US2778138A

US2778138A - Cap gun construction

Info

Publication number: US2778138A
Application number: US315613A
Authority: US
Inventors: Arthur K Melin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-10-20
Filing date: 1952-10-20
Publication date: 1957-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 1974-01-22

Description

Jan. 22, 1957 A." K. MELIN 2,778,138

CAP GUN CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 20, 1952 35 O. P D: 30%

@(Ilo ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 2,778,138 CAP CGNSTRUfiTION Arthu'r K; Melin, Pasadena, Calif. Appucafim October 20, 19 52, Seiial N6. 315,613 9 claims, (CL- 42:54)

The present invention relates generally to cap guns, either rifles or pistols, and more particularly to a cap propelling a projectile. II I I The familiar cap pistol is a light, inexpensive toy built to the approximate size and representation of 'aregular revolver. A cap pistol of this character can be made the basis of a useful target pistolwhich; is able to give than the ordinary barre This tube'net only serves as a barrel for holding a shot-used as theprojectile fired but also provides achamber for confining the explosion from It is the geheral object of my iavefition to rovide a small diameter'tub'efinawap pistolof this character iii such a mafinerthar-ieis positie'ned" in prace m-p' pel and: to -direct the: fli ht of a small prejeetileg usin me fer-"tastefiiri th'e tiib'e 1ft plaeetuaris simpleandiiiiipen sive. of primary consideration siiie the cap Cost 1s I II pistol which is the'basfic pait 6f the fihal pidduer is itselfcomparatively ihexpensiv 'd (any a irsute; of Wd-rk m nim-tryin it fe rget shoo'tin'ge'anbe justified apes 1 D I into-the tube in order t6 eat-am ss adeq'iia'te pr I g; force from the explosion of an ordinary paper percussion" er and uniform perfermaliee' necesisaty order to provide a-= desirable degree ofaecuraey te 'the-fihished+produch The aboveandothera objects-of'myvinventiofi have been attained in-a cap pistobhaying a fr-ame jand a- 'hammer pivotally mounted on; theframe tg strike apereussion cap-to. fire it,-;.b y providing a-tub for holding and direct ing .ap r" ojectile -which is typicall-yaemall ammr aad carr h thefrear end of 2,778,138 Patented Jan. 22, 1957 f6 56 s ag. he hamm r-J etr, flie surfa ce on the anvil cap rests in position For a tube of small diam- I I II I I I I against which the cap rests is preferably an annular surface which is relatively narriow and generally flat,

Whieh the explosive force from the cap is directed; I

How theabove Objects and advantages of my invention, as Well as others not specifically referred to herein, are attained will be betterunderst'o'od by reference to the following description and to the annexed drawings, in which: I Fig; 1' is a side elevationof a cap pistol embodying a preferred formof my invention; I I I I Fig: 2' is" a transverse set'io'n through the barrel on liDBj2'-2 0fF1 g l; I k I t Fig; 3 is: an enlarged fragmentary section showir'i'gjn elevation the rear end of the tube and the anvil for the cap,'tai e'n' on line 3 of 1; I I I Fig. 4 is air enlarged fragmentary longitudinal median section at'the' rear end of the tube showing a' cap i rr place against the end or the tube; ready for firing; I a

Fig. 5 is a' View similar to 4 showing a' modified form-of myinvntieh; I Fig; 6 is a'vi'ev'V sirfiilar to 4 showinganother niodi fication of my invention; and I I II I Fig;*7 is a"view"o'f the reai end" of the shot' tube only of the mbdifieatien of -F'i 6. I I I II II t II Refer'fin'g niiv'v" to the drawings,- the frame of the pistol is indicated generally at 1'4) nd includes Barrel 11 Ihe' frame and banal are qi'swmari y' rnadeof two separate castings thafarecloselysiniilar but'o f op II te hand', ahd are" Subaru "e: 'llil e c a' s t iii g'Is are joed over a vet? near median 'p'lah'e" but 'dondt engage each other closely. Ham'fiiei is piviital'ly mounted at ldl on the frame'to have betwee the lowfed" at fihggposition Snow's in or. cocked position shown 1 iii ig. '4. The hammerisflreleasedfby manually appli triggerTI Sftl I e' usual manner. The rear, peifrit ra'nie carries a" pail-f of wooden grips 16' that pro v 'ide a Handle thefpis'tolis held;

The A M K and Figs 1 and the retfaet'edf I'm-red; onl fianie 1 0 for I g' aproi ectil which is preferably I s' e t ked 81 w $522 n e tube 20- dire'c'tsi the fiightpf projectile 22, naasaersimnag to the barrelof an ordinar fsreaim I I I distinguish it frombarrel 11'. 'lhe inside diameter of time) 2018-0111; slightly in' e i cess of thediaineter of the projectile used. For example, used, theifislideidiameter of t h e .11 inch; but o f course a larger or smaller projectile may be used, andr the tlibe diameter changed accordingly.

Tiib'e2l)"is"p'referably located inside barrel 11 and the fiam'e of the pistol, to avoid altering the general external appearance of the cdns'truc'tio isotai described is entirely co'niv nj-i the I purpose I t is here referred to. as a tube in order when No. 6 lead shot are tube is preferablyabout or atleast substantially so, inordr' pistol. The exact position of the tube may be chiefly determined by two things, convenience, in order to avoid extensive alterations of the existing design of a pistol frame, and the path of falling hammer 12. The rear end of tube 20 is located in'the path of the hammer in order properly to position the cap for firing, as will be explained later. Here, the upper portion of the barrel has been cut away as shown in Fig. 2 to allow tube 20 to pass between the two halves of the barrel wall and above bosses 23 inside barrel 11. The tube is held in place at the forward end by bent metal strip 24 which also projects above the tube in order to provide a front sight24a, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The ends of strip 24'are fastened inside the barrel in any suitable manner.

The rear end of tube 20 is properly positioned in the path of hammer 12 by frame element 26 which is a transversely extending wall member forming the conventional imperforate anvil against which the percussion caps rest when struck by hammer 12. Frame element 26 is provided with an opening 27 through which tube 20 passes.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention, tube 20 projects rearwardly beyond rear surface 30 of frame element 26 and the projecting portion of the tube is bent over outwardly to form a narrow flange 28 which, being larger in diameter than hole 27, rests against the rear face of frame element 26. Flange 28 may be formed in any suitable manner, as by hammering or spinning the end of the tube. The flange provides a forwardly facing shoulder that engages rear face 30 of the frame element in order to hold the tube in place against forward longitudinal movement with respect to the frame. It is preferable to provide tube 20 with a slight constriction as at 20a for the purpose of limiting the rearward travel of shot 22. This constriction is close to but spaced inwardly a short distance from the extreme end of the tube. If the constriction is formed so that it tapers the bore of the tube slightly, it may frictionally engage the shot and hold it from rolling out the muzzle end of the tube when the pistol is tilted forwardly and down.

To the rear of constriction 20a, with a tapered reamer so that the bore of the tube increases in diameter toward the rear end of the tube. The thickness of the tube walls is correspondingly diminished. The thinner wall adjacent the end of the tube makes it easier to bend over the tube wall to form flange 28 and at the same time obtain atight engagement with frame element 26. It will be noted that in this case the external diameter of the tube forward of flange 28 is uniform.

The outer or rearward face of flange 28 is so shaped that, when viewed from the rear as in Fig. 3, it has a narrow, annular surface 32 which is generally fiat, although it is not necessary that it be exactly fiat. Ordinarily, this surface may be slightly rounded when viewed in profile; but it is described as being generally flat in order to distinguish it from a surface having a sharp edge or points which would cut or dent a paper cap. Annular surface 32 is located in a plane transverse to the axis of tube 20 and in the path of hammer 12; and it provides an anvil against which paper cap 34 rests, as shown in Fig. 4, preparatory to firing the pistol.

It has been found advantageous to provide an annular surface of this character on the anvil supporting the cap. Being narrow and approximately flat, it seals well with the cap all the way around the end of the. shot tube and the explosive force of the powder charge is confined by the tube and directed into the tube against the projectile. If surface 32 is too narrow or sharp it is much more difficult to obtain a satisfactory seal against the cap. The parts at this point are subject to a certain amount of corrosion as well as accumulation of powder residue and a surface on the anvil of the character described has been found to minimize any ill effects from these sources. The paper cap, when fired, acts to some extent like a gasket between the anvil and hammer 12 that assists in confining the explosive force from the cap within the open end of tube 20.

the tube is reamed The space within tube 20 the end of the tube where cap 34 is located, acts much like the chamber of a rifle to confine the propelling force. The conventional cap pistol has so many cracks and openings that without tube 20 the propelling force would be dissipated, much escaping to the atmosphere. The en'- tire construction is simplified by mounting the anvil means rigidly on the end of the tube, as by using an integral portion of the tube. Because the open end of the tube is inside the annular anvil, the anvil may be termed a perforate anvil in distinction to the usual imperforate plate used when the cap is exploded for sound effects only.

The effectiveness of the seal provided by a narrow surface on anvil 32 is important in that a closely uniform force is thus given to each projectile. This is because the entire explosive force from a definite area of the cap is used each time to propel the shot; whereas if the seal is poor at any point around the periphery of the anvil a variable amount of the explosive force is lost each time wherever the seal is not effective. Then the result is that the projectile is given a different velocity or trajectory each time the pistol is fired. A good contact between the anvil and the cap, or between the anvil and the hammer with the cap acting like a gasket between them to improve the seal, is important in a cap gun since the cap pistol is of no value for target shooting if it does not possess at least a reasonable degree of accuracy within its shorter ranges.

The high quality of the seal at this point is promoted by the narrow radial width of'the anvil, which also has the advantage of producing a relatively high unit pressure up on the cap as the hammer falls, thus assuring that each and every cap is fired. At the same time, the anvil sur-- face is wide enough to be free from sharp edges or points that would merely cut or indent the cap and produce a misfire.

By taper reaming the terminal section of tube 20, the diameter of the opening at the end of the tube is increased relative to the internal diameter of the major portion of the tube which is of uniform diameter in order properly to guide the projectile. Enlarging the end of the tube when it is of comparatively small diameter has the advantage that a greater explosive. force is gathered from a larger portion of the cap than would be the case without reaming the tube. This effect can be increased by further increasing the area of the end opening of the tube with respect to the area of the main portion of the tube which guides the projectile.

A shot 22 can berammed home or the powder deposits cleaned out by a ram rod as indicated at 35 in Fig. 1.

There is shown in Fig. 5 a variational form of my invention which includes essentially the same features of construction as already described except for a change in the shape of the terminal section of the tube. In this construction, hole 27a is of rearwardly increasing diameter, being preferably tapered. The terminal section 20b of tube 20, rearwardly of constriction 20a, is flared outwardly and preferably conforms to the shape of hole 27a. The external surface of this tapered section of the tube provides the forwardly facing shoulder which, by engagement with the sides of hole 27a, holds the tube against forward displacement relative to frame element 26.

Flared terminal section 20b of the tube may be formed in any suitable manner, as by a spinning operation. In this way it is possible to enlarge the end opening of the tube to a diameter typically between two and three times the diameter of the major portion of the tube. The resultant area of the opening at the end of the tube may then be at least four or more times the cross sectional area of the main portion of the tube. This is a greater enlargement of the end of the tube than attained with the construction shown in Fig. 4 and it is thus possible to apply a correspondingly greater propelling force from the cap since either a larger area on a given cap is enbetween projectile 22 and compass'ed by the anvil surface 32. or a larger cap may be used. t

It is 'preferable'th'at tube 26 project rearwardlyslightly beyond surface 30 of frame element 26 as shown in Fig. in order that the annular anvil be well defined. In this construction anvil 32a is. provided by the annular end surface of the tube and retains perforate characteristic and is rigidly mounted on tube 20 at the rear end of the tube, as before. It may be'desirabl'e togrind or otherwise finish this end surface in order to. give it a suitable degree of flatness.

Another variational form of invention is shown in Fig. 6 in which the smooth bore tube. 3:5 iscomparativcly of much larger diameter than tube 20. Tube 20 is designed to take a particular lead shot or similar projectile 22 with 'close clea rance: Tube36 is much larger in diameter in order to take a variety of projectiles, such as lead shot, beans, or other similar objects. In order to adapt th-etube toarticles of different sizes, it is provided with a double frusto-coriibal insert 38. The outside diameter of insert '38 is substantially thesame as the internal diameter of tube 36 so that the insert is a snug sliding fit inside the tube and when pushed into place it is held firmly by frictional engagement with the tube. The seal "between the insert and tube can thus: be made sufficiently tight without gaskets or the like to prevent leakage of the gases from the explosion of the cap.

The forward conical portion 38a of the insert tapers down gradually to a small diameter at its rear end, typically about $5 inch. The gradual taper enables objects of different sizes to be seated at some position along the cone with a sufficiently close fit to be shot from the exploded. Of course the position A shot, ward end of gradually tapering portion 38a, while an object of larger diameter would become seated at some point forwardly of the position shown.

The taper given to the rearward conical portion of insert 38 is not critical. It is preferably a more rapid taper as shown in order to reduce the overall length of the insert. This rearward taper serves to gather the explosive force from a chamber of larger diameter or cross-section and direct it through the constricted part of insert 38 against the rear side of the object to be propelled.

In the forms of my invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5,v the constriction inside tube 20 is made by working the tube to reduce both the inside and outside diameters; but here the change in diameter required is so great that it is easier to provide tube 36 with an insert, which becomes in effect a part of the tube, than it is to work the tube to produce the desired reduction in diameter of the tube wall.

As before, the tube passes through an opening 27b in frame element 26 to position the rear end of the tube. The forward end may be held within barrel 11 in any suitable way, as by providing small bosses 11b inside the barrel.

The diameter of tube 36 may be such that it is larger than the powder charge of cap 34 and therefore a different type of anvil means is mounted on the rear end of the tube. Here the anvil means takes the form of shown particularly in Fig. 7. It

Within the wall of tube 36, permits the force of the explosion to enter the end of the tube. Thus the anvil means still has its perforate characteristic. The hammer hits against the end of the tube and causes the force of the'explosion to be directed into thetubc. Thepaper' portion of cap 34 around the powder tcharge acts as "a gasket between the anvil and hammer 12 to contain the force of the explosion. The -rear end of tube 36 and the rear faces of the two bars 40 are preferably in a common plane which is located slightly to the rear of the rearward face 30 of frame element 26. This construction .is shown in Fig. 6 and corresponds with instructions vpreviously described. Alternatively, the central portion of bars 40 may be slightly dished or concave to improve the sealing effect of the paper portion of the cap around the powder charge, but the rear faces of the bars are still substantially flush with the rear end of the tube.

Having described a preferred embodiment of my invention and certain modifications thereof, it will be apparent that various changes may occur to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Consequently, it is-to beunderstood that the foregoing description is-considered asbeing illustrative of, rather than limitative upon, the appended claims.

i claim:

1. In a cap gun having a frame and a hammer pivotally mounted on the frame for firing a percussion cap',

against forward displacement, and anvil means rigidly mounted on the rear end of the tube, said anvil having a annular surface in a plane transverse to the axis of the tube against which a cap rests in position to be struck by the hammer.

2. In a cap gun having a frame ally mounted the tube in the path of the hammer, the rear end of the tube projecting slightly beyond the rear face of said frame element; and perforate anvil means mounted on the rear end of the tube and spaced slightly rearwardly of the rear face of the frame member and against which a cap may rest in position to be struck by the hammer, said anvil means providing a narrow, annular cap engaging surface that has a central opening of a diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of the tube.

3. In a cap gun having a frame and a hammer pivotand an element of the frame having the tube passes to position the rear end of the tube in the path of the hammer, the tube having a forwardly facing annular shoulder adjacent the rear end engaging the frame element to hold the tube against longitudinal movement forwardly relative to the frame.

4. A cap gun as in claim 3 in which the forwardly facing shoulder is provided by a flared terminal section of the tube, the outer surface of the flared section engaging the sides of the hole through the frame element.

5. A cap gun as in claim 3 in which the forwardly facing shoulder is provided by an integral flange at the end of the tube engaging the rear surface of the frame element.

6. In a cap gun having a frame and a hammer pivotally mounted on the frame for firing a percussion cap, the combination comprising: a cylindrical tube mounted on the frame for holding and directing the flight of a projectile; a double frusto-conical insert inside the tube providing a constriction in the bore of said tube of smaller diameter than the diameter either side of the insert; and. anvil means rigidly mounted on the rear open end of the tube against which a cap rests in position to be struck by the hammer.

7. In a toy cap pistol having a frame with a barrel and a cap firing member movably mounted on the frame at a position rearwardly of the barrel for firing a percussion cap, the combination comprising: a cylindrical tube substantially within the barrel and extending rearwardly therefrom into the path of the firing member, said tube being parallel to' and smaller in diameter than the barrel and adapted to direct the flight of a projectile; and a stationary frame element having a hole through which the tube passesysaid tube having annular shoulder means that engages the frame element to hold the tube against forward displacement and the rear end of the tube forrn-' ing an annular anvil against which a percussion cap can rest in the path of the hammer.

8. In a toy pistol having a frame with a barrel and a a cap firing hammer movably mounted on the frame at a position rearwardly of the barrel for firing a percussion cap, the combination comprising: a thin-wall cylindrical tube of ductile metal located within the barrel and adapted to direct expanding gases from an exploded cap against a projectile to shoot the projectile from the pistol,

said tube being smallerin diameter than the barrel; and a stationary metal frame member located at the rear end of the tube and having a hole through which the tube passes; said tube having at its rear end an enlarged portion to form a forwardly facing shoulder engaging the rear face of the frame member to hold the tube in place, said enlarged portion also forming on the rear end of the tube an annular anvil spaced slightly from the rear surface of'the frame member against which a percussion cap can be exploded.

' 9. A toy cap pistol as in claim 8 in which the anvil has a central opening having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the tube and the hammer is large enough to completely cover the anvil.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,820 Sanders Aug. 1, 1899 754,583 Mason Mar. 15, 1904 1,361,071 Kierstead et al. Dec. 7, 1920 2,037,313 Duncanson Apr. 14, 1936 2,706,356 Vita Apr. 19, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 414,584 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1934