Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 13th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 14th Dec.,
1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
I, AUGUST REICHWALD, of 9 New Broad Street, in the City of London Steel,
Iron, Metal and Mineral Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(a communication to me from abroad by the Firm of Fried Krupp of Essen in
the Empire of Germany Cast Steel Manufacturers) to be as follows:-
The object of the present invention for improvements in or connected with wheel
carriages for guns, is to check the recoil of the latter and to utilize a part of the
energy of the recoil for bringing back the gun to its initial position. This result
is obtained according to this invention by the employment of a kind of a spade or
blade which is pivotally attached to the walls or side frames of the carriage near
to the trail or tail end thereof. In conjunction with the said spade or blade and
the walls of the carriage, is arranged an elastic buffer, by which the spade or blade
is kept in such position, that on firing, this blade is driven into the ground, and the
resistance, which the ground opposes or offers to the retreating or backward motion
of the spade or blade is greater than that of the buffer. The lower edge of the
spade therefore after the firing is firmly driven into and retained by the ground,
while its upper part is taken back by the trail with which it is connected and
slightly recoils. But this recoil which is permitted by the turning of the spade or
blade around its pivot, is very unimportant since this turning is limited, because
the spade or blade after having compressed or acted upon the buffer to a certain
degree bears upon the carriage walls and thus assumes nearly a vertical position
to the ground whereby its resistance, in the ground, is raised to a maximum point.
The spade or blade now becoming rigid with the carriage, the force of the recoil,
which is somewhat lessened by the work of compressing the buffer and turning
back the spade or blade and thus having lost a great deal of effect on the carriage,
is not able to cause a farther recoil of any importance. The energy of the recoil
now being completely absorbed, the part of it which has been stored in the buffer
begins to come into action to effect a return of the spade or blade to its initial
position. But as the lower edge of the spade or blade which is fixed in the ground
is not able to give way, it serves as a support or fulcrum round which the spade
or blade revolves in a forward direction. Thus the gun is brought back to the
firing position. I thus produce a mechanism to check the recoil of guns with
wheel carriages essentially composed as hereinbefore described of a spade or blade
jointed to the walls of the carriage near to the trail, which spade or blade is driven
into and turned in the ground by the recoil, the turning of which blade produces
tension of an elastic medium or mechanism arranged between spade or blade and
walls of the carriage but it is limited in such a way that the spade or blade strikes
against plates, attached to the walls, and this becoming rigid with the carriage
prevents the further recoil of the gun, while after the recoil is finished or stopped
the said compressed elastic medium or mechanism returns the spade or blade to its
initial position and thereby carries the gun automatically forward to the firing
position.
101 1
TL
100%

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Gun Carriages.
I, AUGUST REICHWALD of 9 New Broad Street, in the City of London, Steel;
Iron, Metal, and Mineral Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(a communication to me from abroad by the Firm of Fried Krupp of Essen, in
the Empire of Germany, Cast Steel Manufacturers) 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 an improvement in the carriages of travelling guns
such as field guns and the like and has for 'object to considerably shorten the recoil
movement of the latter, and to utilise a portion of the force of the recoil for
automatically advancing the gun into its original position. This is effected by the
use of a sort of spade, pick, or blade which is pivotally connected with the walls
or side frames of the carriage by means of a bolt fixed thereto near the trail or tail
end of the gun carriage and which is held by means of an elastic buffering device
inserted between it and the side frames in such a position whilst it is at rest, that
it will be driven into the ground by the recoil when the first shot is fired. The
ground then offers a certain amount of resistance to the yielding or rearward
movement of the pick, spade, or blade, when a shot is fired, which even in soft
ground is somewhat greater than that of the buffering device. The lowermost
edge of the pick, spade, or blade, remains therefore fixed in the ground after
firing, whilst its upper portion shares the recoil movement of the carriage trail or
tail end connected therewith; this recoil movement is however very small because
the rotation of the pick (which allows of such recoil) about its bolt is limited.
The arrangement is 'such, that after the pick has placed 'the buffering device to a
certain degree under strain; the pick bears against the frames of the carriage, and
thus assumes a position approximately perpendicular to the surface of the ground,
whereby the resistance of the ground is increased to its maximam. Now since the
pick forms a rigid whole with the carriage, the recoil, (which is somewhat reduced
by the work consumed in placing the buffering device under strain, and in turning
back the pick, and has thus considerably lost its injurious influence upon the
carriage), is no longer able to produce a further appreciable rearward movement
of the gun.
When the recoil force has been completely consumed in this manner; that portion
of it which has been stored up in the buffer; comes into operation, and produces a
relative rearward rotation of the pick into its original position. But since the
pick cannot yield, by reason of its lower edge being fixed in the groun't, this lower
edge therefore serves as an abutment or pivot about which the upper part of the
pick will rotate in a forward direction. In this manner the pick serves to move
the entire gun back into its original position.
The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of slightly different modifi-
cations of the above described invention, which are however similar in their mode
of operation. Que modification is illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 Sheet 1;
a second modification is shown in Figures 4 and 5 Sheet'1'; a third modifi-
cation is shown in Figures 6 and 7, Sheet 2; and a fourth modification in
Figures 8 and 9, Sheet 2; and a fifth in Figures 10 to 14, Sheet 3:
The device for arresting the recoil consists of the spade, pick or blade A' here-
after called pick, which together with its two arms bis pivotted on a bolt C fixed
to the gun carriage near the trail of the said carriage. In Figures 1, 4, 7, and 10,
the pick A is shown in its initial or rest-position, and in Figs. 3, 9 and 12, in its
end position.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 3, the pick or blade is formed as a
one-armed lever, which bears against the head of the huffar holt With it

page_text: tongue & situated between the two arms b. This bolt E serves to guide the elastic
buffer F (shown in the drawing as being a rubber buffer), and is itself guided by
means of a sleeve G fixed to the transverse stay H of the side frames. A screw
nut on the buffer bolt E, allows of adjusting the initial strain of the elastic
buffer F according to requirements. To the side frames there are fixed guide
pieces J which have a two-fold purpose. First-they serve to relieve the bolt C
of the vertical pressure of the weight of the gun and of the recoil, and for this.
purpose their lower surfaces are cylindrical and conaxial or concentric with the
bolt C, and they constitute the slide way for the corresponding hollow surfaces of
the pick A, whilst the bolt C may have a slight amount of play in the eyes of the
arms b of the pick. The plane surfaces g g', which form the terminations of the
cylindrical surfaces f, and upon which the pick bears with similar plane surfaces in
its end positions, also serve to limit the rotary movement of the pick. By this
means it is possible, not only to keep the strain to which the buffer is exposed,
within determined limits independently of the nature and resistance of the ground,
but also to determine the end position of the pick shown in Figures 3, 9 and 12
independently of the nature of the ground in such a manner as is necessary for
most effectively preventing the recoil. The initial and end strain of the buffer is
made such that it will be borne or resisted even by very soft ground, but will be
quite adequate to produce the certain advance of the gun.
In the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the arms b of the pick are prolonged
beyond the pivot C, and are connected at their ends to the pins or journals of a
crosshead K. In the centre of the latter there is fixed, by means of the screw
nut r, the buffer bolt L, the other end of which is formed with an eye or ring.
This eye embraces the bolt M which is fixed in bearings N on the trail of the
carriage, and by means of which the buffer bolt L is movably jointed to the side
frames. An elastic body such, for example, as the pile or series of springs shown
in Figures 4 and 5, mounted on the buffer bolt, bears at one end against the
crosshead K, and at the other end against the eye of the buffer bolt. The strain
thereon be regulated according to requirements by means of the nut r.
may
guide pieces J have the same shape and serve the same purpose as those in
Figures 1 and 3.
.
'The
In the arrangement shown in Figures 6 and 7, the bolt C is capable of rotation
in the suitably bored bearings P, fixed to the side frames, whilst the arms 6 of the
pick A are slipped with their prismatic cavities, or polygonal apertures, over
similarly formed places a on the bolt, so that when they (the arms b) rotate, the
latter (the bolt) is also rotated.
The inner end surfaces c of the two bearings P. have the shape of a single or
multiple screw surface, the generating line of which intersects the axis of the
bolt Cat right angles. Against these end surfaces are pressed the similarly formed
onter end surfaces of the two annular pieces B, by the series of springs D, which
are mounted upon the middle of the bolt C. The annular pieces B are also
mounted upon prismatic or polygonal parts e of the bolt C, in such a manner as to
be obliged to rotate therewith, but so as to be capable of moving laterally thereon
in the direction of the length of the bolt. Now when the pick A is caused by the
recoil to turn about the axis of the bolt C, the arms of the pick compel the
bolt C, and consequently also the annular pieces B, to rotate therewith, the result
being to compress the springs D, because the inner surfaces of the annular pieces are
brought nearer together, by reason of the helical form of their outer end surfaces.
and of the inner surfaces of the bearings P. When the force of the recoil has
been consumed, the strained springs D come into operation, and force the annular
pieces B apart. These are caused by the sliding motion of their outer helical
surfaces on the inner surfaces e of the bearings P, to rotate backwards; they also
compel the bolt C to share this motion. The bolt C turns the pick back again into
its original position, with reference to the gun carriage, which is thereby moved
forward again into position ready for firing.
For the purpose of reducing the friction between the helical surfaces of the
'

page_text: bearings, and of the annular pieces, balls / running in, turned grooves, may be
inserted in the space between the said parts.
In the arrangement. shown in Figures 8 and 9, the pick A is also fixed to the
bolt C, by means of the cavities of the arms & which are suitably formed to receive
the prismatic or polygonal parts a, so that when the pick rotates about its axis, the
bolt C will also rotate therewith.
Ib. its position of rest, the pick is held by means of a spring G, which is composed
of plates coiled in helical manner and enclosing the bolt C. One end of this spring
is fixed by means of a screw i to the bearing P of the bolt connected to the side
frame, and its other end' is fixed by means of a screw k. to an arm which.rotates
with the bolt. The mode of operation is exactly the same as in the preceding
arrangement.
The arrangement illustrated in Figures 10. to 14. comprises a number of spiral'
springs Q, arranged side by side which are coiled around the bolt, and are fixed at
their inner ends-to the bolt, and at their outer ends to the side frames.
In this case
also the bolt C, which is pivotted in.guide plates J, fixed to the side frames, and
constructed as bearing brackets, turns with the pick A, whose arms b are also
mounted with their suitably formed eyes upon prismatic or polygonal portions of
the bolt. The central portion of the bolt. C situated between the two side frames,
is also of prismatic or polygonal form, for example of hexagonal shape in cross
section. Upon this part there fits a tube m which is formed with a corresponding
cavity of similar cross section to that of the bolt, and which has on its outer surface
a longitudinal groove, for the reception of the key n on the inner ends of the
springs Q. The tubular eyes o, formed by turning over the outer ends of the
springs, are connected with the side frames by means of a. bar p, extending through
said eyes o, and through corresponding holes in the side frames.
In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the springs. Q under their
initial strain, two side arms s are fixed (in a similar manner to-the springs) upon the
ends of the tube m, said ends projecting, for this purpose on each side. beyond
the springs. These arms & can. be readily removed. from the tube m by removing
the springs Q from the carriage, after the bolt C and the bar 2, have been removed.
The screws t are inserted in the female screw-threaded ends or eyes of the arms s.
On tightening up these screws they hear against the outer surface of the eyes o of
the two outer springs, and by rotating the arms s and the tube m, about the axis
of the springs Q, they serve to strain. and hold the latter, so that the insertion of
the springs into the carriage and their removal therefrom in this condition is very
easy. After the springs have been inserted, the screws t are slightly slackened.
This slackening of the strain causes the pick A to bear against tlie surfaces 9 of
the guide plates J.
g
In order to impart to all the springs their initial strain at one and the same time,
before inserting them into the carriage, and before the bar p is inserted into the
eyes,o, there is previously inserted into the. latter a tube u that surrounds
the bar p.
The arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus herein described may
obviously be further altered, but such. alterations or modifications, will remain
within the scope of the invention, so long as they comprise a pick or pick-shaped
plate subjected to elastic pressure, and pivotted to the trail' of the carriage, the
arrangement being such that after the pick is caused. by the recoil in the first
instance, whilst imparting strain to the elastic intermediary buffer, between it and
the side frames, to bear against a portion of the said side frames, the pick prevents
further strain.on the buffer, and further continuation of the recoil, and finally serves
to advance the gun forward into its original position.
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. A device for shortening the recoil and for automatically advancing travelling

page_text: guns, such as field guns and the like, back into their original position, consisting of
a pick pivotted near to the trail of the carriage, said pick being driven by the
recoil into the ground and rotated, so that its rotation produces strain in an elastic.
intermediary part, interposed between it and the frames of the carriage, but is
limited by means of a stop, in such a manner that when the pick has come to a
bearing against the same, it will act as a body rigidly fixed to the carriage, to-
prevent the further recoil of the gun, whilst after the termination of the recoil, the-
strained elastic intermediary part serves to move the pick back again into its original
position and thus run the gun out again, substantially as set forth.
2. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the pivot bolt of
the pick is relieved of the weight and of the recoil of the gun, by means of
conaxial or concentric guiding surfaces on the carriage frames, and by means.
of corresponding surfaces of the pick body adapted to slide thereon, substantially
as set forth.
3. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the pick is
constructed in the form of a one-armed lever and bears with a tongue-piece against
a buffer, connected to the gun carriage, substantially as set forth.
4. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the pick is
constructed in the form of a two-armed lever, and bears with its upper arm against.
the crosshead of a buffer pivotted to the carriage, substantially as set forth.
5. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the bolt C pivotted
in the carriage frames, and fixed to the pick A, carries two annular pieces B which
are movable upon the bolt C, but cannot rotate, and are formed with helical outer
end surfaces, said annular pieces B bearing with their said helical outer end
surfaces, against corresponding inner surfaces of the bearings P of the bolt C, said
parts P being fixed to the carriage frames; the bolt C also carrying between said
annular pieces B, a series or pile of springs D, substantially as set forth.
6. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the bolt C fixed
to the pick A and pivotted in the carriage frames, is provided with an arm / which
rotates therewith, said arm being connected with one of the carriage frames by
means of a helical deflection spring surrounding the bolt C, substantially as set
forth.
7. A modification of the device specified in Claim 1, in which the bolt C fixed
to the pick A and pivotted in the carriage frames, is connected to the inner end or
ends of one or more spiral springs arranged side by side and wound around the
bolt C, the outer end or ends of said spiral spring or springs being fixed in any
suitable way to the carriage frames, substantially as set forth.
8. The improvements in or connected with gun carriages, substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accom-
panying drawings.
1008