US1293776A - Firearm. - Google Patents

Description

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.To olii whom t may concern: Y Y Be it hnovvn that l, Lnnor T. Hmm/ran, a citizen ci the United States, and resident of' atertonfn, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and usefull improvements in Firearmsg of which the :following a specification.

This invention relates to so-called automatic firearms ci" the type in which the reen vvard movement or elongation of the can tridge case resulting from the explosion of the charge, automaticaliy operates a soli. loading breech mechanism.

lin lirearnis ofv this character a longitudinally movable bol-t head made with a stein is held against the end of the cartridge at the time of firing, and a longitudinally Inovahle breech bolt is held against the bolt head stein, la, locking sleeve surrounds the breech boit and the o1"- the bolt head. The locking; sleeve is mounted in the receiver behind cartridge chamber in such manner yboth to rotate and to slide lengthwise and the breech holt is mounted to slide length- Wise but not to rotate. The locking sleeve has a lng' cooperating with a shoulder on.

the receiver of the firearm to lock the sleeve against longitudinal movement When the breech is closed and the parts are in posi-- tion ready for tiring, lout when the locking sleeve is given a partial rotation, the lug is disengaged from the'slioulder and the sleeve is free to move rearwardly. rilhere is a pin and caingroove connection between the breech bolt and the locking sleeve adapted to permit the breech bolt to move rearwardly Without aiiecting the locking sleeve duriingn the irst part of its stroke. The continued rearward increment of the breech bolt acts through the pin and cam-groove connection to rotate the locking sleeve suinciently to locking sleeve lug ron'i the shoulder and, the remainder of the movement of the breech bolt carries the loching sleeve and the bolt head rearwardly with it; thus opening the breech. The rearward movement of the breech bolt sets in motion a train of mechanism which automatically ejects the spent cartridge case when the breech is open, inserts a new cartridge from. a suitable magazine and restores all parts to position ready for firing. The mechanisms Vlor ejecting the case of the spent cartrit ge, for automatically reloading9 for end firing., and sundry other associated mechanisms form no part ot the invention Speclcation. of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb'. 11, 19ML application le September 21, 1916. Serial No. 121,569.

and need not be further described nor shown in the drawings. This invention has to do.

Referring to the drawings, l represents the barrel of a rifle having a cartridge chainber 2, and 3 represents the receiver in which the end of the barrel is secured. In the receiver at the rear of the cartridge chamber, is mounted the locking sleeve 4c which has a locking lug not shown) of usual construction in breech mechanism of this character engaging a shoulder on the receiver to lock the sleeve in the position shown with the parts ready for iring. The locking sleeve is rotatable to disengage the locking lug from theshoulder and when so unlocked is movable rearwardly ,to open the breech. The breech bolt 5 is mounted to slide Within the locking sleeve but not to rotate. There is the usual pin and cam-groove connection (not shown) between the breech bolt 5 and the locking sleeve 1i by which the bolt 5 is permitted to make the first part of its rearward movement Without rotating the locking sleeve 4, and whereby the continued rearward movement of the bolt 5 will im part to the locking sleeve apartial rotation thereby unlocking the sleeve after which the bolt carries the sleeve rearwardly to open l the breech. Y l

The bolt head 6 is made with a stem or neck 7 which extendsinto the locking sleeve a and into contact with the end of the breech bolt when the parts are in position ready for firing. The `tace of the bolt head is formed to engage and grip the end 'of a cartridge C within the cartridge chamber, and a firing pin 8 extends through the breech bolt and bolt head into contact with the end of the cartridge. to fire the latter when driven forward by the hammer or equivro lent mechanism.

The parte thus for described may be sub- 'cause the cartridge case to elongate, and as the forward end of the cartridgecase abuts against the shoulder 9 of the cartridge chamber, suoli elongation takes place rearwardly.n

The rearward motion of the end of the car tridge case forces *he bolt headrearwardly, suhcient space being provided therefor between the bolt head 6 andthe end of the locking sleeved, whereupon the breech bolt 5 is driven rearwardly by .the neck 7 of the bolt head. The breech bolt 5 during this rearward movement partially rotates and unlocks the locking sleeve 4 as already described, carries the locking sleeve 4 and bolt head rearwardly to yopen the breech, and operates the mechanism for ejecting vthe case of the spent cartridge and for reloading the firearm.

Upon the explosion of the vcharge in the cartridge, and while the a-s pressure resulting from the explosion is at 0r near the maximum, the cartridge case expands momentarilythereby bin ing the case within the walls of the cartridge chamber at the instant of high pressure. The rearward impulse given the cartridge case at the instant of firing, resisted by this bindingy of the case in the cartridge chamber causes the cartridge case to elongate, and it has been found in practice, particularly with service ammunition or other ammunition developing high pressure, that without some support or counter resistance for the end of the cartridge until the pressure of the gases of combustion is so far reduced as to relieve the` binding of the case within the cartridge chamber, the cartrid ge case Will frequently rupture leavingA the orward end of thecase in the c amber.

The principal object of thepresent invention is to provide means for so constraining or retarding the lrearward movement of the bolt head 6 at or about the time of maximum pressure, that the bolt head will offer sufficient resistance to the resulting sudden rearward movement of theend ofthe cartridge case to prevent the latter from rupturing.

To this end I rovide a spring, which may be of any suita le form, between the bolt head 6 and the end of the locking sleeve 4,' which will offer suiicient resistance to the sudden rearward movement of `the bolt head 6 at or about the time of maximum pressure to allow the elon ation and rearward thrust of the cartridge case to take i place gradually without rupturing the case.

e5 their perpheries or their crowns in contacty In the preferred form, such spring consists of a series of sti spring disks 10 slightly conca'vo-convex as shown and arranged with or alternately or successively with their p eripheries and crowns 1n contact, as shown in F ig. 1. Three such disks are shown in thek drawings; but the number of disks and the extent of their' possible deflection may be varied according to the extent of movement of the bolt head 6 which is' desired in the' drives the breech bolt 5 rearwardly as usual,

unlocking the locking sleeve and actuating the ejecting and reloading mechanisms.

1. A firearm comprising, in combination, a cartridge chamber, a locking sleeve movable longitudinally toward and away fram the cartridge chamber, a breech bolt mounted to slide longitudinally of the locking sleeve, a bolt head, rthe forward end of which is adapted to engage the end of a cartrid e, and vthe rear end of which actuates t e breech bolt, said bolt head being mounted to move longitudinally of the locking sleeve at the forward end thereof, and a stiff recoil spring interposed lbetween the bolt headpand 'the locking sleeve adapted yieldingly to resist the initial rearward movement of the bolt head under the influence of the explosion of the cartridge, whereb the said rearward movement of the bo t head is restrained and gradually reduced in velocity.,

. ates the breech bolt, said bolt head being mounted to move longitudinali ,of the locking sleeve at the forward end t ereof, and aconcavo-convex spring disk interposed bei tween the bolt head and the locking Sleeve adapted yieldingly to resist the initial rear- 'lio ward movement of the bolt head under the influence of the explosion of thecartridge.

' 3. AA firearm comprising, in combination, a cartridge chamber, a locking sleevemovable longitudinally toward and away from the cartridge chamber, a breech bolt mount,

ed to slide longitudinally of the locking i sleeve, a bolt head, the forward end of which is adapted to engage the end' of a cartridge, and the rear end of which actuates the reeeh bolt, said bolt head being mounted more longitudixially of the locking sleeve cartridge, and the rear end of which actuates the breech bolt, said bolt headbeng t the forward end thereof,Y and a plurality; mounted to move longitudinally of the lock- -ing sleeve at the forward end thereof, and

f eoneavo-vonvex spring diskswinterposed etween the holt head and the lovking sleeve dapted yieldingly to resist the initial rear- 'ard movement of the bolt head under thil ifluenoo of the explosion of the rartridge.

4. A firearm comprising, in combination. cartridge chamber, a locking sleeve Inovblo'longitudinally toward and away from 11e rartridge chamber, a breech bolt mount* il to slideflongitudinall)Y of the locking Ieove, a` bolt head, the forward end of hich is adapted lo engage the end of a three or more concave-convex spring disks arranged successively periphery to periphery and crown to crown, interposed between the bolt head and the locking sleeve adapted yieldingly to resist the initial rearward movement of the bolt headJ'nder the influence of the explosion of the'cartridge.

y Signed hy me at New York, N. Y., this 15th day of September, 1916.

LEROY T. HILLMAN.

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