Improvements in Machine Guns.
Year: 1890

page_text: Improvements in Machine Guns.
I, ADOLF ODKOLEK FREIHERR VON AUGEZD of III Strohgasse 11, Vienna, Austria,
an Officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 construction of a machine gun in which the opening
of the breech-closure is effected by the expansion of the gases at the moment at which
the projectile leaves the bore of the gun, whereby force is stored up in a spring which
effects the automatic closure of the breech and also the actuation of the devices
necessary for the preservation of an uninterrupted fire.
The essential features of the invention consist in putting the bore of the gun in
connection with a cylinder into which, when the projectile has attained the necessary
initial velocity, the gases produced on firing can enter, there to move a piston which
actuates the breech piece so as to open it.
On the accompanying drawing is shewn the construction of a quick firing machine
gun with my said invention applied thereto.
Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section of the gun with closed breech piece; Fig. 2 a
longitudinal section with the breech piece open; Fig. 3 is a plan; Figs. 4, 5 and 6
shew the breech piece in longitudinal and cross section and in plan; Figs. 7, 8 and 9
are cross sections on the lines, d¹¹,, in Fig. 1; Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 are
cross sections and side and top views of the magazine to a larger scale; Fig. 14 shews
the mode of securing a cartridge to the cartridge belt; Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18 shew
modifications.
As shewn at Fig. 1, the bore of the gun A communicates by a passage a with a
cylinder B in which is a piston C connected by a rod e with the breech cylinder D.
The position of the point at which the passage a communicates with the bore depends
upon the force which is required for actuating the breech piece, as also upon the
diameter of the bore.
As the gases, in the moment when the projectile passes beyond the passage a, act
suddenly upon the piston C, so as to throw this backward with considerable velocity,
the breech piece and its mechanism must be so arranged that notwithstanding the
movement of the piston, it is not opened at the instant when the gases begin to act on
the piston, but only when the projectile leaves the mouth of the gun. The most
suitable breech mechanism for this purpose consists of a breech cylinder D which is
slid back in a linear direction by the piston rode and which has at its rear end a
sector-like closing piece D' turning upon a pin d which, when the breech piece is in
the closed position, bears with its side surfaces Fig. 4 against the abutment ribs a¹
of the breech shoe A', so that the breech cylinder can only open, that is, move back-
wards, when the closing piece D¹ has been turned such a distance (90°) that it can
slide over the ribs a¹. This rotation can however only be effected when the piston
rode has been moved back by the expanding gases to such an extent, that the beak <
on the piston rod c, which in the closed position of the breech piece is situated
between the closing piece 1¹ and the breech shoe A', has passed outward beyond the
closing piece D¹.
C
This movement takes place during the time which is occupied by the projectile in
passing from the passage a to the end of the bore. In the meantime the projection c²
of the piston rod will have arrived at the back end of the breech cylinder, and in
pressing against the same, will force it back, the closing piece D', in moving
backward with D, being at the same time turned through 90° by the ribs of the
breech shoe A as shewn at Fig. 2.
This backward motion of the breech cylinder D will effect firstly the extraction of

page_text: the cartridge case by means of the extractor do Fig. 5, and secondly the compressing
of a spring, the force of which serves subsequently to close the breech cylinder again
and at the same time to introduce a cartridge into the gun. This spring can either
be a coiled one 2 Fig: 16, which is arranged on the rod c between piston C and
breech shoe A¹, or it may be a blade, spring e Figs. 1 and 2. In the latter case the
springe is contained in a casing E which is attached to the breech shoe A¹. The
In order to
spring acts upon a lever el which takes-into a slot in the piston rod c.
enable a strong spring to be put under compression with a small amount of flexure,
the point e' at which the lever e' acts upon the spring is placed near to the pivote of
the lever.
When the pressure of the gases ceases to act upon the piston C, the force of the
spring e at once begins to operate, whereby the piston C is forced back into its first
position. The breech cylinder D is thereby also pushed forward by the action of
the beak c¹ upon the closing piece D which slides upon the ribs at of the breech
shoe, these preventing it from turning until the breech cylinder D has been moved
completely forward, so that the piece D is situated over the space a Fig. 2, into
which it is then turned by the beak c¹ which slides over it, assuming the position
shown in Fig. 1.
The projection of the piston rode takes into a slot of the cylinder 1) and
strikes, at the end of the forward motion of the piston rod, upon the firing pin
which effects the ignition of the cartridge that has been pushed into the cartridge
chamber of the gun at the closing of the breech cylinder.
into
In order to enable the breech action to be opened by hand, the lever e¹ is
provided with a handle Figs. 3 and 7. The piston rod c has a notch
which, on opening the breech action, a catch or sear f Fig. 2 enters.
The latter is released by a trigger f¹ for the purpose of firing, and so long as
a pull is exerted on the trigger, continuous firing will take place. By removing
the pin which connects the casing E with the breech shoe A', and by turning
back the casing E on the bolt e the lever e¹ is brought out of gear with the
rode and the entire breech action I ¹ together with the piston C can be drawn
backwards out of the breech shoe.
Into the end of the cylinder B a screw plug bis screwed, by screwing which more
or less inward, the passage a can be more or less closed, thereby enabling the action
of the gases upon the piston C and consequently the automatic opening of the breech
mechanism to be accurately regulated, or it may be entirely put out of action thereby.
On removing the screw plug 6 access can be gained to the interior of the cylinder
for cleaning purposes.
b
The cylinder B has an opening through which, when the piston C has been
forced back beyond it as at Fig. 2 the gases will escape.
In order to produce a greater rapidity of firing with a limited stroke of the
piston C, the piston rode may, as shewn at Fig. 17, be connected to the lever el
near the fulcrum of the latter.
The piston C may also be arranged stationary as at Fig. 15, in which case the
cylinder B is moveable and connected to the rod c. Also, as shewn at Fig. 18, the
cylinder B or the piston C can be propelled forward by the gases, instead of
backward;
the piston rode then acts upon a short arm e7 of the double ended
lever d¹.
The feeding in of the cartridges is effected by means of a peculiarly formed
hopper H connected to the breech shoe, consisting of two outer walls h²h placed at
an angle to each other, and a middle wall h³ placed parallel to h*.
Over the top of the wall 2 the hopper carries a roller h over which is passed the
belt G (Figs. 10 and 14) on which are secured the cartridges by means of weak
clamps the end of the belt being passed through the slot 3 between the walls h¹ h²
and through between the guide rollers ii. In the middle wall h' are formed
slits (Fig. 12) at the points where the clamps are situated in the space between
the walls h¹ and ht which slits pass down to such a distance that the clamps on the
downward motion of the belt G, which lies against wall 2 will be drawn away from
il

page_text: the cartridges as these pass down the wall h¹ at an angle to h² as shewn at Fig. 10.
The bottom mouth of the hopper H is slightly narrowed by the extended end 4" of
the wall h, which has spring action, so that the bottom cartridge can only issue
when, on the closing of the breech mechanism, it is seized by the breech cylinder and
is pushed thereby towards the cartridge chamber until the rear end thereof leaves the
narrowed part of the hopper mouth and passes into the front widened part thereof.
The cartridge will therefore only be released from the hopper H when its front end
is already within the cartridge chamber.
In order to insure a continuous downward feed of cartridges, the belt G is drawn
downwards by the rollers at each opening of the breech. For this purpose the
roller carries a ratchet wheel into which takes a pawl carried by a slide
The projecting end of the slide is pressed into an undulating groove Fig. 13
in the piston rod e by a spring acting on 3.
During the before mentioned backward and forward motion of the rod e, the
slide has a rapid to and fro motion imparted to it, whereby the ratchet wheel
and consequently the feed roller is partially rotated, so as to draw the belt G
downwards.
In place of the above described construction of feed hopper, a hopper of known
construction, such as is shewn at Fig. 18 can be employed.
For mounting the gun on a carriage or other support, the breech shoe is provided
with trunnions Fig. 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A machine gun wherein a cylinder B communicating with the bore of the gun
contains a piston C with rode which is connected with the breech mechanism of
the gun and acts on a spring e, so that on the passage of the gases from the gun
into the cylinder B, the expansion of such gases forces the piston rod backwards
and thereby effects the opening of the breech piece 1), while at the same time the
spring e is compressed, in order afterwards to effect the closing of the breech again
and the forward motion of the piston, substantially as described.
2. In machine guns of the kind referred to in the first claim, a breech action
consisting of a closing piece D¹ pivotted to the rear end of the breech cylinder D,
and the beak of the piston rode sliding in the breech shoe, which nose on the
closing of the breech passes between the breech shoe A¹ and the closing piece D',
thereby locking the latter so that the breech action can only open when the piston
rod has moved back far enough to cause the beak c¹ to release the closing piece D',
substantially as described.
3. In machine guns of the construction referred to in Claims
and 2, a pro-
jection on the piston rod c, sliding in the breech shoe, which projection on the
backward motion of the piston rod and the consequent releasing of the closing
piece 1, forces back the breech cylinder D so as to open the breech, while,
during the forward motion of the piston rod e after the closing of the breech, the
said projection strikes against the firing pin, substantially as described.
4. In machine guns of the kind referred to in the first claim, a lever e¹ pivotted
within the casing E and engaging with the piston rod c, upon which lever bears
a spring e so that on the backward motion of the piston the lever e¹ compresses
the spring, in order that this may afterwards effect the forward motion of the piston
rod and breech action, substantially as described.
5. In machine guns of the kind referred to in the first claim, the use of feed
mechanism for cartridges consisting of a belt G to which the cartridges are
attached by weak clamps g, a hopper H with outer walls 2 inclined towards each
other, along the latter of which the belt is drawn downwards by rollers ¡, and a
partition along which the cartridges slide down, the clamps g being at the same
time drawn from under them, substantially as described.
6. In machine guns of the kind referred to in the first claim, provided with the

page_text: cartridge feeding device set forth in Claim 5, the use of a slide e carrying a
pawl that actuates the feed rollers of the cartridge belt, which slide enters an
undulating notch in the piston rod so that by the to and fro motion of the latter,
the slide and its pawl have a reciprocating motion imparted to them.
Dated this 23rd day of October 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.