US1541765A - Cartridge shell - Google Patents

Description

5 6 7, l 4 5, 1 E G D G H u H. 5 2 9 1 9, m Bu CARTRIDGE SHELL Filed Nov. 12, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f si.

llllllllllll/lll l K l 'I Patented June 9, i925,

HOWARD HODGE, OFl NEW YORK, 1\T. Y., ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 GEORGE RAMSEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.V

CARTRIDGE SHELL.

Application led November 12, 1919. Serial No. 337,513.

To all lwhom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HOWARD D. Honen, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridge Shells, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates broadly to ammunition and more specifically to a shell for cartridges. 'Y

The present invention though simple in character brings into the art many novel advantages some of which will be delineated as'objects of the invention.

One objectof the present invention is to produce a strong light-weight waterproof sheil for encased charges and the like, such as commonly used in shot gun shells, and wherein the shell is capable of witnstanding rough usage.

Another object of the present invention is a shell for a cartridge, the body tube of which comprises a single tube provided with reinforcing members constructed in such manner as to increase the tensile strength of the body tube.

Another more specific object of the present invention is a shell as previously specii'ied and wherein the reinforcements comprise ribs provided on the interior of the body tube.

A further and more specific object of the present invention is a shell of the character set forth and wherein the specified ribs are spirally arranged in such manner that a plane extending longitudinally of the shell and including the axis thereof, will intersect a plurality of the said ribs whereby longitudinally extending splits in the shell are avoided when the shell is fired in a loosely fitting chamber.

A still further and important object of the present invention is a cartridge tube for ammunition comprising a tube manufacturedk by extrusion and wherein the material in the body wall of the tube is compressed upon itself.

A still further and important object of the present invention is a shell for a cartridge having the body wall formed of a tube of aluminum, or aluminum alloy, which has been extruded under pressure through forming dies uf'hereby the metal of the tube is under compressive forces.

Another and important object of the present 'invention is the construction of a shell having a body tube formed of metal, such Aas aluminumvor an aluminum alloy, capable of being quickly stretched without' danger' of rupture whereby the end of the shell may be crimped over the end wad in such manner as to retain the ywad within the shell until relatively high pressure has been develhaving an aluminumfbody tube with the end thereof contracted over a waterproofed end wad in such manner as to form a tight waterproof joint therewith and vto retain said wad against predetermined interior pressure.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in part be pointed out hereinafter in the specification following by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the several figures thereof. Y

Figure l is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a construction in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line A`-A of Figure l.

Figure 3 illustrates one manner of finishing the end of the cartridge to maintain a suitable support for the end wad and to form a waterproof joint therewith.

Figure 4 is a perspective View of an end of a cartridge finished in accordance with the construction shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 isa more or less diagrammatic view illustrating the preferred manner of producing the body tube of the shell.

Heretofore in the art of encased charge cartridges, such as shot gun cartridges, the most commonly used body wall has been a paper tube. Because of the softness of the paper the wall of the tube may distort'under interior pressure due to tight loading, or atmospheric conditions may cause the paper to further soften or expand andy if the shell strikes part of the operating mechanism, particularly in an automatic gun, the end ficiently in diameter when subjected to at.

mospherie dampness as to'become too large 4to enter the gun chamber and, although there have been many attempts'to suitably waterproof the paper, no strictly waterproof paper shell has yet been produced andV therefore there is liability of the shell softening and deteriorating when subjected to wet ordampness. This is particularlyntrue of the crimped end portion of paper shells. Furthermore the side wall of paper tube shells must be relatively thick as compared to metal shells and since the' exterior diameters are fixed standard sizes, the thick walls'cut down charge spaceV and such shells must make this up by increased length.

Metal shells, usually brass, were formerly used for encased charges when a black powder was in general use. Black powder produced effective pressures even though the charge was not confined underV pressure. "When smokeless powder came into general use, it was found that these straightended wall metallic shells were not satisfactory for use with smokeless powder, the reason beingl that smokeless powder does not operate effectively unlessy it burns under relatively high compression. The paper shell solved the problem, forthe use of smokeless powder, by tightly crimping the end of the shell over and against the end Vor top so that considerable internal pres'- sure developed in the shell before the crimp was broken. The development of the internal Ypressure in the, paper y, shell brought about a further difficulty which caused cut'- offs The body of the shell would be expanded tightly against the chamber of the gun and if there was any looseness between the head of thevshell and the breech ofthe gun, the head of the shell would move rearwardly whilethe body ofthe shell would be tightly clamped against the gun chamber. This caused the base of the shell to be torn off and the extractor of the gun would pull the head from the shell when the chamber' was opened to eject the empty shell. This left the body of the shell in theI chamber and causedv trouble as well as danger. Sometimes the out off forward portion of the shell travelled up into the bore 'of the gun and in rapidshooting, particularly with a magazine gun, there was liability of a second charge beingfired without the discovery of the accident to the previous cartridge. The firing of-the second charge in substantially all cases resulted in either a bursted gun barrel or blowing off of the muzzle of the gun. The use of metal, such as brass, has not been Vsuccessful where attempts have been made to bend over or crimp theend of the shell., Qne reason is that brass does not draw or stretch quickly, so that,

In order to preventy cut-offs77 in paper shells, it has been found necessary to reinforce the interior of the shell. This is usually done by introducing a steel or metallic lining which adds to the weight and expense of the shell, as well as restricts powder charge space. p

Aluminum has Vbeen proposed as a material for the body of the shells because of itslight weight and non-corrosive qualities, but. aluminum shells have heretofore been reinforced with the paper tubes so that-the sidewall of the body of the tube has been as thick or thicker than in the paper tube shells'. Y As above set forth,- a thick body wall necessarily cuts down the interior cross-sec tion of the shell, for a standard bore, and therefore requires an increased length cartridge. Furthermore, with an increased thickness of body wall, the diameter of the wads, in front of the powder charge, necessarily is smaller than would be the diameter of a wad in a shell of the same gage which has a thin body wall; and it is desirable that the wads shall lit the bore of the gun tightly in order that the full benefit ofthe powder gases, may be realized. vTherefore the` thin body wall shellY has better ballistics than the thick-walled shell.

Composite metallic shells have been proposed whereinV the shell wall was reinforced its complete length and wherein the thin metal portion of the shell was' turned over1V and folded back upon itself parallel to the side wall in substantially the same manner as the crimp on the paper shell. This type of very thin metal wall tends to fracture when fired because of the fact that the end wall of the shell must unfold through 180j in an extremely short period of time and the gases either split this end or tear it ofi' and leave'it in the barrel. V Y

YThe cartridge comprising the present inyention is provided with a relatively thin Y body tube, preferably formed of ductile material. Preferably the material in the body tube is material inthe state of compression such as is the metal in an extruded tube and the interior of the body tube is preferably reinforced by 'ribs which Vmay or may not be formed integral with the wall. In the preferred form, these ribs are integral with the wall. The ribs extend longitudinally and may be either straight or inclined in such manner that the spiral inclination of the ribs is suflicient for the projection of the base of one rib to lap the forward end of another rib, whereby a longitudinally extending plane including the axis of the shell will intersect a plurality o f ribs. This spiral arrangement prevents splits in Cil the side wall of the tube and the additional longitudinal StrengthprOVided by theribs prevents cut-offs. By thisconstruction the necessary strength is obtained, in ka light weight, large, internal diameter shell, which is economical to manufacture and load.

A more import-ant function of the ribs, however, is to completely Vprevent cutoffs. The ribs furnish greatly added resistance to the shearing effect of the powder pressure. and even if through defective loading-such as may' occur under hand re-loading-or because of a loose breech blockin a gun, Ythe shell'is ruptured laterally, the racture occurs in only a small portion of the body wall, and the ribs enable the eX- tractor to function properly to withdraw the entire shell from the chamber..

The relative thinness of the body wall permits a standard charge to be encompassed in a shorter shell than is possible with a thick wall construction. This fac-t increases the carrying lcapacity Aof magazine firearms, and also decreases the external bulk of the cartridge so that the same amount of ammunition occupies less space than heretofore.

The forward end of the body tube is curved inwardly to extend at substantially 900 to the side. wall of the tube and is tightly seated against a waterproof end wad in such manner as to form a .substantially waterproof jointrbetween the wad and Ythe end of the body wall. This construction forms a waterproof shell which does not deteriorate even when submerged in water for long periods of time.

lVhile the body tube may be constructed in various ways without departing from the present invention, the preferred manner of making this tube comprises extruding al proper material, preferably of aluminum or aluminum alloy, through extrusion dies whereby the metal is highly compressed. rThe extruding operation increases the tensile strength of aluminum up to as much as 38,000 pounds per square inch. Furthermore, this method of forming the tube leaves the metal under compression, a condition best adapted to resist the pressures developed by the powder gases and produces an eX- tremely strong wall which therefore may be of a relatively small thickness. It has been found such shells may be fired and reloaded a large number of times before the shell fails. The life of such an aluminum shell is much longer than that of a paper shell.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings t Figure 5 illust-rates diagrammatically a preferred manner of forming the body wall tube and comprises a die l provided with a cup in which a metal blank is placed and subjected to very heavy pressure. A nose member 2 of slightly less diameter than the opening in the forming ring of the die l is arranged within the die opening and is preferably provided with grooves 5 which may be spirally inclined. The blank 6 of metal, preferably aluminum or an alloy of aluminum, is introduced into the die l and the blank is subject to heavy pressure by suitable powerful mechanism thereby causing the metal in the blank to flow between the nose 2 and the ring die. This metal assumes the form of a tube 7 the interior of which is provided with ribs 8.

The preferred form of the cartridge con1- prises a shell with a body wall formed of a section of the extruded tube 7 and with the base provided with a base wad 9 around which the body wall is secured and which is covered with a. reinforcing head 4or cup l0 preferably ofbrass. This head l0 is recessed to provide the usual primer cup 11 which retains the primer l2. When the shell is loaded the outer end thereof is closed by the end wad 14. This wad is securely seated against the charge within the shell by a suitablej loading mechanism, and the end wall of the shell is crimped or brought over the end wad in such manner that the edge of the end wall is substantially parallel to the surface of the end wad, and at substantially right angles to the side wall ofthe shell. The metal between the right angle portion and the side wall is rounded,.preferably to be of the form of a portion This crimp or beadingL may be accomplished either by suitable dies or by spinning operation andthe metal is preferably leftin such condition that when the shell is fired the sudden explosion and expansion of the gases causes the bent-in portion of the shell to assume the position 15 indicated in the dotted lines in Figure 3 against the side wall of the gun bore, also indicated in Figure 3 i1'. dotted line, without the metal rupturing or spliting.

This crimp does not yield until a predetermined pressure has developed in the shell and the amount of shell wall crimped over the end wad is predetermined in such manner as to give the proper ballistic action to the propelling charge of smokeless powder.

I realize that the present invention may be carried out by constructions other than that shown and described, and therefore I desire such disclosure to be taken as illustrative and not in the limiting sense, and wherever the word aluminum is used in the claims it is intended to refer to aluminum, an alloy of aluminum, or the equivalents thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. As an article of manufacture, a charge of encased ammunition comprising a shell having' a single tube of extruded aluminum provided with a smooth eXt-erior and with longitudinally extending spirally inclined of a sphere.

ribs on the interior of a. .portion of 'said tube and adapted to increase the longitudinal strength of said tube and thereby preventing cut-offs, the inclination of said ribs being such that a plane parallel to and including the axis of the tube will intersect a plurality of said ribs whereby longitudinal splits in said tube are also prevented, and means to retain the powder gases within the shell until a predetermined pressure is developed.

2. As an article of manufacture', aV charge of encased ammunition comprising a shell having a body tube of extruded aluminum, a charge comprising projectiles and high pressure powder within said shell, a top wad upon said charge, and means for retaining said topv wad within the shell until a predetermined gas pressure has developed Within said shell, said means comprising a predetermined crimp upon theV end of thetube 'and withthe end portion over the VWad at right angles to the body wall over the tube and a rounded portion extending between the endV edge and the side wall. i

3. As an article of manufacture, a shell for encased ammunition comprising abody formed of extruded reinforced aluminum, va plurality of reinforcing ribs carried by said body said ribsbeing on the interior of the body, and the exterior ofvsaid body beingl 4. As an article of manufacture, a shell for encased ammunition comprising a body formed of extruded aluminum, and reinforcing means integral with said body, said means comprising a plurality of reinforcing ribs carried said body, said ribs being on the interior of the body, and the exterior of said body being smooth.

5. As an article of manufacture, a shell for fixed ammunition comprising a body formed of extruded aluminum, and' reinforcing means integral with said body.

6. Asy an articley of manufacture, a shell for fixed ammunition comprising a body formedv of extruded aliuninum having a smooth external surface and a plurality of reinforcing ribs integral'with a portion of said body to rincrease the longitudinal strength thereof, said yribs being on the interior of the body. i

7. As an article of manufacture,a shell 'for fixed ammunition comprising a body formed of extruded aluminum, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs integral with a portion of said body to increase the longitudinal strength thereof.

8. As an article of manufacture, a shellV fory fixed ammunition comprising a body formed ofextruded aluminum.

9. As an article of manufacture, a charge of encased ammunition comprising a shell having a body tube of extruded aluminum, a charge comprisinggshot and powder within said shell, a top wad upon said charge,Y

apredetermined crimp upon the end of theV tube and with ythe end portions over the wad at rightangles to the body wall of the tube., and a rounded portion extending between the end edge and the side wall.

HOVARD D. HODGE.

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