US2411979A

US2411979A - Ordnance

Info

Publication number: US2411979A
Application number: US565252A
Authority: US
Inventors: Francis I Rataiczak
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1944-11-27
Filing date: 1944-11-27
Publication date: 1946-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 1963-12-03

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l F. l. RATAICZAK ORDNANGE Filed Nov. 27, 1944 I INVENTOR.

Dec. 3, 1946.

Dec. 3 1946.

F. I. RATAICZAK QRDNANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 27, 1944 .INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 3, 1946 "ft-met- STTES PATENT Fro ORDNANCE' Francis I. Rataiczak, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application November 27, 1944,, Serial Nol 565,252

3 Claims. (CI; 42-25) This invention relates to ordnance and more particularly to an improved shell ejecting mechanism for use in a machine gun.

The invention set forth herein represents an improvement over the mechanism set forth in my co-pending application Serial Number 536,229,; filed May 19, 1944.

,s It is an object of this invention to provide a rugged shell ejecting mechanism capable of ejecting empty shells from a high speed machine gun without. damaging or breaking away fragments of the rims of the shells. Many of the prior art shell ejecting mechanisms which are satisfactory for slow speed guns cannot be used in the higher 2. lines and showing a portion of the cover in dotdash lines;

Fig. 5 is a top view showing the relationship of the shell ejecting mechanism to the conventional feedway; and I Fig. 6 is. a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale showing the relationship-of the shell to the shell ejecting cam. when the shell first en ages the cam;

Referring now to the drawings, reference numerals I 0. l2 and. M designate the receiver housing, the cover, and the gun barrel respectively. As set forth more fully in my co-pending application, the shells are fed into the gun on a feedspeed guns because they would cut or dent the way- It which is held in place between the rerims of the shells Without properly ejecting them. ceiver Ill and the cover l2. The bolt mechanism Another object of this invention is to provide comprises a main portion l5 and a bolt head IT a new location and an improved mounting arboth of which are mounted for reciprocation rangement for the shell ejecting mechanism. In within the receiver illin. accordance withpresent the arrangement disclosed in my co-pending appractice. The bolt head I! is provided with a plication, the shell ejecting mechanism is mountconventional type of extractor I8 which serves to ed.- within the bolt head. with the result that it extract the empty shell from the barrel I 4- as has to be small. Furthermore, that arrangement the bolt. and bolt head move to the rear upon necessitates cuttin away a portion of the bolt recoil. As best shown in: Fig; 2-, the emptyshell head, thereby unduly weakening th bolt head. 2! strikes against a shell ejecting cam 22 which By virtue of the improved arrangement disclosed is carried by and actually formed as an integral herein. the bolt head is made stronger and. the part ofthe. mounting bar 24* as shown inFigs. 3, shell ejecting mechanism can be made large andfi: Since themovement of the bolt head is enough and consequently strong enough to stand very'rapid and. sincetheshell Z0 is made'of relaup under all conditions. tively light-weight material itxis essentialthat. Still another object of this invention is to prothe Shell j cting cam 22 be yi d bly mounted vide an improved shell ejecting mechanism which so as to be able to move upwardly slightly as t e can be used in existing guns without making any shell first strikes the beveled surface 26 provided major changes in the gun construction which has on t front end of e Shell ejecting Cam otherwise proven to be very satisfactory. The ejected shell leaves through the el ct on Further objects and advantages of the present opening 21 in the bottom of the receiver l0. invention will be apparent from the following de- As best shown in Fig. 3, the mountin bar N scription, reference being had to the accompanyis Pivotally Supported t s One end y means 0f m drawings, h i preferred for of the a stud 25 carried by the end wall 28 of the conpresent inve ti n is clearly shown ventional feed rack I 6. The other end of the In the drawings: mounting bar 24 isajzarovided vslgithtfi slot at!) engages the stud carried y e en wa tifn slioh rirf g t mew, partially m Secof the feedway'lS. In order to more clearly show e arrangement of my improved shell ejecting mechanism relative to the rest of the relatlonshlp of the cam t t that the gun parts, portion of the end wall 28 which is directly above Fig 2 is a fmgmemar uh the cam 22 has been broken away in Fig. 5. As y f f parts broken best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, a hole 34 has been away, Shell bemg elected by my drilled downwardly from the top of the bar 24 proved Shell meeting mechanism; so as to provide a recess for the spring 36 which 3 shows the relationship of the 511611 ejectserves to bias the bar 24 downwardly. Thus, the ing mechanism relative to the feedway, the cover, one end f the spring 35 rests against, t b tt and the receiver housing; wall of the recess 34 and the other end of the Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken spring contacts the shank of the stud 32. Each substantially on line 44 of Fig. 3 showing the stud is provided with a locking means 38 which shell ejecting mechanism and feedway in solid 1 arranged as shown i i 5 so as to prevent 3 the bar 24 from sliding off the studs. Enough clearance is provided between the bar 24 and the locking members 38 so as to allow a small amount of movement of the bar relative to the wall 28 of the feedway I6.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the cover 12 has been cut away as indicated by the horizontal lin 40 and the vertical line 42 so as to provide space for the mounting bar 24. During operation of the gun, the upward movement of the mounting bar 24 is limited by the cover which engages the top surface of the bar 24 along the line 40. Likewise, rearward movement of the mounting bar 24 is limited by the cover when the bar strikes the cover along the line 42.

By virtue of the above described arrangement, it is apparent that when an empty shell 20 moves into engagement with the cam surface 26 provided on the shell ejecting cam 22, the cam 22, together with the mounting bar 24, is free to give a limited amount so as not to strike the rim of the empty shell too hard a blow. The bar 24 is purposely made of rather heavy construction not only for reasons of strength but also so as to offer the desired amount of inertia to movement. The force exerted by the spring 36 should be made sufficient to return the shell ejecting cam 22 to the position in which it is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 between the shell ejecting operations regardless of the position of the gun.

As best shown in Fig. 6, the angle of the cam surface 26 corresponds nearly to the angle of the chamfer on the rim of the shell so as to provide good contact between the shell and the cam 26 and so as to provide a smooth camming action when the beveled surfaces first come into contact with one another. lessens the force of the initial impact between the moving shell and the cam 22.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of th claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a rapid fire machine gun, a receiver, a

receiver cover, a shell feedway mounted between said receiver and receiver cover, a shell ejecting mechanism loosely carried by the rear wall of said feedway comprising a mounting bar extend- This improved action ing transversely of the receiver between the cover and the receiver, a shell engaging cam depending from said bar and arranged so as to engage the upper rear edge of each empty shell upon extraction of the shell from the gun barrel, means carried by said feedway for pivotally supporting one end of said bar, the other end of said bar having a slot formed therein, and means carried by said feedway cooperating with said slot for limiting the pivotal movement of said bar.

2. In a rapid fire machine gun a receiver, a receiver cover, a shell feedway mounted between said receiver and receiver cover, a shell ejecting mechanism loosely carried by the rear wall of said feedway comprising a mounting bar extending transversely of the receiver between the cover and the receiver, a shell engaging cam depending from said bar and arranged so as to engage the upper rear edge of each empty shell upon extraction of the shell from the gun barrel, means carried by said feedway for pivotally supporting one end of said bar, the other end of said bar having a slot formed therein, and means carried by said feedway cooperating with said slot for limiting the pivotal movement of said bar, said cover and said mounting bar having complementary surfaces arranged so that said cover serves to limit both the rearward and upward movement of said ejector.

3. In a rapid fire machine gun, a receiver housing, a barrel, a cover for said receiver housing, a reciprocating bolt mechanism disposed within said receiver housing, said receiver housing having an ejection opening in the bottom wall thereof, a shell ejecting mechanism comprising a shell ejecting cam disposed above the path of movement of said bolt for engagement with the empty shells upon extraction from said barrel and for interrupting backward movement of the upper edge of the shell so as to flip the shell downwardly through said opening, a mounting bar for said shell ejecting cam arranged transversely of said receiver housing with the ends of the bar projecting on opposite sides of said housing, means located externally of said cover for loosely supporting the projecting ends of said bar, means carried by said cover for limiting the upward movement of bar, and spring means for yieldably holding said bar in its lowermost position.

FRANCIS I. RATAICZAK.