Untitled record

J. T. GREENFIELD.

Brush for Cleaning Ordnance.

No. 95,468. Patented Oct. 5, 1869.

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N. PETERS PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHE9, WASHINGTON. D. C.

Wnitei plates patent (Office.

JOHN TYNDALE GREENFIELD, OF DOVER. ENGLAND.

Letters Patent No. 95,468, dated October 5,1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLEANING-BRUSHES FOR ORDNANCE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all to whom it may concern :

Be it known that I, John Tyndale Greenfield, of Pencester street, Dover, in the county of Kent, England, a lieutenant in her Britannic Majesty’s Royal Artillery, have invented “An Improved Side-Arm for Clearing the Chambers and Rifling of Ordnance;” and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

This invention is designed to supersede the sponge and searchers at present employed for clearing the chambers and rifling of ordnance, and which have been found very defective in practice; and consists in substituting, in lieu thereof, an implement or side-arm which shall perform the double office of sponge and searcher.

The principle I have sought to. attain is to so construct au implement that it shall enter the bore of the gun at low gauge and· withdraw at high gauge, so as to get behind and lay hold of any portions of unburned cartridge-case that may be at the bottom of the chamber or breech of the gun, and bring it oat, lighted or not, clear of the muzzle of the gun.

The improved side-arm or implement above referred to, consists of a brush made of coir, (or bass,) let into a drum of wood, similar to that of the present spongehead. The bristles are set helically around the said drum, so that they have a lay or incline all in one direction horizontally.

I also propose to form the hinder part of the brushhead smaller in diameter than the lore part thereof, and have the bristles longer than those that are in front, for the purpose of enabling the linger bristles to sweep well· into the deep grooving of rifled guns.

The effect of an implement of the above construction is as follows:

When inserted into the bore of a gun, it moves home verv easily by reason of the bristles being compressible,‘but when pushed home, and supposing the said, bristles all to incline to the right, by turning the brush in the same direction as the lay of the bristles, they will be set up, or raised, and thus brought into close contact with the chamber or breech of the gun, and seize hold of any substance adhering thereto, and the act of withdrawing the said brush, and giving a gentle turn to the. stave, sets the bristles still more erect, causing them to scrape the whole periphery of the bore of the gun, and keeping in their grip, and withdrawing, any loose substance the bristles may have come in contact with.

By the use of an implement of the above construc tion, I am enabled to keep the gun clean and free from all substances that might catch Are at the next round, or foul the gun and cause miss-fire.

Description of the Drawing.

Figure 1 represents an elevation of a side-arm or implement for clearing the chambers and bore of smooth and rifled ordnance, and as it would appear when ready for use.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the foundation into which the bristles, are fixed.

The same letters of reference denote corresponding parts at each of the said figures.

A marks a piece of wood,, similar to an ordinary sponge-head or implement used for sponging ordnance.

The head or top part B of the piece A has bundles of bristles, 0, of coir (or bass) fixed thereinto with marine glue by preference.

The said bristles, which are fixed around and about the part B, as shown by the drawing at fig. 1, are all inclined or laid in one direction. The bristles at the part B, between a and b, incline slightly upward, as well as sideways, to enable them to search and clear the chamber or breech of the gun.

The bristles D, which are also inclined in the same direction, are arranged horizontally or nearly so around the lower part of B, and those bristles marked E are arranged helically as well as inclined horizontally about the smaller part or barrel of the piece A, and are longer than the bristles D, that they may search and clear the rifling of rifled ordnance.

G is a portion of the stave or handle, fixed info A, the length of the said stave being in proportion to the length of the gun.

In order to insert and force home this implement easily in the bore of a gun, the same may be done bygiving it a slight turn -to the left hand; and, when quite home, by giving the implement a slight turn to the right, the bristles will be raised or set up and seize hold of any loose substance that may be in the gun, as above stated.