Ammunition supply means

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ammunition storage and feeding mechanism according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG.1;and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the belt df FIG. 1. '

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

ίο

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, a storage and feeding device 10 is shown including a magazine 5 or ammunition box 12 containing an endless ammunition or cartridge belt 14 spiralled in concentric turns about a central vertical axis with the outermost portion thereof looped back to the center of the spiralled belt. The belt 14 carries ammunition rounds 16 and is driven by a driving mechanism indicated ) generally at 18. The device 10 is shown mounted to base 20 bv means of a plurality of brackets 21.

As seen also in FIG. 2 and 5, the ammunition belt 14 includes an endless flexible metal strip 22 having an upper series of spaced abutments 24 and a lower series of spaced abutments 26. Each round 16 is located with an upper end portion between an adjacent pair of abutments 24 and a lower portion between an adjacent pair of abutments 26. The belt 14 may be formed of any suitable material, for example, thin corrosionresistant sheet metal, such as stainless steel, or, in some cases, a suitable plastic material. In the case of sheet metal, the series of abutments 24 and 26 can be formed from continuous sheet metal strips of the same type of metal as the strip 22. The strips of metal forming the abutments 24 and 26 can be properly aligned with each other and connected, such as by spot-welding to the strip 22 during the manufacture thereof. The strip 22 is perforated with two rows of sprocket holes 28 and 30 so that the strip can be driven by the driving mechanism 18, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The ammunition box 12 includes a cover 12α and bottom 126 having complimentary axially extending portions providing a peripheral wall 12c. The cover 12α has a central opening 27 and the peripheral wall 12c has an opening 29 (FIG. 4) which connects with a chute or guide member 31 attached to the box by screws and a bracket 33.

The driving mechanism 18, as seen in FIG. 3, includes a pair of driven sprocket gears 32 and 34 connected to a shaft 35 mounted for rotation in a bearing 36 mounted in the base 20, adjacent to the inner turn or layer of the belt 14. The teeth of gears 32 and 34 respectively enter the sprocket holes 28 and 30 in the belt and move the belt when rotated. The gears 32 and 34 are rotated by a chain-driven sprocket wheel 38 connected to the shaft 35 axially beyond the box 12.

A drive shaft 40, also shown in FIG. 4, is mounted for rotation in a bearing 42 located in the base 20 radially between the outermost turn of belt 14 and the box 12. A sprocket wheel 43 is mounted on shaft 40 and connected through a drive chain 44 to sprocket 38 to rotate it in response to rotation of sprocket 43. A pair of driving sprocket gears 45 and 47 are connected to shaft 40 for rotation therewith which respectively enter the sprocket holes 28 and 30 to drive the belt 14 at the outer turn. The shaft 40 is driven by a power input source, indicated at 46 in FIG. 1, which may be any suitable driving mechanism for driving the belt 14 in accordance with the desired rate of firing of a rapid fire gun (not shown) that is fed ammunition by the device 10. The mechanism 46 may include, for example, suitably controlled electric motor.

The drive shaft 40 also drives an ammunition transfer mechanism, indicated generally at 48, which sequentially removes the rounds 16 from the belt 14 and feeds them to the breach (not shown) of a rapid fire gun, such as the rotor of a Gatling gun, or a gun feeding mechanism, such as an ammunition conveyor, (not shown). The transfer mechanism 48, as seen more fully in FIGS. 2 and 4, includes a drive gear 50 connected to shaft 40 below the base 20 which meshes with a driven gear 52 connected to a driven shaft 54 mounted in a bearing 56 in the base plate 20 at a location outwardly of the belt 14. Connected to shaft 54 are transfer sprockets 58 and 60 provided with peripheral arcuate slots 62 and 63, respectively. The slots 62 are engageable with upper portions of rounds 16 while the slots 63 are engageable with the lower relatively larger, portions of rounds 16. The walls of the slots 62 and 63 engage a round 16 during movement of the belt 14 and move the round against a pair of arcuate cam portions 65

3,590,684 and 66 of a pair of cam members 67 and 68 which are connected together and fixed to base 20 such as by screws 69. Each round 16 is moved outwardly along the cam portions and into a suitable round receiving device (not shown).

As the belt 14 is driven by the driving mechanism 18, the empty portion of the belt is guided by a guide member 70 back to the center of the spiralled belt. Guide member 70 is connected to box 12 by a bracket 71. A depending lip 72, as seen in FIG. 3, aids in guiding the empty belt portion back into the center of the spiral. The guide member 31 is attached to box 12 to guide the belt and ammunition rounds 16 from the box to the transfer mechanism 48.

In operation when an associated rapid fire gun (not shown) is firing, the input power source rotates shaft 40 and sprockets 38 and 43. The gears 32, 34,45 and 47 drive the spiralled belt 14 through the transfer mechanism 48 where the rounds 16 are removed from the belt and transferred to the gun. The belt 14 of course, exits from the guide member 31 near the transfer mechanism 48 and the empty portion of the belt passes through guide 70 and reenters the box 12 near the center.

By spiralling the belt 14 in concentric layers, that is, with the adjacent side edges of the belt layers in a common radial plane, the box 12, as illustrated, is relatively thin or shallow, it being only slightly higher than the length of the ammunition rounds 16.

The tolerances required in the manufacture of the belt 14 are not critical. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the belt abutments 24 and 26 do not clamp the rounds 16 so that the distances between the abutments are not critical. The rounds 16 slide on the bottom 12b, and the upward movement thereof is limited by the cover 12α. The rounds 16 in an inner layer are radially located or limited in movement by an adjacent belt layer. Of course, the rounds in the outermost belt layer are limited in radial movement by the box 12 and those in the guide 31 by the inner wall thereof.

The belt 14 does not require the use of linked ammunition, that is, ammunition linked together by pivotal links. Ammunition rounds that are pivotally linked, however, can be used where desired or required. In such cases, the transfer ‘ mechanism can be adapted, for example, to merely pass the linked ammunition to the gun firing mechanism.

It will be apparent that a relatively high ammunition round density is obtained by the device 10. Also, by rotating the shaft 40 in the opposite direction and feeding ammunition rounds to the transfer sprockets 58 and 60 of transfer mechanism 48, an empty belt 14 can be quickly and easily filled with ammunition. The belt 14 can economically be reused.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results obtained.

As various changes could be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.