U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,118 issued to Eugene Stoner on Dec. 28, 1971 shows an ammunition feeder mechanism for delivering individual rounds of ammunition from a belt into a barrel of a gun. The feeder comprises a vertically movable carrier having a feed pawl swingably mounted thereon for advancing the ammunition belt upwardly through an ammunition tray positioned alongside the barrel of the gun. The carrier in the feeder is operatively connected with the bolt carrier in the gun so that reciprocation of the bolt carrier along the gun barrel axis (assumed to be horizontal) causes the feed carrier to reciprocate vertically, thereby advancing the belt of ammunition upwardly to a position alongside the barrel of the gun. Injector mechanism within the feeder forces the uppermost round of ammunition into the path of the bolt carrier, which then propels the ammunition round into the barrel of the gun.
The feeder mechanism in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,118 has no provision for moving the last round of ammunition on the belt into the injection station at the level of the gun barrel; the number of stations in the feeder are such that after the feed pawl has advanced the last round of ammunition from the entry station to an intermediate station there is no feeder mechanism for further moving the last round to the uppermost gun injection station. The present invention involves a modification of the patented system to incorporate a second pawl for giving the feeder a last round feed capability. The mechanism is designed so that this second pawl also limits the speed or position of the ammunition belt at the end of each feed stroke, thereby minimizing any tendency for the mechanism to jam due to excessive acceleration of the belt due to rapid upstroke of the main feed pawl.
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without payment to us of any royalty thereon.