Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1886
Complete Left, 29th Aug., 1887
Complete Accepted, 29th Nov., 1887
1, WILLIAM ANDERSON of 3 Whitehall Place in the City of Westminster Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:―
In ordinary gun carriages, the force of recoil is made use of and stored for running
out the gun by making the gun and its carriage slide or roll up an inclined plane.
This arrangement is very efficient for land service, but is not so well adapted for
naval use, because when the deck of the ship happens to be inclined in a direction
opposite to that of the inclined slides up which the carriage recoils, the incline becomes
more horizontal and the gun will either run out more sluggishly or refuse to move at
all, and to obviate this defect the slides have a very steep slope given to them, but the
consequence of such an arrangement is that the sudden recoil of the gun and carriage
up a steep incline causes severe pressure on the deck.
For land service also it is very advantageous to make the gun recoil down hill,
because by such an arrangement, considerable cover can be given to the detachment
when the gun is mounted "en barbette."
Both in naval and land service mountings, when the gun fires through an embrasure,
it is a great advantage for it to recoil parallel to the floor or even a little inclined to
the rear because the ports can then be made lower and so give more protection to the
detachment.
The recoil of guns or mortars down a steep incline has been taken up by springs in
combination with hydraulic compressors by Captain Raskzoff of the Russian Marine
Artillery, but there is great inconvenience in his arrangement because of the length of
spring required in order to allow sufficient motion in the gun carriage.
My invention consists in reducing the stroke of the springs by causing the
hydraulic compressor to force the water into a larger storage cylinder fitted with a
piston or ram working water tight in it, and loading such piston or ram by means of
springs to a sufficient extent to give the water pressure necessary to run out the gun.
Thus suppose I desire to have a recoil of 30 inches, if I had the springs attached
direct to the carriage they would require to be about 120 inches or 10 feet long, but
by causing the water from the compressor to act upon a storage cylinder and ram of
three times the area, I would reduce the travel of springs to 10 inches and their
total length to 40 inches, their stiffness however being increased three fold.

page_text: It is often necessary to retain the gun in the recoiled position for loading, I
accomplish this by causing the water from the compressor to flow to the storage
cylinder through an automatic recoil valve opening from the compressor to the storage
cylinder, this valve opens when the gun is fired and suffers the water to enter the
storage cylinder but will not permit it to return, the gun consequently will remain in
the loading position. If however the recoil valve be left open, the gun will run out
automatically the moment recoil ceases.
When it is desired to run the gun out, then either the recoil valve can be opened
by some convenient appliance or a communication can be opened between the
compressor and the storage cylinder by a separate pipe and cock.
For the purpose of running the gun back without firing a pump is provided which
takes the water from the compressor and forces it into the storage cylinder.
The storage cylinder is not intended necessarily to take up the whole energy of
recoil. So much as is not absorbed by friction and by the work of compressing the
storage springs or by working the breech mechanism &c. is taken up by causing the
water to flow out of the compressor through an aperture which is gradually reduced
in area by means of a taper spindle or any other known means of automatically
increasing the resistance to the escaping water.
In order to protect the working parts as much as possible I prefer to put the
compressor and storage cylinder, be they one or more, under the gun, and arrange
the slides so as to form a protection from hostile missiles, and make this thickness
anything that the nature of the service may require.
The mounting may be adapted to centre pivots or any other form of carriage that
is most convenient in each special case.
I secure the gun in any position by inserting keys into the slide so as to prevent
the outward motion of the carriage and then opening the communication between the
compressor and the storage cylinder, the pressure in the latter will keep the carriage
securely pressed against the keys.
Dated this 30th day of November 1886.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, WILLIAM ANDERSON of 3 Whitehall Place in the City of Westminster Engineer
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 :-
In ordinary gun carriages, the force of recoil is made use of and stored for running
out the gun by making the gun and its carriage slide or roll up an inclined P lane.
This arrangement is very efficient for land service, but is not so well adapted for
naval use, because when the deck of the ship happens to be inclined in a direction
opposite to that of the inclined slides up which the carriage recoils, the incline becomes
more horizontal and the gun will either run out more sluggishly or refuse to move at
all, and to obviate this defect the slides have a very steep slope given to them, but the
consequence of such an arrangement is that the sudden recoil of the gun and carriage
up a steep incline causes severe pressure on the deck.
For land service also it is very advantageous to make the gun recoil down hill,
because by such an arrangement, considerable cover can be given to the detachment.
when the gun is mounted
en barbette."
Both in naval and land service mountings, when the gun fires through an embrasure,
it is a great advantage for it to recoil parallel to the floor or even a little inclined to
the rear because the ports can then be made lower and so give more protection to the
detachment.
The recoil of guns or mortars down a steep incline has been taken up by springs in
combination with hydraulic compressors and friction brakes for retaining the gun in
the recoiled position by Captain now Colonel Raskazoff of the Russian Marine
Artillery, but there is great inconvenience in his arrangement because of the length
of spring required in order to allow sufficient motion in the gun carriage.
My invention consists in reducing the stroke of the springs as so applied by causing
the hydraulic compressor to force the water into a larger storage cylinder fitted with
a piston or ram working watertight in it, and loading such piston or ram by means of
springs to a sufficient extent to give the water pressure necessary to run out the gun.
Thus suppose I desire to have a recoil of 30 inches, if I had the springs attached
direct to the carriage they would require to be about 120 inches or 10 feet long, but
by causing the water from the compressor to act upon a storage cylinder and ram of
three times the area, I would reduce the travel of the springs to 10 inches and their
total length to 40 inches, their stiffness however being increased three fold.
It is often necessary to retain the gun in the recoiled position for loading, I
accomplish this by causing the water from the compressor to flow to the storage
cylinder through an automatic recoil valve opening from the compressor to the storage
cylinder, this valve opens when the gun is fired and suffers the water to enter the
storage cylinder but will not permit it to return, the gun consequently will remain in
the loading position. If however the recoil valve be left open, the gun will run out
automatically the moment recoil ceases.

page_text: it, so that no accident can arise from accidentally leaving the recoil valve spindle
screwed home. To regulate the amount of recoil the taper spindle R is secured to
the upper end of the cylinder, the spindle is thus capable of being inoved longitudinally
and being taper will close the opening in the upper end of the hollow-ram more or
less as may be needed.
To check the speed with which the gun runs out just before it reaches its extreme
run out position the diameter of the recoil cylinder N is made larger than that of the
ram for the greater portion of its length, but the diameter is somewhat contracted
towards the rear end at N₁ for a few inches of its length and bored out truly a little
larger than the ram. The forward end of the ram is fitted with an enlargement *
which nearly fits the contracted part of the cylinder.
When the gun is running out the water between the cylinder and the ram escapes
freely until the enlargement reaches the contracted portion of the cylinder at N¹
when the water between the piston head and the rear end of the cylinder becomes
imprisoned and can only escape as fast as the small clearance will allow, and this
clearance may be adjusted so as to soften the shock at the completion of the running
out to any desired extent.
Underneath the recoil cylinder is the storage cylinder T of sufficient capacity to
receive the whole contents of the recoil cylinder N, but altered in diameter that the
stroke on the storage cylinder plunger U is brought to any convenient length. The
storage cylinder T is bolted watertight on to the passage O formed in the framing B
and is thus in communication with the recoil cylinder N. The plunger U works
watertight through the upper end of the storage cylinder T and is guided by the
support V secured to the framing B. The ram U is fitted with springs W, by
preference disc springs, but any other kind may be used. The abutment of the
springs at the upper end is against the screw X which works in a crosshead Y
forming the nut to it, so that by turning the screw in one direction or the other the
tension on the springs may be varied. The lower point of the screw works in a
socket Z which serves as a support and guide to the springs when the ram is home.
The elevating gear M is of the ordinary kind and needs no special description.
The action of the carriage is as follows:-
The degree of inclination of the slides is immaterial, they may be level or incline to
suit circumstances but as a rule a downward inclination will be found best. The
strength of the springs W and the degree of tension given to them in each particular
carriage will depend upon the inclination of the slides and the nature of the service,
thus, on board ship the tension should be sufficient to give hydraulic pressure
competent to run the gun out against an inclination of deck of say 18°, while on land
the provision may be much less, hence the springs W are intended to store only so
much of the force of recoil as will be sufficient under all circumstances to run the gun
out, the remaining portion being taken up by throttling of the passage by the
spindle R. The cylinders then being completely full of water, the gun run out and
the springs W screwed down with sufficient tension, the gun is fired, the force of
recoil drives the recoil cylinder N on to its ram and forces the water in it, through
the recoil valve P into the storage cylinder T, the ram will be driven out and the
springs W will be further compressed. At the end of recoil the valve P will close
and the gun will remain in the recoiled position where it can be conveniently loaded.
When ready for firing the recoil valve P is opened by the wheel Q, the pressure of
the springs W drives the water out of the storage cylinder T into the recoil cylinder N
and the gun at once runs out, and is ready for firing.
The diameter of the taper spindle R is such that the pressure upon it is sufficient to
start the gun at speed in running out. The hydraulic pressure in the storage cylinder
is greater when the gun is run in than when run out on account of the springs being
compressed more in the former than in the latter state.
For the purpose of running the gun back without firing, for putting an initial
hydraulic pressure into the cylinders so as to ensure the gun running out completely,
and for securing the gun in bad weather on board ship, a small force pump 1 worked
by the crank and wheel 2 is provided. 3 is a suction pipe for pumping fresh water

page_text: ram.
in. 5 is the delivery pipe into the passage O and 4 is a suction pipe from the hollow
By closing the cock 6 and opening 7 fresh water may be forced in by allowing
the suction pipe 3 to dip into a bucket. By closing the cock 7 and opening cock 6
the water from the recoil cylinder can be pumped into the storage cylinder and the
gun by that means, run in partly by the incline of the slides and partly by the
atmospheric pressure acting on the cylinder.
There is a small air cock in the highest part of the recoil cylinder to let out the air
and a cock for drawing off water.
For the larger sorts of guns it will be more convenient to have two or more
recoil cylinders and two or more storage cylinders, and supplementary storage
cylinders may be arranged to provide hydraulic pressure for loading or training
the gun.
In place of arranging the carriage proper K to recoil along slides L on the
framing B it may be carried on trunnions by the said framing whilst the gun with
the movable element in the hydraulic apparatus is arranged to recoil along slides on
the carriage proper.
Such an arrangement is shown by the Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7. In these figures a is
the base and a¹ the pivot. 6 is a turntable or rotating support with two standards
and at the upper ends of the standards are bearings into which the trunnions c¹ c¹
of the carriage care received. d is the gun, it is able to slide longitudinally upon
the carriage c taking with it the ring e which is clipped upon the gun and also the
hydraulic cylinder which is formed together with the clip ring e. On the sides of
the cylinder f are wings f, f, which enter grooves c c in the sides of the
carriage c. is the end cover of the cylinder and f³ is a cone within the
cylinder operating in the manner already described to control the movement of
the gun. I is a hollow ram which, when the gun recoils together with the cylinder f
enters this cylinder, and water or liquid contained in the cylinder and ram g
is then driven out past the non return valve h. is a cylinder of larger
diameter which the liquid so expelled enters and it forces the ram & outwards
compresing the disc springs 1, as already explained. A few only of these springs
are shown but it will be understood that a series as represented in Figure 1 is
employed and that these springs exert their pressure against the closed end of the
ram k. is a hand wheel for lifting the valve when it is desired that the gun
should run out again after recoil-m is the elevating gear comprising a hand wheel,
axis, worm and pinion these parts are carried by one of the uprights b¹, and on the
axis of the first pinion there is a second gearing with a curved rack fixed upon the
carriage e. n is the training gear consisting of an inclined axis carried in bearings
by the turn table 6 and having at its upper end a hand wheel and at its lower a pinion
which gears with a fixed ring of teeth upon the base a.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
Gun mountings in which on recoil liquid is driven out of a recoil cylinder, through
an orifice or passage which is progressively closed by an instrument inserted into it,
and in which the liquid so expelled from the recoil cylinder is forced into another
cylinder containing a ram loaded with springs; and in which the passage so leading
from cylinder to cylinder fitted with a valve to retain the liquid displaced by the
recoil thereby preventing the gun running out again until by hand mechanism the
valve is lifted from its seat or a passage for the liquid is otherwise opened.
Dated this 20th day of August 1887
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.