AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING CANNONS AND OTHER ORDNANCE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING CANNONS
AND OTHER ORDNANCE" A communication.
Sealed the 20th February 1857, and dated the 26th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th August 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING
CANNONS AND OTHER ORDNANCE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel method of securing the breech-pin in
place. It consists in providing the breech-pin with a number of expanding
segments, to the rear ends of which links or levers are jointed. These levers
are simultaneously operated by means of a screw which works in the centre of
the breech-pin; by turning this screw to the right or left hand the segments
will be drawn into recesses or grooves round the breech-pin, and the pin can
After the inser-
then be inserted in or removed from the piece of ordnance.

page_text: tion of the breech-pin in the piece, the segments are expanded or spread
laterally into a groove around the seat which receives the breech-pin, so as to
form stays to act between the pin and the solid metal of the exterior of the
breech, for the prevention of the driving out of the pin when the explosion of
the charge takes place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING CANNONS AND OTHER ORDNANCE," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
―
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates

page_text: to a novel method of securing the breech-pin in place. It consists in pro-
viding the breech-pin with a number of expanding segments, which are
operated by suitable mechanical means, and caused to retire into a recess or
groove round the breech-pin, to allow of the pin being inserted in or removed
from the piece of ordnance, and after the insertion of the breech-pin to expand
or spread laterally and lock the breech-pin in its seat.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a longitudinal central section of a breech-loading cannon with the improve-
ment applied; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the breech-pin and its expand-
ing segments, taken in the line x, x, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view of the
breech-pin detached. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures.
The cannon A is bored truly and parallel from the muzzle to the line a, a,
(see Fig. 1,) where the face of the breech-pin meets the bore. From the
point a, a, towards the rear of the gun, the bore is enlarged gradually, or in a
slightly conical form, to b, b, whence it is again enlarged more suddenly than
from a to b, as far as c, c, and then suddenly contracted nearly to the same
size as at b, b, thus forming a conical groove b, c, all round the interior. From
the line c, the bore is again enlarged in a conical form to the rear extremity of
the gun. The enlarged portion of the bore, in rear of the line a, a, constitutes
the seat for the breech-pin.
B, C, is the breech-pin, which, in order to obtain a closed cavity D in its
interior to receive the mechanism for operating, its expanding or spreading
segments is made in two parts, of which the front part B, which is bored out
for some distance from its rear extremity, to form the aforesaid cavity D, is
screwed into the front of the rear part C. The front portion of the part B
is turned to a conical shape, and ground to fit the part a, b, of the bore of the
gun, and the part C is turned and ground to fit the conically enlarged portion
of the bore at the extreme rear of the gun. Opposite to the conical groove b, c,
there is a groove d, d', turned in the exterior of the breech-pin, to receive the
expanding segments E, E. These segments, of which there may be three or
more, are made of stout steel or iron, each constituting a portion of a hollow
cylinder, and are fitted to the groove d, d', in the breech-pin, so that they will
ie snugly within it, to allow the breech-pin to be inserted into the gun as far
s desirable. They are confined to the breech-pin at the front of the groove
, d, by means of pins e, e, rigidly attached to them, and entering holes pro-
ided in the breech-pin to receive them, as shewn in Fig. 1. These pins
erve as hinges, upon which the segments are capable of expanding or spread-

page_text: ing outward, so as to enter into the conical groove b, c, when the breech-pin is
in its place. The segments are of such length as to reach from the front d'
of the groove d, d', in the breach-pin to the back part c of the groove b, c, in
the gun, when they are spread while the breech piece is in the gun; and their
ends are so formed as to have a good solid bearing in the said grooves d, d¹,
and b, c.
The end d' of the groove d, d', may be square with the axis of the
pin, but the end c of the groove b, c, is tapered or curved in such manner that
by forcing out the segments in contact with it, the segments will produce a
slight drawing action to draw the breech-pin tightly into the gun. The seg-
ments are shewn in black outline in Fig. 1 as drawn into the groove d, d', in
the breech-pin, in condition for the insertion of the breech-pin into or its
removal from the gun, and they are shewn in red outline in the same Figure
expanded into the groove b, c, in which condition they hold the breech-pin
firmly in place, and prevent it being driven back out of the gun by the force
of the explosion, which force is met directly by the segments, and transmitted
to the shoulder c at the back of the groove b, c.
C
The expanding or spreading of the segments, and the drawing of them into
the breech-pin, is effected by their connection with links f, f, which work
through slots h, h, in the sides of the cavity D of the breech-pin, and are con-
part
nected with a loose collar 9 on a screw rod i, which works through the
of the breech-pin, in one part of which is a female screw to receive the male
screw on the rod. The collar g is fitted to a plain part of the screw rod in
such manner as to allow the latter to turn freely within it, but to have no
longitudinal movement independently of it; consequently, by turning the screw
and thereby causing it to move longitudinally, the collar is moved longitudinally
also, and by that means acts upon the links after the fashion of a toggle, and
forces the segments outward from the breech-pin, or draws them inward
according to the direction in which the screw is turned. On the screw rod i a
The breech-pin
hand wheel j is fitted, for the purpose of turning the same.
when the segments are drawn into the groove d, d, may be moved into and
from its place in the gun by any suitable mechanical means, which do no
require to be now described.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the Invention com
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood tha
I do not confine myself strictly to the particular form of the groove b, c, whic
receives the segments, nor of the segments themselves, nor to the particula
form of the breech-pin, nor to the particular mechanism herein described fo
operating the segments, as such may be varied or modified without departing

page_text: from the principle of action thereof; but under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim the application to breech-loading cannon of expanding
segments attached to the breech-pin, and operating substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)