US1786536A - Firing mechanism for automatic firearms - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 30, 1930. E. HOLEK I FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 18. 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l Fig. 1

IIIIIIIIII[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIl/IIIIIIII '0 Emanuel HoleK lNVENTOR ATTORNEY Dec. 30, 1930. HOLEK 1,786,536

FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 18, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Em anucl Hohz K NVENTOR WWW 9W ATTORNEY Dec. 30, 1930.

E. HOLEK FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed June 18, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 NVEN.TOR

QU'W ATTORNEY Patented a... so, ieeo mans PATENT OFFEQE mam s; norm on BBUNN, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, Assumes 'ro rrm'rmm cEsxostovnnsm znnoaovm axcrova sroLEcnos'r v 13mm, or Baum. CZECHO- snovaxm rmmernncnamsm FOB AUTOMATIC rmnaims a imation filed Julie 18, 1929, Serial 1%. 371,786, and in Czechoslovakia June 20, 192a.

This invention relates to firing mechanisms for automatic firearms and has primarily for its object to provide ,a novel construction I in inoperative position of the trigger-mechanism.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown in the form of diagrammatical representations a few embodiments of my invention, Fig. 1 being a side-view partly in section, showing the firing mechanism after firing of the la's't" sh'ot, -Fig' 2 a view" similar to Fig. 1 showihgthe, firing mechanism after depressionof the feeding devic e ,Fig. 3 a further view showing the dev ces-of Figs. 1 and 2 after'actuation of the firing mechanism, Fig. 4 'a'view' showing especially the action of therear elevation of the breech and Fig. 5 a view' showing especially the action of the front elevation of the breech. Fig. 6 shows my new firing mechanism together with a specific'sa'fety device in inoperative position with omission of the breech. and Fig. 7 the firing mechanisnr in a position in which a double loc'kingsafety device comes'into action. Fig."8 shows the firing mechanism in position after being locked by said safety device, Fig.19is 'adetail View of said safety device. and'Fig. '1O a section according to line of- Fig.- -8 as seen from the left towards-the right- "Referringnow more particularly to the drawings,'th firing mechanism according to my'invenfion provided in the well-known manner underneath the breech 1 of the automechanism proper consists of'the hammer 3' mountedfswi'ngabl y around'the' pivot 7 and aetaatert: by the "spring- :8. The hammer 3,

more particularly, engages by means of the nose 3a thereon with the anchor-shaped trigger-lever 5 at aplace intermediate the two arms thereof, the nose 3a of the hammer 3 co-operating with the nose 5a of the triggerlever 5, as indicated in Fig. 1. The rear part of the anchor-shaped trigger-lever 5 is provided with an interrupter 6 in the form of a double-armed lever fulcrumed to the triggeras may be seen from Figs. 1 to 5, there is provided a recess 10 which forms part of the catch and control mechanism for the hammer 3. According to my invention an elevation 1a is provided in front of said recess 10, said elevation presenting at its front part an oblique guide surface 0 and at its rear part a sliding surface p which forms a part of said recess 10. The elevation 1a projects somewhat from the under edge of said recess 10. In front of the oblique guide surface 0 there is provided a somewhat longer guide surface m which is of an inclination opposite to that of the surface 0. In the rear of the recess la there is further provided a guide surface r which is downwardly inclined towards the rearand extends almost as far as to the rear end of the breech, in such a manner to form an elevation lb'near the rear end S of the breech.

The detail construction of the aforedescribed parts of the firing mechanism will be apparent from the hereinbelow description of the mode of operation of said mechanism. After the last shot has ben fired, that is, in empty condition of the cartridgemagazine, the cartridge feeding device 2 will be pushed in front of the breech 1 which during firing has been opened by the effect of the recoil. The cartridge feeding device Q-Will thus lock the breech 1 in open condition there- .of as represented in Fig. 1. The hammer 3 rests with its head upon the under part of the sliding surface p of the front elevation" 1a on the breech 1, the nose 3a of the hammer 3 freely engaging from below with the;

nose 5a on the trigger-lever 5. After the magazine has been loaded the cartridge feeding device 2 will be in depressed condition,

the breech 1, until the hammer 3 snaps into] the recess 10, this'causing the breech to be locked in'open position as represented in Fig. 2. In this condition of the firing mechanism the noses 3a and 5a will be in engagement with each other. Upon pulling the'trigger 4 the trigger-lever 5 will be rocked and the nose 5a thereon will pull the hammer 3 down until the head of the hammer comes out of engagement with the recess 10 on the breech 1. Now the breech 1 is released and may further be moved forward by action of a spring causing a new cartridge to be pushed out of the magazine into the loading space.

Simultaneously therewith the nose 5a on the trigger-lever 5 will come out of engagement with the nose 3a on the hammer 3 as in dicated in Fig. 3. Upon continued forward motion of the breech 1 the oblique surface r which forms part of the rear elevation 16 on the breech will exert a pressure on the hammer 3 and cause depression of the same until the nose 3?) will come in engagement with the under end of the interrupter actuated by the spring 8. The interrupter 6 now will retain the hammer 3 in this position so that the latter isprevented from moving into the rear of the breech 1 which now commences its closing motion. During closing of the breech, therefore, premature firing will be safely prevented. In like manner there will be prevention against firing a series of shots so that the fire-arm is in condition for'the automatic firing of single shots. the trigger being continuously'pulled for this purpose. When re'easing the trigger, the spring ,8 will rock the trigger-lever 5 in clockwise sense, the spring 8 now acting upon the trigger 4 and the trigger-lever 5 by the intermediary of the interrupter 6 which rests with its upper part 11 upon the upper surface of the rearwardly extending arm 10 of the triggerlever 5. The interrupter 6 now is disengaged from the nose 3b of the hammer 3, thus catching up the hammer 3 when rearwardly swinging. A The hammer now will only swing slightly in counter-clockwise sense until the noses 3a and 5a will come into engagement with each other, while the front side of the hammer 3 will rest upon the rear oblique surface S which forms part of the elevation 11) on the rear part of the breech 1, as shown in Fig. 2. If the trigger has been pulled before the rear elevation lb of the breech has come in position above the hammer, the elevation 16 will likewise depress the hammer, 3, the nose 311 on the hammer, however, coming now at once-into engagement from below with the nose 5a on the trigger-lever 5, so that the interrupter 6 will be rocked against the action of the spring 8 without the right-hand nose 3b of the hammer 3 coming into engagement with the under end of the interrupter 6. The

respective parts now will at once come into the position which they have assumed after releasing the trigger. as above described.

By the aforede'scribed motions of the parts.

of the firing mechanismthe firstcartridge had been moved out of the filled cartridge maga zine into the loading space. Apparently, in this case the trigger must be pulled twice in order to fire a new .shot. More particularly when pulling thetrigger the first time, the hammer 3 which engages with the recess 10 of the breech 1 will cause to'release the breech to permit loading, While-pulling the trigger a second time will cause the firing of a shot by releasing the hammer 3 which is kept in tenthe height of the surface m. Thereupon, however, the hammer 3 will 'be quickly de-' pressed by action of the surface 0 which is of greater obliquity, so that a heavy impact will be given to the hammer in clockwise sense. Thisimpact will be so efiective that the hammer will remain in retracted position for some short time which is suficient to cause the recess '10 to slide past the hammer without engaging therewith. In this manner the hammer will be unable to lock the breech and come in sliding engagement with the oblique surface 1' of the rear elevation 1d. In order to securely attain this, the front elevation 1a is somewhat higher than the under edge of the recess 10. The hammer 3 will be pressed backward by action of the elevation 11) into tensioned, locked position in the same man ner as has been above described. More par-- ticularly, the hammer 3 in pulled condition of the trigger will be locked by the interrupter 6 and in released condition of the trigger by the nose 56 so that said hammer is prevented from following the motion of the breech which is now closing, thus preventing the firing of successive shots.

After complete closing of the breech, therefore, the trigger 4; must be pulled anew for each shot to be fired. Apparently, any desired number of shots may now be fired'by merely pulling the trigger once for each shot.

As Figs. 6-10 show, the trigger mechanism is provided with a resistance member co-operating) with the hammer 3, said resistance mem er coming into action during operation of the trigger and before the hammer 3 is in released condition. This resistance member is provided on the trigger-lever 5 as shown in Figs. 6-10 in form of the interrupter 6 which is constructed to constitute a stop mounted resiliently yielding upon the trigger-lever, said stop being at a distance 16 from the hammer 3 in inoperative condition of the trigger mechanism. During the first phase of motion of the several parts of the trigger mechanism all of said parts must be moved to acertain extentin accordance with said distance 16, whereupon the resiliently yielding resistance 15 will come into action. It may be noted that the aforedescribed mode of controlling the motion of the hammer by means of the breech will in no way be unfavorably affected by the provision of said resiliently yielding resistance. Moreover, the aforedescribed interrupter which is constructed to act as a resistance member will permit firing of individual shots by means of automatic fire-arms.

If the trigger mechanism, for instance, is in the condition as shown in Fig. 6, a pulling of the trigger 4 will cause the interrupter 6 to move together with said resistance member or stop 15 in the direction towards the nose 3?) on the hammer 3, that is said resistance member will move through the distance 16. In this condition the several parts of the trigger-mechanism may be Very easily operated. In the position shown in Fig. 7, that is after the several parts of the trigger-mechauism have moved through the distance 16, the resistance member or stop 15 engages with the nose 3?) of the hammer 3. The re sistance member 15 will now come into action with the effect that intermediate the position of the hammer shown in Fig. 7 and the position in which the hammer is fully released there will be required an increased force in order to operate the several parts of the trigger-mechanism. This resistance which will come automatically into action will indicate to the shooter that the several parts of the trigger-mechanism are positioned closely in front of its condition of release. By this the shooter will be given the possibility to take aim still more'carefully and thereupon fire the shot by exerting a short pull on the trigger. In the constructions shown herein the resistance within the firing mechanism is produced by the interrupter 6, it is of course also possible to use a special resistance body which is mounted resiliently yielding upon the trigger-lever 5.

The tri ger 4 is shown in Figs. 6 to 10 in a modi edconstruction which forms part of this invention. According to Figs. 6 to 10 the trigger is provided with a forwardly projecting arm 20, a safety or locking device 21 being provided within the range of swinging motion of said arm 20. This safety'device according to Figs. 6 to 10 consists of a rotatably mounted bolt 21 which is provided with a recess or cut-away portion 22. The bolt 21 is further equipped with a handle 25 and a resilient pawl 26 which co-operates with ratchets 27 and 28. The bolt 21, moreover, is provided with a ring-shaped groove 30 adapted to come in engagement with the trigger-lever 5, as indicated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. In this manner the bolt 21 will be kept into its proper position and no abutment or the like will be necessary to prevent displacementof. said bolt. ing the bolt in the aforedescribed manner will also permit an easy exchange of said bolt, if this should be found necessary.

In the position of the bolt 21 shown in Figs. 6 and 7, that is in a position of the handle 25 which causes engagement of the pawl 26 with the ratchet 28, the trigger-mechanism will be in unlocked condition ready for firing. The trigger 4 may now be pulled, the recess 22 permitting free motion of the arm 20. In order to lock the trigger-mechanism, it will only be necessary to swing the handle 25 of the safety or locking device into the position shown in Fig. 9, this causing the pawl 26 to engage with the ratchet 27 which will keep the safety device in operative condition. The bolt 21 moreover will provide a'safety device adapted to lock the trigger .4 not only in its position of restwhich position is shown in dash-dotted lines in Fig. 8- but also in operative position, that is after being pulled, as shown in full lines in Fig. 8. For this purpose a stop 31 is used, said stop being formed by the wall of the casing 33 which serves for the reception of the lock of the fire-arm. The stop 31, however, may also be constructed in the form of a special member which is fixed within the lock-casing 33. The provision of a safety locking de vice for the trigger 4 will be especially of importance for purposes of testing fire-arms as Well as for purposes of repairs. In this locked or safety position of the trigger, the cartridge magazine may be gradually emptied and the fire-arm rendered inoperative.

It may be noted that the aforedescribed safety device for the trigger will in no way affect the mode of controlling the motion of the hammer by the motion of the breech. Also, when using said safety device, the action of the interrupter 6 may fully be retained, that is the trigger, when locked in pulled condition, will permit the hammer 3 or the nose 3b thereon to be caught up and locked by said interrupter.

The herein described firing and trigger mechanisms are only examples of the construction according to my invention and various changes may be made thereon without The mode of fixa departing from the principles of my invention or sacrificing any advantages thereof.

I claim: 1. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms having a breech which is retained 0 en condition by a device adapted to actuate t e priming bolt, said mechanism comprising control means associated with said breech, said control means being adapted to prevent retention of said breech by said device during rapid closing motion of said breech.

2. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms having a breech which is retained in open condition by a hammer, said mechanism comprising control means associated with said breech, said control means being adapted to prevent retentipn of said breech by said hammer during rapid closing motion of said breech.

3. Mechanism as specified by claim 1 having the control means provided in the direction of closing motion of the breech infront of a. depression provided on said breech, said depression being adapted to receive the device which serves for actuation of the priming bolt.

4. Mechanism as specified by claim 2 in which the control means consists of two elevations, one provided in front and the other in the rear of adepression on said breech, said elevation in front of said depression beingof a greater height than said elevation in the rear of said depression.

5. Mechanism as specified by claim 2 in which the control means consists of two elevations, one provided in front and the other to ress the hammer of the fire-arm back into sa etwosition.

7. echanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a double-armed triggar-lever, catches provided in opposition to each other on both arms of said lever, the hammer. being provided with noses adapted to co-opernte with said catches to permit looking of said hammer, when depressed by the control means on the breech, in operative as well as in inoperative condition of said mechanism.

8. echanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a trigger provided.

with an arm, and a safety-device arranged within the range of motion of said arm, said safety device being adapted to lock said trigger 1n operative as well as in inoperative condition. y

9. Mechanism as specified by claim 2, said "to come into efiect i iyrsaese mechanism comprising a trigger provided .with-an', armgiand' a safety device arranged within the range of motion of said arm, said safety. device consisting of a movably mounted 'bolt having a cut-away portion permitting swinging motion of said trigger.

10. Mechanism as specified by claim 2 said mechanism; comprising a trigger provided with an arm, and a safety device arranged within the range of motion of said arm, said safety device being adapted to lock said trigger inoperative as well as in inoperative condition, a stop provided within the range of swinging motion of said arm, said stop adapted to lock said trigger in conjunction with said safety device.

11. Mechanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a trigger provided with an arm, and a safety device arranged within the range of motion of said-arm, said safety device being adapted to lock said trigger in operative as well as in inoperative cond1t1on, and a stop provided within the range of swinging motion of said arm, said stop being formed 'by a part of the wall of the lock-casing of the fire-arm and adapted to lock said trigger in conjunction with said safety device. i

12. Mechanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a trigger-lever, a resistance body mounted on said trigger-lever and adapted to co-operate with the hammer said trigger-lever prior to releasing. said hammer, an interrupter associated with said trigger-lever, said hammer and said triggerlever being adapted to co-operate, in independence from the breech and said interrupter.

13. Mechanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a trigger-lever, a stop operative position of resiliently mounted on said trigger-lever at some distance from the hammer andiadapted to co-operate therewith, an interrupter associated with said stop, said hammer and said trigger-lever being adapted to co-oper ate with each other in independence from the breech and said interrupter.

l4. Mechanism as specified by claim 2, said mechanism comprising a trigger-lever, a stop reslliently mounted on said trigger-lever at some distance from the hammer and adapted to co-operate therewith, said hammer and said trigger-lever being adapted to c'o-operate with each other in independence from the breech and said stop.

In testimony whereo I afiix my signature.

' EMANUEL HOLEK,

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