Improvements in Ammunition Belts for Machine Guns.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1892-Accepted, 17th Sept., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ammunition Belts for Machine Guns.
A communication from FRANK MILTON GARLAND, of New Haven, in the County
of New Haven and State of Connecticut, United States of America,
Machinist.
1, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the class of belts used in connection with machine guns
for feeding cartridges to the loading mechanism; the object of the invention being
to provide a simple and cheap belt of this class having a body so flexible that with
the cartridges it can be folded into a box and fed directly therefrom into the gun,
the flexible body of the belt having cups with strong grasping arms which so firmly
hold the cartridges that they cannot be shaken out, but from which they can be
readily removed without the use of complicated mechanism in the gun, or destroying
the belt so that it may be again used.
Referring to the accompanying drawings
:-
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the belt holding a few cartridges.
Fig. 2 is a side view illustrating the manner in which the belt and cartridges are
drawn into the gun.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan of the blank from which the cartridge cups are
formed.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section of the belt and one of the cups.
In the views 1 indicates the body of the belt which is made of paper, cloth,
webbing, leather or the like material having sufficient tensile strength to lift the
cartridges which is cheap, thin, and quite flexible so that it will readily unfold from
the box into which with the cartridges it has been packed, and feed into the gun.
To one face of the body are secured cups 2 for holding the cartridges, while the
ends are provided with loops and hooks for engaging other belts, so that several
belts may be fed continuously.
These cups are preferably cut or stamped to shape from sheet metal, as brass, in
the form of the blank shown in Fig. 3 having a body to form the grasping arms 3
and projecting wings 4 on either side to form bearings for the legs of any common
cartridge removing comb or picker 5, as well as clips for securing the cups in place
along the belt. The grasping arms of the cups are shaped to firmly grasp and
hold the cartridges so that they cannot be shaken therefrom and the ends of the
wings may be bent downward, passed through perforations in the body of the belt
and clinched on the underside so as to hold the cups securely to the flexible body
of the belt.
In the plan view Fig. 1 one form of comb or picker is shown in full lines to
illustrate the use, object and advantages of the invention, although the picker is in
no way connected with the belt nor is it a part of the invention. This comb is
secured to the frame on the interior of the machine gun in which the belt
is to be used near the path of the belt, by any common means in any well known
manner.
It is essential that the belts be very flexible, and it is also necessary that the
cartridges be grasped firmly by the cups so that they cannot be shaken out by any
jar during action, consequently considerable pull is required to remove the cart-
ridges from the cups. As the belt with the cartridges is drawn into the gun by a
feed wheel 6 the cartridges are removed from the tightly holding grasping arms
by a comb 5 which straddles the belt and strips it from the cartridges as they pass

page_text: up with the feed wheel the ends of the comb resting upon wings on either side as
the cartridges are removed, so that the cups are not stripped from the belt at the
same time.
'
By means of this construction, a cheap, light and very flexible body or web may
be used which with the cartridges in the cups will closely pack into boxes, and
from which it can be readily drawn and fed into the gun. The cups are securely
held to this flexible body and firmly hold the cartridges without danger of their
being shaken out when the gun is in use. The cartridges can be readily and easily
removed from the belt without any complicated withdrawing mechanism, and with-
out danger of stripping the cups from the belt with the cartridges and clogging the
loading mechanism of the gun. The belts may be made of such cheap material
that they can be discarded after use, or may be re-used if desired, as they are not
damaged, and the cups can be quickly refilled with cartridges.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the
same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is ;-
1. An ammunition belt consisting of a flexible web bearing upon one face a
number of cups for firmly grasping the cartridges open on one side so that the
cartridges may be removed therefrom laterally and provided with projecting wings
on the edges to afford a bearing for the cartridge removing device substantially as
specified.
2. An ammunition belt consisting of a flexible web bearing upon one face a
number of cups for firmly grasping the cartridges open on one side so that the
cartridges may be removed therefrom laterally and provided with projecting wings
on the edges to afford a bearing for the cartridge removing device the ends of said
wings passing through the web and clinched on the opposite face substantially as
specified.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1892.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.