US2353397A - Clip loader - Google Patents

Description

July 11, 1944,

A. F. GIE SE CLIP LOADER Filedsept. 21, 1943 INVENT0R.-- ARTHUR F/ESE ATTOR NE r A Patented July 11, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLIP-LOADER Arthur F. Giese, Denver, Colo. Application September 21, 1943, Serial No. 503,288 4 Claims. o1. 198 -29) This invention relates toimprovements in machines for feeding cartridges to clip loaders.

In factories where small arms ammunition is being manufactured, as for example in places providing such ammunition for war purposes, cartridges are manufactured and loaded in very large numbers.

Where cartridgesare to be loaded into clips as is now very common and where they are to be packed into suitable cartons for shipment to distant points, it is necessary that they be first arranged with the bullets pointing in the same direction and at present this is accomplished manually' with the result that the services of several people are required for each clip loading machine.

It is the object of this invention to produce a machine of such simple and substantial construction that it can b operated in connection with clip loading machines or with carton packing machines and by means of which cartridges delivered in haphazard order will be tranferred from a hopper to a belt canveyor and deposited on the latter with the bullets pointing in the same direction so that the machine or the operator with which this machine cooperates will receive the cartridges in a predetermined relation.

The above and any other object or objects that may become apparent as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illustrated in its preferred form, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation looking in the direction of arrow I, in Figure 2; V

Figure 2 is an end view looking in the direction of arrow 2, in Figure 1; t

Figure 3 is a transverse section of a portion of the machine looking in the direction of arrow 3, in Figure 1;

Fi ure 4 is a section somewhat similar to that shown in Figure 3 and shows the relationship of certain of the parts during that period of the operation in which the position of a cartridge is reversed;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view taken on line 5-5, Figure 1, and shows one embodiment of a switch for use in operating an electromagnetically controlled positioning device;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section taken on a line corresponding to line 33, in Figure 1, and shows the position of certain parts immediately before the cartridges are deposited on the con veyor belt;

Figure '7 is a side elevation of the cartridgesv carrying strip, looking in the direction of arrow 'I in Figure 1; and

Figure 8 is a section taken on line 8-8, Fig-. ure '7.

In the drawing reference numeral I0 designates the. surface of a supporting member to which the machine is secured by suitable means I3 that rest on the surface Ill and, in the embodiment illustrated, each member is provided with a cross arm I4 extending laterally from both sides thereof. The ends of the cross arm are provided with bearings for the reception of shafts I5. The end members have a portion I 6 that projects above the cross arms and to which an assembly comprising a table and a conveyor belt are secured by suitable means such as bolts I'I. Secured to the shaft I that is located to the left when viewed as in Figure 2, are two rollers I8, each of which is provided along one side with gear teeth I 9. Secured to the shaft or pivot pin I5 on the right, when viewed as in Figure 2. ar rollers which may or may not be provided with gear teeth [9. Supported on the rollers I8 and 29 are rings 2| which are each provided with a narrow gear 22 that cooperates with the gears I9 and rollers I8. The two end rings 22 are connected by means of steel bars 23 constructed in-the manner shown in Figures 7 and 8. In the embodiment illustrated, four bars 23 have been shown, but any other suitable number of bars may be employed, the minimum being three.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 7 and 8, it will be seen that the bars 23 are provided with notches 24 whose inner edges are tapered so as to engage in the grooves 25 of the cartridges 25. The separating portions between the notches are preferably upwardly tapered as indicated at 2? in Figure '7. The bars 23 are rigidly secured at-their ends to the rings 2I by bolts or screws passing through the openings 28. When the bars are in place they form with the end rings 2| a unitary drum-like assembly that rests on and is supported by the rollers IS and 20. A roller 29 is pivoted to the vertical portion 30 of each support l2 and is positioned to engage the inner. surface of the corresponding ring 2|. Roller 29 prevents the drum comprising th rings,

made.

tion, it serves to hold the end members l2 in a properly spaced relation. If necessary the end members may be further connected by means of a rod or bar 34, as shown in Figure 1.

Projecting outwardly from the ends of table 3| are extensions 35 which form supports for stub shafts 3B and 35'. On stub shaft 36', positioned to the right when viewed as in Figure 1, a roller 31' is mounted for free rotation and secured to the shaft 35 at the left end when viewed-as in Figure 1', is a roller Ci's'a that is nonrotatably connected therewith. This shaft also carries a small pulley 38 for cooperativ action with belt 39 that cooperates with pulley t secured to the corresponding end of shaft i5. Surrounding shaft I5 and rotatably connected therewith, is a hollow shaft ii. to which reference will hereinafter be Secured to the end of shaft #5, positioned at the right of Figure 1 is a pulley &2, to which power is transmitted from the motor 33 by means of a belt 14.

It will now be evident that when motor 43 operates so as to rotate shaft IS in a clockwise direction when viewed as in Figure 2, the drum comprising the rings 25 will rotate in a counterclockwise direction and at the same time pulley 3hr will turn in a counterclockwise direction.

Enclosing the two rollers 3'? and 31a is a conveyor belt 55 whose upper surface is provided with transverse grooves 35 for the reception of cartridges 26.

Attention has already been called tothe fact that the inclined shelf 32 is provided with spaced grooves 33 and these grooves are so spaced that they wiil be in alignment with the notches 24 in bars 23 when the latter moves across the end of member If we now visualize a condition in which a cartridge 25 is supported on the shelf 32 in the manner shown in Figure 3', and that the drum rotates so as to move the bar 23 upwardly. the cartridge will automatically insert itself into one of the notches 24 and be carried upwardly to the position indicated in Figure 4. An arcuate plate ll serves as the outer wall and limits the outward movement of the cartridges. As the drum rotates the cartridges will be carried upwardly and towards the left when viewed as in Figure 2 and will finally arrive to the position shown Figure 6. The cartridges will be prevented from dropping from the bars 23 by the clamping action of the cartridges against the edges of the openings. W hen the cartridges reach the position shown in Figure 6, the tips of the bullets will engage the upper surface of the belt 45 and upon a still further rotary movement of the drum the clamping action between the cartridges and the bar 23 will be released thereupon permitting the cartridge to drop by the action of gravity onto the upper surface of belt 35 and into onset the transverse grooves A supporting boarder plate 48 is positioned underneath the belt .5 and sup-ported from member 3| by means of brackets 49 or some other suitable means. The plate 48 prevents the upper side of the belt from bending downwardly due to the action of gravity.

Referring now to Figure 6, it will be apparent that when the cartridges are released and drop onto the belt 45, their tendency is to project towards the left such a distance that they would be engaged by the bar 23 in its downward movement and it is therefore necessary to provide a mechanism for moving the cartridges towards the right or inwardly on the belt a sufdcient distance to move them out of the path of bar 23. For the purpose of moving the cartridges inwardly a mechanism has been provided which comprises the tubular shaft ll to which at least two arms 5d are attached. Secured to the upper ends of arms 59 is a bar 5! that is so positioned that when the arms 56 are moved in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Figure 2, they will engage the ends of the cartridges and move them inwardly on the belt. Motion is transmitted to arms 59 by means comprising an electro-magnet 52, an armature bit-and a connecing rod 5:3. The armature is normally in its lowermost position and moves upwardly when attracted by the action of the electro-magnet. Connected in series with the winding of the electro-magnet is a battery or other source of direct current 55 and the flow of current through the magnet is controlled by means of a switch, one. form of which has been illustrated in Figure 5. The switch consists of a block of insulating material 56 secured to one of the end supports- A resilient contact member 5'5 is secured to one. side of the block and a similar contact member 53 to the other side. Contact member 58 is curved towards the outer surface of ring 2t and normally rests thereon. Ring 2! is provided with.

a number of notches 59 into which the end of the. spring contact 58 drops when the notch arrives at a position opposite the end of the contact. The notch 59 is of such a depth that when spring 53 drops thereinto it permits contact 58 to make electrical connection between it and contact El, thereby closing the circuit to the electromagnet whereupon the bar 5i will move inwardly and push the cartridges towards the right. Since the notches 59 have a steep following surface, the contact is broken immediately after it has been completed and this permits the bar 5! to move towards the left so as to permit the drum to rotate freely. There is one notch 58 for each bar 23 and the notches are so positioned that electromagnet is energized immediately after the cartridges drop onto the conveyor belt.

Instead of the electro-magnet mechanism illustrated and described, it may be possible to substitute a mechanically equivalent mechanism and applicant does not want to be restricted to this particular mechanism to any greater extent than made necessary by the prior art.

Let us now assume that a mechanism constructed in the manner described is available and that cartridges are deposited on the inclined surface 32. When the drum rotates, the cartridges that are positioned with the bullets extending upwardly will be engaged by the edges of notches 24 and carried upwardly and finally deposited on the belt as shown in Figure 6. Such cartridges as are located with the bullets extending downwardly will be caught in the corresponding notches and turned as shown in Figure 4 until the bullets will be positioned in an upwardly direction, thereby leaving the cartridge in proper position to be'carried over the next bar.

It is apparent from the disclosure that a number of cartridges can be carried by each bar 23 and that all of these will be deposited simultaneously on the upper surface of the belt. It is apparent that in order to provide proper spaces on the belt for the reception of the cartridges from the bars 23, the belt must move a distance equal to the length of th bar during the time that the drum rotates the angular distance between adjacent bars. The proper gear ratio to effect this relationship can easily be calculated, but in the drawing the motion transmission mechanism has been shown in a more or less diagrammatic manner and no attempt has been made to so proportion the pulleys as to obtain the necessary gear ratio.

It is apparent that a machine constructed in the manner above described will be very useful in small arms factories, as by means of such a machine the cartridges will be delivered in proper position to be inserted into clips or cartons and where ammunition is manufactured in large quantities, such machines will each replace one or more operators.

Attention is called to the fact that the drawing has not been made to scale and that the cartridges are shown much larger in proportion to the machine than they are in actual construction and it is therefore to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the relative sizes of the parts as shown in the drawing.

The drum comprising the end members and the bars 23 form a somewhat cylindrical element and will be referred to in the claims by that designation.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A cartridge positioning device and feeder comprising a frame having end members, an endless conveyor supported on the end members, a shaft extending between the end members and journalled in the latter, means for rotating the shaft, means for eifecting a movement of the conveyor at a speed proportionate to the speed of shaft rotation, comprising a motion transmitting mechanism, a cylindrical element enclosing the conveyor and supported in part by the shaft, a second supporting means for the cylindrical element, positioned on the opposite side of the conveyor from the shaft, means for transmitting rotary motion from the shaft to the cylindrical element comprising a gear device, a plurality of notched bars secured to the cylindrical element on the inner surface thereof, a cartridge supporting table between the conveyor and the cylindrical element and inclined towards the latter for feeding cartridges towards the inside of the cylindrical element and into engagement with the notched bars whereby they will become positioned in the notches and transported to a position above the conveyor, and means for releasing the cartridges in position to be received by the conveyor.

2. A cartridge positioning device and feeder comprising a frame having end members, an endless conveyor supported on the end members, a shaft extending between the end members and journalled in the latter, means for rotating the shaft, means for effecting a movement of the conveyor at a speed proportionate to the speed of shaft rotation, comprising a motion transmitting mechanism, a cylindrical element enclosing the conveyor and supported in part by the shaft, a second supporting means for the cylindrical element, positioned on the opposite side of the conveyor from the shaft, means for transmitting rotary motion from the shaft to the cylindrical element comprising a gear device, a plurality of notched bars secured to the cylindrical element on the inner surface thereof, a cartridge supporting table between the conveyor and the cylindrical element and inclined towards the latter for feeding cartridges towards the inside of the cylindrical element and into engagement with the notched bars whereby they will become positioned in the notches and transported to a position above the conveyor, means for releasing the cartridges in position to be received by the con veyor and means for moving the cartridges inwardly towards the center of the cylinder immediately after they have been deposited on the conveyor.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the conveyor comprises an endless belt whose outer surface is transversely grooved.

4. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the inclined table is provided with parallel grooves.

ARTHUR F. GIESE.

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