GB205610A - Improvements relating to means for performing mechanical operations underwater by the use of projectiles - Google Patents

Abstract

205,610. Allan, F. Aug. 5, 1922. Ordnance for submarine discharge ; breech mechanism; sound of f discharge, modifying.-Relates to means for performing mechanical operations under water such as punching holes in steel plates, removing rivets, or causing the penetration of a projectile into and its retention within a steel plate, this being of special utility in salving vessels and other submerged objects. The main features of the invention are (1) a water-tight tube or other medium of low resistance provided in front of the projectile to displace the water which would offer a larger resistance to the projectile, (2) a baffle-plate on the gun to resist the recoil, (3) a spring-controlled recoil cylinder, and (4) an exhaust chamber for receiving the gases from the propellent cartridge to silence the discharge. As shown in Fig. 1, the watertight tube 1 is made in one with the cartridge 3. This tube extends against the plate or into the hole through which the bullet is to be discharged. A soft metal ring 4 or other gas check is provided for the projectile, which for punching holes is a cylinder of hardened steel and for retention in a hole is tapered and serrated and enlarged in the head. The gun, Fig. 3, is mounted within a tubular casing 39 provided with a handle 42 and a recoil-resisting plate 44. The gun can recoil within this casing against a spring 48 in a cvlinder 45 forming the. front end of the casing. Water has access to this cylinder past a flange 47 on the gun, forming a dash-pot checking the recoil. The gases from the cartridge when the projectile is discharged pass through a spring-loaded valve 52, Fig. 2, at the muzzle of the gun barrel into an exhaust chamber 50 and thence escape by another spring-loaded valve 53. A guard 49 is attached to the muzzle of the gun barrel 6. The breech mechanism is of the sliding breech-bolt and striker type. The breech-bolt 15 is provided with a handle 16 guided by a slot in the casing 39, which slot widens out to form a loading aperture 40. A movable cover may he provided for this aperture to exclude sand. When the handle is turned and then pulled back, the bolt lugs 17 are unlocked from recesses 8 in the breech, extractors 23 withdraw the cartridge, and an ejecting lever 38 throws the cartridge out past a spring catch and through the aperture 40. Simultaneously, the striker 25 is retracted about # inch by the cam faces 19, 30. A fresh cartridge is inserted and the breech again closed. During the closing operation, the striker is held back and cocked by the engagement of a pivoted spring catch 28 thereon into a notch 12 in the casing as shown in Fig. 3 The shot is fired by means of a trigger 31 pivoted at 32 and connected bv a wire 33 to a rod 34, which is guided by a block 37 and is controlled by a spring 36. When the trigger is pulled, a cam 35 on the rod 34 wedges the catch 28 out of the recess 12, thereby releasing the striker.