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US 6,176,169 B1Granted
Aircraft support plank mounted 30 MM machine gun
AssigneePaul H. Sanderson
InventorCharles E. Rostocil
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A machine gun, representatively a 30 mm machine gun, is mounted on an outer end portion of a support plank structure projecting out of the cabin area of a helicopter using a roller cradle assembly secured to the outer plank end. A variety of structural improvements are incorporated into the machine gun to (1) reduce its mechanical complexity, (2) reduce its firing recoil to make the gun more suitable for light aircraft mounting, and to improve the gun's firing controllability and accuracy, and (3) to make the gun easily and quickly field strippable, for cleaning, inspection and repair purposes, without requiring the services of a highly skilled armament mechanic or taking the gun to a specialized repair facility.
Claims28
A machine gun comprising:
- a body;
- a barrel carried by said body and extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- an operating structure carried by said body for driven movement relative thereto cyclically in forward and rearward directions;
- a feed structure operative to position successive cartridges for retrieval and chambering in said barrel for firing therein;
- and
- an ammunition handling system for delivering cartridges from said feed structure to said barrel for firing therein, and then extracting and ejecting the spent casings of the fired cartridges, said ammunition handling system including:
- a bolt member carried by said operating structure rearwardly of said feed structure for cyclical forward and rearward movement with said operating structure toward and away from said feed structure, said bolt member having first and second extractor structures thereon for releasably receiving and retaining rear cartridge casing rim portions,
- a bolt face member carried by said bolt member for movement relative thereto in first and second opposite directions transverse to said forward and rearward directions, said bolt face member having an ejector structure thereon for releasably circumscribing a rear cartridge casing end portion, and
- cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body for moving said bolt face member in said first direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member toward said feed structure, and for moving said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member away from said feed structure.
6 more elements
Ammunition handling apparatus for a machine gun, comprising:
- a bolt member having a front side with a spaced pair of parallel extractor grooves formed therein and having outer and inner ends, said extractor grooves being configured to slidably receive opposite portions of a rear cartridge casing rim;
- a pair of extractor members carried on said bolt member, adjacent said outer ends of said extractor grooves, and being operative to snap over a rear cartridge casing rim in a manner permitting it to be pushed inwardly into an outer end portion of said extractor grooves;
- and
- a bolt face member carried on said bolt member for movement relative thereto in opposite directions parallel to the lengths of said extractor grooves;
- and
- a pair of ejector members carried on said bolt face member and operative to (1) circumscribe a rear casing end portion of a cartridge whose rear casing end rim is engaged by said extractor members (2) push the cartridge inwardly along said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt face member inwardly along said bolt member.
3 more elements
A machine gun comprising:
- a body portion;
- a rearwardly facing first abutment surface associated with said body portion;
- a barrel carried by said body portion and longitudinally extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- an operating structure carried by said body portion for forward and rearward movement relative thereto and having a rearwardly facing second abutment surface;
- a driving structure for driving said operating structure forwardly into forcible engagement with said first abutment surface during firing of said machine gun;
- a secondary mass structure carried by said operating structure for forward and rearward movement relative thereto respectively toward and away from said second abutment surface;
- and
- a biasing structure for resiliently biasing said secondary mass structure rearwardly away from said second abutment surface,
- said secondary mass structure being operative to forwardly strike said second abutment surface, in response to said operating structure forwardly striking said first abutment surface, in a manner substantially inhibiting undesirable rearwardly directed impact bounce-back movement of said operating structure away from said first abutment surface.
6 more elements
A machine gun comprising:
- a body;
- a barrel carried by said body and extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- a feed structure operative to position successive cartridges for retrieval and chambering in said barrel for firing therein;
- and
- an ammunition handling system for delivering cartridges from said feed structure to said barrel for firing therein, and then extracting and ejecting the spent casings of the fired cartridges, said ammunition handling system including:
- a bolt member supported for cyclical forward and rearward movement toward and away from said feed structure, said bolt member having extractor apparatus thereon for releasably engaging rear cartridge casing portions,
- a bolt face member carried by said bolt member for movement relative thereto in first and second opposite directions transverse to said forward and rearward directions, said bolt face member having an ejector structure thereon for releasably engaging a rear cartridge casing portion, and
- cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body for moving said bolt face member in said first direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member toward said feed structure, and for moving said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member away from said feed structure,
- said extractor apparatus including a pair of elongated parallel grooves formed in a front side portion of said bolt member and longitudinally extending in said first and second directions, and a pair of pivotally mounted extractor members carried on said bolt member and positioned outwardly of said grooves.
6 more elements
A machine gun comprising:
- a body;
- a barrel carried by said body and extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- a feed structure operative to position successive cartridges for retrieval and chambering in said barrel for firing therein;
- and
- an ammunition handling system for delivering cartridges from said feed structure to said barrel for firing therein, and then extracting and ejecting the spent casings of the fired cartridges, said ammunition handling system including:
- a bolt member supported for cyclical forward and rearward movement toward and away from said feed structure, said bolt member having extractor apparatus thereon for releasably engaging rear cartridge casing portions,
- a bolt face member carried by said bolt member for movement relative thereto in first and second opposite directions transverse to said forward and rearward directions, said bolt face member having an ejector structure thereon for releasably engaging a rear cartridge casing portion, and
- cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body for moving said bolt face member in said first direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member toward said feed structure, and for moving said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member away from said feed structure,
- said ejector structure including a spaced opposing pair of pivotally mounted ejector members carried on a front side portion of said bolt face member.
6 more elements
A machine gun comprising:
- a body;
- a barrel carried by said body and extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- a feed structure operative to position successive cartridges for retrieval and chambering in said barrel for firing therein;
- and
- an ammunition handling system for delivering cartridges from said feed structure to said barrel for firing therein, and then extracting and ejecting the spent casings of the fired cartridges, said ammunition handling system including:
- a bolt member supported for cyclical forward and rearward movement toward and away from said feed structure, said bolt member having extractor apparatus thereon for releasably engaging rear cartridge casing portions,
- a bolt face member carried by said bolt member for movement relative thereto in first and second opposite directions transverse to said forward and rearward directions, said bolt face member having an ejector structure thereon for releasably engaging a rear cartridge casing portion, and
- cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body for moving said bolt face member in said first direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member toward said feed structure, and for moving said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member away from said feed structure,
- said cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body including a cam track formed in said body, and a roller structure carried on said bolt face member and received in said cam track for guided rolling movement therealong.
6 more elements
A machine gun comprising:
- a body;
- a barrel carried by said body and extending forwardly and rearwardly along a firing axis;
- a feed structure operative to position successive cartridges for retrieval and chambering in said barrel for firing therein;
- and
- an ammunition handling system for delivering cartridges from said feed structure to said barrel for firing therein, and then extracting and ejecting the spent casings of the fired cartridges, said ammunition handling system including:
- a bolt member supported for cyclical forward and rearward movement toward and away from said feed structure, said bolt member having extractor apparatus thereon for releasably engaging rear cartridge casing portions,
- a bolt face member carried by said bolt member for movement relative thereto in first and second opposite directions transverse to said forward and rearward directions, said bolt face member having an ejector structure thereon for releasably engaging a rear cartridge casing portion, and
- cooperating structures on said bolt face member and said body for moving said bolt face member in said first direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member toward said feed structure, and for moving said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member in response to movement of said bolt member away from said feed structure,
- said ammunition handling system being operative to sequentially (1) extract a first cartridge from said feed structure, (2) chamber the extracted first cartridge in said barrel, (3) extract a second cartridge from said feed structure while extracting the spent casing of the first cartridge, after firing thereof, from said barrel, and (4) move the extracted second cartridge into a chambering alignment position in a manner causing the extracted second cartridge to engage and forcibly eject the spent casing from said ammunition handling system,
- said extractor apparatus including a first extractor structure including a spaced pair of elongated parallel grooves formed in a front side portion of said bolt member and longitudinally extending in said first direction, and a second extractor structure including an opposing pair of pivotally mounted extractor members carried on said bolt member and positioned outwardly of said grooves in said first direction, said extractor members being pivotally biased outwardly away from opposite sides of said bolt member;
- and
- said ejector structure including a spaced opposing pair of pivotally mounted ejector members carried on a front side portion of said bolt face member,
- said extractor members, as said bolt face member forwardly approaches said feed structure, being operative to snap onto a rear casing rim portion of the second cartridge while the rear end casing rim portion of the first cartridge is received in said grooves on said bolt member,
- said ejector members, as said bolt member forwardly approaches said feed structure, being operative to outwardly circumscribe a rear end portion of the second cartridge in a manner permitting said ejector structure, during movement of said bolt face member in said second direction relative to said bolt member, to push the rear casing rim portion of the second cartridge out of said extractor members and into said bolt member grooves while pushing the rear casing rim portion of the extracted first cartridge through said bolt member grooves in said second direction.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.