FR2468869A1 - DOUBLE FEEDING MECHANISM FOR GATLING TYPE GUN - Google Patents

Abstract

The mechanism comprises: a first supply means 76, 90 of a first series of ammunition; a second supply means 82, 94 of a second series of ammunition; - a third means 22, 26, 34 intended for the reception, storage and passage of ammunition successively to the movable yokes, and - a fourth means for a connecting the first means to the third means in order to supply it with cartridges and b simultaneously, disengage the second means; and to c connect the second means to the third means in order to supply it with cartridges and to simultaneously disengage the first means. Application to Gatling guns.

Description

246886;)

  The present invention relates to a feeding mechanism.

  tion intended to ensure the supply of ammunition for a Gatling type machine gun from one or the other of

two independent sources.

  The rest of the description refers to the attached figures.

which represent, respectively:

  - Fig. 1, a perspective view of a feeding mechanism

  jointly with a Gatling type machine gun, materi-

  embodying the present invention; - Fig. 2, a schematic transverse view of the feeding mechanism of FIG. 1 when looking forward; - Fig. 3, a schematic end view of the feed mechanism of FIG. 1 when looking forward; - Fig. 4, a detail of FIG. 2 showing the points of the rear guides of the cartridge caps; - Fig. 5, a detail of FIG. 2 showing the switching of the front guides of the cartridge grooves; - Fig. 6A and 6B, sectional views of Figure 4 taken along the line VI-VI ;; - Fig. 7, a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along line VII-VII; and - Fig. 8, a view in longitudinal section of the feed mechanism of FIG. 1 showing the drive of the

gear wheel.

  The Gatling type machine gun can be of the type represented

  felt, for example, by R.E. Chiabrandy et al in the patent

  United States of America No. 3.380.343 published April 30 -

  1968. It includes a machine gun housing 10 in which

  a rotor 12 is mounted on bearings and has seven guns 14 -

  each with a respective bore - and seven slides 16

  each with a pair of 18 sliding paths for

  born to receive a respective cylinder head 20. The casing is notched

  to release a right-hand wheeled loading device

  toothed 22 formed of three wheels each having three lo-

  deposits and fixed on a system of right axes 24a and 24b and a left unloading device with toothed wheels 26

  formed of three wheels each having three housings and fi

  xed on a system of left axes 28a and 28b.

  Axis systems 24a / 24b and 28a / 28b as well as an axis

  central 30, are mounted on bearings in a housing of the mechanic

  me-alimentation 32 fixed itself on the casing of the machine gun

  leuse 10. A central device with toothed wheels 34 formed by two wheels with five housings each is mounted on the axis-30.

  A right axis 40 is suspended from a right link

  te front 42 and a right rear link 44 and mounted on bearings in these links themselves to pivot in the fixed casing of the feed mechanism 32. A left axis

  46 is suspended from a left link before 48 and a connecting rod

  rear left lens 50 and mounted on bearings in these rods

  lettes, themselves mounted to pivot in the fixed housing

of the feeding mechanism 32.

  A movable casing 52 of the feed mechanism is suspended

  hanged on axes 40 and 46 which cross it on a landing. A ti-

  control ge 54 mounted on a bearing in the fixed casing 32 of the

  feed mechanism is provided with a front cam 56 and a

  rear cam 58, an operating lever 60 and a push-button

  evening 62. Each of the cams 56 and 58 is arranged inside a respective light in the movable casing 52. The front light 64 has a right bearing of the cam roller 66 and a left bearing of the cam roller 68 The rear light

  has a straight cam roller bearing 72 and a door

  cam roller left tee 74. A pull on the push

  evening 62 causes the rotation in the opposite direction of the needle

  those of a watch of the control rod 54 and a movement towards the left of the movable casing 52 relative to the fixed casing

  32. A push causes rotation in the direction of the needle.

  those of a watch and a shift to the right.

  A right hand gear transfer device 76

  is fixed on the axis 40 and consists of two wheels, fitted with

  one of four dwellings, which cross 78 notches

  ticked in the fixed casing 32 and notches 80 in the mobile casing 52. A left gear transfer device with cogwheels 82 is fixed on the left axis 46 and consists of two wheels each provided with four housings which pass through notches 84 made in the fixed housing and notches 86

in the mobile housing.

  A device for returning the right-hand conveying means with toothed wheels 90 is fixed on a right-hand axis 92 passing through the bearing on the mobile casing 52 and each of its two wheels has five housings. Likewise, a device for returning conveyor means on the left with cogwheels is fixed on a left axis crossing on bearing the movable casing 52 and each of its two wheels has five housings. A way

  straight endless conveyor 98 including an electric train

  conveying elements 100 as shown, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 3,429,221 located in

  the mobile casing and incorporates the right return device

  te 90, the right loading device 22 and the device

  right transfer device 76. A similar left endless conveying means 102, comprising a train of conveying elements 104, incorporates the left deflection device 94, the left unloading device 26 and the device

left transfer 82.

  A synchronization bar 106 is mounted to pivot

  on the central axis 30. This bar has a cutout for lo-

  right key housing 108 receiving the flattened end of the axis of the right transfer toothed wheel 40 and a cutout for left keyway housing 112, receiving the flattened end 114 of the axis of the transfer device left 46. When a flattened end is in the circular part of the keyhole cutout, the axis can rotate freely whereas when the flattened end is inserted in the notch of the keyway housing,

the axis is prevented from turning.

  An external gear crown 116 is fixed on the wheel.

  tor of machine gun 12 and meshes with a pinion of right

  118 mounted on the right axis 24a and is engaged with the dis-

  positive loading 22 by means of a pinion 119a fixed on a parallel axis 119b provided with a pinion 119c which, in turn, meshes with a pinion 119d mounted on the axis 24b. A pinion 118 meshes with a left pinion 120 which is mounted

  on the left axis system 28a and 28b and carries the

  left unloading device 26 similar to the system of axes 24a and 24b. A pinion 122 and a pinion 124 are fixed on the axis 30 of the central gear device. The pinion 122 meshed with the right pinion 118 and the left pinion 120. A right pinion 126 is fixed on the axis 40 of the right transfer device and meshes with the pinion

  right 128 fixed on the axis 92 of the return device of-

  right. A left pinion 130 is fixed on the axis 46 of the dis-

  positive transfer left and meshes with a pinion

  132 left fixed on the axis 96 of the left deflection device.

  When the axis 40 of the right transfer device is tilted-

  lé to the left, it can rotate freely and its pinion 126 meshed with the pinion 124, while the left pinion is disengaged and locked. When axis 46 of the device

  left transfer is tilted to the right, it can turn

  drive freely and its pinion 130 meshed with pinion 124,

  however that the right pinion 126 is disengaged and

  rust. When the movable casing 52 of the feed mechanism is tilted to the left as shown in the figures, the

  way. right endless conveyor 98 is engaged for ali-

  Left Endless Lying 102 is disengaged, and vice versa.

  A right front guide assembly 140 and a left front guide assembly 142 are provided, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, in order to guide the grooves in the cartridge cases. A right upper guide 144 is mounted by means of an intermediate pivot axis 146 on the movable casing 52 of the feed mechanism and its rear end is

  connected by a pivot axis 148 to one end of a connecting rod

  lette 150 whose other end is connected by an axis-

  pivot 152 at the distal end of a crank arm 154 whose proximal end is mounted by a pivot axis 156

  on the fixed casing 32 but is mounted medially by an axis -

  pivot 158 on the movable casing 52. Likewise, an inferior guide

  right laughter 160 is mounted by an intermediate pivot pin

  162 on the movable casing 52 and its rear end is connected

  strung by a pivot axis 164 at one end of a link

  166, the other end of which is also connected to the axis-

  pivot 152. An upper left guide 168 and a lower guide

  laughter left 170 are pivotally mounted similarly

  on the mobile feed mechanism at 172 and 174, respectively

  tively, and their rear ends are connected to the biel-

  respective lettes 176 and 178 which are themselves connected to a crank arm 180. When the feeding mechanism

  mobile is moved to the left as shown in the figure

  gure 5, the right guides 144 and 160 are tilted back to clear the access of the right conveying means 98 to the central gear wheel device 34, while the

  left guides 168 and 170 are tilted to the upright position

  to define a limit around the central device 34,

and vice versa.

  There is a right rear guide assembly 190

  and a rear left guide assembly 192 as shown

  felt in FIGS. 4, 6A and 6B in order to guide the caps,

  that is to say the extraction discs 193 from the cartridge cases

  ches. The fixed casing 32 of the feed mechanism comprises

  a central plate 194 which extends into a part of slide

  inner guide track 196 advancing in an annular slot

  the space provided in the rotor of the machine gun 12. Such slides and slots are shown, for example, in United States Patent No. 3,380,342. A groove 198

  is made in the central plate 194 to receive the re-

  edge of the extraction disc. An interior guide on the right 200,

  an outer right guide 202, an inner left guide

  che 204 and an outer left guide 206 are associated with

  transverse movement of the movable casing 52 of the feed mechanism

  ment and controlled by it, with respect to the fixed casing 32 of this mechanism, so as to move longitudinally forward and backward to be aligned or misaligned with the receiving groove of the discs 198. The inner guide

  right 200 and the left outer guide 206 are solid

  and are moved longitudinally at the same time by means of two ramp cam slots 208 and 210 formed in two shoulders 212 and 214 extending longitudinally

  on the mob-ile 52 housing and in which move res-

  pectively two ramped cam rails 216 and 218 projecting from the guides 200 and 206 respectively. The front or "out" position of the guides 200 and 206 is shown in Figure 6A. Right inner guide 200 provides margin

  a to which comes to bear the periphery of the disc of ex-

  pulling out of the groove 198. The left outer guide 206 has a lateral surface 206a which prevents the extraction disc from leaving the groove 198. FIG. 6B

  shows the guides 200 and 206 in the rear or retracted position.

  The inner guide on the right provides a cavity 220 comprising

  a groove 198, which the extraction disc can protrude

  as it is forced to move in the groove 198 by the right outer guide 202. The left outer guide

  206 has retracted its surface 206a and releases the extraction disk

  tion as it is driven by the inner guide on the left

204 out of groove 198.

  The machine gun may be of the rotation type in one direction only, for example clockwise but

  it is preferably of the type which, at the end of a burst, does not

  pours its direction of rotation and that of the feeding system in order to strip the machine gun of the cartridges not fired in

  returning them through the supply system. The machine gun

  leuse GAU-8 / A is an example. As shown in Figure 2, the machine gun fires counter-clockwise

  shows and reverses for this evacuation in the direction of the ai-

watches of a watch.

  The right endless conveying means 93 being engaged, and the left endless conveying means 102 disengaged, the device for returning the right conveying means 90 rotates anti-clockwise to remove the cartridges right conveying elements 100 and place them in the right loading device 22 which engages them in the central gear device 34 and distributes them to the respective rotor heads. The cartridges are pulled and continue their rotation until they are extracted by the unloading device 26 which

  engages in the central gear wheel 34. The car-

  keys (i.e. the cartridge cases pulled)

  bend to rotate with the central toothed wheel which gives them to the right transfer device 76 which, in turn, introduces them into the elements of the right conveying means while they pass the deflection device 90. When the machine gun s reverse to empty, the direction of rotation of the rotor, the central gear wheel and the endless conveyor on the right is reversed and the cartridges are removed by the loading device 22 which, in turn, gives them to elements of the right conveyor

  when they pass the right return device. The-

  vacuation with continuous reversal until the last cartridge not drawn A has passed the loading device

  and is in the appropriate element of the conveying means.

  During the inversion-evacuation operation, the cases of the drawn cartridges were deposited by the elements of the right conveying means in the transfer device 76, which,

  in turn, introduced them into the central device 34.

  If the right-hand endless conveyor 98 was now

  if disengaged, it would cause all cartridges not ti-

  are with him. When it is re-engaged - or if it has not been previously disengaged - during the next shot, the

  last cartridge not drawn A is the first to be introduced

  picks up in the loading device 22 to be drawn.

  With the left endless conveying means 102 engaged and the right endless conveying means 98 disengaged, the

  return device for the left-hand conveyor 94 turns-

  do counterclockwise for intro

  Dilute the ammunition brought by the elements of the means of

  left conveyor 104 in the left transfer device

  che 82 which, in its turn, introduces them into the central system

  tral with cogwheels which turns them and gives them back to the

  loading right 22 which distributes them to the culas-

  its respective rotor. The cartridges are pulled out and conti-

  run their course until they are removed by the unloading device 26 which, in turn, hands them over to the left-hand conveyor elements when they pass

  the left return device. When the machine gun is

  pours to empty, the direction of rotation of the rotor, the device

  central tif with cogwheels and the left endless conveyor is reversed, and the cartridges are removed by the i

  loading device 22 which passes them to the central device

  tral 34 which, in turn, delivers them to the transfer device 82 which transfers them to the elements of the conveying means

  on the left when these exceed the turning device

  is lying. The inversion-evacuation operation continues until

  that the last undrawn cartridge B has exceeded the

transfer charge 82.

  The operation of guides 200, 202, 204 and 206 has been

  already described. The layout and functioning of the other guides

  which cooperate with the elements of the conveying means and the toothed wheels are conventional and can be found

in the Patents already cited.

Claims (6)

R E V E N D I C A T I 0 N S   1 - Double feeding mechanism intended for a machine gun   leuse provided with a casing and a rotor with several guns and an equal number of movable breeches, comprising: - a first means of supply (76,90) of a first series of ammunition;   - a second means of supply (82.94) of two   xth series of ammunition, - a third means (22,26,34) intended for the reception, the storage and the passage of ammunition successively to the movable breeches, and - a fourth means for (a) connecting the first means to the third means in order provide him with cartridges and (b)   simultaneously, disengage the second means; and for (c) rac-   string the second means to the third means in order to provide it with cartridges and (d), simultaneously, disengage the first means. 2 feeding mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotor of the machine gun is adapted to turn in a first direction to receive and fire the   cartridges and in that it is suitable for turning in the   be direction, opposite to the first, in order to rid the rotor of the cartridges; and characterized in that:   - the third means is used to receive the evacuated cartridges   baked from the movable cylinder heads, to store them and to deliver them successively to that of the first and second means   which is connected to it by the fourth means.   3 - feeding mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that - the first means comprises a first wheeled device   gears (90), and a first device with sprockets sup-   plementaire (76) - the second means comprises a second wheeled device   sprockets (94) and a second device with additional sprockets mental (82);   the third means comprises a third device for -   cogwheels (34), a first third additional gearwheel device (22) and a second third additional gearwheel device (26)   - the first third toothed wheel device is added   shutter (22) for passing the cartridges in two directions between the first gear wheel device (90) and the third gear wheel device (34), and in both directions between the third gear wheel device (34 ) and the movable cylinder heads,   - the second third device with additional toothed wheels   element (26) for passing the cartridges in two directions between the second gear wheel device (94) and the third gear wheel device (34) and in both directions between the third gear wheel device (34) and movable cylinder heads; - the first additional geared device (76) used to pass the cartridges in both directions   between the first geared device (90) and the third   me gear wheel device (34) and - the second additional gear wheel device (82) used to pass the cartridges in both directions   between the second gear wheel device (94) and the third   cog wheel device (34).   - 4 - Feeding mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that: - the first wheeled device. toothed (90) comprises a first endless conveying means (98) for the cartridges and - the second geared device (94) comprises a   secona means an endless conveyor (102) for the cartridges.   - Feeding mechanism according to claim 4 characterized in that:   - the feed mechanism has four pos-   sibles 1) starting from the first endless conveying means (98) first third additional geared device   (22), third geared device (34), first three   5th additional gear wheel device (22), cylinder head-   its mobiles, second third device with cogwheels sup-   plementary, third geared device, first   additional geared device and return to pre-   mier endless conveying means, 2) the reverse path of path 1 above 3) starting from the second endless conveying means (102): second additional geared device (82), third geared device (34) 9 first third   additional wheeled device (22), movable cylinder heads,   cond third additional gear wheel device (26) third gear wheel device (34), second third additional gear wheel device (26) and return to the second endless conveying means; and   4) the reverse path of path 3 above.   6 - Feeding mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: - the fourth means alternately serves to connect 1) the first endless conveying means (98) to the first third additional geared device (22) and the first additional gear device (76) to the third gear device; or 2) the second endless conveying means (102) to the second additional third gear device (26) and the second additional gear device (82) to   third geared device.   7 - Feeding mechanism according to claim 6.   characterized in that the fourth means comprises: - a first guide means having two possible configurations: D a first configuration for guiding the cartridges from the first endless conveying means (98) in the third geared device (34 ) and out of this means towards the first endless conveying means, and bare second configuration for guiding the cartridges inside the third gear wheel device and a second guide means having two possible configurations: e a first configuration for guiding the cartridges from the second endless conveying means (102) in the third gear wheel device (34) and out of this device towards the second endless conveying means; and a second configuration for guiding   cartridges inside the third wheeled device   tees; - the first guide means being in its first   configuration when the second guide means is in its se- this configuration; and   - the second guide means being in its first configuration   guration when the first guide means is in its second configuration.   8 - Feeding mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that: - the first and second guide means each comprise 15. a respective pair of rods interconnected to form a toggle joint and in that the rods are folded in the   respective first configuration and deployed to the outside   laughing in the second respective configuration.   9 - Weapon system comprising - a machine gun fitted with a casing and   a rotor fitted with several guns and a number of   equal bre of movable yokes; and - a feeding mechanism, a system characterized in that the feeding mechanism is as defined according to a   any of the preceding claims.