IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND OPERATING HEAVY ORDNANCE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND OPERATING HEAVY
ORDNANCE." A communication from abroad by James Eads, of the City
and County of Saint Louis, State of Missouri, United States of America.
Sealed the 23rd August 1864, and dated the 7th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th June 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND OPERATING
HEAVY ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the use of vertical and horizontal shafts as means
of applying power to operate heavy guns upon pivoted platforms; also in the
employment of steam or other suitable cylinders, the piston rods of which
are connected with a series of levers which support the gun, so that by
moving such levers on their fulcra the gun frame may be raised vertically.
The horizontal movement of the sliding gun carriage with its gun upon the
gun frame is effected by means of toothed gearing, consisting of a sector and
pinion actuated by bevil gearing which is driven by the steam power. These

page_text: parts may also be driven by hand power, to which end a screw or snail is made
to take into a worm wheel or sector on the axle of one of the driving wheels.
The proper angle of inclination is given to the longitudinal axis of the gun
by means of levers connected with the piston rod of a steam cylinder, so that
any desired vertical aim or range may be attained, the axis of the gun being
always in harmony with the centre of the port. The recoil of the gun is also
taken by a cushion of steam in the cylinder; and this may be regulated to a
nicety by means of valves, which may be so adjusted as always to give the
same cushion of steam, so that the resistance to the recoil will be always
the same, and the gun will consequently be brought back always to the same
spot.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by-the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within' the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOUNTING AND OPERATING HEAVY
ORDNANCE," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in the use of vertical and horizontal shafts as the
means of applying power to operate heavy guns upon pivotted platforms;
also in the employment of steam or other suitable cylinders,in connection with
other requisite mechanical devices, for actuating the gun frame vertically, and
for effecting the horizontal movement of the sliding gun carriage with its gun
upon the gun frame and securing the proper angle of inclination to the
longitudinal axis of the gun in such a manner that any desired vertical aim or
range may be attained, the axis of the gun being always in harmony with the
centre of the port; the recoil of the gun is also taken by a cushion of steam
in the cylinder.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improve-
ment; Fig. 2 represents a plan or top view of the same; Fig. 3 is a
longitudinal section; Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section.
A represents the gun deck of the vessel or the base upon which the gun
platform may be placed; B represents the side of a vessel, casemate, or other
protection behind which the gun is to be operated; C is the platform which
supports the gun and the mechanism for operating it. The forward end of
this platform will be pivotted to the base A, as nearly as possible to the side
of the vessel or casemate B, by means of a hollow or annular pin or pivot D,
Fig. 3, and the rear end of the platform will be supported by means of
friction rollers a, a, b. These rollers are arranged to rotate upon tracks or
ways b, b, prepared for them, and they are adapted to facilitate the- easy
lateral working of the rear end of the platform C. D' is a driving pivot
shaft, which may be made hollow, so as to contain the necessary arrangements
for supplying steam or other element of power employed, and also for
exhausting the same from the cylinders upon the platform. This shaft D'
will be made to extend through the pivot D, where it will be provided. with a
bevil driving wheel c, and will be rotated by means of adequate power applied
to it below the deck or base A. E is a horizontal shaft arranged to rotate in
suitable bearings on the platform C, and provided at its front end with a bevil
pinion wheel d adapted to work in gear with the wheel c of the shaft D'. It
is also provided with two bevil driving wheels e, e, which are loose upon it,
but are so constructed as to be adapted to receive and be operated by the
sliding clutches f,f', which are mounted upon and made to turn with the shaft'

page_text: E. The clutches f,f, may be operated. in such a manner as to rotate
the wheels e, e¹, alternately at the will of the operator, by means of levers
9, 9, which are furnished with arms 9', g', taking into grooves in the clutches
as shown in Fig. 2. F is a cogged rack secured firmly and permanently to
the deck or, base A, below the platform C, and made to form the segment
of a circle drawn from the centre of the pivot shaft D'. G is a bevil wheel
mounted in bearings in the platform C, and provided with a shaft h which
carries a cogged pinion h', adapted to take into and work in gear with the
sector rack F. The operation of these parts may be briefly described as
follows: The pivot shaft D¹ being made to rotate, the mitre wheels c, d, will
actuate the shaft E. The wheels e, e¹, at the will of the operator will be
made to operate one at a time by means of the clutches f, f, through the
agency of the levers g, g', in such a manner as to rotate the wheel G (which
is always in gear with both the wheels e, e¹). The cogged pinion h¹ which
works in gear with the stationary cogged rack F will also be actuated, and
will thereby effect the lateral movement of the rear end of the platform Ċ in
the proper direction to secure the desired horizontal aim of the gun. By
means of simple mechanical devices, well known to intelligent mechanics, the
shaft E may be made to effect the vertical movements of the gun, and also
the horizontal movement of the gun carriage and gun upon the frame. A
rock shaft H has its bearings in pillar blocks i, i, i, of the platform C, and is
provided with a cogged wheel H¹, seen in Fig. 8, two segmental cogged racks
j,j, and two crank arms k, k. The arms k, k, are pivotted to sliding rests I, I,
seen distinctly in Fig. 3, which sustain the rear end of the gun frame J. In
Figs. 1 and 4, I, I, are two short shafts, having bearings in pillar blocks i, i,
on the platform C, provided with segmental racks j, j', and crank arms k, k¹,
and these arms are pivotted to the sliding rests 1, l', which support the front
end of the gun frame J. K, K, are steam or other suitable cylinders attached
permanently to the platform C, and provided with proper pistons, which will
be furnished with piston rods m and m', m¹; the rods m will be attached to
the rigid reciprocating racks n, which are so constructed and arranged as to
be adapted to work in gear with and actuate the segmental cogged gears j, j.
The piston rods m² may be furnished with cross heads m", m", to which will
be attached the forward ends of the linked or flexible racks n¹, n¹, and
the rear ends of these flexible racks will be attached to the rear points of
the segments,, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3. It will now be.
clearly seen and understood that by actuating the pistons of the cylinders
K, K, the crank arms k, k, k¹, k, will be operated through the medium of
piston rods m, m, m', m', racks n, n, n³, n', segmental racks j,j,j, j', and.

page_text: rocking shafts H, I, I, so as to elevate or depress the gun frame J, with its
gun carriage, at the will of the engineer or operator. L, L, represent rods
pivotted upon the shafts I, I, and to the gun frame J at L, L, and adapted
to control the longitudinal action of the frame. On this frame are placed
stops to prevent the carriage from going too far forward, and by the action of
the rods L, L, the gun is allowed to go the same distance into the port at all
elevations, the distance between the pivotted points of the rods L being the
same as that from the muzzle of the gun to its trunnions. M is the gun
carriage, made in two parts, pivotted together in such a manner that the gun
when retracted from its port may be turned to any required angle with
reference to the frame J for convenience in loading. The carriage will be
constructed and arranged so that it may slide or be made to move forward
and backward upon the frame J, and will be formed with suitable pillars. for
the reception of the gun. N is a steam cylinder permanently secured to a
proper bed upon the platform C, and provided with a suitable piston p and
piston rod p¹ (see Fig. 3). The piston rod p³, by means of a cross head »,
will be connected with and made to actuate two reciprocating bars r², gol,
which are adapted to move in grooves or tracks made for them in the sides
of the cylinder N (see 1, Fig. 1). To the forward ends of the bars r¹, gr²,
will be pivotted the levers P, P, which are also pivotted to the gun frame at
P¹, P¹, shown clearly in Figs. 8 and 4. It will now be fully comprehended
that by actuating the piston p of the cylinder N the horizontal movement of
the gun carriage M, through the agency of the bars r¹, r, and levers P, P,
may be effected in such a manner as to run the gun forward to its port or
retract the same therefrom, as may be required. The levers P, P, are formed
with short arms P", P", as shewn in Fig. 3. These arms extend from the
fulcrums or pivotted points P1, P2, in the direction of the breech of the gun,
a certain proper distance, where they are. pivotted at t¹ to the vertical
standard or support t upon which the breech of the gun rests. S, indicated
by dotted lines in Fig. 3, is a stay rod attached to the gun carriage at S', and
to the standard t at s", and is adapted to maintain the standard t always in
proper vertical position. By means of this construction and arrangement
of the levers P, P, P¹, P¹, P", P", and standard t, any required angle of
inclination may be given to the longitudinal axis of the gun to secure its
requisite vertical aim by elevating or depressing the frame J. At. the same
time the axis of the gun will be kept always in harmony with the centre of
the port (see Figs. 1 and 3), consequently the size of the port may barely
exceed the diameter of the muzzle of the gun. I am well aware that a
single lever corresponding very nearly in construction with one of the levers
its

page_text: P, P, with its forward and lower end pivotted to a sliding rest working in
suitable ways on the platform C, and entirely independent of the cylinder N,
would accomplish the same result as the levers P, P, in regard to the vertical
aim of the gun. I therefore claim the use and employment of a pivotted or
vibrating lever or levers in connection with the standard t, and operated by
means of moveable attachments or stationary rests, so as to secure the proper
and required vertical aim of the gun automatically, in harmony with the
vertical elevation of the gun at its trunnions. The recoil of the gun may be
taken up by means of a cushion of steam within the cylinder N, suitable
valves being provided and arranged for that purpose, and in this instance the
levers P, P, act in the capacity of connecting rods between the piston rod p
and the gun carriage M. If found desirable the admission of steam to the
cylinder may be so regulated as to graduate the power of the cushion to the
resistance to be overcome, so that the gun may always recoil to the same point.
In Fig. 3, V is a capstan, the lower portion of which is provided with a screw
thread or worm V¹, which is adapted to take into and actuate the cogged
wheel H¹ of the rocking shaft H, and thereby through the medium of mecha-
nical agents previously described to elevate or depress the frame J with its
gun carriage and gun. The capstan V, VI, may be carried upon a frame X,
which will be pivotted to the platform C, so that the capstan may be released
from and thrown out of gear with the wheel H when not required for use.
By means of suitable levers it may be operated readily by hand, and is
intended for use especially in case of any accident to or derangement of the
machinery by means of which other power may be employed to operate
the gun.
I do not wish to confine myself to the precise construction or arrangement
of the various mechanical devices for operating the frame J, neither do I
confine myself to the use of a hollow pivot shaft D¹, as the same result may
be attained by means of an annular steam pipe with a rotating shaft in the
centre thereof, or by means of a solid shaft only in case the cylinders upon
the platform should be dispensed with. In the latter case the recoil of the
gun may be taken up by means of air cylinders suitably constructed and
arranged for the purpose.
Having thus described the Invention that has been communicated to me
as aforesaid, what I claim under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
First, applying power to operate heavy guns upon pivotted platforms or
frames through the pivots thereof by means of vertical and horizontal rotating
shafts, and also by means of steam or other suitable cylinders, the steam,

page_text: water, air, or other element to operate them being transmitted to the cylinders
through the pivots of the platforms or frames.
Second, the arrangement of parts herein set forth, or their equivalents, for
effecting the horizontal movement of the gun carriage and taking up the
recoil of the gun.
Third, the method herein described for securing the longitudinal axis of
the gun.
Fourth, the devices herein set forth for operating the gun frame by hand.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)