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Convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun with positive shell casing ejection    

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United States Patent4942802   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/4942802.html
Inventor(s)Stoner; Eugene M. (Palm City, FL)
AbstractAn automatic gun comprises a barrel, a receiver connected to the barrel and a bolt and bolt carrier mounted in the receiver for recoil and counterrecoil movement between the barrel breech and a recoil position rearwardly of a shell pick up position and a casing ejection port. The bolt carrier has a cam track formed along it and the bolt has a pivotally mounted casing extractor and an ejection recess in an opposite region. The forward end of a cam follower is pivotally mounted to the receiver forwardly of the pick up position. The follower has a pair of belt feeding pawls mounted centrally, an inwardly-directed ejection tip at the rearward end and a cam track follower in engagement with the bolt carrier cam track. A belt feeding adaptor is detachably connected to the receiver above the cam follower for receiving an ammunition belt. In response to forward bolt carrier movement, the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, moving the feed pawls into engagement with a belted shell outboard of the pick up position. Corresponding forward bolt movement strips a shell from the pick up position and loads it into the breech. When the bolt carrier recoils after firing, the cam follower pivots inwardly and the feed pawls advance the belt one shell position. As the cam follower pivots inwardly, its ejection tip moves into the ejection recess in the bolt and causes ejection of a shell casing held to the bolt face by the extractor. An ammunition clip adapator is interchageable with the belt feeding adapter.
   














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Patent Text Patent PDF Print Page Summary File History
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Inventor     Stoner; Eugene M. (Palm City, FL)
Owner/Assignee     ARES, Inc. (Port Clinton, OH)
Patent assignment
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Company News
Publication Date     July 24, 1990
Application Number     07/100,388
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     September 24, 1987
US Classification     89/191.01 42/25 89/33.14
Int'l Classification     F41D 010/14
Examiner     Kyle; Deborah L.
Assistant Examiner     Johnson; Stephen
Attorney/Law Firm     Fowler; Allan R.
Address
Parent Case    
Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     89/191.01 89/33.14 89/33.2 89/185 89/33.1 42/25 42/50
Patent Tags     convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun positive shell casing ejection
   
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What is claimed is:

1. A convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun, which comprises:

a. a gun barrel having a breech;

b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery position disposed adjacent said barrel breech, a shell pick up position and a shell casing ejection port;

c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly having means for picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement and for loading the picked up shell into the barrel breech and, after firing, for extracting a fired shell casing from the barrel breech upon rearward recoil movement from the battery position to the recoil position, said bolt assembly having an ammunition belt advancing and shell casing ejection cam track formed thereon;

d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl mounted to the cam follower, a belt feeding adapter for receiving an ammunition belt and means for releasably attaching said belt feeding adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell pick up position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower;

said cam follower having a cam track following portion thereof in engagement with said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive to rearward movement of the bolt assembly from the breech to the recoil position for causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving a shell in the belt into the shell pick up position and being responsive to forward movement of the bolt assembly from the recoil position to the battery position for moving said belt advancing pawl a shell distance outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt assembly is moved rearwardly to the recoil position; and

e. an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt advancing pawl.

2. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt feeding adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a shell in the shell pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said pick up position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly.

3. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bolt assembly includes a shell extractor and an ejector recess in a region opposite to said extractor and wherein said cam follower includes a shell ejector portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the battery position to the recoil position, to move into said ejector recess and cause ejection, through said shell casing ejection port, of a shell casing held by the shell extractor when the bolt assembly has moved rearwardly to a preestablished position relative to said shell ejection port.

4. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bolt assembly comprises a bolt and a bolt carrier and wherein the cam track is formed on the bolt carrier.

5. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cam follower is pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam track engaging portion is rearward of the pivotal mounting region.

6. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt advancing pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring-loaded so that when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is subsequently pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the battery position.

7. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 1 wherein the belt feeding adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt feeding adapter from the receiver, an ammunition belt being receivable into the adapter when the cover portion is open and being retained in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then closed.

8. A convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun, which comprises:

a. a gun barrel having a breech;

b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery positioned disposed adjacent said barrel breech, a shell pick up position and a shell casing ejection port;

c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly including a bolt having means for picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement and for loading the picked up shell into the barrel breech and, after firing, for extracting a fired shell casing from the barrel breech upon rearward recoil movement from the battery position to the recoil position, and including a bolt carrier having an ammunition belt advancing and casing ejection cam track formed thereon;

d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl mounted to the cam follower, a belt feeding adapter for receiving an ammunition belt and means for releasably attaching said belt feeding adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell pick up position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower,

said cam follower having a cam track following portion in engagement with said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive to rearward movement of the bolt assembly from the breech to the recoil position for causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving shell in the belt into the shell pick up position and being responsive to forward movement of the bolt assembly from the recoil position to the battery position for moving said belt advancing pawl a shell distance outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt assembly is moved rearwardly to the recoil position and said belt feeding adapter including at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a shell in the pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said pick up position when the belt advancing pawl in moved outwardly in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly; and

e. an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt advancing pawl.

9. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein said means for extracting a fired shell casing include a shell extractor pivotally mounted to the bolt and an ejector recess formed in a forward region of the bolt opposite said extractor and wherein said cam follower includes a shell ejector portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the breech to the recoil position, to move into said ejector recess in the bolt and cause ejection, through said shell casing ejection port, of a shell casing held by the shell extractor when the bolt assembly has moved rearwardly to a preestablished position relative to said shell ejection port.

10. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the cam follower is pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam track following portion is rearward of said pivotal mounting region.

11. The convertible gun as claimedd in claim 8 wherein the belt advancing pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring-loaded so that when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward movement of the bolt carrier with said cam follower portion if engagement with the bolt carrier cam track, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the battery position.

12. The convertible gun as claimed in claim 8 wherein the belt feeding adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt feeding adapter from the receiver, an ammunition belt being insertable in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is open and being retained in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then closed.

13. A belt fed automatic gun with positive shell casing ejection, which comprises:

a. a gun barrel having a breech;

b. a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery position disposed adjacent said barrel breech, shell pick up position and a shell casing ejection port;

c. a bolt assembly slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the barrel battery position and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the shell casing ejection port, the bolt assembly having means for picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement and for loading the pick up shell into the barrel breech and, after firing, for extracting a fired shell casing from the barrel breech upon rearward recoil movement from the battery position to the recoil position, said bolt assembly having an ammunition belt advancing and shell casing ejection cam track formed thereon, said bolt assembly including a shell extractor and an ejector recess in a region opposite to said extractor;

d. ammunition belt receiving and advancing means, comprising a cam follower pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt feeding adapter for receiving an ammunition belt and and means for releasably attaching said belt feeding adapter to the receiver at a position adjacent to said shell pick up position and in a cooperative relationship with said cam follower,

said cam follower having a cam track following portion thereof in engagement with said bolt assembly cam track and being thereby responsive to rearward movement of the bolt assembly from the battery position to the recoil position for causing said belt advancing pawl to inwardly advance an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving a shell in the belt into the shell pick up position and being responsive to forward movement of the belt assembly from the recoil position to the battery position for moving said belt advancing pawl a shell distance outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt is moved rearwardly to the recoil position, said cam follower including a shell ejector portion which is caused, responsive to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the battery position to the recoil position, to move into said bolt assembly ejector recess and cause ejection, through said shell casing ejection port, of a shell casing held by the shell extractor when the bolt assembly has moved rearwardly to a preestablished position relative to said shell ejection port.

14. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt feeding adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a shell in the pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said pick up position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly.

15. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 including an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and belt advancing pawl.

16. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the bolt assembly comprises a bolt and a bolt carrier and wherein the cam track is formed on the bolt carrier.

17. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the cam follower is pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and wherein the cam track engaging portion is rearward of the pivotal mounting region.

18. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt advancing pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring loaded so that when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly, the belt advancing pawl pivots to a retracted position as the belt advancing pawl is pushed outwardly under a shell in the belt to a position which enables the belt advancing pawl to advance the belt one shell position when the cam follower is subsequently pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the battery position.

19. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 13 wherein the belt feeding adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover portion can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the belt feeding adapter from the reciever, an ammunition belt being receivable into the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is open and being retained in the belt feeding adapter when the cover portion is then closed.

20. The automatic gun as claimed in claims 1, 8 or 13 wherein the cam trach comprises a substantially linear recess formed at an angle of between substantially 5.degree. and 10.degree. relative to a bore axis of the gun.

21. The automatic gun as claimed in claim 20 wherein said angle is substantially 6.degree..

22. The automatic gun as claimed in claims 1, 8 or 15 wherein the clip holder and the means for attaching the clip holder to the receiver are configured for holding a clip at angle causing the clip to be out of the sight path of the gun.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of automatic guns and more particularly to light machine guns having the capability for alternatively firing belted and clip-fed ammunition.

2. Background Discussion

In spite of the development of such sophisticated and powerful weapons as nuclear bombs, ballistic and guided missles, supersonic fighters and bombers, super aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, modern military conflicts still ultimately rely upon foot troops whose combat role is, as it has always been, to take and hold ground. This apparent anomoly has been demonstrated time and time again in post-World War II conflicts, including the Korean war, Viet Nam, Granada and the current Iraq-Iran conflict in the Mid-East.

For several hundred years, the primary weapon of ground troops has been the rifle. Starting with crude, single shot, match-lock muzzle loaders, the rifle has evolved through breech-loaders and semi-automatic rifles, into the present day, relatively small calibre, clip-fed. automatic rifles, exemplified in the United States and many other free countries of the world by the M-16 and in Soviet-block countries by the AK-47.

In most military organizations, rifles have typically been supplemented, on a company, platoon or squad level, by submachine guns (which fire pistol ammunition) and light machine guns (which fire rifle ammunition). By way of example, in both World War II and Korea, the semi-automatic M1 rifle used by U.S. troops was augmented by such automatic weapons as the Thompson submachine gun, the "grease" gun, the Browning automatic rifle (BAR) and 30 and 50 calibre machine guns, and in Viet Nam the M-16 was, for example, augmented by the larger, NATO calibre M-60 machine gun.

Many modern automatic rifles, such as the M-16 and the AK-47, as well as various other similar rifles in service throughout the world, combine features which were once separately found in rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns. The resulting modern rifles, which are usually selectable between semi-automatic and fully automatic firing, are sometimes referred to generically as "assault rifles."

Although modern automatic rifles usually have many advantages over those used in World War II and Korea, being generally lighter in weight and having greatly increased fire power, improvements are still continually sought by the military services not only in automatic rifles but also in ligth machine guns (LMG) which are easily carried by troops and which increase the firepower and effectiveness of the troops in both offensive and defensive situations.

One relatively recent requirement, at least by the military in this country, for new generation LMG's is that such weapons have the dual capability for firing both belted ammunition and ammunition held in conventional, rifle clips. The use of belted ammunition, which is, in one configuration, held in boxes which attach to the gun, enables sustained firing without reloading the gun. On the other hand, the ability to use standard rifle clips which hold the same calibre ammunition and which are commonly available in rifle companies using the LMG's, enables continued operation of the LMG if the supply of belted ammunition is exhausted.

Although some types of belt and clip-fed, "convertible" LMG's have been put into limited service, that does not necessarily mean that such guns are entirely satisfactory for combat use or that they cannot or should not be improved upon. Extensive, individualized "gunsmithing" is, for example, reportedly required on some types of convetable LMG's before they are capable of satisfactory operation even in benign environments. This raises questions as to the reliability of such guns in service and especially under combat conditions, and improvements to overcome this apparent manufacturability problem are expected to be needed.

It is desirable in such convertible guns to reduce the number of small and/or complicated parts. Complicated parts are not only costly to manufacture but often make the interchageability of parts difficult.

Among other requirements, LMG's should: (i) be rugged and operate reliably and accurately, in a wide range of hostile environments, including arid and sandy deserts, humid jungles and icy polar regions, (ii) be capable of taking all manner of abuse and still operate satisfactorily; (iii) not require excessive maintanance and whatever maintenance is required should be quick and simple to perform both under adverse field conditions and by relatively untrained troops, (iv) not have an excessive number of complicated parts which can be easily damaged or which cannot be interchanged among weapons of the same type, (v) be easy to operate accurately by relatively green troops, and (vi) be relatively simple and economical to manufacture.

The importance of this country's having the best possible weapons, including LMG's, for its troops is made evident by the fact that in any armed conflict, United States troops can be expected to be out numbered by enemy troops, often by a large margin. It is, therefore, a principle objective of the present invention to provide an improved, convertible belt/clip-fed automatic gun or LMG which will overcome the deficiencies of known guns of such type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a convertible, belt/clip-fed automatic gun, such as a light machine gun, comprises a barrel having a breech and a receiver connected to the barrel and having a battery position disposed adjacent the barrel breech, a shell pick up position and a shell casing ejection port. A bolt assembly, comprising a bolt and a bolt carrier, is slidably mounted in the receiver for reciprocating movement, in response to firing of the gun, between the battery position and a recoil position rearwardly of the shell pick up position and the shell casing ejection port. The bolt assembly includes means for picking up a shell from the pick up position upon forward bolt assembly movement, for loading the picked up shell into the breach and, after firing, for extracting the fired shell casing and ejecting it outwardly through the ejection port upon rearward recoil movement from the breech towards the recoil position.

Further comprising the gun are ammunition belt receiving and advancing or feeding means which include a cam follower pivotally mounted to the receiver, at least one belt advancing pawl mounted to the cam follower, a belt feeding adapter for receiving an ammunition belt and means for releasably attaching the belt feeding adapter to the receiver adjacent to the shell pick up position and in an operative relationship with the cam follower. The cam follower has a portion thereof in movable engagement with a cam track formed on the bolt assembly, preferably on the bolt carrier, the cam follower being shaped so that upon rearward movement of the bolt assembly (and thus, the cam track) from the breech to the recoil position, for example, by a firing of the gun, the belt advancing pawl is moved inwardly towards the bore axis to inwardly advance, by one shell position, an ammunition belt held by the belt feeding adapter in a manner moving a shell held in the belt into the shell pick up position. The cam follower is also responsive to forward movement of the bolt assembly from the recoil position to the breech for moving the belt advancing pawl a shell distance outwardly in readiness for advancing the belt the next time the bolt assembly is moved rearwardly to the recoil position.

The bolt assembly includes a shell extractor and an ejector recess in a region opposite the extractor. The cam follower includes a shell ejector portion which is caused by the bolt carrier cam, responsive to the bolt assembly moving rearwardly from the the breech to the recoil position and pivoting of the cam follower, to move into the ejector recess and cause ejection of a shell casing held by the shell extractor as the bolt assembly continues to recoil rearwardly to a preestablished position relative to the shell ejection port.

There is also included as part of the gun an ammunition clip holder and means for releasably attaching the clip holder to the receiver in place of the belt feeding adapter and out of engagement with the belt advancing pawl. The clip holder is preferably constructed to receive and feed shells from a conventional rifle clip and for holding the clip directed upwardly and at an angle relative to a vertical plane through the bore axis which does not interfere with use of the gun sights.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the belt feeding adapter includes at least one shell anti-back up pawl for preventing a shell in the pick up position from being moved outwardly away from said position when the belt advancing pawl is moved outwardly in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly.

It is preferred that the cam follower be pivotally mounted at a forward region to the receiver and that the cam track engaging portion be rearward of the pivotal mounting region. Also, it is preferred that the belt advancing pawl is pivotally mounted to the cam follower and is spring-loaded so that when the cam follower is pivoted outwardly, in response to forward movement of the bolt assembly, the pawl pivots to a retracted position as the pawl is pushed outwardly under a shell in the belt to a position which enables the pawl to advnce the belt one shell position when the cam follower is next pivoted inwardly in response to the bolt assembly moving back rearwardly from the breech.

In the preferred embodiment, the belt feeding adapter comprises a lower, body portion and an upper, cover portion, the body and cover portions being hinged together so that the cover porton can be opened relative to the body portion without detaching the adapter from the receiver, an ammunition belt being insertable in the adapter when the coverportion is open and being retained in the adapter when the cover portion is then closed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be more readily understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that for purposes of showing important features of the convertible gun of the present invention, the gun is pointing to the left in FIG. 1 and is pointing to the right in the rest of the FIGS. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective of a convertible belt/clip-fed automatic gun (LMG) in accordance with the present invention,

FIG. 1a showing the belt feeding configuration of the gun, and

FIG. 1b showing the relative portion of the gun alternatively configured for feeding ammunition to the gun from a conventional automatic rifle clip;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective drawing of ammunition feeding and casing ejection regions of the convertible gun shown in FIG. 1, showing the bolt group (i.e., the bolt and bolt carrier), portions of the receiver and barrel and showing both the belt feeding adapter and the rifle clip feeding adapter;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2 (assuming the parts shown in exploded perspective in FIG. 2 are assembled together in their proper relationship), showing the gun at an instant in time in which the bolt group is at the breech with a shell in the breech and showing the belt feeding adapter installed on the receiver;

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3, but with the belt feeding adapter removed, showing the outwardly pivoted position of a belt feeding cam follower mounted on the receiver at the same instant in time as FIG. 3, with the bolt group still at the breech;

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross sectional drawing taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3 showing, in particular, a belt advancing feed pawl (connected to the belt feeding cam follower) in an outermost position in readiness for advancing a next shell in the belt to the shell pick up position when the bolt group moves rearwardly in recoil after firing the shell chambered in the breech;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross sectional drawing similar to the view of FIG. 3, but showing the internal configuration of the receiver region of the gun at a later instant in time when the bolt group has recoiler fully rearward after firing the shell previously chambered in the breech;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the gun similar to FIG. 4, but showing the inwardly pivoted position of the belt feeding cam follower at the instant of time of FIG. 6 when the bolt group has recoiler to a rearward position;

FIG. 8 is a transverse cross sectional drawing similar to FIG. 5 but at the instant of time of FIG. 6 when the bolt group has recoiled to a rearward position, and showing the belt advancing pawl in its innermost position in which it has just moved a belted shell into the pick up position in readiness to be picked up by the bolt when the bolt group moves back forwardly to the breech; and

FIG. 9 is a sequence of plan views similar to FIG. 4 and taken at succesive time intervals, showing the belt feeding cam follower and the bolt as the bolt moves rearwardly from the breech, after firing, to its full recoil position and showing the extraction and ejection of a fired shell casing by the bolt,

FIG. 9a showing the bolt at the breech, a chambered shell and the belt feeding cam follower pivoted to its outermost position,

FIG. 9b showing the bolt moved slightly rearwardly after firing, thereby starting the extraction of the fired shell casing from the breech and showing the belt feeding cam follower being pivoted inwardly towards a barrel bore axis,

FIG. 9c showing the bolt recoiled rearwardly with the shell casing extracted from the breech and laterally aligned with a shell ejection port of the receiver and showing the belt advancing cam follower pivoted inwardly towards the bore axis so that a shell ejecting portion of the cam follower has entered a shell ejection recess in the bolt and is in contact with the base of the shell casing being extracted,

FIG. 9d showing the bolt moved rearwardly relative to the belt feeding cam follower so that the shell ejection portion of the cam follower is forwardly of the bolt and has pushed against the shell casing base so that the casing is pivoting about the shell extractor and is part way out of the ejection port, and

FIG. 9e showing the bolt recoiled further rearwardly of the belt feeding cam follower and showing the extracted shell casing pivoting out of the ejection port and in contact with a rearward edge of the port which acts as a pivot point.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIG. 1a is an examplary light machine gun (LMG) 10 in which the present invention may be used to advantage. Shown comprising gun 10 is a receiver 12 to which a barrrel 14 is connected. A collapsible shoulder member or stock 16 projects rearwardly from receiver 12 and a conventional pistol grip-type handle and trigger group 18 are connected to lower, rear regions of the receiver. A bipod assembly 20, for example, of the type used on an M-60 machine gun, is connected to rearward regions of barrel 14. Just rearwardly of bipod assembly 20 is a hand guard-grip assembly 22 which encloses rearward regions of barrel 14 and/or forward regions of receiver 12.

Detachable connected to the bottom of receiver 12, forwardly of handle and trigger group 17, is a box magazine 30 which holds a flexible belt 32 of ammunition (i.e., shells) 34 for gun 10. Ammunition belt 32 is of the disintegrating link type in which adjacent links 36 are interlocked by shells 34, the stripping of shells causing the links to separate so they can be separately discharged from gun 10, as described below.

In accordance with the present invention, and as described below, an ammunition belt adapter assembly 40 is detachably connected to the lefthand side (as shown in FIG. 1) of receiver 12 for enabling the firing by gun 10 of shells 34 from belt 32. Shown in operative relationship with belt adapter assembly 40 is a cam follower assembly 46 which provides not only for the advancing of ammunition belt 32 into gun 10, so that shells 34 held by the belt can be fired, but also for the ejection of fired shell casings through the other side of receiver 12, as described below.

Although gun 10 is, as a light machine gun, primarily intented for firing belted ammunition, as is enabled by belt adapter assembly 40 and cam follower assembly 46, emergency situations may arise during combat in which supplies of belted ammunition for the gun may run out. In order to enable continued operation of gun 10 in such situations, albeit with reduced fire power, there is included the provision for alternatively using standard rifle ammunition clips which may, in some situations, be more plentiful than belted ammunition. Accordingly, as depicted in FIG. 1b, which shows only shell feeding regions of gun 10, ammunition belt adapter 40 may be substituted, also as more particularly described below, by a clip feeding adapter assembly 48 which then permits the firing by the gun of shells held in a conventional rifle clip or magazine 50. By way of example, assuming that gun 10 is configured for firing standard 5.56 mm (i.e., 223 calibre) ammunition which is used in the M-16 rifle, clip adapter assembly 48 is preferably configured for receiving a standard M-16 clip 50. As can be seen from FIG. 1b, when belt adapter 40 is replaced by clip adapter 48, box magazine 30 is removed from a dovetail slot 52 in receiver 12. Also, parts of cam follower assembly 46 are, as described below, removed to accomodate clip feeding adapter assembly 50.

FIG. 2 shows, in exploded perspective, relevant shell feeding and ejecting regions of gun 10 to which belt and clip adapter assemblies 40 and 48, respectively, are detachably connected. Shown in FIG. 2, in addition to forward regions of receiver 12 and rearward regions of barrel 14, are belt adapter assembly 40, clip adapter assembly 48, cam follower assembly 46 and a bolt group 54.

It is to be noted that in FIG. 2 and subsequent FIGS. gun 10 is pointing to the right; whereas, in order to show features not otherwise clearly visible, FIGS. 1a and 1b depict the gun pointing to the left.

Principally comprising ammunition belt adaptor assembly 40, as shown in FIG. 2, are an adaptor base 56 and a cover assembly 58. In turn comprising cover assembly 58 are a upwardly recessed cover plate 60, a shell stripper 62, a shell pusher 64 and a shell holding or anti-back up pawl 66. Shell pusher 64 is formed having a pair of similar, longitudinally spaced apart, outwardly directed ears 72 through which are formed a pair of longitudinally aligned mounting apertures 74. Formed along the rearward edge of shell pusher 64 is a downwardly projecting, wedge-shaped shell pushing portion 76. Shell stripper 62 is generally square in plan view and has a mounting aperture 78 formed longitudinally through an outer end region thereof. Formed upwardly into shell stripper 62, at a inner, rearwardly corner of the stripper is a recess 80 which receives forward regions of belt links 36 when a shell 34 is being stripped out of ammunition belt 32 during firing of gun 10 and holds the link in place (i.e., prevents forward movement of the link as the shell is pushed forwardly during the stripping operation). Anti-back up pawl 66 is formed having a pair of outwardly projecting, longitudinally spaced apart, parallel ears 82 interconnected at inner end by a pawl portion 84. A pair of longitudinally aligned mounting apertures 86 are formed through outer end regions of ears 82. Upon assembly, anti-back up pawl 66 is positioned between shell pusher ears 72 with mounting apertures 86 and 74 aligned, and with a coil-type torsion spring between pawl ears 82.

An elongate pin 96, extends longitudinally through apertures (not shown) in cover plate 60 and through shell pusher apertures 74, pawl apertures 86, spring 94 and stripper apertures 78. Pin 96 pivotly mounts shell pusher 64 and stripper 62 in a side-by-side relationship, with the stripper forwardly of the pusher and with anti-back up pawl 66 between pusher ears 72, within a rectangular recess formed upwardly into cover plate 60 and defined by an under surface 98 (FIGS. 3 and 5). Compression springs 100 and 102, installed between inner end regions of shell pusher 64 and shell stripper 62, respectively, and cover plate under surface 98, when the shell holder and stipper are installed on pin 96, urge inner end regions of the pusher and stripper downwardly. Such downward pivoting is limited by the upper surfaces of outer ends of shell pusher 64 and stripper 62 bearing against cover under surface 98.

Further compr