Helicopter weapon mounting system
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsAaron Deckard, Glen Dick, Paul Danesha, Michael Holzmeyer, James Buechler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A weapon mounting system for a vehicle, such as a helicopter. The weapon mounting system illustratively includes a weapon cradle supporting a machine gun for pivoting movement about a generally horizontal elevational axis. A carriage supports the weapon cradle and is supported by a pintle for rotation about a generally vertical azimuth axis. An ejection collection device is supported by the carriage and collects spent shell casings and links ejected from the machine gun for discharge through the pintle. A trigger assembly illustratively provides for manual operation by a gunner and for remote electrical operation by a pilot.
Claims18
A weapon mounting system for a helicopter, the weapon mounting system comprising:
- a landing gear structure;
- an external mounting structure coupled to the landing gear structure;
- a tubular support post supported by the external mounting structure and defining a support post passageway;
- a tubular pintle supported by the support post and defining a pintle passageway;
- a machine gun operably coupled to the pintle;
- and
- an ejection collection device configured to direct spent shell casings and links from the machine gun through an ejection path, the ejection path including the pintle passageway and the support post passageway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.