Importance

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Abstract

An ammunition positioner for upright ammunition shells has an arm mounted on a base, capable of being extended parallel to the plane that the shell stands on. The positioner has a pincher-like pickup with two jaws that pivots parallel to that plane. The pickup and its jaws are both controlled by a motor that is secured to the base. The motor's output wheel is coupled to the intake wheel of a transmission by way of a rotating splined shaft and a hollow shaft. The splined shaft is mounted in the base and parallel to the positioning arm. The hollow shaft is coaxial with the splined shaft and is mounted in and parallel to the positioning arm. A sleeve travels back and forth on the splined shaft and couples the hollow shaft to the splined shaft such that the former will rotate along with the latter. The transmission has two cogwheels, one of which is always coupled to the intake wheel and the other of which is coupled to and can be uncoupled from the intake wheel by a gear that can be disengaged. One cogwheel activates controls that shift the pickup jaws out of a phase wherein they maintain the shell stationary, through a phase wherein they lift the round to a prescribed level, and into a phase wherein they tighten around the shell to position it. The other cogwheel activates other controls that induce the pivoting motion of the pickup.

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First Claim