Abstract:
A combined breech and ammunition drive is provided for a breech of a weapon and/or for introducing ammunition by a feeding star using an external drive, wherein the respective drive is selectively engaged and disengaged. A selector drum that interacts with the drives has slots for the selective engagement and disengagement, and elements are guided in the slots, the slot moving component which engage into the drives in a form-fitted and force-closed manner and which can thereby engage and disengage same. The component being 3-way jaw clutches for example.

Description:
This nonprovisional application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2010/007076, which was filed on Nov. 23, 2010, and which claims priority to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2009 056 736.4, which was filed in Germany on Dec. 4, 2009, and which are both herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a selectively switchable breechblock and/or ammunition drive for feeding of a round of ammunition/cartridge into a chamber of a gun barrel, with which in certain cases the feeding of the breechblock and/or of a round of ammunition in front of the breechblock can be suppressed with the weapon drive continuing to run. Such an option must be provided, inter alia, for the cases in which no breechblock motion must be allowed to take place, for example when the weapon is to be reloaded or a round of ammunition that is located further back in the ammunition magazine or belt element is to be selected. 
     2. Description of the Background Art 
     It is well known for a cartridge to be placed in front of a breechblock and for the cartridge to be brought into the gun barrel with the aid of the breechblock motion. The breechblock motion here is based on dwell times during which the breechblock cannot be allowed to move. 
     The externally driven autocannon known under the name Bushmaster has a circulating chain as the function control and drive for moving the breechblock and ammunition feed, which also gives it the name “chain gun.” Required dwell times are implemented by the guidance of the chain (U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,607; U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,858; U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,936; U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,793; DE 30 21 200 C, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,709). 
     DE 10 2007 048 468 A describes a drive for linear feeding of ammunition to a gun barrel or chamber by means of a chain. The chain itself is guided closely around two sprockets in a simple manner. A chain link or a cam of the chain is engaged in a guide or channel located below the movable slider. By this means, the chain can continue to move during dwell periods of the weapon that are defined by the function control. The chain itself can be driven by an electric motor. 
     In contrast, for linear feeding of a breechblock to the gun barrel or chamber, DE 10 2007 054 470 A proposes incorporating a straight guide channel into the drive kinematics. A component that is structurally connected to the breechblock is guided in the guide channel. The guide channel in turn is surrounded by a circulating guide (gate), which in its turn interprets the required dwell times of the breechblock during locking, firing, and unlocking in its forward position, and during reloading after the breechblock has been guided to its rear position. An additional component is guided in the guide as the drive means for the breechblock. The transmission of the drive can be implemented by means of rollers, gears, or the like, which are driven by a motor, etc. The drive itself continues to run during the dwell periods of the weapon. 
     In special cases, it must be possible to remove the breechblock drive and/or the ammunition drive from the system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the invention has the object of disclosing a design for selectively switching on and off the applicable drive from the weapon system. 
     In order for the weapon&#39;s construction to be smaller, rear-locking of the breechblock is provided in an embodiment, since in this way the feed travel of the round of ammunition can be made shorter. This eliminates the construction space otherwise required for front locking, which the round of ammunition would have to traverse before reaching the chamber. However, other breech designs are also possible; the selective switching on and off of the drives is not dependent on the locking type itself. 
     Breechblock guidance with the required dwell times is produced by means of slots between which a (control) slider is engaged, said slider in turn being functionally connected to the breechblock support or directly to the breechblock. This involves what is known as a slot fixed with respect to the weapon for the breechblock feeding and a locking slot for locking the breechblock. The slot fixed with respect to the weapon for the breechblock feeding, which preferably is integrated below the breechblock, works together with a first, longer connecting rod of a cam disk of the breechblock drive. 
     By means of the longer connecting rod, the breechblock support, and thus the breechblock, are moved in the firing direction and opposite thereto. The rotary motion of the cam disk is converted into a linear motion here. To this end, the connecting rod is fastened to/integrated into the slot at its back end or pin. The connecting rod engages at its front end (viewed in the direction of firing) via toothing with the rack fixed with respect to the weapon and the slider of the breechblock support. In this design, a better transmission ratio for the breechblock motion can be established. An additional, shorter connecting rod is incorporated into the slider; this connecting rod engages the slider, and also has means by which a functional connection is produced between the slot fixed with respect to the weapon and the breechblock support or the breechblock. In a preferred embodiment, this involves two rollers, wherein the lower roller engages the slot fixed with respect to the weapon and the upper roller engages a transverse channel in the breechblock support. 
     The zero position (breechblock dwell) is integrated into the rear endpoint of the slot fixed with respect to the weapon; the dwell time of the breechblock during the firing position is defined in the locking slot, which is integrated circumferentially into the breechblock support. 
     For feeding the round of ammunition in front of the breechblock, which is to say while the latter has assumed its zero position, the ammunition feed is moved by the common drive. An index drive with cam follower wheel that works together with this slot then transfers this motion to a feeding star by which the round of ammunition is placed in front of the breechblock in a known manner. The feeding star in turn executes a motion and brings a new round of ammunition in front of the breechblock, brings the empty cartridge casing into the belt element, etc. This process is cycled by the index drive. 
     For normal firing, the breechblock drive and also the ammunition drive are switched on in the system. 
     Based on the fact that the guidance of the breechblock and the feeding of the round of ammunition in front of the breechblock is implemented, in particular, by a common mechanism (construction), provision is henceforth made that, for special cases, the applicable drive that is not required can be selectively switched off or disconnected in the mechanism. The common drive includes two synchronizable (cam) disks or gears provided with external toothing, for example. 
     For the selective (optional) switching off or on of the applicable drive, a separately drivable selector drum is incorporated, which in turn can bring means into or out of engagement with the applicable drive. This means can be an upper and lower square jaw clutch. The selector drum has cams on its circumference in which are guided elements through which the means can engage or release the drives in an interlocking and force-guided manner, making it possible to switch the applicable drive on or off. 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a weapon, partially without housing, with a selective breechblock and ammunition drive; 
         FIG. 2  is a view of the selective drive from  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is the drive from  FIG. 2  in a perspective view from below; 
         FIG. 4  is a view of the rear part of the breechblock drive from  FIG. 1  without breechblock support; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of the breechblock drive from  FIG. 4  in a perspective view from below; and 
         FIG. 6  is a view of the front part of the breechblock drive from  FIG. 1  in the locked position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the figures,  1  identifies a weapon that is characterized by straight feeding of a breechblock  2 . 1  or breechblock support  2  to feed a round of ammunition  3  into a chamber  4  of a weapon barrel of the weapon  1 . For a version with a more compact construction, rear locking of the breechblock  2 . 1  is provided. The end face of the breechblock  2 . 1  is made such that it can engage in the groove in the cartridge base of the cartridge or round of ammunition  3 , and can carry it forward into the chamber  4  and can carry it out of the chamber  4  again after firing and deposit it in a feeding star. Obturation to the chamber  4  of the gun barrel  1  itself is accomplished by means of the casing of the round of ammunition  3 . 
     The firing pin (not shown in detail) required for ignition of the round of ammunition  3  is guided and held inside the breechblock chamber  2 . 3 . The number  5  identifies a drive for the breechblock drive and  6  identifies the drive for feeding the round of ammunition  3 . In both cases, these drives are disks that have external toothing  7 ,  8 . 
     A gear with toothing  9  or  10 , which is driven by an external drive  11 , for example, engages in each of these sets of external toothing  7 ,  8 . The gears  9 ,  10 , in turn, are carried by a shaft  22  that is driven by the external drive  11 . 
     The feeding of the breechblock  2 . 1  or breechblock support  2  is accomplished by means of gates and guides, integrated into the weapon system, for the feed and dwell times. 
     Components  17 ,  18 , which can engage the gears  9  or  10  (or neither of the two) in an interlocking and force-locking manner serve to selectively switch off or on the breechblock drive and the ammunition drive  5 ,  6 . A separately drivable selector drum  12 , by means of which the drives  5 ,  6  can be selectively switched on, is responsible for this engagement or disengagement (see  FIG. 2 ). To this end, the selector drum  12  has cams  15 ,  16  which guide control sleeves  13 ,  14 , and the control sleeves  13 ,  14 , in turn move the components  17 ,  18 , which components, in this embodiment, comprise jaw clutches. 
       FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of the drive  5 ,  6  from below. Incorporated beneath the drive  6  for the ammunition feed is an index drive  20 , here a disk index drive, with a complementary disk pair having detent and operating angles and a cam follower wheel  21 . The cam follower wheel  21  is set in motion by the cams of the disk pair and is functionally matched to the drive shaft of the ammunition feed to the feeding star  19 . The operating angle is determined by the part of the cam that accomplishes the rotation of the cam follower wheel  21  by one step; the detent angle is determined by the part of the cam in which the cam follower wheel  21  does not change its position despite rotation of the cam. 
       FIG. 4  shows a top view of the disk  5 , in which a long connecting rod  26  is integrated and to which the connecting rod is functionally connected. The long connecting rod  26  serves to convert the rotary motion of the disk  5  into a linear breechblock motion, and thus to actually move the breechblock/breechblock support  2 , in conjunction with a short connecting rod  25 . The rear end or pin of the long connecting rod  26  is fastened to/integrated into the cam disk  5 . The front end (viewed in the direction of firing) of the connecting rod  26  engages via toothing  28  ( FIG. 5 ) with a rack  29  that is fixed with respect to the weapon and with a slider  27  of the breechblock support  2 . In this way, a better transmission ratio (for example, 1:2) can be established for the breechblock motion itself. This has the advantage that the diameter of the crankcase (disks 5+6) can be made smaller by one half than in the case of a 1:1 transmission. This entails lower weight. 
     The short connecting rod  25  is held at one end in the slider  27  and guided therewith. At the other end, the short connecting rod  25  engages in a transverse slot  31  introduced above the connecting rod  25  and below the breechblock support  2  ( FIG. 5 ). The short connecting rod  25  is guided in a slot  30  that is fixed with respect to the weapon, and carries the breechblock support  2  backward or forward on account of the engagement with the transverse slot  31  when the slider  27  is displaced by the long connecting rod  26 . In the rear end position, the so-called dead center point of the feed, the connecting rod  25  is pivotable. This makes it possible for the breechblock support  2  to remain stationary (dwell time) in this rear position as the round of ammunition  3  is fed, while the system or the slider  27  continues to travel a short distance further. In this end position, the slot  30  has an endpoint  30 . 1  into which the connecting rod  25  is pushed. As a result of the pivotability, the slider  27  can continue to travel below the end point  30 . 1  in the slot  30  in spite of said end point. This design implements the—rear—dwell time of the breechblock during which ammunition loading takes place. 
     The breechblock support  2  and breechblock  2 . 1  are structurally connected to one another by a carrier  33  that is functionally attached in a fixed manner to the breechblock  2 . 1 . The locking of the breechblock  2 . 1  is achieved by means of an additional locking slot  32  (channel) integrated into the breechblock support  2 , into which the carrier  33  can escape for locking. The breechblock  2 . 1  is guided by a part  40  that is stationary (on the weapon housing). Once the breechblock  2 . 1  reaches its front stop position, the slider  27  moves slightly further into its front end position. The breechblock support  2 , in turn, is carried further via the top slot into a locking slot  32 , which is preferably integrated above the breechblock support  2 , in order to be able to lock the breechblock  2 . 1  in/onto the part  40  (locking lugs  41  in  FIG. 2 ). For locking, the cam  33  then moves out of the slot  32 . 1  into a locking path  32 . 2  of the locking slot  32 . In this way, a floating support (accommodating reverse motion) of the breechblock  2 . 1  is achieved in the firing position ( FIG. 6 ). 
     The selective switching on and off of the ammunition feed and of the breechblock motion shall now be described in detail using these Figures. 
     During normal firing operation, the breechblock and ammunition drive  5 ,  6  are switched on continuously. Now if it is desired, the breechblock drive  5  and/or the ammunition drive  6  can be taken out of the drive system. 
     This can be accomplished by means of a lever, servomotor, etc., which is not shown in detail. The selector drum  12 , and hence the cam segments  15 ,  16 , are moved thereby in a manner that is not shown. 
     In the event that the ammunition drive  6  is switched off or removed from the system, the selector drum  12  brings the jaw clutch  18  out of the toothing or the gear  10 . As a result, there is no longer force transmission from the gear  10  to the drive  6 . The breechblock drive  5  remains switched on, however. By further rotation of the selector drum  12 , the jaw clutch  18  can be brought back into force-locked connection with the toothing  10 , so that the ammunition drive  6  is switched on again. 
     The same mode of operation applies to the switching on or off of the breechblock drive  5 , for which purpose the jaw clutch  17  is brought into or out of the gear  9 , while the ammunition transport continues to run. A further rotation of the selector drum  12  then causes the breechblock drive  5  to be switched on again. 
     It is a matter of course that a position is also integrated into the cams  15 ,  16  ( FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ) in which both drives  5 ,  6  are taken out of the system. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.