Gun for firing telescoped ammunition, plus searing means

• US 4,872,391 A
• Filed: 12/11/1987
• Issued: 10/10/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ARES, Inc. (CDG Environmental LLC)
• Original Assignee: ARES, Inc. (CDG Environmental LLC)
• Inventors: Stoner, Eugene M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tudor, Harold J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnson, Stephen
• Application Number:
  US07/131,832
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: 89/156, 89/33.03, 89/149, 89/150, 89/155, 42/15, 42/39.5
• US Class Current: 89/155
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 9/42 Rammers separate from breech-block
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 9/45 the cartridge chamber or the barrel as a whole being tiltable or transversely slidable between a loading and a firing position F41A9/25 and F41A9/27 take precedence

Abstract

A self-powered, belt-fed automatic gun for firing cylindrical, telescoped ammunition is described. Mounted in receiver portions of the gun, to which a barrel is connected, are a shell chamber, a chamber carrier assembly, a shell rammer assembly and shell feeding and casing ejecting assembly. The shell rammer and chamber carrier assemblies are mounted in the receiver for axial reciprocating movement, the chamber being interconnected with the carrier assembly so that recoil movement of the carrier assembly moves the chamber laterally from a firing position to a loading position, counterrecoil movement of the carrier assembly causing the chamber to move back to the firing position. Responsive to chamber movement from the firing position to the loading position a shell is moved into a feed position rearwardly adjacent to the chamber. Searing means are provided for enabling the rammer assembly to move forwardly in counterrecoil in advance of the carrier assembly, the rammer assembly ramming a shell from the feed position into the chamber, and thereby ramming a fired shell casing from the chamber into a forwardly adjacent ejecting chamber, before the carrier assembly is released for counterrecoil movement. A firing pin mounted on the carrier assembly causes firing of a shell in the chamber when the carrier assembly reaches its battery position.

Claims

1. A gun for firing cylindrically-shaped, telescoped ammunition, the gun comprising:

(a) a receiver;

(b) a gun barrel and means detachably connecting rearward end regions of the barrel to forward regions of the receiver;

(c) a shell chamber having formed longitudinally therethrough a cylindrical, shell-holding aperture sized to receive a cylindrical, telescoped shell and means mounting the shell chamber in the receiver rearwardly of the barrel for linear sliding movement in a direction orthogonal to a bore axis of the barrel between a shell-loading position in which the shell-holding aperture is out of axial alignment with the bore through the barrel and a shell firing position in which the shell-holding aperture is axially aligned with the barrel bore;

(d) a shell chamber carrier and means mounting the carrier in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost, battery position and a rearwardmost position;

(e) means for interconnecting the chamber with the shell chamber carrier so as to cause the shell chamber to be in the shell loading position when the shell chamber carrier is in the rearwardmost position and to be in the shell firing position when the shell carrier is in the forwardmost, battery position;

said interconnecting means including means defining a cam track on the shell chamber carrier and including an interconnecting link, the interconnecting link being connected to the shell chamber and having a cam track follower engaging said cam track; and

said cam track being a generally "S"-shaped recess formed along the shell chamber carrier, and said cam track follower comprising a roller sized to roll along said cam track;

(f) means for causing movement of the shell chamber carrier between the forwardmost, battery position and the rearwardmost position;

(g) means for loading a shell into the shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position;

said loading means including shell feeding means for moving a shell into a pickup position rearwardly of said shell loading position and further including shell rammer means for ramming shells forwardly from the pickup position into the shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position;

said shell rammer means including a rammer body having a forwardly extending shell rammer fixed thereto and including means mounting the shell rammer means in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a rearwardmost position in which the shell rammer is rearward of a shell in a said pickup position and a forwardmost, battery position in which the shell rammer is rearwardly adjacent the shell chamber when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position and further including means for causing movement of the shell rammer means between the rearwardmost and forwardmost, battery positions;

(h) means for causing firing of a shell held in the shell-holding aperture when the chamber is in the shell-firing position; and

,

(i) sear means for searing up the shell chamber carrier and the rammer means when the shell chamber carrier and the shell rammer means are in their rearwardmost positions and including means for releasing said searing means so as to release the shell rammer means and shell chamber carrier for forward movement thereof.

2. The gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the searing means include a primary sear for searing up the shell rammer means and a secondary sear for searing up the shell chamber carrier.

3. The gun as claimed in claim 2 wherein the sear releasing means include triggering means connected for selectively releasing the primary sear and means responsive to forward movement of the shell rammer means to its forwardmost battery position for causing release of the secondary sear.

4. The gun as claimed in claim 3 wherein the searing means are configured for causing the secondary sear to sear up the shell chamber carrier whenever the shell chamber carrier is moved rearwardly to its said rearwardmost position provided the shell rammer means is not at its said forwardmost, battery position and irrespective of whether or not the triggering means causes the primary sear to sear up the shell rammer means.

5. A gun for firing cylindrically-shaped, telescoped shell of substantially uniform diameter and length, the gun comprising:

(a) a receiver having means defining a shell feeding port and a fired shell casing ejection port, adjacent ends of said shell feeding and casing ejection ports being longitudinally spaced apart a distance equal to at least about the length of one of the shells fired by the gun, said receiver further including means defining a shell ramming position in shell transfer communication with the shell feeding port and means defining a fired shell casing discharge position in shell casing transfer communication with the shell ejection port, said shell ramming position and said shell casing discharge position being axially aligned;

(b) a gun barrel having a bore axis; and

means for detachably connecting a rearward end region of the barrel to forward regions of the receiver, with said bore axis of the gun barrel laterally offset from the axially aligned shell ramming and shell casing discharging positions;

(c) a shell chamber having means defining a cylindrical shell-holding aperture sized to hold one of said cylindrically-shaped, telescoped shells to be fired by the gun;

(d) means for mounting the shell chamber in the receiver intermediate the shell feeding and casing ejection ports for lateral movement between a shell loading position in which the shell holding aperture is between, and is axially aligned with, the shell ramming and fired casing discharging positions and a shell firing position in which the shell-holding aperture is axially aligned with the barrel;

(e) means for causing movement of the shell chamber between the shell loading and the shell firing positions;

said movement causing means including a shell chamber carrier, means for mounting the shell chamber carrier in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost, battery position and a rearwardmost position, including means for interconnecting the shell chamber carrier and the shell chamber so as to cause the shell chamber to be in the shell firing position when the shell chamber carrier is in the battery position and so as to cause the shell chamber to be in the shell loading position when the shell chamber carrier is in the rearwardmost position, and further including means for causing the shell chamber carrier to move between the battery position and the rearwardmost position;

said movement causing means further including gas operated piston means connected for receiving pressurized barrel gases caused by firing of a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell firing position and for causing, in response to receiving said pressurized gases, recoil movement of the shell chamber carrier from the battery position to the rearwardmost position, and further including drive spring means connected for causing counterrecoil movement of the shell chamber carrier from the rearwardmost position to the battery position;

(f) means for ramming a shell from the shell ramming position into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position, thereby also causing a fired shell casing held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture to be pushed out therefrom into the fired casing discharge position;

said shell ramming means including a rammer body having an elongate shell rammer mounted thereto and means for mounting the rammer body in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a first position in which the shell rammer is out of engagement with a shell in the shell ramming position and a second position in which the shell rammer has pushed a shell from the shell ramming position fully into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture and including means for moving the shell rammer body between the first and second positions, said shell rammer body moving means cooperating with the shell chamber moving means so that the shell chamber carrier is in its rearwardmost position, with the shell chamber in the shell loading position, when the rammer body is moved from the first position to the second position;

(g) means for firing a shell held in the shell chamber shell holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell firing position;

said shell firing means including a firing pin connected to the shell chamber carrier in a position causing the firing pin to impact and fire a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber carrier moves forwardly into the battery position thereby causing the shell chamber to be moved into the shell firing position; and

(h) searing means for searing up the shell chamber carrier when the shell chamber carrier is in its rearwardmost position and for searing up the rammer body when the rammer body is in the first position.

6. The gun as claimed in claim 5 including sear control means for enabling the unsearing of the rammer body and enabling the rammer body to be moved by the rammer body moving means from the first position to the second position before the shell chamber carrier is unseared.

7. The gun as claimed in claim 6 wherein the sear control means include shell chamber carrier unsearing means responsive to the rammer body being moved to said second position for unsearing the shell chamber carrier.

8. A self-powered, automatic gun for firing cylindrically shaped, telescoped shells of substantially uniform diameter and length held in a link-type ammunition belt, the gun comprising:

(a) a receiver having defined therein an ammunition belt feed port, a fired shell casing ejection port, a belt link ejection port, a shell pickup position in communication with the feed port and the belt link ejection port, and a casing discharge position in communication with the casing ejection port, the shell pickup position and the casing discharge positions being axially aligned and spaced apart about one shell length;

(b) a gun barrel and means for connecting a rearward end of the barrel to forward regions of the receiver;

(c) a shell chamber having defined therethrough a longitudinal shell-holding aperture sized to enable the sliding therethrough of said cylindrical-shaped, telescoped shells and having a length substantially equal to the length of one of said shells;

(d) means for mounting the shell chamber in the receiver rearwardly of the rearward end of the gun barrel for sliding movement between a shell firing position in which the shell-holding aperture is aligned with the gun barrel and a shell holding position in which the shell holding aperture is clear of said gun barrel and is between and is axially aligned with the shell pickup position and the casing discharge position;

(e) a shell chamber carrier and means mounting the shell chamber carrier in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost, battery position and a rearwardmost position;

(f) means interconnecting the shell chamber with the shell chamber carrier so as to cause the shell chamber to move from the shell firing position to the shell loading position in response to the shell chamber carrier moving from the forwardmost position to the rearwardmost position and for causing the shell chamber to move from the shell loading position to the shell firing position in response to the shell chamber carrier moving from the rearwardmost position to the forwardmost position;

(g) shell feeding means responsive to movement of the shell chamber to the shell loading position for advancing the ammunition belt through the belt feed port so as to position a shell held in the belt in the shell pickup position and for moving a shell casing in the casing discharge position out of the casing ejection port;

(h) shell rammer means for loading shells into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell loading position, said shell rammer means including a rammer body having mounted thereto a shell rammer member and means for mounting the rammer body in the receiver for axial sliding movement between a forwardmost rammer position and a rearwardmost rammer position, movement of the rammer body from the rearwardmost rammer position to the forwardmost rammer position, when a shell is in the shell pickup position and the shell chamber is in the shell loading position, causing a shell to be rammed from the pickup position into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture, thereby causing a shell casing held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture to be rammed out of said aperture into the casing discharge position;

(i) means responsive to firing of a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture for causing movement of the shell chamber carrier and the shell rammer means from their said forwardmost positions to their said rearwardmost positions;

(j) means, when the shell chamber carrier and the shell rammer means are in their rearwardmost positions, for preventing forward movement of the shell chamber carrier until the shell rammer means has moved forwardly to its forwardmost rammer position, thereby enabling the loading of a shell into the shell chamber shell-holding aperture before the shell chamber carrier starts moving forwardly to its forwardmost battery position and the shell chamber starts moving from the shell loading position to the shell firing position;

(k) means for causing firing of a shell held in the shell-holding aperture when the shell is in the shell firing position;

(i) means for searing up the shell rammer means when the shell rammer means is in its rearwardmost position; and

(m) means for unsearing the shell rammer means when the shell rammer means is seared up.

9. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the means for moving the shell rammer means and the shell chamber carrier between their said forwardmost and rearwardmost positions comprise a barrel gas cylinder in gas flow communication with the barrel bore and a piston disposed in said cylinder, said barrel gas cylinder and piston being located so that the piston is in rearward pushing engagement with at least one of the shell rammer means and the shell chamber carrier so as to cause rearward movement thereof in response to pressurized barrel gases caused by firing of the gun flowing into said cylinder.

10. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 9 wherein the piston is in rearward pushing engagement with the shell rammer means, and wherein the shell rammer means include means for pushing the shell chamber carrier rearwardly when the shell rammer means is pushed rearwardly by said piston.

11. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 9 wherein the means for moving the shell rammer means and the shell chamber carrier between their said forwardmost and rearwardmost positions include a first forward drive spring connected between the receiver and the shell rammer means and a second forward drive spring connected between the receiver and the shell chamber carrier, said first and second drive springs being configured for causing independent forward movement of the shell rammer means and the shell chamber carrier from their said rearwardmost positions.

12. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the means for causing firing of a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture include a firing pin mounted to the shell chamber carrier in a location causing a forward end of the firing pin to impact a primer portion of a shell held in the shell chamber shell-holding aperture when the shell chamber is in the shell firing position and the shell chamber carrier reaches its forwardmost battery position.

13. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 8 including recoil buffering means mounted in the receiver in the path of rearward travel of the shell rammer means and the shell chamber carrier for absorbing rearward recoil energy thereof and thereby stop rearward recoil movement thereof.

14. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein said means for preventing forward movement of the shell chamber carrier until the shell rammer means has moved to its forwardmost rammer position include a secondary searing means for searing up the shell chamber carrier in its rearwardmost position and secondary unsearing means responsive to movement of the shell rammer means to its said forwardmost rammer position for unsearing the secondary searing means.

15. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein said shell rammer body comprises a laterally flexible member which is substantially rigid in an axially compressive direction.