US2440381A - Firing mechanism for guns - Google Patents

Description

April 27, 1948. H. PHILLIPS FIRING MECHANISM FOR GUNS Filed March 10, 1944 Inventor Harry Phillips Patented Apr. 27, 1948 FIRING MECHANISM FOR "GUNS Harry Phillips, Beverly, Mass. assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 10, 1944, SerialNo. 525925 (Cl. Sil -136.)

11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to ordnance and is herein illustrated in its application to plural gun mounts which are manually trained and fired.

It is axiomatic that a gun assembly should be available for action at all times and this is particularly true in the case of machine gun mounts which are so situated that no armor protection can be provided for the gunner. A typcal example or ordnance of this general type is the twin 50 caliber machine gun mount commonly provided for small naval craft. In twin mounts of this type the gunner can usually remove either gun from :its chassis .for purposes of repair or adjustment, leaving the other gun in the mount ready for service. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plural gun mount of this type which is so organized that the gunner can operate the mount with both hands when one gun is absent from the mount in the same manner in which he operates it when all the guns are present. In the achievement of this objective I employ a type of gun assembly in which each gun has mounted in its breech portion a sear mechanism including a sear lever projecting rearwardly from the back plate, the sear lever being operated by a firing means mounted independently of the gun and movable into an inoperative position permitting removal of the gun from its chassis. It is a further object of the invention to provide a plural gun mount in which the gunner can fire all of the guns in unison with his left hand or right hand alternatively. Thus, if either hand of the gunner should become disabled in combat he could continue with his other hand to bring all of the guns in the assembly to bear on the target.

With the above objects in view the invention in one aspect thereof consists in the provision in a plural gun assembly of a firing mechanism for each gun including a soar and alternative right and left-hand means for operating all of the sears in unison. In the illustrated gun assembly the firing mechanism is characterized by novel means interconnecting the triggers whereby the guns are operable in unison from any gun in the assembly. In order to permit movement of the illustrated firing mechanism for any gun in the assembly into a remote position, facilitating removal of the gun from its chassis, said interconnecting means, in accordance with a feature of the invention, comprises elements which are readily disengageable. The

novel interconnecting means, as herein illustratecl, comprises a trigger-operated rocker member and a central rocker member disengage'ably connected to the trigger-operated rocker member. In the illustrated dual gun assembly the two firing units are respectively sup ported on mounts for swiveling movement to provide clearance for the movement of either gun from its chassis, and the novel means inter-- connecting said firing units comprises two rocker members projecting laterally and inwardly from the respective firing units and a central rocker disengageably connected to the free ends of the rocker members. feature of the invention each firing unit is movable to disengage its trigger-operated rocker member from the central rocker without break ing the connection of the other firing unit to the central rocker and, thus, after moving the disabled gun from its chassis through the opening provided by movement of the firing unit, the assembly may be restored to its original con-- dition for two-hand operation by merely moving said firing unit back into its original position.

In the illustrated dual gun assembly the central rock shaft, in accordance with a feature of the invention, is mounted on a support constructed and arranged to permit swinging movement of said rock shaft to make or break a mechanical connection with either or the triggeractuated rock shafts. Another feature of the invention consists in the provision of means for locking each firing unit in operative position without regard to the absence of either gun from the assembly. As herein illustrated, said looking means comprises a resilient latch member which enters a suitable notch when the firing unit is brought into its predetermined operating position.

Invention is also to be recognized in the illustrated firing unit, per so, without regard to the nature of the assembly in which it is incorporated. In accordance with this feature of the invention the trigger-operated rocker member is provided with means for eiTe'c'ting :a connection with another operating mechanism which may be another firing unit or some other mechanism associated with the gun.

These and other features of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

'In'the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation illustrating a dual gun assembly incorporating the features of the present invention, certain parts bein shown in In accordance with a furthersection and other parts illustrated diagrammatically, and a portion of the assembly broken away to provide space for Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation illustrating a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, the left hand firing unit being shown in its inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a detail View partly in section illustrating portions of a firing unit and its support ing bracket;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a firing unit in relation to the breech portion of the gun on which it operates, the gun being shown in longitudinal section, the breech block and other parts not related to the invention being omitted; V and Fig. 5 is a section on the line VV of Fig. 1.

The invention is herein illustrated in its application to a twin mount carrying 50-caliber machine guns of known construction, the guns bein illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. l and identified by numerals 10. Each gun is mounted in a chassis of known construction (not shown) which is supported on a cradle l2 illustrated by broken lines in Fig. 1. At opposite sides the cradle IZhas upwardly extending posts M and to the top face of each post a bracket 16 is rigidly secured. Mounted on each bracket is a firing unit for one of the guns Ill. The firing units are of duplicate construction except that one is right hand and the other left hand and consequently a description of only one of said units will sufilce. Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the illustrated firing unit comprises a hand grip I8 secured to a cylindrical head 25) which is mounted in a bearing in the bracket Hi. The head 20 is held in position in said bearing by an arcuate plate 22 secured to the bracket 16 and forming with an arcuate bear ing surface of the bracket a bearing for the head 20. The firing unit is mounted for swiveling movement in said bearing from its position illustrated in Fig. 1 to its position illustrated in Fig. 2 to facilitate the removal of the gun I!) from its chassis. For retaining the firing unit in its operatin position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 a latch member herein illustrated as a spring plate 24 is secured in a recess in the plate 22 by a headed screw 26, the surface of the plate 22 on which the spring plate is secured having a slight inclination downwardly toward the muzzle end of the gun. The free end of the spring plate 24 is seated in a notch 28 in the upper portion of a flange 36 in the head 20 when the firing unit is in its operative position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. The opposite side walls of the notch 28 converge downwardly slightly in order that the plate 24 may seat tightly in the notch and securely hold the firing unit against swiveling movement when the firing unit is in its operative position. To facilitate manual disengagement of the plate 2 from the notch 28 preparatory to swiveling movement of the firing unit, the free end portion of the plate is extended beyond the flange 30, as illustrated in Fig. 3, sufficiently to enable the gunner readily to lift it out of the notch with his fingers. It will be understood that the flange 30 provides not only a notch for the plate 24 but also means for holding the firing unit against end play in its bearing in the bracket [6.

In most respects the firing mechanism is of known construction. Referring to Fig. 4 the gun I8 is provided with a common type of firing pin 32 which is retained in cocked position by a sear 34. In firing the gun a sear lever 36 is swung in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 4,

thereby swinging an intermediate lever 38 in a clockwise direction, the forward portion of the lever 38 imparting downward movement to the sear 34 to release the firin pin. The sear lever 36 is of usual construction except that its rearwardly extending portion MB is so arranged that it moves downwardl into a horizontal position in releasing the firing pin. This construction of the sear lever obviates any impact on the hand grip I3 by the recoil of the gun. For operating the sear lever a trigger 42 (Fig. 3) is pivotally .mounted in a slot provided in the rearward extension 44 of the head 20, said extension providing also the anchorage for the hand grip l8. The trigger is connected by a link 46 to lugs 48 eX- tending downwardly from a collar 50 pinned to the end portion of a shaft 52. The shaft is journaled in a sleeve 54 (Fig. 1) the end portion of which is secured in a bore in the head 20, the end of the sleeve 54 as shown in Fig. 1 being contiguous to the collar 50 secured to the shaft 52. The opposite end portion of the shaft 52 projects from the sleeve 54 and has mounted thereon an arm 56 (Fig. 4), said arm being secured to the shaft 52 by a draw bolt 58. At its free end the arm 56 carries a roll 6i) which engages the rear portion 4%] of the sear lever. It will be understood that the firing mechanism is retained in its position illustrated in Fig. 4 by the spring 62 which acts on the sear lever. This position of the firing mechanism is adjustably determined by a stop screw 54 (Fig. 3) mounted in the head 29. A screw 65, somewhat larger in diameter than the screw 64, is mounted in a threaded counter bore 68 and serves to lock the stop screw 54 in adjusted position. To facilitate adjustment of the stop screw the locking screw 66 is hollowed out to permit the insertion of a suitable wrench through the screw 66 into a socket in the stop screw 54. For preventing accidental firing of the gun a horizontal bar 10 (Fig. 1) is slidably mounted in a bracket 72 secured to the back plate of the gun. In its position illustrated in Fig. 1 the bar 70 interrupts counterclockwise movement of the sear lever 36 and prevents accidental release of the firing pin. The bar Iii is provided with a notch 14 (Fig. 1) which is in vertical alinement with the sear lever 36 when the bar is at the limit of its movement to the right. When the bar H1 is positioned with its notch M in alinement with the sear lever said lever is free to move through its full stroke and effect the release of the firing pin.

In order that both guns may be fired simultaneously by the operation of either the right or the left firing unit, the shaft 52 is connected to the corresponding shaft 76 in the right hand firing unit by a rock shaft 18 each end of which is provided with a socket 8E3 which receives a ball 52 at the end of a tapered extension 84 of the shaft 52, and said ball carries a cross pin 86 (Figs. 2 and 5) which enters diametrically opposite open ended slots 88 in the bored end portions of the rock shaft 78. At each endof the rock shaft the lower portion is extended to provide a lug 98 which is engaged by the ball 82 during movement of the firing unit from its inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 2 to its firing position illustrated in Fig. 1, thereby to swing the rock shaft downwardly into its horizontal position.

The shaft 18 is mounted for rocking movement in a barrel 92 which, as shown in Fig. 5, has diametrically opposite bosses 94 in which are mounted screws 99 the cylindrical heads of which serve as trunnion pins for pivotally mounting the barrel 92 in a yoke 98 at the upper end of a vertical shaft toil mounted for sliding movement in a hollow post Hi2 secured to the cradle II. The shaft 18 is held against endwise movement in the barrel 92 by cylind-ricalclamps or collars I03 secured .to the shaft '18 at opposite ends of the barrel 92; It is desiralole that the rock shaft 78 be retained in its position of inclination (Fig. 2) effected by the movement of either firing unit into its remote or inoperative position in order that the ball 82, during return movement of the firing unit, will engage the lug 9d at the end of the rock shaft 18 and return the rock shaft to its horizontal position illustrated in Fig. 1. Such return movement of the rock shaft causes the insertion of the cross pin into the slots 8!! in the rock shaft and the realinement of the shaft 52, the rockshaft l8, and the shaft 76, as shown in Fig. 1. In the illustrated machine the vertical shaft to!) is yieldingly held against vertical movement in the post )2 by a friction element in the form of .a collar Hi l surrounding the shaft MD and seated in a counterbore in the upper portion of the post 162. In order to cause it to exert a frictional action against the shaft 195! the collar 04 is forced into the counterbore in the post "32 by tightening an internally threaded cap I96 on the threaded upper portion of the post H32, said cap being secured in adjusted position by a lock nut 188. If the cap W5 should be accidentally retracted, leaving the shaft lilo relatively free for vertical movement in the post H32, a disk llo secured to the lower end face of the shaft will prevent upward movement of the shaft beyond a position in which the disk no engages the base of a counter-bore H2 at the lower end of the post I02.

In the operation of the gun assembly the two firing units are in their position illustrated in Fig. l with the trigger-operated shafts 52 and 16 interconnected by the rock shaft '18. The rock shaft enables the gunner to fire both guns from either the right or the left firing unit, and thus if either hand of the gunner should become disabled the gunner could continue to fire both guns with the other hand. The rock shaft 18 also causes the trig er-operated shafts 52 and 16 to operate as a unit and, consequently, the arm 56 which operates the sear lever may be so adjusted that the two guns will fire at the same instant. Thus, there will be no tendency of the force of the backfire of either gun to swing the gun assembly off the target.

If it should become necessary to remove one of the guns from its chassis for any purpose, the gunner swings the firing unit for that gun into its remote or inoperative position, illustrated in Fig. 2, after first lifting the free end of the latch plate 24 (Fig. 3) from the notch 28. The firing unit is yieldingly retained in its inoperative position by the friction of the spring latch plate 24 against the fiange 39 (Fig. 3) After the gun is removed from its chassis the firing unit is preferably returned to its operative position illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus, if the gun assembly is called into action before the disabled gun can be repaired and remounted in its chassis the gunner can, without further adjustment, operate the gun assembly with both hands in the usual manner. The absence of one gun from the assembly does not prevent firing the remaining gun from either the right or the left firing unit, as above described.

Having thus described my invention, what I 6 claim as new and desire .to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a dual gun assembly the combination with two guns, a commoncraclle for said guns, a firing mechanism including in each gun a firing pin, a scar for operating the firing pin, and a scar lever for operating the sear, of two triggers mounted on said cradle for swiveling movement on axes parallel to the bores of the guns, mechanism whereby said triggers operate said sear levers respectively, and means interconnecting the triggers comprising two rocker members constructed and arranged to be operated by the triggers -respectively, and a central rocker member disengageably connecting said trigger-operated rocker members.

2. In a-dual gun assembly, two guns, two firing units, two mounts in which the respective firing units are supported for swiveling movement on axes parallel to the bores of the respective guns, and means interconnecting said firing units comprising two rocker member projecting laterally from the respective firing units, a central rocker disengageably connected to the free ends of the rocker members, and means for mounting said central rocker independently of said rocker members.

3. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a trigger and a shaft mounted for rocking movement by said trigger, a central rocker connecting the twotrigger operated shafts, two members on which the two firing units are respectively mounted for movement to disengage the trigger-operated shaft from the central rocker, and a mount supporting the central rocker for pivotal movement on the trigger-operated shafts about axes extending diametrically of said shafts.

4. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a trigger and a rock shaft actuated by said trigger, a central rock shaft interconnecting the two trigger-actuated rock shafts, the central rock shaft being disengageable from either trigger-operated rock shaft by mutual swinging movement of the central rock shaft and either trigger-operated rock shaft, and means on which the central rock shaft is supported for such swinging movement.

5. In a dual gun assembly, two guns, two firing units, each including a trigger, a rock shaft projecting lateral-1y from each unit, means in each unit whereby the trigger actuates the rock shaft, a central rock shaft interconnecting said triggeractuated rock shafts, said three rock shafts having interlocking connections constructed and arranged to permit disengagement of either trigger-actuated rock shaft from the central rock shaft and means on which the firing units are respectively mounted for swiveling movement on axes parallel to the bores of the guns thereby to disengage said trigger-actuated rock shaft from said central rock shaft.

6. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a trigger, a rock shaft projecting laterally from the firing unit and means operatively connecting the trigger and the rock shaft, a central rock shaft interconnecting said firing units, means providing mechanical connections between the central rock shaft and each triggeractuated rock shaft, and a support on which said central =rock shaft is mounted for swinging movement to make or break the mechanical connection with one of said laterally projecting rock shafts.

'7. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units,

each including a trigger, a rock shaft projecting laterally from the firing unit and means operatively connecting the trigger and the rock shaft, a central rock shaft interconnecting said firing units, means providing mechanical connections between the central rock shaft and each triggeractuated rook shaft, a support on which said central rock shaft is mounted for swinging movement to make or break its mechanical connection with either one of said trigger-actuated rock shafts, a member in which said support is mounted for sliding movement, and a friction element for yieldingly resisting such sliding movement of said support.

8. In a gun assembly, a gun, a scar lever for operating said gun, a firing unit for operating the sear lever, a support for said firing unit oifset laterally from the gun, said firing unit being mounted on the support for swinging movement about an axis parallel to the bore of the gun, a trigger in said firing unit, a "rock shaft projecting laterally from said firing unit, means operatively connecting the trigger and the rock shaft, means mounted .on said rock shaft arranged to actuate the sear lever, a second firing unit and operating mechanism therefor including a rocker and an extension of said rock shaft, said rocker and said extension being constructed and arranged for mutual engagement and disengagement, and a support on which said rocker is mounted for swinging movement to eifect such engagement and disengagement of said rocker and said extension.

9. The combination with a gun having a firing pin, a scar for operating the firing pin and a sear lever for operating the sear, of a cradle in which the gun is mounted and from which it is removable by movement in the direction of the recoil of the gun, a firing unit mounted on said cradle and movable thereon from a position in which it is located in longitudinal alinement with the gun into a position in which it is out of such alinement and thus afiords clearance for the removal of said gun, said firing unit including a member which is arranged to engage and operate the sea-r lever when the firing unit is in its position of longitudinal alinement with the gun.

10. The combination with a gun having a firing pin, a sear for operating the firing pin and a sear lever for operating the sear, of a cradle in which the gun is mounted and from which it is removable by movement in the direction of the recoil of the gun, a firing unit mounted on said cradle and movable thereon from a position in which it is located in longitudinal alinement with the gun into a position in which it is out of such alinement and thus affords clearance for the removal of said gun, said firing unit including a member which is arranged to engage and operate the sear lever when the firing unit is in its position of longitudinal alinement with the gun, and means for determining and maintaining said position of longitudinal alinement of said firing unit.

11. In a dual gun assembly comprising two guns provided respectively with firing pins, sears for operating said firing pins, and sear levers for operating said sears, the combination with a common cradle in which said guns are mounted and from which they are individually removable by movement in the direction of the recoil of the gun, of a right-hand firing unit mounted on said cradle, a left-hand firing unit mounted on said cradle, both said firing units being movable on the cradle from positions in which they are located in longitudinal alinement with the respective guns into positions in which they are out of such alinement and thus afford clearance for the removal of said guns, members in said firing units arranged to operate the respective sear levers when said firing units are in their respective positions of longitudinal alinement with the guns, and means whereby the members which operate the sear levers are interconnected when they are located in longitudinal alinement with the guns, thereby to cause them to operate in unison.

HARRY PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,087,371 Heinemann Feb. 17, 1914 1,284,713 Krup'pa Nov. 12, 1918 1,446,635 Berthier Feb. 27, 1923 1,498,186 Meden June 17, 1924 1,628,226 Browning May 10, 1927 2,236,335 Dugied Mar. 25, 1941 2,318,130 Trotter May 4, 1943 2,329,668 Trimbach Sept. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 124,008 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1919

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