Device for rapidly loading rimmed cartridges into large capacity firearm magazines

• US 4,970,820 A
• Filed: 11/03/1989
• Issued: 11/20/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Helitek, Co.
• Original Assignee: Michael K. Miller, Warren D. Stockton
• Inventors: Miller, Michael K., Stockton, Warren D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jordan, Charles T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Carone, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US07/431,214
• Time in Patent Office: 382 Days
• Field of Search: 42/87, 42/88
• US Class Current: 42/87
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 9/83 Apparatus or tools for reloading magazines with unbelted ammunition, e.g. cartridge clips

Abstract

An improved ammunition loading device designed for cartridges having radially extending rims, such as 0.22 calibre cartridges. The invention comprises a body having a spiral groove and a feed arrangement to drive the cartridges through the groove and into a magazine. A manual crank has an eccentric cam which operates two mechanisms alternately on each rotation of the crank. On half the rotation it operates a feed finger which inserts the next cartridge exiting the spiral groove into the magazine, and on the other half of that same rotation it advances the line of cartridges to present a fresh cartridge for insertion on the first half of the next rotation.

Claims

1. A device for rapidly loading a predetermined number of cartridges into a firearm magazine, said magazine comprising cartridge entry means, each said cartridge comprising a cylindrical body and a rim portion extending radially outwardly of said cartridge body, said rim portion being located at one end of said cartridge and said cartridge comprising a relatively heavy nose portion at the other end thereof, said device comprising a loader body, means to removably mount said magazine on said loader body, feed finger means mounted on said loader body, means to cause said feed finger means to move with a first predetermined motion to first cause a cartridge engaged at its said rim by said feed finger means to move laterally towards said magazine cartridge entry means and to thereafter cause said feed finger means to move with a second predetermined motion to secondly cause that same cartridge to move longitudinally through said magazine cartridge entry means and into said magazine, and said first and second predetermined motions being different from each other.

2. The device of claim 1, said means to removably mount said magazine on said loader body comprising socket means for receiving said magazine, said loader body being formed with a spiral wall defining a spiral groove, said groove having a uniform radial thickness of a dimension larger than the diameter of said cartridge body but smaller than the diameter of said cartridge rim, said groove having a depth greater than the length of each said cartridge, said spiral wall being joined to said loader body at one end of its height and the other end of its height defining a plane which is positioned generally horizontally when said cartridges are put into said groove, whereby said cartridges may be placed randomly on said plane and will fall nose first by gravity and due to said relatively heavy nose portion into said groove upon shaking of said loader when said cartridges are on said plane, the length of said groove being greater than the sum of the diameters of said predetermined number of said cartridges to be loaded into said magazine, means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall to permit said cartridges to hang therefrom and into said spiral groove with all portions of said cartridges below said plane in said generally horizontal position, and means to communicate the radially outermost end of said spiral groove to said magazine cartridge entry means, whereby said cartridges may be fed out of said spiral groove and into a magazine positioned on said loader with said cartridge entry means of said magazine open to one end of said spiral groove.

3. The device of claim 1, further comprising manual crank means and means to rotatably mount said crank means on said loader body, said crank means comprising eccentrically mounted cam means, said device comprising means to feed said predetermined number of cartridges one by one into said magazine, said device comprising means to advance all of said predetermined number of said cartridges all at once to said feeding means, and said cam means comprising means to operate said feeding means to feed one cartridge into said magazine and to perform both of said first and said second predetermined motions during a portion of each cycle of operation of said manual crank means and to operate said advancing means to advance all of the remaining ones of said predetermined number of said cartridges to said feeding means during another portion of each said cycle of operation of said manual crank means.

4. The device of claim 2, further comprising a lid and follower assembly, said spiral groove being formed with a reduced size bay at its radially innermost portion, said bay being too small to accept a said cartridge therein, said lid and follower assembly comprising a generally circular lid and a follower foot, means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall to permit said cartridges to hang therefrom and into said spiral groove with all portions of said cartridges below said plane when said loader is in said generally horizontal position, said lid being of a shape to seat on top of said plane to thereby hold said cartridges trapped in said spiral groove, and spring means on said lid and follower assembly urging said follower foot radially inwardly of said lid towards the center thereof and in a position to enter said bay when said lid is in place on said plane in a predetermined arcuate orientation between said lid and follower assembly and said follower foot.

5. The device of claim 4, said lid being formed with ratchet teeth all around the periphery thereof, ratchet drive means mounted on said loader body in position to cooperate with said ratchet teeth, said feed finger means acting to feed said cartridges one by one into said magazine, means to operate said ratchet drive means to advance said follower foot in an outward spiral through said spiral groove, cam means and means to mount said cam means on said loader body, and said cam means operating said feed finger means to feed one cartridge into said magazine during a portion of each cycle of operation of said cam means and to advance said follower foot via said ratchet drive means and said lid ratchet teeth outwardly through said spiral groove an arcuate distance equal to at least one cartridge diameter during another portion of each said cycle of operation of said cam means, whereby for each cycle of operation of said cam means one cartridge is fed into said magazine and all of the remaining cartridges are advanced one cartridge position through said spiral groove towards said feed means.

6. The device of claim 5, further comprising means to manually disengage said lid ratchet teeth and said ratchet drive means to facilitate mounting and dismounting of said lid and follower assembly with respect to said loader body.

7. The device of claim 2, further comprising a lid assembly comprising a lid and follower means adapted to advance said cartridges through said spiral groove, said follower means comprising shuttle means mounted on said lid for radial motion thereon, and said shuttle means including motion absorbing means, whereby said lid can be moved a uniform arcuate distance as each cartridge is fed into said magazine and said follower means advances an arcuate distance less than said uniform distance, and said arcuate distance less than said uniform distance changing for each cartridge dependant upon the radial location of said follower means in said spiral groove.

8. The device of claim 2, further comprising lid means for said spiral groove to hold said cartridges therein during loading of said cartridges into said magazine, and said lid means comprising a lid member consisting of transparent material.

9. The device of claim 2, further comprising means to prevent said cartridges from exiting said spiral groove unless a magazine is positioned on said loader.

10. The device of claim 9, said means for removably mounting said magazine on said loader body comprising socket means formed in said loader body, said preventing means comprising a "U" shaped plunger having two legs and a first position wherein one of said legs extends into the inside space defined by said socket means and the other of said legs blocks the cartridge exit end of said spiral groove, and spring means normally urging said plunger into said first position, whereby insertion of a magazine into said socket pushes said plunger via said one leg out of said first position and into a second position wherein said second leg does not block said cartridge exit end of said spiral groove.

11. The device of claim 2, said loader body being formed with a wall surrounding said spiral groove and extending above said plane in said horizontal position of said loader, said wall defining a well above said spiral groove to accept cartridges dumped therein and to prevent loss of said cartridge out of said loader during said shaking of said loader.

12. The device of claim 2, said cartridge hanging means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall comprising a beveled edge whereby the motion of said cartridges through said spiral groove is facilitated.

13. The device of claim 2, said cartridge hanging means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall comprising a radius, whereby the motion of said cartridges through said spiral groove is facilitated.

14. The device of claim 1, further comprising eccentric cam means mounted on said loader body, means to cause said eccentric cam means to move with a rotational motion, and means to cause said cam means to cause said feed finger means to move with both said first and said second predetermined motions.

15. The device of claim 14, said feed finger means comprising a floating feed finger, said feed finger comprising a lifter leg portion, said cam means engaging said lifter leg portion to cause said first and second predetermined motions to occur in sequence for each cartridge fed into said magazine, said feed finger means including spring means to return said feed finger to a start position after continued rotation of said cam means moves said cam means out of engagement with said lifter leg, and said feed finger means including means to constrain the motion of said feed finger substantially to a single plane.

16. The device of claim 2, and said loader body being formed with a surface thereon so positioned that when said loader body is placed on said surface said cartridges will exit said spiral groove and will move toward said magazine cartridge entry means assisted by the force of gravity.

17. A device for rapidly loading a predetermined number of cartridges into a firearm magazine, said magazine comprising cartridge entry means, each said cartridge comprising a cylindrical body and a rim portion extending radially outwardly of said cartridge body, said rim portion being located at one end of said cartridge and said cartridge comprising a relatively heavy nose portion at the other end thereof, said device comprising a loader body, said loader body being formed with socket means for receiving said magazine, said loader body being formed with a spiral wall defining a spiral groove, said groove having a uniform radial thickness of a dimension larger than the diameter of said cartridge body but smaller than the diameter of said cartridge rim, said groove having a depth greater than the length of each said cartridge, said spiral wall being joined to said loader body at one end of its height and the other end of its height defining a plane which is positioned generally horizontally when said cartridges are to be loaded into said groove, whereby said cartridges may be placed randomly on said plane and will fall nose first by gravity and due to said relatively heavy nose portion into said groove upon shaking of said loader when said cartridges are on said plane, the length of said groove being greater than the sum of the diameters of said predetermined number of said cartridges to be loaded into said magazine, and means to communicate the radially outermost end of said spiral groove into said magazine cartridge entry means, whereby said cartridges may be fed out of said spiral groove and into a magazine positioned in said socket with said cartridge entry means of said magazine open to said spiral groove'"'"'s outermost end.

18. The device of claim 17, further comprising manual crank means and means to rotatably mount said crank means on said loader body, said crank means comprising eccentrically mounted cam means, said device comprising means to feed said predetermined number of cartridges one by one through said spiral groove and into said magazine, said device comprising means to advance all of said predetermined number of said cartridges all at once through said spiral groove and to said feeding means, and said cam means comprising means to operate said feeding means to feed one cartridge into said magazine during a portion of each cycle of operation of said manual crank means and to operate said advancing means to advance all of the remaining ones of said predetermined number of said cartridges to said feeding means during another portion of each said cycle of operation of said manual crank means.

19. The device of claim 17, further comprising a lid and follower assembly, said spiral groove being formed with a reduced size bay at its radially innermost portion, said bay being too small to accept a said cartridge therein, said lid and follower assembly comprising a generally circular lid and a follower foot, means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall to permit said cartridges to hang therefrom and into said spiral groove with all portions of said cartridges below said plane when said loader is in said generally horizontal position, said lid being of a shape to seat on top of said plane to thereby hold said cartridges trapped in said spiral groove, and spring means on said lid and follower assembly urging said follower foot radially inwardly of said lid towards the center thereof and in a position to enter said bay when said lid is in place on said plane in a predetermined arcuate orientation between said lid and follower assembly and said follower foot.

20. The device of claim 19, said lid being formed with ratchet teeth all around the periphery thereof, ratchet drive means mounted on said loader body in position to cooperate with said ratchet teeth, feed finger means to feed said cartridges one by one into said magazine, means to operate said ratchet drive means to advance said follower foot in an outward spiral through said spiral groove, cam means and means to mount said cam means on said loader body, and said cam means operating said feed finger means to feed one cartridge into said magazine during a portion of each cycle of operation of said cam means and to advance said follower foot via said ratchet drive means and said lid ratchet teeth outwardly through said spiral groove an arcuate distance equal to at least one cartridge diameter during another portion of each said cycle of operation of said cam means, whereby for each cycle of operation of said cam means one cartridge is fed into said magazine and all of the remaining cartridges are advanced one cartridge position through said spiral groove towards said feed means.

21. The device of claim 20, further comprising means to manually disengage said lid ratchet teeth and said ratchet drive means to facilitate mounting and dismounting of said lid and follower assembly with respect to said loader body.

22. The device of claim 17, further comprising a lid assembly comprising a lid and follower means adapted to advance said cartridges through said spiral groove, said follower means comprising shuttle means mounted on said lid for radial motion thereon, and said shuttle means including motion absorbing means, whereby said lid can be moved a uniform arcuate distance as each cartridge is fed into said magazine and said follower means advances an arcuate distance less than said uniform distance, and said arcuate distance less than said uniform distance changing for each cartridge dependant upon the radial location of said follower means in said spiral groove.

23. The device of claim 17, further comprising lid means for said spiral groove to hold said cartridges therein during loading of said cartridges into said magazine, and said lid means comprising a lid member consisting of transparent material.

24. The device of claim 17, further comprising means to prevent said cartridges from exiting said spiral groove unless a magazine is positioned on said loader.

25. The device of claim 24, said means for removably mounting said magazine on said loader comprising socket means formed in said loader body, said preventing means comprising a "U" shaped plunger having two legs and a first position wherein one of said legs extends into the inside space defined by said socket means and the other of said legs blocks the cartridge exit end of said spiral groove, and spring means normally urging said plunger into said first position, insertion of a magazine into said socket pushes said plunger via said one leg out of said first position and into a second position wherein said second leg does not block said cartridge exit end of said spiral groove.

26. The device of claim 17, said loader body being formed with a wall surrounding said spiral groove and extending above said plane in said horizontal position of said loader said wall defining a well above said spiral groove to accept cartridges dumped therein and to prevent loss of said cartridge out of said loader during said shaking of said loader.

27. The device of claim 17, said cartridge hanging means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall comprising a beveled edge whereby the motion of said cartridges through said spiral groove is facilitated.

28. The device of claim 17, said cartridge hanging means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall comprising a radius, whereby the motion of said cartridges through said spiral groove is facilitated.

29. The device of claim 17, and said loader body being formed with a surface thereon so positioned that when said loader body is placed on said surface said cartridges will exit said spiral groove and will move toward said magazine cartridge entry means assisted by the force of gravity.

30. A device for rapidly loading a predetermined number of cartridges into a firearm magazine, said magazine comprising cartridge entry means, each said cartridge comprising a cylindrical body and a rim portion extending radially outwardly of of said cartridge and said cartridge comprising a relatively heavy nose portion at the other end thereof said device comprising a loader body, said loader body being formed with means for removably mounting said magazine thereon, manual crank means and means to rotatably mount said crank means on said loader body, said crank means comprising eccentrically mounted cam means, said device comprising means to feed said predetermined number of cartridges one by one into said magazine, said device comprising means to advance all of said predetermined number of said cartridges all at once to said feeding means, and said cam means comprising means to operate said feeding means to feed one cartridge into said magazine during a portion of each cycle of operation of said manual crank means and to operate said advancing means to advance all of the remaining ones of said predetermined number of said cartridges to said feeding means during another portion of each said cycle of operation of said manual crank means.

31. The device of claim 30, said means for removably mounting said magazine on said loader body comprising socket means for receiving said magazine, said loader body being formed with a spiral wall defining a spiral groove, said groove having a uniform radial thickness of a dimension larger than the diameter of said cartridge body but smaller than the diameter of said cartridge rim, said groove having a depth greater than the length of each said cartridge, said spiral wall being joined to said loader body at one end of its height and the other end of its height defining a plane which is positioned generally horizontally when said cartridges are put into said groove, whereby said cartridges may be placed randomly on said plane and will fall nose first by gravity and due to said relatively heavy nose portion into said groove upon shaking of said loader when said cartridges are on said plane, the length of said groove being greater than the sum of the diameters of said predetermined number of said cartridges to be loaded into said magazine, means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall to permit said cartridges to hang therefrom and into said spiral groove with all portions of said cartridges below said plane in said generally horizontal position, and means to communicate the radially outermost end of said spiral groove to said magazine cartridge entry means, whereby said cartridges may be fed out of said spiral groove and into a magazine positioned on said loader with said cartridge entry means of said magazine open to one end of said spiral groove.

32. The device of claim 31, said advancing means comprising a lid and follower assembly, said spiral groove being formed with a reduced size bay at its radially innermost portion, said bay being too small to accept a said cartridge therein, said lid and follower assembly comprising a generally circular lid and a follower foot, means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall to permit said cartridges to hang therefrom and into said spiral groove with all portions of said cartridges below said plane when said loader is in said generally horizontal position, said lid being of a shape to seat on top of said plane to thereby hold said cartridges trapped in said spiral groove, and spring means on said lid and follower assembly urging said follower foot radially inwardly of said lid towards the center thereof and in a position to enter said bay when said lid is in place on said plane in a predetermined arcuate orientation between said lid and follower assembly and said follower foot.

33. The device of claim 32, said lid being formed with ratchet teeth all around the periphery thereof, ratchet drive means mounted on said loader body in position to cooperate with said ratchet teeth, and means to operate said ratchet drive means to advance said follower foot in an outward spiral through said spiral groove.

34. The device of claim 32, said lid assembly comprising shuttle means mounted on said lid for radial motion thereon, and said shuttle means including motion absorbing means, whereby said lid can be moved a uniform arcuate distance as each cartridge is fed into said magazine and said follower means advances an arcuate distance less than said uniform distance, and said arcuate distance less than said uniform distance changing for each cartridge dependant upon the radial location of said follower mean in said spiral groove.

35. The device of claim 32, further comprising means to manually disengage said lid ratchet teeth and said ratchet drive means to facilitate mounting and dismounting of said lid and follower assembly with respect to said loader body.

36. The device of claim 32, further comprising means to prevent said cartridges from exiting said spiral groove unless a magazine is positioned on said loader.

37. The device of claim 36, said means for removably mounting said magazine on said loader body comprising socket means in said loader body, said preventing means comprising a "U" shaped plunger having two legs and a first position wherein one of said legs extends into the inside space defined by said socket means and the other of said legs blocks the cartridge exit end of said spiral groove, and spring means normally urging said plunger into said first position, whereby insertion of a magazine into said socket pushes said plunger via said one leg out of said first position and into a second position wherein said second leg does not block said cartridge exit end of said spiral groove.

38. The device of claim 32, said loader body being formed with a wall surrounding said spiral groove and extending above said plane in said horizontal position of said loader, said wall defining a well above said spiral groove to accept cartridges dumped therein and to prevent loss of said cartridge out of said loader during said shaking of said loader.

39. The device of claim 32, said cartridge hanging means at said plane defining end of said spiral wall comprising a beveled edge whereby the motion of said cartridges through said spiral groove is facilitated.