Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
1, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, of 8 Great George Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
According to this invention two similar guns are mounted on the same turntable.
Each gun
pivotted for elevation near its breech end so that it has to be raised
bodily as elevation is increased, but in order that this may be effected without the
introduction of added counterweights, springs or pumps, one gun serves as the
counterweight of the other, and thus as one gun rises, the other descends.
Under ordinary circumstances only one gun would be used at a time, each gun
being fired alternately, the other serving as a reserve. In this case the elevating
gear, as the system is balanced, would only require to have the small power
necessary to overcome friction of moving parts.
Should both guns require to be used independently elevation could be given by
pumps or other means.
The guns may have trunnions near the breech end which rest in a carriage
recoiling on a slide upwardly inclined to the rear.
Each gun may be supported near its centre of gravity on the head of a connecting
rod rising from a piston the latter working in a cylinder attached to the slide by a
pivot at its lower end and the cylinder may be connected at its upper end
by a link to the carriage so that in recoil the cylinder may swing rearward with
the gun.
The cylinders beneath the two guns would be connected by a pipe.
Or the cylinders may form part of the carriage and recoil with the gun in which
case they would be connected by a flexible or articulated pipe to allow free
movement to each gun either in recoil or running out.
The guns would preferably be separated by a protective diaphragm. The breech
ends would be enclosed in a small armoured turret similar to that described in an
application for Letters Patent No. 20054 of 1893 with the port hole in the armour
close to the gun trunnions, the reduction in size of turret and in the size of port
required by this plan of mounting increases the protection and reduces considerably
the size of target exposed to hostile fire.
Dated this 6th day of March 1894.
I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, of 8 Great George Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, 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 :-.
According to this invention two similar guns are mounted on the same turntable.
Each gun is pivotted for elevation near its breech end so that it has to be raised
i Price kd 7

page_text: bodily as elevation is increased, but in order that this may be effected without the
introduction of added counterweights, springs or pumps, one gun serves as the
counterweight of the other, and thus as one gun rises the other descends.
Under ordinary circumstances only one gun would be used at a time, each gun
being fired alternately, the other serving as a reserve. In this case the elevating
gear, as the system is balanced, would only require to have the small power
necessary to overcome friction of moving parts.
Should both guns require to be used independently elevation could be given by
pumps or other means.
The guns may have trunnions near the breech end which rest in a carriage
recoiling on a slide upwardly inclined to the rear.
Each gun may be supported near its centre of gravity on the head of a connecting
rod rising from a piston the latter working in a cylinder attached to the slide by a
pivot at its lower end so that in recoil the cylinder may swing rearward with
the gun.
The cylinders beneath the two guns would be connected by a pipe.
Or the cylinders may form part of the carriage and recoil with the gun in which
case they would be connected by a flexible or articulated pipe to allow free
movement to each gun either in recoil or running out.
The guns may be separated by a protective diaphragm. The breech ends would
be enclosed in a small armoured turret similar to that described in an application
for Letters Patent No. 20054 of 1893, with the port hole in the armour close to
the gun trunnions the reduction in size of turret and in the size of port required
by this plan of mounting increases the protection and reduces considerably the size
of target exposed to hostile fire.
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings annexed shew various views of one forin
of the gun mounting and Figures 5 and 6 a modified construction.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, Figure 2 a plan, Figure 3 a front
view with the fixed outer protecting wall cut away, and Figure 4 is a rear view of
the pair of guns and their slides.
A is the turntable, B B two guns mounted thereon. Each gun is pivotted at its
rear end by trunnions B' to a slide or carriage C which can recoil along slideways D.
EE are hydraulic rams to which the guns near their centre of gravity are jointed.
FF are the cylinders in which the rams work-they are free to rock on pivots Fl
at their lower end. The pivots of the two cylinders which are opposite one
another are both received into one bearing as shown in Figure 3 and a water
passage is forn.ed through both so that there is free communication between the
two cylinders. The pins E¹ which joint the hydraulic rams to the guns have slides G
connected to them at one of their ends by swivel joints-these slides are free to
move up and down along guide bars H. These guide bars can themselves move to
and fro along curved guides H¹ which are concentric with the pivots F1 of the
cylinders F. To the other end of such pin E¹ is attached a bar I on one edge of
which is a toothed rack-into this rack gears a pinion J the rack being held into
gear with the pinion by the small guide roller 1. The pinion has fast with it a
worm wheel K and a worm on a spindle L gears with the worn wheel-the spindle
can be driven through bevil toothed gear from the hand wheel M. In order to
allow of the elevating gear being worked from either side of the guns the spindle L
of the lifting gear of one gun is geared with the spindle L of the lifting gear of
the other gun through bevil gear and a cross spindle N in such a way that when
one spindle L is turned in one direction the other is turned in the opposite direction.
The worm wheel K may be frictionally connected to the pinion J; provision may
also be made for putting one worm out of gear when the other is in gear the
balancing of the guns being effected through the rams. Should both guns require
to be used independently, elevation could be given by pumps or other means.
00 are ordinary recoil cylinders and P P are springs for assisting in the running
out of the guns.
.R is a fixed armoured wall surrounding the turntable and, the mounting upon it.

page_text: S is a small armoured turret enclosing the breech ends of the guns close to the gun
trunnions so that the port holes through which the guns pass have to be but
little larger than the guùs as described in the Specification of the Patent herein
before mentioned.
Figure 5 is a vertical section and Figure 6 a front view of the modified
construction in which the hydraulic cylinders F are secured to the gun carriage C
the gun carriage being made long enough to allow of this. T is a jointed pipe
connecting the lower end of one cylinder with the lower end of the other.
U is a
link by which the ram is jointed to the underside of the gun.
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 :-
1. A twin gun mounting in which each gun is supported on trunnions near its
breech end and the weight of the forward part of one gun is made to balance the
weight of the forward part of the other gun.
2. The construction of gun mountings substantially as hereinbefore described
with reference to Figures 1 to 4.
3. The construction of gun mountings substantially as herein before described
with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
Dated this 6th day of December 1894.
J. VAVASSEUR.