Chuting assembly for ammunition magazine feed

A feed mechanism for use with a magazine storing ammunition used by a weapon, the magazine storing a plurality of individual rounds of ammunition linked together on an ammunition belt by which the rounds are fed to a receiver of the weapon during firing;

• the feed mechanism feeding the ammunition from the magazine to the weapon when the weapon is fired, regardless of the weapon's angle of elevation, or changes thereto, during firing, the feed mechanism comprising:
• a feed chute positioned above said magazine for vertically extracting said linked rounds of ammunition from said magazine, said feed chute being a rigid feed chute having a fixed fan radius through which said belt of ammunition is drawn, said fixed feed chute having a generally vertical section with an inlet attached to an ammunition feed outlet of the magazine and a generally horizontal section through which a belt of ammunition traverses from said vertical section to the receiver of the weapon, said generally horizontal section including a bend for changing the orientation of said rounds of ammunition as the ammunition belt feeds through said horizontal section, said feed chute comprising a plurality of spaced guide frames each of which has an opening therein sized for a round of belted ammunition to feed through the opening, said opening being a slot having respective first and second slot sections, one of said slot sections being sized for the projectile portion of the round to pass therethrough, and the other of said sections being sized for the casing portion of the round to pass therethrough;
• support means extending the length of said chute and through said second slot section of each said guide frame to support the rounds of ammunition as they traverse said chute;
• and,
• drive means engaging said belt of ammunition to draw said linked ammunition from said magazine through said rigid chute to the receiver of said weapon, use of said rigid chute enabling ammunition to be fed to the weapon regardless of its angle of elevation during firing.

A feed mechanism for use with a magazine storing ammunition used by a weapon, the magazine storing a plurality of individual rounds of ammunition linked together on an ammunition belt by which the rounds are fed to a receiver of the weapon during firing;

• the feed mechanism feeding the ammunition from the magazine to the weapon when the weapon is fired, the feed mechanism comprising:
• a feed chute positioned above said magazine to extract linked rounds of ammunition vertically from said magazine, said feed chute being a rigid feed chute having a fixed fan radius section through which said belt of ammunition is drawn by a drive mechanism which engages the ammunition belt and draws the linked ammunition through the chute from the magazine to the receiver of the weapon, said rigid feed chute properly orienting and maintaining the belted ammunition for feeding to the weapon regardless of the weapon's elevation at the time of firing, said fixed feed chute having a generally vertical section with an inlet attached to an ammunition feed outlet of the magazine, and a generally horizontal section through which a belt of ammunition traverses from said vertical section to the receiver of the weapon, said generally horizontal section including a 90.degree. bend for redirecting rounds of ammunition as the belt feeds through said horizontal section, one end of the horizontal section being raised with respect to the other end thereof, said raised end being the end of the horizontal section from which ammunition feeds into the receiver of the weapon;
• and,
• a removable cover fitting over said respective vertical and horizontal sections of said fixed feed chute for accessing the ammunition belt.

In an ammunition feed mechanism for feeding rounds of ammunition linked together on a belt from a magazine in which ammunition is stored to a receiver of a weapon through which the rounds are fired;

• the improvement comprising a fixed feed chute positioned above the magazine for vertically extracting said linked rounds of ammunition from said magazine, said feed chute being a rigid feed chute including a plurality of spaced guide frames each of which has an opening therein sized for a round of belted ammunition to feed through the opening, said opening being a slot having respective first and second slot sections, one of said slot sections being sized for the projectile portion of the round to pass therethrough, and the other of said sections being sized for the casing portion of the round to pass therethrough, and support means extending the length of said chute and through said second slot section of each said guide frame to support the rounds of ammunition as they traverse said chute, a plurality of rods extending through and between each of said guide frames, said guide frames being attached to said rods to form a chute assembly, and first and second plates respectively defining sidewalls of said chute, said guide frames at the respective ends of said chute assembly including means for attachment thereof to said sidewalls to mount said assembly in said chute, said chute assembly having a fixed fan radius through which said belt of ammunition is drawn by a drive mechanism which engages the ammunition belt and draws the linked ammunition vertically into the chute from the magazine so to feed ammunition to the weapon irrespective of the weapon's angle of elevation during firing and to eliminate ammunition tip over which prevents ammunition discharge from the magazine and stops the feed of ammunition to the weapon, and sensing means responsive to the placement of a belt of ammunition in said magazine and the movement of the last round of ammunition on said belt as said round is extracted from said magazine to provide an indication to an operator of said weapon that the ammunition therefor needs replenishment.

A feed mechanism for use with a magazine storing ammunition used by a weapon, the magazine storing a plurality of individual rounds of ammunition linked together on an ammunition belt by which the rounds are fed to a receiver of the weapon during firing;

• the feed mechanism feeding the ammunition from the magazine to the weapon when the weapon is fired, regardless of the weapon's angle of elevation, or changes thereto, during firing, the feed mechanism comprising:
• a feed chute positioned above said magazine for vertically extracting said linked rounds of ammunition from said magazine, said feed chute being a rigid feed chute having a fixed fan radius through which said belt of ammunition is drawn, said fixed feed chute having a generally vertical section with an inlet attached to an ammunition feed outlet of the magazine and a generally horizontal section through which a belt of ammunition traverses from said vertical section to the receiver of the weapon;
• drive means engaging said belt of ammunition to draw said linked ammunition from said magazine through said rigid chute to the receiver of said weapon, use of said rigid chute enabling ammunition to be fed to the weapon regardless of its angle of elevation during firing, said drive means including a sprocket gear driven by firing of the weapon and engaging said ammunition belt to move said rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the weapon, said sprocket gear being positioned adjacent said vertical section of said fixed feed, and said vertical section has an opening therein through which said sprocket gear engages said ammunition belt to move said rounds of ammunition from the magazine into said vertical section of the chute;
• and.
• sensing means responsive to the placement of a belt of ammunition in said magazine and the movement of the last round of ammunition on said belt as said round is extracted from said magazine to provide an indication to an operator of said weapon that the ammunition therefor needs replenishment.

A feed mechanism for use with a magazine storing ammunition used by a weapon, the magazine storing a plurality of individual rounds of ammunition linked together on an ammunition belt by which the rounds are fed to a receiver of the weapon during firing;

• the feed mechanism feeding the ammunition from the magazine, which has an outlet at an upper end thereof, to the weapon when the weapon is fired, regardless of the weapon's angle of elevation, or changes thereto, during firing, the feed mechanism comprising:
• a feed chute positioned above said magazine for vertically extracting said linked rounds of ammunition from said magazine, said feed chute being a rigid feed chute having a fixed fan radius through which said belt of ammunition is drawn, and the feed chute including a first section and a second section, said first section being a generally vertical feed section one end of which connects to the outlet of the magazine, and said second section being a generally horizontal section one end of which connects with the other end of said first section and the other end of which is an outlet of said feed means by which said rounds of ammunition are directed into said receiver of the weapon, each of said first and second sections being curved sections the curvature of which enables the belt of ammunition to first gradually change from a vertical to a horizontal direction, and then to change from a direction extending generally parallel to the weapon to a direction in which the belt is directed to the receivers and said second section of said fixed feed chute slopes upwardly from said end connecting with said other end of said first section to a location adjacent said outlet end of said second section, said second section sloping downwardly from said location to said outlet end of said second section for rounds of ammunition directed into the receiver of the weapon to be delivered generally vertically into the receiver;
• and,
• drive means engaging said belt of ammunition to draw said linked ammunition from said magazine through said rigid chute to the receiver of said weapon, use of said rigid chute enabling ammunition to be fed to the weapon regardless of its angle of elevation during firing.