Ammunition bucket carriers for magazine conveyors
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDavid L. Maher, Paul A. Trahan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
To reliably hold rounds of ammunition on a magazine conveyor, each of a series of ammunition round carriers has a semi-cylindrical bucket providing an axially elongated slot along which are arrayed integral, roller tipped resilient fingers defining a slot opening of a width less than the ammunition round diameter. Forced insertion and withdrawal of a round through the slot opening is accommodated by flexure of the fingers and facilitated by rolling engagement with the rollers. The rollers are pressed against an ammunition round in a bucket by the clamping forces of the fingers to impose both lateral and axial motion restraints on the round to secure its carrier position.
Claims20
In a magazine conveyor, an ammunition round carrier comprising, in combination:
- A. a semi-cylindrical bucket having a diameter conforming to a diameter of an ammunition round and circumferentially opposed edges defining an axially elongated slot;
- B. a plurality of resilient fingers integral with said bucket, said fingers extending from said opposed edges at axially distributed locations to present free finger ends in said slot;
- C. at least one roller rotatably mounted to said free end of each said finger, said rollers defining a slot opening having a width less than the diameter of an ammunition round, said rollers providing rolling contact with an ammunition round as said fingers flex to accommodate forcible insertion and withdrawal of an ammunition round through said slot opening into and out of said bucket.
An ammunition magazine conveyor including a series of ammunition round carriers pivotally interconnected by a pair of conveyor chains, each said carrier comprising, in combination:
- A. a semi-cylindrical bucket having a diameter conforming to a diameter of an ammunition round and circumferentially opposed edges defining an axially elongated slot;
- B. end plates affixed to said bucket and having outwardly projecting posts for pivotal connections into the conveyor chains;
- C. a plurality of resilient fingers integral with said bucket, said fingers extending circumferentially from said opposed edges at axially distributed locations to present free finger ends in said slot;
- D. at least one roller rotatably mounted by said free end of each said finger to define a slot opening of a width less than the diameter of an ammunition round, said rollers providing rolling contact with an ammunition round as said fingers flex to accommodate insertion and withdrawal of an ammunition round through said slot opening into and out of said bucket, said rollers having peripheral surfaces fashioned to impose axial motion restraint on an ammunition round while in said bucket in response to clamping forces exerted by said fingers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.