US18387A - Improvement in hair-triggers for fire-arms - Google Patents

Description

P. F. CHARPIE.

Gun Lock.

No. 18,387. latented Oct. 13, 1857.

MPETERs, PHOTO-LII'HOGRAPNER, wAsmNa'mrL u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. F. OHARPIE, OF MOUNT VERNON, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAIR-TRIGGERS FOR FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,387, dated October 13, 1857.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, P. F. CHARPIE, of Mount Vernon, in the county of Knox and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hair-Triggers for Fire-Arms; and I I a spring to a single trigger, whereby it is enabled to act as a hair-trigger without the employment of so many parts as there are in the ordinary hair-trigger or French set.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the trigger-plate.

B is the trigger, working through a slot in the plate A, and secured therein by the pin a, on which it moves. This trigger is in its form much like a common trigger, but has a longer heel, b, and a notch, 0, under the heel, and has a short toe, d, in front, fitted with a setscrew, 6.

D is the spring, of slightly curved form, arranged in a mortise, g, in the inner face of the plate A, and having its front end, f, entering the notch c in the back of the trigger, and its iear end, h, bearing against the back end of mortise y, where the said end is confined by being beveled to fit to a bevel in the mortise, as shown in Fig. 1.

This trigger is set by placing the thumb or finger behind it and pushing it forward till the point of the screw 6 presses against the plate A, as shown in Fig. l in black outline, in which condition the front extremity, f, of the spring is slightly below the line of culmination i t, between the point It and the center of the pin a, and the spring, exerting its elasticity in a longitudinal direction or with a tendency to straighten itself, forces the lower part of the trigger forward and holds down the heel b; but, by a pressure of the finger in front of the trigger sufficient to move the point f of the spring upward beyond the line i i, the clasticity of the spring, instead of continuing to push the lower part of the trigger forward and holding down the heel, is caused instantly to have an opposite effect, and acts to throw the trigger suddenly to the position shown in red outline, and by that movement the heel b is caused to strike the sear and throw it out of the notch on the tumbler. The spring is so arranged that when the trigger is in the latter position there is no strain upon it, and it lies loosely in its place, but that it begins to be bent as soon as the lower part of the trigger is moved forward. The sear and parts of the gun-lock not shown are substantially like those of a common gun-lock. The trigger is set to go off with a lighter touch by screwing up the screw 0, and vice versa. This screw may be screwed so far down as to make the trigger as stiff as a common trigger.

The great advantage of this trigger is its extreme simplicity as compared with either the ordinary hair-trigger or the French set, while it is equally certain in its action, more durable, and works with less friction.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The application of the curved spring D to work in a notch below the heel of the trigger in such a manner that by pushing the trigger forward to set it the said spring will be bent so as to develop its elasticity longitudinally, or nearly so, and at the same time will be caused to exert a forward pressure on the trigger below its center-pin a, and thus keep it set, but that when the trigger is slightly drawn back, the spring will exert a pressure above the center-pin a, and thus throw up the heel suddenly, substantially as herein described.

l?. F. OHARPIE. lVitnesses:

W. M. MEFi oRD, W. H. COOHRAN.

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