US2030051A - Emplacing member for gun carriages and mounts - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 11, 1936. BARNES 2,030,051

I EMPLACING MEMBER FOR GUN CARRIAGES AND MOUNTS Filed Sept. 5, 195-3 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.1.

Eladetm M.EIE.1"T1ES i WM Attmrney Inventor I Patented Feb. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES EMPLACIN G MEMBER FOR GUN CARRIAGES AND MOUNTS Gladeon M. BarneaUnited States Army, Hastings, Mich.

Application September 5, 1933, Serial No. 688,139

3 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

5 This invention relates to an emplacing member for gun carriages and mounts.

Modern field, and anti-aircraft gun carriages are equipped with long emplacing members such as trails and outriggers in order to give satisfactory stability during firing with a minimum amount of ground preparation. In the indirect system of fire control now extensively used for guns firing at high speed targets on the ground or in the air, it is necessary that the emplacement of the gun carriage be of a fixed character, as any movement relative to the ground affects the orientation of the gun.

When long outriggers are used it is generally found necessary to prepare the ground in order that the outriggers may lie level thereon. This preparation generally involves the addition or the removal of dirt in order to. provide a solid and level surface for contact of the Outriggers.

The purpose of the present invention is to remedy the foregoing disadvantages by providing a jointed outrigger whose parts may be rigidly connected and locked in various angular relations.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a gun carriage including a wheeled axle unit and showin the improved emplacing members.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the gun pedestal lowered to the ground.

Fig. 3 is a view taken generally on the line 33 of Fig. 4 and showing the joint of an outrigger.

Fig. 4 is a view of Fig. 3 partly in side elevation and partly in section. a

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a gun carriage consisting generally of a pedes- 55 tal mount A, supported by a detachable wheeled axle unit B and by emplacing members C, and supporting a top carriage D of typical anti-aircraft design in which a gun E is trunnioned as at F adjacent the breech to provide for high angle firing. V 5

A pair of emplacing members 0 on the rear of the pedestal constitute the conventional gun carriage trails and are each secured to the pedestal by means of a vertical hinge pin 5. Each trailconsists of an inner part 6 which is connected to the pedestal and an outer part I which carries a spade 8 adapted to enter the ground.

The adjoining ends are connected on their upper side by a horizontally disposed hinge pin 9 whereby the outer part 1 may be rotated in the 15 vertical plane of the trail. The hinge pin 9 is mounted in apertures I0l0 in a pair of spaced plates Il-l| on the inner part 6 and passes through a bearing I2 extending between and. secured to spaced plates l3-l3 fixed on the out- 20 er part 1 and fitting between the plates l l.

The outer part 1 includes a floor plate M on which are fixed spaced blocks l5l5 each having a vertically elongated slot "5. The slots l6 receive a connecting pin I1 passing through the 25 rear end of an actuating screw shaft IS. The pin I! also projects through vertical slots Iii-l9 in the plates I3 and its extremities ride in horizontally elongated slots 20-20 in the plates 0 The shaft I8 is housed in a tubular casing 2| in the inner part 6 of the trail and is journaled in bearings 22. A nut 23 on the screw shaft is restrained against translational movement by the bearings 22 so that it will be capable of axially displacing the screw shaft. The exterior surface of the nut is provided with worm teeth 24 meshing with the threads of a worm 25 on a shaft 26. The shaft 26 is journaled in a bearing 21 and is rotated by means of a crank handle 28. The pitch of the screw shaft and the ratio of the worm gearing are determined so as to require the application of only a slight force at the handle. 45

In operation, when it is desired to angularly displace the outer part 'I relative to the inner part 6, the crank handle 28 is actuated to rotate the nut 23 and thereby cause the screw shaft to be axially moved. The screw shaft being connected to the outer part 1 through the pin l1 causes the part I to be rotated about the hinge pin 9. The actuating mechanism also serves to rigidly lock the part 1 in adjusted position and there will be no movement between the parts of the trail even when subjected to the firing stresses of the gun. The provision of the slots I6 and I! serves to permit angular displacement of the outer part 1 without bending the screw shaft.

By employing the jointed trail the gun mount can be emplaced on rough ground with but little if any preparation. While only two trails or Outriggers are shown in Fig. 2 it is contemplated that additional ones may be attached to the pedestal as is well understood in the art.

I claim:

1. A gun mount emplacing member comprising an inner part connected to the gun mount and having spaced plates with horizontally disposed slots, an outer part having spaced plates with vertically disposed slots and adapted to fit between the plates of the inner part, a horizontally disposed hinge pin passing through all of the spaced plates, a floor plate on the outer part, spaced blocks fixed to the floor plate and having vertically disposed slots in alignment with the Vertical slots in the plates, a screw shaft mounted in the inner part and having an end disposed between the fixed blocks, a pin passing through said end and the slots in the blocks and plates, a nut on the screw shaft, means for constraining the nut against translational movement, and means for rotating the nut.

2. A gun mount, an emplacing member comprising an inner part connected to the gun mount, a horizontally disposed pin carried on the upper side of said part adjacent one end, an outer part hingedly mounted on the pin, a floor plate on the outer part, spaced blocks fixed to the floor plate and having vertically disposed slots, a screw shaft mounted in the inner part and having an end disposed between the fixed blocks, a pin passing through said end and the slots in the blocks, a nut on the screw shaft, means for constraining the nut against translational movement, and means for rotating the nut.

3. A gun mount, and emplacing member com prising an inner part connected to the gun mount, a horizontally disposed pin carried on said part adjacent one end, an outer part hingedly mounted on the pin, a screw shaft housed Within and carried by the inner part and having a vertically movable connection with the outer part, a nut on the screw shaft, means for constraining the nut against translational movement, and means for rotating the nut.

GLADEON M. BARNES.

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