Apparatus for Running.Guns in and out on Ship-board.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Running.Guns in and out on Ship-board.
We, VICKERS SONS & Co. LIMITED, of River Don Works, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Steel Manufacturers, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, of 28, Victoria
Street, Westminster, London, Superintendent of Ordnance Works, and GEORGE
THOMAS BUCKHAM, of 28, Victoria Street, Westminster aforesaid, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to means of running a gun in board when required and
out again into position for action. For this purpose, we mount at the side of the
vessel mounting or turret, just under the gun one or more rollers on which the
body of the gun can rest, and under the rear part of the gun we run a cradle truck,
which can move along a track on the deck or floor, and which is provided with
winch gear, and a pinion gearing with a rack on the deck or floor.
The gun is secured to the cradle truck by two stops, front and rear, the front
stop being moveable and capable of being raised or lowered.
On moving the bushes of the trunnion bearings so as to present a rearward
passage for the trunnions in the known manner, the winch is worked so as to
run back the cradle carrying the rear part of the gun, its front part running on
the roller or rollers above mentioned, while the mounting of the gun remains
stationary.
For running the gun out again, the winch is worked in the reverse direction,
moving the cradle and gun until the trunnions are again engaged in their bearings
in which they are secured, and thereupon the cradle truck is run back leaving the
gun on its mounting.
Apparatus for Running Guns in and out on Ship-board.
We, VICKERS SONS & CO LIMITED, of River Don Works, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Steel Manufacturers, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, of 28, Victoria
Street, Westminster, London, Superintendent of Ordnance Works, and GEORGE
THOMAS BUCKHAM, of 28, Victoria Street, Westminster aforesaid, Engineer, 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:-
-
Our invention relates to means of running a gun in board when required and
put again into position for action. For this purpose we mount at the side of the

page_text: vessel mounting or turret, just under the gun, one or more rollers on which the
body of the gun can rest, and under the rear part of the gun we run a cradle truck,
which can move along a track on the deck or floor, and which is provided with
winch gear, and a pinion gearing with a rack on the deck or floor. On moving
the bushes of the trunnion bearings so as to present a rearward passage for the
trunnions in the known manner, and on slightly raising the breech of the gun,
by a screw plunger or the 'like on the truck; the winch is worked so as to run
back the cradle truck carrying the rear part of the gun, its front.part running on
the rollers above mentioned, while the mounting of the gun remains stationary.
For running the gun out again, the winch worked in the reverse direction,
moving the cradle truck and gun until the trúnnions are again engaged in their
bearings in which they are secured, and thereupon the gun is released from the
cradle truck which is run back leaving the gun on its mounting.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side view of the gun and cradle
truck shewing the gun run in, Figure 2 is a plan of the mounting, the track and
the cradle truck in its rear position. Figure 3 is an elevation partly in section
and Figure 4 is a plan of the screw plunger on the truck, these figures being
drawn to an enlarged scale.
M is the mounting having bearings for the trunnions T, these bearings being of
the known kind that can be turned to such a position as to present gaps through
which the trunnions can pass rearwards:
On the front of the mounting are mounted a pair of inclined rollers S on which
the body of the gun travels when it is run in or out.
On the deck are fixed rails R and between them a rack R¹.. On these rails run
the four wheels of the cradle truck C which has a pinion R² gearing with the
rack R¹. On the truck is mounted in bearings a shaft A having at each end fly
wheels A and winch handles A2 by which it can be turned. On it is a bevil
pinion A³ gearing with a bevil wheel B¹ on an inclined shaft B, at the lower end
of which is a worm B² gearing with a worm wheel D¹ on a counter shaft D on which
is a pinion D² gearing with the pinion R². On the truck C is fixed a bracket E
having a socket to receive a vertically sliding plunger P which is prevented from
turning by a feather p engaged in a groove of the socket. The interior of the
plunger is screw threaded to fit a screw spindle F which can be turned in either
direction by a ratchet and pawl lever G.
When it is desired to run in the gun, the trunnion bearings are put in position
to allow the trunnions to pass to the rear, the cradle truck C is run into position
under the breech of the gun, the plunger P is raised by working the pawl lever G
so as to pass up in front of a bracket which projects down from the breech and to
slightly raise the breech, thus taking the weight on the truck, the winch handles A²
are then worked so as to turn the pinion R2, causing the cradle truck to move to
the rear taking with it the gun, the body of which as it retreats bears on the
rollers S. Instead of employing a screw worked by ratchet for raising and lower-
ing the plunger P we sometimes employ an eccentric fixed on a horizontal axis
that can be turned. by hand directly or through suitable gear. In order
to hold the gun firmly on the cradle truck a band His passed over the breech and
connected to the sides of the truck by rods H¹ provided with tightening nuts H².
The front parts of the rails R are slightly inclined so that when the cradle truck
has been run under the breech of the gun, the first part of the rearward movement
of the truck slightly raises the rear part of the gun and the trunnions giving them
freedom to pass out of their bearings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is;
Apparatus for running a gun in and out on shipboard, comprising a pair of
rails and a rack on deck, a pair of rollers on the gun mounting a wheeled cradle

page_text: truck on the rails having a plunger engaging in front of a bracket of the gun
and pinion gearing with the rack, and winch handles and gear adapted to cause
the pinion to revolve and the truck to travel along the rails carrying the breech
of the gun while the body of the gun runs on the rollers of the mounting, substan-
tially as described.