IMPROVEMENTS IN BATTERY GUNS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of
Harris and Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BATTERY GUNS."-A communication from abroad by James Patton
Taylor, of Elizabethton, in the County of Carter, and State of
Tennessee. United States of America. Mechanical Engineer.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph
Barnard Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 6th October 1875.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and
Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BATTERY GUNS," a communication to me from abroad
by James Patton Taylor, of Elizabethton, in the County of Carter, and
State of Tennessee, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, to
be as follows :—

page_text: barrels, say, from five to ten, or even a greater number, the same being
arranged side by side in a horizontal breech block. From the extremities
of this breech block extends to the rear a suitable frame containing the
working parts of the gun. Said working parts consist mainly of a series
of irregular eccentrics (one for each barrel) fixed upon a countershaft,
and driving by contact of their peripheries a corresponding scries of locks
or plungers which serve to load and fire the charges, and extract and
expel the empty cartridge hulls.
The Invention consists further in the employment of a peculiar and
novel feeding device or hopper, whereby the cartridges may be fed to the
gun directly from the paper boxes in which they are put up at the
cartridge factory for transportation, thus at once avoiding and over-
coming one of the essential objections to all machine guns now in use,
viz., the handling of the cartridges one by one by the gunners before
they can be made available to the gun. To this end the hopper is
constructed with a back plate having on its front face a series of flanged
fingers, having between them guiding grooves to receive the flanges of
the cartridges and conduct them to the throats, through which they aro
delivered to openings above each loading chamber at the back of the
respective barrels. The cartridges are delivered one by one from cach
throat by reciprocating valves having T shaped apertures to receive the
cartridges, and serving to draw them backward of the cartridge floor
to T shaped openings in the latter, through which they drop in position
in front of reciprocating flanges, by which they are then carried into the
chambers of the barrels, and there held while fired by spring pins which
are retracted by cam arms on the eccentric discs before referred to, said
arms being adjustable to regulate the length of stroke of the firing

page_text: are all removable to admit of dismantling the gun and to facilitate
repairs.
The longitudinal bars are constructed with inwardly projecting ledges
to receive the flanges of the cartridges, the said ledges having notches at
the backward extremity to permit the empty hulls to fall through. The
hopper. is hinged in front to admit of tipping it over to expose the
working parts, the valves of the said hopper being formed with spring
arms which engage automatically with the sliding plunger when the
hopper is restored to its working position.
Under another modification of the Invention a machine gun-is-
constructed with a set or series of barrels arranged in the arc of a
cylinder, in combination with a revolving cam cylinder constructed with
two grooves or flanges, one for imparting a longitudinal reciprocating
movement to a series of plungers constituting sliding locks, one for each
barrel, and the other groove or flange for retracting the firing pins which
are carried by the said locks. The flange of the cam which operates the
sliding locks is formed at one point with a recess permitting the further
retraction of any of the sliding locks when they are to be removed from
the gun.
The cartridges are fed through a hopper consisting of a series of
guiding grooves or fingers and throats, one for each barrel, reciprocating
valves in the bottom of the hopper throats operated by the sliding locks
serving to take the cartridges in succession from the hopper and drop
them in front of the plungers, by which they are then loaded into the
barrels.
The bottom and front of the feeding hopper are made adjustable so as
to accommodate cartridges of various lengths, and especially to adapt
30 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 6th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of 23, South.

page_text: ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hor
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand oight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills, Her special license that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATTERY
GUNS," a communication to me from abroad by James Patton Taylor,
of Elizabethton, in the County of Carter, and State of Tennessee,
United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to
say :-
The subject of the Invention is a battery gun or machine gun designed
for military purposes. It is constructed with any desirable number of
barrels, say from five to ten, or oven a greater number, the same being
arranged side by side in a horizontal breech block. From the extremities
of this breech block extends to the rear a suitable frame containing the
working parts of the gun. Said working parts consist mainly of a series
of irregular eccentrics (one for each barrel) fixed upon a countershaft,

page_text: The arcs forming the remainder of the circumferential face of the discs
are governed by a centre midway between the two rest points above
described. The eccentricity of said discs is just equal to the space
through which the locks are desired to move. The eccentrics or discs 8
are provided on one side with the flange 19 for drawing the locks on the
backward movement. The locks or plungers 9 each carry an extractor
14, a firing pin 20, spiral spring 21, collar 22, the diaphragm 23, the
stem 24 constructed with a lug 25, the top plate 26, and the yoke
consisting of a dovetailed block 28, a stem 29, and a lug 13, taking over
the flange 19 of the cam or eccentric 8.
The cocking cam consists of a curved arm 31 pivoted at 32 to the
eccentric disc 8, and resting against a set screw 33, by the projection or
retraction of which the length of the stroke imparted to the firing pin
by the cam arm 31 is increased or reduced as required. The bottoms of
the troughs formed between the longitudinal breech bars 7 are produced
by ledges 16 on which the flanges of the cartridges rest, short shelves 34
receiving the points of the cartridges in the rear of the barrel
chambers.
a
The top plate 26 of the plunger or sliding lock 9 constitutes a guiding
flange for the said lock or plunger, and is constructed with a slot 36
which receives the retracting latch or arm 87 of the hopper valvo 38,
which retracting arm is formed with a downwardly projecting point 89,
and is pressed down by a spring 40. This construction causes the valve
arm to engage automatically with the sliding lock whenever the hopper
is restored to its vertical and operative position after being tipped
forward to expose the loading chambers or for the inspection or removal
of any of the parts of the breech. The hopper 5 is connected to the
frame by hinges 41 at its front lower corner, permitting it to be tipped
forward into a horizontal position, as illustrated in dotted lines in
Figure 2 for the purposes named above. The said hopper is constructed,
with a back plate 42 which is cut away at its lower part to receive the
several hopper valves. On the face of the back plate 42 are guiding
fingers 43, the groove formed between each pair of which is adapted to
receive the flanges of a number of cartridges placed one on another, and
conducting the same into the throats 44, through which they drop in
succession into the hopper valves 38 when the latter are in their forward
position.

page_text: Each hopper valve is constructed as shown with a T shaped opening
45 formed to permit the passage of a cartridge, and a ledge 46 project-
ing beyond the forward end of said opening to receive the cartridge
next above when the valve is retracted. The hopper floor 47 has a
similar T shaped opening in position to register with that in the valve
when the latter is retracted, and to permit the cartridge to fall directly
in front of the plunger or sliding lock 9 when the latter is in its rear-
most position. The cylindrical casing 4 is hinged at the rear as shown,
and may be fastened in its closed position by hooks 48. The shaft 10
of the eccentric discs 8 rests in suitable bearings in the side bars of the
main frame and in the breech bars 7, and is secured in position by caps
49 and keys 50, so as to admit of the said shaft with its attached
eccentric discs being removed from the breech of the gun when
required. When these are removed and the hopper 5 tipped forward
the longitudinal breech bars 7 may be slidden out of their seats so as to
completely dismantle the gun in a few seconds. The sliding locks or
plungers 9 are separately removeable from the grooves formed for them
between the longitudinal breech bars while the latter are in position.
The construction of the various parts of the gun, so as to be separated or
put together at will, greatly facilitates and reduces the cost of con-
struction and repairs. The hopper front and floor are in practice made
adjustable to suit blank cartridges or cartridges of various lengths and
sizes, as described herein-after.
The gun is mounted on a swivel turntable or carriage and traversed
by a screw and a crank in the hands of the man who trains the gun.
51 represents a cartridge case which may be cheaply made of paper,
and is constructed to suit the gun, so that the cartridges may be placed
therein at the factory and transferred from the case to the gun at one
operation, thus avoiding the necessity of separate handling. These
cases are preferably made so as to contain a large number of cartridges,
as illustrated in Figure 12, and thus feed all the throats at once. If
preferred they can be made singly, as illustrated in Figure 14, and
contain a set of cartridges to be supplied to one throat of the hopper.
Referring to Figures 15 to 18 inclusive, 1, 1, represent a series of
barrels fixed in a breech block 2, from which extends backward a frame
3 constructed in the form of a cylindrical segment concentric with the
arc in which the barrels are arranged. This frame is covered by a

page_text: casing 4,.and..supports -in-front a hopper 5 constructed with a back
plate 42, on the face of which are guide fingers or flanges 43 forming
between each pair grooves to receive the flanges of the cartridges and
conduct the latter to the throats 44 of the hopper, at the bottom of
which are reciprocating valves 88 formed with T shaped openings 45 to
receive the cartridges, which openings are, in the rearmost position of
the valve brought directly above openings of corresponding size and
shape in the portion of the hopper floor which projects back of the rear
plate thereof. Within the frame 3 are a series of removable longi-
> tudinal breech bars 7 arranged in positions parallel with the barrels and
in line with the intervals between the same, so that the spaces between
the breech bars 7 constitute slots or seats to receive and guide plungers
9, which constitute sliding locks working in line with the respective
barrels, and containing or carrying cartridge extractors 14, firing pins
$ 20, spiral springs 21, collars 22, diaphragms 23, stems and lugs 24, 25,
for retracting the firing pins, top plates 26 for guiding the sliding locks
or plungers, and lugs 30 engaging with the spiral flange or groove 19 of
the cam cylinder 8, by the rotation of which the sliding locks or
plungers are advanced and retracted.
The lugs 25, which retract the firing pins, engage with a second
spiral flange or groove 53, which is formed so as to retract the firing
pins and release them suddenly at the proper moment to cause the
discharge by the action of the spiral springs 21. 54 represents a crank
attached to the shaft 55 of the revolving cam cylinder for imparting
rotation thereto. The front 56 of the hopper is adjustable longitudinally,
so as to vary the length of the hopper throats to adapt them to receive
either ball or blank cartridges. For the same purpose the hopper floor 47
is adjustable longitudinally, so that the point of either ball or blank
cartridges may rest upon it until the proper moment for them to drop
through to their position between the throats of the plungers and the
The cam flange or groove 19 is formed with an offset or recess 57 for
the purpose of permitting sufficient retraction of either of the sliding
blocks or plungers 9, as they are brought in succession to their rearmost
position, to enable them to be taken from the breech of the gun.
When the plungers are taken out the guiding bars 7, between which
355
La samand from the

page_text: unlimber the gun in a short time, or for the purpose of repairing the
same.
The arms 37 projecting backward from the hopper valves 38 are made
to spring over the lugs 58 on the sliding locks or plungers, by which
said valves are retracted, so that the said parts will automatically engage
together when they are replaced in position after having been removed
as above described. 59 are lugs on the sliding locks or plungers to
advance the valves to their forward position.
The hopper is hinged at one side, as shown at 60, and secured at the
other side by a latch or catch 61, so that it may be turned over from
the breech of the gun when desired to expose the breech chambers.
The operation of the gun may be described as follows :—' -The operating
parts of the gun being in their working position the guiding fingers and
throats of the hopper 43, 44, arc filled with cartridges; the cam shaft 10
is then rotated, moving the eccentrics 8, and causing a successive
retraction of the hopper valves. Each valve in its foremost position
receives the lowermost cartridge in the throat to which it belongs, and
as it is retracted draws the said cartridge off the floor 47 until it comes
over the T shaped opening in said floor, through which it drops in front
of the plunger or sliding lock 9. At the next forward movement the
cartridge is carried into the chamber of the barrel, and there securely
held by the dwell of the plunger, while the firing pin in said plunger
is retracted by the cocking cam 31 and released to fire the charge. On
the return movement the sliding plungers withdraw the hulls of the
exploded cartridges till their flanges reach the notches or extremities 52
in the ledges 16, when they drop through the frame on to the ground.
For firing blank cartridges the floor 34 is extended backward by a
shelf 34* held up in position by a spring catch 34°, and held down when
not in use by a catch 34°.
The internal prominence formed by the straight portion of the inner
face of the cam flange, seen in front of the concentric arc 18 in Figure 3,
serves, when the plunger is in its rearmost position, to draw back the
firing pin for an instant with its point flush with the face of the plunger,
so as to permit the free escape of the cartridge hull.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the mode
in which the same is carried into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,―

page_text: First. The combination of the breech block 2, one or more barrels 1,
a breech frame 3, cam or cams 8 revolving therein, and one or more
sliding locks or plungers 9, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Secondly. The construction of the cam 8 with a concentric front
portion 17 to afford a rest or dwell for firing, as described.
Thirdly. The construction of the eccentric cam 8 with a concentric
rear portion 18 to afford a rest or dwell for loading.
Fourthly. The cocking cam 31 carried by the eccentric cam 8 and
adjustable to regulate the stroke of the firing pin, as described.
Fifthly. The combination of the breech block 2, the frame 3, the
longitudinal breech bars 7, the cam shaft 10, eccentric cams 8, and
sliding plungers 9 to take up the recoil in the manner described.
Sixthly. The construction of the breech frame with removable longi-
tudinal breech bars 7, as and for the purposes set forth..
Seventhly. The recesses 11, grooves 12, and switch bars 13, in com-
bination with the plungers 9 and extractors 14 for guiding and controlling
said plungers and extractors, as described.
Eighthly. The combination of the ledges 16 and trough bottoms 84
for supporting the cartridges at the rear of the barrels, as explained.
Ninthly. The sliding lock 9 carrying yokes for retracting the lock and
firing pin respectively, as explained.
Tenthly. The combination with the sliding lock 9 of the extractor 14
with lugs 15, and the switch bars 13 to elevate and release the said
extractor, as described.
Eleventhly. The top plate 35 of the plunger constituting a guiding
flange, and formed with a slot 36 to receive the retracting latch or arm
of the hopper valve, as described.
Twelfthly. The hopper 5 constructed with fingers 43 and throats 44
for receiving cartridges from suitable cases or holders, and conducting
them to the proper position above the breech of each barrel, as
explained.
Thirteenthly. The hopper floor 47 constructed with T shaped apertures
to support the cartridges and drop them when drawn back.

page_text: Fourteenthly. The hopper valves 38 constructed with T shaped
openings 45, and operating in connection with the hopper throats 44 and
floors 47 in the manner described.
Fifteenthly. The hopper 5 hinged to the frame 3 to admit of tipping
it to expose the loading chambers, as described.
Sixteenthly. A set or series of barrels arranged in the arc of a cylinder
in combination with a revolving cam cylinder constructed with two
grooves or flanges, one for operating the sliding locks or plungers, and
the other for retracting the firing pins, as explained.
5
Seventeenthly. The recesses 57 in the cam groove 19 to permit the 1
retracting of the plungers to a point which enables their removal, as
described.
Eighteenthly. The adjustable hopper front for adapting the hopper
throats to suit blank cartridges, as described.
Nineteenthly. The hopper floor adjustable to suit blank cartridges, as 1
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
B. J. B. MILLS. (L.S.)