The present application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/659,165 filed on Jun. 13, 2012, which is incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates in general to a rotatable mounting apparatus and in particular to a rotatable mounting apparatus for a gun.
A machine gun mount may be used to support and mount a machine gun. The machine gun may be, for example, an M240H machine gun. The machine gun may be mounted to or on a structure. The structure may be, for example, a helicopter, such as a CH47 Chinook helicopter. A helicopter or other structure may include doors and windows. The machine gun mount may be used to mount the machine gun at a door or window. In a CH47 Chinook helicopter, for example, machine guns may be mounted at multiple locations. The multiple locations may include a door and a window.
An example of a mount that may be used with a machine gun is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/949,270 filed on Nov. 18, 2010 and entitled “Rotatable Gun Mount.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/949,270 has the same assignee as the instant patent application. The entire contents of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/949,270 are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
In some cases, it is desirable for a rotatable gun mount to have a greater range of movement than the mount shown in patent application Ser. No. 12/949,270. For example, both inboard and outboard rotation of the gun mount may be desired. In addition, a mechanism that enables faster and simpler articulation of the gun mount between multiple locking positions would be an advantage.
One aspect of the invention is an apparatus for rotating and locking a first longitudinal member with respect to a second longitudinal member. The first longitudinal member has a central axis and, on one end, a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism includes a through hole with a central axis that defines a pivot axis of the apparatus. The pivot axis is orthogonal to the central axis of the first longitudinal member. The locking mechanism has a generally arcuate outer surface with a plurality of notches formed therein. The plurality of notches includes deep notches and shallow notches.
The second longitudinal member has a yoke on one end. The yoke includes through holes. A pivot pin is disposed in the through hole in the locking mechanism and the through holes in the yoke to rotatably fix the first longitudinal member to the second longitudinal member. A locking plunger is disposed in the second longitudinal member and translatable between a fully locked position and a fully unlocked position. The locking plunger is biased toward the locking mechanism and includes a projection that (a) engages a first deep notch on the locking mechanism in the fully locked position, (b) engages a shallow notch on the locking mechanism in a force-dampening position, and (c) does not engage the locking mechanism in the fully unlocked position.
An operating pin is inserted through the second longitudinal member and the locking plunger for translating the locking plunger between the fully locked and the fully unlocked positions. The operating pin includes a central shaft and a collar disposed around the central shaft. The collar is biased toward the second longitudinal member. An operating pin opening is formed in the second longitudinal member for receiving the operating pin. The opening includes fully locked, transition, and fully unlocked portions. The fully locked and fully unlocked portions are large enough to receive the collar of the operating pin. The transition portion is large enough to receive the central shaft of the operating pin but not large enough to receive the collar of the operating pin.
In one embodiment, when the projection engages the first deep notch on the locking mechanism in the fully locked position, the first and second longitudinal members are collinear and the collar of the operating pin is disposed in the fully locked portion of the operating pin opening in the second longitudinal member.
In some embodiments, when the projection engages the shallow notch in the locking mechanism in the force-dampening position, the central shaft of the operating pin is disposed in the transition portion of the operating pin opening in the second longitudinal member.
The first and second longitudinal members may be arms and the first arm may include a pintle and a gun cradle fixed to the pintle.
The invention will be better understood, and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, like or corresponding parts are denoted by like or corresponding reference numerals.
A gun (not shown) may be mounted on a gun cradle 12. One side of the gun may interact with a spent case collector 14 that leads to a spent case and link storage container 16. Container 16 may be supported by cradle 12. Another side of the gun may interact with a magazine feed mechanism disposed at area 18. In the embodiment of
One end of mount 10 may include a hinge assembly 28. Hinge assembly 28 may include a mounting pin 30 for fixing mount 10 to a suitable bracket located on one side of an opening in a structure. Another longitudinal member or arm 34 may be fixed to hinge assembly 28 using, for example, pins 35 and 36. A detailed embodiment of hinge assembly 28 is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/949,270. The other end of mount 10 may include a support member 32. Support member 32 may be fixed to a side of the opening in the structure opposite the side where hinge assembly 28 is fixed such that mount 10 spans across the opening in the structure. An end 27 of arm 26 may include a bushing that allows end 27 to disengage from support member 32 and thereby allow arm 26 to rotate in the directions I and O shown in
Arm 26 is rotatable with respect to arm 34 and may be locked in various positions of relative rotation. Arm 26 includes a locking mechanism 38 on one end. Locking mechanism 38 includes a through hole 40 (
As shown in
As seen in
Arm 34 includes an operating pin opening 64 (
The depth of the notches 44a, 44b, 44c, 46 (
Notches 44a and 44c are not as deep as notch 44b and do not allow plunger 54 to translate far enough toward locking mechanism 38 for collar 62 to fit into fully locked portion 72 of opening 64. Notches 44a and 44c only allow collar 62 to rest on flat 70 to the right of (as viewed in
While the invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, numerous changes, alterations and modifications to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.
The inventions described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the United States Government.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61659165 | Jun 2012 | US |