In 1874 English gunmaker J. Needham designed and patented the ancestor of most if not all automatic ejector systems today. Does anyone have a copy of any U.S. patent obtained by Needham or Needham's assignees' to protect his ejector invention? I am trying to understand the relationship between the development of ejectors in the U.S. and the duration/expiration of patent protection on the early European ejector designs, particularly Needham's.

Rich