TRIGGER MECHANISM AND COMBINED LOCKING AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR A WEAPON

Abstract: By providing the trigger mechanism in a pistol with a lever (8) which is mounted at its rearmost end on an axle (10), and by providing said axle (10) with a notch which can hold a superjacent hammer retainer (13) having a projection (20), it is possible to release the hammer retainer (13) and thus the hammer (11) by applying a very weak force to the opposite end of the lever (8). The connection between the actual trigger (2) and the gripper (5) is effected through a rotatable disconnector (1) with an upwardly extending stud. The slide (17) is provided with a recess (18) which, when the slide (17) is in its forward position, lies opposite the stud. It is thus possible to ensure that the trigger mechanism cannot function unless the slide is in its forward position and thereby has the stud lying opposite the recess. To ensure that the weapon is made safe, and at the same time to block all of its functions by means of a key which can be removed from the weapon, in the body of the weapon there is mounted a rotatable locking cylinder (35) which can be turned with the key, said cylinder (35) being provided with a blocking piece (34) which extends into the path of movement of the disconnector (31) when the trigger is actuated.

Description: TRIGGER MECHANISM AND- COMBINED LOCKING AND SAFETY DEVICE FOR A WEAPON. This invention relates to a trigger mechanism for a pistol with a trigger, which when activated releases a spring-loaded hammer, and also to a combined locking and safety device for a weapon with a trigger which acts upon a disconnector which, via a gripper, a lever and a hammer retainer, releases the hammer. Hitherto known trigger mechanisms demand a relatively strong force and long travel αf the moving parts in order to be able to function satisfactorily and safe¬ ly. This is due to the " high degree of friction which exists between the strongly spring-loaded parts which must be mutually displaced in order for the release and thus the disengagement of the hammer to take be effected. This gives rise to difficulty in achieving the desired and precise amount of pull required on the trigger, and also makes it difficult to bring about sufficiently short travel of the moving locking parts. Thus, since the trigger pull is of considerable impor- tance to the accuracy of the pistol, the . marksmanship capable of being achieved is affected. Moreover, hitherto known safety devices for weapons have been limited to arrangements which prevent move- ment of the trigger mechanisms. They do not provide for locking of the parts of the weapon against separa¬ tion, and they do not constitute a lock which provides the security that a part is required in order to un¬ lock and lock the weapon after the insertion of the part in the weapon. The object of the present invention is to overcome the deficiences of the hitherto known trigger mechanisms, CMPI and this object is achieved when the mechanism in- eludes a trigger-actuated lever which is. suspended at the rear on the upper part of the pistol, and is fix¬ edly connected to a pivotal axle having aprojection which can engage with a projection on a gripper, said gripper being pivotally mounted on an overlying axle and having a projection which can engage with a recess in the exterior of the hammer. This construction con¬ stitutes a lever system with a high exchange ratio be- tween the trigger and the release part for the hammer. This means that only a small load need be applied to the one end of the lever to turn the other end at the axle and thus release the hammer. Consequently, the pressure required on the trigger is considerably re- lieved, so that only a minimal movement of the trigger and a minimal force is required to release the hammer. As presented in claim 2, by releasing the front end of the lever by means of a pivotally mounted gripper act¬ uated by the trigger, it is possible to employ the mechanism as a dry-run training unit, in that the le¬ ver can be cocked and released by the trigger without the hammer being cocked. As presented in claim 3, by providing the gripper with a pivotal coupling, disconnector, the possibility is crea¬ ted of ensuring that the trigger is capable of funct¬ ioning when the slide is forward, without any friction or resistance arising in the trigger mechanism. Moreover, as presented in claim 4, it is expedient for the disconnector to have an outwardly extending stud which engages with a recess in the slide, thus ensur¬ ing that coupling can take place in this and only in this position. By being able to block the movement of the disconnect¬ or when the trigger is actuated, as presented in claim 5, the weapon can be made completely safe, the reason being that the trigger cannot be moved. Moreover, since the slide cannot be displaced, all the parts of the weapon are blocked, thus preventing the loading motions from being carried out. The weapon is brought back into the firing condition by removing the block¬ ing piece, which can be carried out, for example, with the aid of a key which is further removed from the weapon. The disconnector is positioned in such a way that its top side lies up to the lower edge of the slide. By providing the disconnector with a projec¬ tion which engages in a corresponding recess provided in the slide when the slide is in its forward posi¬ tion, displacement of the slide is prevented and the weapon is thus locked together. Hereafter, the parts can be separated only when the blocking piece has been removed from the ' disconnector's path of movement, thus allowing the disconnector-'-to ' be- move -away ' from ' its engagement with the slide, after which the loading mo¬ tions can be carried out. As presented in claim β, by letting the blocking piece comprise a part of a rotatable cylinder, the cylinder can be operated externally by means of a part which can turn the cylinder. As presented in claim 7, by providing the cylinder with a lengthwise track, the cylinder can be turned when the part is engaged with said track. As presented in claim 8, the weapon can be provided with a pawl which serves to hold the cylinder down in the weapon, in that the pawl can slide in a slot in } 2.Ξ OV. said cylinder-. As presented in claim 9, the removable part can be a key having a proj cting stud, whereby the key can be withdrawn from the cylinder and removed from the weap¬ on. Finally, as presented in claim 10, the key can be used to release the magazine. The present invention will now be described in more detail and with reference tσ the accompanying- draw¬ ings where fig- L shows the trigger; mechanism in the safe— y-off and cocked position, fig * Z shows the coupling,, the disconnector, fig.. 3 shows the pistol in the safety-on and locked position, figv 4 shows the pistol with the slide in the rearmost positio r fig- 5 shows a section through the lock with the key inserted r fig- S shows the locking cylinder, the pawl and the ke r seen in perspective, fig* 7 shows, partly in section, the posterior of the. ρistol without key with the cylin¬ der in the safety-on and locked position, and fig. 8 shows the same pistol with the locking cylinder in the safety-off position and with the slide in the rearmost position. As will be seen from figs. 1-4, which show one embodi¬ ment of the present invention, the trigger mechanism is built into the stationary part of the pistol. The trigger 2, see figs. 1 and 3, is provided with an over -lying bush which can be secured .in- a movable manner to a trigger arm 3, the front end of which is mounted on an axle 4. This unit is connected to the remaining part of the mechanism via a disconnector or coupling 1. The disconnector is shown more clearly in fig. 2, from which it can be seen that it can be turned ap- prox. 45° clockwise against the action of a spring, to the turned.position as shown in fig. 4. In this position, the trigger is disengaged from the mechan- ism, and coupling does not take place until the slide 17 is moved forwards into the position shown in figs. 1 and 3, where the upwardly extending stud on the dis¬ connector can stand in the vertical position, in that a recess 18 is provided in the bottom of the slide 17. To the disconnector 1 is connected a gripper 5 which is pivotally mounted on an axle 6, said axle 6 lying a little higher than the fulcrum of the disconnector 1. Therefore, upon actuation of trigger 2,. the ' gripper 5 will turn clockwise so that its back edge will swing in against the shown spring. By employing a ro¬ tatable lock having a blocking piece 7 which can abut against the front edge of the gripper 5, the trigger can be locked by turning the blocking piece 7 until it abuts the gripper in its direction of movement,, see fig. 3. When the blocking piece is turned away from this position, see figs. 1 and 4, the gripper can be turned and the trigger actuated. The lower side and the rear- edge of the gripper are shaped to form a projection which can engage with a projection 9 in the front edge of a lever 8. The lever 8 can thus be cocked by moving the slide 17 backwards, as shown in fig * 4, and secured in this cocked posi- tion by means of the gripper 5. The edges of both the gripper 5 and the lever 8 are curved,, and their axlesof rotation 6 and 10 lie sub¬ stantially at the same level, the result being that the engagement becomes sel -locking. This provides maximum security against premature release of the holding engagement between the gripper and the lever. The other end αf the lever is mounted on an axle 10 : which- has a portion milled away to form a notch for a. pin; or a projection 2Q on a superjacent hammer re— . tainer 13.. This retainer 13 has a pivot mounting 14 at its top end r and therefore it turns against a . spring in the lengthwise direction of. the pistol. Finally,, the hammer 11 is pivotally mounted on an axle 15and.influenced tα strike against the firing pin by means- of a spring IS r said spring 16 being mounted around a rod.15. The curved rear edge of the hammer hasa-projection 12 which, when the hammer is in its cock¬ ed position, see figs. 1 and 4 , can form a locking en¬ gagement with the projection 21 on the hammer retainer 13. The hammer pivot 19- and the retainer pivot 14 lie similarly along a line which is substantially a little above the point of engagement 21, 12, and since these parts are also curved, once again a self-locking en¬ gagement is achieved. There is thus the greatest pos¬ sible security against premature release of the enga¬ gement, in that the parts will be pressed together in the locking position. This trigger mechanism with its exchange transmission ratio results in only the minimum amount of trigger movement being necessary in order for the mechanism to function. The trigger pull can be adjusted from 0.05 mm up to approx. 5.0 mm. The force necessary to actu¬ ate the trigger is only a few grams, but can be adjus¬ ted upwards to, for example, 2500 g. This is possible since the spring that presses the lever 8 upwards can be weak, for example of about 100 g. Since the lever provides an exchange with the axle of about 1:60, the result is that the turning moment produced at the axle .is approx. 6000 g, which is enough to disengage the hammer retainer 13 from the hammer 11. Furthermore, the low degree of spring power applied to the lever 8 also enables the gripper 5 to be loaded with a quite low pressure, thus resulting in such a smooth and pre¬ cise actuation of the trigger mechanism. There is no resistance offered by the disconnector, the reason be- ing that this can turn during the pulling movement. By moving the slide 17 backwards slightly, the lever 8 can be cocked without the hammer 11 needing to be cocked, which means that the lever 8 also provides the possibility of dry-run shooting under training. More¬ over, the lever can also be provided with an outwardly extending stud, so that the lever can be cocked by pressing the stud down with a finger. This means that the pistol can be used for training purposes with a trigger characteristic which is exactly the same as OMPI that when shooting. The combined locking and safety device will now be de¬ scribed in more detail with reference to figs. 5-8. On the disconnector 31, opposite the concave rounding, there is provided a projection 47 which engages with a corresponding recess 48 in the slide 49. A cover plate 59 is provided externally on the hous¬ ing. As shown in fig. 5, this plate 59 covers- the dis¬ connector 31 and .the pawl bore 40. The plate 59 is provided with a hole for'the cylinder 2 on the key 44, and also with an opening opposite the pawl 39, thus allowing the stud 43 to pass through the. plate 53-. The key can be inserted into the bore 36 in the locking cylinder, and withdrawn when the locking cyl¬ inder is in that position where the blocking piece 34 starts the disconnector 31 and holds the projection 47 ϊ on. said disconnector 31 in engagement with the recess 4S in the. slide 49. In this position, in which the track 37 is opposite the pawl 39, the disconnector 31 cannot be moved,, and thus the mechanism cannot be ac¬ tuated. Similarly, the slide cannot be displaced. Con- sequently, the whole pistol is thus made safe, i.e., prevented from being used and, since the parts of the pistol cannot be ' separated, it is locked. Furthermore, the key can be removed, as shown in fig. 6, which means that without employing the key, the pistol can- not be restored to the condition in which it can be discharged. When the pistol is to be used, the key 44 must be in¬ serted into the locking cylinder, whereby the stud 43 presses the pawl 39 down to the slot 38 in the cylin- der. Using the key 44, the locking cylinder 35 and thus the blocking piece 34 can be turned away from its abutment with the disconnector 32 into the safety-off position, which is shown with the dash line in fig. 8. The projection 47 can disengage with the slide 49, and the pistol can be cocked by bringing the hammer and the lever 56 into the positions shown in fig. 8. When the slide 49 is again led forward, the discon- nector 31 will again move up into the position shown in fig. 7 which, however, shows the pistol in the safe- position with the blocking piece 34 blocking the dis¬ connector. If the key is in the safety-off position, as shown in fig. 8 , the trigger mechanism can be aσt- uated and the pistol can be fired after having been loaded. In all positions it is possible to release the maga¬ zine by pressing the key in to the position shown by the dash line in fig.5 , so that the magazine trip 46 is pushed free of the magazine. With this construction, and with the aid of a single key which can be removed from the weapon and kept sep- arately, it has thus been possible to combine the saf¬ ety device itself with a locking arrangement and a magazine release. When locked in the manner as des¬ cribed in accordance with the invention, all the func¬ tions of the weapon are blocked and its parts cannot be separated.

Claims: C L I S 1. Trigger mechanism for a pistol with a trigger, which when actuated releases a spring-loaded hammer, and also a combined locking and safety device for a weapon with a trigger which actuates a disconnector 5 which, via a gripper, a lever and a hammer retainer, . releases the hammer, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the mechanism comprises a lever (8) actuated by the trigger (2) , said lever (8) being pivotally mount¬ ed on the upper part and at the rear of the pistol, Iff and fixedly connected to a rotatable axle (10) having a projection which can engage with a projection (20) on a hammer retainer (13) , said retainer being pivot¬ ally mounted at its upper end on an axle (14) , and being provided with a projection (21) which can engage 15 with a recess (12) . " .in an outer side of the hammer (11) . Z- Trigger mechanism according to claim l c h a r — a cr t e r i z e-d in that the front end of the lever (5) is provide with a projection (9) which can be engaged 2tt by a gripper (5) , said gripper having a pivot rtounting (6) and being connected to the trigger (2) , and where¬ in the forepart of said lever (8) lies up against the underside of the pistol's slide (17) . 25 . Trigger mechanism according to claims 1 and 2, ch a r a c t e r ! zr e d in that the gripper (5) is connected to the trigger (2) via a pivotable coupling ( 1) with an upwardly extending stud which, when turned away from the vertical position, releases the connec-r 30 tiόn. 4. Trigger mechanism according to claim 3, c a r ¬ act e r i z e d in that when in its vertical posi— tion, the stud projects upwards into a recess (18) in the slide (17) , when said slide (17) is in its for¬ ward position. 5. Combined locking and safety device according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the dis¬ connector (31) , which is pivotally connected (32) to the trigger (33) , is provided anteriorly in its path of movement with a concave rounding which can abut a blocking piece (34) , in that said blocking• iece can be moved into and out of the path of movement of the disconnector (31) , and wherein the opposite side of the disconnector (31) is provided with a projection (47) which can engage with a recess (48) in the slide (49) , when said slide (49) is in its forward position. 5. Combined locking and saf ty device according to claim 5, c h a r c t e r i z e d in that the block¬ ing piece (34) is in the form of a projection at the end of a cylinder (35) , said cylinder (35) being rota- tably mounted inside the weapon. 7. Combined locking and safety device according to claims 5 and 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the cylinder (35) is provided with a bore (36) and a lengthwise track (37) , said track (37) extending from the end of the cylinder and through the cylinder wall to a slot (38) ' encircling the outside surface of said cylinder (35) . 8. ' Combined locking and safety device according to claims 5 - 7, σ h a r a c t e r i -z e d in that a pawl (39) which can slide in the slot (38) and in the bore (36) is mounted in a bore (40) in the weapon, and wherein said pawl (39) is spring-loaded (41) towards O F 12 the entrance of the track (37) in the cylinder wall. 9. Combined locking and safety device according to claims 5 - 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a key (44) with a cylinder (42) can slide into the bore (36) , said cylinder (42) being provided with a fixed and projecting stud (43) which can slide in the track (37) in the cylinder (35) . 10. Combined locking and safety device according to claim 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the end of the cylinder (42) on the key (44) abuts an axle (45) which is connected to a release arm (46) which, when the cylinder (42) is pressed -further into the weapon, disengages from the weapon's magazine.

Inventors: NIELSEN BENT AGNER
Applicants: NIELSEN BENT AGNER, SAXHOJ THORBEN
Application year: 1982
Main classification: F41C19
IPC codes: F41A17, F41A19