US2403641A - Gunfire synchronizing control - Google Patents

Description

July 9, 1946.

F. JAN W. DEN OUDEN GUNFIRE SYNCHRONIZING CONTROL Filed March 50, 1944 FIEJ INVENTOR I2 52/ 4) 14444.5 oz-w 0006A w. v e

rae vt s Patented July 9, 1946 UNITED stair-Es PATENT", ems-E 1 FritsJan-Willem den Ouden,

Melbourne,

' Victoria, Australia .ApplicaticntMarch 30, 1944,;SeriaLNoh528L759 3 Glaims: (01 89 28) Theinyention. described.- hereintmay. be manufacturedandused by or for. Government for governmental purposes, Without the-payment tome of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to. improvements in gun fire control apparatus, and moreparticularly, to means for synchronizing the fire of .aplurality of automatically operable guns.

An. object of the invention. is thehprovi'sion of. means for synchronizing fireofca plurality of automatically operable. guns. off the machine. gun type by controlling th discharge. of the gunsby the reloadingoperation'otone of the guns.

In multiple machine gunmounts, such asthose used inturrets of. airp1anes-and-thelike, ithas been found that therezis a-considerablewaniation in. the. accuracy of fire. from-these-guns, depending,upon whether the gun are firedinesynch-ronism on not, this, being especiallyv truea Where the guns are mounted in turrets; in' tandemmounts. The. rate or fireof: these. machineguns-isl-ad-justable, but-since these guns, after the" triggers. are actuated, fire andreload independently or each other, it is practically impossible to: adjust both guns to fire exactly the; same number of roundsper minute, andeonsequently; iffthertriggersgare depressed for a prolonged burst of fire, the guns are: soon firing out of. 'synchronism' with each other. Apparently, the reooilr o shock oithe iaster firing gun causes the mount and turret to: be vibrated and this shock; is; communicated to theother or slower firing; gun,.reducingthe accuracy of this latter gun; and consequently, the corresponding subsequent-explosion of'. the slower: firing. gun then similarly a-fiects the'accuracy or bullet dispersion following-the subsequent explosion of the. cartridge in. the faster firingegun.

In. addition to the: above, these machine guns are usually mounted in the turretsla't eitherside of a vertical plane passing betweerrlthezguns through the" center of: the tulreuoand any-slight play-'01" resiliency existing in: thelturret rotating mechanismf'will cause the: alternate firing of the two guns, when: they are out ofi synchronism-,-. to produce aslight oscillatory motion of -the turret with a. corresponding increase in thexbiilletr-dispersion area. and. a markeddecrease inithgsac curacy of. fire. It haszbeenfound that tha area of: bullet dispersion between two machine; guns in a turret mount, when firing in synchrom'sm, may be as. little as one-sixth ofwtheflbullet dispersion area when theguns are firing out-of synchrom'sm. 3 l

A further object. of theinvention is thezprovia sion of means for controlling the firing opera-- tion of a plurality of machine guns inia common or: multiple gun mount. so that-the dischargeof the faster firing guns is controlled by th'etoper: ati'onof the slowest firing'glm; I

A still further object i jthe provisiortof'agun fire control system for remotely controlled tandem mounted machine guns fl'ravin'g relatively difierent ratesjof" firein which means. are. pros Viligi. for. retarding the discharge. oi. the"fa'ster firing, .gun by. the gun loading operation offth'e slowen'firing gun. g

.Arfurther' object is -the.provi'si0n, auniultiple ma'ehihegun' firingremotely controlled apparatus having. a, plurality of. machineq'guns firing, and reloading in different time uperio'ds', orz'm'eainsf which includes a. common gunfiriiig; contrblbit-j cult. for said guns and circuit interrupting means operable T; to. interrupt the, firingr circuit Of" all, of theguns whenfthe slowerifirihgglln is not. in gun firinaposl'tionl f Another. object. of the invention is to control 7/ the firing. operation of one gun or remotely controlled tandem. mounted; machine.- guns by? the position of'the. hreecl'rbolt' of. the. other gun.

.Other objects andia'dvantages of. the invention will become apparent inl the. following. description takenin; connectionwith tlie accompanying drawing in which. like reference;eharacters..refer tolikepartsohthe severalI-figures. H

.Fig..1 isfa somewhat diagrammatic. perspective viewf disclosing a tandem. gun. mountlof theft'urrettype.:having .lmyI improved? gun. fire synchro- I nizing control'incmporatdthereihi and schemat ically illustrating a I.wiring;,.diagram for the {remote firercontrolof. theIguns. V I

Fig, 2 is, a: fragmentary.(diagrammatic Viewllfll lustrating the. trigger release mechanism'iof; a machine gun, and .eleetroemagnetic means for. actuatingthetrigger tofire thegun.v 1 r Referring particularly to'Fig; 1 of; thegdrawa ing, the .numeraL Lindicatesa gun. turret; such as used. in air planes and the dike, havingra rack orring; gear. A pinion: 3. is, disposed; immeshing,

' relation with the rack for. rotatablyfadfiusting the. turret. under the controls off a suitablespower driven adjusting mechanism (notlshownr The turret carries a tandem. or, multi-gummountd on, which? are positioned the right-hand,-- and'lefthand: maehinegunst 5 and, 6... Each-of the ;guns 5 and-.- 6: is provided; with" a trigger, as indicated. in. th eldrawing. at 541. and.- 6a,, respectively, andthesetriggers I. are actuated by trigger actuating. solenoids'LandB. I

. Each cftheguns. Sa'ndf fiiisloithe conventional.

machine gun type, as disclosed in Patents ,5 nd reference being made to these patents for the internal firing and loadin mechanism of the guns.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the guns each have a breech bolt 9 carrying a firing pin II] which, when cooked, is engaged by a vertical sear member I i normally held in raised lat ing position by the spring l2 to prevent the firing pin from exploding the cartridge in the barrel. Actuation of the trigger 5a (or 6a) rocks the sear actuating memher or trigger bar l3 to depress the sear ll, releasing the firing pin ID in the usual manner. When the trigger is held depressed or in firing position, the cam portion l3a depresses the sear l3 as the breech bolt moves forward, releasing the firing pin to fire the fresh cartridge inserted in the barrel incident to the auto-loading action of the gun. The energizing of the solenoid 1 (or 8) moves and holds the trigger 5 (or 6) in firing position.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a laterally extending projection M on each of the breech bolts 9 of the machine guns 5 and 6. These projections extend through guide slots in the receivers of the guns 5 and 6. When the guns are in firing position these projections are disposed in the forward ends of the slots I5, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The normally open microswitch I6 is secured to the side of the re-. ceiver of the gun 5 in advance of the laterally extending projection l4 so as to be actuated by this projection when the breech bolt 9 of the gun is in its forward or firing position. The machine gun 6 also has secured to the receiver a normally open microswitch l1 arranged to be closed by the laterally extendin projection M on that gun when the breech bolt is in firing position. Electrical conductors l8 and I!) are connected respectively to one terminal of each of the microswitches l8 and I! while the other ends of the conductors are connected with-the trigger actuating solenoids I and 8, the other terminal of each solenoid being grounded to the frame or. gun mount, as indicated at and 2!. The other terminals of the two microswitches l6 and I1 are connected by the conductors 22 and 23 to one end terminal of each of the gun fire synchronizing control switches 24 and 25. The other end terminals of the switches 24 and 25 are respectively connected by the conductors 26 and 21 to a common feed wire or conductor 28, leading from a battery or other electrical power source 29. The remote gun control circuit, including the conductors 30 and 3| and the fire control button 32 is interposed in the conductor 28 between the gun firing synchronizing control switches 24 and 25 and the battery 29; the other side of the battery is connected or grounded to the frame or gun mount in the usual manner, as indicated at 33.

A conductor 34 is connected at its ends to the conductors l8 and i9 at some point intermediate the microswitches l6 and I1 and the solenoid coils 'I and 8, which are connected respectively to the conductors l8 and IS. The common feed wire or conductor 28 is connected to the ground or gun mount at 35 by a conductor 36, having a condenser 31 interposed between the ground and the conductor to prevent sparking at the microswitch circuit closing terminals. The conductor wire 28 is also connected to one end terminal of a circuit controlling switch device 38, while the other terminal of the switch device is connected by a conductor 39 to the conductor 34 between th 4 wires I8 and [9 leading to the microswitches l6 and H. A conductor wire M1 is connected to the other terminal of the switch device 38 at one end and grounded at the other end as indicated at 4|, and has a condenser 42 interposed in its length between its end connections.

In the operation of the device it is first necessary to determine which of the guns isthe slower firing gun. In the event of a multi-gun mount carrying three or more guns, the slowest firing gun must be determined, since this is the governing gun for the firing operation of the other guns, and once this has been determined, one of the synchronizing control switches 24 or 25 in circuit with the microswitch on the receiver on the slower firing gun will be closed, energizing the circuit including the solenoid trigger depressing mechanism and the microswitch for the slower firing gun.

Assuming that the machine gun 5 has been found to fire 700 rounds per minute while the gun 6 only fires at the rate of 650 rounds per minute, the gun 6 is therefore the slower firing gun. The switch 25 is then closed, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. When the guns are at rest and loaded, both breech bolts will be in their forward positions with the firing pins l0 cooked or retained in their firing position by the sears H,- and the breech bolt extensions 14 will be resting against the plungers which actuate the microswitch circuit closing contacts of the microswitches I6 and l1, maintaining these switches closed and in current-passing positions.

Upon the actuation of the main fire control button 32, current will fiow from the battery 29 through the conductor wires 3| and 30, main feed wire 28, conductor wire 21, across the now-'- closed synchronizing" control switch 25 and con-'- ductor 23 to the microswitch l1. Since both'the" breech bolts will be in their forward positions before the guns are initially discharged, the microswitch I! will be closed, allowing current to flowthrough the conductor wire IS to the solenoid 8, across the wire 34, energizing the other solenoid device I, causing both the triggers 5a and 5a of the guns 6 and 5 to be depressed, and the guns will be simultaneously fired. The above mentioned firing circuit is completed between the other terminals of the solenoids 1 and 8through the ground connections 28 and 2|, constituting the metallic framework of the turret or gun mount, the current returning to the other side of the battery 29 through the ground 33 between the battery and the frame.

Since the gun 6 is assumed to fire and reload slower than the gun 5, the breech bolt of the. gun 5 will not return to firing position as soon as the breech bolt of the gun 5, and since the? microswitch I! will not be closed until th'ebreech bolt of the gun 6 has moved to its forward firing. position, the circuit at both solenoids will be open, preventing either of the solenoids I or 8 from depressing the-triggers 5a. or Go of the guns until the breech bolt of the slower gun 6 moves to its. former firing position. As the breech bolt of the gun 6 moves forward to the firing position,'the microswitch I1 is again closed, energizing the controlling circuit just described, causin the solenoids I and 8 tube simultaneously energized, depressing the triggers and firing both guns in synchronism. e

In the event that the other gun 5 was found to' be the slower functioning of the two guns 5 and 6, the switches 25 and 38 wouldbe left open and the switch 24 connecting the conductor 22 leading to the microswitch IS on the gun 5 would be closed. Under these conditions, the firing of the gun 6 would be delayed or retarded after each explosion until the breech bolt of the gun 5 has moved forward to its subsequent firing position, closing the circuit through the conductors I8, 22 and 34 to the two trigger actuating solenoids l and 8, causing both guns to be fired simultaneously.

When it is desired to fire the guns independently of the synchronizing mechanism for any reason, such as to initially determine which is the faster firing gun, or in the event that the slower firing gun had jammed, the switch 38 is closed. The closing of this switch establishes a circuit from the battery 29 through the gun fire control button 32 across switch 38 and conductor 39 to the conductor 34 connected to both of the solenoids I and 8. Both triggers 5a and 6a will be simultaneously depressed and remain depressed as long as the main fire control switch 32 is held closed by the gunner. Should either gun be jammed the other gun will continue to fire.

It has been found that where two or more machine guns are mounted on a multi-gun mount in a power driven turret employing my improved synchronizing system, by utilization of the slower firing gun to delay the discharge of the other or faster firing gun or guns until the breech bolts of all the guns are in firing position, and then simultaneously firing all the guns, I am able to efiectively maintain the discharge of all the guns in synchronism, and that the area of bullet dispersion is about one-sixth the bullet dispersion area when the guns are allowed to fire independently or out of synchronism. The oiT-center recoil or shock of the guns on the turret drive mechanism is also eliminated, making it possible to reduce the power necessary to smoothly rotate the turret during the firing operation of the guns, as well as to reduce the amount of force necessary to hold the gun sighted on the target. The great reduction of the bullet dispersion area by my improved device is equivalent to firing on a target 400 yards away as compared to firing on a similar target 1000 yards distant with the conventional gun turrets now in use without my improved synchronized fire control.

While the construction and arrangement of the invention herein described and illustrated is that of a generally preferred form, obviously, modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a gun fire control system for synchronizing the gun firing operations of a plurality of machine guns, a plurality of machine guns, a movable part carried by each gun movable to a gun firing position before the gun can be fired and movable to a recoil position incident to the firing of the gun, an electro-magnetic firing control mechanism connected to each gun for initiating the firing operation of that gun, an electrical energizing firing control circuit including the electro-magnetic firing mechanisms of all of the guns and operable when energized to simultaneously energize said electro-magnetic firing mechanisms to fire all of said guns simultaneously, a normally open circuit closing switch carried by each gun, at least one of said switches being connected in said firing control circuit to normally interrupt the circuit, switch actuating means carried by the movable part of each gun position to close said normally open circuit clos- 4 ing switch, and movable to switch disengaging position by said movable part when said movable part is in recoil position to allow said normally open circuit closing switch for that gun to move to its normally open position to interrupt said firing control circuit to prevent the firing of said guns. V

In a gun fire synchronizing control system, at least two machine guns, one of whichfires at a slower rate than the other gun, a movable recoil operated breech block for each gun movable forwardly to gun firing position and rearward to recoil position incident to the firing operation of the gun, a trigger means on each gun for firing said gun, magnetic actuating means on each gun engageable with said trigger means when said magnetic actuating means is energized to actuate the trigger means to fire said gun, an electrical firing control circuit connecting the said magnetic actuating means of all of the guns to simultaneously actuate all of said magnetic actuating means to simultaneously actuate said trigger means and fire all of said guns when said firing control circuit is energized, a normally open circuit closing switch connected in said electrical firing control circuit to normally interrupt the same, and actuating means carried by and movable with the breech block of the slower firing gun and engageable with said normally open circuit closing switch to close said switch when the slower firing gun breech block is in firing position and disengageable from said switch when said slower firing gun breech block is in recoil position to allow said switch to move to its normally open position to interrupt the said electrical firing control circuit.

3. In a device of the class described, at least two machine guns, one of which fires at a slower rate than the other gun, a'movable breech block on each gun movable forwardly to firing position and movable rearwardly to recoil position incident to firing of that gun, trigger means on each gun for firing that gun,electro-magnetic trigger actuating means on each gun engageable with the trigger means on that gun when energized to actuate the trigger means to fire that gun, an electrical firing control circuit connecting said electro-magnetic trigger actuating means to cause a simultaneous energizing of said electro-magnetic trigger actuating means and simultaneous actuation of the trigger means to fire said guns simultaneously, normally open circuit closing switch means relatively fixed on the slower firing gun with respect to the breech block movement thereof and electrically connected in said electrical firing control circuit'to normally interrupt the same,

actuator fixed on said slower firing gun breech block in switch closing engagement with said norengage the said normally open circuit closing switch means to allow said switch means tojopen and interrupt'said firing control circuit when said block and switch actuslower firing gun breech ator are in recoil position. I

FRITS JAN WILLEM DEN OUDEN.

a switch closing

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