Patent GB-579977-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to ammunition-hoppers for use on automatic guns
IPC: F41A9/68
Filed: 1943-01-07
Abstract: 579,977. Ammunition hoppers. MOLINS, D. W., RUAU, F. F., and MOLINS MACHINE CO., Ltd. Jan. 7, 1943, No. 352. [Class 92 (ii)] An ammunition hopper for automatic guns comprises in combination a plurality of sets of guide members, such as nose-guides and baseguides, a support to accommodate the guide members side by side and to retain each set in position to hold a row of rounds, means to feed the sets in succession towards a discharging position, and means operable on each set after it has been moved from the discharging position to displace the guide members of each set independently of one another and to move them transversely of the feeding movement so that they are collated alongside the hopper. In the construction shown, the base guides 2 are each composed of hinged sections 2A, 2B, and adjacent guides are interconnected by upper and lower hinge pins 5. The nose guides 1 are each made in one piece and are hinged together by upper and lower pins 3, 4. The guides are supported by rails 7 ... 10 which are fixed to brackets 11 ... 14 on the framework of the hopper, and are fitted at their bases with rollers 51, 52. The lowermost row of the five rows of cartridges shown in Fig. 1 is in the discharging position, and after the'last cartridge therein has been discharged the remaining rows are moved downwardly, as seen in Fig. 1, to bring the next row into the discharging position and to displace the empty guide members. The base guides are thus displaced in succession around a semicircular path as shown, the movement being controlled by a cable 49 passing around curved guides 50, while the nose guides move along a curved track 42. The movement of the guides is effected by an electric motor 28 which drives two screw-threaded shafts 19, 20, upon which are mounted nuts 21, 22, respectively fitted to the last nose and base guides. In operation, the. cartridges in the discharging position are fed towards the gun by a roller 37 at the end of a spring-urged pivoted'arm 35. During the downward movement of the arm, see Fig. 4, about its pivot 36, a pin 89 thereon slips over the teeth 88 of a pivoted lever 87, which lever thus prevents the arm moving upwards under shock. As the arm reaches its lowest position to discharge the last cartridge, a roller 81 thereon swings a lever 78 about its pivot 79 and this lever in turn engages and depresses an arm 76 against the action of a spring 84. Depression of the arm 76 releases a catch 61, Fig. 2, from engagement with the part 15 of the leading nose-guide and a bar 62, with which catch 61 and arm 76 are integral, is retracted by a spring 68. This movement serves to close the switch of motor 28 and to release a brakeshoe associated therewith, and the nose and base guides are thus moved to bring the next row of cartridges into the discharging position. The motor also drives, through gearing 29, 30, a cam 33 which engages with a roller 34 on arm 35, the latter being thereby raised and subsequently released to act on the next row of cartridges. Means are provided to hold the lever 87 clear of the pin 89 during this movement. As the next row of cartridges approaches the discharging position, its member 15 engages the catch 61, which has now risen under the action of spring 84, and pulls the bar 62 to a position where it switches off the motor 28 and applies the brake. After the last round of the last row has been discharged, the arm 35 is raised and supported by its pin 89 on a plate 112 of arm 87, and the nose and guide members are returned to their original positions for recharging by a handle 117 attached to a shaft which is geared to the shafts 19, 20. Specifications 10622/07, [Class 92], and 578,477 are referred to. The Provisional Specification describes a modification in which some of the nose guides are not interconnected and in which means are provided for positively urging them away from their discharging position when exhausted of ammunition. The switch actuating the motor is acted upon by the depresser arm at the end of its downward stroke, being depressed by the arm against the action of a spring. The switch is in parallel with a rotary switch on the shaft of the cam corresponding to cam 33 of the Complete Specification and this rotary switch keeps the circuit closed until the parts of the mechanism have been moved to a position where the arm engages the next, row of cartridges.