GB2433869A

GB2433869A - A dog training dummy that fires a blank cartridge

Info

Publication number: GB2433869A
Application number: GB0625137A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Vidler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-01-04
Filing date: 2006-12-18
Publication date: 2007-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-18
Also published as: GB2433869B; GB2433868A; GB0625137D0; GB0600069D0

Abstract

A dummy, for training a retriever dog, which has the means to fire a blank cartridge when the dummy is thrown. A firing pin 10 is spring loaded and connected to a cord 1 with toggle 2 by a steel ring 18. In use the dummy is thrown using the cord and toggle. As the dummy is thrown, the spring activated firing pin strikes the cartridge blank, which is fitted into the spindle end 9, causing it to fire. The dummy is fitted with a safety catch 16, to prevent unwanted firing of the cartridge, which works both manually and automatically when thrown. The dummy has a removable and interchangeable jacket.

Description

Dog Training Dummy The invention relates to a dog training dummy for

retrieval purposes, of a type which is intended to be thrown by hand in order to be retrieved by the dog. Usually, the dog is being trained to retrieve shot game.

One example of a dog training dummy is disclosed in United States patent US6681721 which shows a device used for teaching a dog to run and retrieve. The training device has a flexible cylindrical body similar in size to the body of a bird being hunted and when the body is thrown this simulates the appearance of a bird that has been shot in flight. The body is provided with a removable cover able to be gripped by the dog's teeth for retrieval. The cover includes a throwing strap with handle for tossing the training device in the air and for its retrieval by the dog.

Such dummies are well known but they suffer from a disadvantage in that when the sound of a gunshot is required to be produced at the same time as the dummy is thrown -as is typically required during gundog training to simulate game being shot -a second person will be required to fire a starting pistol in unison with the movement of the thrown dummy. Alternatively, a lone handler must coordinate the tasks of throwing the dummy with one hand and firing the starting pistol with the other. This is a two handed operation which then leaves no free hand available to hoLd the dog.

An object of this invention is to provide a dog training dummy which when thrown single handedly is able to fire a blank cartridge.

According to the invention there is provided a dog training dummy, comprising a resilient body enclosing a chamber supporting a blank cartridge holder and an associated cartridge firing pin, in which the firing pin is coupled to a throwing strap such that when the dummy is thrown by use of the throwing strap, the release of the strap will cause the firing pin to strike a blank cartridge when this is present in the holder. This means the dummy can be thrown and a shot produced in a single one handed operation. This allows the dog handler a free hand to restrain the dog.

Preferably, the firing pin is mounted in the chamber with a spiral spring such that the action of pulling on the strap will cause the spring to be compressed. The spring may be mounted on the firing pin between an end wall of the chamber and a stop on the pin.

The firing pin may be mounted in the chamber with a second spring positioned between the said stop and a second end wall of the chamber.

The dummy includes a safety catch arranged to prevent an unwanted firing of the blank cartridge. This safety catch can be arranged to work both manually and automatically once the training dummy has been thrown. The dummy has a removable jacket which is interchangeable with alternative models ofjacket to allow the external colour and texture of the dummy to be varied. The jackets can be made of different coloured canvas, rabbit skin or feather material.

By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of the complete training dummy, Figure 2 is a similar view with a dummy jacket removed, Figure 3 is an internal view of the whole dummy with jacket and a plastics foam sleeve removed, showing cutaway details of a firing pin, main spring, return spring and safety catch, Figure 4 is a plan view of the dummy front end containing the blank cartridge holder and blank cartridge, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the front end, Figure 6 is a diagram of the dog handler throwing the dummy and its position in the air at the time when the shot is fired, Figures 7 and 8 show details of the working of the safety catch, Figure 9 shows partial cross-sectional views of the training dummy back end, Figure 10 gives similar views of the dummy front end, Figure 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of the training dummy spindle, Figure 12 shows an alternative construction of the blank cartridge holder, and, Figure 13 is a different construction of training dummy in the shape of a ball.

As shown in Figure 1, the training dummy 20 comprises a front end 4, a back end 7 which contains a safety catch, and a removable jacket 3 which is made of a canvas, rabbit skin or feather material. A throwing strap 1 is attached to a toggle 2 which is used to hold and eventually to throw the dummy in a dog training session.

Figure 2 depicts the dummy 20 with the jacket 3 removed showing a plastics foam sleeve 6 which provides a soft feel to the dummy. This encourages the dog to hold and retrieve the dummy, and it also provides a realistic texture such as would be felt by the mouth of the dog if the dog was carrying shot game.

As shown in Figure 3, the dummy 20 is seen with the jacket 3 and foam sleeve 6 removed. This reveals a spindle 8 of the dummy, a threaded end 9 of the spindle and a firing pin 10. The front end 4 can be screwed on and off the spindle end 9. The front end 4, a spindle 8 and back end 7 are all made from a plastics composition such as a PVC or nylon material. The cutaway sections show how the firing pin 10 is connected to the throwing strap I and toggle 2 by a stainless steel split ring 1 8 located within the back end 7. The firing pin 10 runs through a spiral main spring 14 and return spring 13 which are separated from one another by a washer 15. The two springs are accommodated in a chamber 23 within the spindle so that the springs 13, 14 will bear against the end walls of the chamber. The washer 1 5 is fixed in a predetermined position on the firing pin 10 by means of a split pin which passes through a bore in the firing pin. Figure 3 also shows a cutaway detail of the safety catch rod 16 and the safety catch spring 17 both of which are housed in the back end 7.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the training dummy front end 4 revealing the blank cartridge holder 11. This is made from a mild steel. A blank cartridge 12 of six millimetres diameter is able to be located in a recess in the cartridge holder 11. The front end 4 can be unscrewed from the spindle threaded end 9 to facilitate easy loading and unloading of the blank cartridge 12.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the front end 4 showing exhaust ports 5 which allow the expulsion of combustion gases formed during the firing of the blank cartridge 12.

in Figure 6, it can be seen that once the dog handler 19 has thrown the training dummy 20, the dummy 20 will operate to fire the cartridge 12 whilst the device is in mid air flight.

Figures 7 and 8 show details of the working of the safety catch rod 16 and the firing pin 10. In Figure 7, the safety catch rod 16 is seen to be located generally at right angles to the length of the firing pin 10. For convenience, the lower part of the firing pin has been omitted from the Figure, but a hole 27 through which the steel ring 18 is intended to pass can be seen at the upper end of the firing pin 10 and the bore 28 for securing the washer 15 is at the bottom of the Figure. The upper end of the firing pin lOis also provided with a recess 21 which is able to cooperate with the rod 16. The safety catch rod 16 includes a cutout 22 positioned close to the midpoint of the rod and it also has a shoulder 26 located at the left hand end of the rod 16. The safety catch rod 16 is biassed towards the right hand side of the Figure by the coils of the safety catch spring 17. In this position, the shoulder 26 at the left hand end of the safety catch rod 16 has entered the recess 21 on the firing pin 10. The firing pin 10 has therefore beconie fixed in its location and it is unable to be moved in an axial direction within the training dummy body. This situation, therefore, illustrates the safety catch being locked in the ON condition of the components with the safety catch rod 16 being partly moved outwards from the dummy body and the spring 1 7 being in an extended condition.

Figure 8 shows the situation where the safety catch rod has been depressed relative to the dummy body by the dog handler to release the safety catch to the OFF condition.

This causes the safety catch spring 17 to become compressed and the cutout 22 on the rod will be brought adjacent the recess 21 on the firing pin. En this position, the firing pin 10 is able to be pulled out slightly from the dummy body and the rod 16 will be locked in the depressed condition. The training dummy may then be used to fire the blank cartridge by the handler taking the throwing strap and swinging the dummy so it follows an arc for the dog to make the retrieval run. Upon releasing the throwing strap, the main spring 14 will drive the firing pin towards the cartridge causing the blank to be detonated. The return spring 13 will next bounce the firing pin back to its rest position within the chamber 23.

The safety catch spring 1 7 will then cause the cutout 22 to engage the recess 21 on the firing pin. This ensures that any further axial movement of the firing pin will be prevented until a positive decision has been made to free the firing pin by again depressing the rod 16.

In order to manually reset the safety catch to the ON position, when necessary, the dog handler will insert a finger tip into the opening of the training dummy back end 7 unit at the point where the throwing strap 1 emerges. The finger tip will be able to depress the firing pin 10 to the position depicted in Figure 8. In this condition, the spring 17 will act to push the safety catch rod 16 outwards to the catch ON state. The firing pin 10 will then be retained in its depressed condition by the shoulder 26 on the safety catch rod 16 (Figure 7) which will have entered the recess 21 on the tiring pin.

Figure 9 gives views of the training dummy back end 7 unit. A passage 24 for accommodating the safety catch rod and spring can be seen and this crosses a second passage through which the firing pin 10 is intended to pass. In the passage 24, a threaded portion at one end of the passage is provided to retain a screw plug (not shown) which forms an end support for the spring 17 (Figures 7, 8) which serves to bias the safety catch rod 16 to the safety catch ON condition. A lower wall 25 of the back end 7 unit is intended to form one of the end walls of the chamber 23. Figure 10 gives views of the training dummy front end 4 unit. This supports the blank cartridge holder 11 and it includes the exhaust ports 5 through which combustion gases from the firing of the blank cartridge are able to escape.

Figure 11 shows a second embodiment of the spindle 8 of the training dummy in a partial cross-sectional view. This component was machined from a thirty millimetre diameter rod of DELRIN (Registered Trade Mark) plastics material. At the left hand side of the Figure, an internally threaded portion can be seen which is intended to cooperate with the threaded part of the training dummy back end 7 (Figure 9). At the right hand end of the spindle 8 there is the externally threaded portion 9 which is intended to support the training dummy front end 4 (Figure 10).

The Figure 11 view also shows the chamber 23 which has one end wail located about the midportion of the spindle 8 and a second end wall of the chamber is provided by the lower wall 25 of the back end 7 unit. The chamber 23 forms part of a passage for the firing pin 10 which extends along the longitudinal axis of the spindle 8.

Figure 12 shows an alternative construction of the blank cartridge holder 11 which allows two cartridges to be supported in the holder. After a first blank cartridge has been fired, the holder may be rotated within a mounting in the front end 4 to allow the second blank cartridge to be brought into the firing position. A rotatable mounting for the holder is provided with end stops so that both the first and the second cartridges may be brought accurately into the positions needed for reliable firing of the cartridges. The movement of the mounting can be made by the fingers of the dog handler after the front end has been unscrewed from the dummy body.

Figure 13 depicts a different construction of training dummy 20 which instead of being cylindrical has the external shape of a ball. In one example made, the ball was formed of rubber with a diameter of 83 millimetres. This construction has the advantage that the ball is able to bounce and roll on the ground surface after being thrown.

In operation of the dog training dummy, the dog handler will take the dog to the proposed working area with the dog training dummy and a supply of blank cartridges. The handler will unscrew the front end 4 from the body of the dummy and insert a blank cartridge 1 2 into the cartridge holder 11 on the front end 4. The front end 4 is then replaced on the body of the dummy.

For starting the training session, the handler will depress the safety catch 16 on the dummy body and the firing pin JO which hitherto had been fixed in position will become freely movable so that it may be extended slightly out from the dummy body by a pull on the throwing strap 1. The handler will be restraining the dog by use of a lead or a hand on the dog collar. The handler will then hold the dummy by the toggle 2 on the throwing strap I and swing the dummy vigorously and release it so it will be thrown in an arc over the working area. At the same time, the handler will release the dog so that it may run freely over the working area.

The dummy tiring pin 10 will initially be extended from the dummy body by the pull on the throwing strap I However, when the throwing strap has been released from the dog handler's grip, the main spring 14 which had become compressed will drive the firing pin towards the blank cartridge 12. The firing pin will strike the rim of'the cartridge and cause it to be detonated. The resulting sharp explosion of sound will attract the attention of the dog and combustion gases will be emitted from the exhaust ports 5 at the dummy front end 4. The return spring 13 which is supported against a front wall of the body chamber will push the firing pin 1 0 back to its rest position and the firing pin recess 21 will become engaged with the cutout 22 on the safety catch rod 16. This will thus ensure that the safety catch operation will be automatically reset to the safe ON condition.

Meanwhile, the dog will have picked up the training dummy having observed its fall to the ground and having detected the odour of the combustion gases from the dummy exhaust ports. The dog will return with the training dummy to the handler so the retrieval exercise may be repeated.

The handler may then take the dummy and remove the front end 4 from the body so the spent cartridge case can be replaced with a new cartridge. The training routine can thus be continued for as long as may be necessary.

The dog training dummy has been found to be reliable in operation and it may be constructed inexpensively from readily available materials. Its use enables a single dog handler to provide a suitable training routine for a dog and the dog will then learn to react to the sound and smell of game bird shooting so that it will become familiar with the task of bird retrieval in a practical hunting operation.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For instance, the throwing strap I at its free end may be provided with a ball shaped finger grip instead of the toggle 2.

Claims

Claims A dog training dummy, comprising a resilient body enclosing a

chamber supporting a blank cartridge holder and an associated cartridge firing pin, in which the firing pin is coupled to a throwing strap such that when the dummy is thrown by use of the throwing strap, the release of the strap will cause the firing pin to strike a blank cartridge when this is present in the holder.

2 A dummy as claimed in Claim 1, in which the firing pin is mounted in the chamber with a spiral spring such that the action of pulling on the strap will cause the spring to be compressed.

3 A dummy as claimed in Claim 2, in which the said spring is mounted on the firing pin between an end wall of the chamber and a stop on the pin.

4 A dummy as claimed in Claim 3, in which the firing pin is mounted in the chamber with a second spring positioned between the said stop and a second end wall of the chamber.

A dummy as claimed in any one of Claims I to 4, in which the firing pin is provided with a recess which is capable of being engaged by a movable shoulder when required to provide a safety catch action to the firing pin.

6 A dummy as claimed in Claim 5, in which the said shoulder is located on a safety catch rod which is supported at right angles to the firing pin.

7 A dummy as claimed in Claim 7, in which the said safety catch rod is mounted with a bias spring such that the rod will tend to take up a particular stable position with respect to the firing pin.

8 A dummy as claimed in any one of Claims I to 7. in which the said blank cartridge holder is supported in a housing having one or more exhaust ports.

9 A dummy as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, when including a detachable external jacket.

A dog training dummy, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.