US341227A

US341227A - ehbets

Info

Publication number: US341227A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1886-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 1903-05-04

Description

(No Model.)

C. J. EHBETS.

BREBGH LOADING PIRE ARM.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL J. EHBETS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO TPIE COLTS PATENT FIRE ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BREECH-LOADI SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 341,227, dated May 4, 1886.

I Application filed September 14, 1885. Serial No. 177,087. (No model.)

.To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL J. EHBETs, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the Io same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, asectional side view of the breechpiece,gbarrel, locking-lever and hammer, and the abutment in the receiver, a portion of the breech-piece broken away to show vertical section through the firingpin; Fig. 2, a longitudinal central section through the breechpiece and lockinglever, showing the guard as thrown to its rear position in the unlocking 2o movement of the breech-piece; Fig. 3, the same parts as in Fig. 2 in the extreme rear position; Fig. 4, a top View of the lockinglever detached; Fig. 5, a vertical section through the breech-piece at the pivot of the levers on line .fc rr of Fig. 2; Fig. 6, a top view of the ring-pin; Figs. 7 and S, modiiications. This invention relates to an improvement in that class of firearms in which the breechpiece is arranged to move back and forward 3o in an axial line with the barrel to open and close the breech, and particularly to that class in which the breechpiece is provided with a ring-pin longitudinallyT through it, against the rear end of which the hammer 3 5 strikes to impart its blow to the cartridge, and in which the breech-piece is locked in its closed position bya brace hung to the breechpiece upon its under side andadapted to take a bearing against an abutment in the receiver 4o below, and so that the said brace rises in the act of unlocking the breech-piece,and then passes rearward with the breech-piece in the opening movement, and in closing the brace moves forward with the breech-piece, and when the breech-piece has arrived at its closed position the brace is turned against its abutment to support the breech-piece against the recoil of the charge.

In the employment of a firing-pin it is de- 5o sirable that it shall be supported so that it cannot possibly reach the primer in the head of the cartridge until the breech-piece is securely locked.

Devices have been employed to throw the ringpin backward-that is, give it a retreating ni ovement-as the breech-piece commences its opening movement, and which movement of the -iring-pin is imparted to the hammer to give that a rear movement in advance of the breech-piece, the hammer always resting against the iiring-pin. IVhile ordinarily this movement of the iiringpin and hammer will give protection against possible accidental discharge of the cartridge, if the hammer is permitted to follow the cartridge in its return, as it may do if the trigger is held from engagement with the hammer, the hammer will force the firing-pin hard against the primer in the last part of the closing movement of the breech-piece, and accidental discharge is liable 7o to occur. Serious accidents or dilliculties are therefore liable to occur where the hammer rests against the rear end of the iiring-pin.

The object of my invention is to overcome this difficulty; and it consists in a guard for the firing-pin, arranged for longitudinal movement in the breech-piece independent of the firing-pin, and so as to abut against the hammer, combined with mechanism to impart to said guarda rear movement before the breech- So piece commences its opening movement, and whereby tlie'hammer is thrown rearward in advance of the iiring-pin, and also in combining therewith a mechanism inthebreech-pece adapted to throw the firing-pin rearward dur- 8 5 ing the last part of the rear movement of the breech-piece, and as more fully hereinafter described.

In the illustration of the invention I show it as in that class of arms in which the 1nove- 9o ment of the breech-piece-its locking and nnlocking-is imparted through a slide beneath the barrel operated by a handle or otherwise; but the mechanism for operating the brace and breec`n-piece constitutes no part ol' my inven- 95 tion.

A represents the receiver, to the forward end of which the barrel B is arranged in the usual manner; C, the breech-piece, arranged in the receiver for longitudinal reciprocating roo movement in axial line vwith the barrel in opening and closing; D, the hammer, hung upon a pivot, a; E, the brace, hung to the breech-piece near its forward end,and,extend ing rearward, isfadapted to be turned downward and forward against an abutment, F, in the receiver, as seen in Fig. 1, to lock the breech-piece in its closed position, and from which abutment the brace is raised in the act of opening the breech-piece, as seen in Fig. 2,

- the brace as here represented constructed with a downwardly-projecting arm, G, with which the slide H engages. These parts are all con- Structed and arranged in the usual manner.

Longitndinally through the breech-piece is the firing-pin I, of usual construction and arrangement, so as to receive the blow of the hammer at the rear, and its nose, projecting through the forward end of the breech-piece, is adapted to impart the blow of the hammer to the primer of the cartridge in the barrel.

In the breech-piece the guard J is arranged. This guard is best made in tubular form, to substantially surround the rear portion of the firing-pin, but movable longitudinally in the breech -piece independent of the firing-pin. The guard extends to the rear, so that it may be moved rearward beyond the rear end of the breech-piece against the hammer.

In the breech-piece and over the brace E a bell-crank lever is hung upon a pivot, b, one arm, K, of which ext-ends upward through a slot, d, in the breech-piece, and so as to engage the guard J, as seen in Fig. The other arm, L, "extends downward over the brace E, as seen in Fig. l, and so that as the brace E is raised, as seen in Fig. 2, it will strike the arm L ofthe said bell-crank lever and turn that arm upward and thc other arm, K, rearward,

A; lever L is hung.

which movement of the said lever forces the guard J rearward against the hammer, and so as to turn the hammer, say, to the half cock notch, and this movement of the guard is independent of both the firing pin and the breech-piece, and so that the hammer is thrown backward from possible contact with the end of the firing-pin until such time as the ham mer shall be released. The rear movement of the breech-piece and the brace holds the guard in this position during the entire rear movement of the breech-piece.

It is desirable to maintain the firing-pin in l the breechpiece with perfect freedom-that is, so that it shall not become set--and it is also desirable that it shall be thrown back during the last part of the rear movement of the breech-piece. For this purpose I arrange a second lever, preferably in bell-crank shape, and preferably upon the same pivot,b,that the One arm, e, of thislever eX- tends up into a slot, or againstabearing in the firing-pin, as seen in Fig. l, the other arm, j", extending downward. Thelockingbracc has a vertical longitudinal slot, g, formed in it,(see Fig. 4,) in the plane of the said arm f of the lever, and so that the movement of the brace has no effect upon the firing-pin lever; but

when the brace is raised in the openingmove ment the slot g in the brace permits the brace to pass upward, the arm f entering` the said recess g, as seen in Fie'. 2.

rlhe guard J, as before described, is thrown rearward before the breeeh-piece commences its rear movement. After the guard has thus been thrown rearward the `breech-piece is moved rearward in the usual manner,the guard forcing the hammer toits rear position, and so continuing, the arm f of the firing-pin lever will strike a projection, t', on the hannnerjust as the breech-piece completes its rear movement, and in the completion ofsuch rear movement the contact of the arm f with the projection t' on the hammer will turn the firing-pin lever rearward and throw the fring-pin rearward, as seen in Fig. 3, and withdraw the point of the firing-pin to the rear of the front face of the breech-piece. On the return or closing movement of the breech-piece the firingpin will be free so soon as the arm fof its lever escapes from the projection on the hammer, but the guard J will still be held by the brace in its rear position until the breech-piece has arrived at its extreme forward position,as seen in Fig. 2, and then still held until the brace has been thrown down intoitslocked position, so that the guard will support the hammer against possible contact with the firing-pin until such time as the breech-piece is locked. Because of such impossible contact between the hammer and firing-pin, it is impossible that an accident can occur by improper manipnlation ofthe brecch-pieceand hammer in the closing movement, as the guard forms a positive and absolute protect-ion againstsuch possible accident.

I have represented the guard-lever as actuated by the brace E in its upward or opening movement; but the locking and operating de' vicesin this class of arms are numerous, and the guard is adapted to be used in connection with either of the known operating devices. It is only necessary to illustrate one modification to show this adaptation-say the well-known Vinchcster arm, in which the locking devices arein the form of a toggle, one end of one link attached to the breech-piece and the other to the receiver, as indicated in Fig. 7. In such case the forward link, M, will be constructed with a bearing-point, N, to engage the downwardly-projecting arm L of the guard-lever as the said link descends in the opening movement. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting the operation of the guard to the brace first described. I have also illustrated the firing-pin lever as actuated by a projection on the hammer; but it will be understood that any bearing-point at the rear in the path of the firing-pin lever will turn that lever the same as docs the projection t', for, practically, when the hammer is in its rear position, the projection/i acts substantially as a fixed bearing in the receiver. Such abearing is indicated atl in broken lines, Fig. 1. This part of my invention is therefore not to be IOO understood as limited to the hammer as the bearing in the path of the firing-pin lever.

The ringpin lever may be omitted entirely, the guard serving all the purposes of protecting the iiring-pin; but the tiring-pin 1ever is desirable, for the purposes hereinbefore mentioned.

Instead of making the guard in tubular form, as I have described, it may be otherwise arranged-say as seen in Fig. S-in the form of a bar working in a longitudinal groove between the firing-pin and the breech-piece; but I prefer the tubular character which I have described.

I claim" 1. In a breech-loading fire-arm in which the breech-piece is arranged to reciprocate in a longitudinal line with the barrel in opening and closing the breech, and in which a firingpin is arranged longitudinally through the breeel1-piece to receive the blow of the ha1nmer upon its rear end, and impart that blow through its point to the cartridge, the combination therewith of a guard arranged longitudinally in the breech-piece and extending to the rear against the hammer, and a lever hung in the breech-piece arranged to engage said guard, the said lever adapted to be turned by the operative parts of the arm in the iirst part of the opening movement of the breech-piece, substantially as described, and whereby said guard receives a rear movement against the hammerindepen'dent of both the breech-piece and liring-pin, substantially as described.

2. In a? breech-loading rire-arm in which the breeclrpiece is arranged to reciprocate in a line longitudinally with the barrel in opening and closing the barrel, and in which a iringpin is arranged longitudinally through the breech-piece to receive the blow of the hammer at the rear, and impart such blow to `the cartridge forward, the combination therewith of a locking-brace hung to said breechpiece and adapted to be turned against an abutment in the receiver after the breechpiece is closed, and raised from said abutment before the breech-piece commences its opening movement, a guard arranged longitudinally in said breech-piece, extending to the rear and against 'the hammer, and a bell-crank lever hung upon a pivot in said breech-piece and over said brace, one arm of said lever adapted to engage said guard and the otherto engage said brace, substantially as described, and whereby in the unlocking movement of said brace the said lever will be turned andimpart a rear movement to said guard inde pendent of both the breech-piece and the firing-pin.

3. In a breech-loading fire-arm substantially such as described, the combination of the longitudinallyreciprocating breech-piece C, the firing-pin I, arranged longitudinally through said breech-piece, the hammer hung at the rear adapted to strike said firing-pin, a guard, J, arranged longitudinally in said breech-piece, mechanism, substantially such as described, to impart reciprocating movement to said breech-piece, a lever hung in said breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage said guard and the other the said mechanism, a second lever hung in said breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage the firing-pin, and a bearing in thc path of said second arm of said firing-pin lever as the breech-piece approaches its extreme rear position, substantially as described, and whereby the said guard is thrown rearward againstthc hammer in the unlocking movement of the breech-piece independent both of the firing-piu and breech-piece, and the said firing-pin thrown rearward during the last part of the opening movement of the breech-piece andimlependent both of said guard and breech-piece, substantially as described. v

4. In a breechloading fire-arm substan tially such as described, the combination of the longitudinally-reciprocating breech-piece C, `the liring-pin I, arranged through said breech-piece, a hammer hung at the rear adapted to strike said firing-pin, a guard, J, arranged longitudinally in said breech-piece, mechanism, substantially such as described, to

impart reciprocating movement to said breech-` piece, a lever hung in said breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage said guard and the other thc said mechanism, and a second lever hung in said breech-piece, one arm adapted to engage the firing-pin, the hammer constructed with a projection, i, adapted to engage the second arm of the iring-pin lever as the breechpiece approaches its extreme rear position, substantially as described, and whereby the said guard is thrown rearward against the hammer in the unlocking movement ofthe breech-piece independent both of the firing pin and breech-piece, and the said iiring-pin thrown rearward during the last part oi" the opening movement of the breech-piece and independent both of said guard `and breechpiece, substantially as described.

CARL .T. EHBETS.

Vitiiesses:

JOHN E. Blame, FRED C. EARLE.

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