US3227045A - Closed breech rocket gun - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 4, 1966 G. R. KRuzELL CLOSED BREECH ROCKET GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July l5, 1964 lNvrm'roRI 650,665?, Kef/25a ATTORNEYS m \\\\\\mm\\\ \\\\\\\\\\mmmnnhhn nnn/d lll l m l l n N S \\\J .ll nl' i I ll. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\w\\\\\\ fue f of BY mm, mymzgfww Jan. 4, 1966 G. R. KRUZELL CLOSED BREECH ROCKET GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July l5, 1964 BY www, Mmz WM f F mw om rm Aom mm ch Nm ATTORNEYS I United States Patent O 3,227,045 CLOSED BREECH ROCKET GUN George R. Kruzell, 4301 Hotchkiss, Bay City, Mich. Filed July 15, 1964, Ser. No. 382,863 9 Claims. (Cl. 89-187) Closed breech rocket guns or launchers have heretofore been known and used, having possessed the well-known advantage of preventing the backward discharge of propellant gases and thereby permitting use of such guns as shoulder weapons or in gun turrets or tanks without danger of injury to the gunner or others in the rear of the gun. In addition such closed breech guns have permitted an increased range by virtue of the thrust-assist exerted upon the rocket by the rearwardly discharged gases.

In order to achieve their function it is obvious that the breech closing mechanism of such a gun must be extremely eflicient and reliable in operation and capable of eifecting a gas tight closure of the breech to avoid the dangerous rearward discharge of gases. In order for such a breech closing mechanism to function properly and reliably, it has been heretofore necessary to employ positive locking mechanism for maintaining the breech closing mechanism in its closed and sealing position, with the consequent necessity of releasing such locking mechanism each time a fresh round is delivered into the firing chamber.

In View of these considerations previous breech closing mechanisms for closed breech rocket guns or launchers have not been altogether satisfactory, but in general have been so slow and cumbersome in their operation as to be applicable only to weapons of a single shot or semiautomatic type rather than to those which are capable of automatic firing.

The present invention has been developed with these considerations in mind and has for its primary object the provision of a fully automatic closed breech type rocket gun in which the breech locking mechanism is reliably actuated and released in accurately timed relation to the automatic firing of the weapon. v

The locking mechanism is arranged to maintain the breech closure in its closed and sealed position during the peak gas pressures existing within the gun barrel and ring chamber during the firing of each round, and to automatically release the breech closure as each round leaves the gun barrel. The invention contemplates the use of a release mechanism for the locking means which is actuated by gas pressure created within the gun barrel incident to firing of the gun, such pressure being bled off through a port which is so located along the length of the barrel as to actuate the release mechanism in properly timed relation to the firing operation.

It is a further object to provide such a gun which is also selectively capable of firing either as a single shot weapon or as a semiautomatic weapon.

Further objects are to provide such a gun involving a minimum number of simplified assemblage of parts.

In order to illustrate the best mode presently known to me of carrying out the invention, there is illustrated in the accompanying drawings the preferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be understood that these drawings and the detailed description hereinafter following are exemplary only and will involve details which may be omitted or changed as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a View, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation, of a rocket gun embodying the invention, a portion only of the gun stock being shown;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section through ice the gun barrel, taken on the same plane as FIGURE l, and showing certain parts in broken lines in their actuated positions;

`FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the receiver and firing chamber of the gun, showing the bolt locked in its operative position, with the gun loaded, cocked and in readiness for ring, the firing pin being illustrated in broken lines in the projected position which it assumes incident to firing the gun;

FIGURE 4 is a View similar to FIGURE 3, showing the parts in the retracted positions immediately after ring and midway of the automatic reloading cocking operation; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross section through the gun barrel, on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a detail sectional view ontthe line 6 6 of FIGURE 4 illustrating the relative widths of the bolt locking recess and the sear, both the bolt and the sear being shown but fragmentarily.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings:

The automatically ring closed breech rocket gun therein illustrated is of comparatively small size, to be capable of use in the manner of a shoulder gun or hand weapon. To this end it is provided with a usual gun stock 10 which may conveniently be of wood, plastic or other conventional materials and which is rigidly connected in a generally conventional manner to the rear end of the receiver 11. There may also be provided a usual supplemental support in the form of a pistol grip 12 firmly affixed to the receiver 11, as by means of the screws 13. It will be understood of course that Where the gun is formed in larger sizes it may be provided with suitable gun mounts of conventional nature in lieu of the stock 10 and pistol grip 12.

In the embodiment here illustrated, it will be seen that the stock 10 includes an adapter piece 14 rigidly ailixed thereto at its forward end. A portion 15 of'the adapter projects into and is snugly received within the rearwardly opening end of the hollow receiver 11 to function jointly as a closure plug and support. A screw 16 threaded transversely through this plug 15 and the receiver end, firmly secures these parts in assembled relation. If desired, a reinforcing rod 17 extending longitudinally through the stock may be threaded into the adapter piece 14 at its inner end 18 as shown. 3

Axed to the forward end of the receiver is a preferably internally rifled gun barrel 20 having a ring chamber 21 which communicates rearwardly withv the forwardly opening end of the hollowtreceiver through a breech opening 22, withv the bolt well 23 of the receiver. The barrel 20 may be rigidly connected to the receiver in generally conventional manner as by shrink fitting its rear end into a counterbore 24 in the forward end of the receiver.

As is well-known, the firing of a rocket type projectile or missile within the barrel 20 will result in the creation of an internal gas pressure which greatly exceeds that occurring within the barrel of a more conventional'rearm. It is therefore desirable to release a substantial portion of this pressure in order to avoid explosion of the barrel. This pressure release may be accomplished in conventional manner by provision in the barrel, adjacent the forward end of the firing chamber, of one or more gas release ports 25 which are normally covered and closed by the missile or projectile P when operatively positioned within the firing chamber, but which are un-y covered promptly upon the initiation of forward move# are released through these ports 25, it isv desirable to,y

provide a blast jacket 26, which is 'here shown vas a forwardf extension of the receiver. This jacket 26 encircles and is spaced radially from the barrel and is preferably coextensive in length therewith, -to define a forwardly opening blast pressure relief passage 27 around the barrel. Since the rear end of this passage 27 is closed by the receiver, as shown, the gases which emerge through the release ports 25 will be directed forwardly away from the gunner, An advantage of this specific arrangement is that the released gases which thus emerge from the annular passage 27 assume the form of a sheath surrounding the rearwardly directed.

gas blast from the rocket or missile P as the latter emerges from the barrel, thereby functioning as a shield for the gunner.

The bolt well 23 will normally be of uniform cross sectional shape and dimensions throughout its length, except that at its forward end it is provided with a forwardly converging generally conical sealing surface 28 just rearwardly of the breech opening or constriction 22.

In the present embodiment, the breech closure is illustrated as in the form of a bolt 30 of a cross sectional shape (preferably cylindrical) and dimension throughout the major portion of its length corresponding to those of the bolt well. The bolt 30 is guided within the weil for longitudinal Vsliding movement between its forwardly projected breech closing and sealing or firing position, as shown in full lines in FIGURES 1 and 3, and its fully retracted position as shown in FIGURE 4. At its forward end, the bolt 31B is provided with a forwardly converging conical sealing surface 31 tapered at an angle similar to that of the sealing surface 28, so that in the forwardly projected position of the bolt these interengaged sealin'fr surfaces 28 and 31 provide a gas tight seal rearwardly of the firing chamber and breech opening 21 and 22, respectively, to prevent rearward escape of gases incident to the firing of the weapon.

For urging the bolt forwardly to its fully projected breech closing and sealing position, there are provided suitable resilient means, as exemplified by the bolt return spring 32 compressed between the bolt and the closed rear end or plug of the receiver and maintained in alignment by reception of one end thereof in a blind bore 33 opening rearwardly through the end of the bolt, and the guide rod 34 supported from the plug portion 15 of the adapter piece 14.

In order to provide a convenient means for manually retracting the bolt 30 against the spring 32, the bolt may be provided with a rigidly carried operating handle ,'55 projecting outwardly and movable through a longitudinally extending narrow slot 36 in the receiver wall.

Carried by the bolt for longitudinal movement therein is a firing pin 38 which includes a forwardly projecting striker of general conventional nature snugly slidably disposed through a longitudinal or axial passage in the bolt for forward projection into operative firing engagement with the primer or igniter lof the projectile P a firing pin spring 39 tensioned between the bolt 30 and firing pin 38 serve to project the firing pin forwardly from its retracted or cocked position to its firing position as shown in full lines in FIGURE l.

To provide for cocking the firing pin, the rear end of the latter is formed with a cooking detent 40 for cooperation with the sear 41.

Sear 41 is guided on the receiver for projection movement into the bolt well 23, transversely to the movement of the bolt and across the path of movement of the firing pin cocking detent 40, for holding abutment therewith to cock the firing pin incident to return or forward movement of the bolt from its retracted position.

In the instant embodiment, the sear 41 is slidably guided through openings in the wall of the receiver 11 and in a bracket 42 aixed thereto, and is resiliently projected into the receiver well by the sear spring 43.

Spring 43 is compressed between the sear and an abutment 44 carried by the receiver, the major portion of the spring preferably being housed within a recess 45 in the sear.

For permitting retraction of the bolt and firing pin past the normally inwardly projected sear 41, the latter is provided with a forwardly presented inclined cam surface 41 to cause retraction of the sear incident to its successive engagement with the rearwardly directed and preferably similarly inclined cam surfaces 40 and 315 of the firing pin cocking detent 050 and the bolt 30 respectively. It will be apparent that during the forward return or projection movement of the bolt from its retracted position, the tapered sealing surface 31 of the bolt will engage and exert a camming action of the sear 41 to cam the latter out of the path of travel of the bolt. The sear 41 will have sufcient width transversely of the bolt and receiver to span the relatively narrower locking recess 46 adjacent the forward end of the bolt.

The trigger or trigger means 47, by which the sear 411 is selectively disengaged from the iiring pin to permit forward spring projection of the latter into operative actuating engagement with the primer of the missile to be fired, is shown in the present embodiment as being medially pivotally mounted at 50 on the receiver and normally urged by its spring 51 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE l. The forwardly projecting lever arm 52 of the trigger is formed with a forwardly opening 1oore 53 which receives and guides a disconnector or lug 54. This lug is normally spring projected forwardly from the lever arm 52 for operative engagement with a laterally rearwardly extending lug on the sear. The free end of the disconnector 54, when fully projected, is so spaced from the trigger pivot E@ that when the trigger is pulled rearwardly with ensuing downward swinging movement of its lever arm 52, the disconnector 54 will remain in abutting engagement with the lug 55 until such time as the seat has been fully retracted to release the ring pin 37.

The arc of movement of the disconnector free end is such however with respect to the straight line movement of the sear that the disconnector 54 will ride free of and disengage the lug 55 after the sear is thus fully retracted. In other words this arrangement provides for automatically disconnecting the trigger from the sear after the sear has been retracted to release the firing pin, whereby the scar may be free to immediately return to its operative position without interference from the trigger, even though the latter be maintained in its firing position. This insures return of the sear to operative position so that immediately after the firing of a round and the resulting rearward recoil and return of the bolt 30 as hereinafter described, the sear 41 will be operatively positioned for engagement with the ring pin cocking detent 40 to cock the firing pin as the bolt is projected by spring 32 to its forward breech sealing position.

In order to permit return of the trigger to operative posi-tion without blockage by the sear lug 55, the latter is formed with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined cam surface 55 for retraction of the disconnector to permit the disconnector 54 and its associated lever arm 52 to ride freely therepast, as the trigger returns to operative position. A stop 56 carried by the lower end of the sear 41 abut's against the sear guide bracket 42 to limit the upward projection movement of the scar.

Opening into the receiver 11, in la position generally abreast of the bolt 3% in its breech closing position, is a loading port 57 through which ammunition is automatically inserted in front of the retracted bolt 30 by a conventional magazine 58. In accordance with usual practice, the magazine includes a magazine 'spring 6) compressed between the magazine bottom and a follower 61 to urge each of a plurality of rounds of ammunition P locking lug or bolt lock 65.

upwardly successively through the loading port 57 and into the receiver in advance of the bolt, whenever the latter is retracted from its blocking position over the loading -port 57.

' The ammunition P, shown for purposes of exemplification, comprises a plurali-ty of individual rounds -or shells, each comprising a cartridge case 62 which will be understood to contain a booster charge of powder or other explosive and a primer or ignitor 63 centered at the vrear end of the casing 62 in position for operative engagement 'by the forward end of the tiring pin striker 38. In the instant embodiment it is intended that the cartridge case 62 remain stationary in the firing chamber when a missile is rst tired, to ignite .the propellent charge within the missile or projectile P, as well a-s to initiate the forward m-ovement of the latter. It will be understood that any usual relcasable connection may be employed between the cartridge 62 and the projectile P.

i As the missile or projectile P leaves the forward end of the barrel 20, the gas pressure within the barrel is relied upon to force both the plunger 30 Iand the expended cartri-dge 62 rearwardly into the receiver su-ch that the cartridge case 62, upon arriving at a location abreast of the ejector port 64 is kicked outwardly through said port by a conventional ejector mechanism. The ejector mechanism may be of a purely conventional lever type, actuated by movement of the bolt, and due to its conventional nature is not here specifically illustrated.

It is important that, during the firing of each missile, the bolt 30 shall be firmly retained in its forwardly projected breech sealing position, with its -conical sealing surface 31 engaged in gas tight mann-er with the relatively opposed sealing surface 28 of the receiver, to thereby prevent the rearward escape of gases which might injure the gunner or others in his vicinity, or which might corrode or coat the sealing surfaces 28, 31 in a manner to impair their sealing function.

For achieving these ends, the bolt is provided with the bolt locking recess 46, earlier referred to, having a rearwardly presented locking face 46' for operative abutting engagement with the cooperating locking face 65 of Ia The lock 65 is guided in a housing 66 on the receiver for rectilinear sliding movement transversely to the bolt movement into and from the locking recess 46 of the bolt. Spring means 67, compressed between the locking lug 65 and the end plate 68 of the housing 66 serves to resiliently project the locking lug into the locking recess 46. The lower end Vplate 65 of the lug housing 66 may, if desired, be removable to permit ready access to and servicing or replace- -ment of the locking lug 65 and its -actuating spring 67.

In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the locking faces 65 and 46 of 4the locking lug 65 and the bolt 30 are both inclined inwardly and rearwardly with respect to the line of movement of the bolt, to 'exert a forward wedging or camming force on the bolt incident to the spring projection of the locking lug 65 into the recess 46. While the locking faces are thus sufficiently inclined to transmit this forward seating -or sealing force to the "bolt, the degree of angle of inclination with respect to the line of movement of the bolt is maintained generallynear, but somewhat less than, ninety degrees,

vor in other words within a range at which the frictional inter-engagement between opposed faces 46', 65 will approximately equal the retraction force exerted on or transmitted to the locking lug through the inter-engaged faces 46 and 65 'as an incident to rearward gas pressures on 'the bolt.

In addition, the maintenance of but a slight camming angle is desirable as increasing the mechanical advantage which is obtainable by the inclined plane or wedging action between these faces and which tends to seat the bolt firmly in its sealing position incident to the spring projection of the locking lug into -therecess 46. lt has been found that a suitable angle of inclination for these faces 46' and 65 is in the neighborhood of fifteen degrees with respect to a plane which normally transects the axis of the gun barrel and re-ceiver.

The locking 'lug spring 67 will be formed of sufficient strength t-o project the locking lug into recess 47 with substantial force, whereby to achieve the desired degree of seating force on the bolt. Such seating force will also serve to supplement the force of the bolt return spring 32 in fully seating the various rounds of ammunition in the firing chamber 21, regardless of variati-ons in the proportions thereof within reasonable tolerances.

It will be noted that the bolt lock or locking lug 65, when fully seated in the locking recess 46, will normally be spaced somewhat Vfrom the blind inner end of the recess, thereby allowing space for further inward movement of the lug into Isaid recess as may be necessary to compensate for wear on the locking and camming surfaces 46 and 65 as well as on the sealing surfaces 28 and 31 respectively, of the receiver and the =bolt. Thus there is achieved the important advantage of autom-atie wear compensation on these respective surfaces.

It will be apparent that the weapon 'as thus far described, and even without au-tomatic means for retraction of the locking lug 65, is capable of operation as a single shot weapon. In order t-o achieve such operation it will be necessary to manually retract the locking lug or' bolt lock 65 to disengage it from the bolt 30 after each round is fred. It is then necessary to manually retract the bolt 30 by means of its handle 35, to eject the expended cartridge 62 and to permit delivery int-o the receiver in advance of the retracted bolt 39 of a fresh round of ammunition P from the magazine 58. Release of the handle 35 will then permit the =bolt return spring 32 to project the bolt forwardly, moving the fresh round of ammunition P in .advance thereof into the tiring chamber. The bolt lock 65 meanwhile, having been released, will automatically be projected int-o the rec-ess 46 as 4the latter registers with it. By inter-engagement between the inclined locking surfaces 65 and 46', the bolt lock 65 will urge the bol-t 30 forwardly in-to its breech closing and sealing position.

The lock 65 is automatically retracted by engagement with the tapered nose or sealing surface 31 of the bolt to permit the bolt to ride freely therepast toward its forwardly projected sealing position. If desired, the locking lug 65 may be formed with a rearwardly directed inclined cam surface 69 for engagement by the tapered nose or sealing surface 31 of the bolt to facilitate this retraction action. Because of the constant spring pressure urging the locking lug 65 into the recess 46 and against the inclined locking surface 46', the lug will exert a constant and positive forward wedging action on the bolt 30 even after the lug is fully projected into the recess 46.

The preferred means for facilitating manual retraction of the bolt lock or lug 65 is exemplified in the present rembodiment by the bolt release rod 70 guided for longiing therein and is provided with a rearwardly presented carnface 72 for camming engagement with the correspondingly inclined cam face or surface 73 of the lock or lug 65. A spring 74 coiled about the rod k70 under compression between the bearing 71 and a suitable stop 75 on the rod normally retains the rod withdrawn from the housing 66 and disengaged from the bolt lock 65.

The rod 70 is adapted for manual actuation, either by direct gripping and forcing rearwardly of the rod, or by means of the bolt release plunger 76 slidably guided through a bearing 77 which in the present instance is afforded by the casing of the gas cylinder 78, hereinafter described in more detail. The rear end of release plunger ,76 is positioned and guided for abutting engagement with ward movement to the rod 70. Normally the release plunger 76 is resiliently yieldably maintained in its forwardly projected disengaged position by means of the compression spring 84B coiled about the plunger with its opposite ends abutting against the bearing 77 and the plunger. As thus arranged, the release plunger 76 is normally disengaged from the release rod 70 to avoid interference with actuation of the latter by automatic means, such as hereinafter described.

For automatically disengaging the bolt lock or locking lug 65 from the bolt 30 in timed relation to the firing of a round of ammunition, there is provided gas actuated automatic means exemplified by the piston 81 disposed for longitudinal rearward movement in the cylinder 78 in response to pressurized gases which are admitted to the cylinder through a gas inlet passage 83 establishingr communication between the cylinder interior and the interior of the barrel 20. The intake end of the passage 83, through which it communicates with the barrel, is located at a suitable position along the length of the barrel and adjacent its discharge end to admit pressurized gases from rearwardly of the projectile P as soon as the projectile shall have moved forwardly beyond the inlet end of this passage.

In other words the position of the inlet end of the passage 83 is such that the piston 78 will be actuated to move the bolt release rod 70 rearwardly to disengage the bolt lock or locking lug 65 from the bolt at a time when there is a sucient gas pressure remaining in the barrel to force the expended cartridge case and bolt 62 and 30 respectively, rearwardly for achieving the several functions required for automatic firing. Nevertheless the timing will be such that the retraction of the bolt is delayed until the gas pressures have been lowered beyond the danger point.

In order that the operation of the release rod '7G may be achieved by either the plunger 76 or the piston and cylinder unit 82, 78 without interference with either by the other, the piston also is normally disconnected from the release rod 70. To this end, the piston rod 84 is normally detached from the bolt release rod 70, but in alignment therewith, and is adapted to return to its normal inoperative or idle position at the end of each actuation by endwise pressure to the right transmitted through the rod 70 from the plunger spring 74, as well as by the pressure of gases or air trapped in the closed end of the cylinder.

It will thus be apparent that the release rod '70 exemplifies a suitable linkage means interconnecting the piston and cylinder unit to the bolt lock 65 for disengaging the latter from the bolt 30 on each actua-ting movement of the piston, though obviously other specific forms of linkage means may be employed for the same purpose.

Operation Now to briefly summarize the overall operation of the invention as an automatically tiring weapon, assuming that the weapon is to be brought into use for the first time, a loaded magazine 58 is operatively connected with the receiver in the position shown in FIGURES 1, 3 and 4. Assuming that Ithe firing chamber is empty, a round of ammunition may be moved from the magazine 58 into the ring chamber 21 by grasping the bolt operating handle 35 and retracting the bolt rearwardly (after first releasing the bolt lock 65) to uncover the loading port 57. The sear 41 is retracted by successive engagement with the cam surface 40 and 30 `respectively of the ring pin detent 4@ and bolt 3th to permit such retraction of the bolt. The uppermost round of ammunition from the magazine 58 will then be projected upwardly through said port 57 and into the receiver 11 in front of the bolt 3i). Release of the bolt operating handle 35 will then permit return movement or forward projection of the bolt 30 under the pressure of its return spring 32. As the bolt moves forwardly it shoves the round of ammunition ahead of it into the tiring chamber 62 and closes and seals the breech by sealing engagement of its tapered forward sealing surface 28 with the coacting conically tapered sealing surface 31 of the breech. As the bolt returns forwardly past the sear 41 and bolt lock 65, these are successively retracted from its path by the tapered nose or sealing surface 31 of the bolt. When the bolt shall have moved forwardly beyond the scar 41, the latter will have been immediately spring projected into the path of movement of the cocking detent or catch 40 of the ring pin to cock the ring pin 37 against its spring 38. As the bolt approaches its sea-ted or breech sealing position and its locking recess 46 moves abreast of the bolt lock or lug 65, the latter, after having been depressed by camming engagement with the tapered nose or sealing surface 31 of the bolt will then be strongly projected by its spring 67 into the locking Yrecess 46. The ensuing locking and wedging engagement between-the inclined locking surfaces 46 and 65 will then exert a strong forward thrust on the bolt to supplement its sealing engagement with the tapered sealing surface 31 and to assist the bolt return spring 32, if necessary in completing the movement of the ammunition into the ring chamber.

The bolt lock spring 6/ `will then continue to transmit a constant seating or sealing thrust to the bolt by way of the inter-engaged wedging surfaces 65 and 46 to maintain the bolt sealed and rmly locked in its forwardly projected position during ring of the round of ammunition then within the firing chamber.

At this time the weapon will have been loaded and cocked in readiness for automatic tiring which may be achieved in customary manner simply by repeated pulling of the trigger 47 whenever desired.

As the trigger is pulled to re the rst round, the ensuing downward movement of lits forwardly projecting lever arm 52 in engagement with the sear actuating lug 55 will disengage the scar from the tiring pin 3'7 so that the ensuing forward projection of the latter by its spring 39 will cause the striker 38 to impact against the primer 63 of the booster cartridge 62. The ensuing ignition of the booster cartridge and, through it, of the propellant charge within the projectile P, will serve to fire the missile projectile P from the barrel 20.

As the missile or projectile P moves forward sufficiently to uncover the gas release ports 25, the escape of gases through these ports will serve to maintain the gas pressure Within the barrel 20 within safe limits. The gases thus released will be discharged forwardly through the release passage 27 for discharge forwardly in the form of a sheath of gases surrounding the rearwardly directed blast of propellant gases ejected from the missile as the latter emerges from the gun barrel Ztl?. Thus the gases released through the passage 27, in addition to reducing the pressure within the barrel, will serve the added function of projecting or shielding the gunner from the rearwardly directed blast of the rocket projectile.

J ust before the projectile arrives at the end of the barrel it moves past the inlet end of the gas cylinder inlet passage 33 to permit the pressurized gases behind it to i'low into the cylinder 7S and urge the piston 82, its piston rod 84 and the bolt release rod '70 toward the left to Withdraw or disengage :the bolt lock 65 from the bolt. Immediately pursuant to such disengagement, the residual gas pressure within the barrel will force the unlocked bolt 30, as well as the empty cartridge 62 to the left or toward the retracted position of the bolt. In the resulting retraction and return of the bolt, the weapon will be reloaded and cocked, in readiness for iiring a further round, in the same manner above described.

Even though the trigger 46 may not yet have been released subsequent to the firing of the preceding round, it will have been disengaged from the scar to permit the latter to re-enter the receiver in position for engaging and cocking the firing pin during the last stages of the forward movement of the bolt. Release of the trigger will then cause upward swinging movement of its lever arm 52, while the ensuing camming engagement of cam surface 55 with the disconnector 54 will have caused the latter to be retracted for movement upwardly past the lug 55 to be thereafter spring projected to a position overlying and abutting the upper face of such lug to re-establish the operative connection between the trigger and sear prior to the next firing.

The weapon may then be fired automatically by repeatedly pulling the trigger 46 until the contents of the magazine 58 are exhausted, at which time the magazine may be refilled and the weapon reloaded in the manner earlier described.

Where it is desired to fire the weapon as a single sho-t weapon, this may be achieved simply by omitting the magazine and by feeding ammunition manually thro-ugh the loading port -57 in advance of the bolt, it being understood that the latter will have had its lock 72 manually retracted in the manner earlier described following which the bolt itself will have been retracted and maintained in retracted position during such insertion of ea-ch new round of ammunition. Release of the bolt operating handle 3'5 will then permit return of the bolt to its forwardly projected sealing position to load and cock the weapon in readiness for firing.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an automatically ring closed breech rocket gun, comprising a receiver and a barrel communicating with each other through a breech opening, said receiver defining a sealing surface around said breech opening, a bolt guided for projection and retraction movement in said receiver toward and away from said breech opening respectively and formed with a sealing surface for flush sealing engagement with said sealing surface of the receiver in the forwardly projected position of the bolt, a bolt lock slidably guided in said receiver for movement transversely to the bolt movement into and from locking engagement with the bolt in the forwardly projected position of the latter, a firing pin guided in the bolt for movement parallel to the bolt movement, spring means associated with the firing pin for normally projecting the same forwardly, and sear mechanism carried by the receiver for releasably retaining said spring means in a retracted cocked position in readiness when released to project said firing pin into operative engagement with the primer of a round of ammunition in said barrel, the improvement comprising a gas piston and cylinder unit communicating with said barrel for the reception of pressurized gas therefrom for actuating the said unit, linkage means operatively interconnecting the said piston and cylinder unit to the bolt lock to retract the latter from locking engagement with the bolt incident to the tiring of said round through said barrel to permit recoil movement of the bolt from its said projected position to a retracted position, means for then resiliently returning said bolt to its said projected position and means operative in response to each such return movement of the bolt for projecting said bolt lock into operative locking engagement with the bolt.

2. An automatically firing closed breech rocket gun as defined in claim 1, in which said linkage means includes a rod guided on said gun for longitudinal movement between said bolt lock and the piston of said piston and cylinder unit, said bolt lock having an inclined cam surface directly operatively engaged by the rear end of said rod to disengage said bolt lock from the bolt incident to longitudinal movement of the bolt rod in a given direction, and spring means connected with said rod for urging said rod in a direction opposite to said given direction.

3. An automatically firing closed breech rocket gun as defined in claim 2 including a manually controllable release plunger carried by said gun for longitudinal movement into endwise thrusting abutment with said release rod in said given direction, a releasable connection between said rod and the piston, including a piston rod fixed to the piston and having a free end extending in said direction for abutting endwise engagement with said release rod, whereby said piston may be actuated independently of the release plunger to disengage the bolt lock.

4. An automatically firing closed breech rocket gun as defined in claim 1, in which said bolt and said bolt lock have relatively opposed locking faces extending generally transversely to the bolt movement, but slightly inclined with respect to a plane normal to said bolt movement to transmit the projecting force on said bolt lock into a force constantly urging said bolt toward its projected position, said bolt being formed with a locking recess for locking reception of the bolt lock, said locking face of the bolt lock being defined by a rearwardly presented face of said recess.

5. An automatically firing closed breech rocket gun as defined in claim 4, in which the locking faces of the bolt and bolt lock respectively are arranged to arrest the projection movement of the bolt lock in a position wherein the latter is spaced from the bottom of the locking recess, whereby to permit an increased extent of such projection movement to occur for the purpose of automatically compensating for wear on said locking faces and on said sealing surfaces of the bolt and receiver respectively.

6. An automatically firing closed breech rocket gun as `defined in claim 5, in which said sear is of greater width than said locking recess whereby to ride freely over the latter in order to avoid interference with movement of the bolt.

7. In an automatically firing closed breech rocket gun, the combination comprising a receiver having a hollow interior communicating with the rearwardly opening firing chamber of the gun, a bolt disposed in said receiver for sliding movement between a retracted position away from said firing chamber and a forwardly projected position in sealing -gas relation with respect to said tiring chamber, a gun barrel extending forwardly from said firing chamber, a bolt lock guided on said receiver for movement transversely to the movement of the bolt into and from a projected operative bolt locking position partially across the path of movement of lsaid bolt movement, said bolt and said bolt lock respectively having rearwardly and forwardly presented locking faces for abutting locking engagement in the projected operative positions of both said bolt and said bolt lock, a gas cylinder and piston unit carried by said gun, with the said unit in communication with the interior of said barrel for the reception therefrom of actuating gas pressure created by each firing of said gun, mechanism operatively connecting said unit to the said bolt lock to retract the latter incident to such actuating gas pressure, whereby to permit longitudinal sliding movement of the bolt to its said retracted position, resilient means for returning said bolt to its forwardly projected position after each firing, and means automatically operative on each such return of the bolt to its forwardly projected position for urging said bolt lock into its operative locking position with respect to said bolt.

8. In an automatically firing closed breech rocket gun including a receiver and a bolt guided for movement to and from breech closing position therein, the combination including a bolt lock guided on said receiver for movement into and from a locking recess in said bolt, said recess being positioned for reception of said bolt lock in the breech closing position of the bolt, and spring means associated with said bolt lock for urging it into said recess, a firing pin guided for operative movement through said bolt, a sear guided on the receiver for projection into operative position for engagement with the firing pin to cock the latter incident to forward movement of the bolt toward its breech closing position, resilient means normally urging said sear into operative position, cooperating cam means on the said firing pin and bolt for thrusting the sear to a retracted inoperative position incident to rearward movement therepast of the bolt and the firing pin, said bolt having a tapered nose for operative engagement with the Sear and with the said bolt lock incident to forward projection of the bolt toward its sealing position to urge the sear and the bolt lock successively to retracted positions.

9. The combination dened in claim 8, wherein said receiver is provided with a magazine which communicates with the interior of the receiver through a loading port normally abreast of and blocked by the bolt in the breech sealing position of the bolt, said sear and Said bolt lock being disposed rearwardly and forwardly respective of said magazine, said receiver being formed with an ejector port located rearwardly of said loading port, and said bolt being disposed for movement from its forwardly projected breech sealing position to a rearwardly retracted position beyond said ejection port.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

FRED C. MATTERN, JR., Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN AN AUTOMATICALLY FIRING CLOSED BREECH ROCKET GUN, COMPRISING A RECEIVER AND A BARREL COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER THROUGH A BREECH OPENING, SAID RECEIVER DEFINING A SEALING SURFACE AROUND SAID BREECH OPENING, A BOLT GUIDED FOR PROJECTION AND RETRACTION MOVEMENT IN SAID RECEIVER TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID BREECH OPENING RESPECTIVELY AND FORMED WITH SAID SEALING SURFACE FOR FLUSH SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SEALING SURFACE OF THE RECEIVER IN THE FORWARDLY PROJECTED POSITION OF THE BOLT, A BOLT LOCK SLIDABLY GUIDED IN SAID RECEIVER FOR MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY TO THE BOLT MOVEMENT INTO AND FROM LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOLT IN THE FORWARDLY PROJECTED POSITION OF THE LATTER, A FIRING PIN GUIDED IN THE BOLT FOR MOVEMENT PARALLEL TO THE BOLT MOVEMENT, SPRING MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FIRING PIN FOR NORMALLY PROJECTING THE SAME FORWARDLY, AND SEAR MECHANISM CARRIED BY THE RECEIVER FOR RELEASABLY RETAINING SAID SPRING MEANS IN A RETRACTED COCKED POSITION IN READINESS WHEN RELEASED TO PROJECT SAID FIRING PIN INTO OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PRIMER OF A ROUND OF AMMUNITION IN SAID BARREL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A GAS PISTON AND CYLINDER UNIT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID BARREL FOR THE RECEPTION OF PRESSURIZED GAS THEREFROM FOR ACTUATING THE SAID UNIT, LINKAGE MEANS OPERATIVE LY INTERCONNECTING THE SAID PISTON AND CYLINDER UNIT TO THE BOLT LOCK TO RETRACT THE LATTER FROM LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOLT INCIDENT TO THE FIRING OF SAID ROUND THROUGH SAID BARREL TO PERMIT RECOIL MOVEMENT OF THE BOLT FROM ITS SAID PROJECTED POSITION TO A RETRACTED POSITION, MEANS FOR THEN RESILIENTLY RETURNING SAID BOLT TO ITS SAID PROJECTED POSITION AND MEANS OPERATIVE IN RESPONSE TO EACH SUCH RETURN MOVEMENT OF THE BOLT FOR PROJECTING SAID BOLT LOCK INTO OPERATIVE LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOLT.

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