Rheinmetall Gmbh

Rheinmetall W & M Gmbh

Rheinmetall Industrie Gmbh

Rheinmetall Industrie Aktiengesellschaft

Horst Menges

Lothar Post

Bernhard Schneider

Helmut Mader

Clemens Bremer

Rainer Buhl

Erich Bender

A weapon includes a barrel; a breech ring attached to a rearward end of the barrel; a groove provided in the breech ring; a movable breechblock mounted in the breech ring and having open and closed positions; a slide mounted in the breech ring and being guided by the breech ring groove for displacements relative to the breech ring; a connecting element for coupling the slide to the breechblock for causing motion of the breechblock between the open and closed positions by the displacements of the slide; and a control cam rotatably supported in the breech ring. The control cam has a cam track coupled to the slide for effecting displacements of the slide upon rotation of the control cam Further, an external drive is provided for rotating the control cam.

Breechblock opening and closing device for a large-caliber weapon

A breechblock system for a gun includes a breechblock; a firing pin slidably received in the breechblock and having two diametrically oppositely located catch recesses; and two locking levers pivotally supported by the breechblock on opposite sides thereof and each having first and second arms. The two locking levers have a locking position and an unlocking position. In the locking position the first arm of the respective locking levers projects into the respective catch recesses for preventing the firing pin from moving from its locked position into its firing position. Further, two bolts are provided which are movably supported on opposite sides of the breechblock and which cooperate with the breechblock and with respective locking levers. The bolts have a withdrawn position and an advanced position. In the withdrawn position the bolts are out of a depressing engagement with the respective locking levers, whereby the locking levers are maintained in the locking position by a force-exerting arrangement. In the advanced position the bolts depress the respective locking levers, whereby the locking levers are maintained in the unlocking position in which the second arms of the respective locking levers are spaced from the catch recesses.

Breechblock system for a gun

An automatic weapon includes a housing; a bolt movably received in the housing; a weapon barrel replaceably received in the housing and having a recess; and a locking member movably supported in the housing to assume locking and releasing positions. In the locking position the locking member projects into the recess for locking the weapon barrel to the housing and in the releasing position the locking member is withdrawn from the recess. There are further provided a spring for urging the locking member into the releasing position; a shaft rotatably supported in the housing and a cam secured to the shaft for rotating therewith as a unit and for contacting the locking member. The cam has a first angular position in which it holds the locking member in the locking position and a second angular position in which the spring holds the locking member in the releasing position. An external weapon-operating device moves the bolt into an unsecured position in which an accidental firing of a cartridge in the weapon barrel is possible and a secured position in which an accidental firing of a cartridge in the weapon barrel is not possible. The weapon-operating device moves the cam from the first into the second angular position when moving the bolt into the secured position.

Safety lock for securing a replaceable barrel to the housing of an

For installation in confined areas, an externally driven automatic weapon includes an alternatable dual cartridge supply system having two supply chutes are disposed parallel to an axis of symmetry traversing a cartridge supply rotor and a control roller for the breech block drive. The internal guide surfaces of both chutes are formed by a central guide disposed on the axis of symmetry, with the maximum width of this central guide corresponding to the chord length of a segment of the rotor which is provided with three, symmetrically disposed recesses, so that the introduction of cartridges into the rotor from the linear cartridge chute can take place, for example, directly from the top. The supply of cartridges to the rotor is always effected during any given period of time from only one chute. If cartridges are supplied from the other chute, the direction of rotation of rotor changes so that the cartridges are transported directly from the waiting position of a respective supply star wheel associated with each chute and fixed to the weapon housing, into a recess of the rotor and are transferred by stepwise movement of the rotor to a breech block for further transport into a cartridge chamber. During the continuous supply of cartridges by a further star wheel fixed to the cradle housing to the star wheel fixed to the weapon housing, guide means guide the cartridges in the axial direction within the chutes. To eject cartridge casings, a guide lever associated with the chute not then being used to supply cartridges is pivoted into the associated chute in the lateral rotor region to direct the empty cartridge casings into a casing chute.

Alternatable dual cartridge supply system for an externally driven

For a space saving and shock free breech block for an externally driven automatic weapon, a control roller 10 includes two camming discs which offset by 180.degree. with respect to one another in a symmetrical manner and arranged one behind the other, so as to continuously rotate in the same direction as the control roller. For the displacement of two locking bars disposed on opposite sides of the breech block 9 in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the breech block, respective slide members are arranged between the breech block guide path axis and the control roller 10. Each slide member grips around one of the camming discs by meane of a U-shaped pocket and transfers the transverse movement of the associated camming disc to an associated one of the locking bars for locking and unlocking breech block 9 in a form locking manner.

Rigidly lockable straight-action breech block for an externally driven

The arrangement for emergency actuating of the firing pin of a machine cannon having an exterior drive includes a percussion hammer that is loaded by a coil spring for the direct loading of the firing pin mounted in the breech block via an intermediate rod member. When in a loaded position and therefore ready for an emergency actuation, the percussion hammer is secured in its operating position by means of an arresting spring which engages with a pair of diametrically opposite nose members into an abutments forming part of the breech housing.

Arrangement for emergency actuation of the firing pin of a machine

A rapid-stop device for the control roller of an automatic weapon wherein for a space-saving arrangement, a brake unit forming part of the rapid-stop device is disposed in a longitudinally axial bore of the control roller. Within its jacket, the brake unit includes brake shims and pretensioned spring elements 79. The brake unit jacket is mounted on a central mandrel, which is fixed to the cradle housing, so as not to be displaceable in the axial direction, and is connected with the control roller so that it can rotate with same and so that the control roller can move axially relative to the jacket. For a braking process required in the case of malfunction or during normal shut-down of the automatic weapon, a trigger catch lever or a rapid-stop catch lever disposed in the housing engages in the sole catch edge of a brake disc which is coaxial with the support mandrel. At the same time, a control disc, which is drivingly connected for rotation with the control roller and which is normally connected with the brake disc in a forming locking manner by an axial displacement arrangement, displaces the brake disc, under the inertia of further rotating parts connected to the control disk, in the direction of the brake shims, and thus performs a safe and attenuated brake stroke.

Rapid stop device for an externally driven automatic weapon

A device performs forwardly oriented case ejection from an externally driven automatic cannon, the cannon having a chamber, a breechblock which is longitudinally movable along a path by the action of a rotating control cylinder and which simultaneously advances an ejecting device for ejecting a cartridge case, and an intermittently rotating rotor having a plurality of rotor pockets disposed circumferentially thereabout for moving a cartridge into the path of the breechblock and for removing a cartridge case from the path of the breechblock, wherein the ejecting device is a case pusher for ejecting empty cartridge cases, the case pusher being coaxially mounted within the rotor for longitudinal movement relative thereto, the case pusher including a plurality of carrier elements projecting radially into respective ones of the rotor pockets; and a connecting arrangement is used for joining the case pusher with the breechblock such that the case pusher is axially displaceable together with the breechblock and the case pusher intermittently rotates with the rotor.

Device for forward oriented case ejection in an externally driven

An arrangement for rapidly stopping the movable parts of machine cannons with independent external drives wherein a rotating element, which rotates in dependence to a rotating control drum drivingly connected to the breech block, is stopped at misfiring or delayed firing within the breech block locking period of the firing cycle by a locking element which is actuated by propellant charge gas pressure. The arrangement of the invention prevents a shock-like braking and transfer of the kinetic energy of the movable parts of the machine cannon and provides for an automatic release of the blocking element. The arrangement includes a rotating rod spring coaxially mounted within the control drum by means of which the kinetic energy of the rotating masses of the breech drive are elastically braked. Such energy transfer can even be effected with a delayed ignition because by means of positive interruption of the propellant charge gases traversing an annular chamber the release of the blocking element is prevented and it is not lifted off a cam disc. This blocking element can, however, be separately lifted of the cam disc by means of a release lever.

Arrangement for stopping the moving parts of a machine cannon having an

A double-cartridge feeder has left and right sprocket wheel transport shafts. Each transport shaft is provided with a star wheel coaxially mounted thereon. A reciprocally movable switching fork is arranged on a first alternate drive. A second alternate drive serves for swinging of an inserter into an operative position in dependence with the sprocket wheel transport shaft which has been selectively driven via the first alternate drive. By means of a globoidal drive a uniform movement of an external drive is converted into a step-wise movement of the feeder.

Stepwise double-cartridge-alternate feeder for an automatic weapon

A cartridge belt guiding mechanism for automatic weapons disposed between the outlet of an ammunition belt storage container and the ammunition belt inlet of the automatic weapon. The guiding mechanism is composed of a plurality of open frame-like elements. Each element has a plurality of pins extending from opposite faces thereof. Coil springs are mounted on the pins and are connected to confronting faces of the frame-like elements. The coil springs define a flexible guide channel adapted slidingly guide therethrough the cartridges of the ammunition belt. The end elements of the channel are respectively connected to the outlet of the ammunition belt storage container and the ammunition belt inlet of the automatic weapon.

Growing community of inventors

Ratingen, Germany

Horst Menges