Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the Firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., The
General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
to me by Ernst Ternström and Per Nordenfelt, both of 8, Rue Auber, Paris, in
the Republic of France, Civil Engineers) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to gun carriages mounted on wheels and provided with
mechanism for checking the recoil such for instance as that described in the
Specification of former Letters Patent No. 7013 of 1892, the object of the present
invention being to improve the construction of such mechanism and to arrange
in combination therewith spring supports for the gun upon the carriage so as to
reduce as far as possible the shocks and strains imparted to the said carriage when
the gun is fired.
According to the present invention the trail sides which form the body of the
carriage and carry the gun, instead of being fixed to the axle are carried by
spring plates secured to pins or bolts inserted through the axle in the longitudinal
direction of the gun. The spring plates may be arranged below the axle and
have the ends bent up to the pins or bolts, or the said spring plates may be more
or less straight and the axle bent. The ends of the springs which are united to
the pins or bolts are bifurcated and springs are introduced between the arms
formed by the bifurcation and the adjacent sides of the axle.
In order to diminish the recoil of the carriage I apply at the back of each wheel
a brake-shoe of similar construction to that described in the aforesaid specification,
the said shoe being pivoted on brackets carried by a transverse beam, the said shoes,
brackets and beam being hung by means of rods and straps on eccentric discs on the
axle. Between the said rods and the straps embracing the discs elastic discs or
springs are introduced and held in place by nuts. The brake shoes are connected
to the trail by chains and springs.
The wheel-brake arranged as herein before described operates in the following
manner.
Before firing the gun the shoes are lowered down and placed on the ground,
so that when the gun is fired the wheels roll up on to the shoes which owing to
their form grip in the ground. As the recoil continues, the wheels roll more and
more on to the shoes while the elastic discs in connection with the eccentrics and rod
are compressed thus exerting a pressure on the wheel tires and extending the
springs on the chains. When the latter springs are extended to their maximum
length, limited by links or otherwise, the whole mechanism recoils together until
the entire recoil is absorbed. When this is the case the eccentric discs pulling on
the eccentric rods turn the wheels forward and jointly with the chain springs act
on the trail and return the carriage to, or almost to, its original position.
The recoil checking mechanism hereinbefore described can also be used as a
brake for controlling the speed of the gun carriage when going down hill, for this

page_text: purpose the transverse bar carrying the brackets supporting the shoes has attached
to it an eye bolt designed when the carriage is travelling to be engaged with the
hooked end of a spring lever and the eccentric discs are provided with a lever having
a spring catch which engages with the axle. With this arrangement when the
spring catch of the lever is withdrawn from the axle the eccentrics can be moved
upon the axle to bring the brake shoes into contact with the wheels the spring
lever, from which the transverse bar is suspended, yielding to permit of the shoes
being brought against the wheels.
Instead of using a lever for operating the eccentrics to apply the brake I some-
times make use of a link connected by a screw rod to a nut upon the carriage
provided with a hand wheel in such a manner that the turning of the hand wheel
serves to move the rod longitudinally and so more or less rotate the eccentrics.
I sometimes find it advantageous to fix the eccentric discs permanently to the axle
and in this case in order to permit of bringing the shoes against the wheels to act
as a brake I make use of a bell-crank lever one arm of which forms an operating
handle whilst the other arm is connected by a cord, chain or the like to the brake
shoe in such a manner that the movement of the bell-crank lever serves to operate
the brake.
When applying my invention to a gun carriage provided with a hand wheel
and screw such as heretofore generally used for applying the brake, I fix the
eccentric discs permanently on the axle and I arrange that the brackets carrying the
shoes shall be movable longitudinally relatively with the eccentric rods, springs
being arranged between the rods and the said brackets for holding them in
their normal position whilst at the same time allowing them to yield.
The screw rod is provided with hooks which can be engaged with the transverse
bar in such a manner that when the screw is rotated the transverse bar together with
the brackets which it carries and the shoes can be moved in the longitudinal
direction of the carriage for the purpose of causing the shoes to bear against
the wheel.
Dated 41 2011 dan of Tumo 1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the Firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., The
General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
to me by Ernst Ternström and Per Nordenfelt, both of 8, Rue Auber, Paris, in
the Republic of France, Civil Engineer), 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 gun-carriages mounted on wheels and provided with
mechanism for checking the recoil, such for instance as that described in the
Specification of former Letters Patent No. 7013 of 1892, the object of the present
invention being to improve the construction of such mechanism and to arrange
in combination therewith spring supports for the gun upon the carriage so as to
reduce as far as possible the shocks and strains imparted to the said carriage when
the gun is fired.

page_text: ments applied thereto :
Figure 2 is a half front elevation thereof:
Figure 3 is a plan view of a detail:
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of a detail drawn to a larger scale and herein-
after described:
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are views similar to Figure 1 and illustrating modifications, the
said views being drawn to a larger scale than Figure 1:
Figure 8 is a section on the line 8-8 Figure 7; and
Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 Figure 7 viewed in the direction of the
arrow in the said figure
A is the gun, a, a are the wheels of the gun-carriage, b is the axle tree thereof,
and c, c are the trail sides upon which the gun A is mounted.
Referring first to Figures 1 to 4 the trail sides c, c, which form the body of
the carriage and carry the gun A, instead of being fixed to the axle b as has hitherto
usually been the case, are carried by spring plates d, d which are secured at each
end to pins or bolts d², d passed through the axle 6 in the direction illustrated
clearly in Figure 1. The spring plates are, in the arrangement shewn in the
drawing, arranged below the axle and have their ends d¹ bent up to receive the
pins or bolts 2.but the said spring plates may, if desired, be made more or less
straight and the axle bent. The ends d', ' of the spring plates d, d are bifurcated,
the bifurcated ends enclosing the bolts d², and spring discs d³, d³ are inserted
between the inner faces of the bifurcated ends and the adjacent faces of the
axle b.
By mounting the trail upon the wheel axle 6 in the above described manner, that
is to say, through the medium of the two sets of springs viz., d, d and d³, d³ which
act practically at right angles to one another, the shocks due to the firing of the
gun A will be transmitted to the axle 6 through the spring plates d, d which
partially absorb them and the jolting of the axle when the carriage is in movement
is absorbed both by the springs & and the spring discs d³, d³ so that the gun A is
protected from such jolting.
In order to diminish the recoil of the carriage I apply to the brake of each wheel
a brake-shoe e of a similar construction to that described in the Specification of
the aforesaid Letters Patent, the said shoes being pivoted on brackets or supports e¹, e¹
carried by a transverse beam e²; the shoes e, e, brackets e¹ and beam e² are hung by
means of rods e³, e and straps e to eccentric discs e upon the axle b. The ends
of each strap pass through holes in the head e7 of its rod e, the projecting ends
being provided with elastic discs which are held in position by nuts e so that
a spring connection is provided between each rod e¹ and its strap e³. elo are chains
which connect the shoes e with the trail sides c, the said chains being provided
with springs ell.
The above described wheel brake operates as follows, that is to say, before firing
the gun the shoes e are lowered and placed on the ground, in the position illustrated
in full lines in Figures 1 and 2, so that when the gun is fired the wheels a, a roll
up on to the shoes e, e by the force of the recoil, the said shoes owing to their form,
gripping in the ground. As the recoil continues the wheels a, a move more and
more on to the shoes e so that the elastic discs e8 in connection with the eccentrics e6
and the rods e are compressed thus forcing the shoes against the wheel tyres
and also extending the springs ell on the chains. When the latter springs are
extended to their maximum length, which is limited by links or otherwise, the
whole mechanism recoils together until the entire recoil is absorbed. When this
is the case the pull of the eccentric discs e on the eccentric rods & turns the wheels a
forward and, in conjuction with the pull of the chain springs ell, acts upon the
trail and returns the carriage to, or almost to, its original position.
The recoil checking mechanism above described can also be used as a brake for
controlling the speed of the gun-carriage when going down hill. For this purpose

page_text: I may employ any one of the constructions shewn respectively in Figures 1 to 4, 5, 0
and 7.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 the transverse bar & carrying
the brackets e supporting the shoes e has attached to it an eye bolt f which is
adapted when the carriage is travelling to be engaged with the hooked end f¹ of
a lever f2, the said lever being held in position by a spring f3 secured to its tail
and to the trail side as illustrated in Figure 1. The eccentric e is loosely mounted
upon the axle 6 and is normally, that is to say, when the gun is being fired, held in
engagement therewith by means of a catch g which enters a slot in the axle and is
mounted upon the end of a link g pivoted to a bell-crank lever g³ pivoted to a
hand-lever g³ fixed to the eccentric e.
With this arrangement when the catch y is withdrawn from the axle by means
of the lever g² the eccentric e6 can be moved upon the axle by the lever g³ so as to
bring the brake shoes e, which are held in the position indicated in broken lines
by the spring lever f, into contact with the wheels a, this movement being
permitted by the yielding of the spring f³.
Instead of using a lever for operating the eccentrics to apply the brake I may
make use of the arrangement illustrated in Figure 5, that is to say, of links h pivoted
to the eccentrics and connected by screw-rods h¹ to nuts h² upon the carriage and
having hand-wheels 3 by rotating which the screw-rods are moved longitudinally,
thereby actuating the links h and more or less rotating the eccentrics.
Or the eccentric discs e may be permanently keyed to the axles 6 as illustrated
in Figure 6. In this case, in order to permit of bringing the shoes e against the
wheels a to brake them the said shoes are connected by means of cords to the
short arms of bell-crank levers ¹ pivoted at 22 to the eccentrics e and the long arms
of which serve as handles by operating which the brake shoes can be turned upon
their brackets and brought against the wheels a. The cords can obviously be
operated by other means than the levers ¹; for example they can be wound round
the axle.
When applying the invention to a gun carriage having a hand wheel and screw
such as heretofore generally used for applying the brake, the eccentric discs e
are permanently fixed on the axle 6 and the brackets d carrying the shoes e are
arranged to be movable longitudinally relatively with the rods e¹, as clearly shewn
in Figure 9; springs j, j being arranged between the rods and the brackets e
for normally holding the brake shoes out of contact with the wheels a, a and spring
discs, being provided between the brackets e¹ and nuts 2 upon the ends of the
rods to transmit the pull of the said rods to the brackets e¹.
The screw rod k is provided with a fixed hook k¹, and a pivoted spring hook 2
which can engage with the transverse bar e² in such a manner that when the screw
is rotated by the wheel 3 in the ordinary manner the transverse bar together with
the brackets e¹ which it carries and the shoes e can be moved in the longitudinal
-direction of the carriage so as to cause the shoes to bear against the wheels a, a when
it is desired to brake the latter.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a travelling gun-carriage, mounting the trail upon the axle thereof by
means of spring plates having bifurcated ends which receive bolts passing through the
axle of the carriage and carrying spring discs between the plate ends and the sides
of the axle, substantially as, and for the purpose, herein before described.
2. The combination with a travelling gun-carriage of mechanism for checking
the recoil comprising shoes connected to the trail sides by spring chains and
pivoted to rods carried by eccentrics keyed to the main axle by means of spring
straps, substantially as, and for the purpose, herein before described.
3. Mechanism of the kind described in Claim 2, for checking the recoil of a gun
comprising brake shoes secured by spring chains to the trail of the gun-carriage

page_text: and carried by brackets secured to a transverse beam which is connected by means
of rods and springs to eccentric straps mounted upon eccentrics keyed to the main
axle of the carriage, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In a travelling gun-carriage wherein brake shoes of the kind described in
Claim 2 are employed for checking the recoil, the arrangement whereby such brake
shoes can be employed for ordinary braking purposes, such arrangement consisting
in means for disengaging the eccentrics from the main axle and means for rotating
the said eccentrics relatively with the axle so as to draw the shoes against the
peripheries of the wheels, substantially as herein before described.
5. In brake apparatus for travelling gun-carriages of the kind described in the
preceding claiming clause, the combination with the eccentrics loose upon the axles
of spring catches for keying the said eccentrics upon the axle and of levers for
withdrawing the catches and rotating the eccentrics upon the axles, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 of the accompanying
drawings.
6. In brake apparatus for travelling gun-carriages of the kind described in
Claim 2, the employment for operating the eccentrics of links connected to screw
rods working in fixed nuts having hand wheels whereby they can be rotated,
substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
7. In a travelling gun-carriage wherein brake shoes are employed for checking
the recoil, as described in Claim 2, the arrangement whereby such brake shoes can
be employed for ordinary braking purposes on roads, such arrangement consisting
in keying the eccentrics to the axle and operating the brake shoes by means of cords
by any suitable means such as by winding the cords on to the wheel naves or by
bell-crank levers to one arm of each of which the free end of each cord is attached,
substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 6 of the accompanying
drawings.
8. In a travelling gun-carriage wherein brake shoes are employed for checking
the recoil, as described in Claim 2 the arrangement whereby such brake shoes can
be employed for ordinary braking purposes, such arrangement consisting in con-
necting the eccentric rod to the shoe bracket by means of springs, and in providing
screw rods having hooks adapted to engage the transverse bar carrying the brackets
and a hand wheel for moving the screw-rod longitudinally substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 7 to 9 of the accompanying
drawings.
9. The improved recoil and brake mechanism herein before described and
illustrated in Figures 1 to 4; 5; 6; and 7 to 9 respectively of the accompanying
drawings.
DIEL 1
E
1. 1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.