IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO GUN-CARRIAGES AND APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH communicated him by
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake,
and Co, Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO GUN-CARRIAGES AND APPARATUS TO
BE USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH communicated to him from abroad
by Hermann Gruson, of Buckau-Magdeburg, in the Empire of Germany
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th March 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and C° Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO GUN-
CARRIAGES AND APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH [A com-
munication to him from abroad by Hermann Gruson, of Buckau-Magdeburg, in the
Empire of Germany]
This invention relates to armour plated gun-carriages having minimum
embrasures and capable of being rotated when desired
According to one method of mounting the gun rests by means of its trunnions,
on a cross-head which, together with the said gun, can be raised or lowered at will
by means of a hydraulic piston which is directly connected to a cross-head. In its
vertical movement, the gun will bear against the upper or lower edge of the
embrasure in such a manner that, on the movement being continued, the gun will
turn upon its trunnions and thus the desired elevation for firing will be obtained.
The said cross-head slides upon strong guide-bars which are firmly secured to an
armoured shield or cupola above, and to a strong casting below; these guides
neutralize the effect of the recoil of the gun. The said casting rests on a circular
piece provided with rollers, which permit the gun-carriage to be easily turned,
together with the armoured shield; upon its vertical axis; by one man by means
of a rod.
To ensure accuracy of aim it is of importance that the gun-carriage shall stand
firm while the gun is being fixed. This result is obtained by depressing a lower
roller-track until the armoured shield or cupola rests upon a front armoured shield.
The lower roller-track is, for this purpose, made to fit like a ring or sleeve upon

page_text: the external surface of the hydraulic cylinder, so that it is free to move vertically
thereon, and rests by means of two shoulders upon a bearing which is fitted to one
extremity of a lever. This lever turns upon a fulcrum and carries a counter-
weight which approximately counterbalances the gun-carriage, in such a manner
that by bearing upon the said lever one man can easily raise the entire mechanism,
while another man turns the same by means of the said rod. The gun is thus
brought to the required elevation by raising or lowering the hydraulic piston, while
the lateral adjustment of the gun is effected by turning the entire gun-carriage
after first slightly raising the lower roller-track for this purpose by means of the
lever
As above stated, the piston is raised by hydraulic pressure; for this purpose its
cylinder is connected with a second cylinder, the piston of which is weighted in
such a manner that it can raise the gun with a slight excess of power.
The piston of the second cylinder is connected with the chain of a hand winch.
If the crank of the latter is released, the gun is raised, and, when the chain is
wound on the winch, the gun is lowered.*
The principal advantages of the construction above described consist, therefore,
in the reduction of the power required for handling the gun, as effected by the
combination of a shield with the gun-carriage,
This arrangement can be adapted to all descriptions of guns, and particularly to
Mortars.
As the trunnions are frequently too weak to properly withstand a recoil, an
accurately fitting cover or strengthening piece is fitted upon the rectangular
shoulders of the said trunnions, which cover extends outward in the form of a ring
of sufficient resisting capacity, and encloses the trunnions.
The above described construction is designed to facilitate the turning and raising
of the gun-carriage
I sometimes arrange the gun so that it will serve as a protection against an
attack on a fortified place, and, consequently in this case it must be made
inaccessible to the enemy's fire, that is to say, it must be capable of being raised
above the parapet or shield only at the desired moment whereby its fire can be
directed against the storming parties. In this arrangement the gun and the gun-
carriage proper, rest upon a hydraulic piston the cylinder of which communicates with
a second cylinder whose piston is weighted to obtain the necessary pressure, whereby
the gun can be raised, and can be lowered by winding up a chain with a winch
and raising the said piston and weight as herein before described. The front shield,
on the side that is situated away from the enemy, is provided with a recess into
which the front part of the gun-barrel can be lowered. The gun rests upon
trunnions in the ordinary manner, but the embrasure can be very small because it
is close to the trunnions and takes part in the horizontal movement.
When the gun is to be fired, the gun carriage is first raised, and then, by means
of the rods the mouth of the gun is directed towards the enemy, the hydraulic
piston serving as a pivot.
In a modification of this construction, instead of employing the communicating
hydraulic cylinders, the raising of the piston is effected by means of chains, which
pass over rollers or pulleys and are loaded with a weight. In other respects the
arrangement is the same

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th September 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and C Patent Agents'
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO GUN-
CARRIAGES, AND APPARATUS TO BE USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
A com-
munication to me from abroad by Hermann Gruson, of Buckau-Magdeburg, in the
Empire of Germany,
This invention relates to gun-carriages and apparatus to be used in connection
therewith.
The said invention is applicable to that class of apparatus wherein a rotating
gun-carriage is combined with a shield or shields in such a manner that the size of
the embrasure can be reduced to a minimum; and the said invention comprises
various novel features of construction, all as hereinafter set forth.
The said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing one form or modification of the gun-
carriage and apparatus connected therewith.
Figure 2, is a plan, partly in horizontal section, on the line a, x Figure 1
Figure 3 is a transverse section of a strengthening piece fixed on the gun and
surrounding its, trunnions.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation showing another form or modification of the
said gun-carriage and apparatus connected there with
Figure 5 is a plan, partly in horizontal section, on the line ³, ¹, Figure 4
Figure 6 is a vertical central section, at right angles to the axis of the gun,
showing a further modification of the gun-carriage and means for operating the
same.
In Figures 1 and 2, A represents a gun resting by means of its trunnions, on a
cross-head B, which, with the said gun, can be raised or lowered at will by means
of the hydraulic piston C directly connected to the cross-head B and working in
the cylinder C. In its vertical movement, the gun A will bear against the upper
or lower edge of the embrasure and will thereby be caused to turn upon the axis
of its trunnions, and the desired elevation for firing will thus be obtained. The
cross-head B slides upon, or between, strong guide-bars D, which are firmly secured
at their upper ends to the shield or cupola E and at their lower ends to a strong
casting F; these guides serve to prevent the recoil of the gun. The casting F
rests upon friction rollers I carried by a circular or tubular piece H. These rollers
enable the gun-carriage, with the shield E, to be easily rotated in a horizontal
plane by one man by means of the rod K (shown in dotted lines in Figure 1),
when the said piece H and its rollers and the gun-carriage have been slightly
raised as hereinafter described.
To ensure accuracy of aim it is of importance that the gun-carriage shall stand
firmly while the gun is fired. This result is obtained by lowering the roller-track
or circular piece H until the shield or cupola E rests upon the shield G. The
roller-track H is, for this purpose, made to fit like a ring or sleeve upon the
external surface of the hydraulic cylinder C', so that it is free to move vertically
thereon, and, rests by means of two shoulders upon the bearings N formed at one
extremity of the lever P. This lever turns upon the fulcrum O and carries a
counterweight Q, which approximately counterbalances the gun-carriage and
other parts, so that by bearing upon the lever P one man can easily raise the said

page_text: carriage and other parts while another man turns the same by means of the rod K.
The gun is brought to the required elevation by raising or lowering the piston C,
and the lateral adjustment of the gun is effected by turning the entire gun-
carriage, after first slightly raising the roller-track H by means of the lever P.
As above stated, the piston C is raised by hydraulic pressure; for this purpose
the cylinder C is connected with another cylinder T¹ in which a piston T is
arranged; this piston is provided with a weight W in such a manner that it will
act with slightly greater force than is required to raise the gun. The piston T is
connected with the chain of a hand-winch L. If the crank of the latter is released
the said piston descends and the gun is raised; but when the chain is wound upon
the winch, the said piston is raised and the gun is lowered.
The principal advantage of the construction above described consists in the
economy of power for handling the gun effected by the combination of a shield
with the gun-carriage.
These improvements can be adapted to various kinds of ordnance
As the trunnions of a gun are frequently too weak to properly withstand the
recoil, an accurately fitting cover or strengthening piece A¹ is firmly secured upon
the rectangular shoulders of the said trunnions. This cover or strengthening piece
extends outward around each trunnion in the form of a ring. The mode of
attaching this cover or piece is shown in Figure 3 and will be readily understood
without further description.
The above described construction is designed to facilitate the turning, raising
and lowering of the gun-carriage. In the modification shown in Figures 4. and 5,
however, an additional object is gained; the gun, in this case, is intended to be
used as a protection against the attack of a storming party; the gun and its
carriage are, therefore, so arranged that they can be lowered until the gun is
beneath a parapet or shield and is not exposed to the enemy's fire, but can be
raised at the desired moment for firing at the advancing storming party.
G represents the front shield, E the upper shield or cupola, A the gun, and D
the gun-carriage proper resting upon the hydraulic piston C. This piston works
in the cylinder C₁which communicates with the cylinder T¹ whose piston T is
provided with a weight W to obtain the necessary pressure for raising the gun. The
gun can be lowered by winding up a chain by means of the winch L and raising
the said piston and weight as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1.
The front shield G, preferably on the side that is situated away from the enemy, is
formed with a recess G' into which the front part of the gun-barrel can be lowered.
The gun is provided with trunnions in the ordinary manner and the embrasure
can be made very small because it is close to the trunnions and participates in the
horizontal movement of the gun.
When the gun is to be fired, the gun-carriage is raised by means of the hydraulic
pistons C¹ and T', the mouth of the gun is then directed by means of the rod K
towards the enemy, the piston C serving as a pivot.
Figure 6 shows a further modification of the improved apparatus in which,
instead of employing the communicating hydraulic cylinders above described, I
use chains for raising the piston C, which chains pass over rollers or pulleys and
are loaded with a weight Q. In other respects the arrangement is similar to
that shown in Figures 4 and 5, the said chains being attached to a winch.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I Claim:-
:-
First. The combination of the shield E with the gun-carriage in which the gun
is arranged to be adjusted vertically by means of the two hydraulic pistons and
cylinders and the winch, and which can be rotated with the shield in a horizontal
plane upon a pivot, or upon rollers, when the said pivot or rollers and the carriage
have been slightly raised, all substantially as described with reference to Figures
1, 2, and 3 of the drawings for the purposes specified

page_text: Second. The armour-plated gun-carriage arranged to be raised by hydraulic
pressure or by a weight to bring the gun into position for firing, and to be lowered
by a winch so that the gun will be protected by a shield or parapet, and capable of
rotating upon a hydraulic piston as a pivot, substantially as described with reference
to Figures 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings for the purpose specified.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
band and seal this eighth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three. .
ROBT LAKE (L.S.)