IMPROVE- MENTS IN GUN CARRIAGES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Peter Jensen at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 8th August 1882. Communicated to
him from abroad by Michel Marie Alfred Bussiere of Paris France.
"
PETER JENSEN of 33, Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GUN CARRIAGES (A communication to me from abroad by Michel
Marie Alfred Bussiere of Paris, France)
The principles on which this invention is based are as follows;-The action of the
recoil causes the piece or ordnance to descend or lower down in which position it is
loaded and pointed under cover; it is protected by a parapet of horse shoe shape
having two recesses for loading. Part of the mechanism is under ground and
protected from shots, consisting of a crane-post which can turn round on its axis
and carries the brake utilizing the power of the recoil for raising the gun again.
A frame extending towards the front is fastened on the head of the crane post and
to this frame is jointed a strong limb in the upper forked end of which the gun
trunnions rest and at a point intermediate between the ends of this limb a rod is
jointed which descends to and connects with the top of a ram which operates in a
hydraulic cylinder in the crane post; the parts above ground are light and simple
and can be easily taken to pieces in case of damage. The artillerists are reduced
to a minimum number and are protected behind the parapet.
By calculation it can be ascertained with great accuracy what is the amount
of strain sustained by each part which has not yet been attained with any other
system.
The advantages are as follows;-The gun and carriage cannot be seen by the
enemy and can only be reached by curved trajectory which is uncertain in its
action.
By this arrangement the fortification or battery need not have the usual salient
angles and there is nothing outside to indicate to the enemy the position of the
invisible gun.
The field of range is indefinite; at any given moment the artillerists can
concentrate the fire of all the artillery on the same point.
The arrangement of a hydraulic pneumatic brake used in connection with this
invention is composed as follows;-First, of the aforesaid vertical hydraulic

page_text: cylinder and ram. Second, of two dome shaped air vessels inverted and com-
municating with the liquid at the lower part of the bydraulic cylinder; these
air vessels are made perfectly watertight by one of the two following means; either
by being lined with a thin tube of copper set or spun in by means of a burnisher or
by galvanic deposition obtained on the whole internal parts by causing the
pressure of the galvanic liquid to ascend gradually until no waste takes place at
the maximum pressure which the apparatus is made to sustain.
The invention further consists in the employment of an anti-emulsive dome-
shaped metallic piston fitting freely and formed with outside grooves, preventing
the mixture of the liquid projected into the air vessel and of the air which it
contains; also of a spring valve the guide rod of which forms a brake; also of an
adjustable cone which can be made to enter more or less into a passage or space at
the lower part of the hydraulic cylinder for regulating the recoil by contracting
more or less the said passage; also of a stopping brake formed of a fixed internal
rod which penetrates into the conical interior of the ram or plunger acting
energetically towards the end of its down stroke, it replaces the spring buffer
generally employed; also of a tap automatically closing at the elevation under the
action of a counterweight and worked overhead by means of transmission gear
which is placed near the gunner; also of the sighting system formed of connecting
rods which at their lower end slide in a circular slot, the arc of which is struck
from a centre selected in such a manner that the gun always occupies below the
same position, and selected as the most convenient for loading; also of a magnetic
float showing the level of the liquid in the hydraulic cylinder; also in the
application of compressed water or other suitable liquid supplied through centre of
lower pivot of crane post by a pipe to replace the compressed air.
The whole of the frame is a raising or lever crane which facilitates the taking off
of the gun to place it on the ground and to replace it by another one when
damaged; when not required for operation the gun being lowered can be easily
covered by a lightly built up shed resting on the wall of the parapet.