Cradle or bucket chain for infeeding cartridges to an automatic firing weapon

A cradle chain for delivering cartridges from an ammunition magazine, by means of a cartridge infeed channel having two oppositely situated walls and provided with guide groove means, to an automatic firing weapon, comprising:

• a plurality of interlinked cradle elements;
• each cradle element of said plurality of interlinked cradle elements comprising:
• a cradle for accommodating a cartridge;
• at least two lug means attached to said cradle for connecting said cradle element with a leading cradle element and with a trailing cradle element as seen in a predetermined direction of travel of said plurality of cradle elements;
• infeed cam means of said cradle directly acting upon said cartridge for infeeding the cartridge into the automatic firing weapon;
• a sword member projecting into the guide groove means of said cartridge infeed channel;
• means for pivotably interconnecting two immediately neighboring cradle elements with one another and coacting with said lug means of said two neighboring cradle elements, which lug means interfit with one another;
• said at least two lug means and said infeed cam means being located on two opposite sides of said cradle;
• said cradle being guided on a first one of its two opposite sides at one of the oppositely situated walls of the cartridge infeed channel by said infeed cam means during movement of said cradle through said cartridges infeed channel;
• and
• said cradle being guided on a second one of its two opposite sides at an other one of the oppositely situated walls of the cartridge infeed channel by one of said at least two lug means during the movement of said cradle through said cartridge infeed channel.