Patent Publication Number: US-2022221260-A1

Title: Self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder

Description:
FIELD 
     The aspects of the disclosed embodiments relate to soldiers, law enforcement and other users of 40 millimetre grenade launchers, tear gas launchers, shotguns or similar handheld guns or grenade launchers which have to be reloaded after each shot or the magazines of which have to be manually reloaded. The ammunition holder is intended for carrying ammunition and for rapid transfer of ammunition from a carrier device or elsewhere into the cartridge chamber or charging chamber of the actual gun. In this application, ammunition refers to rifle-calibre cartridges and other ammunition. The disclosed embodiments are mainly intended for 40 mm grenade launcher and shotgun ammunition but is not limited to them. 
     BACKGROUND 
     For carrying ammunition, combat gear has included bandoliers, vests with pockets and separate pockets fastened in different ways. Such pockets have also remained largely unchanged over time. The ease of retrieving ammunition and inserting it in the weapon varies a great deal between different pocket types. 
     A pocket with a flap keeps the ammunition safe, but opening the flap is an inconvenient motion when firing several shots as each ammunition must be taken out of the pocket separately. The flap can be kept open, but then there is no guarantee that the ammunition will stay in place. The properties of textile pockets change when they get wet, especially in freezing conditions. Water also remains in textile pockets and increases the weight of the load carried by the user. Ammunition can be placed on the magazine table of a fighting hole or a similar place where they are readily accessible. In this case, however, the weather and any debris loosened by the action may cover the ammunition. It may be impossible to take along loose ammunition when changing the fighting position. 
     Loading single-shot and magazine grenade launchers and shotguns is speeded up considerably by a loading holder made for the purpose. In practical shooting competitions, mechanical loading holders or loader tubes are used for tubular magazine shotguns. In a shotgun loading holder, the shotgun cartridges are on the shooter&#39;s belt or other gear and two or four cartridges are usually retrieved from them at a time into one&#39;s hand and inserted in the tubular magazine of the shotgun. By using this type of loading holder and technique, it is possible to achieve a rate of fire corresponding to that of a box magazine fed semi-automatic shotgun with a tubular magazine shotgun. Shotgun loading holders are made by several manufacturers and one product known in the field is the MSHG6 modular loading holder manufactured by King Competition Products Oy. This type of shotgun loading holder usually has a body with a fixed upper clip for the base of the cartridge and an adjustable sliding lower clip which holds the lower part of the lower cartridge in place. The upper clip normally comprises a groove for the base of the cartridge and magnets or a mechanical clip. These shotgun loading holders are designed for shooting competitions and do not take field conditions or military or law enforcement users very much into consideration. 
     For hand grenades and distraction devices has been manufactured a hard pouch with a mechanism which keeps the distraction device in place in the gear. The manufacturer is A.C S. Industries Ltd and the product is called The Grenade Trigger Pouch and it is patented (U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,523,030 and 8,651,347). Its operating principle and field of use are, however, different. 
     The patent CN 206772145 U of CHONGQING XINGYONG TECH CO LTD also discloses a mechanical grenade or cast holder. In it, an upper lid folds open by the force of a spring and retracts out of the way, at the same time also releasing the jaws around the grenade. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosed embodiments relate to a self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder according to the accompanying claims. The self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder solves the problem of 40 mm grenade pouches, shotgun cartridge holders, by being mechanical, which means that its properties hardly change at all in normal temperatures or in the event it gets wet. The user experience is the same under all conditions and retrieving the grenade can be done reliably, whether or not wearing gloves. After practice, the self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder makes it possible to fire very rapid successive shots in various situations. Following the development of sights, weapons and ammunition, for example, in 40 mm grenade launchers, this is one way of increasing effect by increasing the rate of fire. 
     Due to the curved flight path and slow ammunition of the 40 mm ammunition of a grenade launcher, it may be difficult to hit a target with the first shot. Thus, a second rapid shot where adjustments have been made is important. With this loading holder, an experienced shooter is able to fire a rapid next shot, which means that the shooter will be able to change the fighting position or take cover quicker. 
     The aim of the disclosed embodiments is to provide a rapid, repeatable way independent of weather and lighting conditions of releasing ammunition for use from the gear or a weapon. The problem is solved by means of a mechanical holder, the length of which self-adjusts in accordance with the length of the ammunition used, and some of the holder&#39;s clips fold out of the way automatically after the ammunition has been released. The base of the ammunition is twisted outwards from the holder and it is released into the hand as the mechanism works. The ammunition stays well in place during transportation but is released by one hand, with one movement in the direction of loading. 
    
    
     
       LIST OF FIGURES 
       In the following are listed the Figures of the present application, wherein 
         FIG. 1A  is a three-dimensional view of the holder without ammunition. 
         FIG. 1B  is a three-dimensional view of the holder with ammunition. In this connection, all Figures showing ammunition show the same generic 40 mm grenade launcher ammunition. 
         FIG. 2A  is a cross-section of the holder as seen from the side without ammunition. The cross-section is at the pin and slide closest to the viewer and it also shows a height-adjusting spring. 
         FIG. 2B  shows the holder as seen from below without ammunition. 
         FIG. 3A  shows the holder with an alternative lower attachment part. 
         FIG. 3B  shows the holder with an alternative lower attachment part and ammunition. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1A-3B  show a holder  100 ,  111 , wherein a base  110  of an ammunition provided with a groove, flange or similar attaching shape is supported in a cavity  102  in an upper body of the holder. In the said cavity, in which the base of the ammunition stays, there is a groove and a shoulder  101  corresponding in shape to the groove or flange of the ammunition base, the said shoulder, together with the cavity  102 , keeping the ammunition in place in the direction of the longitudinal axis and sides of the holder. The shoulder may also be shaped to be straight so as not to conform to the curved shape of the ammunition base. When the ammunition is placed in the holder  100 , the base is lastly pressed in the cavity  102  and the shoulder  101  simultaneously prevents any loose dirt or ice from the groove or around the flange from entering the cavity  102 . 
     A clip  103  in the shape of the tip of the ammunition twists the ammunition towards the cavity  102  in the upper body and thus prevents the base  110  of the ammunition from being released from the upper body  109  without external twisting. The clip  103  is articulated and spring-loaded and bends, as in the holder  100  of  FIG. 1A , or turns, as in the holder  111  of  FIG. 3A , out of the way immediately when the ammunition is removed from the holder. Being made for round or pointed tip ammunition, the round clip has a diameter that is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the ammunition, which means that the clip pushed by the spring  113  cannot slide around the ammunition. In the solution of  FIGS. 3A and 3B , which comprises a turning clip  105 , a separate lower body part  115  is attached to an intermediate piece  107  and prevents the lower clip from sliding too far up along the ammunition. 
     The spring-loaded clip  103  or  105  is also self-adjusting according to the length of different ammunitions. The clip  103  with its spring  104  is attached to the intermediate piece  107  which combines two cylinders  108  sliding on a pin by the force of a spring  113  or the user. The movement of the spring  113  from the lower end is limited by the base  105  of the pin and from the upper end the spring is supported inside the cylinder  108  and on its end. Through the cylinder  108 , the spring  113  also pushes the intermediate piece  107  and the spring  104  attached to it as well as the lower clip  103  upwards and against the ammunition  112 . When detaching the ammunition, its base is turned outwards from the cavity  102  in the upper body. When the structure comprised of the lower clip  103  and the springs  104 ,  113  as well as the upper clip formed by the upper body bends, the base of the ammunition is able to turn completely out of the upper clip, whereupon it is free to move upwards, forward or to the sides. 
     When the ammunition is completely removed from the holder, the lower clip  103  is able to turn by the force of the spring  104  against the cylinders  108 . After the removal of the ammunition, the cylinder  108  with its parts  107 ,  104  and  103  is able to rise to an upper position in which the movement of the cylinder stops when its upper end reaches the upper body  109  and remains against it. The fastening of the lower clip  103 ,  105  through the intermediate piece  107  to the two cylinders  108  and the pin  106  prevents the lower clip  103  from rotating about the axis of the pin  106 . 
     At the back of the upper body  109  there are holes for fastening the holder to the desired base, weapon, gear or attachment. The bodies, clips, pins and springs together constitute a self-adjusting ammunition holder. 
     A substantial aspect is that following the removal of the ammunition, the clip retracts against the body of the holder. This allows easy handling of the next grenades and other equipment when the holder is not in the way. At the same time, this makes the profile of the empty holders lower, whereupon when using protection or when moving in confined spaces, the holder is in the way as little as possible. 
     A functional difference between the self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder disclosed herein and, for example, the publication CN 206772145 U is that in the said publication, the mechanism, and thus the grenade, is released by a push button. The self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder disclosed herein does not have a separate release button, but the ammunition may be taken from the holder directly into the loading grip. Another functional and significant difference is that in the self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder presented herein, the protruding parts turn inwards, thus making the holder considerably smaller once the ammunition or grenade has been removed. 
     The difference between the self-adjusting collapsible ammunition holder and pouches and other ammunition carriers is that it functions mechanically and thus gives a similar feel for detaching the ammunition each time. The ammunition detaches from the holder such that the user is able to insert the ammunition directly into the cartridge chamber, charging chamber or magazine of the weapon with the same grip with which the user grasps the ammunition from the holder. The holder does not take any more space in the gear than a normal pocket due to its retracting or collapsible lower clip. This feature makes an empty holder only slightly protruding in the gear and speeds up grasping the next ammunition because the clip has retracted out of the way.