MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GUN CARRIAGES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, HENRY CHARLES EDEN MALET, of Wilbury Lodge Brighton in the County of
Sussex, Lieutenant Colonel in Her Majesty's Reserve of Officers, late of the
Grenadier Guards, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GUN CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
In
My present Invention has for its object further improvements in the application
of the Inventions described in my previous specifications Nos. 3149 and 5735
of 1884, such improvements consisting in a novel form of gun carriage, more
especially applicable to field guns, but not necessarily confined thereto.
carrying out my Invention in practice in the construction of a field gun carriage,
I form the axletree of a steel or iron circular tube, with solid ends for the hubs of
the wheels to rotate upon-I form the trail wholly or entirely of a steel or iron
tube, preferably oval in section, and tapering from the axletree end to the other
end, which latter end is provided with an eye to engage with the hook on the
limber in the ordinary way, or I may make the trail larger in the middle, and
tapering towards each end-Or in place of making the trail hollow, I may construct
it of a Tee or trough section.-The axletree end of the trail is firmly attached to
the axletree in any suitable manner.-Diagonal stays are also used, as in the
ordinary field gun carriage, to strengthen the connection-By these means, I
combine great strength with lightness of construction in the axletree and trail.―
The gun itself is supported upon the carriage in the following manner.-I provide
upon the axletree two upright levers or standards, capable of motion upon the
axletree at or about the centre of their length, one being placed on each side of the
trail. From the upper ends of these levers, the gun is slung (after the manner
described in my specifications Nos. 3149 and 5735 of 1884, to which reference has
previously been made) by two or more suspension arms or links, so that the force
of recoil will cause it to swing backwards, and upwards, as therein described.――
In order to provide means for elevating and depressing the gun, the lower ends
of the two upright levers or standards are connected by a cross bar, to the centre
of which one end of a shaft is attached, the other end of this shaft passing
through or being attached to the trail, and suitable means being provided for
extending or withdrawing such shaft, and consequently moving the upright levera
through an arc of a circle; and as the gun by the arrangement of the suspension

page_text: links, always retains the same angular position in relation to the upright levers,
it can by these means be readily elevated or depressed to any desired extent. It
will be seen that the effect of this arrangement is to cause the said shaft to be in
tension, and the part of the trail between the axletree and the point of attachment
to it of the shaft, in compression, when the gun swings under the action of recoil,
which gives a good distribution of the internal strains.-One or more hydraulic or
pneumatic cylinders and pistons or other elastic buffers are provided in connection
with the gun and carriage, for the purpose and in the manner described in my
previous specifications Nos. 3149 and 5735 of 1884. If one cylinder be used, its
piston rod head may be attached to the underside of the breech of the gun, and its
cylinder base to the axletree, the trail being cut away where required, to admit it;
or two cylinders may be employed, one on each side of the gun, attached to it and
to the upright levers or other suitable part of the carriage, but in practice
I prefer the single cylinder, as simpler, cheaper, and equally effective-I provide
beds or seatings on the upper side of the trail, with corresponding projections
or bosses on the under part of the gun, so that when the trail is limbered up,
the breech of the 'gun can by means of the elevating gear, be brought down close
on the seatings, and there secured by bolts or other suitable fastenings, so that in
travelling, the gun lies snugly on the trail, and is firmly attached thereto, and the
suspension links and upright levers, and cylinders are relieved from all jars, and
strains caused by roughness of ground passed over.-In order to protect the men
working such guns when in action from musketry fire, I provide shields or guards
constructed in the following manner. The seats which are usually provided on
the axletree on each side of the gun, I form of sheet steel, and attach them in such
a manner that they can be rotated on the axletree into a vertical position; the
back rail, which is hinged to the seat, is then turned up vertically, and the foot
rest, which is also hinged, drops of its own accord in the same vertical line; upon
the back rail and foot rest steel plates are now hung, which are ordinarily carried
upon or underneath the seat, or in any other convenient place, and by this means
an efficient shield is provided, equal to the height of the wheels upon each side of
the gun, and filling up the space between the gun and the wheels. The space below
the gun, and between the plates on the foot rests, is partly filled by a steel plate
permanently attached to the lower parts of the upright levers, and partly by a
plate hinged to the lower edge of the said plate, which can be turned up and
secured flat against it, when not required-The space on the top of the gun between
'the plates hung on the back rails, may be filled up by a plate attached to the gun,
and capable when not in use of folding up, and hinging down flat upon the gun.
Efficient stays are provided to keep such plate upright when in use, and also the
seats and back rails-If preferred, the space above the gun may be filled in by a
movable plate, which may be carried on the gun limber, and when required, placed
in slots in the pendulum links-When axletree boxes are desired to be employed
they can be made double, and hung as pack saddles on either side of the axle
underneath the steel seat, thus affording four boxes for ammunition with the gun,
and proportionately lightening the limber, and certain advantages may accrue from
thus carrying ammunition with the gun, as when it may be desired to move the
limbers out of the line of fire; and the weight being carried low, great steadiness
of the carriage results Such boxes may be so fixed if desired, as to rotate with
the seat above mentioned, their internal construction being adapted to this
arrangement, or they may be rigidly fixed to the axletree, and the seat may serve
as the lid of the boxes, and be capable of elevation so as to form part of the
shield when desired, as before described;-or in place of the double box above
described, a single box of ordinary construction may be placed upon the top of the
steel seat.
The advantages which I consider I obtain by the construction of my improved
gun carriage as above described, or any mere modification thereof, are, com-
municating the recoil of the gun to the carriage in the shape of a gradually

page_text: increasing strain, instead of a sudden blow or shock as usual; reducing the weight
of the principal parts of the carriage without any deterioration in strength, a
simple and efficient mode of elevating and depressing the gun, and protection for
the gunners from musketry fire when in action. I do not necessarily confine
myself to applying all the improvements herein set forth to a field gun carriage, as
the peculiar form of elevating apparatus described, in combination with the
suspension of the gun by links, and the employment of cylinders' or elastic
buffers, is equally applicable to the carriage of a gun in a land, naval, or other
battery.

page_text: I, HENRY CHARLES EDEN MALET of Wilbury Lodge, Brighton, in the county of
Sussex, Lieutenant Colonel in Her Majesty's Reserve of Officers, late of the
Grenadier Guards, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GUN CARRIAGES" and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My present invention has for its object improvements in the application of the
invention for "Improvements in the construction of gun carriages and in mounting
of guns" for which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date February 12th
1884 and numbered 3149, such improvements consisting in a novel form of gun
carriage, more especially applicable to field guns, but not necessarily confined
thereto.
In carrying out my invention in practice in the construction of a field gun
carriage, I form the axletree of a steel or iron circular tube, with solid ends for the
hubs of the wheels to rotate upon.
I form the trail wholly or entirely of a steel or iron tube preferably oval in
section, and tapering from the axletree end to the other end, which latter end is
provided with an eye, to engage with the hook on the limber in the ordinary way,
or I may make the trail larger in the middle and tapering towards each end-Or in
place of making the trail hollow, I may construct it of a Tee, trough or box section.
The axletree end of the trail is firmly attached to the axletree in any suitable
manner.
Diagonal stays may also be used, as in the ordinary field gun carriage, to
strengthen the connection. By these means, I combine great strength with lightness
of construction in the axletree and trail-The gun itself is supported upon the
carriage in the following manner :—
I provide upon the axletree two upright levers or standards, capable of partial
rotation upon the axletree at or about the centre of their length, one being placed
on each side of the trail.-Or the trail may be forked and the said levers placed
within the forked end. From the upper ends of these levers the gun is slung (after
the manner described in my specification No. 3149 of 1884 to which reference has
previously been made) by two or more suspension arms or links, so that the force
of recoil will cause the gun to swing backwards and upwards, as therein described.
-In order to provide means for elevating and depressing the gun, the lower ends
of the two upright levers or standards are connected by a cross bar, to the centre of
which one end of a shaft is attached, the other end of this shaft passing through or
being attached to the trail, and suitable means are provided for extending or with-
drawing such shaft, and consequently moving the upright levers through an arc of
a circle. and as the gun by the arrangement of the suspension links, always retains
the same angular position in relation to the upright levers, it can by these means
be readily elevated or depressed to any desired extent. When the upright levers
are placed within the forked end of the trail, their lower ends may if preferred be
united in one.

page_text: It will be seen that the effect of this arrangement is to cause the said shaft to be
in tension, and the part of the trail between the axletree and the point of attach-
ment to it of the shaft in compression, when the gun swings under the action of
recoil, which gives a good distribution of the internal strains.
One or more hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders and pistons or other elastic
buffers are provided in connection with the gun and carriage for the purpose and in
the manner as described in my previous specification No 3149 of 1884. If one
cylinder be used, its piston rod head may be attached to the underside of the breech
of the gun and its cylinder base to the axletree, the trail being cut away where
required, to admit it, or two cylinders may be employed one on each side of the
gun, attached to it and to the upright levers or other suitable part of the carriage,
or a vertical cylinder may be employed having its piston rod head attached to the
underside of the gun and its cylinder base to the lower ends of the upright levers.
In practice I prefer the single cylinder, as simpler, cheaper, and equally effective.
I provide beds or seatings on the upper side of the trail, with corresponding
projections or bosses on the under part of the gun, so that when the trail is
limbered up, the breech of the gun can by means of the elevating gear, be brought
down close on the seatings, and there secured by bolts or other suitable fastenings,
so that in travelling the gun lies snugly on the trail, and is firmly attached thereto,
and the suspension links and upright levers and cylinders are relieved from all jars
and strains caused by roughness of ground passed over.
In order to protect the men working such guns when in action from musketry
fire, I provide shields or guards constructed in the following manner. The seats
which are usually provided on the axletree on each side of the gun, I form of sheet
steel, and attach them in such a manner that they can be rotated on the axletree
into a vertical or nearly vertical position; the back rail, which is hinged to the
seat is then turned up in line with it and the foot rest, which is also hinged, drops
of its own accord into a vertical line. Upon the back rail and foot rest steel plates
are now hung which are ordinarily carried upon or underneath the seat, or in any
other convenient place, as for instance on the limber, and by this means an efficient
shield is provided, equal to the height of the wheels upon each side of the gun, and
filling up the space between the gun and the wheels.
The space below the gun and between the plates on the foot rests, is filled by a
steel plate permanently attached to the lower parts of the upright levers and by
the body of the trail. The space on the top of the gun between the plates hung on
the back rails may be filled up by a plate attached to the gun, and capable when
not in use of folding up and binging down flat upon the gun-Efficient stays are
provided to keep such plate upright when in use and also the seats and back rails.
If preferred the space above the gun may be filled in by a moveable plate which
may be carried on the gun limber and when required placed in slots in the pendulum
links When axletree boxes are desired to be employed they can be made double,
and hung as pack saddles on either side of the axle underneath the steel seat, thus
affording four boxes for ammunition with the gun, and proportionately lightening
the limber, and certain advantages may accrue from thus carrying ammunition
with the gun, as when it may be desired to move the limbers out of the line of fire,
and the weight being carried low, great steadiness of the carriage results-Such
boxes may be so fixed, if desired, as to rotate with the seat above mentioned,
their internal construction being adapted to this arrangement, or they may be
rigidly fixed to the axletree, and the seat may serve as the lid of the boxes, and be
capable of elevation so as to form part of the shield when desired, as before
described, or in place of the double box above described, a single box of ordinary
construction may be placed upon the top of the steel seat-The advantages which.
I consider I obtain by the construction of my improved gun carriage as above
described or any mere modification thereof, are:-
Communicating the recoil of the gun to the carriage in the shape of a gradually
increasing strain, instead of a sudden blow or shock as usual, reducing the weight of
the principal parts of the carriage without any deterioration in strength, a simple

page_text: and efficient mode of élevating and depressing the gun, and protection for the
gunners from musketry fire when in action.
I do not necessarily confiné myself to applying all the improvements herein set
forth to a field gun carriage as the peculiar form of elevating apparatus described in
combination with the suspension of the gun by links and the employment of
cylinders or elastic buffers is equally applicable to the carriage of a gun in a land,
naval or other battery
.
In order more clearly to explain the nature of my invention, I will now proceed
to describe certain examples of its application as shewn in the sheet of drawings
accompanying this specification.
Cage, Concording to my
invention, one wheel and the axle-tree seats and shields being removed to shew
more clearly the elevating gear.
Fig. 2 is a plan of carriage, having both wheels and the seats and shields
removed.
Fig. 3 is an end elevation of carriage shewing seats and shields in position ready
for action.
Fig. 4 is a sido elevation of a seat and shields in the same position, and Fig 5. is
a side elevation shewing ordinary position of axle-tree seat, when gun is limbered
up for travelling.
The same letters and figures refer to the same parts in all these five figures.
Fig. 6 is a side elevation shewing the application of part of my invention to a
light quick-firing 6 pr. gun traversing on a pivot.
In Figs. 1. 2. 3- is a tubular axle-tree with solid ends b, b,-c is the trail,
formed in this instance of a trough section, and firmly attached to the axle-tree,
which passes through apertures in one end-At the other end an eye d, to engage
with the hook on the limber in the usual way, and a shoe e to rest upon the ground
are provided. Diagonal stays are not shewn in the drawing but may be employed
if desired-A tube f, having upper arms or standards g, g, and lower arms hh,
firmly attached to, or formed in one piece with it, embraces that part of the axle-
tree which lies between the upper extremities of the trail.
The hand wheel i is keyed on to the shaft j, which is journalled in a pivotted
bearing k, the other end of the said shaft has a screw formed thereon, the said
screw engaging with the internal screw of the long nut m, which is pivotted to the
ends of the arms h, h, by means of its forked end n, as shewn-And it is therefore
obvious that by rotating the handwheel i, the arms g g may be moved through a
greater or lesser arc of a circle as desired.
The gun o is hung from the top of the arms g g, by four links p p p p, after the
imanner described in the specification to my hereinbefore recited Letters Patent
No. 3149 of 1884-The said links work on trunnions q q attached to the gun, and
are pivotted at their upper ends in bearings rrrr in the arms g, fitted with
removable caps for the easy mounting and dismounting of the gun.
When fired, the recoil causes the gun to swing backwards and upwards as
heretofore described its position at or about the end of such path of motion being
indicated by the dotted lines 8 8.
To control the swinging motion a hydraulic cylinder t is provided having its
piston rod head pivotted to the underside of the gun, and its cylinder base pivotted
to the ends of the arms h h. The peculiar vertical arrangement of the cylinder as
shewn in the drawing, causes the resistance which it offers to be practically nil at
the commencement of the swing of the gun, such resistance increasing rapidly as
the gun rises,
A seating u is provided on the trail upon which the breech of the gun resta
when limbered up—A lug v on the gun entering a corresponding aperture in the
seating u and preventing any movement of the gun.

page_text: The position of the trail when limbered up is shewn in dotted lines at w
Fig. 1.
The elevation and depression of the gun are accomplished by rotating the
handwheel i, as will clearly be seen, and one advantage of this form of elevating
gear is that the said handwheel does not move with the gun when the latter
recoils.
In Figs. 3. 4. and 5, 1 is a steel seat capable of rotation on the axle-tree on
bearings 22 attached to the underside of the seat. The seat may be secured
in each of the two required positions by any suitable device, but the arrangement
shewn in the drawings is as follows:-a projection 3 on each bearing 2, 2, enters
one of two corresponding recesses in each ring 4, 4, fixed on the axle-tree, one
recess being used when the seat is arranged for travelling and the other when it is
erected as a shield-To change the position the seat is slid along the axle-tree until
the projections are clear of the recesses and then' rotated till it is opposite the other
recesses, when it is slid back into position-To prevent the seat shifting a lever 5
is pivotted on the axle-tree and abuts at one end against the bearings 2 and is
furnished at the other end with a sliding spring bolt entering a cavity in the
ring 4 and is provided with a handle for sliding back the bolt and turning the
lever round to allow the sliding of the seat-When the seat is in the required
position, the lever is turned back parallel with the axle-tree and the spring bolt
re-enters the cavity in the ring 4 and securely locks the whole in place-The back
rail 6 is hinged to the seat at 7 and secured by a screwed union at 8.
When erected, as in Figs. 3 and 4 it is held in position, by a sliding sleeve 9
which drops down upon the pin 10.
The foot rest 11 is hinged to the underside of the seat at 12 and hangs vertically
of its own accord, when the seat is erected as shewn in Fig. 4.
A sheet steel shield 13 is hung on the back rail by hooks 14 and kept in place
by strips 15 which bear on the front of the seat, and another sheet steel shield 16
is hung on the bar of the hinge of the foot rests by the hooks 17.
For the comfort of the men a leathern strap may be provided on the rail 6 to
support the back of the rider in the usual way.
The complete protection afforded by the seats, shields and trial is clearly shewn
in Fig. 3. The only space left open, is that immediately over the gun, but this
may also be protected, if desired as hereinbefore described-In practice however it
may usually be found more convenient to leave this open, in order to allow ample
room for sighting and laying the gun.
In Fig. 3. the gun o is represented in cross-section through the line X X. on
Fig. 2.
In Fig. 6. a similar arrangement for absorbing recoil and elevation to that just
described in connection witli a field gun, is shewn in side elevation as applied to a
light quick firing 6 pr. breech loading gun of any desired construction.
O is the gun suspended by four links P, P, from bearings R. R. with removable
caps in the upright arms G-The said arms are pivotted or trunnioned at A on the
frame C and prolonged downwards in the arms H-A shaft J journalled in a
pivotted bearing K, has a screw L cut upon it, and can be rotated by the
handwheel I.
The screw L works in a nut M pivotted in the lower ends of the arms H, so that
by rotating the handwheel I the gun can be elevated or depressed-The traversing
motion is provided for by pivotting the frame C at D and supporting the other end
on rollers E.
For some purposes it may be preferred to pivot the frame in the centre and
provide rollers all round it.
T is the hydraulic cylinder hinged to the underside of the gun and the arms H.
One hand placed on the handwheel I, can elevate or depress the gun by rotating
the wheel, and can traverse the gun by simply pulling or pushing at the wheel-
This leaves the other hand at liberty to actuate the breech and firing mechanisin

page_text: so that one man can very rapidly and conveniently work a light gun mounted on
this principle.
Though I have only shewn my invention as applied to a field gun and a light
quick firing pivotted gun, it is equally applicable to other classes of light guns,
I wish it to be understood that I do not necessarily confine myself to the precise
details of construction herein shewn and described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The construction of a gun carriage for field, land or naval service with the
peculiar form of elevating gear substantially as herein set forth.
2. In a field gun carriage the method of protecting the gunners by shields
formed of the combination of the rotating axle-tree seats and separate metal plates
substantially as herein set forth.
•
3. The combination in a field gun carriage of the peculiar elevating gear and
rotating seat shields substantially as herein set forth.