Improvements in Safety Apparatus applicable for Ordnance with Horizontal or Perpendicular Wedge or Block Closures.
Year: 1891

page_text: UUMIDELE DE BOIT
Improvements in Safety Apparatus applicable for Ordnance with
Horizontal or Perpendicular Wedge or Block Closures.
I, ALFRED LONGSDON of 9 New Broad Street in the City of London, Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention, (a communication to me
from abroad by the firm of Fried Krupp of Essen in the Empire of Germany, Cast
Steel Manufacturers) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a safety apparatus as hereafter described, against
hanging fire applicable for ordnance with horizontal or perpendicular wedge or
block closures, of which the closure-crank or closure-lever upon the opening or
closing swings in a vertical plane, composed of a revolvable or swinging stopping
piece attached to the closure plate or barrel which stopping picce upon firing enters
behind a stopping bolt pushed forward by means of a spiral spring in the closure
plate or barrel and is by this held fast; the said stopping bolt upon the opening of
the closure (by which latter action the stopping bolt by the carrying of a nose of
the same into a screw-formed groove upon the axis of the closure-crank or lever)
being drawn back, and upon the stopping piece again swinging forward upon the
shutting of the closure automatically catches under a part of the boss of the closure-
crank or lever and thus prevents the opening of the closure before the discharge of
the shot.
In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1, show in partial side
elevation, sectional plan, and end elevation respectively, a safety apparatus
constructed according to this invention, applied to a piece of ordnance, Figures 4
and 5 Sheet 1 being a sectional elevation and plan respectively, of the same
construction of safety device but in a different position to the previous figures.
Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, Sheet 2, illustrate (by views corresponding to those on
Sheet 1) the safety device applied to an alternative construction of ordnance with
perpendicular wedge or block closure.
The apparatus consists of the stopping piece A. which by means of the headed
screw B is revolvably attached to the closure-plate, in the horizontal, or to the
barrel in the perpendicular closure, and the stopping bolt C, placed in the closure-
plate or the barrel respectively.
The stopping-piece A terminates at the top in a front nose a and a rear side
nose ; the lower part is formed as a weight.
The stopping-bolt C is pressed outwards by a spiral spring and is provided with
a nose e, which takes into a screw-groove in the shaft of the crank or lever.
If the barrel is loaded and the closure shut, the stopping-piece A is in the position
of Figures 1, 2 and 3. The front-nose a of the stopping-piece lies under the part c
of the boss of the crank or lever and prevents the opening of the closure.
Upon the ignition of the charge of powder, and in consequence of the recoil of the.
barrel, a revolution or swinging of the stopping-piece takes place, the under part
with the weight being moved forward, and the upper part with the nose consequently
towards the back. The rear nose, thereupon glides with its sloping surfaces over
the sloping part of the stopping bolt C, pushing this back out of the way.
After the recoil, the stopping-piece has the tendency to turn back into its original
position, which is however prevented by the part of the stopping-bolt being again
pushed forward by the spiral spring (Figures 4 and 5). The closure can then
be opened.
When the turning of the respective crank or lever for the opening of the closure is
effected, the stopping-bolt C is pushed back (by means of the nose e and the screw

page_text: formed groove in the axis of the crank or handle), the stopping-piece A thereupon
falls forward, and lies with the nose a towards the boss of the crank or handle.
Upon the shutting of the closure the said nose a then falls into the slot made for
it in the boss of the crank or handle so that it lies under the part c of the boss of
the said crank or handle, Figures 1, 2, and 3, and now prevents the opening of the
closure before the discharge of the shot.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that what I
claim is:
In guns with horizontal or perpendicular wedge or block closures, in which the
closure-cranks or closure-levers upon opening or closing, swing in a vertical plane,
the arrangement, of a revolvable or swinging stopping piece A attached to the
closure plate or barrel, which stopping piece A upon firing enters behind a stopping
bolt pushed forward by means of a spiral spring in the closure plate or barrel and
is by this held fast, the said stopping bolt upon the opening of the closure, (by
which latter action the stopping bolt C by the carrying of a nose of the same into
a screw-formed groove upon the axis of the closure-crank or lever) being drawn
back, and upon the stopping-piece again swinging forward upon the shutting of the
closure, it automatically catches under a part e of the boss of the closure crank
or lever and thus prevents the opening of the closure before the discharge of
the shot, all substantially as described and illustrated with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
Dated 6th day of July 1891
BREWER & SON,
Agents.