Improvements in Apparatus for Working Disappearing Guns.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 24th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 16th Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Working Disappearing Guns.
We, ANDREW NOBLE, a Companion of the Bath, late Captain in the Royal
Artillery, Manufacturing Engineer, and CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, Engineer,
both of the Elswick Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
In ordinary disappearing gun carriages the weight of the gun is balanced by
the tension of compressed air, made to act through the medium of a liquid or if
steel springs are used they also act not directly but through the medium of a
liquid. Both these methods lead to complications and necessitate great care in
the use of the carriage to prevent leakage of the liquid or of the air.
According to our invention we apply steel springs, in such a way, and of such
sufficient power as to act directly on the gun carriage and balance the weight of
the gun at any position between the extremes of right up or right down. These
springs we arrange so that they can be slacked off or tightened up in order to
cause the gun to come down without being fired or to rise to the firing position
when it is desired to fire the gun.
Having by this means balanced the gun so that it is in the same condition as if
supported in one scale-pan of a pair of scales and capable of being made to rise
or fall by the addition or substraction to or from the counterpoise in the other
scale, which addition or substraction only amounts to what is necessary to over-
come the friction of the pivots on which the system turns, we arrange to absorb
the recoil energy by a cylinder and piston entirely separated and not connected
with, or interfering with, the gear by which the gun is raised or lowered.
To put an end to the trouble caused by leakage we construct the recoil cylinder
of one casting made without any bottom plug or joint of any sort. At the top we
form a reservoir so that more liquid than is required for safety, may be used, to
allow for loss by evaporation, or other causes, and to give space for the liquid
displaced by the piston rod when it enters the cylinder as the gun comes down.
The
The cylinder we fit with a piston and rod, the piston sliding easily in the cylinder
and being made with ports or openings through which the liquid must pass when
the piston is driven to the bottom of the cylinder on the recoil of the gun.
ports in the piston are gradually closed in the usual manner by tapered keys fixed
to the inside of the cylinder, so that the resistance to the recoil is equalized
throughout the stroke, and the length of recoil is about the same for all charges.
The piston rod passes through an opening in the cylinder closely fitting it but
no packing is needed as no pressure exists at any time at the top side of or above
the piston.
The steel springs by which the weight of the gun is balanced are conveniently
placed horizontally, in two boxes, one on either side of the recoil cylinder. To the
rear the springs press upon vertical plates, pivotted at their centres to long
connecting rods. The other ends of these connecting rods being attached to lever
arms formed on the main levers or rocking carriage by which the gun is carried
up or down.
With the gun down these springs are in the state of greatest compression. The
gun in rising pursues a circular path and the force required to balance it is regularly
reduced from bottom to top.
The springs also as they are relaxed are naturally also reduced in power and we
arrange that the springs shall be of such a size and length that these reductions
correspond with one another. So that as the load requiring balancing is diminished,
the spring power to balance shall be diminished by a corresponding amount.

page_text: At the front end of the springs we place another vertical plate which can be
moved backwards or forwards a certain amount in a horizontal direction by a
powerful screw and train of wheel gear worked by hand. By this means we
compress the springs a little more to cause the gun to rise or slack them off a little
to cause the gun to descend when it is desired to bring the gun down without
firing it.
On the shield which closes the mouth of the gun pit we carry a set of sights,
instead of fitting them to the gun where they are usually fitted in the case of
disappearing carriages and where they are awkward to reach owing to the gun
being so high, and where it is necessary to reach them by folding ladders and
platforms owing to the gun having to recoil and descend. The sights on the shield
we work automatically from the elevating gear by a rack, toothed wheels, and the
necessary rods, so that the rear sight is driven to move degree for degree with the
movement of the gun.
We also extend the training gear so as to provide a hand wheel within reach
of the man sighting the gun and by these means he is able to keep his eye on the
object of aim up to the moment of firing without having to step aside to clear
the gun.
To the rear or tangent sight we fit not only an ordinary sight and a telescope
but also a pair of mirrors so attached that they move with and are one with the
tangent sight. This enables the man sighting the gun to bring his head under the
protection of the parapet and to see in the lower mirror the reflection of the front
and rear sights and the object of aim. Inasmuch as it is the actual sights which
are seen reflected, no errors in the setting of the mirrors will introduce errors into
the aim.
1
7
ր TA
1001
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Working Disappearing Guns.
We, ANDREW NOBLE, a Companion of the Bath, late Captain in the Royal
Artillery, Manufacturing Engineer, and CHARLES HENRY MURRAY, Engineer,
both of the Elswick Works, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 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 :-
In ordinary disappearing gun carriages the weight of the gun is balanced by
the tension of compressed air, made to act through the medium of a liquid or if
steel springs are used they also act not directly but through the medium of a
liquid. Both these methods lead to complications and necessitate great care in the
use of the carriage to prevent leakage of the liquid or of the air.
According to our invention we apply steel springs, in such a way, and of such
sufficient power as to act directly on the gun carriage and balance the weight of
the gun at any position between the extremes of right up or right down. These
springs we arrange so that they can be slacked off or tightened up in order to cause
the gun to come down without being fired or to rise to the firing position when it is
desired to fire the gun.
Having by this means balanced the gun so that it is in the same condition as if
supported in one scale-pan of a pair of scales and capable of being made to rise or
fall by the addition or subtraction to or from the counterpoise in the other scale,
which addition or subtraction only amounts to what is necessary to overcome the
friction of the pivots on which the system turns, we arrange to absorb the recoil
energy by a cylinder and piston entirely separated and not connected with, or
interfering with the gear by which the gun is raised or lowered.
To put an end to the trouble caused by leakage we construct the recoil cylinder
of one casting made without any bottom plug or joint of any sort. At the top we

page_text: form a reservoir so that more liquid than is required for safety, may be used, to
allow for loss by evaporation, or other causes, and to give space for the liquid
displaced by the piston rod when it enters the cylinder as the gun comes down.
The cylinder we fit with a piston and rod, the piston sliding easily in the cylinder
and being made with ports or openings through which the liquid must pass when
the piston is driven to the bottom of the cylinder on the recoil of the gun.
The
ports in the piston are gradually closed in the usual manner by tapered keys fixed
to the inside of the cylinder, so that the resistance to the recoil is equalized
throughout the stroke, and the length of recoil is about the same for all charges.
The piston rod passes through an opening in the cylinder closely fitting it but no
packing is needed as no pressure exists at any time at the top side of or above the
piston.
The steel springs by which the weight of the gun is balanced are conveniently
placed horizontally in two boxes, one on either side of the recoil cylinder. To
the rear the springs press upon vertical plates, pivotted at their centres to long
connecting rods. The other ends of these connecting rods being attached to lever
arms formed on the main levers or rocking carriage by which the gun is carried
up or down.
With the gun down these springs are in the state of greatest compression. The
gun in rising pursues a circular path and the force required to balance it is
regularly reduced from bottom to top.
The springs also as they are relaxed are naturally also reduced in power and
we arrange that the springs shall be of such a size and length that these reductions
correspond with one another so that as the load requiring balancing is diminished,
the spring power to balance shall be diminished by a corresponding amount.
At the front end of the springs we place another vertical plate which can be
moved backwards or forwards a certain amount in a horizontal direction by a
powerful screw and train of wheel gear worked by hand. By this means we
compress the springs a little more to cause the gun to rise or slack them off a little
to cause the gun to descend when it is desired to bring the gun down without
firing it.
On the shield which closes the mouth of the gun pit we carry a set of sights,
instead of fitting them to the gun where they are usually fitted in the case of
disappearing carriages and where they are awkward to reach owing to the gun
being so high, and where it is necessary to reach them by folding ladders and
platforms owing to the gun having to recoil and descend. The sights on the shield
we work automatically from the elevating gear by a rack, toothed wheels, and the
necessary rods, so that the rear sight is driven to move degree for degree with the
movement of the gun.
We also extend the training gear so as to provide a hand wheel within reach of
the man sighting the gun and by these means he is able to keep his eye on the
object of aim up to the moment of firing without having to step aside to clear
the gun.
To the rear or tangent sight we fit not only an ordinary sight and a telescope
but also a pair of mirrors so attached that they move with and are one with the
tangent sight. This enables the man sighting the gun to bring his head under
the protection of the parapet and to see in the lower mirror the reflection of the
front and rear sights and the object of aim. Inasmuch as it is the actual sights
which are seen reflected, no errors in the setting of the mirrors will introduce
errors into the aim.
With suitable modifications we construct siege carriages on the system explained
above, the invention being on account of its simplicity particularly suitable for
that purpose as the readiness with which the carriage can be prepared for action is
of especial importance in siege operations.
In order that our invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect we will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: 1 DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side clevation partly in section of a disappearing gun mounting in
accordance with our invention.
Figure 2 is a front elevation and
Figure 3 is a plan of the same with parts removed.
Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are elevations.
Figure 4 shows more especially the recoil cylinder. Figure 5 shows more
especially the elevating gear and Figure 6 shows more especially the sighting
gear. Figure 7 shows inore especially the manual gear for varying the compression
of the balancing springs to raise and to lower the gun.
Figure 8 shows the modification of the mounting adapting it for siege purposes.
Referring more especially to Figures 1 and 6-
a is a ring rail firmly bolted down to a concrete foundation. is a ring with
live rollers running upon the rail a and supporting a platform or rotating structure c
which is controlled also by clips c¹ upon it embracing a flange a upon the ring rail.
The upper part of the structure forms a roof c² which encloses the shelter pit for
containing the gun and mechanism. There is an opening in this roof through
which the gun rises to fire. dd are a pair of levers fixed to an axis the bearings
for which are upon the structure c. The gun eis carried by its trunnions in
bearings at the upper ends of the levers and the lower ends of these levers are
connected by rods ff with plates upon which springs gabut. is a telescopic
core around which the springs g are arranged. The breech of the gun is connected
by links with curved racks which are moveable along guides fixed to the
structure c. The movement of the levers d and links around their pivots allows
the gun to rise to the firing position and descend to the loading position, and the
compression of the springs is such as approximately to counterpoise the weight
of the gun in every position. To raise and lower the gun the compression of one
set of the springs g is increased or diminished by turning a hand wheel which by
gear wheels turns the axis ou which is a pinion . The pinion gears
with teeth formed on the periphery of a screw nut which is able to turn in a
support kº.
The nut rotates upon a screw A whieli cannot rotate and is fixed to the plate k
This plate is the abutment for the springs g and by the means described it can
be moved to and fro along the spring case. Thus by turning the wheel & the gun
can be raised and lowered at will and little power is required beyond that needed
to overcome the friction of the parts. The recoil on firing is resisted by the rod l.
The rod is furnished with a piston and the crosshead at its upper end is jointed
to the levers d. The cylinder m can rock on trunnions m¹; it is provided with a
reservoir chamber m² to contain a sufficient store of water or liquid and it is closed
at the top by the unpacked ring m³. The piston has notches in it and inclines m
within the cylinder partially fill the notches, leaving a water way suitably contracted
in every position of the piston to moderate the speed of the gun in recoil. This
recoil apparatus, it will be observed, is entirely independent of the springs which
counterpoise the gun and the mechanism by which the gun is raised and lowered.
The training of the gun and structure to lay the gun on the mark is effected by
turning a hand wheel n which operating through a suitable train of wheels turns a
pinion engaged with the ring of teeth a' upon the ring rail a. There are other
hand wheels n'n' within reach of the man who lays the gun by which the training
motion may also be given. The required angle of elevation or depression for the
gun when in the firing position is given by turning the hand wheels o and The
wheel o is within reach of the man who aims the gun and is used for making
the final adjustment the greater part of the movement being made by the wheel p.
The wheel o by bevilled gear turns the shaft o' on which is a pinion o² engaged
with a wheel o³ on the axis of a worm of which is engaged with a worm wheel o³.
P).

page_text: 2'
On the axis of the worm wheel o³ are pinions of which engage with the curved
racks ii. The axis of the wheel p is connected by bevilled gear o with the axis
of the wheel o³. On the roof there is a support upon which the pivots g¹ of the
sight bar rest and the other end of the sight bar is supported by the upright
bar and parts s and s¹. The bar slides through guides upon the structure c; it
has at its lower end a rack which is engaged with a toothed wheel upon the
same axis with the pinions of o. The gear is so proportioned that the sight bar
and the axis of the gun make equal angular movements when the hand wheels o
and p are turned. On the sight bar are the fore sights 77, the ordinary rear
sight, the sighting telescope g³ the mirror sight and mirror q. 7 is another
mirror on the sight bar at a lower level. The bar has a socket at its upper end
and into this a stems is received this is graduated for range and to adjust the
sight is raised and lowered in the socket in the usual way. Upon the head of the
stems there is a slider s which is moveable transversely to correct for wind,
speed &c. in the usual way. The slider carries the rear end of the sight bar.
In Figure 8 A is the ordinary pivot and platform for a siege gun. B is a bed
frame capable of turning about the pivot A and also supported by wheels B¹. C is
a hand wheel for training, it drives a pinion in gear with a curved rack A¹ fixed
upon the platform A. D are the levers which carry the gun as before; at their
lower ends they are connected with plates E on which coiled springs press and
these springs counterpoise the weight of the gun as already explained. In this
case however the hand gear for varying the compression of the springs is dispensed
with. FF are links connecting the breech of the gun with the curved racks G
which are raised and lowered to vary the elevation of the gun in the firing position.
This is effected by means of the hand wheel H which by bevilled gear turns the
screw H' and this is engaged with a worm wheel on the axis of the pinions H².
The recoil is resisted by the piston and rod I working in the cylinder K. L is a
jointed platform rising and falling with the gun.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is: ན་
1. Gun mountings in which springs act directly on the gun by connecting rods
and levers and approximately balance it in all its positions and in which, also recoil
apparatus is provided entirely separated and not connected with or interfering with
the balancing springs.
2. Gun mountings in which springs act directly on the gun by connecting rods
and levers and approximately balance the gun in all its positions and in which also
manual gearing is provided for further compressing or relaxing the springs to cause
the gun either to rise, or to descend without being fired.
3. The recoil cylinder with its reservoir, without packings or joints, and placed
upright so that the liquid cannot be lost by leakage.
4. The automatic compound sights, worked from the elevating gear and having
ordinary, telescope, and mirror sights all moving together in adjustment for distance,
wind and speed of enemy.
5. The application substantially as described of automatic sights to the overhead
shields of disappearing carriages.
6. The general arrangement of a disappearing carriage substantially as described
above and shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 7th day of November 1891.
A. NOBLE.
C. H. MURRAY.