US2380083A - Cartridge feeding mechanism - Google Patents

Description

July 10, 1945- c D. SPAGNOLO CARTRIDGE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 1, 1945 Patented July 10, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE 2,380,083 CARTRIDGE FEEDING MECHANISM Cosimo D Spagnolo, New York, N. Y.

Application September 1, 1943, Serial No. 500,792

' 4 Claims.

This invention relates to guns and particularly to cartridge feeding mechanism for army submachine guns that are fired from the shoulder, and an object of the invention is to provide improved automatic mechanism for elevating cartridges held in a clip into successive positions for loading. Another object of the invention is to provide a clip and. housing in which the cartridges are supported in but a single vertical row containing the requisite number. A further object of the invention is to provide simplified means for feeding the cartridges directly into such loading position from a row that is always substantially in vertical alignment with the barrel of the gun to which the mechanism has been applied. r

'Other objects of the invention reside in details of the structure wh'ereby the loaded clip may be more readily inserted in the housing, be retained dependably therein, and be quickly and conveniently released therefrom. Further objects and advantageous features of the invention will appear throughout the following specification.

Heretofore it has been considered impractical to feed cartridges from clips having but a single row of an adequate number, because of the eX-' cessive range required of the spring beneath the cartridges resulting in too much loss of spring power when the last cartridges in the clip are approaching theloading position horizontally aligned with the gun barrel. Also because such springs required so much space that the cartridge housing would hang too far below the gun stock space beneaththe cartridges'to lift a single rowv of ten the full distance required without loss of efficiency.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a gun with a portion of its barrel broken away, and showing an embodiment of the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the cartridge housing showing the loaded clip in operative position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2 with the cartridges removed from the clip.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 with the cartridge-sup porting mechanism in an elevated Position.

Fig. 5 is a' similar view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3, and

,Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical detail section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the gu I0, shown in Fig. 1, has a cartridge housing II secured thereto in any suitable manner, such as by screws passing through the holes l2 into the gun stock, and includes the usual guard 13 for the trigger [4. Housing ll extends downwardly from a position just forward of trigger l4, but

not to an objectional extent.

Within the housing ll there is a rectangular carriage l5 having sideplates [5 with rollers l6- at the respective corners thereof that ride on surfaces provided .by shoulders I! formed on the inside of housing II and extending perpendicularly from the bottom to the top. The bottom of. the housing beneath the carriage runway is closed by a wall l8 which forms an abutment to limit the downward movement of carriage l5. Otherwise the remainder of the bottom as well as the top of the housing is open.

One of the side plates 15' is cut away to accommodate a pinion l9 having a hub 20 extend ing across the carriage, and which is journalled in both of said plates. A screw 2! is threaded in the outer end of hub 20 and bears against a washer 22 which contacts the end of the hub 20, and being larger in diameter than the hub is adapted to prevent accidental withdrawal of the pinion and hub from the carriage. The hub 20 extends across an opening between the plates l5, and the inner end of a surrounding spiral spring 23 is attached to it by a pin 24. The other end of spring 23 is secured to a fixed transverse pin 25 secured to'and between plates i5.

Pinion I9 is in mesh with a vertical rack 26 secured to the inside of housing II adjacent one of the shoulders ll. It will be apparent that when the carriage l 5 is moved downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 2, the pinion l9, engaged by the stationary rack 26, will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction Winding up the spring 23. The ratio of the gear is suitable to wind the spring 23 adequately during such travel of the carriage.

An. arm 21 is pivoted at 28 to the carriage 15 between the plates 15' and is urged upwardlyby a flat spring 29 secured to the arm and with its outer end bearing against a cross bar 30 of the carriage. A lug 21 on arm 21 projects beneath it and has an arcuate slot 3|. A cross pin 32 secured at its opposite ends to plates I5 passes through the slot 3i and serves to limit the movement of arm 21 in either direction by its engagement with the ends of said slot. The outer end of arm 21 is grooved at 33 to provide a seat for the lowermost casing of a row of cartridges 34 which are supported in the housing H within a clip 35 in vertical alignment with the bore of the barrel 36 of the gun I0.

To the arm 2'1 there is secured another flat.

spring 3'! which extends forwardly toward a d.

above the pivot 28. It is preferably also shaped at its outer end to conform to the shape of the cartridges 34 adjacent the bullets 38.

Clip 35 is U-shaped as viewed in plan, and is constricted but open at top and bottom with sides 39 and a rear vertical wall 40. Thelatter is pressed outwardly midway to provide a loop 4| adapted to latch on a secondary trigger :42 pivoted at 43 to housing I l and extending therefrom within a slot 44, and into the opening defined by the trigger guard I3. A spring 45 and attached plunger 43 urge the trigger 42 'into engagement with loop 4|, the finger flange 4'! of trigger 42' being wider than the slot 44 and serving as a stop by its engagement with the outer edge of said slot. The sides 39 of clip 35 are provided with the usual ribs 39' for engagement with the-grooves 34 at the head of the cartridges, and function to hold the latter in line. i

It will now be understood that after the cartridges 34 have been inserted in the clip 35, the latter may be inserted in the top of housing H through the customary opening in the top of the gun It for this purpose, With the bottom cartridge in engagement with the arm 2'! and spring 31. If the clip be now pressed downwardly arm 21 will be rocked against the urge of spring 29, spring 3'! will be depressed, and since the pin 32' will now be in contact with the end of slot'3l oppositely to the position shown in Fig. 5, the carriage 95 will descend and pinion I!) will be rotated byrack 25. Spring 23 will begin to wind, and when the clip has reached its innermost position the loop 4| will trip and catch on the trigger 4.2. The urge of spring 23 will now exert a lift on the cartridges, the uppermost one being pressed against the constricted top opening where the side walls converge, as shown in Fig. 3, and into a substantially horizontal position approximatelyin line with the bore of the barrel 36. It will be noted that arm 2'! when in the corresponding position shown in Fig. 2', is inclined at an angle complementary to that assumed by the bottom cartridge because of the taper of the cartridge casings which causes a progressively increasing degree of angularity from top to bottom of the clip. Also that the spring 31 provides an elastic support for the column'of lead bullets 38 directly above it, and contributes to the support of the cartridges in snug engagement with each other. I

The gun it may be provided with suitable mechanism (not shown) for extracting an empty cartridge from the barrel and then inserting the top one from the clip into the breech of the gun.

Upon such removal of the top cartridge, the carriage l5 and associated parts will rise under the urge of spring 23, acting through the pinion l9 and rack 26, a distance equal to that of the diameter of the displaced cartridge, and this step by step operation will'be repeated' until the the rack 25.

last cartridge has been removed from the clip 35. The empty clip is then free to drop out of the housing ll. However, upon the introduction of a new loaded clip the empty one will thereupon be ejected should it still remain within the housmg.

Clip 35 is held in fixed perpendicular position by the engagement of the forward edges 35 with vertical shoulders 50 formed on the inner side walls-of housing ll, together with the engaging walls 40 and 5l. The latter is channeled at 52 to accommodate the loop 4|.

An upper stop 53 is provided for the carriage l5v whi h is. se red y a screw 54 to the top of one of the side walls of the housing so as to be engaged; by the head of the screw 2| when the carriage is in the position shown in the Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6. The carriage may be removed from housing H by removing the stop 53. When the carriage is replaced it is necessary to partially wind the spring 23 before the pinion re-engages This is accomplished by inserting a key'orother suitable tool, in the spanner holes 55 shown in Fig. 4. Following this procedure the pinion is again brought into mesh with rack 26 and the carriage. pushed down far enough to replace the stop 53. It is this power stored preliminarily in spring 23 that urges the last car-. tridge. to 'be removed'from the clip 35. into its uppermost. position opposite the barrel of the gun. The loaded orpartially loaded clip may be withdrawn. from'the top of the housing at any time by rocking the trigger 42.

As the cartridgestare consecutively removed from the top of the clip by the loading mechanism of the gun, the carriage will rise eachtime a corresponding distance, and as their angle of inclination approaches the horizontal, arm 21 will shift under the urge of spring 29 about pivot 28. The bottom cartridge will accordingly be elfeetively supported during its journey from the bottom-to: the top of the clip. i

In speaking of the cartridge being supported in a. vertical row or stack and of certainparts being verticalgor movable in a vertical direction, it will be understood'that the term "vertical" is used to mean a. vertical direction whenthe barrel of the gun is substantially horizontal, as illustratedin Fig. l, and as it would be'in normal level firing position. The term vertical is thus used as meaning generally at right angles to the length of theweapon. I I V The foregoing description ismerely illustrative and not intended as limiting the inventionthereto.

I claim:

1. In a gun of the class described having means or onsecu ive y ansfe n car ridges .froml leading position into the breech of said gun, cartridge feeding mechanism com risin a housing en a e top an ha in a r ionv dep n i from sa d sun etwe n ts t ig er and thesaid breech, a carriag forwardly mounted 0 vertical i ro ation in, said riousins. a stationa y-v i v ack aidh sin a pinion iourna ed i said carriage and in mesh with said racl ,1a spiral spring operatively connected between said pinien and said carriage so as to be energizefdby the downward travel of said pinion along said rack,

n r p ted to said car a e and exte din arm and extending upwardly and .tqward' said carriage, a U-shaped clip for supporting'a row of cartridges, open at top and bottom with converging side walls at the top opening for engaging the top cartridge in said row, and constructed and arranged to be inserted through the top of said housing, whereupon a cartridge in said clip will engage said arm and spring member, and force said carriage downwardly against the urge of said spiral spring, and latching means for holding said clip in a fixed position so long as a cartridge remains therein, said clip being constructed and arranged to fall free of said housing when empty.

2. In a gun of the class described having a trigger and means for successively loading cartridges into the breech of said gun, a clip for holding a single row of cartridges, a housing secured to said gun and extending downwardly in front of said trigger, a channel in said housing for receiving said clip in a, vertical position with the uppermost cartridge in the clip in a substantially horizontal position to be engaged by said loading means, a vertically extending guideway in said housing laterally oifset from said'clip receiving channel, a vertically extending stationary rack adjacent said guideway, a carriage movable vertically in said guideway, a pinion journaled in said carriage and in mesh with said rack, a spiral spring operatively connected between said pinion and said carriage and efiective to cause said pinion to climb said rack and urge said carriage upwardly, and an arm carried by said carriage and extending into said clip receiving channel and engaging the lowermost of said cartridges,

to elevate said cartridge successively into position for loading into said breech.

3. Cartridge feeding mechanism comprising a housing for holding a clip in vertical position with a row of tapered cartridges contained therein, a vertical rack in said housing, a movable carriage beneath said cartridges, a pinion J'ournaled in said carriage and in mesh with said rack, a spiral spring operatively connected between said pinion and said carriage effective to cause said pinion to climb said rack and urge said carriage upwardly toward said cartridges, an arm pivoted to said carriage and extending outwardly for engagement with the casing of the bottom cartridge in said row, spring means for urging said arm upwardly, supplemental spring means secured to said arm and constructed and arranged to engage said bottom cartridge beneath the bullet therein and contribute to the support of said row, whereby said row of cartridges will be held in contact with each other and be urged upwardly in a rising order characterized by a progressively diminishing degree of angular inclination from the horizontal, and into a substantially horizontal position at the top of said clip.

4. In a gun of the class described, having means for successively transferring cartridges from a loading position into the breech of said gun, cartridge feeding mechanism comprising a clip hold-' ing a vertical stack of cartridges disposed one above the other in substantially horizontal position, a housing having in its rearward portion a vertically extending channel for receiving said clip, a vertical rack in the forward portion of said housing, a vertical guideway in the forward portion of said housing adjacent said rack, a carriage vertically movable along said guideway and constructed and arranged to engage the lowermost of the cartridges held by said clip, said clip being so constructed, proportioned and arranged that when in position in the housing it does not obstruct the movement of said carriage along said guideway, a pinion journaled in said carriage and in mesh with said rack, a spiral spring operatively connected between said pinion and said carriage and effective to cause said carriage to climb said rack and urge said cartridge upwardly to elevate said cartridges successively into leading position during operation of the gun, and latching means for holding said clip against upward movement so long as a cartridge remains therein and for automatically releasing said clip when empty.

COSIMO D. SPAGNOLO.

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