AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNAL
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Church, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Civil Engineer, and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, of Bir-
*mingham aforesaid, Merchant and Gun Manufacturer, for the Invention
LANCE
of AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNAL
Sealed the 12th January 1855, and dated the 26th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Church and
Samuel Aspinwall Goddard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 26th July 1854.
We, WILLIAM CHURCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer, and SAMUEL ASPINWALL GODDARD, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Merchant and Gun Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE" to be as
follows:-
The Drawing represents our Invention in front and end elevation. a is the
hore of the gun extending from one end to the other; b is a chamber in which
the compound wedge c, d, slides; the said wedge consists of the pieces c, d
The piece is jointed to the lever e, and, by the raising and depressing of the
said lever, the wedge c, d, may either be placed in the position represented or
depressed till the hole x in its upper part coincides with the bore a. When

page_text: the wedge c, d, is in the position last described, the charge is introduced at the
end a', and by the depression of the lever e, the several parts are brought into
the position represented. f is a pin on the piece c, engaging in a slot 9 in
the piece d; his an annular collar, having its inner edge inclined, which
said collar enters a square recess in the gun; i is a helical spring, resting on
the arm on the piece d, and bearing against the under side of the piece c
the effect of the said spring i is to keep the piece c as much higher than the
piece d, as the pin f in the slot 9 will permit. The action of the several parts
is as follows:-On raising the 'lever' e, the piece d first descends through the
length of the slot g; the piece e afterwards descends with the piece d, until
the bore a is clear. After charging, the lever e is brought into the position
represented. The pieces c, d, rise at first together, but the motion of the piece
c is arrested by its top coming against the stop l; the piece d now proceeds along,
wedging against the piece c, so as to make it bear against the collar h; a
cotter m, passed through the side of the chamber b, holds the pieces c, d, firmly
together. The use of the collar is to prevent the escape of gaseous matter
during discharge, the reaction on the inclined face of the said collar causing
it to bear against the piece c. That part of the piece c, which bears against
the ring h, consists of a moveable plate c', which slides in a dovetail on the
face of the piece c, and may be removed at pleasure. The essential novelties
are the collar h, cotter m, and face plate c'.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Church and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th January 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM 2
CHURCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil Engineer, and
SAMUEL ASPINWALL GODDARD, of Birmingham aforesaid, Merchant and Gun
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One 3
thousand eight hundred and 6fty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Church and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, Her special licence that we,
the said William Church and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, our executors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Church.
and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, our 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 "An
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ORDNANCE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said William Church and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, or one
of us, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said William Church and Samuel Aspin-
wall Goddard, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
Our Invention consists in the improvements in breech-loading ordnance
herein-after particularly described. Figure 1 represents in plan the breech
end of a piece of ordnance or cannon, constructed according to our Invention;
Figure 2 represents an end elevation; and Figure 3, a transverse vertical
section of the same; Figures 4 and 5 represent longitudinal vertical sections
of the same. The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures.
a is the bore of the gun, extending from one end to the other; 6 is a chamber,
in which the compound wedge c, d, slides; the part d is jointed to the lever e,
by the link f, and by depressing the lever e, the said wedge c, d, may be raised
into the position represented in Figure 5, and by raising the said lever e, the
wedge c, d, may be brought into the position represented in Figure 4; that is
to say, the hole g in the wedge c, d, may either be made coincident with the
bore a in the gun, as represented in Figures 4, or the said bore a may be closed
by the lower part of the wedge c, d, as represented in Figure 5. When the
wedge c, d, is in the position represented in Figure 4, the charge is introduced
at the end h of the gun, the lever e is depressed, and the several moving
parts are brought into the positions represented in Figure. 5.
The two parts
c, d, of the wedge are connected together in the following manner :-i is a
pin on the piece d, which said pin engages in the slot k, in the piece c; l is a
helical spring resting on the arm m of the pièce d, which said helical spring
bears against the under side of the piece c; the effect of the said helical spring

page_text: is to keep the piece c as much higher than the piece d, as the pin i in the
slot will permit. When in this position the holes in the two pieces c, d, are
coincident. In order to explain the action, let all the moving parts be supposed
to be in the positions represented in Figure 5. The pin n, by which the wedge
c, d, is fixed in its place (see Figure 3), is withdrawn, and the lever e is raised.
The piece d first descends through the length of the slot ; the piece c after-
wards descends with the piece d, and the two pieces c, d, of the wedge finally
assume the positions relative to each other and to the gun shown in Figure 4.
The bore a of the gun is now clear, and the charge is introduced at the end h;
the lever e is depressed, and brought into the position represented in Figure 5.
On the depression of the said lever e, the pieces c, d, rise together in the rela-
tive position shown in Figure 4, but the motion of the piece c is arrested before
that of the piece d, by the top of the piece c coming against the stop o; the
piece d-next proceeds alone, until its top comes in contact with the stop o,
or nearly so. By the last-described motion the inclined face of the piece d
wedging against the inclined face of the piece c, presses the perpendicular face
of the piece c with great force against the shoulder p of the gun. The moving
parts are now in the positions represented in Figure 5; and the hole in the
wedge coinciding with the hole r (indicated by dotted lines in Figure 3) made
in the gun, the pin n is introduced, and the wedge held securely in its place.
s is an annular collar which enters the recess t in the bore of the gun, the
end of the said recess being conical, as represented. The use of the collar s
is to prevent the escape of gaseous matter during the discharge of the gun,
the reaction on the front edge of the collar causing the back edge of the same
to bear against the piece c. That portion of the face of the part c which bears
against the collar s is made moveable, that is to say, it is made of a plate
marked u, which slides in a dovetail in the piece c as represented. When the
face of the plate is worn or corroded, or for other reasons does not bear with
sufficient accuracy against the collar s, the said plate. u may be removed from
the piece c, and a new one substituted.
2
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise method herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our said Invention; but we claim as our
Invention,-
Firstly, the use of the collar and recess herein described and marked s, t, in
the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the method herein described of fastening the compound wedge

page_text: in its place, that is to say, by means of the parts marked n, r, and q, in the
accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly, the moveable face plate to the wedge herein described, and marked
u in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Church and Samuel Aspinwall
Goddard, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-third
day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five.
SAMUEL ASPINWALL GODDARD. (L.S.)
Witness to the signatures of William Church
and Samuel Aspinwall Goddard,
JAMES BOYD.