US475276A

US475276A - Machine-gun

Info

Publication number: US475276A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-05-17
Anticipated expiration: 1909-05-17

Description

F. MJGARLAND.

y IN UN` 15.475,276. Patented May 17, 1892.

QNOMOdeI.) Y I vsheens-sheet 2.

, F. M. GARLAND.

MACHINE GUN.

10.475,276. Patented May'17,1892.

@M 907%# M Wwm/ f W M (No Mael.) 7 sheets-sheet s.

"A". M. GARLAND. MACHINE GUN.

N0.475,276. y Patentedlvlay 17,1892. f

mllllllllllil N :Illlllllllllllh IHH' llllllllllllrlll .1.!!IAIAIA!AMA..

y 7 Sheets- Sheet m AN Lw mm Gm .nu Mm P..

(No Model.)

No.. 475,276. Patented May 17,18%

(No Modl.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 5.

` F. MGARLAND.

A MACHINE GUN. No.'475,276. Patented May 1.7, 1892.

lilllmlh l 'nc mma penal: en1 mmnuo., amm-ran, n. c.

(No ModeL) 7 Sheets- Sheetv 6.

F. M. GARLAND.'

MACHINE GUN.

No. 475,276. Patented May 17,1892.

(NQ Model.) v 7 sheets-sheet 7.

- F. M. GARLAND.

ISLAGHIBVE GUN.

No. 475,276. Patented May 17,1892.

Illlllll/ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. GARLAND, OF N EV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,276, dated May 17,

Application filed April 29, 1891.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK M. GARLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New I-Iaven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machine-Guns,

' of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act speciiication.

My invention relates to the class of automatic machine-guns having stationary barrels; and the object is to provide a simple, cheap, positive-feeding, and rapid-firing gun of this class wherein one or both barrels may be used for iiring, which-is so constructed that there will be no danger that a shell will stick in the barrels and clog the mechanism, and which can at will quickly be totally disabled.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the gun. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation with the casin g and several of the parts cut in section. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4 is an enlarged elevation looking toward the butt of the feedchain and its operating mechanism. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 6 is a plan of `the pushers for removing the cartridges from the chain and their reciprocating mechanism. Fig. 7 is a side same. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 9is a detail section of a portion of the same. Fig. l0 is an elevationlooking toward the butt of the cartridge-lifting chains and their mechanisms. Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 12 is a detail plan of aportion of -the same. Fig. 13 is an elevation looking toward the butt of the cartridge-aligners and their sliding mechanism. Fig. l-it is a side elevation of the same. Fig. l5 is an elevation looking toward the butt of the revolving spoons and operating mechanism. Fig. 16 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 17 is a side elevation of the hammer-bearing spindles and their reciprocating mechanism. Fig. 18 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 19 is a detail section of one of the spindles.

In the views the letter A indicates the oasing of the gun, the trunnions of which are held by any suitable mount B,borne by a common carriage C, that is provided with a desirable elevating device D. Near the rear of the casing is a transverse shaft a, having on the exterior a crank E for operating the elevation of the 'yoke b5 frying. the leverib8 1892. Serial No. 390,893. (No model.)

mechanism, as shown in Fig. l. Near thev middle of this shaft is a bevel-gear a', meshing with a bevel-gear a2 on a longitudinal 55 shaft a3, bearing at the opposite end a pinion a4, that meshes with a pinion a5on a shaft a6, that extends toward the front, where it bears a cam a7. In contact with this cam is a roll 0.8 on a slide a9, which is connected by a link d10 6o with a pawl-bearing leaf a, supported loosely upon a shaft cl2, that bears a roll als, provided with sprocket-teeth. The pawl is in contact with the teeth of a ratchet am, fast to the shaft aw, so that upon the oscillation of the leaf the sprocket-wheel is rotated. Upon a shaft @15 upon the opposite side of the casing is a roll am, and over these rolls and adapted to be moved by the sprocket-teeth passes a feedchain a", having arms for holding cartridges v7o which are placed in them, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5. The rotation ofthe shaft a through the gears rotates the shaft a3, which through the pinions rotates the shaft a6 and the cam a7. The rotation of the cam through the slide oscillates the leaf, which by means of the pawl feeds the ratchet and gives to the chain an intermittent movement over the rolls.

Near one side the shaft a bears a cam b, in 8o the groove of which runs a roll on a slide b', to the forward end of which is connected an arm b2, that is attached to the end of a sliding tube b3, bearing a rod b4, the end of which in front of the feed-chain supports anupright with rearward-projecting rods o6. The rear end of the tube b3 bears an arm o7, to which is pivoted a lever bs, that projects through a slot in the tube b3 into a socket in the rod h4. Posts b9 are placed in the path of 9o the outerend of fthis lever be, as it is carriedby the sliding tube, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Upon the rotation of the cam b the slide reciprocates the tube b3, carand the rod b4; but when 95 the end of the lever strikes one of the posts the rod b4 is thrust farther and faster forward or backward than it would be carried by the tube b3, so that with but little throw of the cam h the rods h6 movement long enough to push the cartridges from the feed-chain into the receiving-spoons. The spoon c is a trough supported by the partitions A A2, that extend transversely of are given a reciprocating roo the casing, while the spoon c is borne by the upper end of a lever c2, pivoted to the bottom of the casing. This lever is connected by the link c3 with a rocker-arm c4 on one end of the shaft c5, which has on its opposite end an arm c in contact with the cam c7 on the shaft a, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 16. As the shaft ct revolves the shaft c5, by means of the rocker-arms, oscillates the lever and swings the spoon c from the position in which it receives a cartridge into the path of the arms projecting from the lifting-chain. The lifting-chains on moving upward pass through slots in the edge of the spoons, lifting and carrying the cartridges to the level of the barrels.

The longitudinal shaft a3 bears in front of the partition A a cam d, in the groove of which runs a roll on the end of an arm d of a slide d2, that travels in ways along the opposite face of the partition A. Each end of this slide is connected by a link d5 with a lever d4, pivoted at one end to the bottom of the casing and at the other end to a leaf di on a shaft d, supported by the partitions A A2, one shaft being upon each side of the axis of the barrels. These leaves bear pawls that engage the teeth of ratchets dT, fast to the shafts d, which bear disks d8, having sprocket-teeth that mesh into the links of the chain dg, that passes around these disks and similar disks d10, mounted upon shafts d, supported by the same partitions as shown in Figs. 2, 3, l0, 1l, and l2. As the shaft as and cam d are revolved by the crank through the beveled gears the slide is reciprocated and through the levers oscillates the leaves bearing the pawls, which by engagement with the oppositely-turned teeth of the ratchets rotate the shafts, giving to the lifting-chains alternately an upward intermittent movement.

The shaft a3 back of the partition A bears a pair of cams e, in the grooves of which run rolls projecting fromthe bent levers e', that are pivoted to the partition and connected by links e2 with slide e3, adapted to travel in ways on the front of the partition. These slides carry aligners e4, having legs e5, adapted to tit the butt and ball ends of the cartridge, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 13, and 14. The cams e are so timed as to give an alternate reciprocation to the aligners, which carry the cartridges from the lifting-chains to the grasp of the inortised end of the spindles in line with the barrels.

rlhe spindlesf have wings j', adapted to slide in ways between plates f2, supported by the partitions A A3, and are connected by toggle-levers f3 with studs f4 at the butt of the gun. 'lo the levers j'3 are connected toggle-links f5, having rolls that project into the grooves of the cams f6 on the shaft a, which are so timed that the toggles are opened and closed so as to reciprocate the spindles alternately. The spindles bear a tiring-pin f7, adapted to make contact with the end of the cartridge which is pushed into and held by the mortised arms f8 on the front end of the spindles. Pivoted to plates f9 and adapted to swing into contact with the end of the tiring-pins are hammers f1, normally thrown upward by springs f 11. Upon the opposite side of the plates are levers f1?, having sears adapted to project into notches j"13 of the hammers, and triggers f, adapted to project into the path of the cam )C15 on the shaft a3. The hammers have friction-rolls f 16, so located in the path of arms f17 that when the spindles move backward and the rolls run down the inclined arms the hammers are cocked and the sears spring into the notches, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 17, 18, and 19. W'hen the aligners force the cartridges into the grasp of the spindles, the spindles move forward and place the cartridges in the barrels, and when in this position the triggers lie in the path of the cam f 15, the rotation of which forces in the trigger, so as to draw the sear from the notch and allow the hammer to strike the firing-pin and explode the cartridge.

Cartridges which are held by a flexible belt are drawn into the gun by the feed-chain at the proper time. The pushers move backward and force two cartridges from the belt into the spoons, the movable one of which then moves into line with one of the lifting-chains. These chains take the cartridges from the spoons and lift them to the level of the barrels, from which position the cartridges are moved by the aligners into the grasp of the spindles, which then move forward and place the cartridges in the barrels, in which position they are exploded. After the cartridges are exploded the spindles withdraw and the next cartridge crowds from the spindle the empty shell, which falls through the center of the gun to the ground. The feed-chain is moved two spaces at each movement in order that one cartridge may pass the first push-rod to be acted upon by the second, and if it is desired to use but one barrel one of these push-rods is removed, thus passing the cartridges to but one of the barrels.

The barrels, which are secured to the front partition A2, may be surrounded by any suitable water-jacket A4.

I claim as my inventionl. In a machine-gun, in combination, afeedchain connected with the driving-shaft, movable transversely of the gun, pushers normally in front of and adjacent to the feed-chain, connected with and adapted to be reciprocated across the path of the feed-chain by the driving-shaft for passing the cartridges rearward from the feed-chain into the path of lifting-chains, spoons c and c for receiving .the cartridges thus pushed, chains with carrying-arms back of the feed-chain, connected with and intermittently moved vertically by the driving-shaft for raising cartridges to the level of the barrels, and spindles bearin g hammers and firing-pins connected with and reciprocated by the driving-shaft in line with the barrels, adapted to receive the cartridges IIO IIS

from the lifting-chains, substantially as specified.

2. In a mach ine-gu n, in combination, a feedchain connected with the driving-shaft, movable transverselyof the gun, pushers normally in front of and adjacent to the feed-chain, connected with and adapted to be reciprocated across the path of the feed-chain by the driving-shaft for passing the cartridges rearward from the feed-chain into the path of lifting-chains, spoons o and c for receiving the cartridges thus pushed, chains with carrying-arms back of the feed-chains, connected with and intermittently moved vertically by the driving-shaft for raising the cartridges to the level of the barrels, aligners connected with and transversely moved by the drivingshaft on the level barrels adjacent to the lifting-chains for straightening the cartridges in line with the barrels, and spindles having hammers and firing-pins connected with and reciprocated by the driving-shaft in line with the barrels, adapted to receive the cartridges from the lifting-chains, substantially as specified.

3. In a machine-gun, in combination with a transversely-moving feed-chain connected with the driving-shaft and receiving-spoons back of said chain, pushers normallyin front of and adjacent to the feed-chain, said pushors consistingof rods for passing the cartridges rearward from the feed-chain into the path of lifting-chains, the rods being borne by a slide supported by an independent slide connected with and reciprocated bythe drivingshaft, substantially as specified.

4. In a machine-gun, in combination with a transversely-moving feed-chain connected with the driving-shaft and receiving-spoons back of saidl chain, pushers normally in front of and adjacent to the feed-chain, said pushers consisting of rods for passing the cartridges rearward from the feed-chain into the path of lifting-chains, the rods being borne by a slide supported by and independently movable in a slide that is reciprocated by a cam on the driving-shaft and bears a lever that is connected with the rod-slide, whereby an independent movement is given to this slide by the lever while carried by the main slide, substantially as specified.

5. In a machine-gun, in combination with a transversely-movable feed-chain connected with the driving-shaft and receiving-spoons back of said chain, pushers normallyin front of and adjacent to the feed-chain, said pushers consisting of rods for passingthe cartridges rearward from the feed-chain into the path of lifting-chains, the rods being borne by a slide supported by and independently movable in a slide that is reciprocated by a cam on the driving-shaft and bears a lever that at one end is in connection with the rod-slide, while its other end terminates between'two posts projecting from the casing, whereby an independent movement is given to the rodslide by the contact of the lever with the posts When carried by the main slide, substantially as specified.

6. In a machine-gun, in combination with a pair of lifting-chains connectedv with and moved vertically by the driving-shaft and a firing mechanism reciprocated by the drivinging-shaft in line with the barrels, a feed mechanism consisting of a pair of rolls bearing sprocket-teeth, a chain passing around the said rolls, a ratchet connected with one of the rolls and a pawl 'in contact with the ratchet, a slide for oscillating the pawl, and a cam for reciprocating the slide, said cam being revolved by the rotation of the drivingshaft, substantially as specified.

7. In a machine-gun, in combination with a transversely-moved feed-chain connected with the driving-shaft, lifting-chains with projecting arms back of the feed-chains, connected with and intermittently moved vertically by the driving-shaft, and pushers connected with and reciprocated by the drivingshaft, and a spoon in the rear of the feed-chain, connected with and oscillated by the drivingshaft from the path of a pusher into the path of a lifting-chain to carrya cartridge pushed from the feed-chain in one line to a liftingchain in another line, substantially as specified.

8.l In a machine-gun, in combination with afeed-chain and firing-spindles, lifting mechanism consisting of disks bearing chains upon each side of the barrels, ratchets secured'to the disks, pawls in contact withthe ratchets, a slide for oscillating the pawls, and a cam rotated by a crank for oscillating lthe slide, substantially as specified.

9. In a machine-gun, in combination with a feed-chain and firing-spindles, lifting mechanism consisting of disks bearing chains upon each side of the barrels, ratchets having oppositely-turned teeth secured to the disks, pawls in contact with the ratchets, levers connected with leaves bearing the pawls, a slide connected with the levers, and a cam rotated by the crank for oscillating the slide, substantially as specified.

l0. In a machine-gun, in combination with the lifting-chains and firing-spindles, aligners for delivering the cartridges from the lifting-chains to the firing-spindles, and a reciprocating mechanism for alternately moving the aligners, substantially as specified.

ll. In a machinegun,in combination with the lifting chains and firing spindles, the aligners having legs fitting the ends of the cartridges for delivering the cartridges fromthe lifting-chains to the firing-spindles, levers connected with the slides, and cams rotated by the crank for oscillating the levers, substantially as specified.

12. In a machine-gun, in combination with the transversely-moving feeding and vertically-moving lifting mechanisms operated by the driving-shaft, reciprocating spindles bearing firing-pins, said spindles at the front end having a mortise-opening of a size to receive a cartridge-head,

and reciprocating mechanism connected with the driving-shaft for moving the spindles,

substantially as specified.

13. In a machine-gun, in combination With the transversely-moving feeding and Vertically-moving lifting mechanisms operated by the driving-shaft, reciprocating spindles bearing iiiiigpins,

and supporting-plates with