GB2206810A

GB2206810A - Toy firearm

Info

Publication number: GB2206810A
Application number: GB08813498A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Giampiero Ferri
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-06-11
Filing date: 1988-06-08
Publication date: 1989-01-18
Also published as: DE3820120A1; IT8709412A0; FR2616346B3; GB8813498D0; FR2616346A1; IT1217076B

Description

2206810 -,I- TOY FIREARM The invention concerns a toy firearm operating by

compressed air for Light projectiles, of the type comprising: a barrel; a magazine for projectiles; a cytinder provided with an axial attachment that is axially perforated for extracting a projectile from the magazinc and pushing it axially into the barrel; a movable piston in the said cylinder, urged by a spring for accomptishment of the power stroke for compressing the air in the cylinder and for pneumatic propulsion of the projectile through the hole in the said attachment, and forming an external projection for the action of Loading; a - and a resilient retaining detent on the piston that can be controlled for release and firing. The toy firearm concerned, in accordance with the invention. further comprises: devices for holding the cylinder in a fixed position; a moving element forming a housing for the magazine that can move parallel to the axis of the cylinder between a forward position. for urging a projectile into the firing position. and a retracted position. in which the remaining projectiles are urged against the said attachment; and devices for causing the said moving element to be transported between the said two pos.itions in the course of each loading and firing cycle in order to position a projectile in the firing position.

In practice the toy firearm can include a pull detent attached to the piston for engaging in the said moving element of the magazine and pulling it back to the retracted position.

According to the invention, the toy firearm can to advantage comprise a spring for resiliently urging the said moving element of the magazine towards the said forward position. and a device for retaining the said moving element of the magazine in the said retracted position against the action of the spring until completion of the power stroke of the piston, which at the end of the said power stroke neutralizes the action of the retaining device, causing the said moving element of the magazine to move forward and thus permitting another projectile to be placed in the firing position.

The toy firearm can comprise a pair of flexible attachments and a hollowed element between the ends of the said flexible attachments that is engaged in the control projection. to make the firearm Look like a crossbow.

The invention will be more readily understood if the specification is studied in conjunction with the attached drawings; these illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention, to provide a non-limitative example. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a complete plan view; 1 i Fig. 2 represents a side view; Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal sectional view; Fig. 4 represents a sectional view in accordance with IV-IV in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 represents a sectional view in accordance with V-V in Fig. 3.

In the illustrations provided by the attached drawings, the toy firearm concerned compris ' es a casing 1 extending Longitudinally and forming at the rear a butt 3 that can accommodate to advantage a receptacle 5 for projectiles; the casing 1 forms a bridge 1A for a trigger 7 for controlLing the firing of the pneumatic propuLsion system. in the bottom part, and towards the front end. there is provided a cassette 9 which can be slid in the direction of the double arrowJ9 to- permit the insertion and replacement of a magazine 10 of projectiles P. which projectiles must bi positioned in succession in the firing position in the manner described below. In the front. the casing 1 forms a through passage 12 permitting the projecion of the projectile which is in the position P1 for firing indicated in Fig. 3. On the top, the casing 1 forms an aperture 14 for a control device for loading the pneumatic firing mechanism, which is described later. At the side, in the front part of the casing 1, two laminated attachments 16 are provided, on either side, shaped so as to copy the flexible crossbow that is typical of. the mediaeval firearms known as crossbows; from the ends of the attachments 16 there extends a wireshaped element 18, which can be more or less resilient and is preferably not resilient, that is engaged in the control device 20A projecting from the aperture 14. Inside the casing 1 there is formed a slide housing for a moving control element 20 for Loading the mechanism. such moving element 20 comprising a rod 20B on which the control projection 20A is mounted and which is of one piece with the perforated rod 22 of a piston 24 in the pneumatic firing mechanism. The piston 24 can slide in a cylinder 26 mounted in a fixed position in the casing; the cylinder 26 exhibits a front axial attachment 26A that 1 - 4 is axially perforated, for the purposes described below. A firing spring 28 is accommodated in the hollow rod 22 of the moving control and Loading element 20, to which the piston 24 also belongs; the spring 28 reacts on a base 1C formed inside the casing. The piston rod 22 has a retaining detent 30 in conjunction with which there operates a resilient detent 32 that is of one piece with the trigger 7 and is urged in a position wher.e it is hooked onto the detent 30 by means of a spring 34 reacting between the trigger 7 together with detent 32 and the casing 1; the assembly 7, 32 is hinged to the casing at 36; the detents have a sloping back to facilitate recipro- iding and hooking up between the two detents element 20 is displaced in the direction of the direction of Loading of the firing the compression or re-compression of the firing spring 28 acting on the piston 24. The rod 20B in the assembly 20, 22, 24 exhibits a detent 38 at its front end for the purposes explained Later.

Inside for a moving and 32 each cat relative sI when the moving the arrow f2Q, in mechanism and of the casing 1 is formed another slide housing element 40, capable of being displaced alone the axis of the cylinder-piston system 26, 24; this moving element 40 forms a short barrel 42 for accommodating a projectile in the position P1 for firing, and also forms a housing 44 for accommodating the magazine 10; the perforated attachment 26A of the cylinder 26 is designed to go through the magazine housing 44 and to align itself with and be pushed partly inside the barrel 42 when the moving element 40 is retracted in the direction of the arrow f20, as shown in Fig. 3. The said moving element 40 exhibits an upper detent 46, for operating in conjunction with the de- 24. The element 40 tent 38 of the also exhibits at its front end a detent 48 for operating in conjunction with a resilient detent 50, hinged onto the casing at 52 and resiliently urged by a spring 54 in the hook-up position of the detent 48; the two detents 48 and 50 each exhibit a sloping back in order to facilitate the act of detent 50 hooking onto detent 48, in that the moving element 20, 22, 1 1 i.

k - 5 detent 48 slides in the direction of the arrow f20. The said moving element 40 is urged by a spring 56, that is relatively weak, reacting on the casing 1, so that the moving-element.40 is pushed forward, in the opposite direction, that is, to the arrow f20. in the position iLLustrated in Fig. 3, the spring 28 is compressed, so that the firing mechani-sa is cocked; the piston 24 is in the retracted pos-ition in the cylinder 26, thereby creating a compression chamber for the air; the moving element 40 is retracted, and. the detent 48 is engaged in the resilient detent 50, whilst the detent 38 is positioned immediately in front of the detent 46; the detent 38 has effected the retraction of the moving element 40 against the action of the spring 56. This position as shown in Fig., 3 is-ensured by the resilient detent 50, which keeps the moving element 40 retracted, engaging the detent 48 against the action of the spring 46. whilst the moving element 20 of the piston 24 is retained by the detent 30 which is engaged by the resilient detent 32 which can be controlled by the trigger 7. In these circumstances the wire-shaped element 18 is retracted and can have partialLy flexed the laminafed attachments 16 as in the case of a traditional crossbow, the control attachment 20A being retracted for control of the cocking action giving rise to the position described. A projectile P1 is in the barrel 42 immediately in front of the perforated attachment 26A of the cylinder 26; the other projectiles P held in the magazine 10 are pushed by a spring 60 inside the magazine 10 so that they press against the attachment 26A that goes through the magazine. In these conditions the projectile P1 can be fired through action on the trigger 7, which releases the resilient detent 32 from the retaining detent 30; the spring 28 thereupon forcefully propels the piston 24 in the fixed cylinder 26, creating a cushion of compressed air which, e'scaping through the hole in the attachment 26A, acts on the projectile P1 and fires it through the barrel 42 and through the passage 12 at the front end of the casing. When the piston 24 is thrust - 6 forward in this way. the rod 209 of the moving element 20 of which the piston 24 forms part naturally moves forward also; at the end of the power stroke of the piston 24 and hence of the rod attachment 208, the end of the said rod forming the detent 38 acts on the resilient detent 50 underneath the articulated joint 52, in such a way as to Lift the resilient detent 50 itself against the action of the spring 54; thereupon the detent 48 is released from the retaining effect of the detent 50. so that the said moving element 40, urged by the spring 56, is pushed in the direction opposite to that of the arrow f20 in a stroke delimited by the position taken up by the detent 38 on compLetion of the power stroke actuating firing; the moving element 40. then, goes as far as the detent 38 with the detent 46, wkich cones to rest once more on the detent 38 in the forward position of the Latter following the trigger release. With the moving element 40 in the forward ' position, the magazine 10 is in a position in relation to the attachment 26A of the cylinder 26 such that the stack of projectiles P is immediately in front of the end of the attachment 26A. so that the projectile that is at the top of the stack in the magazine 10 is brought in front of the front end of the attachment 26, urged by the spring 60, so that it is thus brought into alignment with the barrel 42 and immediately behind the said barrel, in the forward position.

When the firing mechanism needs to be re-cocked, the moving element 20 is'retracted in the direction of the arrow f20 through action on the attachment 20A, with the result that - apart from pulling back the wireshaped eLement 18 and any flexing of the crossbow arms 16 - first and foremost the moving element 20 is retracted, which returns with compression of the spring 28 and hooks its detent 30 onto the resilient detent 32 of the trigger 7 in the cocked position. As a result of this return stroke of the moving element 20 in the direction of the arrow f20, the detent 38, by engaging the detent 46, also retracts in the direction of the moving element 40 against the action C of the spring 56; thereby the projectile P1 is pushed into the barrel 42 up to the position shown in Fig. 3, and the moving element 40 is hooked by the resilient detent 50 which engages the detent 48 and holds the o. oving element 40 in the position shown in Fig. 30 this having been reached again through the cocking action exercised on the attachment 20A. The firearm accordingly reverts to the position illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein it is able to fire the fresh projectile that has been brought into the position Pl.

The magazine 10 can be replaced or removed through displacement of the cassette 9 and extraction of the magazine after firing,, and the m. agazine itself can be reloaded with a further number of projectiles, whereupon the process can be repeated of firing the number of projectiles that can be accommodated in the magazine 10 itself.

The drawings, it should be understood. illustrate only one embodiment given only by way of a practical demonstration of the invention, which can take the form of a variety of embodiments and arrangements, without any departure from the scope of its underlying concept.

0

Claims

- 8 CLAIMS

1. A toy firearm operating by compressed air for Light projectiles, comprising: a barrel; a magazine for projectiles; a cylinder provided with an axial attachment that is axially perforated for extracting a projectile from the magazine and pushing it axially into the barrel; a movable piston in the said cylinder, urged by a spring for accomplishment of the power stroke for compressing the air in the cylinder and for P"neumatic proputsion of the projectile through the hole in the said attachment, and forming an external projection for the action of Loading; and a resilient retaining detent on the piston that can be controlled for release and firing; characterized in that it further comprises: devices for holding the cylinder.in a fixed position; a moving element forming a housing for the magazine that can move parallel to the axis of the cylinder between a forward position, for urging a projectile into the firing position, and a retracted position, in which the remaining projectiles are urged against the said attachment; and devices for causing the said moving element to be transported between the said two positions in the course of each loading and firing cycle in order to position a projectile in the firing position.

2. Toy firearm according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises a putt detent attached to the piston for engaging in the said moving element of the magazine and pulling it back to the retracted posit i o n.

3. Toy firearm according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a spring for resitielement of the magazine toand a device for retainthe said the spring until completion of the power stroke of the piston, which at the end of the said power stroke neutralizes the action of the retaining device, causing the said element ently urging the said moving wards the said forward position, ing the said moving element of the magazine in retracted position against the action of 1 1 r of the magazine to move forward and thus permitting another projectile to be placed in the firing position.

4. Toy firearm according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a pair of flexible attachments and a hollowed element between the ends of the said flexible attachments that is engaged in the control projection, to make the firearm took like a crossbow.

5. Toy firearm operating by compressed air, that can be in the guise of a crossbow; the whole as described above and illustrated by way of example. in the attached drawings.

Published 1988 at The Patent Office. State House. 6671 High Holborn. London WC1R 4TP. Further copies may be obt-a-lned from The Patent Office, Sales Branch. St Mary Cray. Orpington. Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Mu2tiplex techniques ltd. St 1Aary Crky, Kent Cor. 1.8-,