US1625993A

US1625993A - Machine gun

Info

Publication number: US1625993A
Application number: US574558A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter T Gorton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1922-07-12
Filing date: 1922-07-12
Publication date: 1927-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 1944-04-26

Description

l'lszsgs.

s sheets-sheen 1N VENTOR Walter TGorol A TT'ORNE Y April 26,1921. w' T GORTo-N MACHINE GUN' Filed Julylz, 1922 2 l 625 993 April 26 1,9 7 w. T. GoRToN 9 MACHINE GUN Filed Ju1y12, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E ,E www @n a 1 r Sf f z gw/? w/ V y? yay/MZ V M WWJS. Tlill April 26 1927 w. T. GoRToN MACHINE GUN Filed Ju1yl2. 1922 3 SheetS-Sheet3 R Y W mm N IT A W W WM V. B

Patented Apr. '26, 1.927.

UNITED STATES WALTER T. GoBToN, oE'THE UNITED sTATEs aamgsrnnvermrn, mssAcHUsETTs.

MAcHINEeUx-t.

Applicationmea Ju1y112,v 1922. semi E. 574,588.1..

(GRANTED UNDEE TEE AcT or maca 12,1823;- 22 sTAT. L. 625.)

The subject of this invention is a machine lgun designed primarily for use on aircraft.

. The gun is intended for -use as a fixed synchronized weapon and embodies features of construction which .experience has vshown to be desirable and which can be obtained 1 v only with great diiiiculty, if at all, in guns of the usual ground type -converted for aircraft use. Guns of this class are usually mounted in pairs side by side and since the space available for them and their ammunition boxes, synchronizing gears, and mounts is of necessity extremely limited, a symmetrieal arrangement -of all this equipment is very useful. In order to obtain this symmetrical arrangement special provision must be made inlcertain features of the gun, principally in the means for feeding, ejection of lempty cartridge cases and the empty end of the cartridge belt, (which may be of either fabric or disintegrating metallic link con-l struction) at-tachment, and operation of the trigger motor and an arrangement of the handle bywhich manual o eration of the mechanism of a gun for loadlng and unloading and correction of stoppages is effected.`

Guns of this class are belt fed, the belt entering one side of the gun above the breech of the barrel and being ejected from the opposite side. In orderto secure the object sought, provision for entry of the belt from either side is essential. The trigger motor is mounted u on the side and correspondingly, means or mounting it on either side are provided. The empty cartridge cases are ejected from the bottom. The operating handle is located centrally with respect to the widthof the gun extending to the rear and downward from the cover, over which it extends as a slide to operate the bolt.

With these and other objects in view my invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in -the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

One practical embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in longi-l place. `The trunnion block is bored for the tudinal section of a constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 1A is a similar view of the muzzle and;muzz le gland;

Fig. 2 1s a planI view of a receiver partly 1n section on the line 2-2 of'Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the receiver with the cover removed.v

Fig. 4 is a section onthe line 4 4 of I Fig. 5 is a plan View of the gun, the barrel and jacket removed.

ReferringV to the drawings by numerals of reference:

The receiver 1s an elongated rectilinear box consisting of side lates and bottom plate 11 suitably joine together as by riveting. The plates have grooves cut in their inner faces adjacent their rear ends for the reception of tongues formed on the rear plate L2, which plate is assembled with the receiver by sliding it into place from above, and is held in place by suitable means such as the catch 13 which hooks under the rear edge of the bottom plate. The forward end of the receiver is closed by a ltrunnion block 14 which may be conveniently riveted in reception of the breech end of the barrel 15' with a close sliding fit and also counterbored and tapped for threaded engagement with the rear end of the barrel jacket 16 as seen most clearly in Fig. 1.

Connected to the breech end of the barrel- 15, preferably by screwthreads 17 is a barrel extension 18 which extends rearwardly and terminates adjacent the buffer 12". The rear portion of the barrel extension rests upon a lock frame 19 which is positioned inA the in abuts against the rear face of a de-l pen ing portion 23 of the barrel extension which portion is slotted as at 24 to receive the accelerator 25 which is pivotally mounted inthe lock frame. The extension 18 is also slotted at 26 for the reception of a vertically sliding breech lock 27 which is adapted to lock the breech bolt in its for# ward position and which is provided with the usual lock pin 30. For the purpose of recoil the impulse of the expanding spring 22 forces the accelerator again into contact with the cross bar 31 urgin the same and the barrel extension forward..

The breech bolt 32 is mounted for reci rocation between the side bars of the barre eX- tension and has a longitudinal tongue or rib formed on each side to engage in a slot 33 formed in the inner face of each side bar.

A slot 34 is cut in the lower surface of the breech bolt in position to receive the breech lock 27` when the breech bolt is in its forward position. Upon the bolt at its rear end is an upwardly projecting portion 35 slotted to receive the pivotally mounted Sear 36 in the form of a bell crank lever one end of which is adapted to engage in a notch 37 cut in the upper surface of the firing pin 38 and the other arm of which is formed with a V-shape front face extending into a complemental notch formed in the rear edge of slide 39 which slide extends across the portion and slides in a groove formed therein, the ends of the slide positioned adjacent the side plates of the receiver so as to be operated upon by a trigger motor mounted on either side plate.

lVhen the Sear slide is forced .either to the right or the left the V face on the sear rides along the inclined face of the recess in the slide rocking the sear on its pivot and releasing the firing pin.

The firing pin 38 is mounted for sliding movement in the bolt whichis bored longitudinally for its reception. The firing pln may be hollow and urged forwardly by resilient means; such as the coiled spring 40- which is herein shown as housed within the pin and confined between a forward abutment, specifically a rivet 4l locked in an aperture formed in thcpiu. and a pin 42 held in apertures formed in the bolt and passing through alining slots formed in the firing pin.

The firing pin is designed with a forwardly projecting pin 43 which extends through an aperture formed in the forward end of the breech bolt when the pin is in its forward position and primes the cartridge.

For the purpose of cockin the firing pin Vand also extracting a cartri ge 44 from the tractor is rocked upon its pivot to ldepressed position.

The lever is formed with a curved upper end 48 which contacts the upper surface of the cartridge case near the head thereof during extraction and positioning of the cartridge and also with laterally extending arms 49 (see Fig. 4) formed at-either outer extremity with 11p-standing wings 5 0 and ends 5l adapted to contact the cam surface about to be described. Pivotally connected to upper end is a pair of curved aws 52 adapted to embrace a cartridgeshell and prevent the cartridge from falling during the positioning operation.

Pivotally mounted in the breech bolt are spaced apart members 53 (see Fig. 3) each provided with an ordinary resiliently actuated hook extractor adapted to snap over the head of the cartridge as the bolt moves forwardly to breech closing f'position and into the cannelure of the cartridge to extract the cartridge as the bolt moves rearwardly on recoil.

The member 46 is constrained to perform the operations above described by' means of

cam surfaces

54, 55 and 56 which are formed on or attached to the side plates of the receiver. The cam 54 is engaged by the upstanding wings and upon recoil of the bolt, slightly depresses the member 46, forcing the cartridge from the extractor into a groove 57 cut in the front face of the bolt and adapted to receive the head of the car-i tridge.' On counter-recoil the ends 51 engage thc cam surface 55 further depressing vthe member 46 and moving the cartridge downwardly in the groove to position to enter the cartridge chamber.' Near the end of the counter-recoil the' ends 51 encounter cam surfaces 56 which cause elevation of the member 46 to its original position ready to act. on the next cartridge extracted from the belt. As will be understood the ribs, dcfining the side of the grooves 57 engage iu the cannclure of the, cartridge shell and serve to extract the shell from the cartridge chamber after the cartridge has been fired.

The receiver is closed by a cover 58 formed on its under surface with spaced apart longitudinally extending ribs 59 forming a support and slideway for a casing 6() whichv houses the recoil spring 6l guided by a guide pin or rod 62 which ma)r be conveniently this lll() .formed in the rear end of a `cam plate 66 which cam plate also slides in the grooves yof the ribs 59, the purpose of such connection being to constrain fthe cam plate to travel with the casing during recoil and counter-recoil,

The'cam plate may contain cutout portions 67 for the purpose of reducing weight,

and is also formed with a cam slot 68 which is cut entirely through the plate so that by' reversing the plate the cam slot is reversed and operates the member controlled thereby in the reverse direction. l

The cartridge belt feeding mechanism, which is controlled by the cam plate 66, com prises a slide 69 mounted to reciprocate transversely of the receiver and formed with an upstandin boss or lug 70 which enters the slot 68. belt feeding pawl 71 is pivotally mounted on the slide 69 and engages the belt and a cartridge on forward movement to feed the belt into the receiver with a step' by step motion and rideslover the belt` and a cartridge on its reverse orrearward movement. To permit of reversal of this move#- ment, which allows the belt to be fed to the gun from either side, the feed pawl and slide are similar with respect to their'longitudinal axis so that theymay be inserted in the guide-way on the cover from either side. The belt stop dog or pawl 72 with its brackets 73 may be attached to either side plate of the receiver and the front and rear cartridge stops 74 and 75, respectively, may be attached to either side by either screws or pins.

For convenience 1n operating t'ne gun to load, unload and correct stoppages, a slide 76 (see Fig. 5) is provided formed with a grip 77 extending adjacent the rear of the gun and havin its forward end engaged over a lug 78 (Flg. 1) rising from the casing 60 and adapted to reciprocate in a slot 79 cut in the top plate. By grasping the grip and drawing the slide completely to the rear the bolt is drawn back tofull recoil position, and a cartridge carried with it and'positioned to enter tle cartridge chamber when the members are allowed to assume normal position under theimpulse of the recoil spring. To effect unloading of the chamber of the gun, the handle is grasped 'and the slide drawn completely to the rear thenallowed to move forward until the rear notch 8O in the slide is engaged with the guile 82 and the slide agaln drawn coinpletely to the rear and allowed to spring forward. On the `first of these rearward movements a cartridge is extracted from the belt and, on the subsequent forward movement is partially inserted in the chamber.v However, thefrear notch of the slide is so positioned that when engaged lby the rear guide the next Kcartridge in the slot is not gripped by the extractor, consequently, on thesecond rearward movementof the slide no new cartridge is taken from the'belt, and the live round which had been previously partially inserted in the chamber is eX- tracted and ejected, leaving the gun' unloaded.

I claim.: A

1. A machinegun, embodying cartridge feeding-mechanism, a reversible cam plate for operating said mechanism either right handed or left handed, a breech bolt',a con-- nection between the breech bolt and cam plate whereby 'tn'e bolt and plate are operated in unison', a firing' pin in the bolt, a-

combined cart idge extracting and firing pin cocking member mountedin the bolt, a seal' mounted in the bolt and engageable with the for operating said mechanism either right handed or left handed, a breech" bolt, a conneet-ion between lthe breech bolt and cam plate whereby the bolt' and plate operate in unison, a firin'" pin mounted in the bolt, a sear for holdin the firing -piny in cocked position and a sli e for tripping the sear, oper-1 able from either the right or' left hand side of the gun. f

3. A machine gun. embodying vcartridge feeding mechanism, la reversible cam plate for operating said mechanism either right handed or left handed, and a. breech bolt connected to sard cam plate.

4. A machine gun, embodyino` reversible cartridgefeeding mechanism, a breech bolt,

. means connected tothe breech bolt and operable therewith for `actuating me feeding mechanism ei-ther right handed or lett handed. a Sear and a'trip for the sear operable from either the Vright hand or left hand side of thegun. y l

5. A machine gun, embodying a reversible cartridge feeding mechanism, recoil operated means for actuating the feeding mechanisln either right handed or 'left 'handed and `means for manually operating said frstpmen-v tioned means. 6.. A machinegun, embodying a reversible cartridge feeding mechanism, means for actuatingv the 'feeding mechanismeither right handed or left handed and means for manually operating 'said first mentioned means.

7. A machine gun, embodying a reversible cartridge feeding mechanism and means for actuating said mechanism either right handed or left handed. A

8. A machine gun, embodying a reversible cartridge feeding mechanism, and reversible means for actuatingsaid mechanism either right handed or left handed.

9. In amachine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel and mechanism for automatically feeding cartridges' into said channel from left to right, or vice versa, said mechanism comprising a Vreciprocating member carrying means adapted to be reversed when it is desired to change the direction of feed.

10. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse Cartridge feeding channel and mechanism for, at will, feeding` cartridges-into said channel from left to right, or vice versa, said mechanism comprising "a reciprocating member carrying a reversible cam plate.

11. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel, with means for, at

-Will, feeding cartridges into said channel from left to rlght, or vice versa, said means comprising a reversible feed slide carrying a feed pawl, and a reciprocating member for .xctuating said slide automatically.

12. In a machine'gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel and mechanism for, at Will, feeding cartridges into said channel from left to right, or vice versa, said mechanism comprising a reciprocatin member carrying a Hat plate adapted t0 Ine reversed When it is 4desired to change the direction of feed and having a cam slot opening into each face thereof.

13. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel, reversible mechanism for feeding cartridges into said channel, means to actuate said mechanism for feeding said cartridges from left to right, or vice versa, and a feed extractor adapted to cooperate -with said means regardless of the direction it feeds.

14. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel, and means for automatically feeding a cartridge belt into said channel from left to right, or vice versa, as desired, said means comprising a reversible feed slide and a feed pawl carried thereby, a stop paWl for prevent-ing retrograde movement of said cartridge'belt, and cartridge stops for preventing over-feeding moven'ient of said' cartridge belt, and for l insuring proper alignment of the cartridges with the central vertical plane of the gun, said stop paWl and the cartridge stops being arranged, respectively, on opposite sides of the gun and so constructed and mounted as to permit their transfer t0 the opposite sidesof the gun, respectively, when the feed slide is reversed, thereby adapting said parts for cooperation with said slide for either direction of feed.

15. In an automatic gun the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel, amechanism for at will feeding cartridges into said channel from left to right, or vice versa, and an eX- tractor operable irrespective of the direction of feed.

16. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridgey feeding channel, a mechanism for at Will feeding cartridges into said channel from leftto right or vice versa, and means for actuating said mechanism irrespective of the direction of feed.

-17 In a machine gun, the coinbination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel, and mechanism depending on its position for feeding cartridges into said channel from left to right or vice versa.

18. In a machine gun, the combination of a breech casing having a transverse cartridge feeding channel and a mechanism for feeding cartridges into said channel from left to right or vice versa.

f WALTER T. GORTON.