US2801624A - Amusement pneumatic machine gun - Google Patents

Description

C. A. FELTMAN AMUSEMENT PNEUMATIC MACHINE GUN Aug. 6, 1957 Filed Jan. 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CHARLES H. FfLT/ZQN m J ,RTTOP/V-EY v lll llllll mun-Il- Aug. 6, 1957 C. A. FELTMAN AMUSEMENT PNEUMATIC MACHINE GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1955 HTTOE/VE? United States Patent AMUSEMENT PNEUMATIC MACHINE GUN Charles A. Feltman, New York, N. Y.

Application January 28, 1955, Serial No. 484,608

4 Claims. (Cl. 124-11) My present invention relates to amusement pneumatic machine guns of the type in which. a succession of bullets, such as' BB shot, are propelled through the barrel of the gun by compressed air.

In guns of the above type the shot are supplied in succession from a magazine tube to a slot in a sliding plunger which is driven by compressed air into alignment with and between the loading end of the gun barrel and a compressed air tube so that the air propels the bullet into and through the gun barrel. Then the slide is returned by a spring to its original position to receive another bullet. This is repeated automatically until the supply of bullets is exhausted. The feeding mechanism is controlled by an inlet and exhaust valve which is operated by the plunger to admit air when the plunger is in starting position and to exhaust it at the finish of its stroke.

Jamming sometimes occurs due to a premature starting of the feed slide in its return movement so that a bullet would be caught between the slide and the inlet to the gun barrel before it had completely cleared the slide. When this occurs it requires partial dismantling to remove the bullet. My present invention provides a mechanism which obviates the above risk of jamming and ensures accurate alignment of the feed slot with the gun barrel and sufficient time for firing the bullet before the return of the feed slide.

In my invention this accuracy and certainty of operation is obtained by providing notches on the rock shaft of the control valve. The notches engage a pair of latches, one latch being engaged to hold the rock shaft when the feed slide is in firing position and released when the slide reaches loading position, and the other latch engaging the notch when the feed plunger is in loading position and released when it reaches firing position. The positions of the latches may be shifted so as to adjust very accurately the position of the plunger at which they will be engaged so that the plunger may be manually adjusted to ensure proper firing position.

The various features of my invention are illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an amusement pneumatic machine gun embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the loading and firing block and of the mechanism for rotating the inlet and exhaust valve;

Fig. 3 is a view on the opposite side of the feeding block showing the notched rock shaft or cam and the engaging latches;

Fig. 4 is a detail side view of one of the latches;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the working elements of the gun taken on line 66 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical view taken from the right of Fig. 6.

In the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the invention is shown as applied to a machine 3 ice gun having a barrel 10, a stock 11, firing block 12 and compressed air supply tube 13.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 6, the gun is provided with a magazine tube or conduit 14 into which a supply of shot or bullets may be poured. This magazine tube is of a size so that the bullets will be aligned in single succession and the feed end terminates in a valve block 15. The valve block 15 contains a slide 16 which is normally pressed out by a coil spring 17 confined between the valve block and a head 18. The slide 16 may be forced inwardly against the action of the spring 16 by pressure applied to the head 18 to bring a slot 19 into alignment with the magazine passage or tube 14 and a feed opening 20 to enable the shot or bullets to be poured into the magazine tube. When pressure on the head 18 is released the slide is forced outwardly to close the passage into the magazine tube. A groove 21 in the slide engages a screw 22 to prevent rotation or misalignment of the slide.

A column of bullets thus supplied to the magazine tube may be rolled by pointing the gun downwardly until they reach a feed slide 23 in a loading block 24 mounted on the firing block 12.

The magazine 14 has a curved part, as indicated at 25, so that the bullets in advance of this part will tend to roll into the loading block 24 and the slide 23. Air pressure may be supplied back of the bullets from a supply tube 26 through a passage 27 at the end of the conduit 14.

Air supplied through the compressed air tube 13 enters a passage or conduit 28 in a pneumatically controlled block 29 and is received in a valve chamber 30. Flow of air from the chamber 30 to a conduit 31 leading to the air supply tube 26 is controlled by a slidable valve 32 having a valve stem 33 projecting out of the block 24. The valve 32 is normally held closed by a coil spring 34 confined between block 24 and a head 35 on the valve stem. It may be pressed inwardly to open the valve by means of a trigger 36. When the valve 32 is opened air flows freely through conduit 31 into the supply tube 26.

From the supply tube 26, which continues into the block 24, air is also supplied through a branch conduit 37 and through a rotatable inlet valve 38 to the lower end of a cylinder 39 formed within the block 29. Air admitted into the lower end of the cylinder 39 forces upwardly a piston or plunger 46 carrying a stem 41 into engagement with the lower end of the slide 23 which is normally resiliently pressed downwardly by means of a spring 42 encircling the lower end of the slide and confined between a head 43 thereon and a recess 44 in the block 24.

In the position of the piston shown in Pig. 6 a slot 45 in the slide 23 is in position to receive one bullet from the magazine tube 14. As the piston 40 forces the slide upwardly the slot 45 is brought into position between the inlet end of a gun barrel 46 and the end of the air supply tube 26, whereupon air from the tube 26 blows the bullet into and through the gun barrel. Thereafter the valve 38 is turned a quarter turn to close the passage 37 and to open an exhaust passage 46 to atmosphere. This releases pressure from below the piston 40 whereupon the spring 42 pushes the slide 23 and the piston 40 downwardly until the slot 45 is brought into alignment with the end of the magazine tube 14. The slide 23 is kept from rotation about its axis by means of a screw stem 47 engaging a slot in the slide.

The valve 38 is given a snap action rotation of in each direction by means of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 2 the valve 38 would be in its open position, admitting compressed air to the cylinder 39 below the piston 40. The end of the valve 38 projects through and out of the housing 29 and is squared on its projecting end to receive an operating lever 48 which rotates a quarter turn with the valve. It is held with spring tension in its lower position against a stop 49 by means of a tension spring 50 secured at one end to a pin 51 on the lever 48 and to a pin 52 on a bracket 53 mounted on a pin 54 fixed on the piston 40 and extending sidewise through a slot 55 in the block 29. When the piston 40 is forced upwardly it carries with it the pin 54, the bracket 53 and the pin 52. As the pin 52 is carried upwardly it first tensions the spring 50 and after the spring passes above the center of the valve it draws the lever 48 upwardly upon release of a holding latch described below swinging it through an arc of 90 thereby rotating the valve 33 to open the valve and close the exhaust. This action tends to hold the valve 38 open throughout most of the upper passage of the piston 40 and closed during the downward passage. However, exact positioning of the control valve is not attainable with this mechanism.

To hold the valve 38 either in open or closed position throughout a definite stroke of the piston, the notch and latch mechanism of Fig. 3 is provided. In this mechanism the end of the valve 38 projects through the opposite side of the housing and on the projecting end is fixedly mounted a disc 56 having a pair of notches 57 and 58, these notches being arranged to be alternately in the position shown in Fig. 3, or in a position at right angles thereto. An upper latch 59 is pivotally mounted on a pin 60 so as to tilt downwardly to bring a catch 61 into engagement with the notch 58 and thereby to hold valve 38 in open position.

The valve is held in open position until a pin 62 projecting sidewise from the piston 40 through a slot 63 in the block 29 is lifted upwardly by the piston until it engages the lower edge of the latch 59 and releases the notch 58. Thereupon the spring 50 will snap the valve to close the inlet and open the exhaust outlet. The valve 38 and valve disc 56 is, therefore, rotated counterclockwise 90" until the notch 57 engages a tooth or projection 64 on a lower latch 65 which is pivoted on a pivot 66. The valve is thereupon held in this position until the piston descends under the action of the spring 42 and a withdrawing spring 67 secured at one end to the bracket 53 and at the other end to a pin 68 projecting from the block 29. Thus the valve is rotated and held until each latch is in turn released.

The particular position of the piston, and accordingly of the slide 23 at which the valve is released to reverse the movement of the piston and slide, is controlled by the position of the pivot pins 6! and 66. In order to attain a very fine adjustment at this position each of these pins is eccentrically mounted as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, that is, the pin 60 for example which forms the pivot of the latch 59, is rotatable on and eccentric to a supporting screw 67' against which it may be tightened or loosened before adjustment of the pin 60. By loosening the screw and rotating the pin 60 on the supporting pin 67 the pivotal center may be raised or lowered or pivoted to the catch 61 and thus determine the exact position of rotation of the valve 56. The pivot may thereupon be tightened in this position by screwing the screw 67 tightly onto retaining washers 68'.

Through the above mechanism, therefore, the movement of the slide 23 may be adjusted at any time so that if jamming should tend to occur it may be corrected by suitable adjustment of the pivot 60. It may be noted that the lever 68 is mounted in the magazine supply tube 14 in position to be lifted by a supply of bullets. When lifted it lifts a lever 69 on the outside of the block 24 which in turn lifts a latch 70 pivoted on the block 29. When the latch 70 is lifted the lever 48 is free to swing. When, however, the supply of bullets is exhausted the lever 68 drops causing the lever 69 to drop and lower the lach 70 so that it engages and holds the lever 48 preventing further action of the gun.

Having described my invention, What I claim is:

1. A pneumatic machine gun which comprises a barrel, a compressed air conduit having a delivery opening aligned with said barrel, a magazine tube for shot having a delivery opening displaced from the delivery opening of said compressed air delivery opening and said barrel, a feeding slide slidable transversely of said openings and having a passage to receive individual shot from said magazine tube, an actuating piston aligned with said slide and movable by compressed air from said air conduit to engage and move said slide to bring said passage from charging alignment with said magazine delivery opening to firing alignment with said compressed air delivery opening and said barrel, a valve movable in one direction to open communication from said compressed air conduit to said piston to move said slide from charging to firing position and in the opposite directon to exhaust air from said piston, a notched cam fixed to and rotatable with said valve, a pair of spring pressed pivoted latches positioned to engage and hold said cam when said valve is moved to open and to exhaust positions respectively, each said latch having a pivot adjustable to control the angle of engagement with said cam and a stop carried by said piston and positioned to engage one of said latches when said slide is in charging position and to engage the other latch when said slide is in firing position.

2. The pneumatic machine gun of claim 1 in which said pivots for said latches are eccentrically mounted and adjustable on a supporting pin.

3. The pneumatic machine gun'of claim 1 having a spring to return said slide to charging position.

4. The pneumatic machine gun of claim 1 in which said stop is a pin projecting from said piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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