Improvements in Breech Loading Guns chiefly intended for use with Shells Charged with High Explosives.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 30th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 4th Mar.,
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Breech Loading Guns chiefly intended for use with
Shells Charged with High Explosives.
I, CLARENCE CHURCH CURTISS, Gentleman, of Lakewood, New Jersey, United
States of America, at present residing at 12, De Vere Gardens, Kensington, in the
County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:—
This invention has reference, more particularly, to breech loading guns of the
kind set forth in the Specification of a prior Patent No. 11,736 of 1889, for use
with shells charged with high explosives. Such guns are so constructed that a
column of air is interposed between the cartridge and the projectile, the cartridge
being contained in a chamber which is distinct from the gun barrel but connected
therewith by a tube extending from the front end of the said chamber to the breech
end of the gun barrel.
According to my invention the chamber within which the cartridge is fired, and
which I term the combustion chamber, is connected to the gun barrel by a lateral
port or opening at its rear or breech end and within this chamber I provide a sub-
sidiary chamber or tube for receiving the cartridge. The said tube is of such
a length that on explosion of the cartridge, the flame and gases of discharge will
be directed forwardly past the aforesaid port or opening and toward the closed
end of the combustion chamber, from which they rebound and, by compressing the
air surrounding the said subsidiary chamber, they force it through the aforesaid.
port or opening leading to the gun barrel. The air which is near the breech end
of the combustion chamber is the first to be driven through the port or opening
and serves as a cool air cushion between the flame and hot powder gases and the
projectile, for keeping them out of direct contact. The length of the aforesaid
cartridge tube depends on the length of the combustion chamber, but in any case
it must be long enough to carry the flame and gases of discharge past the port or
opening connecting the combustion chamber and the gun barrel.
The screw blocks or plugs by which the breech ends of the gun barrel and the
combustion chamber are closed, are, according to my invention, so constructed
and arranged that they can be operated to screw them in or unscrew them simul-
taneously. For this purpose I sometimes mount both of them in a suitably hinged
plate or frame and connect them together by appropriate gearing so that the
angular movement of one of them will be transmitted to the other. The said
gearing may consist of a toothed pinion engaging with toothed segments carried
by the breech blocks, the said pinion being mounted on a rotary axle carried by
the hinged plate and provided with a crank handle for turning it. Or the blocks
may be connected together by a link or connecting rod and each be furnished
with a handle so that on turning one block the other will likewise be turned
through the instrumentality of the link or connecting rod. In light guns the
plate or frame carrying the blocks or plugs may be swung about its hinge in
opening or closing the breech; but for heavy guns I prefer to provide a suitably

page_text: arranged rack and pinion to be actuated by an appropriate handle for turning the
plate upon its hinge.
The breech block for closing the combustion chamber is, when fixed ammunition
is employed, furnished with an extractor for enabling the empty cartridge case to
be withdrawn during the opening of the breech...
In order to impart extra rigidity to the barrel or chase of the gun, which in
guns of this kind is of more than the ordinary length, I employ diagonal struts
or stays connected with the barrel near its muzzle and with some suitable part of
the mounting or the combustion chamber; or in cases where the length of the com-
bustion chamber relatively to the barrel is great enough to permit of it, the said
barrel may be directly connected to the forward end of the combustion chamber.
Any other suitable arrangement to prevent drooping of the gun barrel may how-
ever be employed.
For elevating the gun I sometimes provide the trunnions with a toothed rack
gearing with a worm which is carried by a shaft mounted in bearings on the gun
mounting, such shaft extending to the rear of the gun where it is furnished with
a crank handle to permit of its being readily revolved. I do not however confine
myself to these special means of elevating the gun, as various other clevating
devices will serve my purpose.
Dated this 30th day of March 1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Breech Loading Guns chiefly intended for use with
Shells Charged with High Explosives.
I, CLARENCE CHURCHI CURTISS, Gentleman, of Lakewood, New Jersey, United
States of America, at present residing at St. George's, Club, Hanover Square, in
the County of London, 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 has reference, more particularly to breech loading guns of the
kind set forth in the Specification of a prior Patent No. 11,736 of 1889, that is to
say guns for use with shells charged with high explosives. Such guns are so con-
structed that a column of air is interposed between the cartridge and the projectile,
the cartridge being contained in a chamber which is distinct from the gun barrel
but connected therewith by a tube extending from the front end of the said chamber
to the breech end of the gun barrel.
According to my invention the chamber within which the cartridge or other
propulsive charge is fired and which I term the combustion chamber, is connected
to the gun barrel by a lateral port or passage at its rear or breech end and within
this chamber I provide a subsidiary or inner chamber or tube for receiving the
cartridge. The said tube is of such a length that on explosion of the cartridge,
the flame and gases of discharge will be directed forwardly past the aforesaid port
or passage and toward the closed end of the combustion chamber, from which they
rebound and, by compressing the air around the said subsidiary chamber, they force
it through the aforesaid port or passage into the gun barrel. The air which is
near the breech end of the combustion chamber is the first to be driven through
the port or passage and serves as a cushion of cool air in front of the flame and hot
powder gases, for keeping them out of direct contact with the projectile.

page_text: The screw blocks or plugs by which the breech ends of the gun barrel and the
subsidiary chamber are closed, are, according to my invention so constructed and
arranged that they can be screwed or unscrewed simultaneously. For this purpose
I mount both of them in a suitably hinged frame or carrier and connect them
together by appropriate gearing so that the angular movement of one of them will
be transmitted to the other. In light guns the carrier may be swung about its
hinge by hand in opening or closing the breech; but for heavy guns I prefer to
employ gearing such as a suitably arranged rack and pinion for actuating the
carrier when a handle is operated by the gunner.
In order to impart extra rigidity to the barrel or chase of the gun, which in
guns of this kind is of more than the ordinary length, I employ diagonal struts
or stays connected with the barrel near its muzzle and with some suitable part of
the mounting or the combustion chamber; or in cases where the length of the
combustion chamber relatively to the barrel is great enough to permit of it, the
said barrel may be directly connected to the forward end of the combustion
chamber. Any other suitable arrangement to prevent drooping of the gun barrel
may however be employed.
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 side elevation of the gun with a portion of the barrel broken away.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the rear end of the gun, and
Figure 3 is an end elevation; both of these views being drawn on a larger scale
than Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 3 but shews a modification of the mechanism.
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the gun.
A is the barrel, B the combustion chamber, C the subsidiary chamber or tube
for receiving the cartridge, and D D are the breech blocks.
The gun-barrel and the combustion chamber communicate with each other at
their rear ends by the lateral port or passage a formed in the breech chamber A¹.
The cartridge tube C is arranged eccentrically within the combustion chamber
so that a space a* of considerable area is left above it for the main volume of
gases, due to the discharge of the explosive charge in said tube, to pass along
in reaching the lateral port or opening a. The length of the cartridge tube
depends on the length of the combustion chamber B but in any case it is impor-
tant that this tube should be long enough to carry the flame and gases of the
explosive charge past the said port or opening a for the purpose above stated.
Owing to the fact that the chase or barrel in this class of guns has to be longer
than in ordinary guns, it is, as shown in Figure 1, made in two lengths connected
together by a coupling A2 so that for the purposes of transport or otherwise, the
two parts of the barrel can be separated after releasing the swivel bolts A³ of the
coupling.
A+ A+ are struts connected at their forward ends to a collar A on the gun-
barrel and at their rear ends to the gun mounting to impart extra rigidity to the
barrel and prevent drooping. If, however, the combustion chamber be of increased
length, as shown in Figure 5, the barrel can be connected thereto by a collar Aº..
The aforesaid struts may then be dispensed with, as the combustion chamber will
serve to impart the requisite rigidity to the barrel.
The screw breech blocks D D are provided with interrupted threads to engage
with corresponding threads formed in the breech chamber of the gun, so that a
partial revolution of the said blocks will effect their engagement or disengagement
as is well understood.
The said blocks are connected to the swinging frame or carrier E, each block
being provided with a toothed segment d to engage with a toothed pinion d¹
located between the said segments. This pinion is mounted upon or forms part
of an axle & carried by the said frame or carrier and is provided at its outer end

page_text: with a handle d³. By operating this handle, motion can be imparted to the said
toothed pinion and both breech blocks can be simultaneously turned to cause them
to be locked to, or unlocked from, the breech chamber. The said swinging carrier
is pivotally connected to a slide F' which is fitted to and capable of working longi-
tudinally upon the breech end of the gun for the purpose of moving the carrier
endwise and thereby withdrawing the breech blocks from or inserting them into
the breech chamber. In order to impart this movement to the said slide I have
shown a crank-handle f having on its axle a toothed wheel or segment f¹ gearing
with rack teeth f2 on the said slide.
By this construction it will therefore be seen that when the breech blocks are
to be withdrawn from the gun, the handle d³ is first turned in a direction to cause
the block to be unscrewed and then the handle f is turned in a direction to cause
the slide F to move rearwardly and withdraw the breech blocks from the gun.
Finally the carrier is swung about its pivot whereby the breech ends of the gun-
barrel A and the cartridge tube C will be fully exposed to permit the projectile
and the cartridge to be inserted in their respective chambers. Any of the ordinary
appropriate means may be provided for preventing any change in the relative
position of the breech blocks while in their unlocked and withdrawn position.
The breech block D is provided with a firing pin D2 which is pressed forward
by a spiral spring D³. The said firing pin has a segmental groove D therein
which, when the firing pin is drawn rearwardly by pulling on the knob D5, arrives
opposite the inner end of a spring catch D. This catch by the action of its spring
then engages with the groove and retains the said firing pin. in its retracted or
cocked position. By pulling the said catch outwardly by a lanyard or otherwise
the said firing pin is released and caused by its spring D³ to fly forward and strike
the detonator of the cartridge to fire the charge.
The said breech block D for closing the rear end of the cartridge tube is, when
fixed ammunition is employed, provided with an extractor for withdrawing the
empty cartridge cases during the opening of the breech.
Instead of gearing the breech blocks together by means of the pinion d and the
toothed segments d, I may dispense with such toothed gearing and connect the
two blocks together by means of a rod or link D as illustrated in Figure 4 so that
the angular movement of one block will be transmitted by such rod to the other
block. In this case each block would be furnished with a handle 18 so that either
of them could be operated indiscriminately to actuate both.
For elevating the gun I sometimes provide it with a toothed segmental rack G
(Figure 5) gearing with a worm keyed on a shaft G¹ carried by the gun mounting,
the said shaft being revolved by a crank handle G2 or other appropriate means.
do not however confine myself to these means of elevating the gun, as various
other elevating devices will serve my purpose equally well; for instance I may
employ as shown in Figure 1 a screw-rod G3 gearing at one end with a nut G¹
on the gun and at the other end connected to the gun mounting, the said screw-
rod being turned by means of a hand wheel G³.
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
in a gun for firing shells charged with high explosives is:-
-
1. A combustion chamber provided with a subsidiary or inner chamber or tube
so disposed relatively to the port or passage through which the gases of discharge
reach the gun-barrel, that their entrance to the barrel is preceded by a body of
comparatively cool air substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
2. The breech block of the barrel and that of the subsidiary chamber both
mounted on one hinged frame or carrier substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
3. The aforesaid breech blocks adapted to be operated simultaneously substan-
tially as and for the purposes specified.
5

page_text: 4. The employment of diagonal struts or stays for the barrel substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
5. A gun having its parts constructed arranged and operating substantially as
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 30th day of January 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.