GB1599505A - Guns - Google Patents

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 11) 1 599 505 Application No 6748/80 ( 22) Filed 3 April 1978 Divided Out of No 1 599 504 Convention Application Nos.

814438 ( 32) Filed 11 July 1977 814897 12 July 1977 in United States of America (US) Complete Specification published 7 Oct 1981

INT CL 3 F 41 C 17/00 Index at acceptance F 3 C PA ( 54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO GUNS ( 71) We, THE COLEMAN COMPANY, INC of 250 North Saint Francis Avenue, Wichita, Kansas, 67201, United States of America, a corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of Kansas, United States of America do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement:-

This invention relates to a gun having a hammer, a trigger on a shaft, and firing means The invention finds particular utility with air or C 02 gas powered guns and will be explained in conjuntion therewith As used herein, the term "gas" includes both air and C 02 as well as other gases which could be utilized to fire projectiles Gas powered guns fire a projectile, usually a BB (ball bearing) or a pellet, with a burst of pressurized gas Some guns may be designed to shoot only BB's or pellets, and other guns may be adapted to shoot both BB's and pellets.

A gun conventionally includes a hammer, a trigger for releasing the hammer from a cocked position, and a firing mechanism which is engageable by the hammer for firing the gun If the firing mechanism is directly engageable by the hammer, it might be possible to fire the gun without pulling the trigger For example, the gun could be dropped on its hammer which would cause the hammer to hit the firing mechanism hard enough to fire the gun Alternatively, the hammer could be pulled toward its cocked position in which it is held by the sear mechanism but released before it reaches the cocked position Even if the hammer does not reach its fully cocked position before it is released, it could strike the firing mechanism with sufficient force to fire the gun.

The safety link of this invention prevents discharge of the gun when the trigger is in its relaxed or non-fire position The hammer is not directly engageable with the firing mechanism and will not fire the gun unless a safety link is first interposed between the hammer and the firing mechanism The safety link is movable into a firing position only by pulling the trigger The trigger engages a steel pad on a pivotable mounting member for the safety link, and the trigger 55 and the mounting member pivot together when the trigger is pulled After the gun is fired and the trigger is released, the safety link can pivot on the mounting member so that it can move out of engagement with the 60 hammer.

A gun which shoots BB's often has a magazine or chamber for storing a number of BB's which are fired successively from the gun each time the firing mechanism of 65 the gun is cocked and fired A gun capable of operating in this manner may be called a repeater.

Although some pellet guns have repeater action, many pellet guns operate on single 70 shot action, i e, a pellet must be manually loaded into the gun each time the gun is fired Single shot guns are therefore sometimes equipped with a loading device which facilitates loading a single projectile into the 75 gun.

One particular prior art loading device is used with a target pistol The loading device is a generally cylindrical plug which is slidably mounted in the barrel of the gun for 80 movement in a direction generally transverse to the axis of the barrel The plug is provided with a bore which is aligned with the barrel when the plug is in its firing position and which is positioned above the bar 85 rel when the plug is in its loading position.

Certain problems arise, however, from the use of this loading device The loader is spring-biased to its loading position and requires a rather complex latching and 90 alignment mechanism for maintaining the loading device in the firing position Since the pellet is fired from the loading device rather than from the barrel, the bore of the loader must be accurately aligned with the 95 bore of the barrel A slight misalignment between the two bores can damage the gun and cause jamming Further, propellant gas can leak between the loading device and the barrel 100 in tn 0 1 r in ( 21) ( 62) ( 31) ( 33) ( 44) ( 51) ( 52) 1 599 505 The invention provides a gun having a hammer, a trigger pivotally mounted on a shaft, and firing means operably by movement of the hammer for firing the gun, the gun including a safety link assembly for preventing firing of the gun unless the trigger is pulled, and having a link mounting member pivotally mounted on said shaft indepensently of the trigger and having a triggerengaging portion engageable with the trigger as the trigger pivots from its rest position to its fired position for pivoting the link mounting member on said shaft, and a hammer link mounted on the link mounting member, the hammer and the firing means being spaced apart when the hammer is in its fired position, the hammer link being pivotable with the link mounting member into the space between the hammer and the firing means as the trigger moves to its fired position and being engageable by the hammer as the hammer moves from its cocked position to its fired position whereby the link is forced against the firing means to fire the gun.

The invention also provides a gun comprising a frame, a hammer a trigger, firing means operable by movement of the hammer for firing the gun, the trigger being pivotally mounted on the frame for pivoting movement between rest and fired positions, the hammer being pivotally mounted on the frame for movement between cocked and fired positions, a hammer spring for biasing the hammer toward its fired position and sear means for releasing the hammer from its cocked position when the trigger moves to its fired position, a safety link assembly for preventing firing of the gun unless the trigger is pulled, the safety link assembly comprising a link mounting member pivotally mounted on the frame and having a trigger-engaging portion engageable with the trigger as the trigger pivots from its rest position to its fired position for pivoting the link mounting member, and a hammer link mounted on the link mounting member, the hammer and the firing means being spaced apart when the hammer is in its fired position, the hammer link being pivotable withthe link mounting member into the space between the hammer and the firing means as the trigger moves to its fired position and being engageable by the hammer as the hammer moves from its cocked position to its fired position whereby the link is forced against the firing means to fire the gun.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

Fig 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a gun equipped with a loading device in accordance with the invention, the gun being shown in the firing position; Fig 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the gun; Fig 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig 1 with the gun shown in the loading position; 70 Fig 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig 1; Fig 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig 4 showing the loader in the loading position; Fig 6 is a perspective view of the front 75 end of the loader; Fig 7 is a side elevational view of the right side of the loader; Fig 8 is a side elevational view of the left side of the loader; 80 Fig 9 is a sectional view of the loader taken along the line 9-9 of Fig 4; Fig 10 is a view similar to Fig 1 showing the gun in the fired postion; Fig 11 is a view similar to Figs 1 and 10 85 showing the trigger released from the firing position; Fig 12 is a sectional view taken along the line 12-12 of Fig 1; Fig 13 is an enlarged side elevational 90 view of the safety link assembly; Fig 14 is a top plan view of the safety link assembly taken along the line 14-14 of Fig.

13; and Fig 15 is a front elevational view of the 95 safety link assembly taken along the line 15-15 of Fig 13.

The numeral 10 designates generally a gun in the form of a rifle comprising a frame or receiver 11 comprised of a pair of mating 100 halves hla and 11 b (Fig 2), a stock 12 secured to the receiver by screws 13, and a barrel 14 The particular gun illustrated is a gas-operated BB and pellet rifle, but it will be understood that the invention can be 105 used with other types of guns.

The gun includes a conventional valve assembly 15 which transmits C 02 gas from a C 02 cartridge 16 to the barrel The valve assembly includes a valve body 17, a hollow 110 piercing pin 18 for puncturing the cartridge, a gas chamber 19 in the valve body, and a resilient sealing ring 20 which is urged against a valve seat 21 to seal the chamber by a spring 22 The sealing ring is movable 115 to the right to open the chamber by a valve stem 23 When the valve is opened, pressurized C 02 gas flows from the chamber 19 to the barrel through a passage 25 in the valve body and a port 26 in the barrel 120 A pellet 28 is shown in its firing position in the barrel As will be explained in detail hereinafter, the pellet is positioned so that the rear or left end of the pellet is just forward of the rear of the port 26 so that pres 125 surized gas which flows through the port when the gun is fired will propel the pellet forwardly out of the barrel.

The gun is fired by pulling the trigger 29 which releases the hammer 30 from its 130 1 599 505 cocked position illustrated in Fig 1 The trigger pivots about pin 31, and the hammer pivots about pin 32 When the trigger is pulled, the hammer, which is biased to pivot clockwise by a torsion spring 33, strikes a hammer link 34 to move a valve stem extension rod 35 to the right to open the C 02 valve 15 The trigger, hammer, and safety link will be described in detail hereinafter.

The hammer is cocked by a lever 37 which is pivotally mounted in the receiver by a screw 38 A hook 39 on the lever is engageable with a laterally projecting lug 40 on the rear of the hammer to pivot the hammer counterclockwise to its cocked position illustrated in both Figs I and 3 The hammer is held in the cocked position by mating sear surfaces 41 and 42 on the hammer and trigger, respectively.

The cocking lever 37 also operates a bolt 43 which is slidably mounted in the receiver in axial alignment with the bore of the barrel 14 The particular bolt illustrated includes a main portion 43 a which is rectangular in both longitudinal and transverse crosssection and which is slidably mounted between upper and lower parallel walls 44 and which extend laterally inwardly from the outer side wall 46 of each of the receiver halves The upper end of the cocking lever engages a roller bearing 47 which is rotatably mounted on a pin 48 which extends across a recess 49 in the bolt.

Each of the receiver halves includes a bottom wall 51 and a top wall 52 (see also Figs.

2 and 4) and transversely extending walls 53, 54, 55, and 56 which extend laterally inwardly from the side wall 46 The valve stem extension rod extends slidably through openings in the walls 53-55, and the valve stem 23 extends slidably through the wall 56 A generally rectangular slot 57 is provided between the walls 55 and 56, and the upper wall of each of the receiver halves and a portion of the right side wall 46 is cut away as shown in Figs 2, 4, and 5 so that the slot 57 is open along about 1/4 of the periphery of the receiver The walls 55 and 56 which define the recess are reinforced by a lower wall 58.

A pellet loader 60 is slidably positioned in the recess 57 between the walls 55 and 56.

Referring to Figs 4-9, the pellet loader has a generally rectangular outer periphery and includes a planar wall or central portion 61 and a perimetric flange 62 which extends forwardly from the central portion The lower portion of the central portion is notched at 63 to accommodate the valve stem extension rod 35 and the valve stem 23, which extend into the slot 57 (see Figs 1 and 4) The central portion is provided with a bore 64 which is reinforced by an annular flange 65 The left side of the loader is recessed laterally inwardly at 66, and a solid tab or finger portion 67 extends downwardly laterally outwardly of the recessed portion The tab is flexible and resiliently connected to the remainder of the loader so that it can be flexed laterally inwardly into 70 the recess 66 A knurled projection 68 extends laterally outwardly from the right side of the loader The loader is advantageously formed integrally by moulding from plastics 75 As shown in Figs 3-5, the loader is sized to slide freely up and down between the walls 55 and 56 of the receiver when the bolt is pulled rearwardly by moving the cocking lever 37 to its cocking position 80 shown in Fig 3 Referring to Fig 5, when the loader is in the down or loading position, the bottom of the tab 67, which extends laterally outwardly to provide a shoulder 67 a, is received in a recess 69 in the left side wall 85 of the receiver The cooperation between the flexible and resilient tab and the recess 69 retains the loader in the loading position and aligns the bore 64 of the loader with the bore 70 of the barrel as shown in Fig 1 90 When the loader is raised from its Fig 1 position to the loading position illustrated in Figs 3 and 5, the tab 67 of the loader is cammed inwardly by the smoothly curved walls of the somewhat shallow recess 69 95 When the laterally projecting end portion of the tab reaches the recess 71 in the upper portion of the left side wall of the receiver, the resilient tab arm flexes outwardly The laterally extending shoulder 67 a is engage 100 able with an upper shoulder 72 of the recess to prevent the loader from being raised beyond the loading position illustrated in Figs 3 and 5 In this position the bore 64 of the loader is positioned slightly above the 105 top wall of the receiver so that the pellet 28 shown in Fig 3 can be inserted into the bore The knurled projection 68 on the right side of the loader, which extends laterally outwardly through the slot in the right side 110 wall of the receiver, facilitates raising and lowering the loader.

After the pellet is inserted into the loader, the loader is pushed downwardly to the firing position of Figs 1 and 4 The bottom of 115 the tab 67 is rounded and is cammed inwardly by the lower shoulder of the recess 71 to permit the loader to move downwardly After the loader is moved to its firing position, the cocking lever can be 120 pivoted clockwise to move the bolt 43 forwardly The bolt includes a cylindrical forward end portion 74 which is sized to fit the bore 70 of the barrel rather snugly, and as the bolt moves forwardly it passes through 125 the bore of the loader and moves the pellet 28 into the barrel A magnet 75 ' is carried by the forward end of the bolt to prevent the projectile from falling out of the bore.

When the cocking lever is in its Fig 1 130 1 599 505 position, the bolt extends through the loader, and the loader cannot be raised The loader will therefore be retained in its firing position until the gun is fired and the cocking lever is again cocked.

The gun is fired by pulling the trigger to release the hammer The stored energy of the hammer spring is transmitted to the valve extension rod 35 to open the C 02 valve and to release an appropriate amount of pressurized C 02 gas from the chamber 19 of the valve assembly The gas flows through the passage 25 and the port 26 into the barrel to propel the pellet 28 out of the barrel.

The cylindrical end 74 of the bolt substantially seals the barrel behind the pellet and minimizes leakage of C 02 gas rearwardly into the loader slot 57 Accordingly, substantially all of the C 02 charge which is released each time the gun is fired is used to propel the pellet, and more power and a greater number of firings from each C 02 cartridge is obtained Since the pellet is fired from the barrel and not from the loader, the bores of the loader and the barrel do not have to be precisely aligned This permits greater stacking tolerances between the loader and the receiver and facilitates manufacture.

After the gun is fired, another pellet can be loaded and fired by first lowering the cocking lever to withdraw the bolt from the loader and to cock the hammer The loader can then be raised to its loading position shown in Figs 3 and 5.

If a projectile becomes jammed in the barrel, the loader can be completely removed from the receiver by first moving the loader to the loading position (Fig 5).

The upper end of the flexible and resilient tab 67 extends slightly above the top wall 52 of the receiver and can be pressed inwardly by a finger to move the shoulder 67 a out of engagement with the upper shoulder 72 of the recess in the receiver The loader can then be withdrawn upwardly from the receiver.

After the loader has been removed, a ram rod can be inserted into the muzzle end of the barrel and pushed dowawardly to force the projectile into the slot 57 which has been vacated by the loader Thereafter, the gun is merely turned upside down to allow the projectile to fall out of the slot The loader can be reinserted merely by pushing the loader downwardly into the slot 57.

Although the loader is slidably mounted in the receiver to permit pellets to be loaded individually and is removable from the receiver to permit jammed projectiles to be cleared from the barrel, the loader does not interfere with operation of the gun as a BB repeater The top wall 52 of the receiver and the horizontal wall 44 which is spaced just below the top wall form a magazine or chamber 74 for storing a plurality of BB's which are indicated in phantom at 75 A magazine cover 76 is slidably mounted in a slot between the two receiver halves for opening and closing a loading port for the 70 BB magazine The BB's are shown in phantom in the drawings since the magazine should be emptied of the BB's before the gun is used to fire pellets.

When the gun is used as a BB repeater, 75 the BB magazine is filled with B 1 's, and the pellet loader 60 is retained in the firing position illustrated in Fig 1 When the gun is cocked by pivoting the cocking lever 27 counterclockwise and the bolt 43 is moved 80 rearwardly, the forwardmost BB in the BB chamber can fall by gravity through an opening 78 (Fig 3) in the transverse wall 55, past the forward end of the bolt, and into the bore 64 of the loader When the 85 bolt is moved forwardly by the cocking lever, the BB is pushed into the barrel where it can be propelled from the barrel by pressurized CO which passes through the port 26 of the barrel Each time the gun is 90 cocked, a BB falls from the magazine into the pellet loader and is pushed into the barrel by the bolt.

The safety link for the firing mechanism will now be described As stated previously, 95 the valve stem 23 is operated by a valve stem extension rod 35 which is slidably supported in openings in the transverse walls 53-54 of the receiver The rear end of the extension rod extends slightly rearwardly 100 beyond a locating pad or block 80 on the rear wall 53, and the extension rod is biased against rearward movement by a spring 81 on the rod which engages the wall 54 and a stop washer 82 105 The trigger is prevented from pivoting clockwise from its Fig 1 position by a safety pin 83 which is rotatably mounted in the receiver, and the engagement of the hammer and trigger sears 41 and 42 maintains 110 the hammer in its cocked position The hammer can be released by pulling the trigger rearwardly, i e, pivoting the trigger clockwise after release of the safety pin 83 until the trigger sear moves out of engag 115 ment with the hammer sear The hammer torsion spring 33 will then pivot the hammer clockwise toward the valve stem extension rod However, the hammer cannot pivot far enough to engage the extension rod Rather, 120 the hammer strikes a safety link assembly 84 which in turn moves the extension rod to the right to open the C 02 valve.

Referring to Figs 13-15, the safety link assembly 84 includes an interlock or link 125 mounting member 85 and a safety link or hammer link 34 which is pivotally mounted on the link mounting member The link mounting member is pivotally mounted on the same pin 31 (Fig 1) which mounts the 130 1 599 505 trigger, and the mounting member includes an axially extending projection 86 which is engaged by a lever portion 87 (Fig 1) on the trigger A steel pad 88 is mounted on the projection by a rivet 89 An upwardly extending link support portion 90 is laterally offset from the remainder of the link mounting member (Fig 15), and the link 34 is pivotally connected to the support portion by a rivet 91 The link is biased clockwise against a lug 92 on the link support portion by a torsion spring 93, and the link includes a lower laterally extending hammer-engaging portion 94.

Referring again to Fig 1, a trigger spring extends between a screw 96 on the receiver and the lug 92 on the link assembly and urges the link assembly to pivot counterclockwise about the pivot pin 31 Since the pad 88 of the link assembly engages the trigger, the trigger is also biased in a counterclockwise direction.

When the igger is pulled rearwardly against the fore of the trigger spring, the link mounting member and the safety link pivot clockwise toward the end of the valve stem extension rod until the link mounting member engages the locating pad 80 on the left half of the receiver The link mounting member will contact the locating pad simultaneously with or just prior to the time at which the sears of the trigger and hammer disengage.

When the link mounting member engages the locating pad 80, the laterally extending hammer-engaging portion 94 of the safety link will be positioned just rearwardly of the valve stem extension rod 35 When the sears disengage, the hammer will be snapped forwardly by the hammer spring, and a striking projection 97 on the hammer will strike the bottom portion 94 of the link, causing the link to pivot counterclockwise about its pivot 91 and push the extension rod to open the C 02 valve The energy stored in the cocked hammer spring is sufficient to open the C 02 valve and release an appropriate amount of pressurized C 02 to discharge the BB or pellet, after which the valve spring 22 will close the valve.

The gun is shown in its fired position in Fig 10 The bottom portion 94 of the safety link is aligned axially with the extension rod 35, and the striking edge 97 of the hammer has engaged the rear surface of the link portion 94 The bottom portion 94 of the link is rectangular in cross-section, and the long dimension of the link extends in alignment with the extension rod and the striking edge of the hammer A narrow front flat surface 98 (Fig 13) of the link portion 94 engages the flat extension rod, and a narrow rear flat surface 99 is engaged by the hammer.

Fig 11 shows the gun after the gun has been fired and the trigger has been released.

The trigger return spring 95 pivots the link mounting member and the trigger counterclockwise about the common pivot 31 This pivoting movement of the link mounting member swings the pivot point 91 of the 70 safety link rearwardly and downwardly.

Since the safety link is engaged by the striking edge of the hammer, the safety link pivots counterclockwise on the pin 91 relative to the link mounting member as the 75 mounting member pivots, and the long dimension of the hammer-engaging portion 94 of the link moves out of alignment with the striking edge of the hammer and the extension rod The hammer is moved for 80 ward slightly by the hammer spring as the safety link pivots until an upper projection on the hammer engages the rear wall 101 of the BB magazine.

As can be seen in Fig 11, the striking 85 edge 97 of the hammer is spaced rearwardly of the extension rod and is prevented from hitting the extension rod by the engagement of the hammer with the magazine The short dimension of the hammer-engaging portion 90 94 of the safety link is less than the space between the striking edge of the hammer and the extension rod, and the hammerengaging portion 94 is below the striking edge Accordingly, even if the gun is drop 95 ped on the hammer or if the hammer is pulled rearwardly and released, the hammer cannot engage the extension rod and the gun will not fire The gun will fire only when the safety link is positioned between the 100 extension rod and the hammer, and this occurs only when the trigger is pulled.

The gun is shown in its fired or rest position in Fig 11 The gun is cocked by pivoting the cocking lever 37 downwardly The 105 hook 39 engages the laterally extending projection 40 on the rear of the hammer as the hammer moves downwardly The hook rotates the hammer counterclockwise against the bias of the hammer spring 33 110 until the hammer sear 41 passes over the trigger sear 42 and the hammer is latched in its cocked position shown in Fig 1 As the hammer pivots away from the safety link, the safety link torsion spring 93 pivots the 115 safety link clockwise about the rivet 91 until the safety link engages the lug 92 as shown in Fig 13 The cocking lever is then returned to its Fig 1 position, and the gun is ready to fire However, unless the trigger is 120 pulled, the safety link will not be in position between the extension rod and the hammer, and the gun will not fire.

Reference is made to patent application No 12897/78 Serial No 1 599 504 125

Claims (3)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1 A gun having a hammer, a trigger pivotally mounted on a shaft, and firing means operable by movement of the hammer for firing the gun, the gun including a 130 1 599 505 safety link assembly for preventing firing of the gun unless the trigger is pulled, and having a link mounting member pivotally mounted on said shaft independently of the trigger and having a trigger-engaging portion engageable with the trigger as the trigger pivots from its rest position to its fired position for pivoting the link mounting member on said shaft, and a hammer link mounted on the link mounting member, the hammer and the firing means being spaced apart when the hammer is in its fired position, the hammer link being pivotable with the link mounting member into the space between the hammer and the firing means as the trigger moves to its fired position and being engageable by the hammer as the hammer moves from its cocked position to its fired position whereby the link is forced against the firing means to fire the gun.

2 A gun comprising a frame, a hammer, a trigger, firing means operable be movement of the hammer for firing the gun, the trigger being pivotally mounted on the frame for pivoting movement between rest and fired positions, the hammer being pivotally mounted on the frame for movement between cocked and fired positions, a hammer spring for biasing the hammer toward its fired position and sear means for releasing the hammer from its cocked position when the trigger moves to its fired position, a safety link assembly for preventing firing of the gun unless the trigger is pulled, the safety link assembly comprising a link 35 mounting member pivotally mounted on the frame and having a trigger-engaging portion engageable with the trigger as the trigger pivots from its rest position to its fired position for pivoting the link mounting member,

40 and a hammer link mounted on the link mounting member, the hammer and the firing means being spaced apart when the hammer is in its fired position, the hammer link being pivotable with the link mounting 45 member into the space between the hammer and the firing means as the trigger moves to its fired position and being engageable by the hammer as the hammer moves from its cocked position to its fired position whereby 50 the link is forced against the firing means to fire the gun.

3 A gun constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown 55 in, Figures 13 to 15 of the accompanying drawings.

SAUNDERS & DOLLEYMORE Chartered Patent Agents 2 a Main Avenue, Moor Park Northwood, Middx HA 6 2 HJ Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by The Tweeddale Press Ltd, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1981 Published at the Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY, from which copies may be obtained.