Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F41—WEAPONS
  • F41A—FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS COMMON TO BOTH SMALLARMS AND ORDNANCE, e.g. CANNONS; MOUNTINGS FOR SMALLARMS OR ORDNANCE
  • F41A9/00—Feeding or loading of ammunition; Magazines; Guiding means for the extracting of cartridges
  • F41A9/01—Feeding of unbelted ammunition
  • F41A9/02—Feeding of unbelted ammunition using wheel conveyors, e.g. star-wheel-shaped conveyors
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F41—WEAPONS
  • F41A—FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS COMMON TO BOTH SMALLARMS AND ORDNANCE, e.g. CANNONS; MOUNTINGS FOR SMALLARMS OR ORDNANCE
  • F41A9/00—Feeding or loading of ammunition; Magazines; Guiding means for the extracting of cartridges
  • F41A9/37—Feeding two or more kinds of ammunition to the same gun; Feeding from two sides

Definitions

• This invention relates to an ammunition feeding system and an ammunition feeding assembly for such a system.
• This invention further relates to a gun provided with such an ammunition feeding system and assembly.
• USA patent 4,434,701 discloses a feeding apparatus for conveying ammunition by means of a series of separate seating sprockets driven to rotate in synchronism, associated with two guiding members, the whole forming a guideway for advancing ammunition by successive displacements.
• An intermediate guideway is constituted by one part of a magazine, which forms an additional guideway.
• a first disadvantage of this apparatus is that the guideways form a closed system and ammunition cannot be selectively fed into the magazine while the apparatus is operational.
• South African patent ZA 94/9750 discloses a feeding apparatus for an automatic weapon containing stacked loading strips loaded with cartridges and two continuous conveyor chains arranged at a slant relative to the loading strips and with two tooth-shaped pickups for gripping the respective rearmost cartridge in the lowermost loading strip and ejecting the cartridge towards the weapon.
• the loading strips are displaced by a continuous conveyor chain, which therefore moves the ammunition in a downward direction.
• a first disadvantage of a feeding apparatus of this type is that, because a number of cartridges are arranged on a loading strip, the cartridges are not being randomly fed into the magazine.
• a second disadvantage is that a number of conveyor chains are used to move the cartridges towards the weapon and conveyor chains are usually relatively sensitive to dirt and therefore require maintenance to keep free from dirt and in good working condition.
• a further disadvantage of the known linkless ammunition feeders of the above type is that the ammunition pieces have to be fed into the bolt of a gun and fired in the sequence in which they are loaded into the feeding system.
• an ammunition feeding assembly comprising: a receptacle for receiving a plurality of separate ammunition pieces and having a first inlet and a first outlet for ammunition pieces; a feeder assembly having a second inlet and a second outlet for ammunition pieces and a guideway extending from the second inlet to the second outlet, said first outlet supplying ammunition pieces to said second inlet; and advancement means for advancing the ammunition pieces along the guideway from the second inlet to the second outlet, the arrangement being such that selective introduction of individual ammunition pieces into the receptacle is allowed while other ammunition pieces are being fed into the feeder assembly and being conveyed along the said guideway.
• ammunition pieces are not linked or so-called linkless ammunition.
• the ammunition pieces are manually placed into the receptacle via the first inlet, with the longitudinal axes of the ammunition pieces being arranged generally transversely the guideway.
• the ammunition pieces may be stacked in the receptacle with the respective pieces all pointing in the same direction.
• the receptacle may be in the form of a bin having side and end walls, and the first inlet may be provided towards a top of the bin, and the first outlet towards a bottom of the bin.
• the bin may operationally be located above the feeder assembly and the said first outlet of the bin may be positioned above the said second inlet of the feeder assembly.
• the ammunition feeding assembly may further include an indexing mechanism or ammunition presenting assembly for presenting the ammunition pieces to a bolt of a gun.
• the presenting assembly may be provided with at least one third inlet at the second outlet of the feeder assembly and the feeder assembly may feed the ammunition pieces into the said third inlet.
• the presenting assembly may further be provided with a third outlet for presenting ammunition pieces to the bolt of a gun, with at least one track extending from at least one third inlet to the third outlet.
• the presenting assembly may be provided with a moving means for advancing the ammunition pieces along at least one track from at least one third inlet to the third outlet and presenting the ammunition pieces to the said bolt.
• the advancement means of the feeder assembly may include a plurality of rotary drive members.
• Each rotary drive member may include a rotationally driven axle and at least one ammunition-engaging formation extending from the axle.
• Each ammunition engaging formation may comprise a sprocket having a Maltese cross shape, for engaging successive ammunition pieces between adjacent arms of the sprocket, the arrangement being such that adjacent arms of one sprocket hand the ammunition piece over to adjacent arms of the next sprocket.
• the axles may be located equidistantly from each other, with adjacent axles being spaced approximately one arm length from each other.
• the sprockets of adjacent axles may be staggered to allow the arms of adjacent sprockets to pass one another closely when handing over the ammunition pieces.
• a motor may be provided for rotating the axles of the rotary drive members in synchronism.
• the axles of the rotary drive members may be connected via a gear train.
• the guideway may have a u-shape and the drive members may be arranged along the guideway.
• the guideway may be defined by a tubular u-shaped chute plate extending from the second inlet to the second outlet.
• the feeder assembly may further include a set of alignment rollers for adjusting the position of the ammunition pieces longitudinally, to facilitate introduction of said ammunition pieces into the presenting assembly.
• the alignment rollers may be located at the second outlet of the feeder assembly so that the position of the ammunition pieces is adjusted as they pass into the third inlet of the presenting assembly.
• a gun having an ammunition feeding assembly according to the first aspect of the invention.
• an ammunition feeding system comprising two ammunition feeding assemblies according to the first aspect of the invention, disposed on opposite sides of a bolt of a gun, with both assemblies feeding towards the bolt. Further according to the invention the arrangement is such that ammunition pieces can be selectively fed into either one of the ammunition feeder assemblies, and selectively loaded into the chamber of the gun.
• the arrangement may be further such that the ammunition feeding system includes two feeder assemblies for feeding, from opposite sides, ammunition pieces into a single ammunition presenting assembly disposed between the feeder assemblies.
• figure 1 is a perspective view on the rear of an ammunition feeding system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention
• figure 2 is a perspective view on the front of one of the ammunition feeding assemblies forming part of the system of figure 1
• figure 3 is an inner end view of figure 2
• figure 4 is a longitudinal-sectional view along line A-A' in figure 2
• figure 5 is the same as that of figure 2 with a lid of a receptacle of the assembly shown in exploded position
• figure 6 is an exploded perspective view on the front of figure 2.
• an ammunition feeding system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is generally designated by reference numeral 10.
• the system 10 comprises two ammunition feeding assemblies 12 shown in more detail in figures 2 to 6, disposed on opposite sides of a bolt (not shown) of a gun (also not shown). Each ammunition feeding assembly 12 is adapted to feed, from opposite sides, individual linkless ammunition pieces 14 to the bolt via a centrally located ammunition presenting assembly 16 located between the feeding assemblies 12.
• Each ammunition feeding assembly 12 comprises a receptacle in the form of a bin 18 for receiving a plurality of linkless ammunition pieces 14; and a feeder assembly 24.
• the bin 18 has side walls 18.1 and end walls 18.2, defining a first inlet 20 towards a top thereof and a first outlet 22 for ammunition pieces 14 towards a bottom thereof.
• the bin 18 is further provided with a lid 18.3 for closing the first inlet 20.
• Each feeder assembly 24 includes a tubular u-shaped chute plate 32 defining a second inlet 26 and a second outlet 28 for ammunition pieces 14, and a guideway 30 extending from the second inlet 26 to the second outlet 28.
• the bin 18 is located above the feeder assembly 24 with the first outlet 22 of the bin 18 positioned above the second inlet 26, so that the first outlet 22 supplies ammunition pieces 14 to the second inlet 26.
• the ammunition pieces 14 are arranged in the bin 18 with their longitudinal axes being generally transverse to the guideway 30 and pointing in the same direction.
• Each feeder assembly 24 further includes advancement means 34 for advancing the ammunition pieces 14 along the guideway 30 from the second inlet 26 to the second outlet 28.
• the advancement means 34 includes a plurality of rotary drive members 36 arranged along the u-shaped guideway 30.
• Each rotary drive member 36 includes a rotationally driven axle 38 and two ammunition-engaging formations extending from the axle 38.
• Each ammunition engaging formation comprises a sprocket 40 having a Maltese cross shape (shown in more detail in figure 4), for engaging successive ammunition pieces 14 between adjacent arms 40.1 of the sprocket 40.
• the arrangement is such that the adjacent arms 40.1 of one sprocket 40 hand the ammunition piece 14 over to the adjacent arms 40.1 of the next sprocket 40, thus to move the ammunition pieces 14 along the guideway 30.
• the axles 38 are located equidistantly from each other, with adjacent axles 38 being spaced one arm length from each other.
• the axles 38 of the rotary drive members 36 are connected through a gear train 42 (shown in figures 2, 5 and 6).
• the sprockets 40 of adjacent axles 38 are staggered to allow the arms 40.1 of adjacent sprockets 40 to pass one another closely when handing over the ammunition pieces 14.
• a motor 44 (shown in figure 1) rotates the axles 38 of the rotary drive members 36 in synchronism.
• Each feeder assembly 24 further includes a set of alignment rollers 46 (shown in figure 3) for adjusting the position of the ammunition pieces 14 longitudinally to facilitate introduction of said ammunition pieces 14 into the presenting assembly 16.
• the alignment rollers 46 are located at the second outlet 28 of the feeder assembly 24, so that the position of the ammunition pieces 14 is adjusted as they pass into the presenting assembly 16.
• the presenting assembly 16 has two third inlets 48, each arranged at the respective second outlets 28 of the feeder assemblies 24.
• the feeder assemblies 24 therefore feed the aligned ammunition pieces 14 into the respective third inlets 48.
• Two tracks extend from the inlets 48 to a common third outlet 50, which presents the ammunition pieces 14 to the face (not shown) of the bolt of the gun.
• the presenting assembly 16 is provided with a moving means (also not shown) for advancing the ammunition pieces 14 along the said tracks.
• the ammunition pieces 14 which may be of different types, are selectively and manually placed into the bin 18 via the first inlet 20, with the respective pieces 14 all pointing in the same direction and with their longitudinal axes being arranged transversely the guideway 30.
• the ammunition pieces 14 are therefore stacked in the bin 18 on top of one another.
• the motor 44 is activated to rotate the rotary drive members 36 of a particular ammunition feeding assembly 12, thus to move ammunition pieces 14 from the first outlet 22 at the bottom of the bin 18 of that assembly 12 along its guideway 30.
• the individual ammunition pieces 14 are received between the adjacent arms 40.1 of the sprockets 40 and, as the axles 38 of the rotary drive members 36 rotate, the ammunition pieces 14 are handed over to the arms 40.1 of adjacent sprockets 40.
• the pieces 14 are advanced in this fashion by being handed over from sprocket 40 to sprocket 40 along the u- shaped guideway 30 and out of the second outlet 28 into one of the third inlets 48 of the presenting assembly 16.
• the ammunition pieces 14 pass over the alignment rollers 46, their positions are adjusted longitudinally when they pass out of the guideway 30.
• the ammunition pieces 14 are then moved along the particular track by the said moving means and are then presented to the face of the bolt of a gun (not shown).
• a first advantage of the ammunition feeding system 10 is that it is a relatively compact assembly and therefore saves space.
• a second advantage is that the ammunition pieces 14 can be placed into a bin 18 while other pieces 14 are being fed along the guideway 30.
• a further advantage of the ammunition feeding system 10 is that its construction is relatively simple and reliable.
• Yet another advantage is that a user could selectively load ammunition pieces 14 of different types from either one of the ammunition feeding assemblies 12 and that it is not necessary to carry and fire a round in the chamber, before a following ammunition piece 14 can be loaded.

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (2)

Citations (6)

• 2003
  • 2003-09-12 WO PCT/ZA2003/000131 patent/WO2004025209A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-09-12 AU AU2003270934A patent/AU2003270934A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (6)

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