US12345497 - High-pressure air drum magazine for belt fed weapon

The patent describes a tether-less recoil kit for belt-fed weapons that utilizes a high-pressure air drum magazine to enhance functionality. It features a charge chamber with a biased plunger and an air connector plate that allows for controlled bursts of air to reset the bolt carrier upon trigger activation.

Claim 1

1. A tether-less, air-pressured recoil kit for a weapon having a trigger, the recoil kit comprising: a receiver insert configured for attachment to a receiver of a belt-fed weapon, the receiver insert comprising: a charge chamber comprising a biased plunger extending through a rear end of the charge chamber and an air-receiving nipple on a side of the charge chamber configured to receive air into the charge chamber, the biased plunger biased rearward toward the rear end and moveable between a forward position and a rearward position; and a bolt carrier configured to respond to the trigger being activated on the weapon to move the plunger from its rearward position toward its forward position; an air connector plate comprising a seal and configured to sealingly engage with the air-receiving nipple of the charge chamber and become locked in place between the charge chamber and a feed cover of the weapon when the feed cover is locked in a closed position; and a high-pressure air drum magazine comprising: an outer housing formed of aluminum and configured to connect to a bottom side of the weapon, the high-pressure air drum magazine coupled through a flexible air passage to the air connector plate; a high-pressure chamber formed within the outer housing and sized to hold a predetermined quantity of pressurized air; a chamber plug sealingly coupled to a first end of the high-pressure air chamber; a fill valve disposed between the high-pressure chamber and a fill port exposed on a surface of the outer housing, the fill port configured to couple with a high-pressure nozzle to admit pressurized air into the high-pressure chamber; an air regulator communicatively coupled to the high-pressure chamber within the outer housing and configured to selectively pass air from the high-pressure chamber through a low-pressure chamber within the outer housing and to the air connector plate, the air regulator comprising: a regulator ball valve positioned between the high-pressure chamber and the low-pressure chamber, the regulator ball valve biased by a compression spring to a closed position wherein airflow from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber is minimized; a regulator valve screw exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust a magnitude of a bias on the regulator ball valve created by the compression spring; a regulator piston exposed to the low-pressure chamber and in contact with the regulator ball valve, wherein when a pressure within the low-pressure chamber lowers past a predetermined pressure, the regulator piston is biased by a primary regulator spring to push the regulator ball valve from the closed position to an open position wherein air flows from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber until the pressure within the low-pressure chamber reaches the predetermined pressure; and a regulator piston support nut exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust the predetermined pressure by adjusting the magnitude of the bias on the regulator piston created by the primary regulator spring; and a counter configured to track a number of bursts of air released through the air connector plate; wherein when the bolt carrier impacts the plunger, a burst of air is released from the air connector plate into the charge chamber to force the plunger rearward and reset the bolt carrier. a receiver insert configured for attachment to a receiver of a belt-fed weapon, the receiver insert comprising: a charge chamber comprising a biased plunger extending through a rear end of the charge chamber and an air-receiving nipple on a side of the charge chamber configured to receive air into the charge chamber, the biased plunger biased rearward toward the rear end and moveable between a forward position and a rearward position; and a bolt carrier configured to respond to the trigger being activated on the weapon to move the plunger from its rearward position toward its forward position; a charge chamber comprising a biased plunger extending through a rear end of the charge chamber and an air-receiving nipple on a side of the charge chamber configured to receive air into the charge chamber, the biased plunger biased rearward toward the rear end and moveable between a forward position and a rearward position; and a bolt carrier configured to respond to the trigger being activated on the weapon to move the plunger from its rearward position toward its forward position; an air connector plate comprising a seal and configured to sealingly engage with the air-receiving nipple of the charge chamber and become locked in place between the charge chamber and a feed cover of the weapon when the feed cover is locked in a closed position; and a high-pressure air drum magazine comprising: an outer housing formed of aluminum and configured to connect to a bottom side of the weapon, the high-pressure air drum magazine coupled through a flexible air passage to the air connector plate; a high-pressure chamber formed within the outer housing and sized to hold a predetermined quantity of pressurized air; a chamber plug sealingly coupled to a first end of the high-pressure air chamber; a fill valve disposed between the high-pressure chamber and a fill port exposed on a surface of the outer housing, the fill port configured to couple with a high-pressure nozzle to admit pressurized air into the high-pressure chamber; an air regulator communicatively coupled to the high-pressure chamber within the outer housing and configured to selectively pass air from the high-pressure chamber through a low-pressure chamber within the outer housing and to the air connector plate, the air regulator comprising: a regulator ball valve positioned between the high-pressure chamber and the low-pressure chamber, the regulator ball valve biased by a compression spring to a closed position wherein airflow from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber is minimized; a regulator valve screw exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust a magnitude of a bias on the regulator ball valve created by the compression spring; a regulator piston exposed to the low-pressure chamber and in contact with the regulator ball valve, wherein when a pressure within the low-pressure chamber lowers past a predetermined pressure, the regulator piston is biased by a primary regulator spring to push the regulator ball valve from the closed position to an open position wherein air flows from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber until the pressure within the low-pressure chamber reaches the predetermined pressure; and a regulator piston support nut exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust the predetermined pressure by adjusting the magnitude of the bias on the regulator piston created by the primary regulator spring; and a counter configured to track a number of bursts of air released through the air connector plate; an outer housing formed of aluminum and configured to connect to a bottom side of the weapon, the high-pressure air drum magazine coupled through a flexible air passage to the air connector plate; a high-pressure chamber formed within the outer housing and sized to hold a predetermined quantity of pressurized air; a chamber plug sealingly coupled to a first end of the high-pressure air chamber; a fill valve disposed between the high-pressure chamber and a fill port exposed on a surface of the outer housing, the fill port configured to couple with a high-pressure nozzle to admit pressurized air into the high-pressure chamber; an air regulator communicatively coupled to the high-pressure chamber within the outer housing and configured to selectively pass air from the high-pressure chamber through a low-pressure chamber within the outer housing and to the air connector plate, the air regulator comprising: a regulator ball valve positioned between the high-pressure chamber and the low-pressure chamber, the regulator ball valve biased by a compression spring to a closed position wherein airflow from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber is minimized; a regulator valve screw exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust a magnitude of a bias on the regulator ball valve created by the compression spring; a regulator piston exposed to the low-pressure chamber and in contact with the regulator ball valve, wherein when a pressure within the low-pressure chamber lowers past a predetermined pressure, the regulator piston is biased by a primary regulator spring to push the regulator ball valve from the closed position to an open position wherein air flows from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber until the pressure within the low-pressure chamber reaches the predetermined pressure; and a regulator piston support nut exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust the predetermined pressure by adjusting the magnitude of the bias on the regulator piston created by the primary regulator spring; and a regulator ball valve positioned between the high-pressure chamber and the low-pressure chamber, the regulator ball valve biased by a compression spring to a closed position wherein airflow from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber is minimized; a regulator valve screw exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust a magnitude of a bias on the regulator ball valve created by the compression spring; a regulator piston exposed to the low-pressure chamber and in contact with the regulator ball valve, wherein when a pressure within the low-pressure chamber lowers past a predetermined pressure, the regulator piston is biased by a primary regulator spring to push the regulator ball valve from the closed position to an open position wherein air flows from the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber until the pressure within the low-pressure chamber reaches the predetermined pressure; and a regulator piston support nut exposed on the surface of the outer housing and configured to adjust the predetermined pressure by adjusting the magnitude of the bias on the regulator piston created by the primary regulator spring; and a counter configured to track a number of bursts of air released through the air connector plate; wherein when the bolt carrier impacts the plunger, a burst of air is released from the air connector plate into the charge chamber to force the plunger rearward and reset the bolt carrier.

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