Automated ammunition handling system.

摘要

To handle the transfer of ammunition between a turret bustle magazine and hull magazines of a military tank, a carriage is mounted for horizontal movement between a stow position and a transfer position and for vertical movement between an upper position addressing the bustle magazine and lower positions addressing the hull magazines. An ammunition carrier is mounted to the carriage for rotational motion in a vertical plane driven off the vertical carriage motion, such that the carrier swings around the cannon breech protruding into the turret in assuming reversed end-to-end horizontal orientations when presented to the bustle and hull magazines. Extractor assemblies are axially reciprocated within a carrier tube by a stroke multiplier mechanism to engage and release the base rim of projectile and propellant modules pursuant to transferring modules between the carrier and the hull magazines. Projectile and propellant modules are united while the carrier tube is presented to the bustle magazine. <IMAGE>