US123883A - Improvement in cartridge-boxes - Google Patents

Description

J. W. FRAZIER. Improvement in Cartridge Boxs. No.V 123,883.

WITNESSES.

UNITED STATES JOSEPH W. ERAZIER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARTRIDGE-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,883, dated February 20, 1872.

Specification describing; an Improvement in Cartridge-Boxes, invented by J osnru XV. FRA- ZlER, of Newark, Essex county, New Jersey.

Improvement in Om'trt'dgeBwes.

box; Fig. 2, a vertical section oi' the. same,

and Fig. 3, a view illustratingr a modification Ot' my invention.

The greatest objection to ordinary cartridgebOXes is the manipulation demandedin extracting acharge. 1n order to do this,itis necessary to holdup the double tlap in front ot' the box, a matter of inconvenience, it' not diiiiculty, for the soldier, especially when in action and when he is armed with a breech-loader. Lloldingthe. weapon in his left hand, the soldier must unbutton and elevate the i'lap in order to gain access to the interior, and while he extracts a cartridge with the iinger and thumb of the right hand, it is necessary to hold up the flap by pressing it against his body with the elbow oi' his left arm-in other words, the soldier is compelled to adopt a very complex system ot manipulation, in order to extract a cartridge from an ordinary box and insert it into the breech of the tire-arm; and the difficulty of these manipulations is increased by the excitement ot" the soldier in action, and by the rapid loading and discharging of weapons demanded by modern warfare.

My invention, which I will now proceed to describe, has been designed with the view of rendering more simple the operation of withdrawing cartridges t'rom a box.

A is the body ofthe box, made ot' leather as usual, and of the ordinary shape, and within this body are deposited the wooden block or blocks, having a number of holes for receiving the metallic cartridges. In the present instance there are two wooden blocks, B and B', hinged together at a, for a purpose rendered apparent in a separate application for a patent, which I have made for a knapsack and cartridge-blocks combined. The cartridges are retained in the holes of the lower block B', by a strap, b, fastened to one end ot' the said block, and passing beneath the heads ot' the cartridges, as shown in Fig. 2, the outer end ot' the strap being turned up against and buttoned to the opposite end ot' the block. NVhen the uppertier of cartrid gesh as been exhausted, both wooden blocks are withdrawn from the body of the box and reinserted therein after being reversed, so that what was previously the lower block becomes the upper block, from which the cartridges may be withdrawn after unbuttoning the strap b. In order to permit the ready withdrawal of thc blocks from the body ot' the box, the opposite sides are cut away at m fr, Fig. 1, to allow the operator t0 grasp the upper portion ot' the upper block between his iinger and thumb. lnstead otl the usual iiaps for closing the top ot' the body of the box, I employ a i'alling lid, D, having at one end a strap, d, united in anysuitablemanner to the end el ot' the body, near the lower portion ot' the same, the strap being longenough to permit the lid to fall to the position shown in Fig. l. I he outer end of the lid is furnished with a short strap, f, provided with a slot for 'attachment to a stud, h, at the end e ot the body ofthe box. The soldier, desiring to gain access to the cartridges, has simply to unbutton the strap f and throw the lid back to the position shown inlrig. 1, when hehas noi'urther care about keeping the box open, such as is required to keep up the tiap 0i' an ordinary cartridge-box, both hands and arms being at liberty to withdraw the cartridges from the box, load his iire-arm, and discharge the same as rapidly as he may desire. rIhe falling lid may be attached to the front of the bar, as shown in Fig. 3; iu this case, however, the hanging lid would be more in the soldiers way than one hanging on the end of the box, as shown in Fig. l.

I claim as my invention-- A cartridge-box, having a lid hung by a iiexible strap, or its equivalent, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribin g witnesses.

Vitnesses: JOSEPH W. FRAZIER.

H. HowsoN, JNO. B. HARDING.

Images