Improvements in and relating to Cartridge Feed-belts for Automatic or other Machine Guns.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 10th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 2nd Dec., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Cartridge Feed-belts for Automatic
or other Machine Guns.
We, LIEUTENANT ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, late of the Royal Navy, and LOUIS
SILVERMAN, Engineer, both of 32, Victoria Street, in the County of London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to belts or bands employed for delivering cartridges to
automatic or other machine guns.
These belts are usually made of strong cloth, canvas, or webbing provided with
metal clips or holders in which the cartridges are placed in proper position to be
conducted successively to the loading aperture at the breech of the gun barrel,
as the belt is caused to pass through the frame or casing of the gun.
In the use of these belts, as heretofore made, difficulties have in some instances
arisen in consequence of the jerking action of the gun during firing, whereby some
of the cartridges have been displaced from their proper position in the belt;
moreover, shrinkage of the webbing by dampness or moisture to which the belt
is subject, has the effect of making the re-filling of the belt with cartridges
extremely difficult.
According to our invention we combine with the band of cloth, canvas, webbing
or other appropriate fabric, metallic holders enclosed within tubes or sheaths of
fabric of a similar nature to that of which the band is composed; that is to say,
each clip is formed of a tubular piece of brass or other suitable metal of a length
adapted to that of the cartridges, such tubular clip being securely attached to the
band by rivets or otherwise.
In some cases the said tubular clips may be longitudinally slit at one or more
places, for a portion of their length. Or the said clips may be slit longitudinally
for their entire length and the adjacent edges produced by such slit may be cut
transversely to form tongues.
The said tubular clips may be provided with a rim or flange at or near one end
for limiting the extent to which the cartridges can be thrust into the belt during
the re-filling thereof.
The tubular sheath or sheaths of the band, into which the clips are placed, may
be formed of separate pieces of fabric connected to the band by rivets passing
through the said clips and semi-circular or similarly formed plates on the under-
side or at the back of the belt. The tubular clips may however in some cases be
formed with tongues at their ends, for enabling said clips to be connected with
the band by bending the tongues over the edges thereof, in which cases the afore-
said rivetting may be dispensed with.
The result of the combination of the metal clips with the aforesaid exterior
sheaths or sleeves will be very advantageous. The elasticity of the metal will
at all times permit the free insertion of the cartridge by pushing it point fore-
most into the clip; while the exterior sheath, being practically inelastic, will so
limit the elasticity of the clip as to prevent any possibility of the escape or dis-

page_text: placement of the cartridges through the jerking or vibration of the gun while the
belt is passing through the same. Moreover the said clips will not be impaired
by accidents which would in many cases render completely useless a belt otherwise
constructed. For example it might be trodden underfoot or otherwise subjected
to pressure without injury as the clips would not easily be so much compressed
as to prevent the entrance of the nose of the projectile and if this can enter, the
clips will (especially in the case of their being longitudinally slit as explained
above) readily regain their tubular shape as the cartridge is pushed forward into
the clip.
In some of the feed-belts heretofore used the cartridges are held in apertures
or spaces left between two thicknesses or layers of cloth or webbing which are
united by metal plates or pieces rivetted together through the layers of cloth.
We may adopt this method of forming our improved belt, that is to say, instead
of using separate sheaths of cloth or webbing, we can make the spaces or aper-
tures between the two thicknesses or layers of cloth serve as the sheaths and insert
and secure the aforesaid tubular metallic clips in the same in any convenient
manner.
Owing to the fact that belts constructed according to this invention are not
collapsible, we find it advantageous to provide a special tool for use with guns of
the "Maxim" type, for enabling the feed-pawls by which the belt is fed into the
gun to be readily lifted when it is desired to withdraw the belt from the gun
after firing only a few of the cartridges. This enables us to avoid the necessity
of having to operate the gun by hand in order to remove a partially filled belt
from the gun. The form of the tool may be considerably varied but it should be
so shaped that by inserting it into the feed opening the feed-pawls can be readily
lifted to an extent sufficient to disengage them from the belt. The feed pawls
may be provided with projections on the side of their fulcrums opposite to their
feed ends, so that when the projections are depressed the feed-ends of the pawls
are disengaged from the belt and thus enable it to be withdrawn from the gun.
Dated this 17th day of January 1899
HASELTINE, LAKE, & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in and relating to Cartridge Feed-belts for Automatic
or other Machine Guns.
We, LIEUTENANT ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON, late of the Royal Navy, and Louis
SILVERMAN, Engineer, both of 32, Victoria Street, in the County of London, 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:-
Our invention relates to belts or bands employed for delivering cartridges to
automatic or other machine guns.
These belts are usually made of strong cloth, canvas, or webbing formed with
pockets or provided with metal clips or holders in which the cartridges are placed
to be conducted successively to the loading position, as the belt is caused to pass
through or across the frame or casing of the gun.
In the use of these belts, as heretofore made, difficulties have in some instances
arisen in consequence of the jerking action of the gun while firing, whereby some
of the cartridges have been displaced from their proper position in the belt;
moreover, especially when the belt is unprovided with metallic clips and the

page_text: cartridges are held in place in the belt by means of pockets formed of the webbing
of which the belt is composed, shrinkage of the webbing by dampness or moisture
to which the belt is subject, has the effect of making the re-filling of the belt
with cartridges extremely difficult.
According to our present invention we combine with the band of cloth, canvas,
webbing or similar fabric, metallic holders or clips enclosed within tubes or
sheaths of a fabric which may be in one piece with the band or may be connected
thereto, the said holders or clips being retained in place by rivets or otherwise.
The result of the combination of the metallic holders or clips with the afore-
said tubes or sleeves of fabric will be very advantageous. By reason of the elasticity
of the metal the clip will at all times permit the free insertion of a cartridge
pushed point foremost into the clip, while the textile tube or sheath, being prac-
tically inelastic, will so limit the elasticity of the clip as to prevent any possibility
of the escape or dsplacement of the cartridge through the jerking or vibration of
the gun while the belt is passing through the same. Furthermore the said clips
will not be readily impaired by accidents which would in many cases render a
belt completely useless. For example the belt constructed according to our inven-
tion might be trodden underfoot or otherwise subjected to pressure without serious
injury, as the clips would not easily be thereby so much compressed or deformed
as to prevent the entrance of the nose of the projectile, and if the nose can enter,
the clip will readily regain its tubular shape as the carriage is pushed forward.
Owing to the fact that belts constructed according to this invention are not
collapsible to the same extent as belts composed entirely of webbing, we find it
advantageous to provide a special tool or implement for use with guns of the
Maxim" type, for enabling the pawls forming part of the belt feed-mechanism
to be readily lifted when it is desired to withdraw the belt from the gun after
firing only some of the cartridges carried thereby. This device enables us to avoid
the necessity of having to operate the gun by hand in order to remove a partially
filled belt from the gun. The form of this tool may be considerably varied but
it should be so shaped that by inserting it into the feed aperture of the frame the
pawls can be readily lifted to an extent sufficient to disengage them from the belt.
Instead of employing this tool, the pawls may be provided with tails or projections
which extend outside the feed box, so that they can be depressed by the fingers of
the operator to disengage the feed-ends of the pawls from the belt and thus enable
the latter to be withdrawn from the gun.
*
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect we will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a plan and
1
Figure 2 an end view of a portion of a cartridge feed-belt constructed in accord-
ance with our invention.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the belt taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 1.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are similar views showing a modification of our invention.
Figure 7 is an underside view,
Figure 8 an end view and
Figure 9 a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Figure 7 shewing a further
modification.
Figures 10 and 11 are longitudinal sections of metallic holders of somewhat
different construction to those illustrated in the preceding figures.
Figure 12 is an end view of a still further modified form of the holders or clips.
Figure 13 is a transverse section taken through the feed-box of an automatic
gun, shewing the formation of the pawls to permit of their being disengaged to
liberate the belt after only a few cartridges have been fired.
Figure 14 is a similar view illustrating a modification of Figure 13.
Figures 15 and 16 are respectively a plan and a side view of a tool for use.
with the construction illustrated in the last preceding figure.
In all these figures like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

page_text: A is the band of cloth, canvas, webbing or similar fabric constituting the belt
proper; BB are the metallic cartridge holders or clips, and a a are the tubes or
sheaths of textile fabric which form part of the said band and enclose the said
cartridge holders or clips B.
Referring more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, we have here represented
the tubes or sheaths a a formed integrally with the band A, by the employment
of two independent layers of the fabric placed one on the other and connected
together at intervals by any appropriate means, but preferably by transverse
metallic strips C secured by eyelets c. The parts of the double band between the
said metallic strips will therefore constitute the tubes of fabric for containing the
cartridge holders or clips as aforesaid. The metallic clips B are in this example
formed of sheet brass or other suitable metal bent into semi-circular or similar
shape with their longitudinal edges scalloped or otherwise formed into tongues b
as best seen in Figure 3. By so forming the said clips they readily adapt them-
selves to the shape of the cartridges. They are retained in place within the tubes
or sheaths a by means of rivets b¹.
Referring now to the construction illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6, we have
here shown the tubes or sheaths a of textile fabric formed integrally with the
layers of the band in the manner already described with reference to the preceding
figures, but in this example the metallic holders B are made tubular and are pro-
vided at their ends with tongues for connecting them to the band A by bending
said tongues around the edges of the band as best seen in Figure 6. The said
holders are in this case formed with an internal rib or corrugation which serves
to limit the distance to which the cartridge can be inserted into the holders when
the belt is being filled by hand. The metal strips C may be connected to the belt
by means of rivets e¹ instead of by eyelets c.
Referring to the construction illustrated by Figures 7, 8 and 9, we have here
represented the band A composed of a single strip of textile fabric with the tubes
or sheaths a independently made and secured to the band by means of rivets a³
passing through metallic semi-circular plates A situated at the back of the band.
The said rivets also serve to retain the metallic holders or clips B in place within
the aforesaid tubes or sheaths. These clips are similar in construction to those
represented in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
We do not wish to confine ourselves to any specific form of the metallic holders
or clips, as it will be obvious that they may be made in a variety of ways, for
instance, they may be made in the manner represented in Figure 10 which illus-
trates a tubular clip having longitudinal slits or divisions 6 at each of its ends.
Or they may be made in the manner represented in Figure 11 which represents
a tubular holder provided with an internally flanged end at 6, which, like the
aforesaid corrugation 63 (Figure 6), serves to limit the distance to which the car-
tridge can be inserted into the holder when the belt is being filled by hand. Or
they may be made of an open tubular or spiral form with overlapping edges as
illustrated by Figure 12.
In Figure 13 the feed pawls D by which the belt is caused to pass through the
feed-box of the gun and so carry the cartridges into loading position, are pro-
vided with tails which extend outside the feed-box into a convenient position
to be operated by the gunner's fingers when it is desired to disengage the said
pawls from the belt and permit the latter to be withdrawn from the feed-box after
the firing of some of the cartridges carried by the belt. When the retaining
pawls D are arranged in the position represented in this figure, the said pawls Di
are also formed with tails d' to permit of their being disengaged when the belt is
to be withdrawn as aforesaid.
Instead of providing the pawls D with tails, we may form them with bevelled
ends and provide a special tool or implement, such as that illustrated by
Figures 15 and 16, for enabling the pawls so formed, to be disengaged from the
belt. This tool consists of a plate E having at one end a handle E' and at the
opposite end a pair of inclined projections E2 E2, the width of the said plate E

page_text: being such that, when the tool is inserted into the mouth of the feed-box, the
said projection will be directed against the bevelled ends d of the pawls and
by depressing the ends will disengage the pawls from the belt, and so permit the
withdrawal of the latter. The pawls D' may be similarly formed, a tool being
provided for operating them in an analogous manner to that above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. A cartridge feed belt comprising a series of tubes or sheaths of textile
material cach of which tubes or sheaths is provided internally with a metallic clip
or holder, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
2. The metallic clip or holder constructed substantially as herein described with
reference to any of the modifications shewn in the accompanying drawings for the
purpose specified.
3. A cartridge feed belt constructed substantially as described with reference
to Figures 1, 2 and 3 or to Figures 4, 5 and 6, or to Figures 7, 8 and 9 or to
Figure 12 of the accompanying drawings for the purposes specified.
4. The means for facilitating the withdrawal of the feed belt from the gun
substantially as described with reference either to Figure 13, or to Figures 14, 15
and 16 of the accompanying drawings.
101
1
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE, & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.