GB2162928A - Airgun pellet dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The pellet dispenser has a pellet storage disc 2, with radial pockets, which can be hand revolved abort a shaft 1. A cap 3 covers the pockets in the storage disc and can also be hand rotated about the shaft 1. The whole apparatus can be attached to a rifle by bonding the block 5 to the rifle stock. The storage disc is loaded with pellets, one at a time, by dropping them in through an opening 4 in the cap (in its upside position) and the pellets are dispensed, one at a time by rotating the disc till they fall out through the opening in the cap (in its downside position) into one's hand. The rotational resistances of the disc 2 and cap 3 are adjustable by screws 6, 7. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for storing carrying and dispensing pellets for airguns This invention relates to apparatus for storing, carrying and dispensing pellets for airguns.

There are over two million people in Britain who enjoy the sport of airgunning; and many more in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States.

The sport is rapidly growing in popularity and air-gunning was included in the Olympics for the first time last year.

There are a large number of manufacturers producing a great variety of airgun pellets and thousands of retailers across Britain and the rest of the world who sell them.

Airgun pellets are made of lead, lead alloys, copper alloys, zinc, steel and plastic. They are available mainly in two calibres, 0.177 inch and 0.22 inch although other calibres such as 0.20 inch are' also available.

The vast majority of pellets-for airguns are supplied in bulk in 'tins' of 500, 250, or 200. These 'tins' are inconvenient to carry aground, need to be placed within easy reach of the shooter---often difficult to do in the field-they rattle, or make sounds that frighten away wildlife, and as the pellets are free to press against each other, most of them suffer some deformation. To overcome these drawbacks, many shooters select the best pellets from a 'tin' and place them in pellet dispensers.

There are several types of pellet dispensers available on the market. Some hold the pellets in groups and release pellets by shaking them out through a fixed gate; others hold pellets in separate compartments and release them through a movable gate either by shaking the dispenser or by totally inverting the dispenser.

Most of these have to be carried apart from the rifle and placed on the ground or tables or in pockets before shooting. They have to be searched for when shooting and often expose pellets to dirt or lint contamination.

Some types of dispensers are attached to the sides of rifle stocks and allow pellets to be extracted by pushing them out between guide rails; a process that is prone to deforming the pellets.- Other rifle-attached dispensers only release their pellets when the rifle is held horizontally and twisted through 90 degrees-a tiring and possibly dangerous operation if the barrel is cocked.

There is a demand for a pellet dispenser that will store, carry and dispense pellets in a protective, safe and convenient manner. This demand can only become stronger as the sport becomes more widespread and sophisticated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for carrying out a least one of the following functions: (a) Easy and precise dispensing of pellets, one at a time through the same opening each time.

(b) Secure attachment of the dispenser to a rifle to allow one handed operation of the dispenser to be carried out entirely by 'feel'.

(c) Protected storage of individual pellets in seperate pockets. To this end, apparatus according to the present invention comprises: means for the extraction of pellets from the dispenser one at a time in a smooth and precise operation, through the same opening each time.

means for attaching the dispenser to a rifle in a firm, secure manner to permit one- handed operation of the dispenser.

means for storing individual pellets in seperate, protected pockets in the dispensers.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided with all three of the means referred to above but it is to be understood that the invention encompasses apparatus with only one or two of those means.

The preferred embodiment comprises apparatus for the storage, carrying and dispensing of pellets for airguns comprising first means for loading the pellets sequentially, one at a time, to said storage means, second means for carrying the pellets in a dispenser firmly attached to a rifle, to said attaching means, and third means for extracting pellets, one at a time, to said dispensing means.

Use of the preferred embodiment of the invention gives rise to the following advantages: 1. The dispenser protects each and every pellet in its pockets against deformation and contamination from lint, dust etc, and dispenses pellets through gravity without the need to pinch out or shake out (and thus deform) the pellets.

2. A pellet is obtained by 'feel' without having to look at the dispenser. Live quarry or a moving target can therefore be kept in constant view during the full rifle reloading process.

3. The dispenser is convenient to use being always within each reach of the shooter even when he moves from position to position or has to assume cramped positions. He therefore does not have to find a place to lay his 'tin' of pellets on before he shoots.

4. Pellets are dispensed with the rifle held in the normal loading position without having to dangerously tilt the rifle sideways.

5. The rotational resistance of the dispenser can be adjusted to suit individual preferences.

6. Pellets always drop into the same position of the hand so that consistent and fumble-free loading can be achieved every time.

7. The pellet dispensing operation is simple, silent and swift with only one hand being employed. This leaves the other hand free to hold the rifle in a firm, safe manner.

8. The dispenser is small, robust and main tenance free.

In order that the invention may be well understood, the presently preferred embodi- ment thereof, which is given by way of example only, will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig 1 shows the general arrangement of the pellet dispenser Fig 2 is a view on line A-A showing the opening in the cap 3 Fig 3 is a cross-section on line- B-B showing the radial pockets in the disc 2 Fig 4 is a cross-section on line C-C showing the radial vanes on the disc 2 A detailed description of the components of the invention followed by its operational functions are listed below with reference to the accompanying drawings: In Fig 1, item 1 is a shaft on which all the following are fitted: Item 3 is a cap which covers the radial hole portion of the disc 2.It has a single opening 4 directly above the row of holes in the disc 2 (see also Pig 2) the cap is fixed to the shaft 1 and is firmly held in -position against free rotation by the tightness of the shaft in the block 5 and by the adjustment screw 6 but can be rotated about the shaft 1 by hand.

Item 5 is a block partially bored to-accommodate the shaft 1. It is attached to the rifle with an adhesive compound.

Item 2 is a-solid disc comprising two portions. The smaller diameter portion on the left hand side has a row of radial pockets. The diameter of these pockets are marginally larger than the cablibre of the pellets to be used (see also Fig 3).

The larger diameter portion on the right hand side has a row of radial vanes which project beyond the surface of the cap 3 (See also Fig 4). -The disc 2 is firmly held against free rotation by the snug fit of the cap 3 around the disc and by the adjustment screw 7 but can be rotated about the-shaft 1 by hand The rotational resistance of the disc 2 is kept lower than that of the cap 3 to permit the disc to be rotated without causing the cap to rotate.

Attaching the Dispenser The dispenser-is preferably attached to the underside of a rifle stock on the swelling just behind the palm grip by bonding the block 5 to the rifle with an adhesive compound.

The block 5 is attached so that the screw 6 is positioned on the left hand side of the rifle for right-handed shooters (or on the right hand side for left-handed shooters).

Loading the Dispenser The cap 3 is rotated until the opening 4 in the cap is uppermost. The disc 2 is rotated by means of the radial vanes until a pocket in the disc lies directly under the opening in the cap.

A pellet is loaded into the pocket through the opening in the cap. The disc 2 is again rotated until the next pocket lies directly under the cap opening and a- second pellet is introduced.

By aligning each pocket in turn under the opening in the cap all the pockets in the disc 2 are loaded with pellets.

The disc 2 is now rotated until the opening in the cap is directly over the middle of two pockets. By placing a thumb over the cap opening 4 and pressing the disc 2-the cap and disc are rotated together until the screw 7 on the cap lines up with the screw 6 on the block 5. These screws are positioned such that when they line up the opening in the cap is in the lowermost position. In this position all the pockets are covered by the cap and the pellets thus prevented from falling out The dispenser is now loaded and is ready for use.

Using the Dispenser When a pellet is required a hand- is placed on the underside of the dispenser, palm upwards, and the vanes on thee disc 2 rotated with the finger tips. This causes a radial pocket to come into vertical aligment with the opening 4 in the cap and a pellet drops out into the hand.

When another pellet is required the above described progress is repeated. This is continued until all the pellets in the dispenser have been used.

The dispenser described in the above example shows eight radial pockets and eight vanes. However, these numbers can be varied to suit the size of the dispenser. Also the pocket sizes can be chosen to suit 0.177 inch, 0.20 inch, 0.22 inch calibre pellets or similar.

Although the dispenser detailed above has been described for use with air rifle pellets, the apparatus can be used equally well with centrefire and rimfire cartridges.

Claims (5)

1. A pellet dispenser comprising a rotateable disc with radial pockets and radial vanes, a rotateable cap covering the radial pockets and containing a single opening means for holding the disc and cap in axial alignment with each other, means for allowing independent and seperate rotation of the disc and the cap and means for allowing all to be attached to a rifle.

2. A pellet dispenser as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rotational resistances of the disc and the cap are adjustable by means of screws set to bear against them

3. A pellet dispenser as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the radial pockets are varied to accommodate a plurality of pellet sizes.

4. A pellet dispenser as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the number and configuration of the vanes are varied to suit the number and configuration of the pockets.

5. A pellet dispenser substantially as described herein with reference to the figures 1- 4 of the accompanying drawing.