US674508A - Single-trigger mechanism for firearms. - Google Patents

Description

Patented ma 2:, I901.

A. E. LARD. SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS.

(Application filed June 21, 1899.)

(No Modem No. 674,508. Patented May 2|, I901.

A. E. LARD. SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS.

(Application filed june 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

-the trigger.-

UNITED STATES ALLAN EDWARD LARD, OF ST'. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

SIN GhE-TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,508, dated May 2 1, 1901.

Application filed June 21, 18991 Serial No, 721,281- (No model-I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLAN EDWARD LARD, of St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented certain newand useful Improvements. in Firearms; and

.I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form'part of this specification.

This invention relates to the firing mechanism for firearms of that class set forth in my prior application, Serial No. 676,091, filed April 1, 1898.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter fully set forth, and defined in the appended cla ms.

The invention is herein shown in connection with a shotgun provided-with two shotbarrels and looks or firing mechanisms embracing two hammers,-together with means for actuating the same by successive'pulls on The invention, however, may be applied to firearms of other kinds and to those having more than two barrels.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view in side elevation of the breech mechanism of a douhle-barreled shotgun madein accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line-3 30f Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5 are details of mechanism for reversing the order in which the barrels are discharged. Fig. 6 is a top planview of movable firing-lugs constituting part of my invention. Fig. 7 isa section taken on'-line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Figs. 8 and 9 are side elevations, partly in section, of the firing mechanism, showing the positions the parts assume du ing the operation thereof. I

As shown" in the drawings, A indicates the body or ,wo'oden portion of the gun-stockflfi, the frame; C, the barrels, which are pivoted to the forward extension of the frame.

indicates a snap-lever by which the locking'detent holding the barrels in place is actuated.

G is a trigger-plate to which the trigger is pivoted and upon which, in the particular instance illustrated, the main parts of the firingnn'echanism are mounted. 'lhe locks are shown as being provided each with tho the end of the sear usual hammer or tumbler F, mainsprings F, sear F and sear-spring F The frame is provided at its forward end with two cockinglevers F which extend into a recess din the forward extension D and which are actuated in the depression of the forward end of the ba rels at the time of loading, so as to cook or throw backthe hammers in the usual manner.

Nowreferring to the firing mechanism by which the sears F are actuated for releasing the hammers, the same in the particular embodiment of my invention herein shown is constructed as follows:

J indicates the trigger, which is pivotally mounted on a trigger-standard G, which is integral with the said trigger-plate and projects upwardly within the frame. The said trigger is provided with an upwardly and. rearwardly extending trigger-blade .I', made integraltherewith and which takes the place of the firing-plate described in my previous application. The said trigger-blade is provided in its 'rear end with a horizontal rearwardly-opening slot j, movable firing-block (indicated as a whole by K) and which is provided on its opposite sides with laterally-projecting lugs K which are offset from each other, or, in other words, one placed in advance of the other,

so that when one of the said lugs is in position for contact with one sear the other of said lugs will necessarily be at the front or rear of the other sear. Preferably and as shown the said firing-block is provided on each side thereof with depressionsk k below the surface of the lugproper. On one side the said depression is-in'front of the firing-lug and on the other side it is behind the lug,

of the gun will rest in one of said depressions after the discharge of the first barrel. The.

lower margin of the slot at the rear end of the trigger-blade is, as shown, provided with a guide-ribj, Fig. 7, and the movable firingblock K is provided on its under surfacewith a longitudinal'groove compleinental to the said rib, so that when the said firing-block is inserted in the trigger-blade. free longitudinal movement thereof is permitted, While lateral movement is made impossible by reason the parts being so arranged that in the undischarged side in which is secured a of the aforementioned guide-rib engaging the said groove. A pin 70 depends from the under side of the lug to a point near the triggerplate G, and the lower end of the said pin is engaged with a transverse slot in the forward end of a shifting bar which slides longitudinally'upon the inner side of the triggerplate. The f ward end of the said shifting bar is provided with a lateral stud 10 A spring (herein shown as having the form of a leaf-spring) is secured at one end upon the said trigger-plate, and the free end thereof presses downwardly upon the said stud 70 so as to hold the shifting bar from accidental movement. Preferably the free end of the said leaf-spring will be provided with two bends or notches so disposed that when the shifting bar is slid rearwardly the notch near the extremity of the free end of the leaf-spring will engage the stud 70 and thereby hold the "firing-block Kin position to engage thE right sear first, while if the shifting bar iss'lid forward the said block K will also be moved to its forward position and the stud 10 will engage the-forward notch in the spring, the partsthen being in a position adapted to discharge the left harrel first. Convenient means for actuating the said shifting bar is aiforded by providing a longitudinal slot in the trigger-plate adjacent to the trigger-guard and by securing to said shifting bana thum bpiece or slide 10 by'means of astud passing through said slot. The thun1b-piece7c ,which actuates the shifting bar 10 will preferably for actual use be located opposite the rear end of the trigger-guard. It is shown at the rear merely for clearness.

A spring J is applied to the trigger-blade in such manner that it tends to lift the rear end of the same. In the particular details of construction illustrated the trigger-blade J is provided upon its upper edge with a lugj and the trigger-standard ,G, on which the said trigger blade is pivoted,. is provided with an upward projection g, while the spring J 2 has the form of a coiled contractible spring secured to the lugj and the projection g, so

as to no'rmally hold the trigger-blade'elevated and in such position that one of the firinglugs always presses against or is in contact with one ofthe sears. The sear-springs are so much stronge" than the spring J as to avoid possibility of eithersear being moved or actuated by the pressureof said spring alone.

L indicates a detent which is movably supported upon the triggei blade and is herein shown as having the form of a forwardly and upwardly projecting prong or spur on the lower end of a detent-lever N, which is pivoted to the trigger-blade, near the top of the same, by means of the pivot 'n and is adapted to engage a rearwardly and downwardly projecting holding or looking tooth m, form ed on the top of the detent-post M. Said post M is pivotally attached to a lug G which is formed on the trigger-plate G at a pointforward of the detent-lever N. The said detentor rod, is pivoted on the rear end 9f the trigger-blade, so as to swing in a plane parallel with the sides thereof, and the free end of said dog is adapted to swing forwardly into position to engage the\lever N at a point below its pivot 'n, and thereby limit the rearward movement of the detent L. The said dog is provided on each side thereofi'with' laterally-projecting studs oand 0, which extend into a position to be engaged by either one of the sears. Inasmuch as the said dog swings on one side of the trigger-blade, a curved slot is provided in the same, through 1 75 A holding-dog 0, having the form of a bar Conven- 70 which one of the said studs projects to a point above the sear on that side of the said trigger-blad e. Upon the lifting of either sear to discharge either barrel the end of the sear which is lifted engages one of the said studs,

and thereby lifts the free end of the dog out of engagement with the lever N. The front edgevof the detent-post M extends downwardly into position to engage the trigger plate or a projection thereon, and thereby limits the forward movement of the top-of.1oo

said post. A spring M, preferably having the form of a push-spring, engages the lower end of said lever, on the front side thereof, andtends to hold the lower end of the same constantly in contact with the trigger-plate I05 and the upper end of said post at the forward limit of its movement. A sliding weight I is provided at the rear of said levers N and M, the same consisting of a straight bar of metal provided on its upper side with an upwardly-projecting arm or stud I, which is adapted to engage a lateral stud n in the i lower end of the detent-lever N. The front end of the weight extends forwardly beyond the said arm sufficiently far to engage the bottom of the lever M at the same time that the arm I engages thestud n of the lever N..

,Said weight I slides in a groove in the inner side of the trigger-plate and is secured longitudinally therein by means of the lugs 2' 'i on 126 each side of the said weight. A pin 1'' passes through the top of the said lugs to prevent the weight from being thrown out of the slot in the trigger-plate. A pullipg-spring I is secured byone of its ends to the 'reare weight, and the other end of the same .is' secured to a Stud 1, secured upon the inner side of the trigger-plate. The normal action of the said spring is to hold the said weight retracted or in its .rearmost position and out of contact 130 with the lower end of the lever M and the said fill-fiddl Thestrength of the said spring Bis not sufiicient, however, to prevent the said weight being thrown forward by the recoil of rid of the said &

.wardly, as previously described.

So far as the operation of thevdevice for changing the order of firing is concerned, the operation of said devices will be the same whether the part herein called the triggerblade be rigidly attached to the trigger orwhether it have alimited movementwithrespect to the trigger, as is the case with the firing-plate shown in said prior application.

hereinbefore referred to. The same is true also of the safety-catch hereinbefore de scribed, it being obvious that the same is applicable to the construction of the other parts shown in said prior application, as well as to that hereinbefore illustrated. l

I claim as my invention 1-. The combination with a plurality of locks and the sears thereof, of a firing mechanism comprising a single trigger provided with a rearward] y extending rigidly attached trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detent on the trigger-blade, a tooth on the frame adapted tobe engaged by the detent on the triggerblade, holding means acting on the said dotent to retain the latter in position for engagement with said tooth and adapted for actuation by the sears to release said detent, and means operated in the act of loading the arm acting on the detent to place it in interlocking relation with the tooth preparatory to the firing of the first barrel.

2. The combination with a plurality of locks and the searsthereof, of a firing mechanism comprising a single trigger provided with a rearwardly extending rigidly attached trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detent-lever pivoted to the trigger-blade, a tooth on the frame adapted to be engaged by said detent-lever, a pivoted holding-dog on the trigger-blade adapted to engage thedetent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the sears and a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detent-lever toplace same in interlocking relation with the tooth,

3. The combination with a plurality of locks 4 and the sears thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extending rigidly-attached trigger-blade, a spring applied to lift the rear end of the trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detentlever pivoted on the triggerblade, a tooth on the frame adapted to be engaged by said detent-lever, a holding-dog on the trigger-blade adapted to engage the detent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the sears, and a rod which is moved in the act of locking the arm and which-acts on said detent-h ver.

4. The combination with a plurality of locks and the scars thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extending rigidly-attached trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detent-lever pivoted to said blade, a tooth on the frame adapted for engagement with said detent-lever, a pivoted holding-dog on the blade adapted to engage the detent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the sears, a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detent, and a movably-supported weight adapted to strike, and arrest the rearward movement of, the detentlever.

5. The combination witha plurality of locks and the scars thereof, of a single trigger pro- .vided with a rearwardly-extending,rigidly-attached trigger-blade, a spring actuated detent-lever pivoted to the triggerblade, a spring-actuated detent-post pivoted to the frame, a pivoted holding-dog on the triggerblade adapted to engage the detent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the scars, a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detent-lever and a movably-supported weight which acts on said detent-post to throw the same-into position for engagement with the detent-lever.

6. The combinationwith a plurality of locks and the scars thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rea'rwardlg-extendin g rigidly-attached trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detent-lever pivoted to the triggerblade, a spring-actuated detent-post pivoted to the frame, a pivoted holding-dog on the triggerblade adapted to engage the detent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the scars, a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detent-lever, and a movably-supported weight which acts both on the detent-l'ever and detent-post to throw the same into position for. engagement.

7- The combination with a pluralityof locks and the sears thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extending rigidly-attached trigger-blade, said trigger-blade being provided with laterally-extending lugsadapted for 'engagement with the scars, a spring-actuated detent-lever pivoted to the triggerblade, a tooth on the frame, adapted for engagement with said detent-lever, a holdingdogpivoted on the trigger-blade in position to engage the detent-lever and to be acted upon by the scars when the same are lifted, and a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detentlever.

8. 'The combination with a plurality of locks and the scars thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extending, rigidlyattached trigger-blade, provided with laterally-extending lugs adapted for contact with the sears, a spring-actuated detent-lever piv.

oted to the trigger-blade, a tooth on the frame adapted to be engaged by said detent-lever,

engage the detent-lever and which is provided with projecting pins, located over the scars in position to belifted by the same, and a rod a holding-dog on the trigger-blade adapted to I which is moved in theact' of loading the arm and which acts on said'detent-lever.

erases the gun at the time of firing one of the barrels into striking contact with the said parts, thereby forcing the top of the detent-post M rearwardly and the lower end of the detentlever N forwardly. This movement of the weight insures interlocking of the detent L with the holding-tooth m and prevents the discharge of the second barrel by the recoil of the arm or by the involuntary pull which occurs after the discharge of the first barrel.

Provision is made for throwing the. detent L forwardly or into position for locking engagement with the holding-tooth m by means of actuating connections operated by a part which is moved in the act'ol loading the arm. As shown in the present instance,.s-aid actu= ating device for the detent is operated from the snap-lever E through the medium of the rod E, which is connected with and actuated by the snap lev'er The sliding bar H extends centrally and rearwardly above the triggew blade and is of such length that when the snap-lever is actuated and the 'gun is broken for the purpose of loading the rear end of the said rod Hengages the top of-the leverN and pushes. the same rearwardly; ih'r'eby causing a corresponding rel c-and movement of the detent L beneath the holding-tooth mand at the same time permitting the dog 0 to fall behind the said lever N until the end thereof rests at a point below the pivotn. During thisoperation the hammers or tumblers are set or cocked and the rear end of the sears are carried downwardly to their lowermost position. One otthe said sears is now in contact with the firing-lug, while the scar on the opposite side of the triggerblade is out of contact with its corresponding firing-lug, the rear or hooked end thereof being on the same elevation as the other scar and directly above the depression. In this position the lateral studs 0 and 0 rest upon the rear ends of the sears, thereby pre venting the forward end of the dog; 0 from falling lower than its most effective locking position with respect to the leverN and holding the detent L beneath. the holding-tooth m. This is the position the parts assume after the gun has. been loaded and is ready for firing; and the position'illustrated in Fig. 1,- by which it will be seen that the firing-block is-adjusted to his the-left barrel first. Upon now pulling the trigger the trigger-blade is lifted, and with it the left sear, suhiciently to discharge the gun.- The up ward-movement of the rear end of thesear raises the dog 0 out of contact with the lever N. The detentL is so arranged with respect to the holding-tooth m of the detentpost M that when the parts are in position for firing the first barrel, as shown in Fig. l, the end'of said deteut will stand beneath the tooth 'm at'sucli adistance from the same as to permit sufficient upward movement of the trigger-blade to accomplish the firing of the first barrel before the said detent L strikes said tooth. It renews that the upward movement of the trigger-blade and fi ring-lugs in the firing of theiirst barrel is airrested by contact of the said detent L with the tooth in before the second lug on the triggerblade comes in contact with these-send sear.

Such contact of the delenearmj'fith said tooth willprevent further movement of the trigger blade afterthe first barrel has been so fired.

Aniuvoluntary pull invariably follows the first pull, probably by reason of the rebound of the gun from the shouldeeaml the action of the muscles under the recoil. The purpose of the sliding weight I is to prevent the detect-lever N being thrown back by its spring N free'from the tooth in until arter the iil voluntary entatalien so that the movement 6f the trigger under the involnn tary pull will be blocked by the engagement of said detent L with the tooth mt In the re= coil of the flilm the weight I Willbc thrown for; ward rim-i i me anti 1' isjiii position to attest backward movement of th edetent L, so as to retain it inits holding position long enoughio.

insure its contact witl i thealiild'tli Wt at the time of the ihiblliiit'ary pull. At the same time that the weight I arrests the backward movement of the detentdever it also strikes the detent-post M, thereby throwing its upper end rearwardly ate f lirtherinsuring that the ti'eti'aii't L and tooth m will stand in interlocked relation to block the'involnntary pull when it occurs. This osition of the posts is clearly Y seeninFlgi s. rantsiiiveuintaryplillhas ceased the weight l is 'itrzited by the spring I, the spring M pushes the lower end of the lever M rearwardly,'which causes a e rie: spending forward ineve iientotitlie libliliilg tooth m, the spring threes the lower end of the lever N; with its detect, rearwardly; and the ear-is of the firing mechanism assume the position shown in Fig. 9, in which, as elearly shown, the rear end of the rlfilit's'earisin operative coma-ct withthe bottoiii of tirade,

presses 7.? on the right side of the firing block and the arm is in readiness for the dis charge of thesecond barren After the dis charge trite setting barrel the firing ineich= anisni will be again restored to the position indicated in Fig. l by the acts necessary for reloading the arm.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a safety catch or device whereby the firing mechanism may be etfeetively blocked against all possibility of its discharge during transportation'or ordinary handling. The device consists in a de pending arm P, integral with the harp, which slides longitudinally of the arm on the under side of the tang. A longitudinal slot is provided in said tang, and the harp is provided with a stud p, which extends upwardly through the said slotand is provided at its top with a thumlrpiece or slide P, whereby the said bar, with its depending arm P, may be moved orrshiftcd. When the bar ismoved' backwardly, soas to bring its depending arm above the stud j on the? trigger-bladeandinto engagement with the said stud, any up ward movement of the 'trigge'r-blade will be 9. The combination with a plurality of locks and the sears thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extending rigidlyattached trigger-blade, a spring-actuated detent-lever pivoted to the trigger-blade, a tooth on the frame adapted for engagement with said detent-lever, a pivoted holding-dog on the trigger-blade adapted to engage the detent-lever and which is adapted for actuation by the sears, a rod which is moved in the act of loading the arm and which acts on said detent-lever, a sliding weight adapted to act on the detent-lever, and a retracting-spring connected with said sliding weight. w

10. The combination with a plurality of locks and the sears thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearwardly-extendiug trigger-blade, a sliding block mounted on the trigger-blade and provided at each side thereof with elevated and depressed surfaces adapted for contact .With the sears, and means for shifting said block from the exterior of the frame.

11. The combination with a plurality of looks and the sears thereof, of a single trigger provided with a rearward ly-extended trigger blade, a sliding block mounted on the trigger-blade and provided at each side thereof with elevated and depressed surfaces adapted for contact with the sears, and means for shift-.

external button adapted to be normally engaged. I In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 17th day of June, A. D. 40

ALLAN EDWARD LAR'D.

Witnesses:

J. L. WOODSON, J. W. PETERSON.

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