Electronic magazine loader

• US 10,704,850 B1
• Filed: 01/08/2019
• Issued: 07/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2019
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vista Outdoor Operations LLC (Vista Outdoor Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Vista Outdoor Operations LLC (Vista Outdoor Inc.)
• Inventors: Fischer, Paul R., Hemeyer, William
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Bret
• Application Number:
  US16/242,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20200217605A1
• Time in Patent Office: 546 Days
• Field of Search: 42 87
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 9/83 Apparatus or tools for reloading magazines with unbelted ammunition, e.g. cartridge clips

Abstract

An electronic magazine loader for loading cartridges into a magazine includes a lifting wheel, a chute, and a magazine loading portion. The wheel receives an unordered batch of cartridges and singularly lifts and deposits the cartridges into the chute. The chute transfers the cartridges to the magazine loading portion where a setting mechanism inserts the cartridges into the magazine. A means for directionally orienting the cartridges orients all cartridges to a proper directional orientation before reaching the magazine loading portion. The means can be lifting wheel shelf structure or chute structure. The chute having a C-shaped portion above the magazine loading portion that precludes the cartridges from changing their proper directional orientation. The setting mechanism receives cartridges on a rotating wheel with rotating insertion lobes and cartridge receiving voids between adjacent lobes. The cartridges drop into a cartridge receiving void, and are urged into the magazine by a rotating lobe.

Claims

1. A magazine loader comprising:

a chassis supporting a powered wheel with a plurality of circumferentially spaced singularizing pockets at a periphery of the wheel for receiving and lifting a plurality of cartridges serially from an unordered batch of cartridges placed in the interior of the wheel, the wheel singularizing the cartridges of the batch while raising the cartridges serially to a discharge region where the cartridges are transferred in a horizontal orientation serially through the discharge region;

a chute defining a passageway positioned at the discharge region to serially receive in the passageway the cartridges, the chute having a C-shaped chute portion that serially transfers cartridges horizontally oriented to a magazine loading portion, the C-shaped portion configured to preclude rotation of the cartridges horizontally oriented to a non-horizontal orientation thereby preventing the cartridges from changing a directional orientation;

a means for providing a cartridge directional orientation whereby all the cartridges are oriented in a proper direction when received by the magazine loading portion;

the magazine loading portion comprising a magazine receiver and a powered setting tool for urging cartridges, one-by-one, into a magazine placed in the magazine receiver, the setting tool comprising a rotatable wheel with a central portion and two lobes disposed on opposite sides of the central portion, the setting tool defining two cartridge receiving voids disposed on opposite sides of the central portion, each cartridge receiving void being disposed between the lobes of the setting tool, the setting tool being positioned below chute for receiving the cartridges on a lobe, wherein when the setting tool rotates the cartridge on the lobe falls into a cartridge receiving void to be urged into the magazine by a rotating lobe.

2. The magazine loader of claim 1, wherein the means for providing a cartridge directional orientation is provided by the chute, wherein the passageway extends downwardly at an upper portion of the chute, the chute having restrictive portions projecting into lateral ends of the passageway at the upper portion of the chute, the restrictive portions sized to allow passage of the forward projectile end of each cartridge but not the rearward casing end, whereby when a horizontally oriented cartridge enters the upper portion of the chute, as the cartridge falls downwardly the cartridge is re-oriented with the forward projectile end of the cartridge downward from the rearward casing end, the chute configured to narrow the passageway below the upper portion at a mid-portion of the chute, and the chute is further configured at the mid-portion of the chute to turn the narrowed passageway laterally, whereby when a cartridge enters the mid portion of the passageway as the cartridge travels down the passageway the cartridge moves laterally and is re-oriented toward a horizontal orientation, the chute further configured to have a lower portion that provides an upright stop surface to stop any lateral movement of the cartridge, the C-shaped chute portion positioned below the upright stop surface.

3. The magazine loader of claim 1, wherein the means for providing a cartridge directional orientation is provided by the rotating lifting wheel, wherein wheel structure is provided that precludes cartridges being lifted that do not have a proper directional orientation to be unseated from the respective pocket before the cartridge reaches the discharge region.

4. The magazine loader of claim 3, wherein each pocket has a respective shelf that defines the pocket, and wherein each shelf is configured to retain each cartridge therein that is oriented in the proper directional orientation and to release each cartridge therein that is not oriented in the proper directional orientation.

5. The magazine loader of claim 4, wherein each shelf is shaped such that each pocket conforms to the cartridge shape, whereby when a cartridge is lifted by a shelf and is in the proper directional orientation the cartridge fully seats in the pocket and wherein when a cartridge is lifted that is not in the proper directional orientation the cartridge does not seat in the pocket.

6. The magazine loader of claim 1, wherein the means for providing a cartridge directional orientation is provided by a deflector positioned to interfere with the lifting of cartridges that do not have the proper directional orientation and to not interfere with the lifting of cartridges that have the proper directional orientation.

7. The magazine loader of claim 6, wherein the deflector extends into each pocket as the lifting wheel is rotated, and wherein when a cartridge is the proper cartridge directional orientation in a pocket passing by the deflector, the deflector passes by a projectile end of said cartridge without contacting the cartridge.

8. A magazine loader comprising:

a chassis supporting a powered wheel assembly comprising a lifting wheel connected to a drive motor, the lifting wheel with a plurality of circumferentially spaced shelves at a periphery of the wheel for receiving and lifting a plurality of cartridges serially from an unordered batch of cartridges placed in the interior of the wheel, the wheel singularizing the cartridges of the batch while raising the cartridges serially to a discharge region where the cartridges are transferred through the discharge region, wherein the lifting wheel has shelves configured to lift a cartridge to the discharge region only if the cartridge is in a proper directional orientation for loading into a magazine;

a transfer portion for transferring the cartridges received through the discharge region to a magazine loading portion, the magazine loading portion comprising a magazine receiver for holding a magazine during loading of cartridges, and a cartridge setting mechanism for insertion of cartridges into the magazine.

9. The magazine loader of claim 8, wherein each shelf is shaped to conform to the cartridge shape, whereby when a cartridge is lifted by a shelf and is in the proper directional orientation the cartridge fully seats on the shelf and wherein when a cartridge is lifted that is not in the proper directional orientation the cartridge does not fully seat on the shelf and falls off of the shelf before the cartridge reaches the discharge region.

10. The magazine loader of claim 9, wherein the transfer portion comprises a chute defining a passageway positioned at the discharge region to serially receive in the passageway the cartridges, the chute having a C-shaped chute portion that serially transfers cartridges horizontally oriented to the magazine loading portion, the C-shaped portion configured to preclude rotation of the cartridges horizontally oriented to a non-horizontal orientation thereby preventing the cartridges from changing their directional orientation.

11. The magazine loader of claim 8, wherein the setting mechanism comprises a rotatable wheel with a central portion and two lobes disposed on opposite sides of the central portion, the setting tool defining two cartridge receiving voids disposed on opposite sides of the central portion, each cartridge receiving void being disposed between the lobes of the setting tool, the setting tool being positioned below the transfer portion for receiving the cartridges.

12. The magazine loader of claim 11, wherein the transfer portion deposits the cartridges on a top surface of a lobe of the rotatable wheel, whereby when the rotatable wheel rotates a cartridge on the top surface falls into a cartridge receiving void to than be engaged by a lobe to be urged into the magazine.

13. The magazine loader of claim 8, wherein each cartridge is in a horizontal orientation when said cartridge is discharged through the discharge region, and wherein each cartridge is horizontally oriented when each cartridge is transferred to the magazine loading portion.

14. A magazine loader comprising:

a chassis supporting a powered lifting wheel with a plurality of circumferentially spaced singularizing pockets at a periphery of the wheel for receiving and lifting a plurality of cartridges serially from an unordered batch of cartridges placed in the interior of the wheel, the wheel singularizing the cartridges of the batch while lifting the cartridges serially to a discharge region where the cartridges are transferred in a horizontal orientation serially through the discharge region;

a chute defining a passageway positioned at the discharge region to serially receive in the passageway the cartridges, the chute having a C-shaped chute portion that serially transfers cartridges horizontally oriented to a magazine loading portion, the C-shaped portion configured to preclude rotation of the cartridges horizontally oriented to a non-horizontal orientation thereby preventing the cartridges from changing a directional orientation;

a means for providing a cartridge directional orientation whereby all the cartridges are oriented in a proper direction when received by the magazine loading portion;

the magazine loading portion comprising a magazine receiver and a powered setting tool for setting the cartridges in a magazine secured in the magazine receiver.

15. The magazine loader of claim 14, wherein the powered setting tool comprises a rotatable wheel with a central portion and at least two lobe portions disposed radially outward from the central portion, the setting tool defining at least two cartridge receiving voids intermediate adjacent pairs of the at least two lobe portions, the setting tool being positioned below the chute for receiving the cartridges, wherein when the setting tool rotates, the lobe portions urge the individual cartridges into the magazine.

16. The magazine loader of claim 15, wherein each cartridge from the chute seats on a top surface of the rotatable wheel and falls into one of the at least two cartridge receiving voids as the rotatable wheel rotates.

17. The magazine loader of claim 15, wherein the means for providing a cartridge directional orientation is provided by the chute, wherein the passageway extends downwardly at an upper portion of the chute, the chute having restrictive portions projecting into lateral ends of the passageway at the upper portion of the chute, the restrictive portions sized to allow passage of the forward projectile end of each cartridge but not the rearward casing end, whereby when a horizontally oriented cartridge enters the upper portion of the chute, as the cartridge falls downwardly the cartridge is re-oriented with the forward projectile end of the cartridge downward from the rearward casing end, the chute configured to narrow the passageway below the upper portion at a mid-portion of the chute, and the chute is further configured at the mid-portion of the chute to turn the narrowed passageway laterally, whereby when a cartridge enters the mid portion of the passageway as the cartridge travels down the passageway the cartridge moves laterally and is re-oriented toward a horizontal orientation, the C-shaped chute portion positioned below the mid portion.

18. The magazine loader of claim 14, wherein the means for providing a cartridge directional orientation is provided by the rotating lifting wheel, wherein shelf structure is provided at each pocket that precludes cartridges being lifted to the discharge region that do not have a proper directional orientation.

19. The magazine loader of claim 18, wherein the shelf structure precluding the cartridges not properly directionally oriented from fully seating in the shelf structure whereby the cartridges not fully seated fall from the shelf structure before the cartridge is lifted to the discharge region.

20. The magazine loader of claim 14, wherein the lifting wheel, the chute, and the setting mechanism are all configured for 9 mm handgun cartridges.