USE OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIA-RUBBER FOR AND ITS APPLICATION/TO GUNS; MORTARS, OR OTHER FIRE-ARMS, TO RESIST THE FORCE OF THE RECOIL AND REACTION IN FIRING
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION, left by William Judson at the Office" of!
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th May 1862..
I, WILLIAM JUDSON, Counsellor-at-Law, of the City of New York,.in the
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "THE USE OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIA-RUBBER FOR AND ITS APPLICATION/TO GUNS;
MORTARS, OR OTHER FIRE-ARMS, TO RESIST THE FORCE OF THE RECOIL AND REACTION
IN FIRING," to be as follows:
The nature of my Invention consists in the use of caoutchouc for and its
application to guns and mortars, and other fire-arms, for resisting the force of
the recoil and reaction in firing.
"The nature of my Invention also consists in the use of caoutchouc forrand
its application to any part or parts of the bearings or supports of the trunnions
of guns or mortars, to resist the force of the recoil and reaction in firing..
The nature of my Invention also consists in the use of caoutchouc for.and
it's application to the trunnions of guns or mortars around them as bearings,
or before and behind their carriages on. their beds, to resist the force of the
recoil and reaction in firing.
The nature of my Inventon also consists in the application and use of
caoutchouc above and below, before and behind the beds of mortars, to resist
the force of the recoil and reaction in firing.
The nature of my Invention also consists in the application and use of
caoutchouc behind the carriage of the gun, to check it at the farthest limit of
its recoil.
14
The nature of my Invention also consists in the use and application of cords

page_text: or bands of caoutchouc, to resist. the force of the recoil by their extension, and
to expend the force of their reaction while running the gun out.
Fig. 1 is a side view of the gun. upon its carriage; Fig. 2 is a top view of
the same; Fig. 3 is a top view of the gun upon its carriage; Fig. 4 is a side
view of the gun and carriage; Fig. 5 is a top view of the same; Fig. 6 is a
side view of the carriage alone; Fig. 7 is a side view of a carriage in section;
Fig. 8 is side view of a mortar upon its bed; Fig. 9 is an end view of the
same; Fig. 10 is an end view of Fig. 1 at M, N; Fig. 11 is a side view of a
mortar and bed, with caoutchouc around the trunnions; Fig. 12 is a top view
of section through Fig. 8, at K, L.
It will be observed that upon all the plans here shown, in whatever part of
the bearings or supports of the trunnions, and however close to. or remote
from them the caoutchouc is placed, as at A, A, in colored section, Figs. 1, 2,
4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, the direct force of the explosion producing the
recoil will be transmitted upon the caoutchouc, and the subsequent reaction of
the force thus applied will be expended upon the caoutchouc in, the opposite
direction from that of the recoil, and if the caoutchouc is placed close to and
around the trunnion, which is the best method when practicable to do so, as
shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 11, then the most beneficial results will be obtained
from its application; but it may be only placed on two sides, as shown in
Figs. 4 and 5, or before and behind, and above and below the mortar bed, as
shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 12.
In all cases in which the caoutchouc is placed between the gun and carriage,
the elevating screw or machinery will have to be provided with a yielding
motion not before necessary, as the gun in this arrangement will change its
position in the carriage in firing, whereas before it was fixed, and, as here
shown, the screw passes through a toggle joint at J, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Whether the gun carriages are made of either metal or wood, and whatever
may be the form of their construction, the force of the recoil and reaction in
either case, by the use and application of caoutchouc in the manner and by
the modes or methods herein described will be nearly obviated or overcome.
When the trunnions are made separate, and strapped on the gun or mortar,
as is now practised in the United States, the strapping can be made lighter.
:
The caoutchouc can be made to fit and put around the trunnions of the gun
or mortar before they are put upon their carriages. In G, G, colored section
Figs. 1, 2, and 3, caoutchouc is placed at the back of the carriage to check
it at tlie farthest limit of the recoil'; B, B, are stationary pins, Figs. 1, 2,
and 3; C, C, are pius in the carriages; 'D, D; Figs. 1, 2, 3, are bands of
caoutchouc connected to the stationary pins and the pins in the carriage, and

page_text: thus,. as the gun moves back in: the recoil, the bands will be stretched, and. be
ready to exert their force in assisting to run the gun out. At E,,Figs. 2. and
3, is a catch that holds the carriage back, as shown in Fig. 3, but is liberated
from it, as shown in Fig. 2, by pressing upon the catch at F.. In-Fig. 7, the
plate holding in the caoutchouc in, the inside of the carriage is made oblong,
as shown at H,I,, while the plate on the outside, as shown in Fig. 6, can
extend over the end of the trunnion and shut in the caoutchouc..
:
.f
gun or:
To obtain a continuous resistance to the force of. the reaction: of the
mortar, the caoutchouc should be so applied under such a degree of tension,
and in such quantity as that, while it is compressed in the recoil on one side,
it will be extended on the other side, and thereby be in a condition to resist
the force of the reaction at the termination of the recoil in. firing. In order
to obtain the best results, the length and diameter of the trunnions should
be increased so as to admit a sufficient quantity of caoutchouc to sustain the
weight, and resist the concussion of the gun or mortar in firing.
The only kind of caoutchouc used for the purposes herein specified should
be that which is commonly known to manufacturers of said article and in
commerce as vulcanized rubber, or vulcanized gum or caoutchouc. As the
use of sulphur and the application of a high degree of artificial heat are indis-
pensable to produce the product commonly known as vulcanized rubber, this
article should not be used or applied in contact with the trunnions of guns or
mortars when the trunnions are made of iron, as the sulphur contained in this
article will corrode the iron when in contact with it. The mountings in the
Drawings and models of the guns show the mountings of brass around the
trunnions and between the vulcanized rubber and the trunnions of the
or mortars.
.
guns
I disclaim the use and application of caoutchouc against and behind the
trunnions, and on and attached to the carriages of guns and mortars.
The Invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the
application and use of caoutchouc for resisting the force of the recoil and
reaction produced by the explosion of guns, mortars, or other fire-arms in
firing.
I also claim the use of caoutchouc for and its application to any part or
parts of the-bearings or supports of the trunnions of guns or mortars, to resist
the force of the recoil and reaction in firing, as herein described.
I also claim the use of caoutchouc for and its application to the trunnions
of guns or mortars around them as bearings, or before or behind the car-
riages on their beds, to resist the force of the recoil and reaction, as herein
described.

page_text: I also claim the application and use of caoutchouc above and below, before
and behind, the beds of mortars to resist the force of the recoil and reaction in
firing, as herein described.
I also claim the application and use of caoutchouc behind the carriage of
the gun to check it at the farthest limit of its recoil, as herein described.
I also claim the application and use of cords or bands of caoutchouc to
resist the force of the recoil, and to expand the force of their reaction while
running the gun out, as herein described.