Active ammunition magazine
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorWilliam Burgermeister
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An ammunition magazine for feeding linked ammunition to a weapon system having a power take off (PTO) may include a housing with a storage cavity for the linked ammunition. A drive shaft may be rotatably fixed to the housing and may include a driver on one end for selectively engaging the PTO. A drive sprocket may be mounted on the drive shaft for engaging and moving the linked ammunition in a feed direction. The drive sprocket may include first and second sprocket wheels that engage a cartridge portion of the linked ammunition. A pick-off round opening may be formed in the housing for presenting a pick-off round to the weapon system. A link chute may be disposed below the opening and including an exit for ammunition links.
Claims22
An ammunition magazine for feeding linked ammunition to a weapon system having a power take off (PTO), the ammunition magazine comprising:
- a housing that defines a storage cavity for the linked ammunition;
- a drive shaft rotatably fixed to the housing and including a driver on one end for selectively engaging the PTO, the driver being disposed external to the housing;
- a drive sprocket mounted on the drive shaft for engaging and moving the linked ammunition in a feed direction, the drive sprocket including first and second sprocket wheels that engage a cartridge portion of the linked ammunition;
- a back-ratchet pivotally mounted to the housing, the back-ratchet selectively engaging the drive sprocket to prevent movement of the drive sprocket in a direction opposite the feed direction;
- a pick-off round opening in the housing for presenting a pick-off round of the linked ammunition to the weapon system;
- and
- a link chute disposed below the opening and including an exit opening for ammunition links.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.