Improvements relating to Maxim Automatic Guns; being an Apparatus or Attachment to Work the Gun by Hand for Drill purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 12th Mar.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Maxim Automatic Guns; being an
Apparatus or Attachment to Work the Gun by Hand for Drill
purposes.
I, JAMES RAMSAY, of Glendower, Erith Road, Erith, Kent, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient attachment to
the existing Maxim guns of any pattern, specially suited for drill fire and drill
purposes. The apparatus or attachment is to be worked by hand by a cranked
lever, and by its aid, all the movements of the gun, that are at present performed
automatically at a speed of about 10 shots per second, can be performed slowly or
moderately fast as desired; slowly to permit the recoiling, extracting, reloading
and firing movements to be followed step by step by actual performance, and
moderately fast to imitate reasonably the actual automatic performance of the gun.
The attachment can also be used for the purpose of firing blanks without the aid of
a muzzle attachment as already provided for that purpose.
To secure the above result, I construct a small bracket, which is to be clamped
on to the existing handle block. This bracket carries a spindle and the spindle a
drum or pulley.
The spindle is suitably provided with bearings in said brackets, and on the end
of spindle is attached a cranked lever for giving movements to said spindle. The
aforesaid drum or pulley is mounted loose on spindle, but it is connected to same
in an interrupted manner by means of a positive clutch, which automatically en-
gages and disengages with the drum or pulley during each complete revolution of
the spindle. This automatic action is obtained by causing the heel of the lever
clutch to run on a cam which cam is constructed or provided in aforesaid bracket.
Attached to said drum or pulley is one end of a chain or cord and the other end
of chain or cord is partly wound round the boss of the crank handle of the gun,
and attached to this boss either direct or by suitable sleeve attachment.
It follows that by turning the cranked handle of my attachment, the clutch
being engaged with the drum, the drum rotates with the spindle, and coils up the
chain or cord, and by so doing pulls backward the gun crank and all the recoiling
gear. By suitably proportioning the size of the drum, and the moment, when the
clutch disengages with the drum the backward movement of the recoiling parts of
the gun is suddenly arrested and released, and these said recoiling parts return to
firing positions as in the automatic action.
Continuing the rotary movement of the cranked handle, the clutch again engages
with the drum and the operation is repeated either very slowly or as quickly as it is
possible for a man to turn the said crank.
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Maxim Automatic Guns; being an
Apparatus or Attachment to Work the Gun by Hand for Drill
purposes.
I, JAMES RAMSAY, of Glendower, Erith Road, Erith, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, 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:-
My invention is especially, although not exclusively, applicable to automatic
guns having sliding barrels, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient
attachment for such guns to render the sliding barrel and the breech mechanism
capable of being conveniently operated by hand for drill purposes. The said
attachment is adapted to be actuated by the continuous revolution of a crank
handle; either slowly when it is desired to exhibit, step by step, the recoiling,
extracting, reloading, firing and other movements that take place in the working of
the gun, or moderately fast when it is desired to imitate the actual automatic
performance of the gun. The attachment can be used for the purpose of firing
blank cartridges without the aid of a muzzle device on the gun as has hitherto been
necessary.
To attain the above results I construct the attachment with a small bracket to
be clamped to the existing handle block of the gun, the said bracket being provided
with a spindle carrying a drum or segment and a crank-handle. The drum or
segment is connected by a chain or cord or other suitable coupling device to the
boss of the ordinary crank handle, that is to say the external radial arm on
the crank shaft of the gun. The aforesaid drum or segment is loosely mounted
on the spindle but is adapted to be alternately locked thereto and unlocked there-
from by a suitable clutch during each revolution of the spindle. In this manner
each revolution of the handle of the attachment causes the gun-barrel to slide and
the said radial arm of the gun to swing forward and backward as they do when the
gun is working automatically.
In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the attachment in place on a Maxim" gun,
only so much of the gun being illustrated (and that in dotted lines) as is necessary
for the purpose of explaining my invention.
Figure 2 is a plan of the attachment; the gun being shown in this figure
likewise by dotted lines.
Figures 3 and 4 are detail views shewing respectively a sectional elevation and a
longitudinal section of a convenient form of the clutch with which the attachment
is provided.
A is the bracket of the attachment having a hinged clamp A¹ which embraces
one of the rear handles A2 of the gun and is held firmly in position thereon by a
clamping screw and nut A³. The said bracket also has bearings A* A5 for the
reception of the spindle B which carries the crank handle B¹. C is a hinged clamp
which is adapted to be rigidly connected to the boss 11 of the ordinary radial
arm D of the gun by means of a thumb screw C. E is the drum which is loosely
mounted on the spindle B and coupled to the clamp C by a chain E so that when
said drum E is revolved by the handle B' and the clutch hereinafter described,. it
will transmit its motion to the clamp C and radial arm D. E2 is a sleeve or
distance piece which is fixed to the spindle B between the drum E and the
bearing A³.

page_text: The said sleeve E2 and the spindle B are each formed with a transverse aperture 3
for the reception of a pawl e which is pivotally held in place by a screw-pin E that also
serves to connect the aforesaid sleeve to the spindle. This pawl is furnished with a
spring (see Figures 3 and 4) which normally tends to press its end e¹ towards
the drum E so as to engage with a stop or projection on the drum. Fixed to the
bearing A5 is a curved plate e³ provided with a cam piece against which the
opposite end of the pawl can strike during the revolution of the spindle, and
thereby trip the pawl and throw it out of engagement with the stop e². The said
pawl by thus acting in conjunction with the stop e² on the drum and the fixed
cam piece e serves as the clutch for throwing the drum into and out of action.
It will be seen that when the handle B₁ is revolved in the direction of the arrow
in Figure 1, the drum E will tend to revolve in the same direction by reason of the
pawl's engagement with the stop on the drum, and a pull will therefore be exerted on
the chain E. This pull causes the barrel to slide rearwardly and the radial arm D to
perform its forward stroke, so that the breech mechanism is operated in a manner
similar to that in which it operates when the barrel recoils automatically after
firing a shot. As the said radial arm I completes its forward movement, the end e
of the pawl e comes against the fixed cam piece e whereby such end of the pawl is
forced inwardly and the other end e' disengaged from the stop e on the drum E.
The drum being thus released allows the radial arm D to perform its return stroke
and the barrel to regain its firing position by the reaction of the recoil spring of the
gun in the ordinary manner. The continued revolution of the handle B brings
the end e¹ of the pawl into re-engagement with the stop on the drum E (the said
pawl having previously regained its original position to effect this re-engagement
by the action of its spring e) and causes the drum E to be again partially revolved
and released as already explained.
I am of course aware that automatic guns are capable of having their breech-
blocks and the mechanism carried thereby operated by hand, by means of the
ordinary external radial arm of the gun; but in such operation the barrel cannot
be caused to slide as it does when the gun is working automatically; consequently
the complete working of the gun in imitation of its automatic action cannot be
effected by the mere operation of such radial arm. By the use of my attachment,
however, all the movements of the mechanism and the sliding barrel can be
obtained just as though the gun were working automatically.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. An attachment for manually operating the sliding barrel and the breech
mechanism of an automatic gun as above set forth.
2. In an automatic gun, the combination with the radial arm, of means whereby
the said arm can be alternately pulled and released during the continuous revolu
tion of a handle which forms part of the aforesaid attachment, substantially as
described and for the purposes specified.
3. The attachment for an automatic gun, constructed and operating substantially
as described with reference to the accompanying drawings and for the purposes
specified.
HASELTINE, LAKE, & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.