Year: 1888

page_text: I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention relates to gun carriages which are provided with cushioning devices
arranged to resist the recoil of heavy guns.
In the usual arrangement of this class of gun carriage, a portion of the carriage is
hung upon a pivot at one end, and supported upon concentric tracks; the first part of
the carriage forms guides upon which the second or upper part of the carriage is
arranged, so that the said second part may move toward, and away from, the centre
of motion of the first part, the gun being supported on the said second or upper part
of the carriage; this is a common construction of carriage.
The accompanying drawing represents a gun carriage provided with the improved
cushioning device.
A represents the lower portion of the carriage which is hung upon a pivot a at one
end, and supported on tracks B B, so that it may oscillate in a horizontal plane with
the said pivot a as its centre of motion. Upon the part A of the carriage the upper
or gún supporting part C is arranged and so as to slide on the carriage toward or
from its pivot, the second or upper part C of the carriage carries the gun D supported
thereon by trunnions E in the usual manner.
To resist the recoil in this class of carriage a cylinder F has been arranged on one
part, say the part A of the carriage, with a piston G therein, from which a rod H
extends forward, and is secured to the other, say the upper part C of the carriage, the
piston and rod being in a plane parallel with the plane of movement of the said second

page_text: part C. The cylinder F being supplied with compressed air, forms a cushion to aid
in resisting the recoil upon the discharge of the gun.
The object of my invention is to increase the power of the cushion, and it consists
in producing an explosion in the cushion chamber or cylinder substantially concurrent
with the discharge of the gun.
The cylinder F is constructed with a cartridge chamber I opening into the cylinder,
the rear or breech end of the chamber being closed by a plug J, any breech-
closing mechanism may however be employed for closing the breech end of the said
chamber.
The breech of the chamber I being opened, a cartridge K is introduced therein, and
the breech closed, the cylinder is then charged with compressed air, in the usual
manner.
As a means for exploding the cartridge, electrical wires bd connect with the
cartridge chamber so that an electric spark may be communicated to the cartridge in
he chamber.
At the instant of discharging the gun, the cartridge K is exploded delivering its
force into the cylinder and against the piston simultaneously (or substantially so)
with the discharge of the gun. By this explosion the pressure in the cylinder becomes
instantly increased to a very great extent, and to that extent the resisting power of
the cushion is increased.
The cartridge may be prepared with varying grades of explosives in a common and
well known manner so as to make the complete explosion of the cartridge K
instantaneous or prolonged, as may be desirable.
The recoil resisting operation, may be produced by applying to the cylinder a
chamber L with which the tube M is connected, and so that the air which is forced
may be charged
into the cylinder will pass through the said chamber. The chamber L
with suitable hydro-carbon or other suitable material, which the air passing into the
cylinder will take up and so that the cylinder will be charged with a highly
inflammable gas.
The spark for explosion may be communicated directly to the cylinder, say by
wires, indicated in broken lines and so as to cause the gas to explode, such explosion
of the gas will greatly increase the resisting power of the cushion.
Both the gas supply and the cartridge may be employed to good advantage, the
cylinder being first charged with explosive gas and then the cartridge being exploded
will ignite the gas. By the combined force of the exploded gas and cartridge, the
resistance is brought to its highest possible limit.
Either the explosive cartridge or the explosivo gas may be omitted the same result
being accomplished in either case, but the resisting power is increased by the
combined action of the two.
The cushion thus formed, and highly compressed under the recoil of the gun
carriage, will possess a very strong elastic force, the tendency of which is to force
the carriage forward with a greater power than would in some cases be desirable. To
produce a resistance or cushion for such forward return of the carriage, I provide an
auxiliary chamber N preferably formed as a part of the cylinder, and through the
piston ĠI form a small aperture e and at the rear end of the cylinder I provido
valve which opens from the cylinder into said chamber N and at the opposite end of
the cylinder I form a small aperture g which opens into the cylinder on the forward
side of the piston.
a
Immediately upon explosion in the cylinder, as before described a small portion of
the gas will escape from the recoil side of the piston through the passage e to the
opposite side of the piston, the valve f will open, and permit gas to enter and fill the
chamber N at substantially the same pressure as that of the cylinder, so that the
amount of gas is increased by substantially the capacity of the chamber N, but a
portion of the gas through this chamber N will also escape to the forward side of the
piston through the passage e it being understood that these passages eg are so small
as not to materially interfere with the efficacy of the cushion.

page_text: As soon as the recoil of the carriage is arrested and the piston G stops, the reactive
force of the cushion acts upon the piston, and serves to throw it, with the carriage it
supports, forward with great force, but a cushion has been formed by the gas
which has escaped to the reverse side of the piston to resist to some extent such
forward or advance movement of the piston, so that the carriage will gradually
approach its forward position, or place of rest, against the cushion formed on the
forward side of the piston; the force on the recoil side gradually diminishes as the
gas expands, thus the gun carriage will return to its place of rest, with an easy and
gradually decreasing movement.
On the return of the piston toward its forward position, the valve f closes, and
prevents the return of the gas from the chamber N into the cylinder through the
valve, consequently the expanison of the gas in the chamber Ñ and through the
passage g, aids in increasing the "force of the cushion forward of the piston after
recoil.
It will be understood that the auxiliary chamber N may be omitted, as also the
aperture e through the piston, but I prefer to provide some means for utilizing the
recoil cushion as a resistance to the return of the carriage.
The auxiliary chamber N may be omitted, and the aperture e through the piston
relied upon as a means for forming the cushion upon the forward side of the piston,
or the passage e may be omitted entirely, and the chamber with its passages serve to
produce the required cushion upon the forward side of the piston, it only being
essential so far as this forward cushion is desirable, that there shall be a passage of
small area leading from the cylinder'on the recoil side of the piston, to the cylinder
on the forward side of the piston.
It is possible that the cushion formed forward of the piston on the return of the
carriage may at times be too strong to permit the carriage to return to its extreme
forward position; to relieve the cushion and thereby avoid this difficulty, a cock may
be provided as an outlet on the forward side of the piston, as indicated at f¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
First. In a gun carriage provided with a chamber adapted to act as a cushioning
device to resist the recoil, the method of increasing the resisting force of said
cushioning device which consists in producing an explosion in the said chamber
concurrent with the discharge of the gun, substantially as described.
Second. A gun carriage consisting of two parts, one of which is hung upon a pivot
to swing in a horizontal plane, and which supports the second part, the said second
part arranged upon the said first part, free to slide longitudinally thereon, the gun
hung upon the said second part, an air cylinder in the one part provided with a
piston, in connection with the other part to form a recoil cushion for the gun,
chamber opening into the said cylinder, upon the recoil side of the piston, the
said chamber adapted to be charged with an explosive material, substantially as and
for the purpose described.
and a
Third. A gun carriage consisting of two parts, one of which is hung upon a pivot
to swing in a horizontal plane, and which supports the second part, the said second
part arranged upon the said first part, free to slide longitudinally thereon, the gun
hung upon said second part, an air cylinder in one part, with a piston in said cylinder,
in connection with the other part, to form a recoil cushion for the gun, and a chamber
opening into said cylinder upon the recoil side of the piston, the said chamber being
adapted to be charged with an explosive material, the said cylinder also constructed
with an auxiliary chamber, with an opening from the recoil side of the piston into
the said auxiliary chamber, and also with an aperture opening from the said auxiliary
chamber into the cylinder upon the reverse side of the piston, with a valve in the said
opening on the recoil side of the piston, the said valve adapted to open from the
cylinder into the said auxiliary chamber, substantially as described.

page_text: Fourth. A gun carriage consisting of two parts, one of which is hung upon a pivot
to swing in a horizontal plane, and which supports the second part, the said second
part arranged upon the said first part, free to slide longitudinally thereon, the gun
hung upon said second part, an air cylinder in the one part, with a piston in said
cylinder, in connection with the other part, to form a a recoil cushion for the gun
and a chamber opening into said cylinder upon the recoil side of the piston, the said
chamber adapted to be charged with an explosive material, an aperture or
passage of small area from the cylinder on the recoil side of the piston into the
cylinder forward of the piston, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 21st day of February 1888
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.