IMPROVEMENTS IN GUN CARRIAGES AND THEIR SLIDES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUN CARRIAGES
AND THEIR SLIDES."-A communication from abroad by John Wall
Wilson, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th March 1870.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GUN CARRIAGES AND
THEIR SLIDES," to be as follows:-
This Invention dispenses with the usual compresser screws which are
used to produce frictional hold of the carriage with or on its slides and
which are objectionable as making it extremely difficult if not impossible
to tighten up both sides of the carriage alike, and in place of the screws
cams that have a fixed and equable action on both compressers, on
opposite sides of the carriage are used.

page_text: The Invention also dispenses with the usual eccentric rollers that
are used to lift the carriage when the compressers are released and it
is required to run the carriage free from that frictional bearing on its
slides which serves to resist the recoil. These rollers are objectionable
as they require much labor to work them and also require the hold to
be retained on them while the carriage is being run. In place of such
devices the Invention comprises rollers of a concentric character borne
down upon the carriage slides by rubber blocks or springs of sufficient
strength to carry the load of the carriage and its gun so that when the
compressers are released the rollers operate as free running supports to
the carriage and require no hold to be retained upon them when
running the carriage, and are automatic in their action accordingly as
the compressers are released from or made to establish grip.
Likewise the Invention includes a combination of inclined elastic
cushions within the carriage slides or rear portions thereof and in the
direction of the length of the same, whereby an effective resistance is
secured to the recoil in a gradual and casy manner, and which follows
up the partial or preliminary resistance effected by the action of the
compressers in the advance portion of the recoil of the carriage over the
forward level or rigid portions of the slides.
This part of the Invention also includes constructing the cushions of
india-rubber wedges resting on quoins and covered with a wedge shaped
continuation of the slide.
Furthermore the Invention embraces combination of check levers or
brakes, and means for operating the same from the exterior of the
carriage for checking (by frictional pressure against the slides) the free
run of the carriage when the compressers are released.
This portion of the Invention is designed to be used in connection
with guns on board ship, to counteract the rolling action of the ship
on the carriage of the gun, or counteract the slip on the slides which is
liable to be communicated thereto.
While the advantages of the Invention have here been enumerated
when treating of the same under its several heads it remains to be said
in such relation that by reason of the same or certain features of such
Invention the gun may be worked by fewer men, and there is little or
no risk of breakage or injury to the carriages.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal l'atent
Office on the 15th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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 GUN CARRIAGES AND THEIR SLIDES," being a communication
to me from abroad, by John Wall Wilson, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others).
that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 performed,
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 William Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
:-
This Invention dispenses with the usual compresser screws which
are used to uroduce frictional hold of the carriage with or on its slides

page_text: and which are objectionable as making it extremely difficult if not
impossible to tighten up both sides of the carriage alike. In place
of these screws cams that have a fixed and equable action on both
compressers on opposite sides of the carriage are used.
The Invention also dispenses with the usual excentric rollers that are
used to lift the carriage when the compressers are released and it is
required to run the carriage free from that frictional bearing on its slides
which serves to resist the recoil. These rollers are objectionable as they
require much labor to work them and they also require the hold to be
retained on them while the carriage is being run. In place of such devices
rollers of a concentric character are employed and are borne down upon
the carriage slides by rubber blocks or springs of sufficient strength
to carry the load of the carriage and its gun, so that when the compressers
are released the rollers operate as free running supports to the carriage,
and require no hold to be retained upon them when running the carriage.
They are automatio in their action accordingly as the compressers are
released from or made to establish grip.
Likewise the Invention includes a combination of inclined olastic
cushions within the carriage slides or rear portions thereof, and in the
direction of the length of the same, whereby an effective resistance is
secured to the recoil in a gradual and easy manner, and which follows
up the partial or preliminary resistance effected by the action of the
compressers in the advance portion of the recoil of the carriage over the
forward level or rigid portions of the slides,
This part of the Invention also includes a peculiar construction of
the cushions so as to provide for raising and lowering them.
Furthermore the Invention embraces a combination of check levers,
or brakes and means for operating the same from the exterior of the
carriage for checking (by frictional pressure against the slides) the
free run of the carriage when the compressers are released,
This portion of the Invention is designed to be used in connection
with guns on board ship to counteract the rolling action of the ship
on the carriage of the gun or to counteract the slip on the slides which
is liable to be communicated thereto,
The advantages of the Invention having been enumerated when
treating of the same under its several heads it remains to be said in
such relation that by reason of the same or certain features of such

page_text: Invention the gun may be worked by fewer men and there is little or
no risk of breakage or injury to the carriage.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan of a gun
carriage with a gun mounted thereon, and slides on which the carriage
runs. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same; Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of
the carriage with the gun attached; Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal
section through one of the slides taken in the line x, x, in Fig. 1; Fig. 5
is a vertical transverse section of the carriage with the gun thereon and
the carriage slides, such section being taken in the line y, y, in Fig. 2;
Fig. 6 is a side elevation of one of the compressers in its released position
and also the device for operating the same; and Fig. 7 is an under
view on a larger scale of certain means applicable to guns on board
ship for checking the free run of the carriage, when the compressers
are released.
A represents the gun, and B, B, the sides or cheeks of its carriage; C
is the front and C' the rear transom thereof, and D, D, the slides of
the bed upon which the carriage rests and runs. E, E, are the com-
pressers, and F, F, the bars or side projections from the slides under
and against which the compressers act. These compressers are lifted
(when it is required to bring the carriage down to a flat or frictional
bearing) by its transoms on the slides by means of cams G, G, of leaf
like construction, so as to give a fixed and equable action to the same
on the compressers, for which purpose the cams are hinged to the
carriage as at a and formed of side pieces 6 of sector or other suitable
shape with lifting and lowering wings c projecting from them through
the compressers, so that on throwing the cams over in the one direction
the wings c are made to assume a vertical position or thereabouts and
thus raise the compressers. On throwing them over in a reverse
direction the wings are brought into or made to approximate to a
horizontal position so as to lower the compressers. The cams may be
operated in this manner by hand spikes made to enter holes d in the
edges of their side pieces b. These cams G, G, are alike on both sides
of the carriage, and as here arranged require to be turned over in a
backward direction to lift the compressers up against the compresser
bars, and to be thrown over in a forward direction when the compressers
have to be dropped to free the carriage. When thus released from any
binding action of the compressers it is proposed to relieve the carriage
"

page_text: from bearing pressure by its transoms on the slides D, D, by causing
the carriage to be supported by concentric rollers H, H, of which there
may be front and rear pairs or sets which are carried in vertically sliding
frames I, I, that are forced down or out by rubber blocks or springs J, J,
of sufficient strength to carry the weight of the gun and its carriage or
thereabouts. When supported by the concentrically hung roller H, H,
the carriage may be run with perfect freedom, and two or three men
will suffice to work the gun, instead of five, six, or more as heretofore.
When the carriage is lowered however by the lift of the compressers
to bear down by its transoms on the slides, the rollers H, H, are auto-
matically raised by the compression of the springs J, J, that bear down
upon them. To perfect the resistance to the recoil which is only
partially met by the action of the compressers E, E, inclined clastic
cushions K, K, are provided in the slides D, D, or backward continu-
ations thereof. These cushions are formed of upper slides or slide con-
tinuations e resting on india-rubber or other suitable elastic wedges f
arranged to lie in the direction of the slides with their smaller ends in
advance and which wedges are in their turn supported by quoins g.
On taking out these latter, which can be done from the rear of the
slides, the upper slide pieces e of the clastic cushions are brought on a
level with the slides D, D, or thereabouts, which facilitates the working
of the gun in mere training, but on inserting the quoins in their places
beneath the rubber wedges, as it is proposed to do in actual service, the
elastic cushions K, K, are raised to form inclines that operate by the
bearing of the carriage transoms on them under the action of the com-
pressers so as to gradually but effectually arrest the recoil, and this by the
elasticity of the cushions in a soft or easy manner which prevents injury
or breakage, the recoil being previously resisted in part during the run
of the carriage over the forward or rigid portions of the slides.
some cases the quoins g, g, may be dispensed with or be fixtures so as
to give to the clastic cushions K, K, a permanent inclined character.
Arranged in the base of the carriage is a vertical spindle s, Fig. 5, turned
when required to put "check" on the carriage after the release of the
compressers by pulling or pushing on a rod h, which is connected by a
crank or lever with the spindle, and may be operated from the outside a
of the carriage by a suitably arranged lever. This spindle & carries a
pinion i, Fig 7, which works on reverse sides of it into two racks k, k,
socketed to act as guides to each other, and arranged to bear against
In

page_text: Fourth. In the construction of such clastic cushions K, K, I claim
the combination of the sliding or removeable quoins g, y, with the
rubber wedges f, f, and the upper slides or slide continuations e, e.
Fifth. I claim the combination of the brakes 1, 1, racks k, k, and
pinion i with the gun carriage for operation upon or against the slides D, D,
as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.