US2989814A

US2989814A - Toy cap gun with reciprocating barrel

Info

Publication number: US2989814A
Application number: US780356A
Authority: US
Inventors: Licitis Gunars
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-12-15
Filing date: 1958-12-15
Publication date: 1961-06-27
Anticipated expiration: 1978-06-27

Description

June 27, 1961 e. LICITIS 2,989,314

TOY CAP GUN WITH RECIPROCATING BARREL Filed Dec. 15, 1958 F51 1 IO In vEnmr' E7 Gama/'5 L/c/f/IS j 7 JW, 4.44M, Mf

States WITH RECIPROCATING BARREL Gunars Licitis, 'Chicago, 111., assignor to Marvin I. Glass, Chicago, Ill.

Filed Dec. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 780,356

Claims. (Cl.-4257) TOY CAP GUN exterior appearance to simulate an actual gun in repose,

but, besides. detonating caps, they do not simulate an actual gun in action. Therefore, true realism has been previously lacking.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy gun which is adapted to detonate explosive caps. Another object is the provision of a cap detonating toy gun which is adapted to simulate the recoil of an actual gun. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a toy machine gun which is adapted to sequentially fire a plurality of explosive caps. Yet another object is the provision of a cap detonating toy gun which is adapted to simulate the recoil and smoking barrel of an actual gun. A further object is the provision of a simple and inexpensive cap detonating toy gun which can be economically manufactured and which will be durable in use. Y

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

- FIGURE 1 is a perspective viewof a toy gun embodying various features-of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side view of the toy gun shown in FIGURE 1, with portions broken away to show the internal construction of the toy gun, the barrel of the gun being illustrated in a non-firing or cocked position;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the toy gun shown in FIGURE 1, with portions broken away to show the internal construction of the toy gun, the barrel of the toy being illustrated in a firing position;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side view of another embodiment of the mounting arrangement of the toy gun shown in FIGURES 1 through 4. 7

Generally, the toy gun shown in the drawings comprises a housing 10 and a reciprocating barrel 12 disposed within the housing 10 which is longitudinally movable between a non-firing position and a firing position. The barrel 12 is adapted to engage an explosive cap and cause the explosion thereof in its firing position. Means 14 are provided in the housing for urging the reciprocating barrel 12 toward a firing position. The housing 10 also contains means 16 for moving the barrel 12 to its non-firing position. This reciprocation of the barrel while detonating a cap enhances the realism of the gun.

More specifically, the toy gun shown in the drawings simulates a machine gun, the housing 10 of which is provided with a cavity 11 in the forward portion thereof. The exterior appearance of thehousing 10 is not an important feature of the invention, and therefore, it may be constructed in any convenient manner. The housing 10 is made of a material th-at can withstand the rough handling and shock a toy of this nature is subjected to. In the illustrated embodiment the housing atent 2,989,814 Patented June 27, 1961 ree includes an elongated, generally cylindrical member 18' which extends forwardly from the housing 10 and is guided therein for reciprocal movement. The barrel 12 extends through a suitable aperture 20 in the forward wall 22 of the housing 10, the aperture being of such a size as to slidably engage the cylindrical member 18. The rearward end of the barrel 12 is guided by a ring shaped guide member 24, which is concentrically disposed around the cylindrical member 18 toward the rearward end thereof, the guide member being slidably engaged by a plurality of projections 26 extending inwardly into the cavity -11 from the top, bottom and left and right side walls, 28, 30, 32 and 34, respectively, of the housing 10. Utilizing inwardly directed projec tions 26 to slidably engage the guide member 24 reduces friction, but however, the guide member 24 may be engaged around substantially all of its perimeter without departing from the scope of the invention.

The barrel 12 is urged rearwardly by means 14, which in the illustrated embodiment, is a coil spring concen-. trically disposed on the barrel 12. The rearward end of the spring 14 bears upon the forward surface of the projection 44 extending downwardly from the guide mem her 24, the cam 36 being designed so that the barrel 12 is moved to its forward non-firing position twice for each revolution of the crank 40. Of course, the barrel 12 may be moved to its non-firing position once for each revolution without departing from the scope of the invention. When the barrel reaches its forwardmost position, the cam 36 is of such a shape that the barrel 12 is released thereby allowing the barrel 12 to be moved rearwardly by the spring 14 to detonate an explosive cap, as hereinafter described.

The cap to be detonated is suitably positioned rearwardly of the barrel 12 against a flat surface formed by a partition wall 46 extending transversely through the housing 10. A channel 48 is provided in the housing 10 forwardly of the partition wall 46 to permit the cap to be positioned on the partition wall 46. In order to engage the cap and cause the explosion thereof, the rear portion of the barrel 12 is provided with a striker 50, which is made of a material not damaged by shock such as metal. The striker 50 comprises a tube having a rear closure wall 52, the striker 50 being attached at its forward end to the cylindrical member 18. Suitable per.- forat-ions such as vertically extending slots 64 are located in the rear wall52 of the striker 50, and the cylindrical member 18 is provided with a bore 56 so that the smoke produced by the explosion of the cap will escape through the barrel 12 to thereby simulate the smoke of a gun.

A roll of caps c to be detonated are held in a magazine 68 suitably supported on the right side of the housing 10 insuch a position as to feed the rolled off end portion of the roll of caps c into the channel 48 in the housing 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the magazine 68 includes a vertically disposed tubular member 70 attached to an extension 72 of the housing 10. Centrally disposed in the tubular member 70 is a vertically extending spindle 74 upon which the roll of caps c is located. 50 that the rolled off end portion of the roll of caps may be threaded through the channel 48 in the housing 10, a vertically extending slot '76 is provided in the tubular member 70 ad jacent the channel 48.

The strip of caps c is pulled through the channel 48 in the housing by a pulling means '78 which is disposed on the left-hand side of the housing 10. The pulling means 78 in the illustrated embodiment includes a vertically disposed drum 80 which is journaled on a vertically disposed shaft 82 which, in turn, is supported by an extension 34 of the housing 10. The drum 80 is provided with a plurality of horizontally extending projections 86 around its outer surface which are so spaced as to engage the spaced apart perforations (not shown) in the strip of caps c.

The projections 86 are maintained in engagement with the holes in the strip of caps c by an arcuate member 88 which is adapted to press the strip of caps 0 against the drum 80. The arcuate member 88 has a channel 90 cut in its inner surface for the passage of the projections 86 on the drum 80. So that the perforations in the strip of caps c may be easily engaged with the projections 86 the armate member 82 is pivotally mounted to the extension 84 of the housing 10 by a downwardly extending projection 92 which is journaled in a suitable aperture (not shown) in the extension 84 of the housing 10. The arcuate member is biased toward its closed position by a tension spring 94 extending between the extension 84 and a downwardly extending projection 96 on the arcuate member 8-8.

Suitable

arcuate guides

98 and 100 are disposed on the extension 84 rearwardly of the drum 80 to maintain the strip of expended caps c in the vicinity of the drum 80. These

arcuate guides

28 and 100 are spaced apart so as to form a slot 102 toward the rearward side of the gun to allow the expended caps c to emerge from the pulling means 78. The arcuate guide 100' closer to the housing 10 may be provided with an inwardly directed wall 104 adjacent the slot 102 for aiding in the stripping of the expended caps c from the drum 80.

So that an undetonated cap 0 may continually be provided to be detonated by the barrel 12, the drum 80 is intermittently rotated a distance equal to the distance between caps 0 each time the barrel 12 moves from a firing to a non-firing position. This is accomplished in the illustrated embodiment by a star wheel 106 attached to the lower surface of the drum 80, the star wheel 106 being actuated by a pawl 108 carried by an L-shaped arm 110 which is attached to a lower flattened surface 112 on the striker 50. The left-hand side wall 32 of the housing 10 is provided with a slot 114 to allow for movement of the L-shaped arm 110.

The pawl 108, which is located in a channel 116 in the outer edge of the L-shaped arm 110 is journaled on a vertically disposed shaft 118 carried by the arm 110, the pawl 108 being urged outwardly by a hairpin spring 1220 hearing on the pawl 108 and on the inner surface of the channel 116.

In the illustrated embodiment, each time the barrel 12 is moved forwardly the star wheel 106, and thus the drum 80 is rotated a quarter of a turn. To prevent the pawl 108 from causing a reverse rotation of the drum 80, the upper surface of the extension 84 of the housing 10 is provided with circumferentially spaced teeth 122, as shown in FIGURE 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, the left-hand extension 84 and the right-hand extension 72 are integrally formed, as by casting, the extensions being interconnected by a pair of ribs 123. The ribs 123 are retained in a trans versely extending aperture 125 in the housing 10, the housing 10 illustrated being fabricated in a pair of the

mating pieces

10a and 10b which are suitably interconnected.

So that the gun may be easily mounted on a tripod 132 as shown in FIGURE 1, or a handle 134 as shown in FIG- 4 URE 5, a mounting member 124 is suitably attached to the bottom of the housing 10, as by screws 126. In the illustrated embodiment, the mounting member 124 includes a left and right side wall 136 and 133, respectively, and a forward wall 140. inwardly extending lips 142 are provided at the lower end of each of the

walls

136, 138 and 140 so as to thereby define a T-shaped slot 144 for the reception of the tripod 132 (or handle 134).

A spring clip 146 is provided to retain the tripod 132 (or handle 134) in the slot 144, the spring clip 146 being mounted by one end to the forward wall 140, the other end of the spring clip 146 being offset downwardly so as to lock the tripod 132 (or handle 134) in place.

The tripod 132 in the illustrated embodiment includes a top plate 148 of such a size as to be received by the slot 144. The tripod 132 may be mounted on a platform 150 composed of plastic or the like which is formed to simulate a machine gun position. In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, the handle 134 is provided to mount the machine gun, the handle 134 including a top plate 148a adapted to be snapped into place in the slot 144. The exterior appearance of the handle 134 is not an important feature of the invention, and therefore, it may be constructed in any convenient manner.

In operation, a roll of caps c is located in the magazine 70, and the rolled off end portion of the roll of caps c is threaded through the slot 76 in the side of the magazine 70 through the channel 48, around the drum 80, and then out through the slot 102. The arcuate member 88 is rotated away from the drum 80 to permit the perforations in the strip of caps c to be engaged by the projections 86. The machine gun is then ready for operation. By rotating the handle 40 the barrel 12 is reciprocated thereby simulating the recoil of a machine gun, sequentially exploding the caps c, and sequentially advancing new caps to a proper position. Smoke from the firing of the caps will emerge from the barrel 12 to enhance the simulation of a machine gun.

From the above it can be seen that the present invention provides a machine gun which simulates the firing of an actual machine gun to a high degree. Not only are the caps sequentially fired to simulate the explosions of machine gun bullets, but the barrel recoils and smokes as an actual machine gun barrel would.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the above described toy gun without departing from the scope of the invention. Various of the features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. claims.

I claim:

1. A toy machine gun comprising a housing, a forwardly extending reciprocating barrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a forward nonfiring position and a rearward firing position, said barrel being adapted to engage a cap and cause the explosion thereof in said firing position, spring means on said housing urging said reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position, and cam means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to said non-firing position and releasing said barrel therefrom whereby a cap is exploded in timed relation to the reciprocation of said barrel.

2. A toy gun comprising a housing, a forwardly extending reciprocating barrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a forward non-firing position and a rearward firing position, the barrel having a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, said barrel having its rear end formed to provide a striker adapted in said firing position to engage a cap to cause an explosion thereof, and also to provide a passageway connecting the explosion area with said bore so as to direct the smoke caused by the explosion of a cap through said barrel, means urging said reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position, and means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to said non-firing position and releasing said barrel therefrom.

3. A toy gun comprising a housing, said housing having an aperture in the forward wall thereof, and a channel extending transversely through said housing, a forwardly extending reciprocating barrel extending through said aperture, said barrel being longitudinally movable between a forward non-firing position and a rearward firing position, said barrel having a striker on its rearward portion which is adapted to engage a cap disposed on the rearward Wall of said channel and causes the explosion thereof in said firing position, a guide member concentrically disposed on the portion of the barrel within said housing, said guide member being slidably engaged by a portion of said housing, a spring means concentrically disposed on said barrel and hearing between the inner surface of the forward wall of said housing and said guide member for urging said barrel toward a firing position, a hand crank journaled in said housing and rotatable by the user to actuate said gun, a cam fixedly disposed on said hand crank and adapted to engage said guide member so as to cyclically move said barrel to said non-firing position and then release said barrel, said barrel having a bore extending between the rearwardmost portion thereof and the forwardmost portion thereof whereby the smoke created by the explosion of a cap is directed through said barrel.

4. A toy gun comprising a housing, said housing having a channel extending transversely therethrough, a forwardly extending reciprocating barrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a forward nonfiring position and a rearward firing position, said barrel being adapted to engage a cap disposed on the rearward wall of said channel and cause an explosion thereof in said firing position, means urging said reciprocating barrel rearwardly toward said firing position, means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to said nonfiring position and releasing said barrel therefrom, a

magazine on said housing adapted to rotatably hold a rolled strip of caps so that the rolled off end portion of the strip of caps is in proper feeding relation to said channel, and means on said housing for pulling the rolled off end portion through said channel in timed relationship to the movement of said barrel, said pulling means including a vertically disposed drum having a plurality of spaced-apart horizontal projections on the outer surface thereof which engage apertures in the strip of caps, a star wheel attached to the lower surface of said drum, and pawl means connected to said barrel and engageable with said star Wheel to rotate the drum a predetermined amount so as to position an unexploded cap on the rearward wall of said channel each time the barrel is moved to its non-firing position.

5. A toy gun comprising a housing, a reciprocating barrel on said housing which is longitudinally movable between a nonfiring and a firing position, a strip of caps, said barrel being adapted to engage one of said caps and cause the explosion thereof in said firing position, means on said housing for urging said reciprocating barrel toward said firing position, means on said housing for cyclically moving said barrel to said nonfiring position and releasing said barrel therefrom, and means on said housing which is actuated by said barrel, as said barrel reciprocates, to move an unexploded cap into position to be engaged and exploded by said barrel, whereby the explosion of said caps takes place in timed relation to the cyclic reciprocation of said barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,306,577 Carlson June 10, 1919 1,794,411 Lalumiere Mar. 3, 1931 2,457,921 Riederich Jan. 4, 1949 2,684,554 Sigg July 27, 1954 2,814,144 Brown et al. Nov. 26, 1957