General Electric Company

Edward A Proulx

Steven R Duke

Glenn E Rossier

Anthony J Aloi

Raymond A Patenaude

Stephen Austin Jarvis

Eugene B Raymond

Lewis K Wetzel

Robert R Bernard

A Gatling-type gun mechanism has a stationary housing having a camming channel and at least one loading/unloading port. A rotor is mounted inside the housing and can be rotated about a longitudinal axis; the rotor carries a plurality of gun barrels, each fixed to the rotor with a respective barrel axis substantially parallel to the rotor longitudinal axis; a like number of stud assemblies, each having a respective axis aligned with the axis of an associated gun barrel; and a like number of cartridge chambers, each interacting with the housing camming channel, during each rotation of said rotor, for reciprocal motion between a rearward location substantially coaxial about the associated stud assembly and a forward location substantially in abutment with the associated gun barrel and enclosing a volume into which a round of ammunition can be placed and removed by radial movement through the loading/unloading port. Each of the stud assemblies has a mechanism for firing a round of ammunition within the enclosed volume of the associated chamber, when that chamber is at its forward location, and when the rotor moves the associated barrel, chamber and stud assembly to a firing location.

Gun mechanism for rapidly firing cased telescoped ammunition

To guide a cam follower through the intersection of crossing portions of a cam track, a crossover mechanism is provided with a pair of crossover cam members which are separately, telescopically reciprocated to momentarily insert cam segments into the intersection in properly timed relation with the arrival thereat of the cam follower in its movement along either of the crossing track portions.

Crossover mechanism for guiding a cam follower through a cam track

An ammunition feeding system includes an endless, ladder-type conveyor trained throughout the interior of a magazine in a serpentine formation consisting of a plurality of straight line sections and interconnecting turnaround sections. The conveyor includes a succession of carriers which are adapted to assume a closed, ammunition round retention condition while in the straight line sections and to automatically open while in the turnaround sections to effect round handoffs to any transfer station located thereat for live round-spent round exchanges with respect to the carriers as they transit the turnaround section. Guides are positioned at the other turnaround sections to preclude round handoffs by the opened carriers.

Magazine ammunition conveying system

To provide positive, uninterrupted control and guidance of ammunition rounds being transferred through a transfer zone to and from an ammunition conveyor in an ammunition handling system, a set of commonly mounted, rotary control members are provided with a plurality of angularly spaced, radiating control elements whose free ends provide separate control surfaces which guidingly engage and move with the ammunition rounds as they are being transferred in opposite directions through the transfer zone.

Ammunition handling apparatus

A feature of this invention is the provision of a slider coupled to the gun bolt for camming the locking lugs and for positively retaining the lugs in their bolt-locking disposition.

Gun bolt locking system

A weapon system is provided in a pod envelope having an endless conveyor, formed of a plurality of conveyor elements, and disposed in a two layer, multiturn, helical spiral, with a turnaround and transition between layers at each end, and a gun disposed within the spiral of the conveyor.

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Burlington, VT, United States of America

Edward A Proulx