Abstract:
A pistol includes a frame; a slide mounted on the frame for forward and rearward motions relative to the frame to assume a forward, basic position and a rearward, pulled-back position; a firing pin mounted in the slide for forward and rearward motions relative to the slide; a firing pin catch affixed to the firing pin and movable therewith as a rigid unit; a firing pin spring mounted in the slide and urging the firing pin in a forward direction; a trigger movably supported in the frame; a trigger rail coupled to the trigger for executing a triggering motion when the trigger is pulled; and a sear for operatively connecting the trigger rail with the firing pin catch such that during forward motion of the slide the sear arrests and holds the firing pin catch whereby the firing pin spring is armed and that upon pulling the trigger, the sear is moved away from the firing pin catch by the trigger rail for allowing the firing pin to accelerate forwardly as urged by the firing pin spring. A manually operable safety is movable into a disassembly position for causing the sear to bypass the firing pin catch during forward motion of the slide for preventing arming of the firing pin spring during forward motion of the slide.

Description:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a hand weapon, such as a pistol, and is particularly concerned with a safety mechanism for preventing an accidental firing of the weapon in the course of a disassembling operation. 
     European Patent No. 77,790 discloses a pistol having a frame and a slide which is displaceable thereon and in which a breechblock (referred to hereafter as a “bolt”) is disposed. A spring-loaded firing pin, having a firing pin catch, is slidably received in the bolt. To a pivotal trigger a trigger rail is articulated which, at its rear, is jointed to a sear lever which arrests and holds the firing pin catch during the forward motion of the slide/bolt assembly, whereby the firing pin spring is armed. Upon pulling the trigger, the rearward end of the trigger rail runs up on a control cam of a leaf spring and, as a result, the trigger rail is lowered. This occurrence also causes a lowering of the sear lever and thus the firing pin is released and urged forwardly by the firing pin spring. After a shot is fired, the slide recoils on the frame. At the same time, a cam track provided on the bolt laterally displaces the leaf spring so that its control cam is out of engagement with the trigger rail and thus the latter, together with the sear lever, is pivoted upwardly. Thereafter, during the successive recuperating motion of the slide, the firing pin catch is again caught by the sear lever. 
     The above-described trigger mechanism is relatively complex and requires a great number of individual components. Since during arming of the firing pin spring the sear lever executes a pivotal motion, it may only provide a linear contact with the firing pin catch which results in a relatively substantial wear and requires significant maintenance. The bolt is separately installed in the slide which increases manufacturing costs. 
     In case the above-described prior art pistol is to be disassembled, first the magazine is removed from the grip well and by performing a charging operation (that is, by pulling back and releasing the slide), a cartridge which may have remained in the pistol chamber is ejected. A transverse pin which secures the slide on the frame is depressed. Since the firing pin catch is still held back by the sear lever, in this position the slide may not yet be pulled off the frame in a forward direction. To allow such a removal, first the trigger has to be pulled. In case an earlier loading motion has not been fully performed or in case the unloading operation has been performed in a reverse sequence, risks are considerable that an unintentional and thus uncontrolled shot is fired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to provide an improved pistol of the above-outlined type from which at least one of the above-discussed disadvantages is eliminated. 
     This object and others to become apparent as the specification progresses, are accomplished by the invention, according to which, briefly stated, the pistol includes a frame; a slide mounted on the frame for forward and rearward motions relative to the frame to assume a forward, basic position and a rearward, pulled-back position; a firing pin mounted in the slide for forward and rearward motions relative to the slide; a firing pin catch mounted on the firing pin; a firing pin spring mounted in the slide and urging the firing pin in a forward direction; a trigger movably supported in the frame; a trigger rail coupled to the trigger for executing a triggering motion when the trigger is pulled; and a sear for operatively connecting the trigger rail with the firing pin catch such that during forward motion of the slide the sear arrests and holds the firing pin catch whereby the firing pin spring is armed and that upon pulling the trigger, the sear is moved away from the firing pin catch by the trigger rail for allowing the firing pin to accelerate forwardly as urged by the firing pin spring. A manually operable safety is movable into a disassembly position for causing the sear to bypass the firing pin catch during forward motion of the slide for preventing arming of the firing pin spring during forward motion of the slide. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of components of a pistol incorporating a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 a  is a sectional perspective view of a component shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 1 b  is a top plan view of a detail shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 1 c  is a fragmentary sectional end elevational view taken through the slide catch release lever. 
     FIGS. 2,  3 ,  4  and  5  are sectional side elevational views of a rear region of the pistol, depicted in four different operational positions. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning to FIG. 1, the pistol illustrated therein includes a cross-sectionally U-shaped frame  1  which has a formed-on trigger guard  2  and a grip body  3  to which grip plates  4  are secured by screws  5 . In the grip body  3  a clip well  6  is formed for receiving a non-illustrated cartridge clip (magazine). A slide  7  is mounted on the frame  1  and is guided thereby for linear reciprocation between a forward, basic position and a rearward, pulled-back position. A barrel  8  is longitudinally displaceably mounted in the slide  7  and is, in the basic position, in engagement with an abutment shoulder  9  of the slide  7 . The slide  7  has, on the right side on front of the shoulder  9 , an ejection opening  11  through which an ejector throws out an empty shell from the chamber  10  of the barrel  8 . 
     Turning to FIGS. 2 and 3, in a stepped longitudinal bore  15 ,  16  of the slide  7  a firing pin  17  is guided for longitudinal displacements. In the enlarged portion  16  of the bore  15 ,  16  a sleeve  18  is accommodated which surrounds the firing pin  17  and which has a transversely throughgoing slot  19 . In the region of the slot  19  the firing pin  17  is provided with a slot  20  which is significantly shorter than the slot  19 . A transverse pin  21  passes through the slots  19 ,  20 . The firing pin  17  has a coaxial blind bore  22  which extends to the frontal edge of the slot  20  and which accommodates a coil spring  23  for the firing pin  17 . At its frontal end the firing pin spring  23  engages the pin  21  while at its rearward end the firing pin spring  23  is in engagement with a bottom  24  inserted in the slide  7 . The spring  23  is guided by a rod  25  coaxially disposed inside the spring  23 . A return spring  28  is inserted between the rear end face  26  of the sleeve  18  and a shoulder  27  of the firing pin  17 . For firing a shot, the firing pin  17  is accelerated forwardly by the spring  23  until the pin  21  abuts the frontal edge  29  of the slot  19 . The firing pin  17  continues to move forwardly by virtue of its inertia until the rearward edge of the slot  20  abuts the pin  21 . During this occurrence, the eccentrically disposed firing pin tip  30  ignites a cartridge  32  situated in the chamber  10 , as depicted in FIG.  3 . In the relaxed state of the spring  23  the pin  21 , urged by the return spring  28 , engages the frontal edge of the slot  20  so that the firing pin tip  30  is situated inside the bottom  31  of the blind bore  15 . 
     At the lower side of the firing pin  17  a catch lug  36  is formed which passes through a longitudinally extending slot  37  of the slide  7  and projects beyond the underside thereof. The catch lug  36  has, at least in its region which projects beyond the slot  37 , a forwardly oriented end face  38  which lies in a radial plane of the firing pin  17 . In the frame  1  a trigger  39  is pivotally mounted on a transverse pin  40  and is forwardly biased by a trigger spring  41 . To a transverse pin  42  mounted on the trigger  39  a trigger rail  43  is articulated which has two legs  44  straddling an inserted magazine (not shown). At their rearward end the legs  44  are interconnected by a web (abutment member)  45 . Each leg  44  carries a respective cam  46  extending into longitudinal grooves (recesses)  47  of the slide  7  when the latter is in its basic position. The trigger rail  43  is biased upwardly by the trigger spring  41  which thus also acts as a trigger rail spring. 
     Also referring to FIGS. 1,  1   b  and  5 , in the rear region of the frame  1  an insert  52  is accommodated which is secured to the frame  1  by two transverse pins  53  and  54 . A control lever  58 , having manually engageable knurls  59  is situated externally, on the left side of the frame  1 , and is held on the surface  60  of the frame  1  by the left-side grip plate  4 . A transverse pin  57 , affixed to the control lever  58 , passes through a bore hole  56  of the insert  52  and may journal therein. A further transverse pin  55  is affixed to the end of the pin  57  such that the pin  55  is eccentric to, but axially parallel with the pin  57 . As particularly well seen in FIG. 5, the pin  55  stops short of the opposite side of the slide  7 . The lever  58  may be pivoted upwardly by 90° into its disassembly position from its basic position shown in FIG.  1 . In the basic position of the lever  58  the plane containing the axes of the two pins  54 ,  55  extends parallel to the axis of the firing pin  17 . In contrast, in the disassembly position (upwardly pivoted position) of the control lever  58  the pin  55  is lowered, as shown in FIG.  5 . The insert  52  has on its upper part, on both sides, a respective guide rail  61  on which the slide  7  is guided. The insert  52  further has a longitudinal slot  62  in which an ejector  63  is positioned and secured by the pin  54  and by an additional short pin  64 . The eccentric position of the firing pin tip  30  is advantageous in that the bore  15 ,  16  is located further upward, whereby sufficient space is available to provide, in the slide  7 , a longitudinal groove in which the ejector  63  glides. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2-5, a sear member (sear plate)  66  has rearwardly downward inclined slots  65  through which respective pins  54 ,  55  pass for holding and guiding the sear plate  66  for displacements parallel to itself. The sear plate  66  has an upwardly projecting, formed-on catch lug  67  provided with a rearward face  68  which, in the basic position of the lever  58 , extends parallel to the frontal end face  38  of the firing pin catch  36 . The faces  38  and  68  change at sharp edges in perpendicularly oriented or slightly acutely angled surfaces. The sear plate  66  is urged by a sear spring  69  into the basic position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 in which the pins  54 ,  55  abut the rearward terminal edge of the slots  65 . The catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66  is, in such a position, in the travelling path of the firing pin catch  36 . 
     Upon executing a charging motion, that is, upon manually pulling the slide  7  rearwardly while the firing pin is in a released state, the firing pin catch  36  pushes the sear plate  66  rearwardly against the force of the spring  69  until the firing pin catch  36  glides past above the catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66 . During the successive forward motion of the slide  7  urged by a slide-closing spring  71  (FIG.  1 ), the firing pin catch  36  is caught by the catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66  whereby the firing pin spring  23  is armed. 
     When the trigger  39  is pulled against the force of the trigger spring  41 , after a certain trigger path the web  45  abuts a lug  73  of the sear plate  66  and pushes the sear plate  66  against the force of the springs  69  and  23  rearwardly until the catch lug  67  disengages from the firing pin catch  36 . As a result of such an occurrence, the firing pin  17  is released and accelerated forward by the firing pin spring  23 , whereupon a shot is fired, as illustrated in FIG.  3 . During the successive recoil of the slide  7 , the cams  46  of the trigger lever  43  run at the frontal end of the grooves  47  onto the slide  7  so that the trigger rail  43  is pivoted downwardly and the sear plate  66  snaps back into its basic position as shown in FIG. 4 in which, during the forward motion (recuperating motion) of the slide  7  which follows its recoil, the catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66  again arrests and holds the firing pin catch  36 , thus arming the firing pin  17 . 
     With particular reference to FIGS. 1,  1   a  and  1   b,  adjacent the sear plate  66  a two-arm lever  79  is pivotally supported in the insert  52  on a short pin  78  which is coaxial with the pin  55  in the basic position of the lever  58 . The upper arm  80  of the lever  79  projects beyond the upper side of the insert  52 . The lower arm  81  of the lever  79  is situated adjacent the lug  73  of the sear plate  66 , and the arm  81  is pushed together with the lug  73  rearwardly by the web  45  when the trigger  39  is pulled. During this occurrence the upper arm  80  of the lever  79  pushes upwardly a safety slide  83  against the force of a compression spring  84 , as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The safety slide  83  is slidably guided in a vertical channel  82  provided in the slide  7 . The safety slide  83  has a downwardly projecting narrow strip  85  which extends transversely to the axis of firing pin  17 . The strip  85 , in its basic position as shown in FIG. 2, extends into a longitudinal transverse groove  86  of the firing pin  17 . The rearward shoulder  87  of the groove  86  and the longitudinal position of the strip  85  are designed such that the firing pin tip  30  does not project beyond the bottom  31  when the shoulder  87  abuts the strip  85 . This purpose is served by the slot  20  and the firing pin return spring  28 . After firing a shot, the firing pin  17  is immediately returned by the spring  28  into the safety detent position. Should, for example, a cartridge misfire upon pulling the trigger  39 , the strip  85  assumes its detent position in front of the shoulder  87  when the trigger  39  is released, allowing it to pivot forwardly by the trigger spring  41 . If in such a position the pistol is dropped, the firing pin tip  30  cannot again impact on the primer of the earlier misfired cartridge. Even if the firing pin spring  23  is in an armed state (FIG.  2 ), such a firing pin safety prevents accidental firing caused by blows. For example, a blow on the slide  7  from the rear which would be sufficiently powerful to accelerate the sear plate  66  rearwardly into its release position, cannot, at the same time, accelerate the safety slide  83  upwardly and thus the firing pin  17  remains blocked. This type of firing pin safety is described in more detail in Swiss Patent No. 528,057 in conjunction with a striker hammer type ignition. 
     Particularly referring to FIGS. 1 and 1 b,  the slide  7  has in its rearward region an external lateral projection  91  provided with gripping grooves  92  for a manual loading of the pistol. The control lever  58  has, at its side oriented towards the surface  60 , a groove  93  which is slightly wider than the width of the projection  91 , as viewed in a transverse, horizontal direction. At its free end the lever  58  has a projection  94  extending towards the surface  60 . In the basic position of the slide  7  the control lever  58  cannot be pivoted because in the downward direction displacement is prevented by the abutment of the projection  94  on an end face  95  of the grip plate  4  and in the upward direction motion is prevented by the abutment on the projection  91  of the slide  7 . In contrast, in the open (pulled-back) position of the slide  7 , as shown in FIG. 4, the projection  91  is situated behind the control lever  58  so that the latter may be pivoted 90° upwardly as shown in FIG.  5 . During such an upward pivotal motion of the lever  58 , the pin  55  is lowered so that the catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66  is moved out of the motion path of the firing pin catch  36 . After pulling out a disassembly lever  97  and its integral pin  96 , the slide  7  may be pulled off the frame  1  by moving the slide  7  forwardly. During this occurrence the projection  91  of the slide  7  glides through the groove  93  of the lever  58 . 
     When the magazine is empty and the last shot is fired, the slide  7 , after recoil, is caught by a catch lug  98  of the disassembly lever  97  as the catch lug  98  drops into in a catch notch  102  provided in the slide  7 . The disassembly lever  97  may be manually pressed downwardly to cause the catch lug  98  to move out of the notch  102 , whereupon the slide  7  may move forwardly. Since the control lever  58  must be pivoted in the opposite direction for disassembly, an accidental erroneous manipulation during closing of the slide  7  is not possible. 
     With particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 1 c,  the catch lug  98  of the disassembly lever  97  has, on the inner side of the wall  99  on which the disassembly lever  97  lies, a downwardly oriented projection  100  which, in the normal position of the lever  97  (as opposed to its upwardly pivoted, disassembly position) extends below a notch  101  provided in the wall  99 . Consequently, in the normal position of the disassembly lever  97  the latter may not be pulled out of the frame  1  for initiating the disassembling operation, because the projection  100  abuts the inside face of the wall  99  of the frame  1 . Thus, the disassembly lever  97  may be pulled out of the frame  1  only if such an abutting relationship between the projection  100  and the inner face of the wall  99  does not exist which is the case in an upwardly pivoted position of the disassembly lever  97 . The disassembly lever  97  may be pivoted into its raised position, in turn, only in the open position of the slide  7 , because in all other positions the slide  7  prevents the catch lug  98  from swinging upwardly. The pistol thus may be disassembled exclusively when the slide  7  is entirely open. An accidental erroneous manipulation during disassembly, including an unintended firing, can therefore not take place. 
     Since for disassembling the pistol the control lever  58  must be actuated when the slide  7  is in its pulled-back (open) position, the firing pin spring  23  is in a relaxed state. In a successive closing of the slide  7  the firing pin catch  36  is not caught by the catch lug  67  of the sear plate  66  (because the sear plate guiding pin  55  has been lowered due to the upward motion of the lever  58 ) and thus the firing pin  17  remains in the unarmed state (that is, the firing pin spring  23  remains relaxed) despite the closing (forward motion) of the slide  7 . The trigger thus need not be pulled for taking off the slide  7  from the frame  1  in a forward direction. Even if the user, because of habit acquired in the handling of conventional pistols, additionally pulls the trigger  39  for taking the slide  7  off the frame  1 , such an operation has no effect because a rearward motion of the sear plate  66  remains out of contact with the firing pin catch  36 . Further, the firing pin  17  is secured by the slide  83 , as it was described earlier. Even if an unloading process is performed incorrectly, it is not possible to fire a shot during disassembly. Thus, the pistol according to the invention has a multiple safety. 
     The guidance of the sear plate  66  parallel with itself has the advantage that the firing pin catch  36  lies face-to-face on the catch  67  until the firing pin  17  is released. In this manner, an edgewise contacting and a wear involved therewith are avoided. By virtue of the separate sear plate spring  69  the pressure point force may be changed by replacing the spring  69  by another spring having a different spring constant or a different bias. The trigger path too, may be altered by replacing the sear plate  66 . 
     It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.