EP3555549B1 - Articulated stock for shoulder-fired weapon - Google Patents

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to the field of shoulder-support weapons, in particular assault rifles or sub-lethal weapons.

It relates in particular to an articulated stock intended to be integrated or fixed to the body of this type of weapon.

The invention aims to allow optimal shooting by a user of shoulder-supported weapons, when the latter is wearing a helmet with a visor or a gas mask.

Prior art

A long gun is a firearm that is held to a user's shoulder prior to firing. The interface between the shoulder and the weapon is made by a plate, commonly called a layer plate.

In the field of firearms, new sticks, called tactical sticks, have appeared. These tactical stocks have the function of adjusting the distance between the body or barrel of the weapon and the butt plate, in order to adapt to the morphology of the shooter.

In addition, on these tactical stocks, an additional support against the cheek of the shooter can be proposed, in order to allow the shooter to increase his points of support facilitating the taking of sight and therefore the shooting.

There are also diaper plates on a slide that can be adjusted in height and inclination over a few centimeters.

In France, the current doctrine for the use of firearms, during assault phases by the Special Forces or during law enforcement missions, requires operators to wear a helmet fitted with a visor and to lower this one to protect his face.

This observation reveals a difficulty in taking a shooting sight by the wearer of the helmet with the visor down because it comes into contact with the stock, which forces the shooter to adopt an uncomfortable position, or even to bend the stock on specific weapons. such as the one commercially designated by the reference G36 from the company HK or even the Defense Bullet Launcher (LBD) designated 40x46 from the company BRÜGER & THOMET.

The size of the visor modifies and disrupts the shooter's aiming due to a lack of parallax with the sight, unlike a shot carried out without a visor.

No currently existing tactical stock can effectively solve this problem.

The patent FR735860 describes a device making it possible to modify the downward inclination of a stock relative to the barrel of the weapon, in order to aim without the need to raise the head out of the trench, aiming being done with the aid of a periscope. The butt is articulated around an axis, in order to adjust it to the right height and the butt plate or butt shoe must be adjusted manually in order to restore its verticality.

The patent FR679450 discloses a shoulder stock for a hunting or war rifle, the stock being articulated to the body of the weapon by means of two rosettes separated from each other by a rigid part.

These devices, which are very old, are absolutely not suited to a modern shooting situation, because they require inconvenient adjustments that are impossible to achieve in practice in the time required by a user's shot in the assault phase or on a mission. of maintaining order.

The patent application US 2008/0000132 A1 describes a stock in the form of a rigid extension fixed to the body of the weapon while being offset laterally relative to the barrel of the weapon, in order to aim with a helmet. This stock is not at all practical to use and leaves no freedom of adaptation to the morphology of the shooter.

The patent EP1126231B1 describes an articulated device which is fixed on the body of a shotgun allowing the angle and the height of the butt plate to be adjusted. This device, which aims to be as compact as possible, cannot really be adapted to an assault rifle or defense launcher and, in any case, does not solve the inconvenience caused by wearing a helmet with a visor during a shot.

The patent application EP2988087 also discloses a mechanism which is provided for laterally offsetting the butt plate with respect to the body of the weapon, but without the possibility of adjusting the height or the inclination with respect to the latter. The proposed mechanism therefore has the same drawbacks as that of the request US2008/000132 .

There is therefore a need to find a solution that is simple and quick to implement, which allows a user of a shoulder-supported weapon to find his optimal position even when this user is wearing a helmet with a visor in the folded down position or a gas mask, in particular to avoid any parallax defect when shooting with a sight.

The object of the invention is to meet this need at least in part.

Disclosure of Invention

• une structure à parallélogramme ou trapèze articulée, comportant :
  • deux blocs formant respectivement une interface support avec le corps de l'arme et un support d'une plaque de couche, et
  • au moins deux bras rigides de liaison articulés chacun, à l'une de ses extrémités, par une liaison pivot avec l'interface support avec le corps de l'arme et à l'autre de ses extrémités par une liaison pivot avec le support de la plaque de couche, au moins un des bras rigides de liaison comportant des courbures vers l'intérieur de la structure, de manière à présenter un chevauchement partiel entre eux ;
• au moins un moyen de verrouillage des bras entre eux, selon au moins une position fixe définissant une hauteur souhaitée de la plaque de couche relativement à l'interface support.

To do this, the invention relates, in one of its aspects, to a stock for a shoulder-supporting weapon, comprising:

• an articulated parallelogram or trapezium structure, comprising:
  • two blocks respectively forming a support interface with the body of the weapon and a support for a butt plate, and
  • at least two rigid connecting arms each articulated, at one of its ends, by a pivot connection with the support interface with the body of the weapon and at the other of its ends by a pivot connection with the support of the butt plate, at least one of the rigid connecting arms comprising curvatures towards the inside of the structure, so as to present a partial overlap between them;
• at least one means for locking the arms together, in at least one fixed position defining a desired height of the layer plate relative to the support interface.

Thus, the invention essentially consists of a stock articulated by means of a parallelogram or articulated trapeze mechanism defining different angle and height positions of the butt plate relative to the body of the weapon, the stock being able to be locked in any of the positions.

The various pivot connections thus make it possible to modify the angle and the height of the stock relative to the barrel of the weapon, while guaranteeing the optimal angle of the butt plate for the shooter.

Thanks to the invention, a shooter wearing a helmet with a visor in the lowered position can shoot without being hampered.

In other words, the articulated stock according to the invention allows a shooter to easily modify the height and the inclination of the butt plate relative to the body of the weapon, and thus allows him to keep a helmet with lowered visor, with the head straight, without it interfering with his aim.

According to the invention, at least one of the rigid connecting arms comprises curvatures towards the inside of the structure, so as to present a partial overlap between them. Connecting arms with optimized curved shapes thus make it possible to optimize the passage of the visor of the shooter's helmet, in its lowered position.

According to an advantageous embodiment, at least one of the rigid connecting arms supports the at least one locking means in a fixed position.

According to this mode and according to a first variant embodiment, one of the rigid connecting arms comprises an endless screw on which a knurled nut is screwed and the other of the rigid connecting arms being provided with a slot in which the knurled nut is housed allowing locking in the desired fixed position.

• au moins un des bras est pourvu d'une fente qui épouse sensiblement la forme de sa courbure et dans la partie médiane dudit bras;
• au moins un autre des bras est pourvu d'un axe logé dans la fente qui est l'axe de verrouillage d'un élément de verrouillage des bras par serrage.

According to a second variant embodiment:

• at least one of the arms is provided with a slot which substantially matches the shape of its curvature and in the middle part of said arm;
• at least one other of the arms is provided with a pin housed in the slot which is the locking pin of an element for locking the arms by clamping.

Advantageously, the slot is provided with a plurality of notches in each of which the pin can be housed, thus defining a locking position in one of the fixed positions of the stock.

According to a variant embodiment, the stock comprises three arms, two of which are identical sandwiching the other arm provided with the slot and optionally with locking notches.

The locking element is advantageously either a cam lever fixed, preferably by screwing, to the locking pin, or a knob screwed onto the locking pin.

Advantageously, the length L of the rigid connecting arms and the length ℓ of between axes between the pivot points of the pivot connection with the support interface with the body of the weapon and of the pivot connection with the support of the plate of layer, verifying the following relation 1/6 < ℓ/L < 1/2. With these ratios, the ergonomics of the stick are optimized.

To further optimize the ergonomics of the stock, the radius of curvature of the slot is substantially equal to the length ℓ of the distance between the axes between the pivot points.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the support interface with the body of the weapon comprises a pivot hinge adapted to allow the stock to be folded laterally against the body of the weapon. Thus, this makes it possible to make the weapon more compact when the shooter is not in the firing configuration.

The stick according to the invention may comprise an elastomer layer plate, fixed or integrally molded with the support.

The invention also relates to a shoulder rest weapon comprising a stock which has just been described, the support interface being integrated into the body of the weapon or fixed to the body of the weapon.

detailed description

• la figure 1 est une vue de côté d'un premier exemple de crosse articulée pour arme à épaule selon l'invention, la figure 1 montrant la crosse dans sa position extrême déployée;
• la figure 2 est une vue de côté de la crosse selon la figure 1, mais dans sa position extrême repliée;
• la figure 3 est une vue de côté d'un deuxième exemple de crosse articulée pour arme à épaule selon l'invention, la figure 3 montrant la crosse verrouillée dans une position intermédiaire de déploiement;
• la figure 4 est une vue en perspective d'un troisième exemple de crosse articulée pour arme à épaule selon l'invention, la figure 4 montrant la crosse verrouillée dans une position intermédiaire de déploiement, par un serrage au moyen d'un levier à came;
• la figure 5 est une vue de côté de la crosse selon la figure 4;
• la figure 5A est une vue en coupe selon A-A de la figure 5;
• la figure 6 est une vue en perspective d'un troisième exemple de crosse articulée pour arme à épaule selon l'invention, la figure 6 montrant la crosse verrouillée dans une position intermédiaire de déploiement par un serrage au moyen d'une molette ;
• la figure 7 est une vue de côté de la crosse selon la figure 6;
• la figure 7A est une vue en coupe selon A-A de la figure 7.

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will emerge better on reading the detailed description of examples of implementation of the invention given by way of illustration and not limitation with reference to the following figures, among which:

• there figure 1 is a side view of a first example of an articulated stock for a long gun according to the invention, the figure 1 showing the stock in its extreme extended position;
• there figure 2 is a side view of the butt according to the figure 1 , but in its extreme folded position;
• there picture 3 is a side view of a second example of an articulated stock for a long gun according to the invention, the picture 3 showing the stock locked in an intermediate deployed position;
• there figure 4 is a perspective view of a third example of an articulated stock for a long gun according to the invention, the figure 4 showing the stock locked in an intermediate deployment position, by tightening by means of a cam lever;
• there figure 5 is a side view of the butt according to the figure 4 ;
• there figure 5A is a sectional view according to AA of the figure 5 ;
• there figure 6 is a perspective view of a third example of an articulated stock for a long gun according to the invention, the figure 6 showing the stock locked in an intermediate deployment position by tightening by means of a knob;
• there figure 7 is a side view of the butt according to the figure 6 ;
• there figure 7A is a sectional view according to AA of the figure 7 .

In the various examples of the invention, the same elements of the stick are designated by the same reference numerals.

There figure 1 shows an articulated stock 1 according to the invention, in an extreme deployed position, which is mounted on a body (A) of a firearm with a user wearing a helmet with a visor in the folded down position.

The stock 1 according to the invention comprises a structure 2 consisting first of all of two blocks 3, 4 respectively forming a support interface with the body (A) of the weapon and a support for a butt plate (C).

A first rigid connecting arm 5 is articulated at one of its ends by a pivot connection 50 with the support interface 3 and at the other of its ends by a pivot connection 51 with the support 4 of the butt plate. (VS).

A second rigid connecting arm 6 is articulated at one of its ends, by a pivot connection 60 with the support interface 3 and at the other of its ends by a pivot connection 61 with the support 4 of the butt plate. (VS).

Thus, the structure 2 has two supports 3, 4 hinged together by two connecting arms 5, 6 by means of the pivot connections 50, 51; 60, 61 form an articulated parallelogram or trapezium mechanism.

Also according to the invention, there is provided at least one means for locking the arms together, in at least one fixed position defining a desired height of the layer plate (C) relative to the support interface. Because the layer plate (C) is completely pivoting on the support 4, it pivots by itself and adapts itself to the shape and position of the shooter's shoulder.

In the example of figures 1 to 2 , the locking means is constituted by an element for locking the arms by tightening, detailed below, the locking pin 62 of which is supported and held by an arm 6 and is housed in a slot 52 made in the middle part with the other arm 5.

As shown in figure 1 , the connecting arms 5, 6 have optimized curved shapes, in order to optimize the passage of the visor V of the shooter's helmet, in its lowered position.

More precisely, the curvatures of the arms 5, 6 are towards the inside of the structure, so that they present a partial overlap between them.

In this configuration, the locking is facilitated with a shape of slot 52 which substantially matches the shape of its curvature (R) of the arm 5 in which it is made.

To optimize the ergonomics of the stock, the length L of the connecting arms 5, 6 and the length ℓ of the centers between the pivot points of the pivot connection with the interface support with the gun body and the pivot link with the butt plate support, verifying the following relationship 1/6 < ℓ/L < 1/2.

To further optimize the ergonomics of the buttstock, the radius of curvature R of the slot 52 is substantially equal to the length ℓ of between axes between the pivot points 50, 60 and 51, 61.

There picture 3 shows another embodiment of locking one of the rigid connecting arms 6 consists of an endless screw 63 on which is screwed a knurled nut 64 which is housed in the slot 52 allowing locking in the desired fixed position. Thus, screwing or unscrewing the knurled nut modifies and locks both the deformation of the parallelogram or trapezium 2 and therefore the position of the support 4 relative to the support interface 3 and thereby to the layer plate (C) relative to the body of the weapon (A).

As shown at figures 4 to 7A , the articulated structure 2 may comprise two identical arms 6.1, 6.2 which sandwich the arm 5 in which the slot 52 is made.

The locking element can be constituted by a cam lever 7 which is screwed on the axis 62 itself supported and maintained in one of the outer arms 6.1 and which the user comes to fold against the other of the outer arms 6.1 to achieve their mutual tightening and therefore locking in one of the positions of the layer plate relative to the support interface 3 with the body of the weapon (A) ( figures 4 to 5A ).

Alternatively, one can provide instead of the cam lever 7, a clamping wheel 8 screwed on the axis 62 ( figures 6 to 7A ). The screwing of the wheel 8 causes the clamping of the arms 6.1, 5, 6.2 against each other and therefore the locking in one of the positions of the layer plate relative to the support interface 3 with the body of the weapon. (AT).

To allow easier position adjustment and locking for the user of a weapon equipped with the stock 1, the slot 52 can be made with several notches 53 which can each accommodate the locking pin 62.

As shown in figures 4, 5 , 6 and 7 , the support interface 3 with the body of the weapon may comprise a pivot hinge 30.

With this hinge 30, the stock 1 articulated according to the invention can pivot around the axis X and therefore come to fold against the body of the weapon on which it is fixed. This makes it possible to make the weapon more compact which is easier to handle/carry.

In all the examples illustrated, the center distance ℓ between the pivot points 50, 60 of the support interface 3 with the body of the weapon is equal to that between the pivot points 51, 61 of the support 4 of the layer plate. We can very well consider that these two center distances have different values.

Claims (13)

1. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A), comprising:

   - an articulated trapezoidal or parallelogram-shaped structure (2), including:

   • two blocks (3, 4) respectively forming a support interface with the body (A) of the weapon and a support for a butt plate (C), and

   • at least two rigid connecting arms (5, 6; 5, 6.1, 6.2) each articulated, at one of its ends, by a pivot connection (50, 60) with the support interface (3) with the body (A) of the weapon and at the other of its ends by a pivot connection (51, 61) with the support (4) of the butt plate (C), at least one of the rigid connecting arms (5, 6.1, 6.2) including curvatures towards the interior of the structure (2), so as to partially overlap one another;

   - at least one means (64, 52; 62, 52, 7; 62, 52, 8) for locking the arms together, in at least one fixed position defining a desired height of the butt plate relative to the support interface.
2. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to Claim 1, at least one of the rigid connecting arms supporting the at least one means (64, 62) for locking in a fixed position.
3. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to Claim 2, one of the rigid connecting arms (6) comprising a lead screw (63) onto which a knurled nut (64) is screwed and the other of the rigid connecting arms (5) being provided with a slot (52) in which the knurled nut is housed, enabling locking in the desired fixed position.
4. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to Claim 2, in which:

   - at least one of the arms (5) is provided with a slot (52) that substantially espouses the shape of its curvature (R) and in the median part of said arm (5) ;

   - at least one other of the arms (6.2) is provided with a shaft (62) housed in the slot (52) that is the locking shaft of an element for locking the arms by clamping.
5. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to Claim 4, the slot (52) being provided with a plurality of notches (53) in each of which the shaft (62) can come to be housed, thus defining a position for locking the stock in one of the fixed positions.
6. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to either of Claims 4 and 5, comprising three arms (5, 6.1, 6.2) including two identical arms (6.1, 6.2) sandwiching the other arm (5) provided with the slot (52) and possibly with the locking notches (53).
7. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to one of Claims 4 to 6, the locking element being a cam lever (7) of which the pivot of the lever is fixed, preferably screwed, to the locking shaft (62).
8. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to one of Claims 4 to 6, the locking element being a knob (7) screwed onto the locking shaft (62).
9. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to any one of the preceding claims, the length L of the rigid connecting arms (5, 6) and the length ℓ between the axes of the pivot points (50, 60; 51, 61) of the pivot connection with the support interface (3) with the body of the weapon and of the pivot connection with the support (4) of the butt plate satisfying the following condition: 1/6 < ℓ/L < 1/2.
10. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to one of Claims 4 to 8 in combination with Claim 9, the radius of curvature (R) of the slot (52) being substantially equal to the length ℓ between the axes of the pivot points (50, 60; 51, 61).
11. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to one of the preceding claims, the support interface (3) with the body (A) of the weapon comprising a pivot hinge (30) adapted to enable lateral folding of the stock against the body of the weapon.
12. Stock (1) for a shoulder-fired weapon (A) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising an elastomer butt plate (C) fixed to or moulded in one piece with the support (4).
13. Shoulder-fired weapon (A) comprising a stock (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, the support interface (3) being integral with the body of the weapon or fixed to the body of the weapon.

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