Shell reloader

• US 5,313,869 A
• Filed: 12/10/1992
• Issued: 05/24/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lee Precision Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lee Precision Incorporated
• Inventors: Lee, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): ELDRED, JOHN W
• Application Number:
  US07/988,814
• Time in Patent Office: 530 Days
• Field of Search: 86/25, 86/27, 86/28, 86/32, 86/44, 86/46
• US Class Current: 86/25
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 33/004 Cartridge loaders of the rotatable-turret type

Abstract

A shell plate for being indexed in angular steps is on a carrier which is, in turn, mounted to the upper end of the reloader ram. Indexer rod engageable elements such as cylindrical equiangularly spaced apart pins project downwardly from the bottom of the shell plate. An indexer rod is carried in the shell plate carrier. When the ram is driven to nearly its lowermost position, the manual operating lever is near the end of its swing at which time it abuts the indexer rod for the latter to engage one of the pins to rotate the shell plate. The indexer rod is retracted and reset by having it slide down a guide track from the uppermost position of the ram and the guide track is angulated in part to be engaged by the rod and retracted. The reloader is distinguished by indexing the shell plate only when the ram is within a few millimeters of its lowermost limit. The reloader also features an improved device for inserting primers in shells and an inserter for inserting shells into the indexable shell plate for being reloaded. The shell inserter is especially designed for working with a reloader wherein the shell plate indexes when the ram is very near its lower limit the design provides for inserting the shell in the shell plate when the ram has begun to move upward again at which time substantial force is available from the manual operating lever.

Claims

1. An ammunition case reloader comprising:

a frame,

a member on the frame for supporting a plurality of reloading tools at angularly spaced apart stations,

a ram mounted to said frame for moving alternately upwardly toward said tools and downwardly away from said tools,

a shell plate carrier mounted to the ram and a shell plate mounted to the carrier for being indexed rotationally in angular steps,

an operating lever mounted for swinging alternately downwardly and upwardly, and means for operatively coupling the lever to the ram such that swinging the lever downwardly moves the ram upwardly to an uppermost position wherein a case on said shell plate engages a tool and swinging the lever upwardly moves the ram and the shell plate thereon downwardly to a lowermost position for the shell plate to move downwardly through an indexing position after the ram moves through more than a majority of the distance from its said uppermost to its said lowermost position,

a shell plate indexer member supported from the ram for being driven in one direction to engage the shell plate and turn it through one angular step under the influence of said lever when the lever has swung upwardly far enough to move said shell plate downwardly to said indexing position, and

means for retracting said indexer member oppositely from said one direction to a reset condition in response to said ram moving to said uppermost position under the influence of said lever moving downwardly.

2. The reloader according to claim 1 wherein:

a plurality of indexer member engageable elements project downwardly from said shell plate toward said shell plate carrier and said elements are arranged in spaced apart relationship in angular correspondence with said tools for being engaged by the indexer member,

said indexer member comprising a rod member supported from said ram and slidable into engagement with said elements on the shell plate in succession to index said shell plate through successive angular steps.

3. The reloader according to claim 1 wherein:

a plurality of cylindrical indexer engageable elements project downwardly from said shell plate toward said shell plate carrier and said elements are arranged in spaced apart relationship in angular correspondence with said tools for being engaged by the indexer member,

said indexer member comprising a rod member mounted to said shell plate carrier for sliding radially inwardly to engage an element for turing said shell plate one angular step and for sliding outwardly under the influence of said means for retracting said indexer member.

4. The reloader according to claim 1 wherein:

a plurality of cylindrical indexer engaging elements project downwardly from said shell plate and said elements are arranged angularly spaced apart from each other in angular correspondence with said tools,

said indexer is comprised of a rod member having a quadrilateral cross section and a beveled end.

5. The reloader according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 including:

retractor means fixedly mounted on said frame for engaging said indexer to retract it and reset it for being driven in said one direction when said indexer is moving downwardly with said ram.

6. The reloader according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein said indexer is driven in said one direction to index said shell plate when said ram is about 6 to 3 mm from said lowermost position.

7. The reloader according to claim 1 wherein one of the tools is a tool for expelling the spent primer from a shell in response to the shell in the shell plate moving upwardly into the tool,

said ram being hollow and having a passageway for receiving the expelled primer, and said ram having a door operable to discharge the spent primer.

8. The reloader according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 including a shell inserter for inserting shells in succession in correspondence with indexing steps of the shell plate, comprising:

a slide guide supported from said ram,

a shell inserter slider mounted on said slide guide for advancing toward and retracting from said shell plate, said shell inserter slider being configured at an end presented toward said shell plate for receiving and releasing a shell into a shell holder pocket in the shell plate, in response to advancement of the shell slider,

a guide shaft fixedly mounted to said frame and projecting generally upwardly at an angle relative to vertical,

a crank slider mounted on the angulated guide shaft for sliding generally upwardly and downwardly thereon,

a crank pivotally connected to said crank slider and to the shell inserter slider, said crank slider being sufficiently frictionally engaged with said guide shaft for said crank slider to be slightly retarded such that when the ram starts from its lower limit to move upwardly said slider remains temporarily substantially stationary on the guide shaft for causing said crank to swing under the influence of the force of the moving ram and to urge said shell inserter slider to said shell plate for inserting a shell in a shell holder pocket.

10. The reloader according to any one of claims 1 or 9 including a device for inserting a primer in a case after the spent primer of the case has been removed and the shell plate has been indexed to thereby position the case after the spent primer of the case has been removed and the shell plate has been indexed to thereby position the case at the primer insertion station, comprising:

a housing including a chamber and a trough coupled to the chamber through which primers are fed by gravity to the chamber,

a reciprocating slider in the chamber having a notch for receiving a primer, said slider adapted for reciprocating to a retracted position for receiving a primer in the notch and to an advanced position for releasing the primer,

a swingable arm pivotally supported from the housing and means for coupling the arm to the reciprocating slider,

a stationary arm actuator mounted to the frame of the reloader and arranged for engaging said arm to swing and advance said reciprocating slider to slide a primer into a position of readiness for being inserted in a case when said ram is moving toward its uppermost position,

a rocking lever pivotally mounted to said shell plate carrier, the lever having a first end portion for driving a primer and a second end portion,

a cylindrical member for coupling said chamber to said shell plate carrier and a plunder having an upwardly extending primer setting pin, said plunger positioned over said second end portion of the rocking lever,

a stop member mounted to said reloader frame in a position for acting on said first end portion in response to said ram moving upwardly for actuating said plunger and the setting pin to drive a primer into a shell,

said swinging arm being constructed and arranged for being swung in a direction for retracting and reciprocating slider by being impacted by a case in the shell plate that is moving due to indexing of the shell plate when said ram is lowered to near its lower limit.

9. An ammunition case reloader comprising:

a frame,

a plurality of tools mounted to said frame at angularly spaced apart stations,

a ram mounted to said frame for moving upwardly to said tools and downwardly to a lower position,

a shell plate carrier mounted to said ram and a shell plate mounted for being indexed in rotationally angular steps on said carrier, said shell plate having a plurality of case holder pockets spaced apart in angular correspondence with said tools,

an operating lever operatively coupled to said ram for moving the ram to an upper position for said tools to operate on cases in said shell plate and for moving said ram downwardly to said lower position, a shell plate rotationally indexable an angular step for a cycle of upward and downward movement of the ram,

a slide guide supported from said ram,

a case inserter slider mounted on said slide guide for advancing toward and retracting from said shell plate, said case inserter slider is configured at an end presented toward said shell plate for receiving a case and releasing a case into a case holder pocket in the shell plate in response to advancement of the case inserter slider,

a guide shaft fixedly mounted to said frame and projecting generally upwardly at an angle relative to vertical,

a crank slider mounted on the guide shaft for sliding at an angle relative to vertical generally upwardly and downwardly thereon,

a crank pivotally connected to said crank slider and to the case inserter slider, said crank slider moving on said guide shaft such that when the ram starts to move upwardly from its lower position frictional retardation of aid crank slider causes said crank to swing under the influence of the moving ram and to urge said case inserter slider to said shell plate for inserting a case in said case holder pocket.

11. An ammunition case reloader comprising:

a frame,

a member on the frame for supporting a plurality of reloading tools at angularly spaced apart stations,

a ram mounted to said frame for moving upwardly to said tools and alternately downwardly and manually operated means for moving said ram upwardly and downwardly,

a shell plate mounted to said ram for being indexed in rotationally angular steps, said shell plate having a plurality of case holder pockets spaced apart in angular correspondence with said tools,

means for indexing said shell plate one angular step in response to said ram moving downwardly,

a case inserter device for inserting cases in succession into said pockets of the shell plate in correspondence with indexing steps of the shell plate the inserter device including,

a slide guide fixedly supported from the ram and extending radially of said shell plate,

a case inserter slide mounted on said slider guide for retracting to provide a clear region on the slide guide for a case inserter slider and the shell plate, and for advancing to insert the case in a pocket of the shell plate,

a guide shaft fixedly mounted to said frame and projecting upwardly at an angle away from said ram relative to vertical,

a crank slider mounted on the guide shaft for sliding upwardly and downwardly thereon,

a crank pivotally connected to said case inserter slider and to said crank slider, said crank slider having a predetermined amount of frictional retardation relative to said guide shaft,

said crank being constructed and arranged such that when said ram approaches its uppermost position and said crank slider is shifted at an angle on said guide shaft away from the ram, said crank slider causes said shell inserter slider to retract to provide for depositing said shell on the slide guide,

lowering of said ram and the case inserter slider thereon and simultaneous lowering of said crank slider causing said crank to turn in one direction to keep said shell case inserter slider retracted from the shell plate to prevent the case from being inserted in a shell plate pocket,

raising said ram a short distance above said lower limit while the friction between said crank slider is not yet overcome so the slider does not move on said guide shaft for a short interval causing said crank to turn oppositely of said one direction to advance said case inserter slider to insert the case in a pocket of said shell plate.

12. An ammunition case reloader comprising:

a frame,

a member on the frame for supporting a plurality of reloading tools at angularly spaced apart stations,

a ram mounted to said frame for moving alternately upwardly to said tools and downwardly from said tools,

a shell plate carrier mounted to said ram and a generally circular shell plate mounted to the carrier for being indexed in rotationally angular steps, said shell plate having a plurality of case holder pockets in its periphery spaced apart in angular correspondence with said tools and having a plurality of indexer engageable elements equiangularly spaced apart and projecting downwardly from the shell plate in the carrier,

an operating lever mounted on said frame for being swung downwardly and upwardly to an upper limit and means for operatively coupling said lever to said ram such that swinging the lever downwardly moves said ram to an uppermost position wherein a case on said shell plate engages a tool and swinging the lever upwardly moves and index plate thereon said ram downwardly to a, lowermost position for the shell plate to move downwardly through an indexing position after said ram moves through more than a majority of the distance from its uppermost to its lowermost position,

a shell plate indexer rod mounted on said shell plate carrier for being driven inwardly of said carrier by said operating lever when the lever is swung upwardly to drive the rod against an indexer engageable element on the shell plate and thereby turn the shell plate one angular step when said ram is moving downwardly and has passed through a majority of the distance between said uppermost and lowermost positions,

said indexer rod having mounted on it a lower flipper and said frame having a generally downwardly extending track on it such that when said ram is driven to its position by swinging said operating lever downwardly for cases on the shell plate to engage said tools, said follower flipper is engaged with said track as said ram and follower flipper move downwardly in response to said operating lever moving upwardly, said track being configured to cause said indexer rod to retract from engagement with an indexer engageable element on said shell plate,

continued swinging of said operating lever upwardly for moving said ram downwardly to said indexing position resulting in said lever driving said indexer rod into engagement with an indexer engageable element to rotate said shell plate one angular step.

13. The reloader, according to claim 12, including a projection on said frame arranged for being struck by the descending flipper immediately before said ram reaches said lowermost position to swing said indexer rod into direct alignment with an indexer engageable element before the operating lever begins to drive the indexer rod.

14. The reloader, according to claim 13, including guide elements in said shell plate carrier arranged to guide said indexer rod into alignment with an indexer engageable element.

15. The reloader according to any one of claims 12, 13, or 14 including a stop element (75) in said shell plate carrier in the path of movement of the indexer rod, said indexer rod having a level at one end thereof for jamming against said stop element when said indexer rod is driven in far enough by said operating lever to complete a shell plate indexing step.