Improvements in or relating to Gun Mountings.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 17th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 16th Dec., 1893
TRUVIDIONAL DIECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by JEAN BAPTISTE GUSTAVE ADOLPHe Canet,
of Paris, France, Engineer.]
Improvements in or relating to Gun Mountings.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to gun mountings, and has for its chief object to provide
for the rapid horizontal adjustment of the mounting whereby the gun can be
quickly placed, for example, parallel to the side of the ship or battery, and there
secured.
The mounting is so constructed that the gun when trained or traversed turns
about an imaginary vertical axis passing through a point in the port-hole or
embrasure in the side of the vessel or wall of the battery, and consequently the
transverse dimensions of the said port-hole or embrasure may be reduced to a
minimum.
The mounting is also constructed to permit the easy recoil of the gun and the
securing of the gun in any desired position for example parallel with the side
of the ship or battery. For this purpose the gun may be mounted to slide in
or on a cradle which has trunnions formed therewith or attached thereto whereby
the cradle is supported in the sides or cheeks of the chassis. Or the chassis
can be constructed to receive a support in which the gun is trunnioned and which
support participates in the recoil movement of the gun; or the gun may be other-
wise mounted in the chassis.
The chassis is capable of turning about a vertical axis on a movable platform
which is supported by conical rollers resting upon suitable arc shaped racer paths.
provided on the base plate. Bolts or equivalent means are provided to lock the
chassis to the platform in various positions, and clamps are provided to lock the
platform to the base plate where required.
For supporting the platform, I prefer to provide five conical rollers as follows;
that is to say, one is situated in front and rolls on an inner racer path, and the
others are situated at the back in two pairs to roll on an outer racer path. Each
pair of the latter rollers is mounted in an oscillating frame hinged to the platform
so that both rollers always bear on the path. It is thus seen that the platform is
always supported at three points.
The base plate with the roller paths may be formed in one two or more parts, for
example, of two are shaped parts each having a circular path the centres of which
are in the aforesaid vertical axis passing through the port-hole or embrasure.
Clamps or claws are provided as heretofore to prevent the lifting of the platform.
The means for training or traversing the gun is as follows: A circular rack
having the same centre as the racer paths is fixed on the base plate, and with this
rack is geared a pinion fixed on a vertical spindle which is carried by the chassis.
The said spindle passes axially through a hub formed on the chassis, which hub
has a bearing in the platform and forms the axis about which the chassis can turn
with respect to the platform. On the upper end of the said spindle is fixed a worm
wheel which is driven for example through a worm and other suitable gearing and
a hand training wheel carried by the chassis.
When it is desired to turn the gun away from the firing position and secure it
for example in a position parallel with the side of the vessel or battery, it is
sufficient to unlock the chassis from the platform, and lock the platform to the
base plate whereupon when the training wheel is now rotated the chassis will be
07

page_text: turned on the platform and can be thus brought to any desired position and there
secured, either by the same means which locked the chassis to the platform in the
firing position, or by other means.
Dated this 17th day of January 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Gun Mountings.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
This invention relates to gun-mountings, and comprises an improved construction
of base-plate and platform, and an improved mode of mounting the carriage on
the platform; also improved means for traversing the gun, and turning the carriage
or chassis on the platform; and combinations of these parts as hereinafter
described.
The chief object of the present invention is to provide for the rapid horizontal
adjustment of the chassis whereby the gun can be placed, for example, parallel
with the side of the ship or battery and there secured.
The mounting is so constructed that the gun when trained or traversed turns
about an imaginary vertical axis outside the mounting and preferably passing
through a point in the port-hole or embrasure in the side of the vessel or wall of
the battery. The mounting is also constructed to permit the easy recoil of the
gun, and the securing of the gun in any desired position.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the gun and mounting, the latter being shown
partly in section.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan showing the chassis in two different positions.
A is the gun; B, B¹ are forward and rear sleeves or collars through which the
gun can freely slide; C, is one of the side frames or beams connecting said
sleeves; C is the trunnion formed on said side frame; D is the carriage in
which the trunnions are supported; E is a platform on which the carriage rests;
and F is an arc-shaped or segmental base-plate formed with racer paths on
which the platform can travel.
Upon the gun is secured a hoop or cylinder G preferably in the manner
substantially as described in the Specification of prior Letters Patent No. 1078
dated 21st January 1890. The said hoop or cylinder G is formed with grooved
guides which slide on the side beams C, during the recoil and running out of the
gun. The brake-cylinder is secured to or formed with the hoop G beneath the
same. The piston rod H' of the brake-cylinder is passed through and secured to
the rear sleeve B₁ either directly or indirectly by means of a bush / which is
screwed or otherwise secured in the said sleeve as shown in Figure 1. The latter
mode of attachment allows of the dismounting of the piston from the rear without
necessitating the complete dismounting of the sleeve B¹. By arranging the brake-
cylinder below the gun as described the width between the cheeks of the carriage
may
be reduced to a minimum.
The chassis or carriage D is capable of turning about a vertical axis on the
movable platform E which is supported by conical rollers resting upon arc-shaped
racer paths provided on the base plate F. The platform E is supported at three
points only and is therefore evenly supported in all positions notwithstanding that
there may exist unevenness in the track or racer path. I prefer to support the

page_text: platform on a system of five conical rollers. One roller M is situated at the front
of the platform, and rolls on an inner racer path or track F', and the other four
rollers N are situated at the back and roll on an outer racer path or track F. The
said rear rollers are arranged in two pairs, each pair being pivoted in a triangular
frame which is connected to the platform at 01. The said frame O is capable of
oscillating about the centre O' and thus allows the rollers N to accommodate
themselves to the unevenness of the track if such exist, and avoids irregular wear
of the rollers. By this construction the advantages derived from supporting the
platform at three points only are combined with a distribution of the load on the
track over more than three points.
The base plate F may be made in one, two, or more parts provided with the
aforesaid inner and outer curved racer paths F1 F which have their centres outside
the mounting, for example in the port hole or embrasure of the ship or battery, so that
when the gun is trained horizontally the chase of the gun does not move laterally
to any material extent, and consequently the width of the said port hole or
embrasure need not be much greater than the external diameter of the chase of the
gun. PP are claws secured to the platform, and which engage a rim formed on
the base plate to prevent the lifting of the platform during firing. Claws E¹ E¹
are also formed on the platform to engage with and prevent the lifting of the
chassis.
The means for training or traversing the gun are as follows:-A curved toothed
rack Qhaving the same centre as the racer paths is fixed on the base plate, and
with this rack is geared a pinion Q' fixed on the vertical shaft Q which is carried
by the carriage or chassis D. The said shaft passes axially through a hub D'
formed on the carriage, which hub has a bearing in the platform and forms the
axis about which the carriage can turn with respect to the platform. On the
upper end of the shaft Q is fixed a worm wheel Q which gears with a worm Q
having its bearings in the carriage. The worm can be driven by a hand wheel R
Figure 1 acting through a shaft R', gear wheels R², chain wheels R³, R, a
chain R connecting said wheels.
and
Bolts S Figure 2 are provided for locking the carriage D to the platform in
various positions. When it is desired to turn the gun away from the firing position
and secure it for example in a position parallel with the side of the vessel or
battery, the platform is first moved, by turning the hand wheel R, to any position
wherein it can be secured to the base plate, for example at the extreme ends of its
travel, then the platform is locked to the base plate by suitable clamps, and then
the bolts which fock the carriage to the platform are raised or removed so as to
unlock the carriage. If now the hand wheel R be again rotated, then, since the
platform is locked, the shaft Q cannot turn and therefore the worm Q' must travel
round the worm wheel Q, and the carriage will therefore be turned on the platform
and can thus be brought to any desired position and there secured either by the
bolts or by other means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a gun mounting, the combination of a base plate having arc-shaped or
segmental racer paths constructed in one, two or more parts, a platform movable
thereon, a chassis or carriage mounted on said platform and turning thereon about
a vertical axle, and means for locking the chassis to the platform in different
positions, substantially as, and for the purpose, specified.
2. The means for supporting the platform at three points on the base plate,
consisting of a forward conical roller, and two pairs of rear conical rollers, each
pair of rear rollers being journalled in triangular frames pivoted to the platform,
substantially as described, for the purpose specified.
3. The combination with means for locking the chassis to the platform, and other
means for locking the platform to the base plate, of the operating gear whereby

page_text: the platform can be traversed across the base plate, or the chassis turned on the
platform, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.
4. A gun mounting constructed substantially as herein described with reference
to the accompanying drawings, and operating as, and for the purposes, specified.
•
Dated this 17th day of October 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.