Improvements in Supplying Ammunition to Heavy Guns.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Supplying Ammunition to Heavy Guns.
I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, a Companion of the Bath, of 8 Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
This invention is specially applicable to a single gun or to a pair of guns side
by side mounted on a turntable which revolves within a circular barbette wall.
A ready supply of projectiles is carried on an annular rack or rest (on which they
stand upright) extending all round the inside of the chamber under the gun near
its boundary wall and which can be rotated independently of the turntable so that
any particular projectile on it may be readily brought to the proper position from
which to be raised for loading into the gun.
The projectiles are taken off the rest and raised to the gun by a crane jib so
pivotted in the chamber that when lowered a loading tray at its end comes close to
one of the projectiles which can readily be tilted into it and that when raised the
loading tray comes opposite the breech of the gun. The loading tray has a hinged
bottom or trigger at one end which turns back as the jib is being lowered but as
soon as it has passed the projectile turns out beneath it and supports it when the
jib is raised again.
The charges are raised from the magazines through a central tube or trunk
debouching into the chamber and are transferred to the jib being placed in pockets
formed in it near to the tray.
The crane being thus loaded, for one complete charge the jib, is turned upwards
by suitable gear worked by power or by hand until in line with the gun so that the
head of the projectile enters the breech of the gun while resting in its tray the
latter also entering the gun far enough to protect the screw threads in the breech
from being injured while the projectile is being rammed home in the usual way.
The sections of the cartridge are next removed from the pockets to the tray and
rammed into the gun to complete the loading.
For working by hand the weight of the crane jib is suitably counterbalanced so
that the power to work it will be little more than that necessary to lift the weight
of the load itself, viz., projectile and charge.
The projectiles with which the rest is filled up are first brought up the central
trunk and from thence transferred to the rest.
Dated thin noud 1 of M100c

page_text: Improvements in Supplying Ammunition to Heavy Guns.
I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, a Companion of the Bath, of 8 Great George Street,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention is specially applicable to a single gun or to a pair of guns side
by side mounted on a turntable which revolves within a circular barbette wall.
Figure 1 is a vertical section and Figure 2 a plan of the apparatus.
A ready supply of projectiles is carried on an annular rack or rest a (on which
they stand upright) extending all round the inside of the chamber under the gun
near its boundary wall and which is mounted on rollers a' so that it can be rotated
independently of the turntable 6 so that any particular projectile on it may be
readily brought to the proper position from which to be raised for loading into
the gun.
The projectiles are taken off the rest a and raised to the gun by a crane jib c so
pivotted at c¹ in the chamber that when lowered a loading tray c at its end comes
close to one of the projectiles which can readily be tilted into it and that when
raised the loading tray c comes opposite the breech of the gun as shown in dotted
lines. The loading tray c has a hinged bottom cor trigger at one end which
turns back as the jib c is being lowered but as soon as it has passed the projectile
turns out beneath it and supports it when the jib is raised again.
The charges d are raised from the magazines through a central tube or trunk e
debouching into the chamber and are transferred to the jib c being placed in
pockets formed in it near to the tray.
The crane being thus loaded, for one complete charge the jib c is turned upwards
until in line with the gun so that the head of the projectile enters the breech of the
gun while resting in its tray the latter also entering the gun far enough to
protect the screw threads in the breech from being injured while the projectile is
being rammed home in the usual way. The sections d of the cartridge are next
removed from the pockets to the tray and rammed into the gun to complete the
loading.
fis a hydraulic cylinder for working the jib e.
For working by hand the weight of the crane jib is suitably counterbalanced so`
that the power to work it will be little more than that necessary to lift the weight
of the load itself, viz., projectile and charge. For this purpose a weight gis
pivotted at and a hole gl is provided in its arm corresponding to a hole in the
jib so that the weight and jib can be connected by a pin. The end of the weight
is in the form of a toothed quadrant g gearing with a pinion ' on a wheel h gearing
with a wheel turned by crank handles.
Figure 3 shows a modification in which the loading tray
the projectile thus rendering it unnecessary to tilt the latter..
completely encircles
The projectiles with which the rest filled up are first brought up the central
trunk and from thence transferred to the rest.
k Figure 3 is a small trolley running on an overhead railway and is a guide
hauging vertically downwards from it. 2 is a forked support for the projectile
free to move up and down on the guide k¹. k³ is a screw mounted in bearings in
the guide and working through a nut in the support k³. k is a hand wheel for
turning the screw.
Instead of the rest forming a complete circle-it may be two or more segments
so that refilling may go on independently whilst supplies are being taken from the
already filled rest to the guns.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A crane jib so pivotted beneath the gun that when lowered its end comes close
to a projectile standing vertically in a rack and when raised brings the projectile
into a line with the axis of the gun.
2. The combination with the crane jib of the loading tray and hinged bottom or
trigger.
3. The combination with the crane jib of an annular shot rack which can be
rotated independently of the turntable.
4. Apparatus for supplying ammunition to heavy guns substantially as described
and shown in the drawings.
3007
J. VAVASSEUR.