US2435590A - Cartridge belt link - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 10, 1948. H. B. HOLROYD CARTRIDGE BELT LINK Filed July 15, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' HnwardE Hulru :1

Feb. 10, 1948. H. HO LROYD CARTRIDGE BELT LI NK Filed July 15, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hnvvard ELHmlru 3 %WW Patented Feb. 10, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARTRIDGE BELT LINK Howard B. Holroyd, Davenport, Iowa Application July 13, 1942, Serial No. 450,779

' (Granted under the actof March 3, 1883, as

1 Claim.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the' Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to cartridge belts for automatic firearms and more particularly to an improved link therefor.

It is an object of this invention to produce an improved link which is geometrically symmetrical with respect to a plane including the axes of the loops and therefore has the advantages inherent in such symmetry, that is, equal adaptability to right or left hand feed.

It is a further object to produce a link which will have improved stress distribution characteristics under load, thus tending to reduce deformation in feeding long and heavy belts of the type required for use with modern armament.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing in which: V

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the new link.

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the link.

Figures 3 and 4 are end elevational views of the new link as seen from opposite ends.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a portion of a cartridgebelt assembled with the new links.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the blank from which the new link is formed.

Figures 7 and 8 are respectively plan and end elevational views of a blank. strip showing the embryo links in various stages of formation.

Figure 9 is a perspective view .of a modified form of my new link.

Figure 10 is a top plan viewof the link shown in Fig. 9.

Figure 11 is a sectional view on the line llll of Fig. 10.

Figure 12 is a plan view of the blank from which the modified link is formed. j

Referring to the drawing by characters of reference, it will be seen that my new link comprises a body portion I, and a pair of hinge loop forming tongues 2 and 3 which extend from opposite sides of the central section of the body portion I and have been closed in to form a circular hinge loop. The end sections of the body portion are offset from the central section and from opposite side edges of these end sections extend the cartridge gripping loop forming legs 4 and 5 and Band I, each pair of these loop forming legs being closed into circular form in the opposite direction from the body portion to that taken by the hinge loop, thus forming a pair of circular cartridge gripping loops which are coaxial with each other andaxially parallel to but offset from the hinge loop. As seen in end elevation the new link may be likened to. that of a letter H, the

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) open ends of which have been closed upon themselves tosubstantially the form of the figure 8. It will be noted that the loops of the new link are open at the ends of theloop forming legs at positions on the circumference of the loop which are remote from the connecting body portion.

The links of the prior art may be classified roughly as W type and as S type and in each case the openings in the loops are adjacent the 7 body portion and each loop forming member has only a single point of juncture with the body portion. When such belts are under load the stresses acting upon each loop appear to be concentrated at the point of junction with the body portion and tend to bend each loop outwardly at that point. In the case of the new link, however, the stresses may be considered to be equally distributed between the two legs forming each loop, thus reducing the stress acting at the junction points and increasing the resistance of the new link to deformation under load.

As the new link has complete geometrical symmetry with regard to a plane which bisects the through a unitary die as is commonly employed in making the conventional links. The blank from which the link is formed is shown in plan in Fig. 6. Regardless of whether formed in a unitary or progressive die structure the general steps'of the method may be:

1. Form the blank to the shape shown in Fig. 6.;

2. Ofi'set the central section of the body portion from the plane in which the end sections are secured.

3. Bend the hinge loop forming tongues toward each other into circular form and in adirection away from the plane of the body portion.

4. Simultaneously with, or separately from the last step, bend the cartridge loop forming legs toward each other into circular form and in the opposite direction from the plane of the body portion.

5. Compress about arbors for final sizing and shaping.

Figures '7 and 3, in plan and end elevation respectively, show certain of the above steps in forming the link in a progressive die structure, the embryo links remaining attached to the scrap of the blank strip for positioning as they are passed through the die structure. The progression shown in Figures 7 and 8 is intended to be only illustrative and it should be realized that the link may be formed by the exercise of a greater or fewer number of operations than those detailed. The design of the dies which may be used will be readily apparent to those who are skilled in the die forming art. The essential points of my method are that, with respect to the plane of the original blank, the cartridge gripping 100p forming legs are bent into circular form in a direction opposite to that taken by the hinge loop forming tongues.

Although I have illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 the various steps or stages of a method of producing my improved link in a series of progressive dies wherein a selvage strip is provided for advancing and locating the blanks in successive die stages, it is comprehended that my improved link may also be produced in a set of progressive dies of the so-called scrapless type as well as those in which a selvage strip is provided on both sides of the blank. From the standpoint of economy due to the elimination of excess scrap, the socalled scrapless die method of producing belt links is at present very highly regarded in the art. It will be apparent, however, that my improved method of producing links is entirely independent of the width of the blank strip fed to the dies. It is only necessary according to my improved method that a series of pairs of cuts be provided, the oppositely extending cuts of each pair being substantially equal in length and extending substantially equal distances from the center or main body portion. By producing a series of such substantially equal, longitudinal oppositely extending cuts in a strip of any given width it will be obvious that there will be produced a substantially flat blank having a plurality of pairs of loop forming arms extending from the central body portion, at least one pair of which comprises two oppositely extending arms of substantially equal length and configuration. Furthermore, it will be noted that as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, I have disclosed a method wherein every pair of cuts is so made that each cut lying on one side of the body portion is substantially identical in length and configuration with a corresponding cut extending oppositely from the central or body portion,-although my novel method is not to be thus limited in practice.

A modified form of my new link is shown in Figures 9 to 12. A comparison of Figure 12 with Figure 6 shows that the hinge loop forming tongue 8 of the modified link is located entirely on one side of the central connecting body portion la of the blank and is further provided with a-finger 9 at its end remote from the body portion la. The cartridge gripping loop forming legs 4a, 5a, 6a, and la are identical with those hereinbefore described. In forming the link the cartridge gripping loops are formed in one direction from the plane of the original blank as previously described and the hinge loop is formed in the opposite direction from that plane, the finger 9 being interlocked with the body portion la as shown in Fig. 11 to positively prevent any increase in pitch distance as a result of deformation of the hinge loop. The variations which may be required in the die structure to accommodate and form the modified blank into a belt link should be obvious to those skilled in the art. Basically the method is the same in that the hinge and cartridge gripping loops are formed into circular form in opposite directions with regard to the plane of the original blank,

It is to be noted that when the blanks illustratedin Figs. 6 and 12are respectively formed into the links shown in Figs. 1 and 9, two ears in effect integrally join the three loops together.

'These ears can be considered as also indicated by the numeral i in Figs. 1 and 2, and by the numeral I a in Figs. 9 and 10. Also, referring to the blank shown in Fig. 6 the strips 2. l, and 6 ,7 may be considered as joined integrally midway between their ends by bridges of material of which they are composed; and likewise, in the blank shown in Fig. 12, the two strips 4a. and 6a may be considered as joined integrally by a bridge of material of which they are composed. with the strip 8 connected integrally at one end with one side of said bridge.

It will be understood that the modification described above is by no means the only one which may occur to those skilled in the art. For example, any or all of the loops of the basic link described might be closed by interlocking their free ends in the region substantially diametrically opposed to the body portion. It is intended, therefore, that the invention only be limited as indicated by the scope of the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

An ammunition belt link of one-piece construction of flat strip material comprising a central body portion, a pair of substantially semi-cylindrical sleeve-forming tongues of substantially equal circumferential lengths integral with and extending from said body portion, said sleeveforming tongues having their free ends proximate whereby a, longitudinally split substantially cylindrical hinge sleeve is formed, the ends of saidbody portion being extended beyond said hinge sleeve and bent opposite to said hinge sleeve, said body portion being symmetrical about a median plane passing between the free ends of' said tongues equidistant from the same and containing the axis of the hinge sleeve, a plurality of substantially cylindrical coaxial gripping sleeves axially spaced from each other a distance substantially equal to the axial length of said hinge sleeve and integrally formed with the ends of said body portion, the axis of said gripping sleeves being parallel to the axis of the hinge sleeve and lying in said median" plane, said gripping sleeves being split longitudinally along a line included in said median plane, the split portions of said sleeves being opposite from said body portion.

HOWARD B. HOLROYD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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