Improvements relating to Ordnance Batteries.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 2'st Apr., 1891-Accepted, 30th May, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Ordnance Batteries.
I, SAMUEL PROEL HATFIELD, of Jamaica, in the County of Queens, and
State of New York, United States of America, Engineer, 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 :-
The present invention has for its object to provide means whereby the guns or
mortars, particularly the latter, of a battery can be manipulated simultaneously so
as to be trained upon an enemy's vessel or fleet and deliver a broadside or shower
of projectiles or such a number of projectiles as may be deemed necessary for the
desired effect.
The invention consists generally of a group or line of guns or mortars, each
having the elevating and traverse mechanism, such mechanism being operated by
power connections common to all the guns or mortars, and these connections being
controlled from a single operating station.
The invention will be described as applied to a group of mortars, though it is to
be understood that other forms of guns may be employed.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a general plan of a group or battery of sixteen mortar guns, arranged
and operated in accordance with my invention.
Figure 2 shows a detail plan view of one of the mortar pits and the mechanism
contained therein, the gun and carriage being removed.
Figure 3 is a central vertical section of the masonry of a mortar pit and parts of
the mechanism in the same, the section running with axes of the guns, as seen in
Figure 1, and on plane x, x of Figure 4.
Figure 4 is a similar vertical section at right angles to the axes of the guns, or
on plane y, y of Figure 3.
Figure
is a cross section of one of the recoil cylinders.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the gun buffer, looking in direction of arrow a
Figure 3.
Figure 7 is an elevation view of the same, looking in direction of arrow b
Figure 3.
Figure 8 is a detail plan view of the connections between the bars that transmit
motion to elevate and depress the gun and the elevating mechanism at a gun.
Referring to these views in detail, and particularly to Figure 1, 1 and 2 represent
respectively what I shall designate as the traverse and elevating motors. These
motors may be any suitable source of power, such as steam or electricity. They
operate the traverse and elevating shafts 3 and 4, to which shafts are connected
ppropriate indicators 5 and 6 arranged to show degrees of horizontal and vertical
novement. These shafts 3 and 4 proceed from a central station, where are located the
notor or motors 1 and 2 or the controlling mechanism of some source of power, as
well as the indicators 5 and 6. This central station governs the whole battery, so
ar as concerns the aiming of the guns, and may also have control of the firing of
hem. The ammunition is supposed to be properly located with reference to the
arious mortar pits, and the usual means of loading and otherwise preparing the
nortars for discharge are assumed to be provided for each gun, all systematically
ontrolled from the central station.
The particular arrangement of the mortar pits is not essential to the invention
ut I have preferred to show a battery of sixteen mortars, arranged in square and
ubdivided into groups of four, as best exhibiting the method of operation from a
ingle station. From this arrangement it will appear how the plant may consist of
11

page_text: an arrangement of mortars in one or more straight lines or in various forms of
groups.
On each side of the central station or position of control the shafts 3 and 4 extend
out and are connected with the mechanism located at each mortar pit. I will first
describe the traverse system.
The shaft 3 carries screw wheels 7 which mesh with the gears 8 on the side
traverse shafts 9. These shafts are also provided with screws 10 which mesh with
gear rings 11 on the turntables of the mortars see Figure 2. These side shafts 9
are provided at suitable intervals with couplings 12 by which the turntables can be
adjusted relatively. These shafts are also supported against longitudinal thrust in
bearings 13, which are arranged to be moved by keys 14, by which means a fine
adjustment of the whole of one of the shafts may be made relative to the turn-tables
it operates.
Referring to Figures 2 and 3, 14* is the masonry of the mortar pit. The pit is
bowl-shaped or concavo-spherical in general form. Just below this pit and in the
sides thereof around its lower point is a circular channel 15, in which is a suitable
track 16. Upon this track runs the annular turntable 17, there being interposed
the usual friction wheels 18. Upon the turn-table is supported the chassis 19,
which is composed of two compound angle-bar segments, Figure 2 and extends at
one end a little above the mouth of the pit where the two bars or side frames are
joined by a cross bar 20 carrying a roll 21, Figure 3, that bears upon the track 22
graduated to indicate the degrees of horizontal movement of the mortar.
It will now be seen that with the mortars all similarly adjusted to the side
traverse shafts, that is, the chassis brought into parallel, if the motor 1 be started,
power will be transmitted to all the mortar tables to rotate them equally in bori-
zontal planes to any extent that may be required to bring all the mortars to bear,
except for the extent of their separation, upon the same object. Of course, if
desired, the separate mortars may be differently adjusted relative to the side
traverse shafts, so as to cause them to converge upon one object, or to diverge so
as to cover a given area larger than the area of the battery plant.
I will now describe the mechanism for moving the mortars vertically, by which
they are all brought to any desired inclination.
Motor 2 (Figure 1) is connected to and revolves the mortar elevating and
depressing shaft 4. At places in this shaft, opposite the lines of mortar pits, are
cranks 22, to which are attached the crank rods 23, also connecting with the
bars 24 and 25 sliding upon each other on proper supports, which bars extend to
and operate the elevating mechanism of the mortars. Figures 3, 4 and 8 illustrate
this mechanism and its connections to the bars 24 and 25. At each gun pit one
section of the bars 24 and 25 end, respectively, in the crank rods 26 and 27, which
are upon the same crank wrists, 28 and 29, as are the crank rods 30 and 31 con-
nected to the next length or section of the sliding bars, which section continues to
the next gun pit in the line. The cranks 28 and 29 are set at 90° apart and are in
the vertical shaft 32 bearing the screw 33.
This arrangement of cranks and crank rods is also used where the main gun-
elevating shaft 4 attaches by arms 23 to the sliding bars 24 and 25 and hence is
not fully shown as thus applied. Figure 8 may be considered as a plan of the
crank rod connections of Figure 4, or as an elevation of the crank rod connections
between the shaft 4 and bars 24 and 25. The object of this arrangement is to
avoid dead centres, as it will be manifest that as shaft 32 is revolved from shaft 4
and one crank arm approaches its dead centre point, the other crank arm will be
passing through its right-angle phase, and will therefore serve to insure the
carrying of the first arm by its dead centre point and thus preserve the regular
rotation of all the shafts of the system. This permits the use of shafts, cranks
and sliding bars throughout the system, and obviates the lost motion that necessarily
would result were gearing or belts used to transmit the regulating motions to the
separately placed mortars.

page_text: Upon the chassis of each mortar is supported gear 34 meshing with screw 33
and operating, through crank rods 35 and 36, the screw 37, which screw meshes
with the segmented rack 38 carried on the gun carriage 39, the carriage being in
any suitable way movably confined to the upper surface of the chassis frame 19.
The arrangement of the crank rods 35 and 36 is the same as that on the main shaft
rods 23, and that of the rods 26 and 27 of slides 24 and 25; and the motion is
similarly transmitted.
It will now be seen that operating the shaft 4 causes each of the mortars to be
elevated or depressed, and each to the same extent as any one or all of the others.
The mortars may be all set to the same angle of elevation and so maintained, or
they may be set to different degrees of inclination to concentrate their fire or to
cover an extended area of attack.
It will be noted that, as the mortars are moved through the azimuth angle, the
gears 34 carried on the mortar carriages will have angular motion around the
vertical shaft 32 and worm 33, and accordingly these gears will be slightly turned
on their axes. This may very slightly alter the vertical angle of elevation of the
gun, a change that would not be reported by the indicator 6, and accordingly if
desired a special indicator may be connected to one or more of the carriages in such
manner as to constantly indicate the exact angle of elevation. It will be obvious,
however, that the vertical movement of the guns, when effected by the horizontal
adjustment of the same will be directly in proportion to the horizontal movement,
and can, therefore, be ascertained from the indicator 5, when the vertical angle is
known before the azimuth adjustment is made.
The means of mounting the mortars upon their carriages and taking up their
recoil, is in general similar to mechanism already proposed, that is to say, between
the gun and a recoil abutment, consisting of the walls of the gun pit or other ground
work, is arranged a recoil cylinder and piston adapted to take the initial pressure
of recoil and as such pressure increases to transmit it to the pit masonry and thus
relieve the gun carriage and chassis of shock and consequent wear and tear. 1
have adapted these means to the present mortar supports with some improvements
that I will now describe, and which are essential to the successful operation of
a segmental chassis in a concavo-spherical pit such as I have described, that is to
say in order to have full control of a battery of mortars, and to accurately and
quickly adjust them, it is requisite that the supporting parts of each mortar be as
light as practicable, and to secure this lightness of structure the mortar supports
should not have to sustain at most but a small portion of the effects of recoil. As
already described, each mortar pit is concavo-spherical in form, and the axis of the
traverse table is concentric with the axis of such concavity, so that all the motions
of the chassis and turn-table are in effect parallel to the surface of the pit-a condi-
tion also greatly assisting the regular and accurate adjustment of the parts of the
system.
The mortar carriage 39 is provided with ways 40 upon which slide the mortar
trunnions 41, these trunnions having formed in or attached to them the cylinders 42
which are adapted to hold a suitable fluid controlled by any of the well-known
means whereby it serves to cushion the shock of discharge. The piston rods of
these cylinders are represented at 43. They are joined by the cross bar 44 also
provided with the buffer 45 and feet 46 for engagement with the carriage slide 40.
The buffer has a curved and extended face (Figures 3, 6 and 7) corresponding to
the curve of the pit, and normally is close to the pit surface, being also located
between the sides of the chassis frame and in direct line with the mortar. Two
eccentric rollers or cams 47 (Figures 3 and 6) are supported in the cross head 44
and bear upon the upper faces of the chassis frame. Their office is to adjust the
buffer relatively to the walls of the pit. When desired, the cams may be turned
to let the buffer rest firmly upon the masonry, as at the time of a series of dis-
charges at one horizontal position or azimuth angle; or the cam may be set so as to
hold the buffer clear of the masonry, except at the moment of firing, when a slight

page_text: and permissible yielding of the chassis will bring the buffer and masonry in contact,
as in case when the azimuth angle is often changed and it is desirable to the free
movement of the turn-table to have the buffer off the face of the pit.
The various mortar pits may be protected by other earth or masonry works than
that shown in the drawings, and it will be manifest that the system of shafting and
slide bars will ordinarily be arranged in tunnels or chambers as shown in Figures 3
and 4. I have spoken of the gun or mortar pits as being built of masonry, but they
may be metal faced or otherwise constructed in accordance with the principles of
fortification building.
By these means a battery of mortars can be operated mechanically, and hence
more accurately, than when the guns are each manned and operated by different
agencies. A shower or broadside of projectiles can be hurled at an enemy to
accurately cover any area, and necessary variations can be calculated and made
with a precision not possible where the element of individual error is possible at
each gun. The factors of judgment and observation can be concentrated at the
central station, where also is indicated the exact condition of the guns, and the
battery as a whole managed to produce the greatest effects.
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 :-
First. In combination with an ordnance battery composed of a series of guns or
mortars, traversing mechanism located at each of the guns, mechanical connections
common to all of said traversing mechanisms, and a motor attached to and for
operating said constructions, whereby all the guns of the systems, can be simul-
taneously traversed.
Second. In combination with a battery of ordnance composed of a series of guns
or mortars, elevating and depressing mechanism located at each of the guns,
mechanical connections common to all of said elevating and depressing mechanisms,
and a motor attached to and for operating said constructions, whereby all the guns
of the system can be simultaneously elevated or depressed.
Third. In combination, in a battery of ordnance, a series of guns each provided
with elevating and traversing mechanism, and machinery connecting a motor with
said traversing and with said elevating mechanisms and adapted to simultaneously
operate the same.
Fourth. In combination, a mortar pit of concavo-spherical form, a mortar gun,
carriage and chassis supported in the pit and traversing around the axis of the
same, and a recoil buffer to the mortar carried on the chassis, whereby whatever be
the position of the mortar the recoil of the same is transferred to the walls of
the pit.
Fifth. In combination, a mortar pit of concavo-spherical form, a segmental
chassis centrally supported in the same, a segmental mortar carriage adjustably
supported upon said chassis, a mortar gun sliding upon said carriage, and a buffer
connected to the trunnions of the gun and adapted to deliver the shock of recoil to
the walls of the pit.
Sixth. In combination, a shaft 3 connected and driven by a motor and bearing
screws 7, one or more traverse shafts 9 geared to said screws and bearing the
screws 10, and the turn-table 17 of a series of independently located motors con-
nected by gears to said screw 10, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Seventh. In combination, the motor and its motor shaft 4, the sliding bars 24
and 25 connected by crank rods 23 to said shaft and by crank rods 26, 27 to the
vertical shafts 32, and the screw and gear connections 33 and 37 of a series of mortar
chassis and carriages, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Eighth In combination, a mortar pit 14 of concavo-spherical form, the turn-
table 17 concentric to the axis of the pit, the segmental chassis 19 and gun
carriages 39, the carriage rack 38, and the screw 37 for moving the said carriage

page_text: on the chassis to give elevation or depression to the mortar and mechanism for
operating the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Ninth. The concavo-spherical pit 14, the segmental chassis 19 and turn table 17,
the gun carriage 39 having ways 40, the gun trunnions 41 carrying cylinders 42,
5 and the buffers 45 attached to the piston rods of said cylinders and adapted to
transfer the shock of recoil to the walls of the pit.
Tenth. In combination with the chassis and gun carriage, the recoil cylinders 42
and piston rods 43, the cross head 44 carrying the buffer 45, and a cam 47 adapted
to adjust the buffer relatively to the face of the pit wall, as and for the purpose
> described.
1001
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.