IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Theophilus Blakely, of 84, Montpelier
Square, in the County of Middlesex, late Captain in the Royal Regiment
of Artillery, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BREECH-LOADING
ORDNANCE."
Sealed the 12th June 1863, and dated the 20th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Theophilus
Blakely at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th December 1862.
I, ALEXANDER THEOPHILUS BLAKELY, of 34, Montpelier Square, in the
County of Middlesex, late Captain in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
The object of the improvements is that the opening of the breech or sepa-
ration of the breech-piece from the barrel may be effected by the act of firing,
so that the firing of one charge will, in addition to throwing a shot or shell,
open the parts in position to receive a fresh charge. For this purpose the
breech-piece projects into the barrel, and is retained in position by weight or
elastic pressure proportionate to the power exerted by the pressure of the
charge in firing. The firing causes the propulsion of the shot or shell to the
extent desired, and at the same time the recoil of the breech-piece, thus

page_text: opening the parts for the supply of a fresh charge. The breech-piece enters
the barrel to an extent sufficient to insure its not leaving the breech end
thereof until the shot or shell passes out of the muzzle. Holding. means
retain the parts when opened.
Also I mount ordnance to be fired through port-holes or embrasures, so
that the axis of vertical motion is at or near the muzzle thereof, and at the
port-holes or embrasures. The weight of the gun and its carriage will, in this
case, not be balanced near the axis of rotation, and consequently great power
will be required to move them. This I prefer to apply by means of hydro-
static pressure exerted from. a. reservoir placed at a sufficient elevation, or by
hydraulic apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Theophilus Blakely in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th June 1863!
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
THEOPHILUS BLAKELY, of 34, Montpelier Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, late Captain in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alexander Theophilus Blakely, Her special licence that I, the
said Alexander Theophilus Blakely, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Theophilus Blakely, 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 BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Theophilus
Blakely, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Theophilus Blakely, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of the first part of my improvements is that the opening of the
breech or separation of the breech-piece from, the barrel may be effected by,
the act of firing, so that the firing of one charge will,, in addition to throwing
the projectile open the parts and leave them, in the position to. receive. a fresh
charge. For this purpose the breech-piece projects into the barrel, and is
retained in position by weight or elastic pressure proportionate to the power
exerted by the pressure of the charge in firing. The firing causes the pro-
pulsion of the projectile, and at the same time the recoil of the breech-piece,
thus opening the parts for the supply of a fresh charge. The breech-piece
enters the barrel: to an extent sufficient to insure its not leaving the breech
end 'thereof until the shot or shell passes out of the muzzle. Holding means
retain the parts: when opened.
Figure 1. shows a side view, and Figure 2 a plan of a. gun and parts con-
nected with it according to this part of the Invention. a, a, being the body,
or barrel of the gun, supported by the trunnions a¹, a, in the carriage b.. The
dotted lines a³, a², indicate the bore of the gun;, c is the breech-piece, which
is formed to enter the breech end of the gun, and, according to this part of
my, Invention the breech-piece is affixed to or otherwise forms part of the
block d, which has a groove formed in each side of it to receive the rails e, e,
projecting from the end of the gun a, by which the block d with the breech-
piece is supported, so as to be capable of sliding to and from the breech end
of the gun, and in a line with the bore of it. The block & has a tendency to
be drawn towards the barrel of the gun by means of a weight f, which in
combination with springs are connected to the block d by chains 9, 9, (or it
may be by other suitable means), one end of each of these chains is connected
to the weight f, and thence passing over a pulley h is connected at its other
end to the block d, as shown. The weight of serves also as a platform or table
for the support of the fresh charge and projectile previous to its being driven
into the gun, and, by preference, a fresh charge is placed on this table, whilst
the weight of that table is holding the breech-piece in the breech end of the
gun. And when the parts are in the position indicated by the Drawing, with
the table raised, that table will hold the fresh charge correctly opposite the
bore of the gun. The parts, as shown, are in the position they would assume
after the firing of a charge, when the effect of the recoil has been to force out
the breech-piece c with its block d, thereby overcoming the force exerted by

page_text: the weight f. And in order that the block d, with its breech-piece c, may
then remain in the position indicated until a fresh charge has been introduced.
I apply to the weight f a click or pawl i, and to the framing a rack j, by
which when the weight f has been elevated it will be held up with the fresh
charge thereon in position for loading.. This charge must then be forced a short
distance into the gun, and then by lifting the lever handle i¹ affixed to the
click or pawl i, that click will be released from the rack j, when the weight f
will descend again and draw the breech-piece to force the charge fully into the
chamber of the gun; k, k, are india-rubber or other elastic media adapted to
äet as buffers to resist the shocks produced.
Secondly, my improvements relate to mounting ordnance to be fired through
port-holes or embrasures, so that the axis of vertical motion is at or near the
muzzle thereof, and at the port-holes or embrasures. As in this case the
weight of the gun and its carriage will not, as is ordinarily the case, be
balanced near the axis of rotation, and consequently great power will be
required to move them. I prefer to apply the power required by means of
hydrostatic pressure exerted from a reservoir placed at a sufficient elevation,
or by hydraulic apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Theophilus Blakely, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
ALEXANDER THEOPHILUS BLAKELY. (LS.)