US1994392A - Box magazine for automatic loading weapons - Google Patents

Description

March 12, 1935'. F, HERLACH Er AL 1,994,392

I BOX MAGAZINE FOR AUTOMATIC LOADING WEAPONS Filed Apri} 1''! 1933 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 l/i i igl lqlll D i/en Zora: 2% '4 //e 719 M in Z WHZWZZZk -A March 12, 1935. F. HERLACH ET AL 1,994,392

BOX MAGAZINE FOR AUTOMATIC LOADING WEAPONS Filed April 17, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fwl/e'n for.

Patented Mar. 12, 1935 Fritz flerlach and Theodor Ralinla, Solothur n," I i Switzerland, assignors to Waflenfabrik Solo-T thurn A.-G.', Solothurn, Switzerland, a corpora- V tion of Switzerland I 7 Application April 17, 1933, SeriaTNo. 666,598 f 1' n'Germany July"12,1932

7 Claims. (Cl.:89-'-33) The invention relates to a box magazine ,i'o to the weapon-and finally also to serve as support use in automatic firearms. Its object is to, prefor'the' various members and the articulation of pare quicklyfor firing again a magazine-which, thehinged cover to be arranged thereon. V has been fired until empty so as to eliminate Thewithdrawal of the feeder into its tensioned time-wasting filling operationsand to render the position for freeing the space needed by the pack 5 troublesome carrying offilled magazines'or special of;cartr-idg es in the magazine is facilitated by a filling devices unnecessary. The. magazine may curved lever which is pivotally mounted about a be fixed and remain permanently on the'weapon, hinge on the outer, front corner of themagazine or, preferably, it may be aninterchangeable, de-. and engages a projection on the feeder, and

10; tachable magazine. V which lever is provided with a handle. The

For. this: purpose, x themagazine according to feederistensioned by a pull on the curved lever, the invention has a casing with an opening in one i which is in a convenient position for the gunner; wall thereof to allow a cartridge pack to be in- This curved leverslides along the projection of serted, a cover for said opening, and a spring the feeder, presses the latter outwards and as the pressedfeederoperable from the outside to force retraction of the feeder-progresses thereby in- 15 the cartridge. forward against retaining *lips at creasesthe spring resistance, and the distance the mouth of the magazine, whenceitis thrust of the pivotal point ofthe lever from its point forwards by a part of the weapon proper. of engagement on the feeder becomes constantly Further, according to the invention andinconsmalleriso ,that the effort-to be exerted on the trastto the known arrangements with a positive handle; during ,the entire tensioningprocess, in 20 control between thenfeed er and the cover, the, spite of increasingtension of the-feeder spring, magazine is provided with a latch device which remains approximately the,same,; and. is modalternately secures the feeder, which has beenfl erately: low. e withdrawninto its tensioned ipositiom against The. pack of; cartridges-provided, for the re- 25, flying forward prematurely, or secures the cover, plenishment ofammunition may be arranged for which has been brought into closedposition, one ormore row for/instanc e with zig-zagpoagainst the action of a -spring. In the'known 'sitioning of the cartridges. It, contains the enarrangements wherein the return of thefeeder tire charge, for a magazine arranged in a clip. depends on" the, opening of a magazinecover, a from which the Ca tr dges are thrust by the 30, special locking deviceis requiredfor the cover to magazine feeder-upqto the. retaining lips of the oppose the action of the feeder spring when it is magazine mouth and-thusgintotherange of thein its open position andwhichyin order that the member of the veapoowhich sweeps them into magazine may be closed, must be speciallyre i thechamber in the barrel of the weapon. Lockleased by hand. i This is avoided in the arrange ing means for securing the cartridges in the clip as, ment according tothe present invention which during transport until use in the magazine are 3 simplifies both the manipulation to supply am-' moved, aside automatically, by;a device actuated munition and the construction of the apparatus by the; movable magazine, :wall or cover, to suchitself- After the Withdrawal e feeder and an extent that the cartridges ,canbe thrust out the insertion ,of the pack of cartridges only a of the-clip by means of the magazine-feeder,

Closing v t 0 the c required-r11 withoutrany special expenditure of force. The 40 .m itlsertmn of taarm-dge packs i emptied clip" is automatically. ejected when the g f i n g g g g i the ma magazine is opened .by, for instance, in conseof or I upwards, and then toconstruct 'thisside 5 as a' tbroughan f at the bottom thereof cover adapted topivot about the end of the maga new m f d goldmg zine onthe weapon side. The magazine may be p ff l w n e case adaptedto be attached and removed; for which f j d' P of Partndges, nflorder purpose it is advisable for it tobe constructed as to e n h foliemost cartndge located m the P a metalcasing with a steel m outhpie'ce in front. range ofthe Q E Q 9: the Weapon from Themouthpiece is thereby able to withstand the e o o s ob th n of th great stress caused by frequentappIication and following second d t d c t de s, s parators removal'of the magazineand is'alsoof sufiicient of known typ ay a ed Oh e magastrength to' co-operate with the retaining devices 21119010? the p A plurallty of 511011 magaengaging therewithfor connecting the-magazinezines'may, of course, also be used on a weapon,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal .sectionalongthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; v i

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along the line 4 -4 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 5 to 8 show an example ofconstruction of a two-row cartridge packing-for grooved cartridges, in which,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic side view of? a cartridge clip with cartridges, a Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic end viewthereof,

Fig. 7a is adiagramma-tic top View ofthe left end of Fig. 5, 7 1 Fig. 7b is a diagrammatic top view of th'e right end of'Fig. 5, and v Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic end view'of a modified clip; and p I Figs. 9 and 10 are an exampleof construction of a two-row packing for rim "cartridges, inwhich,

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic side view of a cartridge clip with cartridges, and 1 Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic end view thereof.

The magazine consists of amouthpiece 1 theframe 2 open at the upper side; and the end plate 3, which parts are preferably connected together to forma rig-id casing by welding. The mouthpiece l which is of steel and is provided with strong walls, carries in front'resil ient' but stiff retaining lips 4 by which the cartridgesare held in known manner-in such-a positionthat they can be seized singl yby the appropriatepart of the weapon (the lock member 5) and canbe swept in their l'or'igitudinal direction out of the magazine into the chamber 6 of the barrel.v

of the weapon. On the mouthpiece 1- there' are zine to the weapon. 1 i

also fitted the means for connecting the ma'ga-- As shown in Fig. '1 this' i-s'a memberfl of semi-- circular cross-section on thefront-side of'themagazine, which, together with a bearing groove on the weapon which'recei-vesit, forms a selfreleasing pivot joint for the swinging forward of the magazineout from its-position of use. i Themagazine is secured in fth-is positionby-a flatsided bolt 9 which engages with a catch 8 on therearside of the mouthpiece; and which is pivotally mounted in the-weapon,-.whichbolt: is. held turned into the locking position by a springxgnot shown, or can be made arrestable in the. released.

and locked position by suitable lockingmeansar Anfabutment lOi co-o'perating with themaga-l zine projection 8. prevents. the magazine from; swinging too. far into; the weapon. If the bolt 9.". the handleof which (not shown) is located in easy reach of the. thumbpof, the gunnersnhand.

which is. aroundthe'magazine, is turned into its release position, the magazine. can be, turned forward about the member? until the projection- 8 has: passed-the; bolt 9;, and, then withdrawn from swung back so far thatthe proiection 8. engag es.

behind the bolt 9. Further, the magazine mouthpiece carries the attachment and guide members for the cover which in the example in the drawings is a hinged cover 11 adapted to close the open top of the. magazine, This cover is adapted to pivot about a hinge formed by two eyes 12 on' the mouthpiece and two eyes 13 onitself with the. appropriate bolt 14.. Thepretensioned spiral spring 15mounted between the eyes 13 on the bolt 14-.tends to. hold .the cover 11 constantly open.

In the magazine frame 2, the feeder 16 is guided by means of its sides 17 and 18 and by two lateral surfaceslQ of a bearing member 20 welded thereto.

These surfaces 19 are guided in a slot 21 in the bottom side of the magazine. Further, the bearing member 20, by means of two surfaces 22,. engages under the ridge 23 surcured against falling out of the magazine when the cover 11 is open. In order that it may be possible to insert and remove the feeder, the

feeder spring .27, is: to; be moved backwards in the magazine. The handle 28 of thelev'er 26 is located behind the rear side of the magazine andthe lever arm 26 of such curvature that the pressure'exerted by the latter on the feeder rol'ler25 is. directed approximately in the direction. of movement of the feeder. The lever 26 itself is pivotally mounted in a bearing lug 29 welded to the front outer corner of the magazinewThus when theufeeder is thrust back against? the constantly increasing force of the spring. 2'1, the distance of the roller 25. from the pivoting point 29 and, therefore, also the resisting torque about this point becomes constantly smaller,. and only a uniform moderate forceneedbe applied-by the operator to the lever. handle 28.. 1 A .spiral spring 29a in the lug 29 automatically returns the lever 26 to and holds-it in. its. initial position shown in Fig. l, whereitrests against an attachment. on the magazine. The spring 27 is fixed and supported in. the feeder by bent members 30 in the latter, its other end resting. againstthe end plate 3 of the magazine; pins 31' and 32 fixed-toxthe end plate: 3 prevent-the outer end, of the spring from springing out when .the cover 11 is open;

, The: end plate; is provided'with a recess 33 in rounding the slot 21 whereby the feeder is seis mounted; and held by a-spring '36 supportedv against 'the end plate 3 in its; norma lyposition, in which. it rests. with its; surface 3'7 against the. end plate 3:-of the magazine.

' When" the feeder 16 is withdrawnqan inclined surface 38 of its bearing. member '20 comes into;

contact withthe projection 39- on the lower arm of the latch 35.. Thelatter ispthereby swun downwards against the pressure of its spring 36. The feeder'ldcan now be withdrawn a little further in themagazine than isnecessary for the passing of the; lower arm of the latch 35 through-the slot ,40- located in the bearing mem-,

ber 20 and; for the subsequent engagement ;of the projection 39 infront of the surface 41 of the bearing'rnember 20 and with such withdrawal-theinclinedsurface 38 of the bearin member -2.o.;a1 so: comes into. contact with thev inclined surface.- 42 .-onfthedower arm .of the latch 35.

Thus the. latteris. swung downwards further than is possiblev by themengagementof. its pro;-

jection 39 with the surface 3831fv thenthe'presof the bearing member 20, -andpreventsthefeed er from. proceeding further forward; Previously; the'latch 35, by means ofmthe projection 43 of its upwardlydirectedcarm; had: held the lid 11,

which tends to rise underltheiaction of 'the'spring 15, inits closed .-position. In consequence of the* turning of 1 the latchi which occurs :on the return of. the feeder l6 when the surfaces38 and 42 engage, 3 the cover. 1 1 is released and springs up into its open position as shown inlthedraw The arrangement of the second inclined sure faceg42 on the lower arm .of the latchwnsures the satisfactory'loperation, of the locking device I and enables accurate formation of the locking surfaceson the leverprojections 39 and 43 tobe obtained with suificiently large permissible tolerance. oThe lattenprojection 43located oirthe upper arm of the:latch= 35-,'on the re-closing of the1cover. 11, comes intocontact with the inclined surface 44 of theiretainingsslot45.in'the cover :and is-forced aside, and, before its sub-' sequent snapping back into position .to hold the" cover springs thewlever35 so far that the projection-39 releases the tensioned feeder so that it can fly forward'. Now the depth. of: the engagingnsurfacexof the projection 39 is greater the disengagement of P43 from the surface 44 where it would. be inconvenienh is compensated by the slight extra turn of the lever'35 produced by means of the inclined lever surface 42 .inoooperationwithlthe inclined, .surface38. on the feeder. 1

r The cartridge packi l intended iorwfilling a, magazine of the type described above is ofxlthe two-row type and completely' charge'si' the magazine. Itslength is such that: it fitsin the maga'a zineispace which isfreed when the feeder 16. is

withdrawn. andthercoverl l. opened, while '1eav-" ing a free space inifrontxof. it:in themagazine mouthpiece .1, which. space accommodates the cartridgesnthrust out'in loose order from the pack. Itisi preferablei'to arrange for the cartridge pack to accommodate an even number of cartridges and for their two ends to be arranged symmetrically to one another, so that the pack can be placed in the magazine either side uppermost. j

Theclip 46 or 47 which holds the cartridges of the pack together, according to the form of construction shown in Figs; 5 tom, consists of a U-shaped plate of steel, tin or brass, the side walls of which-as shown in Fig. 8--can be stiffened by channels 48, and having two longitudinally directed inner projections 49 (Fig.- 6), or

alternatively two longitudinal grooves 50 as shownin Fig. 10 co-operating with the cartridge grooves or rims respectively toflprevent them from falling out. in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cartridges. According to Fig.

' two rows of cartridges to be held, closely toa 3i gether; so that they. are held together as securely as in the case of a rim. cartridges without sucha stepbeingcprovidedin the clip. At both.

its ends, namely. at diagonally opposite corners;

thecartridge clip 46 or .47 carries lips-52 formed bycutting' away at the .endsof the-clips the por-. tions containing theinternal..projections.;49 or thegrooves :50, the lipsthus formed being bent inwards; Each lip, embraces the outermost cartridge at the respectiveend of the clip and prevents the cartridges from being removed unintentionally from theclip. These lips areprovided with extensions 53 whichistand out from the clip, one of whichiexten'sions, afterthe frame has been placedin the.,mag'azine, engaging underthe, projection 54:0f a. bell crank. 'lever 56 adapted tovpivot abouta bolt mounted in the magazine frame. 1 1

@Whenthe magazine, lid; is open this bell crank lever,,owing to the pressure of its spring 5641, protrudes with its second ,arm 57 beyond the upper. edge, of the magazine frame'2, so that when-thecover ll isflclosed it'is depressed therebyand with its projection 54 bends outthe lip 52 at the front end ofthe cartridge clip .46 or 47. from thepath of-theqcartridges bypressure 011112118 extension 53. This takes place in the last' part ofthe closing movement of the cover and the simultaneously released feeder can thrust thecartridges, without encountering any considerable opposition, from the cartridge 7 clip against ,theretaining lip of the magazine mouthpiece.

, The cartridge clip- 46 or 47 may be secured against longitudinal displacementin the magae zine byone end of the clip resting againstthe. projection-54 oi the bell crank lever 56;.and the other or outer end by a projection 58 fixed in the magazine frame. This arrangement may be effeoted .in'such a manner that when the. cartridge. clip is in contact ..with the projection 54a free space existsbetween its, outer end andthe promotion- 58, thecartridge clip is taken back through this-space when the feeder 16 is withdrawn, in order to move out of the range-of thefiprojection 54of;thebell crank-lever. 56.1 V, I;

,Inorder that the clip 46or 4'7 may be secured in the magazine against turning or transverse displacement; also support surfaces are provided in the magazine forlthe longitudinal edges ,59 of the side wall parts of the cartridge clips The lower supporting surface is formed bythe limit, ing edge 60 of an opening 61 in the bottom side i of the magazine, permitting in known manner the by continuous ejection of its cartridge under the pressure of the magazine feeder during firing, falls down through the opening 61, as soon as the feeder which has moved forward between the side walls of the clip has been withdrawn into its rear position for the refilling of the magazine.

A magazine can, of course, also be recharged when'removed from the weapon, and moreover for this purpose loose cartridges may be used instead of cartridge packs. In order that the lock of the weapon may remain automatically in its open position after a magazine has been emptied by firing, and so that the firing can be continued immediately after the magazine has been refilled,the magazine feeder 16 strikes in known manner, for instance, with its bearing member been fired from the magazine, is caught and held.

20 in its front end position, against the oppositely located projection 64 of a lever 67 adapted to pivot. about a bolt 66 in the attachment 65 of the magazine. frame 2. This lever, with its other projection 68, presses on an interrupter lever 69. mounted in the weapon, which in its turn prevents any possibilityof firing or by direct locking of the breech bolt the latter, after the last shot has in its backward open position.

We claim:

1. A cartridge magazine. for firearms comprising a casing removably attached'to the firearm and having an opening for the insertion of a cartridge pack into the casing,meansat the front end of the casing for guiding cartridges intothe breech of the firearm, a cover for said opening, means urging the cover to openposition, a cartridge feeder movable in said casing, means urging the feeder in the direction of the'guide means, and a latch cooperating with the cover and the feeder to retain the feeder at the rear end of the casing while releasing the cover and to release the feeder when said latch engages the cover-to close the opening. 1

2. A cartridge magazinefor firearms comprising a casing extending transversely from the bridge of the firearm-and removably attached thereto, said casing having an opening in its top for the insertion of a cartridge "pack, means at the bridge end of the'casingfor guiding cartridges intothe bridge ofthe firearm, acover for said opening hinged to the casing at the. bridge end thereof, means urging the cover to open position; a cartridge feeder movable in'sa'id casing, means urging the feeder in the direction of the guide means, and a latch cooperating with the cover and-feederto retain the feeder at the outer end of the casing While releasing the 'cover and to release the'feeder when the said latch engages. thecover to close the opening.

'3. A cartridge magazine for firearms compristions. on the feeder and cover cooperating with said arms and so arranged that a greater movement of the lever is. required to release the cover than to release, the feeder, and ramps on the feeder and the lever armengaging the same effective upon. an auxiliary movement of the feeder to impart such greater movement to the latch lever.

4.. A cartridge-magazine for firearms compris ing a casing having an openingv for the insertion of a cartridge pack into the casing, means on the casing for guiding cartridges into the breech of the firearm, cartridge retaining lips on the guide means, means for detachably securing. the casing in operative position on the firearm, a cover for said opening pivoted. to the magazine, a latch cooperating with the cover, a spring urging the cover into open position when the latch releases the same, and a cartridge feeder movable in said casing and cooperating with the latch.

5. A cartridge magazine for firearms comprising a casing removably attached to the firearm and having an opening for the insertion of a cartridge pack intothe casing, means at the front end of the casing for guiding cartridges into the breech of the firearm, a cover for said opening,

,means urging the cover to open. position, a cartridge feeder movable in said casing, means urging thefeeder in the direction-of the guide means, a latch cooperating with the cover and the feeder to retain the feeder at the rear end of the casingv while releasing the cover and to release. the. feeder when said latch engages the cover to close the opening, a curved lever pivoted to said casing and engaging a projection on the feeder for moving the latter to latch engaging "position, and an operating handlev on said lever, the curvature of the lever being, adapted to produce uniform resistance of the feeder urging means during the operation of the handle- 6'. A. cartridge magazine according to claim 1,. comprising means operated by closure of the cover to release the cartridges from the cartridge pack. l,

7. A cartridge magazine according to claim 1 for use with a cartridge pack. in which the cartridges are retained by a clip, comprising means in the casing for guiding thecartridges and clip, and inwhi'ch the casing has a bottom. opening for discharge of. the clip when emptied.

FRITZ HERLACH. THEODOR. RAKULA.

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