Improvements in Machine Guns.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1892-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machine Guns.
A. communication from FRANK MILTON GARLAND, of New Haven, in the
County of New Haven and State of Connecticut, United States of America,
Machinist.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex
Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 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 stateinent :-
This invention relates to the class of machine guns in which the cartridges are
positively automatically fed to the barrels from a belt, and the object is to provide
gun of this class in which one or both of the barrels may either be discharged
slowly or with great rapidity, the mechanism being simple so that it may be run at
high velocity without liability to get out of repair.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the gun.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of the butt of the gun, with the shell cut in central
section.
Fig. 3 is a similar side view.
Fig. 4 is a side view of the spindles and operating mechanism.
Fig. 5 is a plan of the same.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of one of the spindles, showing a firing pin.
Fig. 7 is a side view of the feeding and firing mechanism.
Fig. 8 is a view of the feeding wheels looking towards the front.
Fig. 9 is a plan of the feeding and firing mechanism.
Fig. 10 is a side view of the cam clutch operating mechanism.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the same.
Fig. 12 is a plan of the spindle and hammer supporting frame.
Fig. 13 is a face view of the same.
Fig. 14 is a side view of the same.
Fig. 15 is an edge view of a portion of a cartridge belt used in this gun.
In the views the letter A indicates a shell formed of cylindrical tubes or castings,
which is supported by trunnions held in the yoke of any suitable mount B upon any
common carriage C provided with any desired form of elevating and depressing
device D. Near the butt of the gun, supported by plates a' attached to the base,
is a shaft a having a pinion a² that meshes with a gear a³ on the shaft a' of the
crank E. (Figs. 1, 2 and 3.) Two discs or ratchets, each having a tooth b', are
secured to the shaft a and outside of these the shaft loosely supports a pair of cam-
blocks c bearing on the inside spring-pawls c adapted to engage the teeth on the
discs, so that the cam-blocks are driven by the rotation of the discs. Two bolts d
having handles on the exterior, pass through the cascabel F so as to engage and
release the pawls from the discs when pushed inward from the exterior. These
bolts are provided with notches d to hold them at either limit of their movement,
and when they are both out the rotation of the crank drives the cam-blocks, but
when pushed in the pawls are released from the discs and the cam blocks remain
stationary. (Figs. 2, 3, 10 and 11.)
In engagement with the cam-grooves e on the inside face of the blocks c are
levers e the opposite ends of which engage slides of that pass forward side by side
to a point near the trunnions where they bear racks f¹ that mesh with the
pinions These pinions are wider than the slides and they also mesh with
racks on vertically moving posts that have other racks in mesh with
segmental gears f" loosely mounted upon shafts g supported longitudinally upon
[1

page_text: each side of the gun by parts of the shell. Leaves on the segmental gears f® bear
pawls that engage with oppositely turned ratchets gl secured to the shafts g.
These shafts also hear feed wheels the peripheries of which are pocketted to
receive the cartridges which are to be fed into the gun. Between the feed wheels
is placed a guide e adapted to receive the edges of the belt while adjacent to the
rear wheels are placed guides i adapted to receive the heads of the cartridges as
they pass up the feed wheels. The slides fare moved forward and backward by
the levers e as the cams rotate this reciprocation oscillating the pinions f* which
reciprocate the vertical racks f³ and that oscillate the segmental gears f bearing
the pawls so that through the ratchets y' the feed wheels are rotated alternately
with an intermittent movement.
Cartridges placed in the spring grasping arms of a flexible belt G are started on
each side of the gun by placing the first cartridge in a pocket of the feed rolls, and
as they are drawn up and the edges of the belts pass into the guides e² the arms h
of a comb secured to the shell by any suitable support, strip the belts from the
cartridges, allowing the belts to pass out through the open bottom of the shell,
while the cartridges are fed up the guide-ways into the grasp of the spindles k.
(Figs. 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9.) These spindles which slide freely in ways in the plates !
are reciprocated by means of toggle levers m pivotted to the spindles and to the
plates al at the base of the shell. These levers are opened and closed by means of
toggle links m' having rolls that project into cam-grooves in the outer face of the
blocks the cams being so timed that the toggles are opened and closed to
alternately reciprocate the spindles. The spindles have longitudinal mortises k¹
in which the firing pins n are placed, the top of the mortises being covered by
plates at one end passed under and held down by the head of a finger k³, while
the other end is held under the edge of a button with an eccentric or cut-away
base. These cover plates are provided with handles so that when the buttons are
turned a quarter of a revolution the plates may be lifted and the firing pins removed
for repairing, cleaning or disabling the gun. (Figs. 4, 5 and 6.)
The forward ends of the spindles are mortised and have jaws to receive and
hold the rims of the cartridges. The mortised ends of the spindles at the back-
ward limit of their movement rest directly over the guides i and as the cartridges
are pushed up, the top one is pushed into the grasp of the jaws of the spindle which
then is moved forward by the operation of the cams and toggles, and carries the
cartridges into the barrels H which are secured to a partition across the sliell in
any desired manner and are preferably surrounded with water, to prevent undue
heating. The plates in which are the ways for the spindles are secured to the
upper edge of transverse plates joined by longitudinal plates and this frame
thus formed is held in place at one end by means of dowel pins that pass into
sockets in the transverse support permanently secured to the shell, while the
opposite end is held to the support by means of a button the base of which is
eccentric, or so cut that a quarter turn will release the plates and allow the whole
frame bearing the spindles and the hammers to be lifted from the interior and
removed for cleaning, repairing or disabling the gun. (Figs. 2, 3, 12, 13 and 14.)
The hammers o which are pivotted to the plate below the spindles are normally
forced upward so as to come in contact with the firing pins by spring rods o' and
are forced downward to the cocked position by means of rolls (Fig. 6) secured
to the spindles in the path of the hammer, as the spindles move rearward. The
hammers are held cocked by means of triggers o pivotted to the plates that
engage cocking notches of on the hammers.
14
Secured to the slides in the path of the triggers o³ are arms o' (Fig. 9) that
when the slides fare pulled to their backward limit as the levers e arc oscillated
by the cams e' in the blocks c pull the triggers from the hammers which are cocked
by the backward movement of the spindles as they withdraw the discharged shells
which they grasp from the breech of the barrels. When the next fol.owing
cartridges are fed upward, the discharged shells are pushed out of the grasp of
the end of the spindles, and fall over into the trough supported between the

page_text: spindles (Fig. 8) and when the spindles again move forward to place other
cartridges in the barrels, the discharged shells are pushed by means of arms s
projecting from the spindles over the trough, into the openings (Fig. 2) made
through the shell between the trunnions, and through this the exploded cartridges
fall to the ground.
The cartridges in the belts are fed into the gun on either side by the feed wheels,
and after the belts have been stripped from them they pass from the wheels through
the guides, up which they are pushed by the following cartridges to the spindles
which place and hold them in the barrels until discharged. The spindles then
withdraw the exploded shell and the next cartridge which is pushed up crowds the
used shell out of the way and occupies its position and while the new cartridge is
being placed in the barrels the exploded one is pushed along by the spindle so as
to fall through the opening to the ground. If one of the barrels becomes
disabled by pushing in one of the bolts that project through the cascabel, one of
the pawls is released from the rotating disc and all of the mechanism appurtenant
to that barrel remains stationary allowing the mechanism appurtenant to the other
barrel to run unencumbered by the mechanism of the disabled barrel.
If it is desired to remove the spindles and hammers a quarter turn of the holding
button so releases the frame that holds them that the hand may be inserted through
the opening and the whole lifted out, while if one of the firing pins becomes
disabled or disarranged a quarter turn of the thumb screw that holds its cover
plate allows the plate to be lifted and the pin removed.
The mechanism is simple; there are but two cam-blocks, and the action is all
positive, as is the feeding of the cartridges, thus the gun is not liable to get out of
order, and the firing mechanism may be instantly removed for repairing or
disabling the gun, and either one of the barrels may be fired independently of the
other, rapidly or slowly.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
1. In a machine gun in combination with the loading and firing mechanism feeding
mechanism consisting of a pair of wheels having pocketted peripheries mounted upon
shafts on each side of the shell beneath the barrels the shafts being connected with
and alternately rotated by the driving shaft guides adjacent to the feed wheels adapted
to receive the heads of the cartridges as they pass from the wheels, and combs
attached to the shell adjacent to the wheels for stripping the cartridges from the
belts substantially as specified.
2. In a machine gun in combination with the loading and firing mechanism
feeding mechanism consisting of a pair of wheels having pocketted peripheries
mounted upon shafts on each side of the shell beneath the barrels the said shafts
bearing ratchets pawls for rotating the ratchets racks for driving the pawls pinions
for reciprocating the racks slides bearing racks for driving the pinions and levers
in contact with cams upon the driving shaft for moving the slides substantially as
specified.
3. In a machine gun in combination cams loosely mounted upon the driving
shaft ratchets adjacent to the cams with one piece secured to the shaft and the
complementary pieces secured to the cams bolts movable into and out of the path
of the pawls feeding mechanism connected with and driven by the cams loading
mechanism reciprocated by the cams and firing mechanism released by the rotation
of the cams substantially as specified.
4. In a machine gun in combination cams bearing pawls loosely mounted upon
the driving shaft ratchet discs secured to the shaft adjacent to the cams and adapted
to engage the pawls bolts projecting through the shell for releasing the pawls
from the ratchets feeding mechanism connected with and driven by the cams
loading mechanism reciprocated by the cams and firing mechanism released by the
rotation of the cams substantially as specified.

page_text: 5. In a machine gun in combination cams bearing pawls loosely mounted upon
the driving shaft ratchet discs secured to the shaft adjacent to the cams adapted
to engage the pawls bolts projecting through the shell for releasing the pawls from
the ratchets feeding mechanism consisting of wheels mounted upon shafts
intermittently rotated through the means of levers oscillated by the cams
reciprocating loading spindles jointed levers operated by the cams attached to
the loading spindles firing mechanism and slides moved into and out of contact
with the firing mechanism by contact with the pawls upon the cam blocks as they
revolve substantially as specified.
6. In combination in the herein described machine gun reciprocating spindles
cams on the driving shaft connected by levers with the spindles each of said
spindles having a longitudinal mortise a firing pin held in said mortise plates
covering said mortise and a button having an eccentric base for holding each plate
in place substantially as specified.
7. In combination with the herein described machine gun reciprocating spindles
cams on the driving shaft connected by levers with the spindles each of said
spindles having a longitudinal mortise a firing pin held in said mortise a cocking
roll secured to the spindle and a hammer in the path of the cocking roll whereby
when the spindles are moved rearward the baminers are cocked substantially as
specified.
8. In combination with the shell of the herein described machine gun a frame
consisting of plates having ways for supporting the reciprocating spindles and
plates for supporting the hammer and triggers said frame being connected with
the shell at one end by means of dowel pins that pass into sockets in a part secured
to the shell and at the opposite end by a button a support rising from the shell
holding the button reciprocating spindles supported by the ways and hammers and
triggers supported by the frame whereby a turn of the button releases the frame,
allowing it with the hammers and triggers to be freely removed substantially as
specified.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1892.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.