Improvements in Ordnance.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 20th May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 14th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 14th Mar., 189
Improvements in Ordnance.
I, PIERRE STYLIEN LYCOUDIS, of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,
Major in the Engineer Corps, of Greece, do hereby declare the nature of my inven
tion to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved construction of ordnance more partien-
larly of that description which can be separated into parts for ready transport.
Such guns should satisfy the following conditions:
1. The gun must be of the same propelling power as ordinary field guns of
the same calibre.
2. The gun must be composed of several separable parts which must be
capable of being divided into three loads cach transportable on a nule's back
and consequently not exceeding in weight from 220 to 228 lbs.
3. The lines of separation of the several parts forming the gun should not
interfere with the rifled part of the bore, which, including the projectile chamber,
should be of one piece.
4. The bore of the gun, like that of ordinary guns, should not have any other
joint than that for closing the breech end provided with a breech block.
For complying with these conditions I construct such jointed guns as follows.
According to one construction 1 form the entire bore of the gun, with the
exception of the breech chamber containing the cartridge, of a single homo-
geneous tube the outer surface of which is made to taper towards each end, a
collar being formed at the meeting point of such two fapers. The rear end of
the tube fits into a correspondingly tapered bore of an outer easing and it is
secured therein by a screw cap screwing on to a relieved thread on the outer
end of the casing, and bearing with an internal shoulder upon the outer surface
of the collar on the tube. The part containing the breech chamber is formed
as a separate piece and fits with a butt joint against the end faces of both the
tube and the casing, with the interposition of a gas-check ring fitting a groove
formed partly in the rear end of the tube and partly in the breech chamber.
breech chamber is arranged to open for the introduction of the charge, for which
purpose it as also the casing are formed with external lugs with helical surfaces over
which fits a rotatable sleeve having corresponding internal lugs so formed that when
the ring is turned into one position and slid back upon the casing it leaves the
breech chamber free to be moved sideways away from the other part for the intro-
duction of the cartridge into the breech chamber and the projectile into the bore of
the tube.
The
The breech chamber is then brought back into its position facing the bore of the
gun, the sleeve is slid forward over the breech chamber and is turned partly round
whereby its lugs are made to engage with those of the casing and the breech
chamber so as to draw these firmly together. For effecting these operations the
breech chamber rests upon a rectangular framing having a bar extending from its
front end which fits with its tapered end into a tapered loop cast on the casing, the
rear end of the framing being supported on two elevating racks or screws. The
breech chamber has on its under side where it rests upon the frame two flat surfaces
with which it slides on the latter, and stops projecting into the frame which limit its
motion in either direction; it has also a handle at its rear end and at its front end
surface it has three half-round studs which, when in position, fit into corresponding
recesses in the rear end of the casing so as to ensure the exact relative position of
the two parts, the breech chamber being capable of slight longitudinal notion for
withdrawing the studs when the chamber is to be opened, such motion being effected

page_text: automatically by rollers on the sleeve when turning this into the open position. The
chamber and the casing have also a suitable external locking device for locking them
in position. The sleeve has suitable projecting stops that come in contact with
the frame for limiting the extent of rotation, which is effected by means
handles.
of
The gas check ring consists of an outer part formed of brass with a screw thread
screwing into the threaded groove in the breech chamber and an inner ring of steel
of an internal diameter corresponding to the bore of the breech chamber, a space
between the inner and outer parts is filled in with a suitable plastic material.
When the gun is separated into parts, the first load consists of the tube, the
second of the casing, and the third of the breech chamber, connecting sleeve, screw
cap and the frame.
According to a modified construction the rear end of the tube instead of being
tapered externally is formed stepped and is strengthened by coils of steel wire. The
casing, which in this case does not have to bear any bursting strain, is made of an
internal diameter such that it can be slid from the front end of the tube over the
said collar so as to bear with a shoulder at the front end against the front face of
the collar while at the rear end it bears upon a collar of the same diameter formed
in the rear end of the tube. The casing is secured to the breech chamber by a
sleeve with lugs in the same manner as above described. For this arrangement the
screwed cap for joining together the tube and the casing is dispensed with, and the
casing being considerably lighter, it can be put together with the frame for forming
the second load.
The above described construction of ordnance with separable breech chamber
instead of having a breech block, can also be applied to guns that are not dismount-
able; for heavy guns the sleeve can be worked by toothed gearing and levers instead
of directly by hand.
Dated this 20th day of May 1800
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ordnance.
1. PIERRE STYLIEN LYCOUDIS, of 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,
Major in the Engineer Corps, of Greece, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 an improved construction of ordnance more particularly
of that description which can be separated into parts for ready transport.
Such guns should satisfy the following conditions.
1. The gun must be of the same propelling power as ordinary field guns of the
same calibre.
2. The gun must be composed of several separate parts which must be capable of
being divided into three loads each transportable on a mule's back and consequently
each of weight not exceeding 2 cwt.
3. The lines of separation of the several parts forming the gun should not interfere
with the rifled part of the bore, which, including the projectile chambers, should be
of one piece.
4. The bore of the gun, like that of ordinary guns, should not have any other
joint than that for closing the breech end provided with a breech block.
For complying with these conditions I construct separable guns in two ways as I
shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section and Fig. 2 is a plan shewing one construction.
The main tube A of which Fig. 3b is an external elevation, tapers both ways
from a collar; over its rear end fits the jacket B having the trunnions C, as shewn

page_text: י
in the plan Fig. 2 and in side view at Fig. 4. The front end of B is screwed at 7
to receive a mut G, shewn separately in Fig. 3, this nut having an internal shoulder
bearing against the collar of the tube A. The charge chamber is in a breech
piece D of which a side view is shewn in Fig. 6 which being placed against the rear
end of A and B, has its position determined by three hemispherical studs centering
holes in B, and it is firmly fixed by partly turning the sleeve E shewn in Fig. 5, this
sleeve having part internal screw threads which engage with part external
threads upon B and D. Fig. 7 shews the sleeve E screwed forward leaving D free,.
which, as shown in Fig. 8, is moved aside to be charged along a frame F of which
Fig. 9 is a plan. Figs. 10 and 11 shew the charge chamber in position for firing,
The breech piece D has on its lower side projections a which slide on the bars h
of F and studs which act as stops preventing it from sliding too far either way. It
is made with a handle by which when the sleeve E is disengaged from it, it can be
pulled back a little and moved aside for charging, as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8, or can
be moved back in line with B and pushed forward so as to insert a gas check ring s
in a recess of B, and then to be clamped firmly in position by turning the sleeve E..
From the frame Fa bar G' projects forwards into a mortice formed in a projection
from the lower side of B, and on this bar are two shoulders d and e which limit the
movement to and fro of the sleeve E. A stud projecting from E slides along the
bar G while E is moved up to the stop e, and then by a lever inserted in the
handles the sleeve is turned so as to engage the screw threads and and clamp D
and B firmly together when this is done a bolt & on D is slid by hand into a notch
in E. Within the sleeve E are three small rollers one of which m is shewn in
Fig. 13 in the position which each occupies when the part screw threads ff' are
screwed up together. On turning back the sleeve to unscrew, the rollers m move a
certain distance as to m' without bearing against the threads, and then exert a
pressure to separate D from B. The gas checks shewn to an enlarged scale in
section and elevation in Fig. 12 consists of an inner split ring n of steel and an outer
Screw threaded rings of brass put together with packing material between them.
This compound ring is screwed into the mouth of the charge chamber, its tapered
half projecting so as to enter the recess in B. For transport the tube A forms
one load, the jacket B another, the nut breech piece D, sleeve E and frame F
together form a third load, each of these loads weighing about 2 cwt.
wrench for the nut G, the lever for the sleeve and other tools can be carried
with the ammunition.
The
When the gun is of a kind strengthened by coils of steel wire I make it as shewn
in longitudinal section Fig. 14, S indicating the wire coils which strengthen the
rear part of the tube A rendering it unnecessary to fit it with a strong jacket.
Fig. 15 is a plan of the tube A, Fig. 16 a side view of the jacket B, Fig. 17 is
an end view and longitudinal section of the sleeve E. Fig. 18 is a side view
of the breech piece D containing the charge chamber and Fig. 19 is a plan of
the whole gun.
The
In this construction the tube A has itself to be strong enough without sup-
port of the jacket and is therefore strengthened by the coils S of steel wire,
and the jacket having to sustain only longitudinal strains has only its front
shoulder p bearing at o against the collar, thus dispensing with the nut.
loads are as follows:-First the tube A secondly the jacket B and frame F,
and thirdly the breech piece D and sleeve E with the lever for the sleeve.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :-
1. A separable gun consisting of the tube A, the jacket B secured to it by
the nut G, and the breech piece D secured to B by the sleeve F, substantially
as described with reference to Figs. 1 to 13 inclusive.
2. A separable gun consisting of the tube A strengthened by wire coils S, the
jacket 13 and the breech piece D secured to B3 by the sleeve E, substantially
as described with reference to Figs. 14 and 19 inclusive.

page_text: 3. The arrangement of frame F and breech piece D, relatively to the jacket B and
sleeve E so that the breech piece can be released and moved to one side to be
charged, substantially as described.
4. The construction of gas check ring, substantially as described with reference
to Fig. 12.
Dated this 11th dor of Fahr 1801
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.