenal Woolwich, in the County of
Kent, 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 :-
Our invention relates to recoil-presses for ordnance and is intended to improve the
construction and increase the efficiency of such presses.
Recoil-presses constructed according to our invention act very advantageously to
control the movement of a gun during recoil, and serve to return the gun to the
firing position. Our said invention consists chiefly in the combination of hydraulic
apparatus and a spring or springs in the construction of a recoil press in such a
manner that the said press will not only act very efficiently to control the movement
of the gun in its recoil, but will also, without any additional or separate recuperator
return or run out the gun after recoil. For the purpose of our invention we use a
hydraulic, cylinder one portion of which is occupied by a piston. that does not fit
closely to the interior of the said cylinder. The said piston is secured. upon a
piston rod and is provided with a tail rod of greater diameter than the said
piston rod.
The piston, pistod-rod and tail rod move with the gun, or, alternatively, the piston
and tail rod are secured to the cradle, in which case the cylinder moves with the
gun. In the recoil movement liquid is displaced: from the annular space around
the piston-rod at one end of the cylinder and passes through a clearance space.
around the periphery of the piston into the annular space around the tail rod. In
the latter space is another piston of annular form surrounding. and moving, freely
upon the tail rod and in the cylinder behind this piston is a strong helical spring.
which in the recoil is compressed and so stores up energy which. is subsequently.
utilized for restoring the gun to the firing position, that is to say the said spring.
assists in checking the recoil and also serves as a recuperator. Instead of the said
helical spring a series of Belleville discs may be employed for the same purposes ini:
a manner well understood. This combination of the enlarged. tail rod, the annular
piston and the spring or springs bearing upon it is an important feature of our.
invention.
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood we will now proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings premising, however
that we do not limit the application of our invention to guns of the type therein..
illustrated. Nor do the gun carriages and their fittings apart from our improvements.
form part of our invention which is confined to the recoil-presses and their
appurtenances.
In the said drawings
Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal central sections of recoil-presses, constructed,
according to our invention.
Figure 3 is a plan of a seige gun fitted with such recoil presses and mounted
upon a travelling carriage.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure. 3, the near wheel of the carriage being
removed for the sake of clearness.
Figure: 5 is a side elevation showing the gun .fitted with recoil-presses as in
Figure 4 but mounted upon a howitzer bed, for high angle fire.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
With reference first to Figure 1, A is a tube, the part A' of which forms a
hydraulic cylinder, secured to the gun cradle. Within. the part.A of the said
Do77

page_text: cylinder is a piston B the periphery of which does not fit closely to the inside of the
cylinder there being a clearance, too small to be clearly shown in the drawings,
between the piston rings B¹ and the bore of the cylinder. C is the piston rod
and D is the tail rod which must be of greater diameter than the piston rod. E is
a stuffing box through which the piston rod C passes the extremity of the said
rod being provided with a head F by which it is attached to the gun in order that
it may move with the gun in recoil. G is an independent annular sliding piston
placed within the cylinder and fitted with a leather ring H which will form a fluid
tight joint with the bore of the cylinder A and with the tail rod D. And this
annular piston, being fluid-tight, may be said to form a movable end to the hydraulic
portion A of the cylinder A. I is a helical spring contained in the part A of the
cylinder A one of its ends bears upon the annular piston G, the other end bearing
upon the front cap or cylinder cover J. The said spring I is initially compressed
by screwing the front cap close up to the cylinder after the spring has been placed
therein.
The spaces in the cylinder on both sides of the piston B are filled with liquid and
communication between these spaces is afforded by the clearance between the
periphery of the piston B and the wall of the cylinder A.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-Assuming the parts to be in the
position shown in Figure 1.
In the recoil of the gun the piston rod C moving in the direction of the arrow,
that is to say in the direction to leave the cylinder, moves the piston B with it thus
diminishing the space around the piston rod and displacing fluid therefrom which
fluid travels past the periphery of the said piston into the space between the pistons B
and G where it is subject to further displacement by the tail rod D which enters
the cylinder as the piston rod leaves it and is, as aforesaid, of greater diameter and
consequently of greater displacement than the piston rod C. The result is that the
annular piston or movable end G is forced towards the cap J and compresses the
spring I. The energy thus stored up is subsequently used to return the gun to its
firing position, the pressure exerted by the spring I upon the annular piston G
operating to force liquid from the space between the two pistons past the piston B
into the space around the piston rod and so to return the parts into the position in
which they are shown in the drawing. The clearance left between the periphery of
the piston B and the bore of the cylinder A is so proportioned as to offer a suitable
amount of resistance to the passage of liquid therethrough when the piston is moving
at high velocity. Such resistance acts to control the movement of the gun in its
recoil in which action it is assisted by the resistance of the spring I, and also acts
to regulate the return of the gun to its firing position.
An alternative construction of our recoil press is shown in Figure 2. The
principle of its action is the same as that of the press shown in Figure 1, but
in place of employing the annular piston G the forward end M.of the hydraulic
cylinder A is made capable of sliding in a portion of the said cylinder and is
fitted with a head N adapted to receive one end of one of the spiral springs I I
of which there are preferably two as shown, or more. The said springs surround
the tail rod, as in Figure 1 and are encased by a tube O. P. is a sliding
annulus contained within the said tube and recessed to retain the said springs
in position.
Q is a cap secured to the end of the tube and connected to a
rigid portion of the gun cradle by bolts R R which with the lugs S S whereon
the heads of the said bolts bear, are shown in dotted lines in the drawings.
A clearance is provided around the periphery of the piston B in this arrange-
ment as in the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1. Leakage of fluid past the
end M and the tail rod D is prevented by the stuffing box T on the cylinder A,
and the stuffing box U in the head M respectively. The sliding end M of the
cylinder A together with the head N is moved and caused to compress the
springs I in a manner similar to that described with reference to the movement
of the annular piston G of Figure 1.
In Figures 34 and 5 is shown an example of the application of recoil presses

page_text: constructed according to our invention to a siege gun. For firing within moderate
angles of elevation the gun and its cradle are mounted in a carriage Z Figures 3
and 4 provided with wheels Z' for travelling purposes. The gun V is carried in a
cradle W in which it is free to slide endwise, in recoiling and in returning after
recoil. The said cradle has trunnion arms X upon which it can rotate and has
secured to it the cylinders A of a pair of the said recoil presses. Y is a ring
secured to the gun, to which ring the heads F of the piston rods of the two presses
are secured.
For elevating the gun, b is a toothed arc secured to the cradle W. c is a casing,
secured to the carriage Z and containing a worm and worm wheel which operate a
pinion 62 which gears into the arc b for elevating the gun, d is the shaft of the said
worm and e is a hand wheel by which the shaft d is rotated.
fis an arm which is hinged to the cradle by the ping and which is used as a
support for the tackle by which the projectile is lifted in the operation of
loading.
For use when the gun is travelling, brake apparatus is provided upon the carriage.
The said apparatus comprises arms h which carry brake blocks i. The said arms
are hinged to the carriage sides at j and are connected by side rodsk / to a balance
link m as shown. The said balance link is pivoted by a pin n to the breast of the
gun carriage. The side rod k is provided with saucer or Belleville springs o which
bear upon a collar p pivoted to one end of the balance link m. The side rod / is
screw threaded at its forward end, and provided with a nut q forming part of a
hand-wheel and bearing upon a collar r pivoted to the extremity of the said
balance link.
For training or side-traversing the gun a capstan heads is provided upon a
spindlet which turns in bearings in the trail of the carriage. A pulley u is secured
upon the said spindle and is adapted for use in connection with a chain secured at
its ends and passing round the said pulley in a manner well understood, for the
purpose specified.
vis a trail eye for use in limbering up the gun for travelling.
Figure 5 shows a gun and mounting for high angle fire to which our invention is
adapted. In this mounting the gun and cradle are placed in a small upper carriage w,
which is connected to and carried on the side frames of the aforesaid carriage or
chassiz Z as shown. The carriage Z has its wheels removed and is laid on the
ground so that in combination with the top carriage it forms a howitzer bed.
In Figure 5 the cylinders A of the recoil presses and the toothed arc bare
attached to the cradle W and the piston rods C to the gun, as in Figures 3 and 4,
but the elevating arc is of course attached to the upper carriage to.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we wish it understood that we
are aware of there having been already recoil presses in which the recoil of the gun
is controlled by forcing the fluid through a very small space or aperture from one
to the other side of a piston into a space or chamber which it can only enter against
the resistance of a spring but we are not aware that a press has heretofore been
constructed with a helical or other spring applied directly to the piston of the
hydraulic cylinder, to assist in checking the recoil and to act as a recuperator.
We are moreover aware that recoil presses have been as a matter of necessity
constructed with chambers or spaces for the reception of the liquid displaced by
the piston rod in entering the hydraulic cylinder and that the piston rods extending
through both ends of the cylinder have had their two parts of different diameters.
We therefore do not claim these features as new, or otherwise than when combined
as and for the purposes herein described but we claim :-
First. In a recoil press in which, in the recoil, liquid passes from one to the other
side of the piston, making provision for the reception of the displaced liquid by
fitting in the cylinder a loose sliding piston or piece arranged and operating
substantially as set forth.

page_text: Second. The combination of the piston. B and the rod. D with the loose or
sliding piston G and the spring so that in the recoil and return of the gun the
distance between the two pistons varies continuously and in proportion to the
displacement of the liquid due to the different diameters of the two rods.
Third. The combination, within one cylinder, of the piston, having the two rods of
different diameter extending therefrom through the cylinder ends, the independent
or loose annular piston, and the spring or springs acting thereon all substantially as
described with reference to Figure 1 of the drawings and operating as and for the
purpose specified.
Fourth. The modification of the apparatus substantially as described with
reference to Figure 2 of the drawings.
Fifth. A gun mounting to which my improved recoil press is applied substantially
as described with, reference to the accompanying drawings or otherwise for the
purpose specified.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants..