IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORDNANCE
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Cornish Harcourt Sievier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1867.
I, JOHN CORNISH HARCOURT SIEVIER, of Upper Holloway, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction and
manufacture of ordnance comprising cannons, mortars, and other guns within
the meaning of the term, by which improvements such guns may be made
cheaper and lighter than ordinary guns, and may be readily taken to pieces
and put together so as to facilitate their transport. I propose to form the
interior or bore of the gun of a cylinder or tube of metal of a suitable
character and thickness, the breech end being formed in the shape of a
hemisphere or cone, or somewhat approaching such shape, the metal should
by preference possess a high degree of elasticity, or a property of expansion
and contraction in order to withstand the shock of the discharge; this tube
or cylindrical bore is to be secured within an outer tube or tubes so as to
leave a space between them; by the following means it may be secured by
annular rings at suitable distances surrounding the tube or tubes, and fitting
the external chamber or outer shell or skin, or two or more of them; or it

page_text: may be secured by bolts or rivets in as many places as may be required; or
blocks or segments of circular metal may be placed and fixed between the
compartments of the gun secured by bolts, screws, or rivets. These blocks,
segments, or stays should be perforated in order to allow of communication
between all parts of the chamber in order to equalize the pressure of the
water or liquid. The breech end and muzzle end of the gun are secured by
plates or egg-ended metal according to the form of the gun and by rivets,
bolts, or screws. The gun may be discharged by a nipple and hammer, or
by a needle actuated by a spring, but in any case a small tube from the
internal bore or breech should form the means of communication for firing,
such tube coming out at the rear or upper part of the exterior of the breech
end. The space or spaces left between the linings or cases and the internal
sbell or bore of the gun are to be filled with water or other liquid or fluid,
the object being to disseminate or spread the bursting pressure caused by
the discharge of the gun over every part or surface of the gun, so that such
bursting pressure may not be confined to the breech end, but be distributed
in an equal ratio over every inch of surface in which the water is contained. It
therefore follows that a much smaller quantity of metal in the aggregate will
suffice (in a gun constructed according to this Invention) to withstand the
resistance which in an ordinary gun would require a considerable weight of
metal at the breech to overcome the same pressure. The external casings
may be of boiler plate with requisite flanges to bolt or rivet or screw the same
in divisions or lengths, or they may be of other metal; thus the gun may be
taken to pieces and fastened together to facilitate transport from place to
place when on a march or for marine transport. The gun is of course to be
fitted with trunnions which may be formed in two sections aud fitted on by
clamps or screws. In order to compensate for the expansion of the water
contained in the chambers or linings of the gun I propose to form perforations
in the chambers or linings, and to place on the outer periphery of the gun, a
safety valve consisting of a tube and globe, through which tube the water
may flow or rise into the globe or reservoir, and thus obviate the liability to
burst, which might otherwise be the case from expansion of the water or liquid
caused by the heat of the successive discharges.