US2758403A - Magazine and cartridge container assembly - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 14, 1956 J 2,758,403

MAGAZINE AND CARTRIDGE CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Original Filed Nov. 4, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

4T RNEK Aug. 14, 1956 J. HILL 2,758,403

MAGAZINE AND CARTRIDGE CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Original Filed Nov. 4, 1949 3- Sheets-Sheet 2 unlw.

1N VEN TOR. k

Aug. 14, 1956 J. 1.. HILL 2,758,403

MAGAZINE AND CARTRIDGE CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Original Filed Nov. 4, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. dob/7 L. fl/V/ 4 TORNEK .with each actuation of the. bolt. p It is recognized that many different types of mecha- U cd tates Patent John L. Hill, Houston, Tex. Original application November 4, 1949, Serial No.

125,549, now Patent No. 2,624,241, dated January 9, 1953. Divided and thisapplication September 25,

1952, Serial No. 311,356

3 Claims. (Cl. 4217) This invention relates to improvements in a gun action for automatic, semiautomatic and manually operated guns and is a division of my copending application Serial No. 125,549, filed November 4 ,1949, now Patent No. 2,624,241, issued January 9, 1953, and refers more particularly to that portion of the action mechanism which transfers cartridges from the magazine to the gun barrel. This transfer mechanism comprises a rotatable disk constructed to receive the cartridge singly in a slot or trough formed on one of its faces, and rotate them through a 90 angle in alignment with the barrel bore so they are successively inserted into the'fi ring chamber nism have been employed to load cartridges from a magazine to the gun barrel. The difliculty with such apparatus, however, is that it almost invariably involves an intricate association of parts which arefragile, subject tobreakage and failure with the continued rough use which mechanism of this sort is subjected.

,An object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a simple positive mechanism for transferring cartridges from the magazine to the gun barrel.

Another object is to provide a magazine in which the cartridges are arranged within an enclosure extending longitudinally or parallel with the gun barrel eliminating the necessity of an excessively strong spring necessary to support the weight of the column of cartridges as well as energy to feed the cartridges to the action.

A further object is to provide a mechanism in which the operating parts are reduced to a minimum, are rugged and designed to withstand wear and usage over long periods without failure.

Another object is to provide a gun action and magazine assembly permitting the use of preloaded sealed dispensable containers for the cartridges wherein cartridges arejcharged as a unit in said preloaded container eliminating the necessity of filling a magazine Within individual cartridges against the pressure of a strong'magazine spring.

a Other and further objects will appear from the following-description.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, there is shown an embodiment of the inven- 11011;

Fig. l is a side view of an automatic gun provided with a gun action and magazine which embodies the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the gun indicating the position of the magazine'extending parallel with the gun action and stock.

3 is "an enlarged vertical section of the action.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section of the action and magazine.

Fig. 5 is a view taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 3

in the direction of the arrows.

' magazine shown in Fig. l.

2,758,403 Patented Aug. 14, 1956 Fig. 6 is a view taken along the line 66 in Fig. 5 in the directionof the arrows.

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the action and bolt structure.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the transfer disk showing the grooved cartridge receptacle. 7

Fig. 9 is a reverse view of the disk from that shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a view taken along the line 1010 in Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the dispensable container in which the cartridges are packed and loaded as a sealed unit into the magazine-seals port at perforations on three sides when broken by magazine follower and remain attached to the dispensable container.

To facilitate an understanding of the invention and to simplify its explanation, the bolt mechanism simulating that of a German automatic pistol is shown. Referring to the drawings and particularly Figs. 1 and 2, at 10 is shown a gun stock having mounted thereon a receiver 11 and a barrel 12 threaded at its rear end to engage the internally threaded portion of chamber block 13.v

in its side for the introduction of cartridges introduced to the magazine in asealed dispensable container 16, shown in Fig. 11. The port in the magazine through which the cartridge container is inserted has a closure plate 15a hinged at 15/5 and held shut by means of a spring latch 150. A knob 15d on the closure plate is an aid in opening and closing the loading port. To insert the cartridge container into the magazine, follower 17 is retracted against the force-of coil spring 18 by manually moving the knob 19 rearwardly along a slot in the side of the The handle or knob 19 is attached to the retractor rod 20 and coil spring 18 surrounds the rod rearwardly of the follower which is attached to its 'forward'end. 1

Behind chamber block 13 and within the receiver 11 is a bolt mechanism detailed in Figs. '3, 4 and 7. The bolt mechanism comprises bolt block 21 longitudinally drilled to receive the cartridge injector bolt and recoil mechanism. The bolt proper consists of an elongated rod or cylindrical member 22 threaded over a portion of its length as shown at 22a, to screw into the internally threaded portion of the bolt block. The forward end of the bolt, including the threaded portion, is longitudinally grooved at 22b, as is the bolt block at 21a, to accommodate passage of the stationary ejector 23 upon reciprocation of the bolt. The ejector is attached to the receiver or outside case of the gun and trips the shell from the bolt after extraction from the barrel, as will be hereinafter described. The hole though the bolt block has a shoulder near the back upon which seats the rim of sleeve 24 enclosing the rear end of recoil spring 25. The sleeve has a rear closure 24a which fits into plate 26 at the end of the action. That portion of the bolt rearwardly of threads 22a is of reduced diameter and serves as a guide for the recoil spring. The rear end of the recoil spring abuts against the rear closure 24a and the forward end against a shoulder formed in the bolt 22, where the threaded portion of the bolt commences.

Beneath the bolt and adjacent its forward end is an ex-' tractor 2'7 attached at its rear end to the bolt and having sufiicient resiliency to spring out and engage, by means of its hooked end, the rim of the cartridge prior to extraction of the cartridge from the barrel. Beneath the bolt block and rigidly attached thereto or forming an integral part of the block is the forwardly extending disk actuator 28. The front end of .the atcuator has an en- A rearwardly extending plate 13a from chamber block 13 is apertured to receive a stud or stub shaft 2% extend ing from one side of transfer disk 29, shown in Figs. 4, 7, 9 and 10. In the same face of the disk from which the stud extends is an arcuate slot 2% into which fits a pin or stop 30 mounted upon and extending outwardly from plate 13a as shown in Fig. 7. Stub shaft 22%: of the disk bears in the aperture formed in the chamber block and the disk has rotative movement through a 90 angle limited by the travel of the stop 30 in the arcuate slot 2%. The oppositeface of the transfer disk from that abutting plate 13a has a groove or cartridge slot formed therein and extending diametrically acrossthe face of the disk. Parallel ridges 29c and 29d extend across the disk and form the opposite sides of the trough or slot in which is retained the individual cartridges 14 as they are transferred from the magazine to the gun barrel. The ridge portion 29c is drilled to receive a detent 31 held in place by coil spring 32 and adapted to impose a tilting pressure upon each cartridge as it is received in the groove of the disk. The lower surface of the cartridge slot is tapered slightly, as shown in Fig. 8, to permit canting of the cartridge out of alignment with the firing pin to avoid accidental firing of the cartridge before it is injected into the barrel.

Extending between a socket 291i in the periphery of stub shaft 29a and a similar socket in the bottom of screw plug 33, best shown in Fig. 5, is an over-center spring 34. This spring assures positive rotation of the transfer disk through its 90 cycle. The edge of the disk is grooved at 291:, as indicated in Fig. 10, to receive the disk actuator 23 extending forwardly from bolt block 21. The edge of the disk is notched within the groove, as indicated at 29 and 29g in Figs. 3 and 6, to be engaged by the disk actuator upon operation of the bolt which oscillates the disk through its 90 cycle. Initially it is rotated by the bolt action to receive a cartridge from the magazine and, upon subsequent operation of the bolt, the cartridge slot and cartridge are brought into alignment with the bolt and positioned so the cartridge can be slid from the disk to the gun barrel upon further movement of the bolt.

The operation of the gun action is briefly as follows: To begin with, a sealed container preloaded with car tridges is inserted through the side port of the magazine with the follower 17 retracted. The front and rear ends of the dispensable container are perforated around the edges so the forward pressure of the follower disrupts or bends down the ends of the package and permits feeding of the cartridges forwardly through the magazine, as indicated in Fig. 4. With the bolt in a forward position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the cartridge groove or slot in the side of the transfer disk will be parallel with the gun barrel and in alignment with the bolt. Cartridges fed from the magazine through its forward restricted end arrive at the transfer disk in a position 90 from the axis of the gun barrel and at right angles to the groove in the face. of the disk, as indicated inFig. 4. Retraction of the bolt by means of bolt handle 3d shifts the bolt mechanism rearwardly retracting with it disk actuator 26. Shoulder 28:: on the actuator engages notch 29f on the disk rotating it through an angle of 90 so the cartridge groove in the disk is parallel with the axis of the incoming cartridge. The force of follower spring 1.8 causes the, cartridge adjacent the disk to enter the groove, as indicated in Figs. 8. and 10. Positive action and rotation of the disk through an arc of 90 is assured by overcenter spring 34, while the limits of the disk travel are governed by step pin 3% operating in the arcuate slot 29b. With the bolt in a retracted position the cartridge slot of the disk is rotated so the most advanced cartridge in: the magazine will register with and readily fall into the slot. At this time the recoil spring 25 is retracted Within sleeve 24 with sear notch 36 in the bottom of the bolt block engaged by an upwardly extending sear not shown, actuated through pivoted levers by trigger 37. This trigger release mechanism for the bolt block includ ing the scar and actuating levers is conventional and has, therefore, been omitted from the drawing. When the trigger is pressed to fire the gun the bolt block is released, the force of coil spring 25 carrying the block and bolt mechanism forward. Simultaneously, the disk actuating extension 2.3 moves with the block, its front end face 28b abutting the notch 29g of the transfer disk before the injector portion 22a of the bolt reaches the disk. This trips the disk and rotates it in an opposite direction through an angle of limited again in its travel by stop 34} as shown in Fig. 3. The cartridge lying in the groove of the disk is now shifted to a position in alignment with the bolt and gun barrel. While so positioned the spring actuated detent 31 cants the cartridge in the manner shown in Fig. 8 so the primer is out of alignment with firing pin 22c and premature firing is avoided. The forward force of the recoil spring, besides actuating the disk, advances bolt 22 through the groove of the transfer disk sliding the cartridge from the disk into the gun barrel. It is then fired by pin 220 when the forward end of the shell is seated against the shoulder 12a machined in the. firing chamber of the barrel.

As the injector bolt 22b pushes ,home the cartridge into the gun barrel the hooked end of extractor 27 engages the rim of the cartridge. Upon firing of the cartridge the explosive force causes the bolt to be thrust rearwardly, the empty cartridge case being extracted from the barrel due to engagement of extractor 27 to the-rim of the cartridge. The bolt and cartridge case slide through thedisk slot and thence rearwardly to a position where ejector 23 abuts the top of the cartridge and trips it downwardly throughan ejection port 38 in the bottom of the receiver. After the, cartridge case has passed the transfer disk in its rearward travel, shoulder 2300f the disk actuator again trips the disk through its 90 rotation placing the disk in its initial position to receive another cartridge from the magazine.

In this manner the cartridges are successively fed from the magazine to the disk, thence to the gun barrel and after firing are extracted and ejected and a new cartridge loaded automatically as long as the trigger is pressed to a firing position. Releasing of the trigger permits the trigger sear to engage the notch in the bolt block and hold the block in a retarded position thereby temporarily interrupting firing action until the trigger is again pressed.

It will be noted that the cartridges are supplied to the magazine in preloaded dispensable containers by inserting a container unit ahead of follower 17. By locating the magazine parallel with the gun barrel and feeding the cartridges through the magazine while held in a position normal with the axis of the barrel there is avoided the necessity of using an excessively strong magazine spring and entailing no handling of individual cartridges in operating the gun. Conventionally, the cartridges are fed through the magazine from below so that the spring must not only support the weight of the column of cartridges but must have sufficient force in excess of the weight of the cartridges to feed them into the gun action. It is appreciated that no novelty resides in the bolt and trigger mechanisms shown and explained, but it is believed that the transfer disk, magazine design and the use of a dispensable sealed preloaded cartridge container are features which are unique in automatic, semiautomatic and manually operated gun construction.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A magazine and cartridge container assembly for automatic, semi-automatic and manually operated guns, said guns having cartridge receiving and firing means therein comprising a magazine mounted longitudinally of said gun to receive cartridges therein, said magazine connected at one end to the gun cartridge receiving means, a follower mounted on said gun relative to the other end of said magazine and movable therethrough in a motion longitudinal of the gun, a rectangular container sealed at the ends thereof, said container having rows of cartridges arranged transversely of said container with the primer ends of all cartridges adjacent one side of the container, said container insertable intact into the gun magazine, said follower mechanism adaptable to disrupt both ends of said container when the container is positioned in the magazine and feed the cartridges from the magazine to the cartridge receiving means in its motion through the magazine.

2. A magazine and cartridge container assembly as in claim 1 in which the cartridge container has perforated ends to facilitate disruption of said ends in the feeding action by the follower mechanism.

3. A magazine and cartridge container assembly as in claim 1 in which the cartridge container has perforations around three sides of each end whereby each end forms a hinged tab when it is disrupted by the action of the follower in the feeding action.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 789,142 Chichester May 9, 1905 2,352,766 Bogue July 4, 1944 2,358,792 Conway Sept. 26, 1944 2,584,336 Eisenhardt et a1. Feb. 5, 1952

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