US831923A - Automatic machine-gun. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906.

A. 0. VON AUGEZD. AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1906.

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No. 831,923. PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. A. 0. VON AUGEZD.

AUTOMATIC MAUHINE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.21.1906.

PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906.

A. O. VON =AUGEZD.

AUTOMATIG MACHINE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

No. 831,923. PATENTED SEPT. 25, 1906. A. O. VON AUGEZD.

AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUTOMATIC MACHIN E-GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1906.

Application filed February 21.1906. Serial No. 302,233.

To LZZ whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLF ODKOLEK VON AUGEZD, a subject of the Emperor of Austria- Hungary,residing at Vienna, Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic M achine- Guns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has for its object an automatic machine gun, in which the unlocking of the breech-piece is effected by a short backward movement imparted to a lockingpiece, whereupon the breech-piece, together with the locking-piece, is thrown backward, owing to the unlocking impulse against the action of a returning-spring, whereby the empty cartridge-shell is extracted and ejected. The breech-piece, together with the locking piece, is then pushed forward by the returning-spring, and after the breech-piece has arrived in the breech-closing position the locking-piece continues its forward movement, owing to its inertia, through a certain distance in order to cause, on the one hand, the breech-piece to be locked and, on the other hand, the fresh cartridge introduced into the barrel by the forward movement of the breech-piece to be fired. The cartridges are fed by means of a band, to which the required intermittent forward movement is imparted by means of the breech mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means for enabling each cartridge to be fired at will by hand or a series of cartridges to be fired automatically in rapid succession, as may be desired.

Still another object of my invention is to provide improved means for imparting the unlocking impulse to the breech mechanism of automatic machine-guns.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 s a side elevation, partly in section, of a breech mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention, the breech being closed and the breech-piece locked. Fig. 2 is a similar view, the breech-piece being unlocked, the breech, however, being still closed. Fig. 3 is a section on the line AB, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view showing the actuating mechanism f or the cartridge-band.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show,'insection and'partly in side elevation, various arrangements of the gas-channel. Figs. 8 and 9 show, in side elevation and bottom view, a modification of the firing mechanism.

In automatic firearms in which the breech mechanism is actuated by explosion-gases taken from the barrel the hole in the wall of the barrel through which such gases are taken must be at a comparatively great distance from the breech in order to make the channel leading from such hole to the gas-cylinder sufficiently long for preventing the breech mechanism from being opened prematurely. Heretofore this gas-channel consisted of a separate tube located outside the barrel, and great difficulty was encountered in tightly and accurately fitting this tube into the hole in the wall of the barrel and into the gas-cylinder. Besides, the gases passing through this tube were liable to cool down to some extent, which under unfavorable conditions might impair the efficiency of the breech mechanism. Finally, the construction and the mounting of the cooling-jacket for the barrel was rendered more difficult and complicated by the use of this externalgas-tube. Moreover, experience has shown that even with the very most careful and accurate fitting and mounting of the external gas-tube gases begin to leak through the joints after a few series of shots. Such gases can penetrate into the cooling-jacket, and then the latter is liable to burst. Therefore with antomatic machine-guns with an external gastube no cooling-jackets are used at present, but heat-radiating rings, as in the Hotchkiss machine-gun. In order to remedy these defects, I use, instead of an external gas-pipe, a gas-channel provided in the metal of the barrel itself, as shown in Fig. 5, in which 30 is the barrel, 31 the hole leading to the bore of the barrel, and 32 the gas-channel bored in the wall of the barrel itself.

Instead of making the gas-channel straight, as shown in Fig. 5, which necessitates a separate bore and a reinforcement of the barrel, both extending over a considerable length of the latter, the gas-channel may be made in the form of a coil, as shown in Fig. 6. The gas-channel 32 is in this figure formed by a helical groove cut in the circumference of a slightly-tapering mandrel tightly fitting into a corresponding recess in the metal of the barrel and suitably secured thereto. Thus a coiled channel is obtained between the walls of the groove in the mandrel and the inner wall of the said recess. The front end of such channel is permanently connected to the hole 31, leading to the bore of the barrel, and the rear end of the same is connected to the gascylinder, in which works the gas-plunger 13.

In Fig. 7 the helical groove 32 is cut on the outside of the barrel-body, onto which a sleeve 33 is tightly fitted. In all other respects the construction shown in Fig. 7 is the same as that shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 7 the barrel-body and the sleeve 33 are substituted for the mandrel and the recess, respectively, of Fig. 6. Obviously the groove might be cut in the inner wall of the recess of the sleeve 33, and the mandrel or the barrel-body, re-

* spectively, might be left smooth on the outside.

I wish it to be understood that in the claims the term mandrel also includes the barrelbody itself, and, on the other hand, the term sleeve also includes a recess in the barrelbody.

With the arrangement shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the hole 31, connecting the bore of the barrel with the front end of the gas-channel, may be far nearer the breech of the un for a given length of the gas-channel than in the arrangement shownin Fig. 5, and the reinforcement of the barrel necessitated by such gas-channel may be much shorter. By this arrangement I obtain the advantage that a separate external gas-tube extending from the hole 31 to the gas-c linder in which works the gasplunger 13 1s dispensed with, which greatly facilitates the construction of the gun. Further, the objectionable cooling down of the gas taken from the barrel is avoided, and, moreover, the cooling water-jacket may be so arranged as if there were no gas-channel. Finally, the gas-cylinder, the barrel, and the gas-channel constitute a rigid entirety, whereby the mechanical strength of the gun is greatly increased.

The breech mechanism consists of a breechbolt 3, movable in the direction of the axis of the bore of the gun and guided by lateral ribs 2, engaging into corresponding grooves in the breech-casing 1. A firing-pin 4 slides freely in a central ongitudinal bore of the breechbolt and is carried by a locking-piece 5, movable along and guided on the breech-bolt.

The firing-pin may be connected to the lockingiece either rigidly or with some'longitudina play, but in any case without the interpositlon of a spring, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To the rear end of the breech-bolt a lever 6 is pivoted, having'an arm 7 engaging into a recess 8 in the locking-piece 5. When the breech is closed, the breech-bolt, together with the locking-piece, is held against the rear end of the barrel by the returning-spring 9, and the rear end of the locking-piece abuts against the rear side of the arm 7, thereby holding the lever 6 in such a position that lateral projections 10 on such lever 6 engage projections 1 1 in the breech-casing.

Any known or preferred means are provided for pushing back the locking-piece on firing the gun. Such means may consist either of a plunger 13, working in a gas-cylinder in the body of the gun, to which cylinder explosion-gases are admitted by a channel 12 from the bore of the gun, (preferably in the manner hereinbefore described,) or of a lever fulcrumed. in the breech-casing and operated by the recoil of the gun. Thus on firing the gun the locking-piece, together with the firingpin, is pushed backward relatively to "the breech-bolt and on striking against the front side of arm 7 turns the lever 6 so that the lateral projections on the latter are disengaged from the projections 11 in the breech-casing and are brought into line with the guide-ribs on the breech-bolt. The latter, together with the lever and the locking-piece, are thrown rearward by the impulse imparted to the locking-piece overcoming the resistance of the returning-spring 9. The empty cartridge-shell is thereby extracted and ejected in the wellknown manner and the returning-spring and the spring actuating the cartridge-feed mechanism are put under tension.

If it is desired to fire a single shot, the trigger 14 is released immediately after pulling the same, so that the sear 15 is turned upward by the sear-spring 16 and the breechbolt is arrested in its rear position, the shoulder 17 on the breech-bolt abutting against the outer end of the arm 18 of the sear. For firing the next shot it is only necessary to pull the trigger again, whereby the trigger-v arm 19, engaging a lug 20 on the sear, so turns the sear that its arm 18 is disengaged from the shoulder 17. Thereturning-sprmg then throws forward the breech-bolt and the locking-piece. As in this movement the projections 10 on the lever 6 slide in the guidegrooves in the breech-casing, the lockingpiece cannot move forward relatively to the breech-bolt until the latter has reached the rear end of the barrel. In this position the breech-bolt is arrested by a fixed stop 41in,

the breech-casing in order to prevent the breech-bolt from striking violently against the cartridge-head, which has been found to be very objectionable. While the breech-bolt is thus arrested .the locking-piece continues its forward movement, owing to its momentum, and the action of the returning-spring 9, acting on the rear side of the arm 7 of the lever 6, turns upward the latter, so that its lateral projections 10 come into engagement with the pro-j ections 11 on the breech-casing, whereby the breech-block is locked. Finally, the firin -pin strikes against the primer of the cartridge and fires the same.

At the upper rear end of the arm 7 there is provided a projection 71, which after unlocking the breech-bolt rests against a solid portion in the rear wall of the recess 8 in the locking-piece 5, and thus transmits the pressure exerted by the returning-sprin u on the locking-piece and the breech-bolt; ut

when the latter on being pushed forward strikes against the rear end of the barrel and is thus arrested and the lateral projections-10 of the block 6 have come clear of the front ends of the projections 11 in the breechcasing the locking-piece by acting upon the projection 71 turns the lever 6 into locking position, as above mentioned, whereby the projection 71 is brought opposite a recess 51 in the rear wall of the locking-piece and fully enters the same when the locking-piece arrives at the front end of its stroke. Thus an accidental turning back of the lever 6 into the unlocking position is prevented, and at the same time the last part of the forward movement of the locking-piece serves to throw the firing-pin against the rimer with certainty, so that the cartridge is fired only after the breech-bolt is perfectly locked. After firing the breech-bolt is thrown back, to ether with the locking-piece, as before described, and when the trigger has been released immediately after ulling the same the breech-bolt 3 is arrested by the arm 18 of the sear when it has reached its rearmost position.

In the forward movement of the breechbolt a cartridge is taken from a cartridgeband and introduced into the barrel, as hereinafter described.

If it is not desired to fire single shots at will by hand, but to fire automatically a series of shots in rapid succession, it is only necessary that the trigger after having turned the sear so as to bring its arm 18 out of engagement with the shoulder 17 holds the sear in this position as'long as it is desired to continue to fire. The breech-bolt and the locking-piece after having reached their rearmost position are then not arrested by t e sear 15, but are immediately thrown forwa by the returning-spring and the next shot s fired, and so on until the sear is permitted to rise again.

In order that either single shots or series of shots may be fired automatically, as may be required, with certainty, the trigger-arm 19 is provided with an adjustable. slide 21, whlch can be pushed forward or backward by means of a handle (not shown) projecting from the breech-casing. When pushed for ward, as shown in Fig. 1, the slide 21 overlaps the lug 20 of the sear to such an extent that the two are still in engagement and the sear is held down even if the trigger is fully pulled. In this position of the slide 21 the sear cannot come into enga ement with the breech-bolt, and consequent y automatic firits spring so as to arrest the breech-bolt at the end of its next rearward movement.

If it is desired to fire single shots only, the slide 21 is pushed back into the position shown in Fig. 2, in which such slide and the trig er-arm 19 come out of engagement with the ug 20 after having turned downward the sear on the trigger being pulled, so that ,to-. ward the end of the pulling of the trigger the sear is again turned upward by its spring and by arresting the breech-bolt in its rearmost osition ed. T e lug 20 is pivoted to the sear an is held b a spring (not shown) against an arch or shou der fixed to the sear, so that when the trigger is pulled the lug transmits the pressure of the trigger-arm 19 and the slide to the body of the sear; but when after the lug has come out of engagement with the trigger-arm 19 and the slide 21 and the sear has been turned upward by its spring 6 into arresting position the trigger is released its arm 19 turns u ward the lug 20 against the action of the spring of the latter until it has passed its point, whereupon the lug returns into its normal position and the trigger-arm 19 slips over the point of the same, so that the parts return into the normal position. (Shown in Fi 2.

nstdad of the slide 21 an arm 34, Figs. 8 and 9, journaled to the trigger, may be used, the axis 35 of such arm passing outward through the trigger-plate and carrying at its outer end a handle-arm 36, located within the trigger-guard. l In the position of the parts shown in Fig. 8 and in full lines in Fig. 9 the arm 34 is between the trigger-arm 19 and the bottom arm 37 of the sear, so that as long as the trig er is held in the pulled position the sear 15 is eld turned downward by its arm 34 and its arm 18 is out of the ath of the breech-bolt, and thus a series 0 successive shots is automatically fired. If, however, the arm 34 is turned by means of the handlearm 36 so that it comes out of the space between the trigger-arm 19 and the bottom arm 37 of the sear, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, the trigger acts upon the sear only through the medium of the lug 20 and only single shots are fired at will, as above described.

In order to avoid jamming of the parts and to prevent the firing-pin from penetrating too far into the primer, the forward movement of the locking-piece is arrested by a fixed stop 22 in the breech-casing.

The step-by-step forward movement of the cartridge-band re uired for feeding the cartridges may be erived from the lockingpiece or from the breech-bolt. As shown in revents the next shot from'bein the drawings, it is derived fromthe breechbolt, which in its rearward movement turns a lever 23, pivoted in the breech-casmg, which raises another lever 24, pivoted in the breech-casing, thereby puttin under tension a spring 25. At the free en of the-latter lever teeth or awls 26 are provided, which project into a and-guide 27 in the breechcasing and are so shaped that when the le- 0 ver 24 rises they do not actuate the cartridge-band, but that when the lever 24 after the breech has been opened is depressed by its spring they act upon such band and move t e same forward. The parts are so propor- 5 tioned that the band is advanced each time 0 movement of the breech-bolt.

I claim 1. In an automatic machineun the combination of a breech-bolt, a ocking-piece ada ted to move relatively to and lengthwise 5' of t e breech-bolt, a recess in the lockingpiece, a lever pivoted to the breech-bolt and aving an arm engagin into the recess in the locking-piece, means or imparting to the locking-piece a rearward movement relatively to the. breech-bolt and a returningspring acting upon. the locking-piece, lateral projections 111 the breech-casing and lateral projections on the said lever ada ted to come Into and out of engagement wit the lateral projections in the breech-casing, substantially as and for the purpose descrlbed.

' 2. In an automatic machinethe combination of a breechbolt, a ocking-piece ada ted to move relatively to and lengthwise oft e breechebolt, a recess in the lockingpiece, 'a lever pivoted to the breech-bolt and carrying an arm engaging into the recess in the locking-piece, a firing-pin en aging the locking-piece, and adapted to sli e longitudinally-in the breech-bolt and relatively to the locking-piece, means for imparting to the locking-piece a rearward movement relatively to the breech-bolt and a returningspring acting upon the locking-piece, lateral projections in the breech-casing and lateral projections on the said lever ada ted to come lnto and out of enga ement wit the lateral pro'ections on the reeph-casin substantially as and for thepurpose descri ed.

3,. In an automatic machineun the combination of a breech-bolt, a ocking-piece ada ted to move relatively to and lengthwise of t e breech-bolt, a recess in the lockingpieee havin in its rear wall a full ortion and a recess, a ever pivoted to the reech-bolt and carrying an arm engaging into the recess in the locking-piece, a projection on the rear side of such arm adapted to come against the full Iportion of the rear wall of the recess in the ocking-piece in one position of such lever and to engage the recess in said rear wall in another position of such lever, a firingin en aging the locking-piece and adapted to sli e longitudinally 1n the breech-bolt and relatively to the locking-piece, means for imparting to the lockin -piece a rearward movement relatively to t e breech-bolt and a re,- turning-spring acting u on the locking-piece, lateral projections in t e breech-casing and lateral projections on said lever ada ted to come into and out of egnagement with the lateral rojections on the breech-casing, substantia y as and for the purpose described.

4. In an automatic machine-gun, the combination of a reciprocating breech-bolt with means for moving such breech-bolt backward and forward and for locking the same, a sear pivoted in-the breech-casing and havin an arm adapted to engage with the breecholt in the rearmost position of the latter, a trigger pivoted in the breech-casing, a lug pivoted to the sear and adapted to engage with an arm rigidly secured to the trigger in one position of the latter and to come out of engagement with such arm in'another position of the triggerand an element adjustably attached to the trigger and adapted in one po sition to permanently engage with the sear, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In an automatic machine-gun, the combination of a reciprocating breech-bolt with means for moving such breech-bolt backward and forward and for locking the same, a sear pivoted in the breech-casing and havin an arm adapted to engage with the breecholt in the rearmost positlon of the latter, a trigger pivoted in the breech-casing, a lug pivoted to the sear and adapted to engage wlth an arm rigidly secured to the trigger in one position of the latter and to come out of engagement with such arm in another position of the trigger, a bottom arm on the sear and an arm pivoted to the trigger and adapted in one position to be inpermanent en agement with such bottom arm of the sear an to be out of engagement with the latter in another position, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. In an automatic machlne-gun the combination of a reci rocating breech-bolt, means for moving t e same backward and forward and for locking the same, a springactuatied lever pivoted in the breech-casing, means actuated b the breech-bolt for rocking said lever agalnst 'its spring, a cartridgeband guide, a cartridge-band uided in such guide, teeth operated by said ever and proecting into such guide such teeth being adapted to engage into the cartridge-band when moving in one direction and to move idly along such band when moving in the o posite direction, substantially as and for t e purpose described.

7. In an automatic firearm the combination of a barrel, a breech mechanism,means for operating such mechanism including a In testimony whereof I afiix my signature gas-cylinder alnd a plunger vlvorkingdin such in presence of two Witnesses. cy inder a coi ed gas-channe forme in the T body of the barrel between a mandrel and a t- ODKOLEK VOA AUGEZD' 5 sleeve and a hole leading from the bore of the Witnesses:

barrel to the gas-channel, substantially as T. GEORGE HARDY, and for the purpose described. ALVESTO S. HOGUE.

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