Quick-firing Guns or Ordnance.
Year: 1888

page_text: Quick-firing Guns or Ordnance.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex 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 :-
My invention relates to the cocking and firing mechanism of quick-firing guns or
ordnance, and is designed to simplify and improve the construction thereof.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how my said invention can be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal central section of a portion of a gun showing an
application of my said invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are similar views showing the working parts in different positions.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
A is the gun, B the breech-block which is moved up and down in a chamber in
the breech by means of any suitable device, for example a crank.
a is the firing-pin which is subjected to the pressure of a spiral spring a¹. The
said firing pin a is cocked by turning a shaft c provided with a tappet or cam b.
The turning of the said shaft can be effected in any desired manner, for instance by
the sliding of a lever fixed upon the shaft c in an oblique groove which is arranged in
the wall of the chamber in the breech. d is the sear which is acted upon by a plate-
spring d preferably forming part of, or suitably attached to, the trigger lever e.
The sear d rises as soon as the firing pin a is cocked, and holds the latter in its
cocked position, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
An important feature of my invention consists in the special combination of the
trigger-lever e with the plate spring d¹ for actuating the sear d.

page_text: As shown in the drawing, the bent lever e forming the trigger lever terminates in
the plate-spring d¹ which presses upon a projection e' on the shaft c. The other
extremity of the said plate-spring d extends into a hole d' in the sear d. The com-
pression of the said plate-spring d¹ therefore tends on the one hand to turn the bent
trigger lever e upon its pivot e and to drive the sear d upward, whilst on the other
hand, by its pressure upon the projection c¹ on the shaft c, it causes the tappet or cam b
to return invariably to its original or normal position, so that, when the firing pin a is
subsequently driven forward, the said tappet or cam b is not in the path of the same.
In cases in which a particular arrangement of the breech renders the pressure of the
plate spring upon the shaft c superfluous, the said plate-spring has its point of
support on the under surface of the breech-block.
Sometimes the plate spring is not forged in one piece with the trigger-lever e;
in this instance, the two parts may be connected by screws or other suitable means
whereby they are firmly held together. A characteristic feature of the said invention
is the firmly connecting together or forming in one of these parts.
By the arrangement herein before described a number of small pieces of mechanism
are dispensed with and the dismounting and mounting of the breech are thus greatly
simplified, as compared with the ordinary arrangements as hitherto in use.
'
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
The scar-spring formed with, or firmly attached to, the trigger-lever and arranged
to bear against the underside of the breech-block or against the tappet or cam,
substantially as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1888.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.