Improvements in or relating to Ordnance and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Ordnance and the like.
A communication from THOMAS JEFFERSON LOVETT, Engineer, of 4001, Drexel
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to improvement in ordnance construction, and more
particularly to improvement in cannon of the built up type.
The object is to provide a composite cannon so constructed that it may be
readily taken apart and put together again, in the field, if desired, to renew parts
which may have become injured, and to render its transportation from place to
place and to locations where the cannon if in one piece could not be carried, com-
paratively easy to accomplish.
The object is also to provide a construction of ordnance wherein the gun is
practically free from the danger of crystallization following the terrific concussive
force of modern high power explosives.
It is a well-known fact that guns made of the finest steel, as hitherto constructed,
and subjected in the making to the most careful treatment, will, in a comparatively
short time, be injuriously affected by the jarring action of the discharge to such
an extent as to render their further use unsafe. It appears that the very high
elasticity of the steel, especially where the fibers thereof extend longitudinally
of the gun, by readily transmitting the shocks, contribute to render certain and
quick the molecular change in structure of the steel, known as crystallization,
which ruins the gun.
In the accompanying drawing-
Figure 1 is a side view of a dismounted gun, embodying the invention; Fig. 2,
a longitudinal section of the gun; Fig. 3, a front elevation of one of the rings
or annuli of the construction it is preferred to employ in forming the gun;
Fig. 4, a view of a modification of the inner tube employed; and Fig. 5, a rear
elevation of one of the annuli showing it provided with perforations to receive
bolts or securing rods.
In the construction shown in Fig. 2, A is an inner tube, extending the full
length of the gun, and provided throughout its length with an external screw-
thread. Internally the tube may be rifled. B and C are sections or annuli,
which make up the largest bulk of the gun-body, and are preferably formed as
hereinafter described. The sections B each consist of an inner ring t, an outer
ring and an intermediate ring s. The rings
or stamped from rolled and treated
shaped and welded together at the ends.
be so formed that the fibres of the metal
in the rings, though the invention, in its broadest sense, is not to be limited
cut
rare formed preferably of steel,
plates, or formed from bars
Preferably the rings should
extend in the radial direction
077

page_text: thereto. The rings is formed, preferably, of non-elastic shock-deadening material,
which may be asbestos prepared with a suitable binding and compressed to the
required solidity. The inner rings are internally threaded to fit the thread of
the inner tube A, and the outer rings rare formed on one side with annular pro-
jecting flanges r¹ internally threaded, and on the other side with threaded
sockets *** as shown. The sections Care of steel formed with threaded flanges
and sockets, like the rings r, and internally threaded, like the rings t, to fit the
thread of the tube A. The sections are fitted together as shown in the drawings,
the threads on the flanges r¹ and reduced or socket-portions 2 being of the same
pitch as the thread upon the tube, whereby the sections may be turned upon the
tube, in placing them in position, and will readily match together. The gun
thus built up will resist all danger of sagging at any part. The barrel may be
mounted in any suitable manner. It is shown provided with trunnions D pro-
jecting from a ring D¹ suitably fastened upon the gun-body. The gun may be
of the breech or the muzzle loading type so far as the invention is concerned.
The inner tube A is shown provided at the rear end with an enlargement A¹, in
which is provided a breech block chamber A2, but the details of the construction
may vary greatly without departure from the invention. At the extreme rear
end of the barrel it is preferred to provide an annular cap-piece E of solid steel,
thus providing for the complete encasement of the filling material s.
If desired the inner tube A may be formed with rings or a jacket shrunk
thereon for the purpose of additional strength. In this case the inner part A
would be rifled, and the outer part t externally threaded to receive the sections BC.
As an additional safeguard against sagging, threaded perforations p may, if
desired, be provided in the outer ring r, as shown in Fig. 5, through which bolts
may be passed to fasten the sections together.
Many advantages follow from the improved construction herein shown, among
which are the reduced weight of the gun itself, owing to the filling material.
which may be materially lighter than steel, and the great ease with which it
may be taken apart and put together for transportation or replacement of parts.
It is much more easy in the manufacture of the gun also to make the parts of
uniform strength than where the entire gun is in one piece. It is a comparatively
easy matter to provide a tube A either as shown in Fig. 2, or with a jacket as
shown in Fig. 4, of the maximum strength of metal throughout, and to remove
and replace the tube when its rifling becomes worn.
It is believed to be entirely novel to build up a gun in such a manner that
layers or concentric shells of tough and elastic steel shall be separated by a layer
or shell of comparatively non-elastic shock-deadening material, whose function
is to preserve the outer or principal bursting-strain resisting shell from crystalliza-
tion. It is the desire, therefore, to include in this invention any construction
wherein this principle is utilized, whatever material may be used for the filling,
be it mineral, vegetable or metallic in its nature, and regardless of the particular
manner in which the parts are constructed and put together.
While it is preferred to construct the improvements throughout as shown, they
may be variously modified in the matter of details of construction without depart-
ing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an inner tube, and an
outer shell formed of separable mutually engaging annular sections, each secured
on said tube, substantially as described.
2-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an inner tube, and an
outer shell secured on said tube and formed of separable mutually overlapping|
annular sections fastened together, substantially as described.

page_text: 3-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an externally threaded
inner tube and separable annular mutually engaging internally threaded sections
screwed upon said tube, substantially as described.
4-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an externally threaded
inner tube, and separable annular mutually overlapping and engaging internally
threaded sections screwed upon said tube, substantially as described.
5-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an inner tube, and an
outer shell secured on said tube and formed with separable sections of fibrous
metal, with the fibers extending radially, substantially as described.
G-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an inner tube, and an
outer shell secured on said tube and formed with separable sections, each having
concentric rings of fibrous metal with the fibers extending radially, substantially
as described.
7-In a gun, the barrel comprising, in combination, an inner tube, and an
outer shell secured on said tube, formed with sections, each having concentric
rings of metal, and an interposed filling of shock-deadening material, substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
8-In a gun, the combination in the gun-barrel, of a series of composite sections
comprising inner and outer rings of steel separated by shock-deadening material,
said sections being secured together longitudinally of the barrel, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.