Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Feb., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 12th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 14th Dec., 1888
I, ALBERT SAUVÉE, of 22 Parliament Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by Joan Baptiste Gustave Adolphe Canet,
Civil Engineer, of 91 Avenue Malakoff, Paris, France), to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to an improved construction of carriage for quick
firing guns, of which the following is a description.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the carriage carrying
the gun.
Fig. 2 is a view of the mechanism for the vertical elevation of the gun.
Fig. 3 is a detail view of the mechanism serving to automatically open the breech
during the return of the gun to the firing position, and
Fig. 4 is a modification of such mechanism, in which a hydraulic cylinder is
employed.
The gun A is carried in a hydraulic cylinder B secured to the frame C by trunnions
or other suitable means, and which serves as a break.
The frame rests in the ordinary manner upon a pivot plate D. On the gun is a
collar E, which serves as the break piston.
During the recoil the liquid, which fills the space left between the cylinder B and
the gun, passes from the rear to the front of the piston E, through the passage formed
by the clearance left between the piston and the inner surface of the cylinder,
which is suitably bored to vary the resistance which is offered to the passage of the
liquid.
The diameter of the gun being greater in front than in the rear of the piston, the
liquid displaced during the recoil is forced back, opening the valve S, and then passes
into a cylinder F, in which is arranged a piston G acted upon by springs mounted on
a rod I, and which abut against a stop or transverse bar fixed to the cylinder 13.
These springs can be replaced by a suitable fluid under pressure.

page_text: At the end of the recoil the liquid under pressure passes back into the cylinder by
a small orifice formed in the valve, and slowly runs the gun out again.
To the frame is secured a support or bracket L, carrying a shaft M provided with
a hand wheel. On this shaft an endless screw is mounted and actuates a worm
wheel.
The movement of such wheel is transmitted to the gun, through a toothed sector N,
mounted on the ring O in which the gun slides.
The sector has a segmental circular slot P, with which engages a slide block fixed
to the end of the support or bracket. By this means the ring and the sector are
connected to the frame, and describing an arc of a circle, of which the centre is the
same as that of the trunnions, they follow the gun in all its movements.
The lateral training of the gun is effected by pushing the shaft M to the right or
to the left.
The breech closing mechanism may be the same as that described in the specification
accompanying my prior application for Patent No. 9453, dated 4th July 1887, where
by the single movement of a horizontal lover, I obtain the rotary movement of the
breech screw,
the movement necessary for extraction, and that for disengagement.
But the system I will now proceed to describe can also be applied to all breeches
having a single operating lever.
In the arrangements at present employed the automatic opening of the breech is
effected during the recoil itself of the gun, which presents the serious drawback that
the breech is opened while the gases from the powdor have still a pressure, which
may cause the backward projection of the breech block or of the metallic case, and
occasion grave accidents.
According to my present invention I effect the automatic opening of the breech by
the action of the return of the gun to the firing position after recoil, by the following
arrangement:
On the rear end of the rod I of the springs of the accumulator, is mounted a
vertical arm a, which carries a slide block working in grooves formed at the lower
part of the sector-carrying ring 0.
This slide block carries a trunnion on which is mounted a tube c, within which
moves a piston whose rod d is articulated at e to a main lever f. The lever fis
mounted on the centre of rotation k of the bracket which supports the breech
screw.
Its free end acts through a roller on another lever g keyed to the vertical axis of
the operating lever of the breech screw.
When the gun recoils, the piston of the accumulator in its movement carries with
it the rod I, and consequently the tube c, the main lever being retained by a stop h
fixed to the gun.
During this movement the piston of the rod d compresses a spiral spring contained
in the tube, and which serves to bring the parts back to their original position when
the return movement of the gun is completed.
The face of the breech which was originally at X Y arrives at the end of the recoil
at X¹ Y¹.
The tube, the rod, and the main lever then occupy the positions b¹, e¹, k¹.
When under the action of the springs of the accumulator, the gun commences its
return movement, the tube and the rod return forward.
At the moment when the end of the breech is at X" Y", the rod is arrested by the
catch m.
The different parts are then in the position b, e, k; from this moment
the rod d may be considered as forming part of the tube.
The latter moves forward with the piston of the accumulator, whilst the gun travels
in the same direction at a much greater speed, because the return movement of the
gun is much longer than the return movement of the accumulator; the result is a
relative movement which during the return movement of the gun provides a bearing
for the operating lever, and effects the opening of the breech when the tube and the
rod are in the position 61, e", k¹.
The return movement is then nearly completed. The lower end of the pawl ₺ then

page_text: abuts at n against the end of the slide. The forward movement continuing the catch
is disengaged and the spiral spring i brings back the main lever fagainst stop h.
The parts are then in the positions, e,, the return movement is finished, the
breech open
and free, and the operator can close it again after loading.
In carriages without accumulator cylinders, I make the abutment for the rod of
the operating lever, a fixed point on the frame, and the opening of the breech is then
effected as above described.
Finally, in certain cases, for opening the breech I employ the movement of a
hydraulic piston p, articulated under the ring O. The catch m is abolished, the piston
pressing against the liquid during the return movement. This piston is provided with
a valve g which opens during the recoil and permits the liquid to pass freely behind
the piston; on the return movement this valve closes, and as the liquid can no longer
pass to the other side of the piston except through very small orifices U pierced
through the valve, it follows that the return movement of the piston is very slow,
and that the piston serves till the end of the recoil as the bearing for the opening of
the breech screw, of which the operation is the same as in the other cases; the gun
being run out, the spring effects the return of the piston, and the operator may close
the breech by hand.
It will be readily understood that the materials, proportions, and dimensions, as
well as the accessory arrangements may be varied as required, without departing from
the principle of my invention.
Dmth dan af Tahoma, 1000

page_text: I, ALBERT SAUVÉE, of 22 Parliament Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by Jean Baptiste Gustave Adolphe Canet,
Civil Engineer, of 91 Avenue Malakoff, Paris, France), and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The present invention relates to an improved construction of carriage for quick
firing guns, of which the following is a description.
In the drawings accompanying the provisional specification Fig. 1 is an elevation
of the carriage carrying the gun.
Fig. 2 is a view of the mechanism for the vertical elevation of the gun.
Fig. 3 is a detail view of the mechanism serving to automatically open the breech
during the return of the gun to the firing position, and
Fig. 4 is a modification of such mechanism, in which a hydraulic cylinder is
employed.
The gun A is carried in a hydraulic cylinder B secured to the frame C by trunnions
or other suitable means, and which serves as a break.
The frame rests in the ordinary manner upon a pivot plate D. On the gun is a
collar E, which serves as the break piston.
During the recoil the liquid, which fills the space left between the cylinder B and the
gun, passes from the rear to the front of the piston E, through the passage formed
by the clearance left between the piston and the inner surface of the cylinder, which
is suitably bored to vary the resistance which is offered to the passage of the liquid.
The diameter of the gun being greater in front than in the rear of the piston, the
liquid displaced during the recoil is forced back, opening the valve S, and then passes
into a cylinder F, in which is arranged a piston G acted upon by springs mounted on
a rod I, and which abut against a stop or transverse bar fixed to the cylinder B.
These springs can be replaced by a suitable fluid under pressure.
At the end of the recoil the liquid under pressure passes back into the cylinder by
a small orifice formed in the valve, and slowly runs the gun out again.
To the frame is secured a support or bracket L, carrying a shaft M provided
with a hand wheel. On this shaft an endless screw is mounted and actuates a worn
wheel.
The movement of such wheel is transmitted to the gun, through a toothed sector N,
mounted on the ring O in which the gun slides.
The sector has a segmental circular slot P, with which engages a slide block fixed to
the end of the support or bracket. By this means the ring and the sector are con-
nected to the frame, and describing an arc of a circle, of which the centre is the same
as that of the trunnions, they follow the gun in all its movements.
The lateral training of the gun is effected by pushing the shaft M to the right or
to the left.

page_text: The breech closing mechanism may be the same as that described in the specifica-
tion accompanying my prior Patent No. 9453, dated 4th July 1887, where by the
single movement of a horizontal lever, I obtain the rotary movement of the breech
screw, the movement necessary for extraction, and that for disengagement. But the
system I will now proceed to describe can also be applied to all breeches having a
single operating lever.
In the arrangements, at present employed the automatic opening of the breech is
effected during the recoil itself of the gun, which presents the serious drawback that
the breech is opened while the gases from the powder have still a pressure, which
may cause the backward projection of the breech block or of the metallic case, and
occasion grave accidents.
According to my present invention I effect the automatic opening of the breech
by the action of the return of the gun to the firing position after recoil, by the
following arrangement :-
On the rear end of the rod I of the springs of the accumulator, is mounted a
vertical arm a, which carries a slide block 6 working in grooves formed at the lower
part of the sector-carrying ring 0.
This slide block carries a trunnion on which is mounted a tube c, within which
moves a piston whose rod d is articulated at e to a main lever f. The lever fis
mounted on the centre of rotation k of the bracket which supports the breech
screw.
Its free end acts through a roller on another lever 9 keyed to the vertical axis of the
operating lever of the breech screw.
When the gun recoils, the piston of the accumulator in its movement carries with it
the rod I, and consequently the tube c, the main lever being retained by a stop ŉ fixed
to the gun.
During this movement the piston of the rod d compresses a spiral spring contained
in the tube, and which serves to bring the parts back to their original position when
the return movement of the gun is completed.
The face of the breech which was originally at X Y arrives at the end of the recoil
at X¹ Y¹.
The tube, the rod, and the main lever then occupy the positions b¹, et, k¹.
When under the action of the springs of the accumulator, the gun commences its
return movement, the tube and the rod return forward.
At the moment when the end of the breech is at X Y₁, the rod is arrested by
the catch m. The different parts are then in the position b. e, k; from this moment
the rod d may be considered as forming part of the tube.
The latter moves forward with the piston of the accumulator, whilst the gun travels
in the same direction at a much greater speed, because the return movement of the
gun is much longer than the return movement of the accumulator; the result is a
relative movement which during the return movement of the gun provides a bearing
for the operating lever, and effects the opening of the breech when the tube and the
rod are in the positions 6", ell, ".
The return movement is then nearly completed. The lower end of the pawl t then
abuts at n against the end of the slide. The forward movement continuing the catch
is disengaged and the spiral spring i brings back the main lever fagainst stop h.
The parts are then in the positions, e", "", the return movement is finished, the
breech open and free, and the operator can close it again after loading.
In carriages without accumulator cylinders, I make the abutment for the rod of the
operating lever, a fixed point on the frame, and the opening of the breech is then
effected as above described.
Finally, in certain cases, for opening the breech I employ the movement of a
hydraulic piston p, articulated under the ring O. The catch m is abolished, the
piston pressing against the liquid during the return movement.
This piston is
provided with a valve 9 which opens during the recoil and permits the liquid to pass
freely behind the piston; on the return movement this valve closes, and as the liquid
can no longer pass to the other side of the piston except through very small orifices U

page_text: pierced through the valve, it follows that the return movement of the piston is very
slow, and that the piston serves till the end of the recoil as the bearing for the
opening of the breech screw, of which the operation is the same as in the other cases;
the gun being run out, the spring effects the return of the piston, and the operator
may close the breech by hand.
It will be readily understood that the materials, proportions, and dimensions, as well
as the accessory arrangements may be varied as required, without departing from
the principle of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The arrangement of gun sliding through a hydraulic cylinder forming the break
and connected to the frame by trunnions or other suitable means, the return
movement of the gun being effected by means of any suitable accumulator.
2. The arrangement for the vertical elevation of the gun, consisting in acting by
any suitable means upon a sector-carrying ring in which the gun slides, such ring being
guided between the cheeks of the frame, by a slide block engaging a segmental
circular groove, and the ring carrying the back sight, so that the operator can always
keep his eye along the line of sight during the recoil.
3. The arrangement described having for its object to employ the return move-
ment of the gun for opening the breech, such opening being (in the case of carriages
fitted with accumulators) effected by the combination of the respective movements
of the gun and of the accumulator piston, while in carriages where no accumulator
cylinders are employed, a fixed point on the frame forms the point of abutment for
the rod of the operating lever; or the catch m described may be abolished and a
hydraulic cylinder employed, all substantially as specified.
Dated this 10th day of November 1888.