US3016167A

US3016167A - Ammunition dispensing device

Info

Publication number: US3016167A
Application number: US780341A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr William H Richards; Curtis H Shreve
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-12-15
Filing date: 1958-12-15
Publication date: 1962-01-09
Anticipated expiration: 1979-01-09

Description

Jam 9, 1962 w. H. RICHARDS, JR., vETAI. 3,016,167

AMMUNITION DISPENSING DEVICE Filed D60. l5, 1958 i BY 5mg, fw Aj/M /4 GEA/r United States. Patent dice 3,016,167 Patentedl Jan.A 9, 1962 This invention has to do with an ammunition dispensing `device and is particularly concerned with4 the storage of a substantial supply of cartridges and the dispensing of any desired number thereof, a general object of this invention being to provide a small compact and reliable device of the type under consideration that is operable to deliver ammunition cartridges lone at' a time and to deliver them continuously in any desired number, as circumstances require.

The handling ofv iire arms requires the manipulation. and installation of cartridges into the breech or magazine of the gun being, loaded, and' usually requires theloading of one or more of said'v cartridges; Some guns are loaded with but one round or cartridge of ammunition While others are. loaded with as manyv as, for example, 17 cartridges. In practice, a wide variety of g-uns are used andv ammunition or cartridges are purchased' and/or supplied in boxes, for, example,y 50 rounds ofammunition per box. v

An object of this invention is to lprovide a device that dispenses or discharges cartridges of ammunition, one at `a time and in any desirednumber from a-` storeofasubstantial number. of said' cartridges. v

` Another object of this invention is to provide a manually operable cartridge dispensing device that selects and discharges cartridges one at a time fromV a storeV thereof, and'in rapid succession when necessary.

It is anobject of this invention to provide a dispensingdevice of the type under consideration thatv ejectscar` tridges one at a time and wherein the mechanism involved is indexed so as to assuredischarge and ejectionof only one cartridge at a,time. More specifically, the mechanism that we provide involves a single means' which acts to both index 'and` to eject the cartridges `from the device.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a dispenser of the type; above referred to wherein the cartridges' are not, loose but are restrainedl from movement, to the end that the entire supply of cartridges is securely held and prevented from rattling about.

An object of this invention is to provide a dispenser of the type above referred; to which is eas-ily; manufac- 2. Therefore, in the drawings we have illustrated 22 calibre ammunition, or the like, each cartridge X' of:V which involves a case and aprojectile 11.v thatv are assembled,

- to for-m an elongatel cartridge X'; The assembled. car-- tridge is= lled with al measure of powder that i'si'gnited by a capA included iny the manufacture of the case; 10. The case 10 is a cylindrical' shelf-shaped element. open'. atA the front endf toI receive the rear portion; of-f the projectile 11, and closed atits. rear or base end'. where it: accommodates-a cap. Asv is the-case in 22 calibreammw. nition, the capiis accommodatedy at' or within the rim 1'22 of thevv case andis easily sety off by theY percussion of ap `sharp blow. Thus the cartridge X ischaracterizedliby--its elongate cylindricall shape, rounded," at the nosefzandflat at the base. Such acartridgeiscylindrical and substan, tiai'ly longer than its diameteigasshown."`

The' ammunition dispensing. ydevicethat wei have: prof. vided operable tostore. a substantially large number of cartridges X, for example, one on moreboxesthereQ-fi The device isV operable to. eject. av single. round` of said; ammunition, or.v one` cartridgeI at a time,l andi involves, generally, a case A, transporting means; 13,; a followen means C, indexing means 13;. and` eject-ingr means, E; The case A. isA provided to contain a, supply of1 ammunition and acts as: the frame of the struc/ture;v 'lhetranse porting means Bv isprovidedto lshiftfthecartnidgestfrolrlV storage within" the case. A to: atpositionjwhere said cartridges are discharged froml thestructure. The followerz means CA is provided toV yieldinglyaurge the;l cartridges toward the means B andV to preventyrattling. thereof4 with`V in the case A. The indexing means;Disinovidedv to si-tion the elements of the means. Bvv so.- as to assure.- dis@ charge of each round of ammunition when Ythe said means B is inthe dischargingposition;`

The case A thatA contains the supply;v of; cartridges X also actsV as the-frame of the struct-ure and; can vary widely,

' in shape and' form as circumstances, require.y The. casetured, easily employed and used,'|which is easily operated and which is also safe and dependable.

The various objects and features of our inventionwill be fully understood from the following detailed description of a typical preferred form and applicationv of our invention, through-out which description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, inwhicli:

FlG. lis a perspective view showing the preferred embodiment of the presenty invention and the manner in which cartridges are dispensed therefrom.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the dispenser shown in FG. l.

PEG. 3 is a sectional view taken as indicated by line y A is shown as a. vertically disposed boxflike element rece tangular in form and establishing astoragegchamber 2.0;1 The case A involves twov shell-like sections; 1:5 and- 1,6, preferably substantially identical sections, fitted togethen with a cement orv an adhesive along av jointfor-seam 1 7. The case A has front and back'walls 2-1 and 22, andside Walls 23'- and 2.4. The chamber 20E isfdeiined by the above; mentioned walls 2].-24 and is; closed'; at its upper and? lower ends by a top 25 and a bottom 26, respectively; The walls 21' and 22' are Yspaced to accommodate the; longitudinal dimension of the cartridgesX while the remaining sidel Walls top andv bottom, are spacedY to establish` the; chamber 20 of the desiredzcapacity. In practice, the side walls Z3l and 24. are spaced to accommodate, iive ornsixI cartridges X side by side, while the

ytop andy bottom

25 and 26. are spaced to `accommodate a column of about tenv rounds, or more, of ammunition- As; shown, the front and back Walls 21 and 22A and sides. 23 and- 24 slidably engage the cartridges lX while the bottomv 26 is provided with features that cooperatively engage withy thetransporting means B. rIl'he top- 25 simply forms. a closure, all to the end that the cartridges X are enclosed and; protected sothaty they are kept clean and ready for use.

In carrying out the invention theA case Av is provided Vwith a closure 27, it being preferred toopen substantially of the seam 17. i As shown, the closure 27 ris snapped Y into position, there. being al pair of detent-type snaps 2,9

` acting as hinges anda snap 30 acting as a lock. The

amener closure 27 can be released at the snap 30 and swung outwardly on the hinge snaps 29, or the closure 27 can be completely removed from the case A, as desired. In any case, the chamber 20 is readily accessible to be filled or emptied.

The transporting means B that shifts the cartridges X is adapted to receive the cartridges at the bottom of the chamber 20 and to remove each individual cartridge X to a discharge position where it is ejected either by gravity or by mechanical means, as later described. A feature of the dispensing device that we provide is the transporting means B which is a shiftable element, preferably manually shiftable, and which is a rotary element involving a drum 35 rotatably carried by the case A and operating in a cylinder 40 formed in the bottom 26 of the case. The drum 35 substantially occupies the cross section of the case A and is on an axis that extends horizontally between the front and

back walls

21 and 22. The drum 35 is, therefore, of a length to extend between the

walls

21 and 22 and has front and back ends 36 land 37 opposed to the said

walls

21 and 22, respectively. Further, the drum 35 is of a diameter to tangentially oppose the

sides

23 and 24, respectively. In accordance with the invention, the cylinder 40 has a bottom wall 41 to close the chamber 20 and to have slidingengagement with the periphery of the drum 35, said wall 41 tangentially mergingpvvith the two

sides

23 and 24.

The drum, as above described, is provided with radially opening pockets 3 8, said pockets being shaped and proportionedt receive individual cartridges X. There is a series of equally spaced pockets 38, for example, eight such pockets, said pockets extending parallel with each other and with the axis of the drum 35, In the particular case illustrated, thepockets 38 have concave bottoms 39 and spaced opposed parallel sides 42,' said pockets being adapted to freely laccommodate land receive the cartridges X.

The bottom 26 of the case A is characterized by a discharge opening 43 formed `therein and which aligns with a pocket 38 when the pocket is positioned by the drum 35 to discharge a cartridge X. In the case illustrated, the drur 35 isvrotatably supported by end trunnions 44 that engage in bearing openings in the

walls

21 and 22. As the drum 35 is rotated the upwardly faced pockets 38 receive cartridges X carrying them circumferentially to the central portion of the bottom 26 where the pockets open into the discharge opening 43. The cartridges X are confined to the pockets 38 by the wall 41 until released into the discharge opening 43, as by action of gravity, or the like.

s the drum 35, above described, rotates, it is assured of receiving a cartridge X in each pocket 38 by means of an agitating action. That is, the initially empty pocket 38 moves upwardly when the drum 35 is rotated, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 of the drawings, and then moves across the bottom of the supply o-f cartridges. Since the cartridges are supported by the drum 35 they readily fall into the moving 'pockets to be carried circumferentially and downwardly as the drum continues to rotate. As best illustrated in FIG. 2, we provide a lug 24' that projects from the Walls 24 to the periphery of the drum 35 in order to prevent wedging of cartridges X into that corner.

The follower means C that yieldingly urges the cartridges X toward the means B, above described, is provided to assure operation of the device in any position -or in any attitude. It is readily apparent that gravity feed lis suicient provided the device is used upright, however, :this is not likely to be the casein every instance of operaition. Therefore, we provide the means C which involves :a head Sil engageable with the top of the supply of ammunition andmeans 51 yieldingly urging the head 50 toward the bottom 2,6 and drum 3'5 :that supports the supply of ammunition. As shown, the lhead 50 extends across the chamber 2G, preferably between the

sides

23 and 24 and is guided between spaced

shoulders

52 and 53 on the two

sections

15 and 16 of the case A. In this instance, the means 51 is a spring means and we provide

springs

53 and 54, one at each side of the head 50, said springs being accommodated in vertically disposed openings 55 land 56 formed in the

sides

23 and 24, respectively. The

openings

55 and 56 are substantially co-extensive with the height of the device so that the

springs

53 and 54 are anchored at the bottom of the structure by means of pins, one spring being engaged with an ear at each side of the head 5i). It will be apparent that the entire supply of cartridges X will be yieldingly urged toward the transporting means B by operation of the head 50, thus eliminating looseness and assuring that the individual cartridges X will enter the pockets 3S.

The index means D that we provide is adapted to position the drum 35 so that the pockets 38 align with the discharge opening 43. As shown, the means D is a detent means and involves a biased element that engages in peripheral notches in the drum 35. In the form of the invention illustrated, the drum 35 has a reduced portion, preferably at the center thereof, said reduced portion having a continuous series of ratchet teeth 60 with inclined forward faces and substantially radially disposed rear faces. There is one tooth 60 for each pocket 38 and the biased element has a pawl 61 adapted to be lifted by the forward faces and -to engage behind the rear faces. Thus, the drum 35 can advance only and is held in a fixed position when the pawl 61 is engaged behind a tooth 6ft. As shown, the radial extent of the teeth 60 is substantially inward of the bottoms 39 of the pockets 38.

The ejecting means E that we provide is adapted to assure that each cartridge X is removed from the pocket 38 and discharged through the opening 43. A feature of the present invention is the incorporation of means E in the means D and involves the use of the biasing element that forms both the pawl 61 and a cam 70 of the means E. As shown, the biasing element is in the form of a leaf spring having an elongate body that is substantially arcuate in form and bowed downwardly. The biasing element is preferably made of at spring steel, or the like, some- 'what curved as above specified, and anchored to the case A at one end and free at its other end. A slot-shaped recess is provided in the case A, centrally thereof, and between the two sections thereof, to receive an enlargement 71 at the end of the biasing element, said enlargement 71 being in the form of a roll at the end of the leaf spring. The pawl 61 is carried at the free end of the cam 70 to project radially inward, while the cam '70 bows downwardly into the pockets 38 as they advance to the discharge opening 43. Since the cam is formed of a spring element it will be compressed or deected somewhat and will throw the cartridge X through vthe opening when the pocket 38 shifts sufficiently to release said cartridge from confinement by the Wall 41. Any tendency for the cartridge X to stick or lodge in the pocket 38 is substantially eliminated by deflection and release of the cam 70.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have provided a practical and reliable cartridge dispensing device that releases or dispenses one cartridge at a time and continuously. As best illustrated in FIGS. l and 3 of the drawings, the drum 35 is rotatably advanced as controlled by the indexing means E through operation of a control knob 75. The knob '75 is accessible at the front of the device and at the exterior thereof, it being a simple matter to manually operate the knob 75 to advance the drum 35 thereby discharging or ejecting any desired number of cartridges. In order to support and carry the dispensing device, we prefer to provide a clip 76 suitable for fastening the case A to a belt '77, or the like. As shown, the clip 76 is a spring clip that overlies the back wall 22 of the case and passes the belt 77.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of our invention, we do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to ourselves any variations or modications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A dispensing device 1for storing and for discharging cartridges one at a time and including, a case with a cham-ber therein and ra discharge opening in the bottom thereof, a transporting means to receive cartridges from the chamber and to shift them into alignment with the discharge opening and comprising a drum rotatably carried on an axis extending across the case and disposed over the bottom, the drum having a reduced peripheral portion and having a series of peripherally spaced pockets each adapted to receive a cartridge when faced upwardly and to carry said cartridges to said discharge opening, and a cam on the case and entering the reduced portion of the drum to engage and discharge the cartridges from each pocket as it is brought into alignment with the discharge opening.

2. A dispensing device -for storing and for discharging cartridges one at a time and including, a case with a chamber therein and a discharge openingin the bottom thereof, a transporting means to receive cartridges from the chamber and to shift them into alignment with the discharge opening and comprising a drum rotatably carried on an axis extending across the case and disposed over the bottom, the drum having a reduced peripheral portion and having a series of peripherally spaced pockets each adapted to receive a cartridge when faced upwardly and to carry said cartridges to said discharge opening, and ejecting means comprising an involute formed cam on the case and entering the reduced portion of the drum and engageable with each cartridge as it is brought into alignment with the discharge opening. y

3. A dispensing device for storing and for discharging cartridges one ata time and including, a case with a cham- `ber therein and a discharge opening in the bottom thereof, a transporting means -to receive cartridges from the chamber and to shift them into alignment with the discharge opening and comprising a drum rotatably carried on an axis extending across the case and disposed over the bot-y tom and with a series of peripherally spaced pockets each adapted to receive a cartridge when faced upwardly and to carry said cartridges to said discharge opening, and an indexing and ejecting means comprising a member on the case and engageable with the drum to position the drum with each successive pocket in alignment with said dis- 6 charge opening and engageable -with each cartridge as it is brought into alignment with said discharge opening.

4. A dispensing device for storing and for discharging cartridges one at a time and including, a case with a chamber therein and a discharge opening in the bottom thereof, a transporting means to receive cartridges from the chamber and to shift them into alignment with the discharge opening and comprising a drum rotatably carried on an axis extending across the case and disposed over the bottom and with a series of peripherally spaced pockets each adapted to receive a cartridge whenr faced upwardly and to carry said cartridges tosaid discharge opening, and an indexing and ejecting means comprising an elongate -spring member projecting from the case and engageable with teeth on the drum to position the drum with each successive pocket in alignment with said discharge opening and engageable with and depressed by each cartridge as' it is brought into alignment with said discharge open- 111g.

5. A dispensing device Ifor storing and for discharging cartridges one at a time and including, a case with a chamber therein and a discharge opening in the bottom thereof, a transporting means to receive cartridges from the charnber and to shift them into alignment with the discharge opening and comprising a drum rotatably carried on an axis extending across the case and disposed over the bottom and with arreduced central portion and a series of peripherally spaced pockets each adapted to receive a cartridge when faced upwardly and to carry said cartridges to said discharge opening, and an indexing and ejecting means comprising an elongate spring member projecting from the case and operable in the central portion of the drum and engageable with teeth on the drum to position the drum with each successive pocket in alignment with said discharge opening and engageable with and depressed by each cartridge as itis brought into alignment with said discharge opening.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 905,401 Billmeyer Dec. 1, 1908 1,374,354 Bruington Apr. 12, 1921 1,518,933 Kantor Dec. 9, 14924 1,610,717 Teabout et a1 Dec. 14, 1926 1,627,647 Hultenius May 10, 1927 1,653,286 Huggins Dec. 20, 1927 1,827,501 Alland Oct. 31, 1931 1,976,351 Matthiesen Oct. 9, 1934