Cartridge feed and orientation system for rapid fire weapon

Abstract

An automatic weapon for use within a turret including means to seal substantially all of the gases generated during use within the weapon to prevent escape into the turret. The gun includes means to feed the cartridges in an orientation perpendicular to the gun barrel thus allowing use of a simple compact feed system, external of the gun, in which changes in gun elevation do not twist the ammunition feed belt and a means for ejecting the spent cartridges forwardly through the armour at the same location through which the barrel protrudes.

Parent Case Text

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 185,139, filed Sept. 30, 1971, now abandoned.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Because of the need for keeping weight at a minimum and since space is at a premium, a rapid fire weapon which is mounted upon a vehicle requires special design considerations. In the past the rapid fire weapon has been designed and tested in open air use wherein space and venting of resultant gases presented no problem. When the weapon is used in open air the wind takes care of any exhaust gases and the pivoting of the weapon creates no major problems since the ammunition feed may pivot therewith assuring a relatively straight infeed.

Once the weapon is placed within a turret, however, there must be provided some means to either eliminate the exhaust gas problem or alternatively to remove it from within the turret. Further, once the gun is mounted within the turret there is not sufficient space to allow the ammunition to pivot with the gun. In prior installations elaborate systems have been developed for feeding ammunition to the weapon for firing. Normally, the ammunition is fed in a continuous linkage from a storage box which is relatively fixed. These ammunition feed systems have included elaborate guide means causing the ammunition to enter the weapon at the proper orientation. Traditionally the ammunition is fed from the side of the gun with the axis of the shell generally parallel to the axis of the barrel thereby requiring a bulky complicated external feed system having a tendency to jam when the gun is fired in an elevated barrel position.

Yet another problem which is inherent in a turret mounting, but presents no problem when used in open air firing, is the disposition of spent cartridges and/or link members. In the turret mounted weapons currently in use there is provided, adjacent the weapon, an opening, which may be sealed when not in use, whereby the shells as spent may be ejected. The problem with the opening within the side of the turret is firstly, that it is a weak point within the armour system of the vehicle and secondly, it must be substantially larger than absolutely necessary since the shells as they leave the gun are normally spinning in an end over end orientation therefore requiring a greater sized opening. Since the gun is designed to move about a central pivot point and the ejection port of the gun is not located above the pivot point, the ejection port travels in a variety of arcs thereby ejecting spent cartridges from different places within the turret. The continuous movement of the weapon necessitates an even larger hole within the armour for the exit of the spent cartridges.

As noted above, the weapons which are used within the turrets are normally designed and tested in open air firing and then they are simply mounted within a turret and expected to operate. For the most part this has proved to be satisfactory excepting the discomfort of the weapon operator and the unreliability because of jamming. The times when the gun jams may be critical not only in the terms of the particular encounter but may be extremely costly in terms of loss of the vehicle or human life.

In an effort to obviate the above problems it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic rifle for turret mounting wherein the feed system causes the ammunition to approach the gun from the rear thereby saving space and complexity in the external feed system and eliminating any jamming problem when the gun is in an elevated position.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic weapon wherein the ammunition is fed into the weapon from the rear thereby allowing the weapon to be placed further forward in the turret resulting in more room inside the turret.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic rifle wherein the exhaust gases formed during the firing of the weapon are sealed within the gun itself and vented outside of the turret causing little or no problems for the operator.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ejection system which causes the spent cartridges to leave the turret in the direction of the barrel thereby requiring no weakening of the vehicle's armour system and not necessitating additional openings.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an ammunition feed system wherein the ammunition approaches the weapon at an orientation perpendicular to the barrel and during the operation of the gun is automatically pivoted to the proper orientation for feeding to the chamber for firing.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an ammunition feed system wherein the links in the ammunition belt are automatically stripped from a cartridge as it is moved into the gun and the delinking means likewise serves as a gas sealing element being normally closed. The delinking means is open only when another shell is fed therethrough.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an ammunition feed system wherein the transition from one type of ammunition to another is rapid, does not require the wasting of a round nor does it require the operator to handle a single loose cartridge.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an ammunition feed system portion which is removable and yet serves as an integral element of the weapon when attached, causing the ammunition to be properly oriented. The removable portion further locks one end of the ammunition belt within this section such that the operator need only remove the section in use and replace it with another interchangeable section to change from one type of ammunition to another.

It is still a further object to provide a spent cartridge ejection system wherein the cartridge is automatically moved laterally off the axis of the barrel during the counter recoil of the rifle and ejected forwardly parallel to the barrel.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a gun which is specifically designed for operation within a confined turret area eliminating the problems normally associated with turret installations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the general outline of the inventive weapon mounted in a typical turret gun shield complete with elevation trunnions.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inventive weapon with the top opened disclosing the relative location of the interior workings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the detachable ready round holder.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the ready round holder as it would be mounted within the weapon.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the ready round holder with portions of the associated weapon phantomed in for clarity.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the weapon showing the feed system and the ready round holder in both its in-use and storage position.

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation showing the other side of the ammunition feed system from that shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing the ammunition delinking and gas sealing gates.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the weapon in full recoil position with the portions broken away for clarity illustrating the ammunition feeding mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view through the upper portion of the weapon depicting the bolt rotation means.

FIG. 11 is an elevational section depicting the weapon in its firing position and showing a spent cartridge being ejected.

FIG. 12 is an elevational section through the rear portion of the weapon depicting the recoil compression spring.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the spent cartridge ejection system.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view along lines 14--14 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the accelerator mechanism incorporated in the ejection system.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged section through the ready round mechanism showing the cartridge retaining means.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged view showing the cam mechanism for the ejecting system.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view along lines 18--18 of FIG. 12 depicting the bolt fingers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As can be seen in FIG. 1 the automatic weapon comprises a main housing 2 which encapsulates the automatic feed mechanism, the firing mechanism and the ejection mechanism. As seen in FIG. 2 the housing 2 has a cover 4 which is hingedly mounted and pivots upwardly for easy access to the mechanism within the housing 2. The gun is shown mounted by its mounting interface in a typical turret gun shield 6. The shield 6 carries trunnions about which it and the weapon can rotate to elevate the line of fire. The shield 6 closes the opening through which the weapon must protrude for firing. Secured to the back of the housing 2 is the ready round holder 8, described in greater detail hereinafter, having extending therefrom a plurality of cartridges 10 linked together for automatic feeding to the weapon.

Extending forwardly from the housing 2 is the ejection tube 12, barrel support 14 and the barrel 16. The barrel support 14 is fixed to the front of the housing 2 and includes, as is known in the art, bearings within the interior such that the barrel 16 may reciprocate within the support 14 during the firing of the weapon.

Referring now to FIG. 2 it can be seen that the gun is designed such that the cover 4 of the housing 2 is hinged at 18 such that the gun may be readily serviced without dismanteling the entire weapon. As can be seen in this view the cover portion 4 of the gun includes a pair of gear racks 20 for the accelerator pinions 22 as described hereinafter. Further included within the cover are a pair of cams 24 which will be described in greater detail with respect to FIG. 9 but function to provide the initial motion to the accelerator mechanism. Further, mounted within the cover portion 4 is a rod 26 which when the cover is in a closed position form a stop to the forward movement of the upstanding firing pin actuating lever 28 causing the hammer to strike the firing pin at the end of the counter recoil. The firing mechanism will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

WEAPON FEED SYSTEM

The weapon feed system includes as an essential element the detachable ready round holder 40 as shown in isometric view in FIG. 3. The ready round holder includes a downwardly turned chute portion 42 adapted to extend rearwardly as seen in FIG. 6 which serves as a guide member for the cartridges 10 linked together as they enter the ready round holder for eventual firing. The guide chute 42 is rectangular in cross section of a size to accommodate the shells in a parallel orientation and curves to a relatively flat portion 44 which extends forwardly sufficiently far that when the ready round holder 40 is mounted in the gun it guides the linked cartridges 10 until they are controlled by other mechanisms. The front bottom edge 46 has rectangular slots 47 cut therein to allow passage of delinking mechanism as described hereinafter. It is to be noted, in this view, that the top portion 48 of the lower forward portion 44 of the guide tube is set back from the front edge 46 thus allowing the upward movement of the cartridges 10 when under control of the delinking mechanism. Integrally connected to the uppeer forward portion 48 is a fixed pivot 50 which is mounted within a guide and holding housing which includes curved shields 52 and 54 for guiding the cartridge 10 when moving from the delinked position to the position where it will be rammed into the breech 80. The top 53 of the ready round holder 40 and shields 52 and 54 keep the cartridge 10 when being translated from one position to the other under control. The top 53 of the ready round holder 40 has slots 56 which have upwardly biased resilient fingers 58 such that a cartridge 10 when in the position to be moved to the breech will be captured between the fingers 58 and the top surface of the receptor trough 72 (FIG. 4) having a cammed surface and held in position until moved in a forward direction as explained hereinafter.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5 it can be seen that the cartridges 10 as fed into the ready round holder 40 come in on the lower level guided by the forward portion 44 of the chute 42 and then are lifted upwardly by the delinking mechanism, hereinafter described, to a position as shown in phantom whereat a moving cam 70, described in detail hereinafter, causes the cartridge 10 to pivot about a fixed pivot 50 thus translating the axis of the cartridge 10 90.degree. and simultaneously camming it upwardly on the cam 70 to trough 72 to a position where it is lodged between the top surface of the receptor trough 72 and resilient fingers 58. Once the cartridge 10 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 it is moved linearly by the bolt shown in phantom in FIG. 4 and rammed into the breech whereat the bolt is locked and the shell fired.

The weapon is entirely loaded and fired by use of recoil energy, part of which is stored in a spring as described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to FIG. 12. As can be seen in FIGS. 6, 7 and 9, the rifle breach 80 is integrally connected to a downwardly projecting side piece 84, on the left hand side looking down the barrel of the gun, see FIG. 9, and a similar element 86 on the right hand side. As the gun recoils since these two side pieces 84, 86 which are fixed to the breech will move with the barrel in a rearward direction and later be returned to the firing position which is forwardmost thus operating the mechanism hereinafter described. As seen in FIG. 9, the weapon is in full recoil position and side piece 86 is shown within a slot 88 in a relatively fixed portion 89 of the weapon and which serves as a guide means assuring proper linear motion of the side pieces and thus their interconnect instrumentalities. Likewise, as seen in FIG. 9, both side panels 84 and 86 include a cam, 90 and 92 respectively, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. Centrally located of FIG. 9 is an upstanding trunnion 94 which is a relatively fixed element secured to the main gun support 89 and not moved with the recoil of the rifle. A bell crank 96 is pivotally mounted to trunnion 94 and includes a cam follower 98, best seen in FIG. 6, and has the other leg pivotally attached to a feed platform 100. Secured to the upper surface of feed platform 100 are a pair of trunnions 102, 104 which are caused to move therewith. Mounted between the trunnions is a cylindrical shaft 106 having mounted at either end thereof delinking levers 108, 110. Delinking levers 108, 110 are rigidly secured to opposite ends of cylindrical shaft 106 and thus move simultaneously therewith. Delinking lever 110 extends forwardly, as can be seen in FIG. 7, and has a cam follower 112 at the forwardmost end thereof. Cam follower 112 is adapted to follow the upper contours of cam 92 as seen in FIG. 7 and thus causing the delinking lever 110 to pivot about an axis passing through the center of hollow shaft 106. When the recoiling parts are moving from the firing position, i.e. to the right as seen in FIG. 7, the cam follower 112 will be forced downwardly following surface 113 thus lifting the after end 111 thereof forcing a live round up through the delinking gates 204 as described hereinafter. It will be obvious that the actual round handling end 111 of delinking lever 110 will reach its uppermost position forcing the round through the delinking gate 204 and then will retract because of spring 122 pushing the cam follower 112 up against flat face 116 of the cam 92. During the counter recoil of the rifle the cam follower 112 which is spring biased in an axial direction will contact the tapered lip 118 which will cause the follower 112 to retract and pass behind the downward projection 120 until it again reaches the cam 92 at its forwardmost position as shown in solid whereat the cam follower 112 will again return to its extended position and under the control of cam 92. It will be apparent that when follower 112 passes behind the portion 120 of cam 92 it will tend to travel in a straight line thus not causing the delinking mechanism to move upwardly which would interfere with the operations of the weapon. A platform 121 is formed upon an arm 130 to provide a base for the spring 122 which is mounted between platform 121 and top 123 on delinking lever 110 forces the cam follower 112 in an upward direction. The feed mechanism further includes a rearwardly extending arm 130 which has a cam follower 132 which follows the bottom or straight surface of the cam 92 and thus is restricted to a forward and backward linear motion. As noted above the spring 122 is mounted between the arm 130 and the delinking lever 110 whereby the two are continuously forced in a diverse position except when squeezed together by portion 120 of the cam 92.

In summary, driven by the movement of recoil, the projection 120 on the cam will cause the delinking levers 108 and 110 to rotate about the axis 106. Their ends 111 reach their upwardmost position pushing a new round through the delinking gates 204 in time for the moving cam 70, FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, to rotate the cartridge 90.degree. to the ready position for ramming into the breech. The delinking levers 108 and 110 are then allowed to return to their downward position where they clear the mechanism on the return trip. It is to be noted that the forward end of arm 130 of the feed platform 100 is guided by the groove 88 thereby confining it to the proper linear motion. This arm 130 is supported by the attached cam follower 132 which rolls on the straight cam surface 92, FIG. 7. This arrangement allows the relatively high delinking force on the delinking lever to be reacted by arm 130 and cam follower 132 bering against the guiding surface 92 of side plate 86. This arrangement keeps stresses localized and eliminates deflection of other elements which may cause mechanical interference. The outer ends of the two arms 130 are interconnected by a rod 133. The rod 133 extends outwardly on both sides of the arms 130 to terminate in flat sided projections 134 which act in conjunction with slots 136 further stablizing the outboard end of the feed platform.

Upon the upper side of the connecting rod 133 are a pair of trunnions 140, see FIG. 9, having mounted therebeteen a feed pawl 142 which is integral with a downwardly projecting handle 146 which is spring biased outwardly by spring 148 thus continually urging the pawl 142 in an upward direction for purposes to be hereinafter described.

Again referring to FIG. 9 it can be seen that the relatively fixed portion of the gun which underlies all of the hereinabove described mechanism is generally a continuous plate 180 with the exception of a rectangular opening 182 which is necessary for the operation. It is through this opening 182 that the links pass after the round has been removed therefrom.

Referring now to FIG. 6 the rear end of the weapon is shown with the ready round holder 40 in position for operation. As shown in phantom there is a round ready for movement into the breech 80, and the gun is shown in a full recoil position. In this position the gun will move forward under spring pressure as described hereinafter and the bolt 234, shown in phantom, will force the round into the breech 80 whereat it will be fired. It is to be noted at this point that the ready round holder 40 is shown in proper position for operation but also included in this view in phantom are a pair of latch mechanisms whereat the ready round holder 40 could be stored, 40a and 40b. By allowing convenient storage for the ready round holder 40 the operator need only pull out the ready round holder 40, which is in the gun when the gun is in a full recoil position move it either to the upper or lower storage position, i.e. the one which is unoccupied and remove the second type of ammunition from the other storage position and place it in operating position. When the ready round holder 40 is in operative position he releases the bolt 234 and commences firing. The ready round holder 40 when in operative position is held from motion relative to the gun by pin 59, FIG. 1, engging the hold 55, FIG. 3. This pin 59 must be disengaged and handle 146 on the feed pawl 142, FIG. 6, depressed to release the ready round holder 40 for removal from the gun. When the ready round holder 40 is in position, operation of the extensions 130 upon the feed platform 100, which as noted above reciprocates in the fore-and-aft direction, continuously feeds the rounds of ammunition to the proper position for movement upwardly to the loading position by means of the delinking levers 108, 110. It is to be noted that the charging of the weapon is similar to those currently in operation in that the recoil spring must be compressed but differing therefrom in that the ready round holder 40 then need only be placed in position and the weapon is ready for use.

The weapon moves from its forwardmost position to its rearwardmost position under the force of the recoil after firing and then returns by force of a spring compressed similarly by the recoil after firing. Because of the bellcrank 96 which operates, as noted before, upon a relatively stationary trunnion 94 the feed platform 100 and those automatically attached thereto are controlled by follower 98 and the contour of surface 90 in the side piece 84. See FIGS. 6 and 9 which are shown in full recoil position. The surface 90 is profiled so that there is a dwell period for the feed platform 100 during the first part of recoil while delinking, as described previously, is taking place. The slanted upward portion of surface 90 then forces the follower 98 and bell crank 96 to move the feed platform 100 forward. This forward movement of the feed platform 100 causes the feed pawl 142, described earlier, to move the linked ammunition into the gun one space. The term "space" as used herein refers to moving a cartridge 10 forward one position. On counter recoil the feed platform 100 returns the feed pawl 142 for the next round. The belt of linked ammunition is prevented from backing up during this return stroke by the upwardly biased pawl 57 which is pivotally mounted to the ready round holder 40 as seen in FIG. 16.

As noted above, once the ready round holder 40 is placed in position the feed pawl 142 will automatically move the rounds one at a time toward the delinking position and the delinking levers 108 and 110 will lift them through the delinking gates 80 hereinafter described and place them in position for rotation by the moving cam 70 into alignment for ramming into the breech 80. As can be seen in FIG. 6, when the ready round holder 40 is placed in position it straddles the gate 204 and when the round is moved from its linked position to its position for rotation whereat the axis will be parallel to the gun barrel it passes through the opening between delinking gates 204, see FIG. 7.

The opening between gates 204 is sealed during the majority of the time to retain the gases within the chamber by means of a delinking mechanism which is shown in detail in FIG. 8. As can be seen in this figure the delinking mechanism comprises a pair of slidably mounted gates 204 having downwardly depending edges 206. The gates 204 are secured to links 208 which are pivotally mounted at 210 and held in a closed position by tension spring 212. When a round is being forced through the delinking gate 204 the downwardly depending edges 206 interlock with the links 208 spreading them sufficiently far apart that the round can be forced upwardly out of the link 208. As the delinking arms 111 lift the round upwardly the round contacts the cams 114 (FIG. 6) opening the gate and the round itself cams the gate far enough open such that it may pass therethrough. Immediately after the round has passed through the gate 204 they are again returned to their closed position thus trapping any exhaust gas within the weapon itself.

WEAPON LOADING AND SHELL DISCHARGE SYSTEM

The mechanism is hereinabove described removes the live ammunition from the link storage system and places it in proper position for placement within the firing chamber. The mechanism for moving the shell into the chamber and then removing the spent cartridge by ejecting it is shown in FIGS. 10 through 13 and FIG. 18. As will be recalled with regard to FIG. 9 a cam 184 is located upon the side of the housing 2 and this cam 84 can again be seen in FIG. 10. A complementary cam 185 can be seen on the opposite side of the weapon in FIG. 10. The bolt 234 which, as is known, carries the cartridge 10 to the breech 80 and therefor must move in a linear direction from the time it picks up the cartridge 10 until it is locked in place. To assure the absolute linear movement to prevent jamming during rapid usage the bolt carrier 220 is moved for movement between a pair of guides 222, 224 and the bolt 234 is mounted for relative rotation therein. The bolt 234 is rotated automtically to lock the bolt 234 within the breech 80 thus preventing misfiring or rearward movement of the bolt 234 during the actual firing. The bolt 234 is rotated by action of cams 184, 185 and cam followers 228, 230. Cam followers 228, 230 are mounted upon the ends of a bolt rotation element 232 mounted for movement transverse to the direction of the bolt 234 and including upon the lower portion thereof a series of teeth 234 which interact with teeth 236 upon the bolt. After the bolt has pushed the cartridge 10 into the breech 80, the two continue to travel together for a short distance before reaching firing position. During this time the cams 184, 185 etc. cause the cam followers 228, 230 to move the rotation element 232 thus rotating the bolt 234 and locking the bolt 234 within the breech 80. During recoil the reverse operation takes place and the bolt 234 is thus unlocked and capable of moving in a rearward direction for discharge of the spent cartridge.

EJECTOR SYSTEM

Referring now to FIG. 13 the ejector system can be seen. Mounted along each side of the barrel 16 and placed to interact with the racks 20 in the cover 4 are a pair of accelerator pinions 22 mounted on the ends of arms 252 which are pivotably secured to arms 254 which in turn are pivotally secured to the ejector mechanism. At the pivotal joint between the arms 252, 254 there is an outstanding cam follower 350 for inter action with the accelerator cam 24 as shown in FIG. 9. During operation the accelerator pinions 22 and arms 252, 254 move from a flexed position as shown in FIG. 13 to a position whereat the arms 252, 254 are relatively straight. Because of the great forces imposed when the weapon recoils, referring now to FIG. 15, which is a view looking in from the left of FIG. 14, it can be seen, the pinion gears 22 would be subjected to a great deal of strain and either strip the pinion gears 22 or the rack gears 20. The accelerator mechanism moves from its position as shown in solid wherein the gun is ready for firing, i.e. gun forwardmost to position B as shown in phantom wherein the pinion teeth 22 first engage the rack teeth and then completely rotating until it reaches the position C at the full recoil position. In order to prevent the great stress upon the teeth 20, 22 the acceleartor cam 24 is introduced to interact with the cam follower 350. During recoil the cam follower 350 following the cam 24 begins the downward motion of the arm 252 thus preventing the excess strain upon the pinion 22. The rearwardmost end of arms 254 is secured to a trunnion 256 which is formed integrally with the bolt carrier 220.

Mounted to the trunnion 256 and extending upwardly and forwardly therefrom is a pusher member 258 for actually forcing the empty cartridge down the discharge tube 12 as explained hereinafter. Mounted for rotaty motion and extending through the trunnion 256 in a direction generally parallel to the axis of the barrel is a rod 260 having on its rearwardmost end an arm and cam follower 262 and at its forwardmost end the cartridge grasping elements. Cam follower 262 is mounted to interact with cam 270 as shown in FIGS. 11 and 17 such that during the recoil of the weapon the cartridge grasping elements are caused to rotate downwardly to grasp the shell and during counter recoil upwardly to place the cartridge in front of the follower or pusher 258. The cartridge grasping elements as best seen in FIGS. 10 and 13 comprise a pair of opposed jaw members 280, 282. 280 is journaled to the rod 260 with freedom to rotate, but only when acted upon by sufficient force to over come the drag of frictional spring brake 284 pressing against the non rotating support housing 261. It is to be noted that the jaw element 280 has an outwardly extending integral element 286 which surrounds the jaw 282 which is movable between pins 288, 290. Movable jaw 282 is connected eccentrically to shaft 260 by a pin joint and arm 262. It can now be seen that when shaft 260 rotates clockwise as seen in FIG. 13, arm 262 pulls jaw 282 downwards until it grips a cartridge or until pin 288 contacts 280 if no cartridge is present. The amount of pressure exerted by the jaw is controlled by the amount of drag of spring brake 284. A counter clockwise rotation of shaft 260 causes jaw 282 to move outwardly from jaw 280 until stopped by pin 290 thus releasing or opening the grip. The jaws are rotated as a unit in either direction by the continued rotation of shaft 260 after the initial lost motion which causes gripping or releasing. It so happens in operation that when the jaws rotate downward towards the empty extracted cartridge the jaws open up. When they start back up at the start of counter recoil, they grip and raise the empty cartridge and when the cam follower 262 contacts the inclined surface 270, FIG. 17, they release it. The latter occurs at the instant the bolt 234 and attached jaws carrying the empty case obtain their greatest forward velocity. The momentum of the released cartridge case carries it forward and out of the discharge tube 12. Pusher member 258 helps to make this operation positive by providing impetus if the empty cartridge slips in the jaws. In operation, at the beginning of the recoil the bolt 234 is unlocked and then the accelerator arms 252, 254 are put into motion causing the bolt 234 as well as the rest of the attached ejection mechanism to move rearwardly at a more rapid rate than the rest of the recoiling parts. The empty case is thereby extracted from the chamber by extracting finger 351 which is attached to the bolt 234, FIG. 18. Extracting finger 351 is spring biased in such a way that it can spring outwardly to snap over the rim of a cartridge that is chambered and also to push the extracted cartridge laterally as it pulls it from the chamber. This causes the opposite side of the cartridge rim to be caught under and stabilized by a second finger 252 projecting from and rigidly connected to the bolt 234. The cartridge case is thus held by its rim in two opposing fingers 351, 352 that are oriented in such a manner as to allow the spent cartridge to be slid out laterally by the jaws 280 and 282, FIG. 13.

ENERGY CONSERVATION SYSTEM

Referring again to FIGS. 12 and 13, the recoil of the weapon causes the compression of a pair of springs 300 located in bores in arms 222, 224. As the weapon recoils it moves to the position shown in phantom in FIG. 12 and would be latched by interaction of the downwardly depending ledge 302 interacting with the latch 304. Latch 304 is urged upwardly to its latch position by spring 306 acting upon tab 308. For completely automatic operation, latch 304 will be held inactive and allow the weapon to automatically recycle.

SUMMARY

As can thus be seen the hereinabove described weapon will prevent gases from escaping into the turret, feeds in cartridges perpendicular to the gun barrel to allow the use of a simple, compact feet system, external of the gun, that does not twist the linked ammunition belt when firing at different elevations, and further, will discharge the empty shells forward through the same opening in the turret armour through which the barrel protrudes.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An ammunition feed system for an automatic weapon operated solely by firing of the weapon, the feed system designed to feed link belt ammunition from a remote supply to the rear of the weapon with the axes of the cartridges engaging by hole link belt perpendicular to the direction in which the cartridge enters the breech port of the weapon, comprising:

a detachable, ready round holder mounted adjacent the feed end of the breech port of the automatic weapon receiving the link belt ammunition from a remote supply with the longitudinal axes of the cartridges held by the link belt perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the breech port and barrel of the weapon, the ready round holder including: (1) a first portion to receive a sequence of linked together cartridges, (2) a second portion adjacent the first portion receiving single cartridges, one at a time, as they are stripped from the link belt, and (3) a fixed pivot adjacent the first and second portions,

means moving the leading cartridge held in the ready round holder from the first portion to the second portion without substantial rotation about its longitudinal axis,

means stripping the lead cartridge from the link belt during movement from the first portion to the second portion, and

means actuated by recoil of the weapon contacting the cartridge and rotating it about the fixed pivot to a position substantially parallel with the breech port of the weapon for movement into the breech.

2. The ammunition feed system of claim 1 wherein the means moving the cartridge from the first portion to the second portion comprises a pair of pivoted arms actuated by recoil of the weapon contacting the leading cartridge and, on recoil, moving the cartridge.

3. The feed system of claim 2 including a pawl moved by recoil of the weapon interacting with the link belt to move the linked cartridges one at a time into lead position for movement to the second portion.

4. The ammunition feed system of claim 1 wherein the ready round holder includes an inclined camming surface adjacent the cartridge after movement to the second portion, the cartridge moved along the camming surface by the means rotating the cartridge about the fixed pivot into position for insertion into the breech, and

resilient fingers mounted on the ready holder for contacting the cartridge in position for insertion into the breech to hold the cartridge until rammed by the bolt of the weapon into the breech.