Improvements in the Feed-mechanism of Machine-guns.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 10th Oct., 1894--Accepted, 10th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Feed-mechanism of Machine-guns.
I, OWEN JONES, of 68 Great Russell Street, in the County of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :- .
My invention relates to the feed-mechanism of machine-guns of the kind or class
wherein the cartridges to be fed into the gun are placed in a vertical cartridge-
feeder having a T-shaped groove in which the heads of the cartridges are received
and down which the said cartridges slide.
The object of my said invention is to provide suitable means whereby, when the
gun is elevated or depressed the said cartridge-feeder will be maintained auto-
matically by gravity or otherwise in a vertical or nearly vertical position, so that
the cartridges will slide freely down the said feeder even with the gun at great
angles of elevation or depression.
In machine-guns as hitherto constructed of the kind or class above mentioned,
the vertical cartridge-feeder is rigidly secured in the top or cover of the gun-frame
at right angles to the axis or axes of the barrel or barrels, and, in cases where
gravity alone is relied upon for effecting the downward movement of the cartridges
in the said vertical cartridge-feeder, the descent of the cartridges in the said feeder
is liable, when the gun is used at great angles of elevation or depression, to be
impeded by reason of the inclination of the said feeder and the increased friction
consequent thereupon, between the cartridges and the feeder.
It has been proposed to overcome this defect by making the slot or opening
formed in the gun-frame to receive the said feeder, of greater length than that part
of the feeder which enters the same, so that the said feeder can be moved by hand
through a greater or less angle in the said slot or opening to vary its position
relatively to the axes of the barrels when the gun is greatly elevated or depressed,
suitable means being provided for securing the said feeder in different positions in
the said slot or opening. But this arrangement necessitates the performance of
additional operations in the working of the gun when the same is to be used at
large angles of elevation or depression.
Now by my invention I overcome the defect above mentioned without necessi-
tating any further operations than those heretofore required in order to work the
gun at any angle of elevation or depression.
In carrying my said invention into practice, according to one method, I so
construct and arrange the vertical cartridge-feeder that it will be maintained by
gravity in a vertical or nearly vertical position notwithstanding the elevation or
depression of the gun. For instance I attach or connect the said feeder to the gun-
frame or to the top or cover of the gun-frame by means of a ball-and-socket or
other suitable joints or pivots, and I make the said feeder with a downward
extension below the joint or pivot, to which extension is attached a suitable
weight.
According to another method, I arrange the vertical cartridge-feeder to turn
about a suitable joint or pivot and I connect the said feeder by suitable gearing or
mechanisni with the elevating gear, so that, as the gun is elevated or depressed, the
said feeder will be automatically turned about its pivot and thus maintained in a
vertical or nearly vertical position.
In applying my improved feed-mechanism to guns such as the "Gardner" gun
wherein a transversely moving feed-slide is arranged to receive the cartridges
Successively from the vertical feeder and move them into position between the

page_text: plunger or plungers and the barrel or barrels, I sometimes provide suitable
projections on the plunger or plungers whereby, when the gun is used at great
angles of elevation or depression, the cartridges, should they not fall completely
within the said feed-slide, will be pushed into the same by such projections in the
forward movement of the plunger or plungers.
Dated the 10th day of January 1894.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Feed-mechanism of Machine-guns.
I, OWEN JONES, of 68, Great Russell Street, in the County of London,
Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to the feed-mechanism of machine-guns of the kind or class
wherein the cartridges to be fed into the gun are placed in a vertical cartridge
hopper, feeder or feed-bar which has a T-shaped groove to receive the heads of the
cartridges and down which the said cartridges slide.
The object of my said invention is to provide suitable means whereby, notwith-
standing the elevation or depression of the gun, the cartridge-feeder will be
maintained automatically, by gravity or otherwise, in a vertical or nearly vertical
position, so that the cartridges will slide freely down the said feeder even with the
gun at great angles of elevation or depression.
In machine-guns as hitherto constructed of the kind or class above mentioned,
the vertical cartridge hopper or feeder is rigidly secured in the top or cover of the
gun-frame at right angles to the axis or axes of the barrel or barrels, and, in cases
where gravity alone is relied upon for effecting the downward movement of the
cartridges in the said hopper or feeder, the descent of the cartridges therein is
liable, when the gun is used at great angles of elevation or depression, to be
impeded by reason of the inclination of the said hopper or feeder and the increased
friction consequent thereupon between the cartridges and the surfaces with which
they are in contact.
It has been proposed to overcome this defect by making the slot or opening
formed in the gun-frame to receive the said hopper or feeder, of greater length
than that part of the feeder which enters the same, so that the said feeder can be
moved by hand through a greater or less angle in the said slot or opening to change
its position relatively to the axes of the barrels when the gun is greatly elevated
or depressed, suitable means being provided for securing the said feeder in either
of the positions to which it can be adjusted in the said slot or opening. But this
arrangement necessitates the performance of additional operations in the working of
the gun when the same is to be used at great angles of elevation or depression, and
does not provide for maintaining the feeder always in a vertical or nearly vertical
position.
Now by my invention I overcome the defect above mentioned without necessi-
tating the adjustment or shifting of the hopper or feed-bar by hand, after it has
once been introduced into the gun, in order to adapt it to work freely with the gun
at great angles of elevation or depression.
In carrying my said invention into practice, according to one method, I so
construct and arrange the cartridge hopper or feeder that it will be maintained by
gravity in a vertical or nearly vertical position notwithstanding the elevation or
depression of the gun. For instance I attach or connect the said feeder to the
gun-frame, or to the top or cover thereof, by means of a ball-and-socket joint or

page_text: by other suitable joints or pivots, and I make the said feeder with a downward
extension below the joint or pivot, to which extension is attached a suitable
weight.
According to another method, I arrange the vertical cartridge hopper or feeder
in such a manner that, as the gun is elevated or depressed, the said feeder will be
automatically turned about its pivot and thus maintained in a vertical or nearly
vertical position.
In applying my improved feed-mechanism to guns, such as the "Gardner" gun,
wherein a transversely moving feed-slide or feed-piece is arranged to receive the
cartridges successively from the vertical feeder and move them into position
between the plunger or plungers and the barrel or barrels, I sometimes provide
suitable projections on the plunger or plungers whereby the cartridges, should they
project rearwardly from the said feed-slide or feed-piece when they fall into the
same, will be pushed into the said feed-slide or feed-piece by such projections in
the forward movement of the plunger or plungers.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice :-
-
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a part of a machine-gun showing
one form or modification of my invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, and
Figure 3 a transverse section on the line, x, Figure 2, showing another
modification of my said invention, and
Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section showing a further modification thereof.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
A is the gun-frame, A' is the lid or cover thereof; B, B are the cartridges;
C is the cartridge hopper or feeder; D, D are the breech-bolts or plungers of
the gun.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 1, the cartridge hopper or feeder C is
suitably connected to a weighted arm or lever C₁ which is pivoted at C² to the
gun-frame A as hereinafter described; the said hopper or feeder is formed with a
socket C³ at its lower end and is fitted upon a projection or stud C on the upper
end of the lever C, so that, whilst the said hopper or feeder must participate in
any movement of the said lever C', it can be readily removed therefrom and
replaced thereon at will. The parts may, however, be otherwise suitably constructed
and arranged so as to permit the ready removal and replacement of the said hopper
or feeder. For instance the said hopper or feeder may be pivotally held in any
convenient manner in the gun-frame, and the weighted lever be hooked onto the
said feeder or otherwise suitably attached thereto. Or the lever C¹ may be rigidly
secured to the hopper or feeder C and the weight be screwed or otherwise secured
to the said lever. In this case, the pivot-pin C may simply be dropped into slots
in suitable lugs on the part A of the gun-frame. The pivot of the hopper or feeder
may, if desired, be situated in either a higher or lower position than that shown in
the drawing.
A suitable spring or other catch is sometimes provided for securing the feeder C
to the arm or lever C¹.
་་
The pivot-pin C3 of the lever C¹, in the arrangement shown in Figure 1, is fitted
into holes in lugs on the part A of the gun-frame between the plungers D, D, as
more clearly shown in Figure 3; and the said lever extends downward through
and works in an elongated aperture or slot A' in the bottom of the gun-frame,
whilst the feeder C extends upward through and works in an elongated aperture or
slot A in the lid or cover A¹. These slots are made of such length as to permit
the turning of the said hopper or feeder relatively to the gun-frame through a
suitable angle, which will be greater or less according to the desired maximum
angle of elevation and depression of the gun.
The lever C' is provided at its lower end with a weight W, which must be
sufficiently heavy, having regard to the length of the lever C₁, to maintain the
feeder or hopper C, with the cartridges B contained therein, in a vertical or

page_text: approximately vertical position notwithstanding the elevation or depression of
the gun.
By these means, while the gun is being elevated or depressed, the weight W will
cause the hopper or feeder C to turn about its pivot C' so that it will maintain a
vertical or nearly vertical position, and thus permit the cartridges B to slide freely
down under the action of gravity even when the gun is at great angles of elevation
or depression.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 2 and 3, instead of attaching a weight to
the lower end of the lever C', I couple the said lever to the upper part F of the
gun-carriage or mounting by means of a link G, the lever C¹ and link G being so
proportioned and arranged that, as the gun is elevated or depressed by turning it
about its pivot A, the hopper or feeder C will be automatically maintained in a
vertical or approximately vertical position.
In guns having a transversely moving feed-slide or feed-piece, I sometimes
provide means whereby, should a cartridge, by reason of the great inclination of
the gun, fall from the feeder into such a position in the said feed-slide or feed-piece
that it projects rearwardly therefrom, the said cartridge will be pushed forward
into the said feed-slide or feed-piece. For this purpose I provide projections u on
the inner sides of the plungers D, as shown in Figure 4, which projections will, in
the forward movement of the plungers, engage with the head or flange of any
cartridge that may project rearwardly from the feed-slide E and will push it into
ite correct position therein. In this arrangement I prefer to pivot the lever C¹ at
a somewhat higher point in the gun-frame than that shown in the arrangement
above described, for which purpose I mount the pivot C' in suitable bearings in
brackets A attached to the underside of the lid or cover A', so as to leave sufficient
space for the projections u to pass backward and forward beneath the lower end of
the hopper or feeder C.
In the arrangements shown in the drawing, the gun-frame A is made with a
slot A to permit the descent of the cartridges into the gun when the same is used
at great angles of elevation.
It is obvious that the construction of my improved feed-mechanism may, if
desired, be somewhat further modified without departing from the nature of my
said invention.
It is evident, moreover, that my improvements can, if desired, be applied to
guns in which the cartridges are fed by means of a vertical hopper or feeder
directly into the space between the barrel and the breech-bolt or plunger.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is.
First. A machine-gun provided with a cartridge hopper or feeder so arranged
that it will maintain approximately a vertical position notwithstanding the elevation
or depression of the gun, for the purpose above specified.
Second. The combination, with a machine-gun, of a pivoted cartridge hopper or
feeder, and means whereby the same will be automatically turned about its pivot
while the gun is being elevated or depressed, substantially as hereinbefore described
and for the purpose specified.
Third. The combination, with a machine-gun, of a cartridge hopper or feeder
pivotally held in the gun-frame, and a weighted arm or lever connected with the
said cartridge hopper or feeder, substantially as, and for the purposes, above
specified.
Fourth. The combination, with a machine-gun, of a cartridge hopper or feeder
pivotally held in the gun-frame, and an arm or lever connected with the said
cartridge hopper or feeder and coupled by means of a link to the gun carriage or
mounting, substantially as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Fifth. The combination, with a machine-gun having a transversely moving feed-
slide or feed-piece, of a cartridge hopper or feeder pivotally held in the gun-frame,

page_text: means for automatically maintaining the said hopper or feeder in a vertical or
nearly vertical position notwithstanding the elevation or depression of the gun, and
a projection or projections on the plunger or plungers of the gun for pushing into
the said feed-slide or feed-piece any cartridge that may project rearwardly there--
from, substantially as above set forth.
Sixth. A machine-gun having my improvements applied thereto substantially as
described with reference to either of the forms or modifications shown in the
accompanying drawing.
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2004
33333
OWEN JONES.
D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.