US2692533A - Gun-cooling mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 26, 1954 5. J. FINN GUN-COOLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 3, 1946 GUN-COOLING MECHANISM Filed June 3, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 26, 1954 s. J. FINN 2,692,533

GUN-COOLING MECHANISM Filed June a, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet s ILTIIIIIIJ irwmwiwr 15 zdrpey Jiz nn Oct. 26, 1954 5. J. FINN 'COOLING MECHANISM GUN 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 5, 1946 Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUN COOLING MECHANISM Application June 3, 1946, Serial No. 673,920

3 Claims.

This application relates to mechanisms for cooling guns and is illustrated herein as applied to a gun of the type illustrated and described in application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 655,704, filed March 20, 1946, in my name. In order to increase the effectiveness of guns of large caliber, automatic loading mechanisms may be applied thereto which permit a greater increase in the rate of fire over that possible with hand loading. The intense heat developed within the gun imposes limitations on the number of rounds that may be fired in rapid succession without causing serious damage to the gun. Accordingly, in order to maintain all the advantages gained by rapid fire, provision must be made for withdrawing the excessive heat from the gun to permit it to be fired in rapid succession over a substantial period of time.

With this in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved automaticallyoperated cooling means for substantially reducing the temperature of the gun between successive firing operations. To this end and in accordance with a feature of the invention, a cooling medium is supplied into the interior of the gun through a nozzle which is mounted for movement into and out of alinement with the bore of the gun, there being means for automatically moving the nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun in response to movement of the gun in counter-recoil. This movement of the nozzle opens a valve by which the cooling medium is supplied through the nozzle to the gun, after which the valve is closed and the nozzle is moved into a position at one side of the gun in response to op' eration of mechanism by which the gun is loaded. Consequently the nozzle moves into alinement with the bore of the gun by the time the gun returns to battery but moves out of the way of the loading mechanism in response to operation of this mechanism so that no time is lost in the operation of the gun by operation of the cooling mechanism.

The above and other features of the invention, including various details of construction and novel combinations of parts will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the breech end of a gun provided with loading mechanism of the type illustrated and described in the aforementioned application, with the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation partly in section, and

2 on a larger scale, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section through the nozzle assembly by which cooling fluid is introduced into the bore of the gun;

Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in section of a portion of the mechanism by which the nozzle is operated;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the nozzle of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 7,.is a section on the line VIIVII of Fig. l, and

Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-N111 of Fig. 7.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a gun Iii mounted in a carriage l2 which is in turn carried by a support [4. It will be understood that during firing of the gun it will move relatively to the carriage I2 in recoil and counterrecoil. The carriage includes a pair of plates I6, only one of which is illustrated, extending rearwardly of the gun at opposite sides thereof and these plates support a magazine [8 (Figs. 1 and 2) in which are provided feed sprockets 2D, 22 arranged to feed shells into a central position in the magazine. A transfer tray 24 receives the shells upon their movement into the central position and carries them rearwardly and downwardly and then forwardly into the breech of the gun. The transfer tray is carried by two sets of parallel arms 26 and 28 which are operated by mechanism driven by a motor 39 to move the tray downwardly in the loading operation at the proper time. The mechanism thus far described is similar to that illustrated and described in my copending application referred to above to which reference may be made for a detailed description thereof. It will be understood that in so far as the present invention is concerned the particular mechanism by which the gun is loaded is immaterial, the one shown being merely by way of example.

In order to cool the gun a cooling medium which may be in the form of water or any other suitable fiuid is delivered through the breech into the bore of the gun in the interval between return movement of the gun to battery and the subsequent loading operation. For this purpose a nozzle 32 (Fig. 3) is carried by the lower end of a tubular support 34 which is pivoted for swinging movement transversely of the guns axis whereby the nozzle may be swung into alinement with the bore of the gun as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2 in order to deliver a stream of cooling fluid thereto, the nozzle with its supporting tube normally occupying a generally vertical position at one side of the gun as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2 in which it will not interfere with the operation of the gun. The up per end of the supporting tube 30 is provided with a pivot 30 journaled in a plate 38 secured to the gun carriage just rearwardly of the breech end of the gun when the gun is in battery position, the support 34 having an extension 30 (Fig. 3) coaxial with the pivot 30 and having a fluid tight swivel connection 4 with a pipe 42. This pipe is carried by spaced plates MI, 36 secured to the carriage, and to the forward end of the pipe 52 is connected a hose 08 (Fig. 1) which is in turn connected with a source of fluid. The tubular support 34 is provided with valves to be described which control the flow of fluid from the pipe 32 into the nozzle 32 in such a manner that fluid is delivered from the nozzle only when the nozzle is in alinement with the bore of the gun.

For swinging the support 34 from its retracted position into its operative position the tubular extension 38 has secured to it a crank arm 50 (Fig. 4) which is connected by links 52, 53 to a forwardly extending arm 50 (Fig. l) of a bell crank lever 56. This lever is pivoted on a pin 58 carried by one of the side plates I6 and has a downwardly extending arm 50 to which is secured one end of a spring 62 the other end of which is secured at 04 to the plate IS. The spring 62 exerts a force on the lever 56 tending to move it in a clockwise direction to swing the nozzle and its supporting tube into operative position.

In order to prevent this movement of the bell crank lever 58 until the proper time in the cycle of operations a latch 60 is arranged to underlie the forward end of the arm 54 of the bell crank lever. This latch is journaled on a shaft 68 (Fig. '7) which extends through opposite sides of the plate It and on its inner end has secured to it a support I for a pawl I2 pivoted thereto. This pawl is normally maintained in the position shown in Fig. 8 relatively to the support I0 by a spring 74 extending between an ear IS on the pawl and an ear IS on the support. Secured to the outer end of the shaft 68 is an upwardly extending arm 8 carrying a spring-pressed detent 82 arranged to enter a hole 80 (Fig. 7) thereby to connect the pawl support and the latch 06 for conjoint movements. The detent is provided with a handle 85 by which the detent may be retracted for a purpose described below.

Carried by the breech housing of the gun is a lug 80 (Figs. 1, 2 and 6) the path of which, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6, is such as to engage the upper end of the pawl I2 upon movement of the gun in counter-recoil. This movement of the pawl by the lug 38 causes the latch 66 to he moved against the action of a spring 90 acting between the lower end of the latch and the plate I 6. The upper end of the latch is therefore moved out of engagement with the forward end of the arm 54 of the bell crank lever 56 whereupon the spring 62 moves the lever in a clockwise direction to swing the nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun. The position to which the nozzle is swung is controlled by a stop 92 (Fig. 6) with which a projection 94 of the arm 54 engages. A handle 95 is carried by the lower end of the latch 68 to facilitate manual operation of the latch if desired.

As soon as the nozzle is moved into alinement with the bore of the gun, water or other cooling medium is supplied therefrom into the gun. The

4 flow of fluid through the tube 34 is controlled in the first instance by a valve element 06 (Fig. 3) which has a loose sliding fit in a tubular portion 98 of the tube 34. The lower end of this valve element is conical and is normally held against a valve seat I06 by the pressure of the fluid above the valve element, the space above the valve element communicating with the source of fluid by reason of the loose fit of the element in the tubu lar portion 08. It will be apparent that the area of the valve at its lower end which is exposed to the pressure of the fluid, is smaller than the area at its upper end, inasmuch as that portion of the valve at its lower end within the valve seat I00 is not exposed to the fluid pressure. The valve element 96 is provided with a longitudinal passageway I02 providing communication between the opposite ends of the valve element, the upper end of the passageway being normally closed by a valve member I04 which is held in fluid-tight engagement witha seat I06 at the top of the valve element 96, by a spring I01. When the valve member I04 is lifted from the seat I06 the fluid above the valve element 86 escapes through the passageway I02 so that the pressure of the fluid above the valve element immediately drops and the pressure of the fluid below the valve element is then suflicient to mOVe the valve element upwardly. This movement of the valve element 98 occurs with extreme rapidity upon upward movement of the valve member I04 whereupon fluid flows downwardly through the tube 34, the pressure opening a valve I08 at the lower end of the tubular support 34.

The valve I08 includes astem H0 slidable in the tubular portion of a cap IIZ which closes the lower end of the tube 34. A spring H4 maintains the valve I08 against a seat I IS, the arrangement being such that immediately upon movement of the valve element 96 into engagement with the seat I00 the pressure within the tubular support 34 drops sufliciently so that the valve I08 closes, preventing further flow of fluid through the nozzle 32. As soon, however, as the valve element 96 moves upwardly, the pressure of the fluid opens the valve I00 so that the nozzle 32 is supplied with fluid.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 5 the nozzle 32 is provided with a vaned insert H8 which provides a central passageway I20 through the nozzle and a plurality of helical passageways I22 between the insert and the interior of the nozzle. These helical passageways impart to the fluid a swirling action so that the fluid will follow the rifling in the interior of the gun and all portions of the interior will be contacted thereby to impart a uniform cooling action. In addition to this the fluid through the central passageway I20 more quickly reaches the muzzle end of the gun it being understood that the length of time that the fluid is being delivered into the gun lbetween firing operations is, in the normal operation of the gun, very short and may be of the order of only a small fraction of a second.

Pivoted to a bracket I24 (Figs. 3 and 4) extending upwardly from the tubular support 34 is a bell crank lever I26 one end of which is pivoted at I28 to an upwardly extending stem I30 of the valve memberIM. The other arm of the bell crank lever is arranged, during movement of the nozzle into operative position, to move into engagement with a stop I32 which is held by a spring I34 in an extended position within a support I36. Upon movement of the upper end of the lever I26 into engagement with the stop I32, followed by continued movement of the support 34 to carry the nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun, the lever I26 moves in a counterclockwise direction thereby lifting the valve member I64 whereupon the valve element 96 is lifted and the fluid flows past the valve I68 and through the nozzle into the bore of the gun.

The support I36 is pivoted at I38 in the outer end of a bracket I46 supported by the carriage, this bracket carrying a plunger I42 urged downwardly by a spring I24 into engagement with the support I36 thereby to maintain it normally in the position shown in Fig. 4. It may be desirable to shut oif the supply of fluid to the nozzle 32 particularly if the gun it not immediately loaded in which event the nozzle would remain in alinement with the bore of the gun, as will become apparent as the description proceeds. For this purpose the support I36 is provided with a handle M6 by means of which the operator may move the support in a clockwise direction against the action of the plunger I52 so as to move the stop I32 out of engagement with the upper end of the lever I26. Accordingly, the lever may move in a clockwise direction permitting downward movement of the valve member I64 whereupon the valve element 96 moves into closed position by the pressure of the fluid on its upper surface and the flow through the nozzle 32 is interrupted. This movement of the support I36 during the time that the nozzle is in alinement with the bore of the gun permits the upper end of the lever I26 to move under the support whereupon the support will be thus held until the nozzle again moves into its inoperative position at the beginning of the next loading operation.

For moving the nozzle and its supporting tube 32 back into the full line position of Fig. 2 at the beginning of a loading operation, one of the tray-supporting arms 28 (Fig. 1) has connected to it a cam I56 (Fig. 1) which moves in a counterclockwise direction during the downward movement of the transfer tray 24. During this movement of the cam it engages a roll I52 carried by an arm I52 of the lever 56 whereupon this lever is moved in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the spring 62 until the arm 6!} moves into engagement with a stop I56 mounted on the plate I6 of the carriage I2. Inasmuch as the gun is in its battery position the lug 86 (Fig. 6) carried thereby is in its broken line position so that the latch 66 is free to move under the influence of the spring 90 into locking engagement with the arm 54 of the lever 56.

Should it be desired, the pawl I2 which is actuated by the lug 88 during counter-recoil movement of the gun to release the latch 66, may be moved into an inoperative position thereby rendering the cooling mechanism heretofore described inactive. As shown in Figs. 6 and '7 a spring I58 connects the arm 86 with the depending portion of the latch 66 and tends to move the arm 89 in a clockwise direction relatively to the latch. Consequently if the detent 82 is withdrawn from the aperture 84 in the latch 66, the spring I58 will move the arm until the upwardly projecting portion engages a boss I66 on the latch 66 whereupon the shaft 68 turns relatively to the latch to carry the pawl 72 into the broken line position shown in Fig. 6 in which position the pawl is out of the path of movement of the lug 88 carried by the gun upon movement of the gun in counter-recoil. The latch 66 is therefore not released during return of the gun to battery and the cooling nozzle remains in its inoperative position shown in Fig. 2 during firing of the gun.

The operation of the mechanism will now be described starting with the parts in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it being assumed at this time that a shell is in the gun and the gun is ready to be fired. Upon firing the gun it will move in recoil during which movement the lug 88 moves toward the left as viewed in Fig 6 passing over' the pawl I2 which pivots relatively to its support IE but is immediately thereafter moved back into the position shown in Fig. 8 by the action of the spring 72. This action of the awl has no efiect on the latch 66 but upon return movement of the gun toward battery position the lug 88 moves in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 6) engaging the pawl I2 and moving the shaft 68 in a clockwise direction. This shaft, being connected by the arm to the latch 56, moves the latch out of engagement with the arm 54 of the lever 56 whereupon the spring 62 moves the lever in a clockwise direction swinging the nozzle assembly into the broken line position shown in Fig. 2. As soon as the nozzle moves into this position the engagement of the lever I26 (Fig. 4) with the stop I32 causes the valve member I04 to move upwardly whereupon the pressure of the fluid moves the valve element 96 upwardly and the valve I68 downwardly so that the cooling fluid is delivered through the nozzle 32 into the bore of the gun. If the gun is to be continuously fired the loading tray 24 will almost immediately thereafter start to move downwardly carrying another shell intoramming position. During this movement, cam I56 (Fig. 1) acts on the roll I 52 to move the lever 56 in a counterclockwise direction, retracting the nozzle assembly whereupon spring I0! (Fig. 3) moves the valve member I24 downwardly closing the passageway through the valve element 96 and the pressure of the fluid on top of this valve element will immediately cause it to move into closing position. The subsequent drop of pressure below the valve element 96 will permit the valve I08 to be moved by the spring I I4 into closed position shutting off all flow of fluid through the nozzle 32 so that no fluid drips therefrom.

From the above it will be seen that the operation of the cooling mechanism takes place between movement of the gun into battery position and the succeeding loading operation so that no time is lost by reason of the operation of this mechanism. By supplying cooling fluid to the interior of the gun between each firing thereof the gun may be fired rapidly over a long period of time without danger of undue heating thereof such as might cause serious damage to the gun.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a gun, a carriage in which said gun is mounted for movements in recoil and counter-recoil, a nozzle carried by said carriage for introducing a cooling medium into the gun, means connecting said nozzle to said carriage for lateral swinging movements into and out of alinement with the bore of the gun, and means operative in response to movement of the gun in counter-recoil for swinging said nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun.

2. In combination, a gun, a carriage in which said gun is mounted for movements in recoil and counter-recoil, a nozzle carried by said carriage for introducing a cooling medium into the gun, means connecting said nozzle to said carriage for lateral swinging movements into and out of alinement with the bore of the gun, means operative in response to movement of the gun in counter-recoil for swinging said nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun, and means operative in response to such movement of the nozzle for supplying cooling medium therefrom into the sun.

3. In combination with a gun of the type in which ammunition is automatically loaded from a magazine associated therewith at the conclusion of each firing operation, a nozzle through which cooling medium is introduced into the bore of the gun, means mounting said nozzle for lateral movements into and out of alinement with the bore of the gun rearwardly of the breach end of the gun while the gun is in battery, means operative in response to counterrecoil movement of the gun for swinging said nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun, means operative in response to such movement of the nozzle for supplying cooling medium therefrom into the gun, and means operative in response to loading of the gun for swinging said nozzle into an inoperative position out of alinement with the bore of the gun.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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