US3322036A

US3322036A - Round feeding mechanism for an automatic gun

Info

Publication number: US3322036A
Application number: US475939A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jafwert Erik Wilhelm
Original assignee: Bofors AB
Current assignee: Saab Bofors AB
Priority date: 1964-08-14
Filing date: 1965-07-30
Publication date: 1967-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 1984-05-30
Also published as: DE1453806A1; AT257424B; GB1073613A; NL6510504A; BE668272A; CH459822A; NL130348C; FR1453974A; ES316239A1

Description

y 0, 1967 E. w. JAFwERT 3,322,036

ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN Filed July 30, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 EIG, 2 mvzwron ERIK W/LHELM \JA'FWERT ay 30, 1967 E. w. JAFWERT 3,322,035

ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN Filed July 30, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ERIK W/L HELM JAIIIFWERT' A 77am); v:

May 30, 1967 E. w. JAFWERT 3,322,035

ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 30, 1965 FIG. 4

mvm ron ERIK W/L HELM IJAFWERT ATTORNEYS May 30, 1967 E. w. JAFWERT 3, I ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN Filed July 30, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ERIK W/LHELM JAM/Ear A-r-r'anuscr's y 1967 E. w. JAFWERT 3,322,036

ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN Filed July 50, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet INVEQI TOR EE/K w/z. HELM JAFWERT BY H United States Patent 3,322,036 ROUND FEEDING ltiECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN Erik Wilhelm .l'iifwert, Karlskoga, Sweden, assignor to Aktieboiaget Bofors, Bofors, Sweden, a Swedish Corn- Filed July 30, 1965, Ser. No. 475,939 Claims priority, application Sweden, Aug. 14, 1964, 9,883/ 64 6 Claims. (Cl. 89-45) The present invention is related to a round feeding mechanism for an automatic gun, in particular for an antiaircraft automatic gun, of the type in which the rounds are fed to a ramming position located within the breech casing rearwards of the recoiling and recuperating gun barrel and breech ring, from a round magazine attached to the breech casing. In the hitherto most widely used anti-aircraft automatic guns of this type, the round magazine is mostly located immediately above the ramming position and comprises a single magazine compartment, in which the rounds are stacked one above the other in the same vertical plane as the barrel of the gun. From this magazine the rounds can consequently be fed one by one directly down to the ramming position. A round magazine of this type can however hold only a comparatively small number of rounds. Therefore it is desired to make it possible to arrange the round magazine at the side of the vertical plane, in which the barrel of the gun is disposed, in which case the round magazine can be arranged to comprise a plurality of vertical round compartments disposed side by side, whereby the number of rounds in the magazine can be considerably increased. The separate compartments in the round magazine are then emptied one by one in that the rounds in the compartments are fed vertically downwards and out from each compartment at the lower end of the compartment. With a round magazine of this type, however, the rounds must from the lower end of the round compartments be fed transversely to the ramming position, that is in a direction perpendicular to the vertical plane, in which the barrel of the gun is disposed. The traverse feeding of the rounds from the round magazine can, however, not be made directly to the ramming position, as this position is for the larger part of the time utilized for the traverse feeding of a round occupied by another round just being rammed, or by the ramming mechanism, or by an empty case being ejected, or by the guide means for the ejected case respectively. The guide means for the ejected case can for instance consist of a loading tray, a so-called shift tongue, which is pivotal between a lower position, in which the upper side of the shift tongue is operating as ramming path for a round being rammed, and an upper position, in which the lower side of the shift tongue is serving as a guide path for the empty case being ejected. For this reason the traverse feeding of the rounds from the round magazine disposed at the one side is made to a ready or intermediate position, in which the round is lying substantially parallel to but above the ramming position and from which the round can be fed directly downwards to the ramming position on the shift tongue.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for an automatic gun of the type defined above for the down-feeding of a round located in the ready position to the ramming position on the shift tongue or loading tray. Such a down-feed mechanism should preferably not be arranged at the one side of the round to be down-fed, as it should preferably be possible to arrange round magazines on both sides of the gun, wherefore the traverse feeding of rounds from the round magazines to the ready position must be possible from both sides. Furthermore, the down-feed mechanism should not be arranged at the one side of the round to be downfed for the reason that it is preferable that the total width of the gun is kept as small as possible, as it is in certain cases desired that two barrels can be coupled together to one gun unit. Furthermore, the down-feeding should preferably be carried out by the aid of the recoil force of the gun, just as in the down-feeding mechanism previously used for anti-aircraft automatic guns provided with a single round compartment located straight above the ramming position, in which the down-feeding mechanism is driven from a down-feeder spring, which is tensioned by the recoil force. In the down-feeding mechanism for this previously used type of round magazine the down-feeder spring has been arranged to be tensioned during the recoil movement of the gun and also to be released during this recoil movement, as the down-feeding of the new round to the ramming position must be carried out during the recoil movement. In automatic guns having a high rate of tire, however, it has been found to be difiicult to provide time to tension as well as release the down-feeder spring during the short recoil period. Therefore it is de sired that the down-feeding mechanism is so designed that the down-feeder spring driving the down-feeding mechanism can be tensioned during the recuperation of the barrel by the aid of the energy stored in the recuperator spring during the recoil movement.

The present invention provides a down-feeding mechanism of the type mentioned above, which satisfies the above mentioned desired objects and which also in other respects has been found to be advantageous and have a reliable operation. A mechanism according to the invention for feeding a round located in the ready position down to the ramming position, comprises a bell crank lever disposed in the same vertical plane as the gun barrel above the ready position and pivotal about a non-recoiling shaft perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the barrel so that the one arm of the bell crank lever can be brought to bear against the cylindrical surface of a round located in the ready position and to push the round downwards into the ramming position, and a coil spring located in the same vertical plane and connected between the second arm of the bell crank lever and the one arm of a double-armed lever, which is pivoted about a nonrecoiling shaft perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the barrel and the second arm of which is coacting with a recoiling cam path in such a way that the double-armed lever is rotated in such a direction about its axis during the recuperating movement of the barrel that the coil spring is compressed.

In the following the invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which by way of example a preferred form of a round feeding mechanism according to the invention is shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows schematically the rear portion of an anti-aircraft automatic gun with its breech casing, barrel, breech ring, round magazine and down-feeding mechanism seen in perspective from the rear and with certain parts illustrated as transparent;

FIG. 2' shows schematically the feeding mechanism for the traverse feeding ofthe rounds frorn' the round magazine to the ready position and the down-feeding of the rounds from the ready position to the ramming position, seen'from the rear and in the longitudinal direction 1 of the barrel;

' FIG. 3'shows' the down-feeding mechanism in detail and partially in section and those parts of the-breech ring of the gun, which are cooperating with the down feeding mechanism, in. the; operational positionioccupi'ed by the down-feeding mechanism atthe beginning of the. recuperation movement of'the barrel;

FIG. 4 shows the same parts as FIG. 3 with the l down-feeding mechanismiin the position occupied at the end of the recuperation movement;

FIG. 5 shows the same parts as FIGS. 3 andd but all. nism and its mode of operation will be described in detail in the following with reference to FIGS. 3--7.

Around magazine 16 participating in the elevation movementof the gun barrel is'disposed at the one side I of the breech casing. Theroundmagazine comprises several vertical. round compartments disposed side by side. In the example of theinvention shown the magazine 16comprises six round compartments each capable ofholding nine rounds disposed one above the other.

For the sake of simplicity FIGJI shows'only theouten most round compartment filled with rounds 17, whereas in the remaining compartment only the lowermost rounds 1 18 are shown. The roundsare fed from the round maga-' zine 16 to the ready position immediately below the downfeeder 10 by a reciprocating traverse feeder 19.

The feedingof rounds from the round magazine to the readyposition and further to the ramming position with the downfeeding mechanism in the position occu- 1 pied during the beginning of the recoil movement of the barrel;

FIG. 6 shows the same part'sas FIGS. 3, 4 and .5 with the down-feeding mechanism in the position occupied at the end of the down-feeding movement; and

FIG- 7 shows adetail of the down feeding mechanism.

round5' resting onthe loading tray while being rammed.

' The loading tray is assumed to be a so-called shift tongue, I which is pivotal about .a shaft 6 in the breech casing be- I tween the position shown in FIG; 1, in which the :upper side of the shift tongue is serving as a ramming path for a round 5, and a somewhat raised positioinin which; the i I lower side of the shift tongue can serve as a guide path I for anempty case being ejectedfrom the breech ring. The rounds are fed one after another onto the shift tongue 4 from a ready position located straight above the shift tongue. A round 7 is shown in this ready position. The down-feeding of a round from the ready position to the ramming position on the shift tongue 4 is carried out by a down-feeding mechanism according to the invention, which comprises, as schematically shown in FIG. 1, a down-feed lever 8 generally shaped as a bell crank lever, which is disposed straight above the ready position in the same vertical plane as the ready position and the shift tongue and is pivotal about a stationary shaft 9 in the breech casing perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the barrel. The one end of the down-feed lever 8 carries a down-feeder 10, which will bear against the upper side of the cylindrical surface of a round 7 located in the ready position, when the down-feed lever is pivoted in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 about the shaft 9, and push the round downwards onto the shift tongue 4-. The necessary force for the down-feeding is supplied by a down-feeder spring 11, which is connected between the second arm of the down-feed lever 8 and a spring tensioning lever 12 in shape of a double-armed lever pivoted about a stationary shaft 13 in the breech casing perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the barrel. The compressing or tensioning of the down-feeder spring 11 is effected in that the other end 14 of the lever 12 is cooperating with a cam path on the breech ring 2 in such a way that the lever 12 is rotated in clockwise direction about the shaft 13 during the recuperation movement of the barrel and the breech ring, whereby the down-feeder spring 11 will be compressed. Further a resetting spring 15 is connected with its one end to the down-feed lever 3 and with its opposite end to the breech casing in such a way that it is compressed during the down-feed movement of the down-feed lever 8. The down-feeding mecha- 'on'the' shift tongue is principle carried out in the manner schematically shown inFIG. 2. FIG 2 shows the round magazine 16 with the three lowermost. of the rounds 17 in the outermost round compartment in the magazine and the lowermost rounds 1 8 in the five remain i ing compartments of the magazine. The traverse feeder 19 consists inprinciple of a reciprocating slide 20, which is; located immediately below the round. compartments and is provided with one feeder pays/i121 for each corn partment. FIG. Zshows the slide 20 in its left-hand end position, in which, the slide has just delivered around 7 I I to the ready position below the down-feeder 10. The

rounds in the. round; compartments of the magazine are subject to a downwards directedforce from means not shown in the drawing, wherefore during the movement ofthe slide 20 to the left and. thefeeding of a round to the ready position'the rounds 17 in'the outermost compartment will be'fcd one; ste p'vertically downwards so that a new round is fed onto the slide 20. When the slide '20 is returning to the right, the resiliently mounted feeder pawn 21' wilip'ass under the lowermostrounds in the round compartment, The, round compartments of the magazine are consequently'emptied one by one, starting with the outermost compartment. The round 7 fed to the ready position is kept in this position by a locking device consisting of two flaps 22, which are pivoted about two mutually parallel axes and are spring-loaded towards each other. During the down-feed movement of the downfeeder 10 the round 7 in the ready position is pushed downwards between the flaps, which are pivoted from each other as indicated by arrows 23, down onto the shift tongue 4 under the ready position.

The down-feeding mechanism and its operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3-7. FIG. 3 shows the down-feeding mechanism and a part of the breech ring 2 and the rear end of the barrel 1 in the position occupied by these parts at the beginning of the recuperation of the barrel and the breech ring after a recoil movement. In order to obtain a better view of the arrangement the major part of the breech casing has been left out, but in the following description it will be pointed out, which members are mounted in the breech casing and consequently do not take part in the recoil movement. Furthermore, the shift tongue 4 and the flaps 22 have been omitted in FIG. 3 for the sake of simplicity.

In the position illustrated in FIG. 3, a round has just been fed down by the down-feeding mechanism from the ready position onto the shift tongue (not shown) and this round is just being rammed during the recuperation movement of the barrel and the breech ring just started. Further the down-feed lever 8 with the down-feeder 10 has returned to its starting position, in which the downfeeder 10 is in its highest position. No new round has yet, however, been fed from the round magazine into the ready position underneath the down-feeder 10 and the ready position is consequently empty. As seen in FIG. .3, the down-feed lever 8 is shaped as a bell crank lever pivoted about a shaft 9, which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the barrel 1 and which is mounted in the breech casing and consequently does not participate in the recoil movement. The down-feeder is mounted on the rear arm of the down-feeder lever in such way that it can be pivoted about a shaft 24 in the lever '8, which shaft is parallel to shaft 9. At its upper end the down-feeder 10 is provided with two guide rollers 25 running in guide slots 26 in a buffer casing 27 stationary mounted in the breech casing. Only the rearmost of the guide slots 26 is shown in FIG. 3. These stationary guide slots 26 give the lower end of the down-feeder 10, which is bearing against the cylindrical surface of a round during the down-feed movement, the desired path during the down-feed movement. The movement of the down-feeder 10 and thus the down-feed lever '8 is limited in the down-feed direction by two abutment levers 28 for the guide roller 25. The abutment levers 28 are pivoted in the buffer casing 27 and their opposite ends are bearing against butter springs 29 mounted in the buffer casing 27. In the opposite or reset direction the movement of the down-feeder 10 and the down-feed lever 8 is limited by two corresponding abutment levers 39 for the guide rollers 25 pivoted in the buffer casing with their opposite ends bearing against a buffer spring 31 mounted in the buffer casing 27. A reset spring device is also connected to the rear arm of a down-feed lever 8. This reset spring device consists of a cylindrical spring casing 32 attached to the breech casing and a rod 33 reciprocatable in the spring casing. The rod 33 is attached to the down-feed lever 8 and a coil spring 34 is mounted in the spring casing between the one end Wall of the spring casing and the rod 33 in such a way that it is compressed during the down-feed movement of the down-feed lever. In the position shown in FIG. 3 the reset spring device 15 has just returned the down-feed lever 8 and the down-feeder 10 from the down-feed position to their highest position and the spring 34 is consequently expanded.

The down-feeder spring device 11 consists of a cylindrical spring casing 35 having its one end pivoted in the upper arm of the down-feed lever 8 and a rod 36 rec1procating in the spring casing 35. The end of the rod 36 projecting from the spring casing is pivoted in the one arm 37 v of double-armed lever 12. The double-armed lever is pivoted about a shaft 13, which is mounted stationary in the breech casing and is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barrel 1. The down-feeder spring 38 is mounted in the spring casing 35 between the one end wall of the spring casing and a shoulder 39 on the rod 36 so that it will be compressed or tensioned, when the distance between the arm 37 and the upper arm of the down-feed lever 8 is reduced. In the position shown in FIG. 3 the down-feeder spring 38 has just expanded during the down-feed movement and has not yet been retensioned, wherefore it is in its expanded position. The other arm 14 of lever 12 is provided with a roller 40 at the outer end of the arm. This roller is coacting with a cam path 41 on the breech ring 2. In the position shown in FIG. 3, however, the barrel 1 and the breech ring 2 have not yet been moved forward so far that the cam path 41 has reached and engaged the roller 40, wherefore the arm 37 of level 12 connected to the rod 36 in the spring device 11 is in its left-hand end position. The arm 37 was brought to this position, when the down-feed lever 8 and the down-feeder 10 were returned to their upper position by the reset spring device 15, as will be described more in detail in the following.

The down-feeding mechanism comprises further a catch lever 42, mounted on a sleeve 43, which is rotatable about a shaft 44 mounted in the breech casing. The sleeve 43 is provided with a lever 45, to which a link rod 46 is pivoted. A coil spring 47 is disposed around the link rod 46 between the end of the link rod 46 connected to the arm 45 and the breech casing and the spring 47 will consequently try to rotate the sleeve 43 with the catch lever 42 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 44.

The catch lever 42 is consequently resting against the upper side of the link rod 36 connected to the arm 37 under the influence of the spring 47 and will consequently snap down behind the arm 37, if this is rotated 21 sufficient angle in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 13, and in this position the catch lever 42 will lock the arm 37 and thus the rod 36 with the spring seat 39 for the down-feeder spring 38 in this new position, as will be described more in detail in the following. The other end of the link rod 46 is pivoted to a lever 48 rotatable about the shaft 9. As seen more clearly in FIG. 7, the downfeed lever 8 is provided with an engaging lug 49 for the lever 48 so that at the end of the down-feed movement of the down-feed lever 8 the lug 49 will engage the lever 48 and pivot it about the shaft 9 in the direction of the rotation of down-feed lever 3, whereby through the link rod 46, the lever and the sleeve 43 the catch lever 42 is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 44, so that the catch lever 42 is brought to the position shown in FIG. 3, in which it releases the lever 37.

The down-feed mechanism comprises also a check or locking device for the down-feed lever 8. This check device comprises a check lever 51 pivoted about a stationary shaft in the breech casing and provided at its one end with a check pawl 52 pivoted in the check lever. A spring mounted in a tube 53 in a stationary wall 54 in the breech casing is hearing against the lower side of the check pawl 52 and the spring 55 will consequently try to rotate the check lever and the check pawl to the position shown in FIG. 3, in which the check pawl 52 is lying in front of the end wall of the spring casing 35 connected to the down-feed lever 8. In this way the check pawl 52 prevents any displacement of the spring casing 35 to the right in FIG. 3 and thus any rotation of the down-feed lever 8 in the clockwise direction about the shaft 9. The movement of the check lever 51 is limited by a stationary wall 56 in the breech casing, against the upper side of which wall the end of the check lever opposite to the check pawl 52 will come to rest. When the down-feeding mechanism is released, however, the check pawl 52 and the check lever 51 can be pushed aside against the action of the spring 55 by the end wall of the spring casing 35, which is then displaced by the downfeeder spring 38 to the right in FIG. 3 and rotates the down-feed lever 8 in the clockwise direction about the shaft 9, as will be described more in detail in the following:

In the position shown in FIG. 3, however, the check lever 51 is locked in its checking position by two looking

levers

57 and 58. The locking lever 57 is mounted on a sleeve 59, which is rotatable about the shaft 9 and provided with a downwards pointing operating lever 60 engaging a forked lever 61 mounted on a sleeve 63 rotatable about a stationary shaft 62 in the breech casing. A link rod 64 reciprocatable in opening in the wall 54 is connected with its one end to the forked lever 61. A coil spring 65 is disposed about the link rod 64 to act between the wall 54 and the forked lever 61 and will consequently endeavour to rotate the forked lever in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 62. The locking lever 57 will consequently try to rotate under the influence of the spring 65 in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 9, that is to a position underneath the end of the check lever 51, to lock the check lever. The sleeve 63 is provided with a feeler arm 66, which will be affected, as to be described more in detail in the following, 'by a round fed to the ready position underneath the down-feeder 10 in such a way that the feeder arm rotates the sleeve 63 and thus the forked lever 61 in the counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 62. The locking lever 57 is then rotated in the clockwise direction about the shaft 9 in FIG. 3 so as to release the check lever 51. The locking lever 57 is consequently locking the check lever 51 in its checking position so long as no round is present in the ready position underneath the down-feeder 10. When, however, a round is present under the down-feeder to be fed down to the ramming position on the shift tongue, the locking lever 57 will release the check lever 51. The second locking lever 58 for the check lever 51 is also mounted on a sleeve 67 rotatable about the shaft 9. The sleeve 67 is attached to a downwards pointing operating lever 68, to which a link rod 69 reciprocal in a vertically elongated opening in the wall 54 is connected. A coil spring 70 is disposed around the link rod 69 to act between the wall 54 and the end of the link rod 69 connected to the lever 68 and will consequently try to rotate the sleeve 67 with the locking lever 58 in the counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 3 about the shaft 9, that is to a position locking the check lever 51 in its checking position. The outer end of the link rod 69 is provided with a block 71 having a dog legged cam slot 72, in which a cylindrical pin 73 is displaceable. The pin 73 is monuted in a forked lever 74 attached to a sleeve 75 rotatable about a stationary shaft 76 in the breech casing The sleeve 75 is provided with a control lever 77, the end of which is projecting through an elongated slot into a stationary tube 79 mounted in the breech casing. Within the tube 79 the end of the control lever 77 is lying between two

slides

80 and 81, the upper one being pressed against the control lever 77 by a coil spring 82 mounted in the tube 79. The lower slide 81 has its lower end resting against the upper side of the breech ring 2, which has this portion of its surface shaped to act as a cam path for the slide 81 during the recoil and the recuperation movement of the breech ring. Close to the block 71 a bell crank 84 is pivoted about a stationary shaft 83 in the breech casing. The bell crank 84 is affected by a coil spring S5 mounted around the shaft of the bell crank in such a way that the bell crank 84 endeavours to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 83 in FIG. 3. The rotation of the bell crank 84 about the shaft 83 is limited by the wall 56 in the breech casing, against the lower side of which the horizontal arm of the bell crank will come to rest. The bell crank 84 is so located relative to the block 71 that the horizontal arm of the bell crank can be brought to bear against the upper side of the block, whereas the downwards pointing arm of the bell crank can be brought to bear against the left hand vertical side of the slotted block 71. The operation of the locking lever 58 for the check lever 51 and of the control means for this locking lever will be described more in detail in the following.

FIG. 4 shows the subsequent position of the down feeding mechanism, when the recuperation of the barrel and the breech ring is almost completed. During the recuperation of the barrel and the breech ring from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in FIG. 4, the roller 40 on the arm 14- of the cocking lever 12 has climbed the cam path 41 on the breech ring 2. Here by the cocking lever has been rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4 about the shaft 13. At the beginning of this rotation of the arm 37 about the shaft 13 the spring casing 35 of the down-feeder spring device 11 was displaced to the right in FIG. 4, until it was stopped by the check pawl 52 in the check lever 51. In this position the spring casing 35 cannot push the check lever 51 and the check pawl 52 aside, as the check lever 51 is locked in its checking position by the two locking

levers

58 and 57 as already described in connection with FIG. 3. The further rotation of the arm 37 in a clockwise direction about the shaft 13 will consequently cause a displacement of the rod 36 to the right in FIG. 4- into the spring casing 35 and thus a compression of the down-feeder spring 38. In the position shown in FIG. 4 the down-feeder spring 38 is fully compressed and the arm 37 has been rotated so far about the shaft 13 that it has passed the forward end of the catch lever 42 and this has consequently been snapped down behind the arm 37 by the spring 47 in the manner previously described. In the position shown in FIG. 4 the breech ring has been moved so far forward that the slide 81 in the tube 79 has lost its contact with the upper side 2 of the breech ring. As a consequence here of the control lever 77 has been rotated under the action of the spring 84 in the sleeve 79 together with the sleeve 75 and the forked lever 74 in a clockwise direction about the shaft 76. Due to this the forked lever 74 has moved the pin 73 from the left-hand end of the cam slot 72 in the block 71 to the right-hand end of the slot and the slotted block 71 has been pressed upwards by a spring 86 mounted within the forked lever 74 and acting against the lower side of block 71 so that the pin 73 is nOW positioned in the lower end of the vertical portion of the cam slot 72. This has not, however, caused any displacement of the link rod 69 in its longitudinal direction, wherefore the locking lever 58 is still lying under the end of the check lever 51 and consequently keeping the check lever and the check pawl 52 locked in their checking position. In the meantime a round 7 has been fed, in the manner already described, from the round magazine to the ready position underneath the down-feeder cam, in which position the round is kept, as already described, by the flaps 22, which are for the sake of simplicity not shown in FIG. 4. When the round 7 is fed into 'the ready position, it will affect the feeler arm 66 in such a way that the feeler arm is rotated together with the sleeve 63 and the forked lever 61 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 62 against the action of the spring 65 on the link rod 64. This rotation of the forked lever 61 causes that the control lever 60 is rotated together with the sleeve 59 and the locking lever 57 in a clockwise direction about the shaft 9, whereby the locking lever 57 is removed from the end of the check lever 51, which is consequently released by the locking lever 57.

In the position shown in FIG. 4 a round has also been rammed into the loading chamber of the gun and the gun can be fired. When the round is fired, the barrel and the breech ring will recoil and FIG. 5 shows the position during the recoil movement, when the down-feed of the round 7 from the ready position onto the shift tongue has just started.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, the down-feeding is started, when the breech ring 2 during the recoil has been moved so far rearwards that the portion of the upper side of the breech ring serving as a cam path is engaging the slide 81 in the tube 79 and pushes the slide upwards in the tube against the action of the spring 82. The operating lever 77 is then rotated together with the sleeve 75 and the forked lever 74 in a counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 5 about the shaft 76. The slotted block 71 is kept pressed upwards by the spring 86 so that the pin 73 will remain at the lower end of the vertical portion of the cam slot 72 in the block and the rotation of the forked lever 74 in a counter-clockwise direction will consequently displace the slotted block 71 together with the link rod 69 to the left in FIG. 5 against the action of the spring mounted on the rod 69. This causes that the sleeve 69 is rotated together with the locking lever 58 in a clockwise direction about the shaft 9 so that the locking lever is disengaged from the end of the check lever 51. As a consequence hereof the spring casing 35 of the down-feeder spring device 11 can now, under the influence of the tensioned or compressed downfeeder spring 38, push the check pawl 52 and the check lever 51 aside so that the down-feeder spring 38 will expand and move the spring casing 35 to the right in FIG. 5. It is to be observed that the rod 36 with the spring seat 39 cannot be moved to the left due to the catch lever 42 lying behind the arm 37. When the spring casing 35 is displaced to the right in FIG. 5, the down-feed lever 8 is rotated in a clockwise direction about the shaft 9, whereby the down-feeder 19 attached to the down-feed lever 8 is pressed downwards guided by the guide rollers 25 running in the guide slots 26. The down-feeder 10 will bear against the upper side of the cylindrical surface of the round 7 located between the flaps 22 and push the round between the spring-loaded flaps 22 downwards onto the shift tongue 4, which is at this stage in its raised position so that its lower side can serve as a guide path for the empty case just being ejected. During this down-feed movement the rod 33 in the reset spring device 15 is drawn out from the spring casing 32 so that the reset spring 34 is compressed.

FIG. 6 shows the position of the down-feeding mechanism at the end of the down-feed movement. The down feeder spring 38 in the spring device 11 has been completely expanded and has its largest length and the downfeed lever 8 has been rotated in the clockwise direction about the shaft 9 to its lower end position as determined by the abutment levers 28 in the buffer casing 27, whereby the down-feeder 10 has pushed the round 7 downwards between the two flaps onto the shift tongue. For the sake of simplicity neither the flaps or the shift tongue are shown in FIG. 6. Due to the rotation of the down-feed lever 8 the reset spring 34 in the reset spring device 15 has been completely compressed. At the end of the downfeed movement the engagement lug 49 on the down-feed lever 8 (see FIG. 7) has engaged the lever 48 rotatable about the shaft 9, whereby this lever has been rotated in a clockwise direction about the shaft 9 in FIG. 6 and thus through the link rod 46 rotated the sleeve 43 together with the catch lever 42 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 44, so that the catch lever 42 has been disengaged from the arm 37 of lever 12. Furthermore, the roller 40 on the arm 14 of lever 12 has now left its cam path 41 on the breech ring 2, wherefore the lever 12 can now be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 13. As the round 7 has been removed from the ready position during the down-feed process, the feeler arm 66 has been released and the sleeve 63 has been rotated together with the forked lever 61 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 62 under the action of the spring 65. Hereby the operating lever 60 has been rotated together with the sleeve 59 and the locking lever 57 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 9 so that the locking lever 57 has been returned to its locking position under the end of the check lever 51. During the continued recoil movement of the breech ring 2, the slide 81 within the tube 79 has been pushed so far upwards into the tube by the upper side of the breech ring 2 that the operating lever 77 has been rotated together with the sleeve 75 and the forked lever 74 further in the counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 76. Due to this further rotation of the forked lever 74 the slotted block 71 has, as most clearly seen in FIG. 5, been moved so far to the left in FIG. that it has engaged the downwards pointing arm of the bell crank 84 and thereby rotated the bell crank in the clockwise direction about the shaft 83 against the action of the coil spring 85. The horizontal arm of the bell crank 84 will thereby bear against the upper side of the slotted block 71 and push it downwards against the action of the spring 86 in the forked lever 74. Hereby the pin 73 has been disengaged from the vertical portion of the cam slot 72, wherefore the block 71 has together with the link rod 69 and under the action of the spring 70 on the link rod been moved to the right in FIGS. 5 and 6 to the position shown in FIG. 6. Due to this the lever 68 has been rotated together with the sleeve 67 and the locking lever 58 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 9 so that the locking lever 58 has been returned to its locking position under the check lever 51, which has consequently been pivoted about its shaft 50 to its checking position. The check pawl 52 in the check lever 51 is however not yet in its checking position but is resting against the lower side of the cylindrical surface of the spring casing 35.

As the down-feeder spring 38 is completely expanded in this position, the reset spring 34 will start to expand and rotate the down-feed lever 8 in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 9 and thereby raise the downfeeder 10, which is guided by the guide rollers 25 running in the guide slots 26. During this resetting of the down-feeder caused by the reset spring 34 the down-feeder spring device 11 is moved as a unit to the left in FIG. 6, which is possible as the catch lever 42 has been swung aside as already described. The spring device 11 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 3 and already described and will reach this position, when the reset spring 34 is completely expanded and has returned the down-feed lever 8 together with the down-feeder 10 to their original position. In this way a complete downfeed cycle is completed and will be repeated, when the recuperation movement of the barrel and the breech ring is started.

What is claimed is:

1. A round feeding mechanism for an automatic gun, in which the rounds are fed from a round magazine located at the one side of the vertical plane, in which the barrel of the gun is located, in a direction substantially perpendicular to said vertical plane and to the longitudinal direction of the rounds to a ready position, in which the round is substantially parallel to and located above a ramming position for the rounds in the rear prolongation of the barrel, for feeding a round located in said ready position downwards to said ramming position, comprising a bell crank lever disposed in said vertical plane above said ready position and pivoted about a non-recoiling axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said barrel, whereby one arm of said bell crank lever can be brought to bear against the upper side of the cylindrical surface of a round located in said ready position and to push said round downwards into said ramming position, a double-armed lever having a first arm and a second arm and being pivoted about a non-recoiling axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said double-armed lever, a coil spring disposed in said vertical plane and connected between the second arm of said bell crank lever and said first arm of said double-armed lever and a recoiling cam path co-acting with said second arm of said doublearmed lever so as to rotate said double-armed lever in such a direction about its axis of rotation during the recuperation movement of said barrel that said coil spring is compressed.

2. A round feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, comprising a check means for checking said bell crank lever in a position, in which said one arm of said bell crank lever is in its uppermost position, and spring means urging said check means towards their checking position.

3. A round feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 2, comprising first and second separate locking means for locking said check means for said bell crank lever in their checking position, feeler means affected by a round located in said ready position to release said first locking means to release said check means, when a round is present in said ready position, and recoiling means cooperating with said second locking means to release said check means at a predetermined stage during the recoil movement of said barrel, said check means being free, when released by said first and second locking means, to be pushed aside under the influence of said coil spring acting upon said bell crank lever against the action of said spring means urging said check means towards their checking position.

4. A round feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, comprising catch means self-locking in their catch position for catching said double-armed lever in the position occupied by it, when said barrel is fully recuperated, means for urging said catch means towards their catch position and means responsive to the movement of said ll bell crank lever for withdrawing said catch means to release said double-armed lever at the end of the downfeed movement of said bell crank lever.

5. A round feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, comprising spring means connected to said bell crank lever so as to be tensioned during the down-feed movement of said bell crank lever.

6. A round feeding mechanism as claimed in claim 1, comprising a down-feeder member pivoted in said one arm of said bell crank lever about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said bell crank lever so as to bear against the cylindrical surface of a round during 2,724,997 11/1955 Carlsson 89-33 2,781,696 2/1957 Shonts et al. 8933 2,988,963 6/1961 Goodhue 89-33 10 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A ROUND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR AN AUTOMATIC GUN, IN WHICH THE ROUNDS ARE FED FROM A ROUND MAGAZINE LOCATED AT THE ONE SIDE OF THE VERTICAL PLANE, IN WHICH THE BARREL OF THE GUN IS LOCATED, IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID VERTICAL PLANE AND TO THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE ROUNDS TO A READY POSITION, IN WHICH THE ROUND IS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND LOCATED ABOVE A RAMMING POSITION FOR THE ROUNDS IN THE REAR PROLONGATION OF THE BARREL, FOR FEEDING A ROUND LOCATED IN SAID READY POSITION DOWNWARDS TO SAID RAMMING POSITION, COMPRISING A BELL CRANK LEVER DISPOSED IN SAID VERTICAL PLANE ABOVE SAID READY POSITION AND PIVOTED ABOUT A NON-RECOILING AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF SAID BARREL, WHEREBY ONE ARM OF SAID BELL CRANK LEVER CAN BE BROUGHT TO BEAR AGAINST THE UPPER SIDE OF THE CYLINDRICAL SURFACE OF A ROUND