IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sidebottom, of Harewood, near Mottram, in
the County of Chester, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 7th January 1862, and dated the 24th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sidebottom at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
July 1861.
I, JOHN SIDEBOTTOM, of Harewood, near Mottram, in the County of
Chester, Cotton Spinner and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to certain improvements upon the Invention
for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the Fifteenth day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, No. 109, and it consists in the
application of a break or breaks to the barrels of fire-arms and ordnance for
the purpose of regulating or controlling the recoil and the rotary motion
imparted to the barrels by the recoil in combination with a curved scroll or
other equivalent. These breaks may be applied by hand, or by the recoil of
the barrel, or by both. When applied by hand, a friction clip applied to the
barrel is tightened by a screw or other equivalent, or the bearings supporting
the barrel may be tightened. When the break is applied by the recoil, the
barrel acts on a lever or other equivalent connected to the break, which is thus
tightened.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sidebottom in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SIDEBOTTOM, of Harewood, near Mottram, in the County of Chester, Cotton
Spinner and Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Sidebottom, Her special licence that I, the said John Sidebottom, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Sidebottom, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FIRE-ARMS AND ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Jolin Sidebottom, 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 performied, 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 John Sidebottom, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):
This Invention relates chiefly to certain improvements upon the Invention
for which Letters Patent were granted to me on the Fifteenth day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, Number 109, and it consists in
the application of a break or breaks to the barrels of fire-arms and ordnance,
for the purpose of regulating or controlling the recoil, and the rotary motion
imparted to the barrel during the recoil by a curved scroll or other equivalent.
These breaks may be applied by hand, or by the recoil of the barrel, or by
both. When applied by hand, a friction clip applied to the barrel is tightened
by a screw or other equivalent, or the bearings supporting the barrel may be
tightened. When the break is applied by the recoil, the barrel acts on a lever
or other equivalent connected to the break, which is thus tightened.

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation representing one mode of constructing and
applying the break to a piece of ordnance; Figure 2 is a transverse section of
the same.
In these views, a is the barrel; b, b, the bearings in which it is
supported; and c the bar to which the bearings bare keyed. This bar is
supported in trunnions, in the same manner as the bed plate c in the Drawing
forming part of the Specification of Letters Patent, granted to me on the
Fifteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one,
Number 109. d is the curved groove in which the stud e enters, and this
stud is connected to one of the bearings b; f is the break consisting of two
clips of metal or other material connected by the bolt f; when the bolt is
tightened up, the clips compress the barrel a, so that when the cannon is
discharged, the amount of the recoil can be reduced or governed according to
the tightness of the friction clips f.
I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I only give this as an illustration
of one mode of applying a break to fire-arms and ordnance, and that the
construction of the breaks can be varied, or two or more breaks can be applied
to the same barrel if preferred.
It is evident that when the recoil of the barrel is checked, the effective
force of the projectile is increased. The recoil of the barrel can be made to
apply the break by means of a stud projecting from the barrel, which stud
acting on a lever or other equivalent connected to the break, tightens the
break when the recoil has caused the barrel to recede to a certain extent.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim the use and application of a
break or breaks to the barrels of fire-arms and ordnance for the purpose
lescribed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sidebottom, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN SIDEBOTTOM. (L.s.)