Improvements in Supporting the Armour of Gun Houses, Turrets and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Oct., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 1st July, 1898-Accepted, 6th Aug., 1898
Improvements in Supporting the Armour of Gun Houses, Turrets and
the like.
We, SIR ANDREW NOBLE, K.C.B., F.R.S., of Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle-
on-Tyne, and RALPH THEW BRANKSTON, Engineer, of Elswick Works, Newcastle-
on-Tyne, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
According to this invention the flanges at the ends of the floor girders are cut
away and the webs are bent into a curve to form springs and are fixed to the
armour so making a yielding support. The weight of the armour is taken by a
flange or ring projecting inwards from it and resting on the floor.
In place of employing the webs themselves as springs, spring plates may be
bolted to them.
Improvements in Supporting the Armour of Gun Houses, Turrets and
the like.
We, SIR ANDREW NOBLE, K.C.B., F.R.S., of Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle-
on-Tyne, and RALPH THEW BRANKSTON, Engineer, of 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:-
According to this invention the flanges at the ends of the floor girders are cut
away and the webs are bent into a curve to form springs and are fixed to- the
armour so making a yielding support. The weight of the armour is taken by a
flange or ring projecting inwards from it and resting on the floor.
In place of employing the webs themselves as springs, spring plates may be
bolted to them.
In order that our invention may be fully understood we will proceed to describe
the drawing annexed.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan of a gun house or turret carrying armour which is
supported in accordance with our invention and Figure 2 is a vertical section.
-
aa are the floor girders bb is the armour and cc are backing plates to which
the armour is bolted. At the ends a¹al of the floor girders the web of the girder is
curved or bent and it is fixed to the backing plate c; in this way a certain
[Price 8d1

page_text: flexibility and resilience is given to the structure and when the armour plate is
struck by a shot the curved parts of the webs of the floor girders yield somewhat
without distorting the gun platform.
To more effectually support the armour and yet allow it freedom to move hori-
zontally an angle is fixed to the backing plate c and the horizontal flange of
this angle rests upon the floor girders. The armour is thus provided with hori-
zontal support, which can yield on the impact of a shot by sliding on the floor
girders, without distorting the gun platform.
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:
_
1. Supporting the armour by means of the webs of the floor girders substantially
in the manner described.
2. Providing support for the armour by means of an angle with horizontally
projecting flange resting upon the floor girders and by flexible connections with
the girders substantially as described.
3. The method substantially as indicated in the drawing for supporting the
armour of gun houses, turrets, and the like.