IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND ADJUSTING ORDNANCE AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS." AND
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Church, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING
AND ADJUSTING ORDNANCE AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS."
AND ADJUSTING ORDNANCE AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Church at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
September 1855.
I, WILLIAM CHURCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING
AND ADJUSTING ORDNANCE AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in mounting and adjusting ordnance and
other guns in the following manner:-Instead of affixing the said guns to the
traversing platform in the ordinary manner, I form on the said platform a
railway, on which said railway the gun carriage is placed, and is so engaged
therewith, that while possessing freedom of motion along the said railway, the
said gun carriage is incapable of rising from off the said railway. The gun
carriage is kept to its place on the platform by a series of bands or strips of
vulcanized caoutchouc, connected to the anterior portion of the platform, and to
the bottom of the gun carriage. On the discharge of the gun the recoil carries
the said gun along the railway on the platform, but the bands of the caoutchouc

page_text: check the motion and restore the gun to its position. The adjustment of the
gun is effected in the following manner :-The breech end of the gun is raised
by a telescope screw instead of the ordinary screw, that is to say, it is raised by
a screw working within a tubular screw, and the latter in a screw box. If both
screws are driven home the solid enters the hollow one, and the latter the screw
box. On giving the contrary motion, the solid screw first retires from the
hollow one, and the latter from the screw box. By this arrangement a much
greater range of motion is obtained than by the ordinary screw. The traversing
platform is raised and fixed as follows: -A bracket on the end of the platform
carries a screw box, through which a screw works vertically. The end of this
screw bears against a vertical bolt, on the bottom end of which is a cross piece,
having at its ends rollers on which the platform is supported, and on which
its horizontal or traversing motion is performed. By turning the vertical screw
the platform may be raised or lowered. A second screw passes down the axis
of the last-named screw, and when driven home locks the wheels of the
platform, and prevents motion therein.
My Invention consists, secondly, in mounting the barrels of such fire-arms
as have a number of barrels capable of being simultaneously discharged in such
manner that the said barrels may be made to take positions parallel to each
other, or be inclined to each other at any desired angle. The said barrels are
supported so that motion can be given to one or both ends, and by means of
wedges or other mechanical equivalents the direction of the barrels is determined.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Church in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, WILLIAM
CHURCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Church, Her special licence that I, the said William Church, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Church, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND
ADJUSTING ORDNANCE AND OTHER FIRE-ARMS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Church, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument 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 William Church, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
My Invention consists, firstly, in mounting and adjusting ordnance and
other guns in the following manner :-
1
Figure represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in longitudinal section,
and Figure 3 in end elevation, a piece of ordnance mounted and adjusted
according to my Invention; Figure 4 represents a plan of the gun carriage
without the gun; and Figure 5 represents a cross section of the same, taken
through the line a, Figure 4. Instead of affixing the gun to the traversing
platform, I construct on the said platform a railway, marked 6 in the several
Figures, on which said railway the gun carriage is placed, and is so engaged
therewith, that while possessing freedom of motion along the said railway, the
said gun carriage is incapable of rising from off the said railway, and is guided
as it traverses to and fro with accuracy upon the railway. The method whereby
I effect this will be understood by reference to the cross section, Figure 5, where
it will be seen that while the wheels c, c, of the gun carriage rest upon the
rails 6, the angle iron d, attached to the sides of the carriage e, engages under
the rail b, and prevents the rising of the said carriage from the rails. The gun
carriage is kept to its place on the platform by a series of bands or strips of
vulcanized caoutchouc f, f; these bands or strips of vulcanized caoutchouc are
attached at one end to the anterior portion of the platform by means of the
9, and the said bands are attached at their other end to the bottom of the
gun carriage by means of the bar h. On the discharge of the gun, the recoil
carries the said gun along the railway on the platform, but the bands of caout-
chouc check the motion, and restore the gun to its position. When the gun is
loaded at the muzzle, the return motion is prevented by a pall and ratchet or
otherwise, until the charge has been introduced. The adjustment of the gun
is effected in the following manner:-The breech end of the gun is raised by
rod

page_text: a telescope screw instead of an ordinary screw. The said telescope screw
consists of an ordinary solid screw i. The said screw i works within a tubular
screw, and the thread on the exterior of the tubular screw engages in the
screw box . The upper end of the screw i is connected by a joint to the breech
end of the gun, and the screw box is connected to the gun carriage. By
turning the wheel m on the top of the screw i in a direction proper to drive
home the said screw, the said solid screw i enters the hollow screw k, and
when it has been driven home into the said hollow screw k, the continued
notion of the wheel m afterwards causes the hollow screw k to descend in the
screw box l, until the several parts assume the relative positions represented in
Figure 2. On giving to the wheel m motion in a direction contrary to that
described, the solid screw i first retires from the hollow one k, and afterwards
the latter is withdrawn from the screw box l. The collar on the lower end of
the solid screw comes in contact with the lower end of the hollow screw, and
consequently the hollow screw is made to revolve with the solid screw. By
the arrangement described, a much greater range of motion is obtained than by
the use of the ordinary screw. The traversing platform n is raised and fixed
as follows:-A bracket on the end of the platform carries a screw box p,
through which a screw works vertically. The end of the screw bears
against the vertical hollow bolt 2, which slides in collars s, t. ,, is a cross
piece fixed near the bottom of the bolt ; v, w, are rollers on the ends of the
cross piece u, u. The platform n is supported on the rollers v, w, and its hori-
zontal or traversing motion is performed on the said rollers. By turning the
screw by means of its handle q', the platform n may be raised or lowered.
A second screw a passes down the axis of the screw q, working in a screw
box y in the head of the screw q. When the screw is driven home by means
of its handle 2, a cone 1 at the bottom of the said screw bears against and
forces outwards the rods 2, 2, sliding in the cross pieces u, u. The ends of
the rods 2, 2, carry breaks 3, 3, which bear against the peripheries of rollers v, w.
By depressing the screw a to a greater or less distance, the breaks 3, 3, may be
made to press with greater or less force upon the rollers v, w.
My Invention consists, secondly, in mounting the barrels of such fire-arms
as have a number of barrels capable of being simultaneously discharged in such
a manner that the said barrels may be made to take positions parallel to each
other, or be inclined to each other at any desired angle.
Figure 6 represents in plan, Figure 7 in end elevation, and Figure 8 in side
elevation, a fire-arm constructed according to the second part of my Invention.
4, 4, represent the barrels, which are loaded at the breech end. The charge is
dropped into the trough-like ends 5, 5, and passed through openings in the

page_text: wedges 6, 6, into the barrels. The said wedges are simultaneously raised and
lowered so as to open and close the breech ends of the barrels by means of the
axis 7, Figure 8. Levers 8 on the said axis are jointed to the wedges 6, 6,
and by the lever 9 the axis 7 may be partially turned, and the wedges raised
and lowered. Each barrel turns upon a centre 10 on the platform 11. A.
series of pins 12, 12, arc situated between the barrels 4, 4, near their open
ends, the said pins being inserted between the conical rings 13 on the said
barrels. The said pins 12 are fixed on a cross bar 14, which by a rod 15 may
be moved in the direction of the axes of the barrels. By pulling the rod 15
towards the breech end, the pins 12 separate the rings 13, and make the open
ends of the barrels diverge. When the pins are withdrawn from between the
rings 13, springs 16 press the barrels towards one another. The rod 15 may
be moved by an arm or lever 17. An index 17' traverses a divided scale 17",
by the divisions on which the lever 17 may be raised to the height suitable for
directing the barrels upon an object at any particular distance. 18 is a nipple,
by a percussion cap on which the several barrels may be simultaneously dis-
charged, a tube 19 running across the barrels opening into their several
touch-holes. By withdrawing the tube 19, a wire may be passed through the
holes 20, so as to clear the touch-holes of the barrels. A platform 11 turns
upon an axis 21 upon the top of the uprights 22, and by the screw 23 the
platform 11 may be placed horizontal or at any desired angle with the horizon.
The uprights 22 and screw 23 are situated upon a circular table 24, which
said table turns upon a centre 25 on the gun carriage. Upon the centre 25
the platform 24 has motion in a horizontal plane. The barrels 4, 4, are,
by the arrangement described and represented, capable of being placed with
their axes parallel, or convergent or divergent. The said barrels are also
capable of motion both in a horizontal and vertical plane, and can conse-
quently be readily directed upon any point. The wheels of the gun carriage
are indicated at 26.
I claim as my Invention, firstly, mounting ordnance and other guns on
carriages connected with the traversing platform in such a manner that the
said carriages are guided thereon, so that they preserve their position, and
cannot be raised from the rails upon which their motion is performed.
Secondly, connecting gun carriages with the traversing platform upon which
they work by means of straps or bands of vulcanized caoutchouc, so as to
counteract the recoil of the gun, and restore it to its place after its discharge.
Thirdly, adjusting ordnance and other guns by means of a telescopic screw
connecting the breech end of the gun with the gun carriage.
Fourthly, raising the traversing platform of gun carriages by elevating and

page_text: depressing the traversing end of the same upon the vertical bolt or shaft car-
rying the cross piece, to which the rollers are attached, upon which the
traversing motion is performed.
Fifthly, locking the rollers of the traversing platform by the mechanism
herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Lastly, mounting the barrels of such fire-arms as have a number of barrels
capable of being discharged simultaneously in such a manner that the said
barrels may be made to take positions parallel to each other, or be inclined to
each other at any desired angle, and also capable of motion in a vertical and
horizontal plane.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Church, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM CHURCH. (L.S.)
Witness,
HENRY WHITING HAMLYN.