US2845739A - Cap gun mechanism - Google Patents

Description

K. w, FRYE ET AL 2,845,739

CAP GUN MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 29, 1956 lNl EN TOPS. HUEBNE'R, BEEHL 5R,

KENNETH W FRVE ELL/0T HANDLER,

WORREL a HERZIG, ATTORNEYS. v

Aug. 55-1958 Filed March 29, 1956 K. W. F RYE ETAL.

CAP GUN MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KENNETH W FRYE G ELL/OT HANDLER llvvE/vros. HUEBNER BEEHLEIE WORREL Z-HERZ/G;

ATTORNEYS.

7 connected to a hammer.

United States Patent I 2,845,739 I t CAP GUN MECHANISM Kenneth W. Frye and Elliot Handler, Los Angeles, Calif.

. Application March 29, 1956, Serial No. 574,648

' 2 Claims. CI. 42-57 This invention relates to a cap firing mechanism and particularly to cap gun mechanism adapted for repetitious firing. I

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cap firing mechanism capable of efiiciently and accurately firing rolls or strips of explosive caps, a single shot at a time, as controlled by an operator. 1

Another object is to provide a cap gun of eflicient andeconomic design for mass production.

A further object is to provide a cap gun capable of accurately and repetitiously firing explosive caps in rolls or strips under the manual actuation and control of an operator. Y Y

I A still further object is to provide a safe toy cap gun capable of being manually operated to fire explosive caps in rapid succession.

Additional objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description. I

Stated in general terms, the present invention is directed to a cap firing mechanism comprising an anvil, a hammer operatively associated with the anvil, means for continuously feeding caps to the anvil, andmanually actuated means for repetitiously striking the hammer against the caps on the anvil.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, perforated caps from a roll or strip arefed continuously onto an anvil provided with spaced spikes. The anvil preferably is rotatably mounted and cylindrical in shape with the spikes spaced'circumferentially on the surface of the anvil. Also, "the anvil preferably is provided with a ratchet fixed thereto for rotating the anvil, Operatively associated with the ratchet is a pawl, preferably'pivotally The hammer preferably is pivotally mounted adjacent the anvil and is coordinated with the anvil to strike and fire caps repeatedly as they are fed onto the anvil. Preferably connected to the hammer'is a lever which projects toward a trigger means. The trigger means preferably is manually actuated and 1 controlled for cocking the hammer and releasing the hammer to repeatedly strike and explode'c'aps on the anvil.

In the operation of this embodiment, the trigger means engages the lever of the hammer and urges the hammer into a cooked position. When cocked, the triggermeans, under manual actuation and control,.disengages the lever and the hammer is struck sharply against the cap explosive charge adjacent the hammer on the anvil. The hammer can be struck by the force of a tension spring.

2 actuates the ratchet and the ratchet rotates the anvil to bring a fresh cap charge into position to be fired.

A more detailed description of a specific embodiment of the invention is described below with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 is an isometric side view showing the assembled specific embodiment of the cap firing gun;

Figure 2 is a somewhat enlarged, partial side eleva- ,tional view, with portions broken away, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure. 3, showing a specific embodiment of the mechanism of the cap gun; v

Figure3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2; and V Figure 5 is a partial perspective exploded View, showing the hammer, anvil and trigger mechanism.

- In the specific embodiment shown in the drawings, the cap firing mechanism is actuated and controlled by either one of two manually activated trigger means.- One of these means is a trigger 10, having an'axle 11 integral therewith. The axle 11 is pivotally mounted in the side of housing 12. An outer end of the'trigger 10 extends through an opening in the bottom of housing 12 into an area above the trigger guard 13, and "is adapted for being urged backward by the operators finger. I Y Y The trigger in operation, is urged backward against the tensionof a coil spring 14 mounted onthe axle 11, as best shown in Figure 3. One end of the coil spring 14 is lodged against a pin 16 fixed to the-trigger 10 and the other end is similarly lodged against apin 17 fixed inside housing 12. The spring 14 is kept loadedin this I manner so that when trigger 10 is released by the'op'er ator the spring returns the trigger to its initial position with the inner end thereof bearing against 'a' cross-bar 18 having its ends fixed in opposite sides of housing 12.

In this initial position the irmer end of trigger 10 bears against a plate 19 formed on one leg of a live point21 having'a plate 22 formed on the other end thereof. The live point 21 is pivotally mounted-on an axle'23 mounted at its ends, in opposite sides of housing 12. It will be seen that the livepoint 21 is mounted at 24 to oscillate on axle 23, during'operation of the mechanism,

The underside of plate 22 is made to bear against the beveled endof a lever-26 fixed. at about right angles to the handle 27 of a hammer 28. The hammer-28 is pivotally mounted at 29 on axle -23 to'oscillate with'the live point 21 during operation of the mechanism, through the engagement of the end of lever 26-with the'under side of plate 22.

Live-point 21 and hammer 28 normally are urged forwardly by a loaded coil spring 31 mounted on axle '23 The operation is repeated for repetitious firing. For

cycle is repeated under manual' actuation and control.

The resulting reciprocating movement of the hammer actuates the pawl connected thereto; The pawl, 'inturn,

' sponcltd'the distancebetween"explosive charges 01th and having one of its ends 32 lodged against cross-bar 18 and its other end 33 lodged against apin 34 fixed to the side of the hammer handle 27. When the oute'rend of trigger 10 is urged backwardly, the inner end ofthe trigger is urgeddownwardly against plate19, w During operation of the mechanism, this causes live point 21 and hammer 28 to pivot backwardly to'cock the hammer against the tension in spring 31. end of trigger 10 is urged downwardly, its tip 36 slips off the rearward edge of plate 19. The tension in spring 31 then causes the hammer 28 to snap 'forwardlyfan'd strike the powder charge of a cap with'explosive force;

A pawl 38 is pivotally mounted at 39 aboutniidway on harnmer handle 27 on a pivot pin 41 fixed-tofthe handle. When the hammer 28 is moved'in'a {clockwise direction to cock it, .as described above," the.paWl"38 engages atooth 42 of the ratchet 43, and turns the ratchet and an anvil 44, to which the ratchet43 is fixed; through a predetermined arc: This arc is predetermined to corre 2,845,739 Patented- Aug. *5, 1 7

As the inner 3 strip or roll of caps 46 by properly dimensioning trigger 10, live point 21, hammer arm 27, pawl 38, and the distance between teeth 42 on thesratchet 43.

A coil spring 47 is mounted on the pivot pin 41 between the inner end of the pawl 38 and the hammer arm 27. One end 48 of the spring 47 is lodged against the forward edge of plate 22 and the other end 49 is lodged against .an ear 51 formed in the side of the pawl 38. The spring 47 is adapted to lightly force pawl 38 downwardly on the ratchet43 so that in its forward movement it .will slide over a long side 52.of a tooth 42 of the ratchet, and will drop down intoengagement with a short side 53 .of a ratchet tooth.

The explosive caps (not shown) for use in this Specific embodiment of the invention, are provided with perforations .at intervals spaced midway between exposive charges provided on the cap roll or strip at equally spaced intervals. In loading the cap gun mechanism, the end perforation of a cap strip is slipped over a spike 54 on anvil 44 and the cap roll 46 is mounted on a pin 56. When the anvil is rotated by the action of pawl 38, the spike 54 moves in a clockwise direction. The clockwise movement of the spike 54 wraps the strip of caps around the anvil 44 and advances the first explosive charge to the position at which the hammer 28 strikes against the anvil.

The striking of the hammer 28 on the explosive charge in the cap produces a loud detonation and products of combustion, such as smoke and fumes. The cap is generally blown in two by the explosion. However, some portions thereof often remain attached to the surface of the anvil 44. As the anvil is rotated by the action of the pawl 38 on the'ratchet 43, as previously described, a new explosive charge is brought into position for firing by the action of spikes 54 in perforations of the caps. Any remnants ofexploded caps, sticking to anvil 44, are scraped therefrom by a stripper 57 as the anvil is rotated past the blades of the stripper. The stripper 57 is provided with a central notch (not shown) adapted to clear the spikes 54 during rotation of the anvil 44.

The anvil 44 is rotatably mounted on an axle 58, integral with the anvil. The axle 58 is rotatably mounted at its ends in opposite sides of the chamber 59. The chamber 59 is provided with a door 61, pivotally mounted on the chamber at 62. The inside of door 61 is provided with a brake member, or portion, 63 adapted to apply a friction braking action to the axle 58 of anvil 44 and the pin 56 to prevent the anvil 44 and the cap roll 46 from overrunning themselves. The inside of door 61 also acts as a guide together with guide member 64 to guide and center the cap roll 46 for smooth feeding of caps on anvil 44.

It will be seen that the spikes 54 are tapered. The purpose of this design is two-fold. Irregularities in the spacing of the perforations in the cap strip are compensated for by the tapered spikes, and more certainengagement of these perforations by the spikes is assured.

Secondly, during high-speed operation, any tendency of the anvil to slightly override itself is corrected by the blows of hammer 28 against the tapered sides of spikes 54, and a realignment of anvil 44 and hammer 28 is effected. It will be observed that the face of the hammer head is shaped and rounded to assist in this realignment action. Also, the face of hammer 28 is curved and of sulficient area to substantially coincide with the curvature and area of the cylindrical surface of anvil 44 between two adjacent spikes for even and substantially complete contact between these surfaces. This arrangement guards against misfiring during the rapid repetitious firing of the gun.

For more rapid, manually controlled firing of caps than can be achieved with the use of trigger 10, a second trigger 66,, in the form ofa rotatably mounted star wheel is employed. The trigger 66 is rotatably mounted on a rod 67 made integral with the trigger. The rod 67 is rotatablymounted ,at one of its ends in one side of 4 housing 12 (Figure 4). Its other end passes through the other side of the housing. The portion of rod 67 outside housing 12 is provided. with two right angle bends to form a crank 68. A handle 69 is rotatably mounted on the crank 68 for convenient gripping and turning of the crank with one hand while the hand grip 71 is held in the other hand, and the wire gun stock 72 is positioned against the operators shoulder to steady the gun. The wire stock 72 is snapped into the position shown in Figure 1 between two bosses, but can be folded forward for compact packing purposes.

The points, or blade ends, of the star Wheel trigger 66 are rounded so that when the crank 68 is turned in the direction of the arrow each blade successively engages the upper surface of plate 22 as it moves through the lower portion of its path. Each blade end in turn slips over plate 22 as the live point 21 is turned in a clockwise direction around axle 23. This results in an actuation of hammer 28 and anvil 44 as described above in connection with the action of trigger 10.

As each blade end of star wheel trigger 66 slips off the rearward edge of plate 22, the hammer 28 snaps forward to fire a cap powder charge. This firing action is repeated as crank 68 is turned. It will be seen that crank 68 can be rotated rapidly to produce a vary rapid cap firing action under the manual control of the operator.

The cap firing mechanism is housed in housing 12 and chamber 59 by mounting the mechanism between opposite sides of the housing and chamber. As shown in Figure 4, the housing 12 is made of two half-portions fastened together. Trigger 10 and 66 and hammer handle 27 are mouned inside housing 12. Anvil 44 is mounted in chamber 59, and the chamber is then attached to the housing 12 as indicated.

The housing 12 and the grip 71 can be made of plastic, Wood, metal, compound rubber, or any other desirable material. Similarly, the barrel 73, can be made of such materials, which can be made hollow or solid. The barrel 73 can be mounted on the front of the housing 12 in any suitable manner.

It will be understood that the gun can be made with either one of the two triggers 10 or 66, instead of with both of them present in the cap gun at the same time. However, the presence of both triggers in the gun permits the operator to select one or the other of them. This choice of method of firing the gun greatly adds amusement value thereto.

In the above description, specific embodiments of the cap gun of the invention have been described in connection with the use of rolls or strips of perforated caps. It will be understood that the gun or mechanism of the invention will operate on ordinary rolls of unperforated caps. For this purpose, the anvil 44 is replaced by an anvil without spikes 54. A friction roller, such as a rubber pressure roller driven by a ratchet and pawl, or other suitable drive mechanism can be added to the mechanism to engage and feed the roll or strip of caps onto the anvil and into the Zone struck by the hammer. Other variations in the design of the cap firing mechanism, and modifications in the details thereof will occur to one skilled in the art. It is therefore understood that the foregoing description is explanatory only, and given to illustrate specifically particular embodiments of the invention.

While we have herein shown and described our invention in what we have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures can be made therefrom within the scope of our invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed therein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent structure s.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cap gun, a generally cylindrical anvil mounted for rotation on its axis, a piyotally mounted hammer adapted to strike said anvil, means normally urging said hammer toward said anvil with striking force, ratchet and pawl means on said anvil and hammer, respectively, for rotating said anvil upon retracting movement of said hammer for feeding a strip of caps into firing position, a

pivotally mounted hammer retracting element, a singleacti-on trigger engageable with said element, a wheel having a. plurality of radial projections also engage'able with said element, and a manually operable means for rotating said wheel whereby the user may selectively ro-.

tate said wheel continuously to fire caps in rapid succession or said user may actuate said trigger independently of said Wheel'to fire a single cap.

2. A cap gun as defined in claim 1, wherein said ham- ;mer-retr'acting element is pivotally mounted on the same axis as, said hammer but independently thereof, cooperating abutment means on said hammer andelement'whereby said element enforces retracting movement of-said hammer but is independently movable in the otheridirection to permitreturn of said trigger to starting posi:

tion after firing a single capthereby.

"References Cited in the file bf this patent 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS

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