Patent Publication Number: US-11391535-B2

Title: Firearm barrel cleaning system

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The disclosure of the present patent application relates to firearm accessories, and particularly to a firearm barrel cleaning system that uses an ultrasonic cleaning system for cleaning the barrel of a firearm. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Firearm operation involves ignition of an explosive charge within the firearm chamber, followed by the exit from the chamber of a projectile at high speed, which passes through and exits the barrel of the firearm. The explosive process inherent in firearms results in the accumulation of debris and residue within the chamber and barrel. Modern firearms have spiral or helical grooves (referred to as rifling) in the bore of barrel of the firearm to improve the range and accuracy of the shell. The accumulation of such debris and residue from expended shells can inhibit proper operation of the firearm, including misfires, damage to the firearm, possible injury to the user, and deterioration of the range and accuracy of the weapon. Thus, regular cleaning is always recommended to the owners and operators of firearms. 
     Conventional cleaning is typically performed as a manual process involving breaking down of the firearm, followed by rubbing a cleaning patch saturated with an appropriate solvent against the various surfaces of the firearm. After use, the patches are then discarded, which presents difficulties in disposal, since the dirty patches typically contain both lead and often toxic cleaning solvents. Further, while cleaning the barrel, the cleaning patch is typically driven down the barrel by a rod, to be rubbed against the barrel walls, which can be extremely difficult to manipulate, and in some cases, can cause the patch to become lodged or packed within the barrel. 
     As mentioned above, rifle and pistol barrels include “rifling”, which is, typically, five or six grooves spiraling down the barrel interior to spin-stabilize the bullet after it is fired from the cartridge and accelerates down the barrel. These groove areas are most prone to powder residue and fouling. Some types of fouling, such as copper from jacketed bullets, are difficult to remove, even with strong solvents, and some types of conventional cleaning solutions can damage the barrel itself. As discussed above, cleaning is typically performed by running a patch through the barrel with a jag on a cleaning rod. This may be replaced by, or used in combination with, the similar process of using a conventional bore brush with a cleaning fluid. When the patch runs through the barrel with little or no discoloration, the firearm is considered clean and a final lubricating patch is run through to prevent barrel corrosion. However, due to the difficulty inherent in cleaning the rifling of the barrel, cleaning with the patch and/or a bore brush may require up to an hour or more of repeated manual cleaning to fully clean the barrel. Even then, the barrel may not be fully clean, as a “clean” patch may simply indicate that the patch and/or brush, along with the selected cleaning fluid, have performed to the level of their abilities, rather than the barrel being completely clean. Thus, a firearm barrel cleaning system solving the aforementioned problems is desired. 
     SUMMARY 
     The firearm barrel cleaning system selectively cycles a stream of ultrasonic cleaning fluid through the barrel of a firearm, such as the barrel of a rifle or a revolver, and periodically pauses fluid flow and activates an ultrasonic transducer to induce cavitation within the cleaning fluid in the barrel for ultrasonic cleaning of the interior of the barrel. An embodiment of the firearm barrel cleaning system for use with a rifle having a bolt includes a receiver assembly having opposed first and second ends, the first end being adapted for receiving the stream of cleaning fluid, and the second end being adapted for insertion into the rifle receiver after removal of the bolt to bias a nozzle against the bore defined in the barrel of the firearm to eject the stream of cleaning fluid within the barrel. 
     A cap structure having a hose connector is adapted for releasably sealing the muzzle end of the barrel of the firearm to seal the cleaning fluid in the barrel during the ultrasonic cleaning cycle(s). A pump selectively circulates the cleaning fluid through the receiver assembly, the barrel, and out through the hose connector of the cap structure. An ultrasonic transducer is mounted on the receiver assembly for selectively inducing cavitation in the cleaning fluid when fluid flow is paused. 
     These and other features of the present subject matter will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a partially exploded, environmental perspective view of a firearm cleaning system. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a cap structure of the firearm cleaning system, the cap structure sealing the muzzle and crown of the firearm. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of a locking ring of the cap structure of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an environmental side view of the cap structure of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the cap structure. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a receiver assembly of the firearm cleaning system. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded, environmental perspective view of an additional accessory for cleaning a cylinder of a revolver. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the firearm barrel cleaning system  10  for cleaning a rifle having a bolt includes a receiver assembly  12  adapted for insertion into the receiver of the rifle after removal of the bolt, the assembly  12  having an interchangeable nozzle  112  adapted for being sealed against the opening of the rifle bore defined in the barrel B of the firearm F by a spring-loaded housing assembly having a handle  114  cooperating with the rifle receiver, and a cap structure for sealing the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B. The receiver assembly  12  is in fluid communication with a pump  20  via an injection tube  22 , and the cap structure is also in fluid communication with the pump  20  via return tube  24 . The pump  20  may be any suitable type of pump for cycling an ultrasonic cleaning fluid through the injection tube  22 , receiver assembly  12 , barrel B, cap structure and return tube  24 . It will be understood that the pump  20  may have an integral recirculation tank for supplying ultrasonic cleaning fluid for introduction into the barrel and a filtration system for receiving and cleaning fluid returned to the pump, and that the pump  20  may be a pulse-type ultrasonic recirculation pump. When the receiver assembly  12  is inserted into the rifle receiver and the nozzle  112  is spring-biased against the bore of the barrel B, the pump  20  selectively injects the ultrasonic cleaning fluid into the bore of the barrel B, preferably in a laminar flow, and also removes the used ultrasonic cleaning fluid from within barrel B through the cap structure (when placed on and around the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B) via return tube  24 . Although the firearm F is shown as a rifle in  FIG. 1 , it should be understood that firearm F, and its associated barrel B, are shown for exemplary purposes only, and that the firearm barrel cleaning system  10  may be used with any other suitable type of firearm, such as a revolver, by replacing the receiver assembly  12  with a suitable receiver adapter. 
     As best seen in  FIG. 2 , the cap structure  16  for sealing the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B includes a housing  26  having an open end  28  and an opposed partially closed end  30 . The open end  28  of the housing  26  is adapted for mounting on the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B. Texturing or internal threading  34  may be formed on an inner surface of the housing  26  adjacent the open end  28 , as shown, for gripping the barrel B. The housing  26  may be formed from any suitable type of material. For example, housing  26  may be formed from Delrin®, a thermoplastic manufactured by DuPont Polymers, Inc. of Delaware, or from a natural or synthetic rubber. 
     A ring portion  38  of a clamp  40  may be sized to abut the partially closed end  30  of the housing  26 . Although it should be understood that any suitable type of clamp or clamping member may be used, in the example of  FIG. 2 , the clamp  40  includes a plurality of arms  42  (with three such arms  42  shown in  FIG. 2 ), each having a fixed end  44  and a free end  46 . The arms  42  may be resilient for tensioning the arms  42  against the housing  26  when the housing  26  is mounted on the barrel B and the clamp  40  is mounted on the housing  26 . Further, a flanged outlet tube  54  may be inserted within the cover  26 . The flange  52  of the outlet tube  54  is configured to mate against an inner surface of the closed end  30  with the barrel  53  of the tube  54  projecting through an aperture  36  formed in the closed end  30  of the housing  26 . The outlet tube  54  may incorporate a check valve or other one-way valve to prevent outflow when the pump  20  is shut off. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the barrel  53  of the flanged outlet tube  54  also extends through an aperture formed in the ring portion  38  of the clamp  40 . The barrel  53  of the outlet tube  54  may be externally threaded. A hose connector  33  may have a serrated nipple  32  (which may be tapered for receiving tubing having different internal diameters) for connection to the return tubing  24  and may have complementary internal threads  31  formed on an inner face of the connector  33  for engaging the external threads of the barrel  53  of the flanged outlet tube  54 . 
     An additional locking ring  50  may be used for further securing the clamp  40  and housing  26  against the barrel B of the firearm F. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the locking ring  50  may include a central ring  60  with at least one handle  62  extending therefrom. In  FIG. 3 , two such handles  62  are shown. Central ring  60  has a circular opening  48  formed therethrough which is dimensioned to securely receive the barrel B. An inner surface  64  of central ring  60  may include keyways  66  for receiving keys  43  formed on the arms  42  of the clamp  40  to hold the clamp  40  in place, as shown in  FIG. 4 . Prior to positioning of the clamp  40  and housing  26  over the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B, the locking ring  50  is mounted on the barrel B with the barrel B extending through the opening  48 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Then, the arms  42  of clamp  40  may be slid through the ring  60  until the keys  43  (which may gradually taper outward from the arms  42 ) on the ends  46  of the arms  42  frictionally engage the keyways  66 , locking the cap on the barrel B. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the free ends  46  of arms  42  may arch outwardly, thus allowing the free ends  46  to be releasably locked to the locking ring  50 . The clamp arms  42  are preferably formed from a flat resilient material, such as spring steel, allowing the free ends  46  to be pinched by the user to releasably insert the arms  42  through the ring  60  until the keys  43  engage the keyways  66 . Once assembled, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the return tube  24  may be releasably connected to the hose connector  33 , and the clamp  40  and locking ring  50  hold the housing  26  securely, in a fluid-tight manner, against the barrel B. It will be noted in  FIG. 4  that the housing  26  and hose connecter  33  encapsulate the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B of the firearm F so that the crown of the rifle is also ultrasonically cleaned by the system  10 . 
     In the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 5 , the cap structure  16  is replaced by an alternative inner cover  70  and outer cover  78 . Similar to housing  26 , inner cover  70  has an open end  72  and an opposed closed end  76 . The open end  72  is adapted for mounting on the muzzle end  18  of the barrel B, and an outlet port  74  is mounted on the closed end  76 . Rather than being secured to the barrel B by a clamp, as in the previous embodiment, the inner cover  70  is held to barrel B by the outer cover  78 , which fits over and around the inner cover  70 . Similar to the inner cover  70 , the outer cover  78  has an open end  80  and an opposed closed end  82 , and an outlet connector  84  mounted on the closed end  82 . The outlet port  74  of the inner cover  70  aligns with the outlet connector  84  of the outer cover  78  for releasable connection with the return tube  24 . Similar to the housing  26 , the inner cover  70  and the outer cover  78  may each be formed from Delrin®, a thermoplastic manufactured by DuPont Polymers, Inc. of Delaware, or from a natural or synthetic rubber. In addition to resiliently gripping the barrel B, the inner cover  70  and the outer cover  78  may be further secured about the barrel B by an additional strap  86 , which may be wrapped around the outer cover  78  and be held in place by any suitable type of releasable fastener, such as, hook and loop fastener patches  88 ,  90 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the receiver assembly  12  includes a hollow tube  100  having opposed ends  102 ,  104 . The hollow tube  100  may be a spring-loaded telescopic tube, allowing the hollow tube  100  to be adapted to a variety of barrel sizes. It should be understood that helical spring  111  is shown in  FIG. 6  for exemplary and illustrative purposes only. Further, it should be understood that the hollow tube  100  may be manufactured in a variety of different lengths and configurations to fit receivers of multiple types of firearms. Further, it should be understood that the hollow tube  100  may also be manufactured with a variety of different diameters, such that the hollow tube  100  may form a fluid tight seal when inserted into the receiver of a particular type of firearm. 
     The first end  102  terminates in a connector  106  for releasable connection with injection tube  22  from the ultrasonic pump  20 . First end  102  may also include threads  108 , as shown, for releasable connection with a turn lock or knob  110 , allowing fine adjustment of tension on the spring. A nozzle  112 , which may be tapered, is disposed at the second end  104  for injecting the cleaning fluid delivered by injection tube  22  from pump  20 . The second end includes a hollow sleeve  104 , which urges the nozzle  112  to enter the opening of the bore defined by the barrel B and acts in a manner similar to a flange disposed around the nozzle to seal the nozzle  112  in the bore of the rifle. Alternatively, the nozzle  112  may have an integral annular flange. The opening to the bore may include the firing chamber, so that the firing chamber is also ultrasonically cleaned by the system, the nozzle  112  being inserted into and sealed against the opening to the firing chamber. Handle  114 , which is attached to the hollow tube  100 , is used to compress the spring  111 , retracting the hollow sleeve  104  from the nozzle  112  to fit the receiver assembly  12  into the bolt channel of the firearm receiver. The normal spring-loading biases the hollow sleeve  104  and nozzle  112  outward, pushing the nozzle  112  into the bore and sealing the sleeve  104  around the nozzle  112 , the handle  114  locking in the firearm receiver&#39;s locking mechanism, normally used by the handle of a bolt action in a bolt-action rifle, in order to maintain the nozzle  112  sealed to the barrel B, the knob  110  permitting fine adjustment of the tension applied by the spring  111  to the sleeve  104  and nozzle  112 . The nozzle  112  and the hollow sleeve  104  providing the seal around the nozzle  112  may be removably mounted on the receiver assembly  12  and replaced by nozzle/hollow sleeve assemblies of different sizes to accommodate rifle bores of different diameter or caliber. 
     Additionally, an ultrasonic transducer  101  is mounted on hollow rod  100 . Although the ultrasonic transducer  101  is shown as an annular transducer surrounding the first end  102 , it should be understood that the ultrasonic transducer  101  may be positioned in any suitable location on the hollow tube  100 . In use, the bolt is removed from the receiver of a bolt-action rifle F. The injection tube  22  is connected to the connector  106  of the receiver assembly  12 , the nozzle  112  is inserted into the bore of barrel B in the receiver channel, and the handle  114  is pulled toward the first end  102 , compressing the spring  111  to fit the receiver assembly  12  into the receiver channel, then released so that spring-loading seals the hollow sleeve  104  and nozzle  112  against the bore to be cleaned. Fine adjustment knob  110  may be rotated to adjust spring tension, if needed, and the handle  114  may be locked against the receiver to maintain the tension. Either cap structure  16  or the alternative inner and outer covers  70 ,  76 , as described above, are used to cover second end  18  of barrel B, and are connected to return tube  24 . Pump  20  injects ultrasonic cleaning fluid through injection tube  22 , hollow tube  100  and nozzle  112  to fill the interior of the barrel B. The pump  20  may be paused and the ultrasonic transducer  101  may be activated or switched on and off, either manually or under automatic control by a microcontroller or other processor, to induce cavitation for one or more ultrasonic cleaning cycles. The used cleaning fluid is then sucked from the barrel B by pump  20  through return tube  24  for filtering and recirculation by the pump. The cap structure  16  may then be removed from barrel B, and the receiver assembly  12  may be removed from the receiver and replaced with the bolt. 
       FIG. 7  shows an additional accessory for cleaning the cylinder C of a revolver R. Pump  20 , injection tube  22  and return tube  24  from the previous embodiment may each be used in a similar manner. However, the injection tube  22  connects to an injection manifold  120  via a nipple  122 , which is placed against a first end  124  of the cylinder C. Return tube  24  connects to a suction cap  128  via a connector  130 . The suction cap  128  is mounted on the second end  126  of cylinder C. Locking arms  132  are pivotally attached to the suction cap  128  via hinges or pivots  134  for releasably sealing the suction cap  128  to the cylinder C, and also for engaging the injection manifold  120  to releasably seal the injection manifold  120  to the cylinder C. 
     Similar to the above, in use, injection tube  22  is connected to injection manifold  120  via a nipple  122 , and return tube  24  is connected to suction cap  128  via connector  130 . The locking arms  132  are pivoted to lock suction cap  128  to the second end  126  of the cylinder C, and to lock the injection manifold  120  against the first end  124  of the cylinder C. Pump  20  injects cleaning fluid through injection tube  22  and the injection manifold  120  to clean the interior of the chambers of the cylinder C. The used cleaning fluid is then sucked from the chambers of cylinder C by pump  20 , through return tube  24 . Similar to the above, an ultrasonic transducer, similar to transducer  101 , is also used to provide for ultrasonic cleaning of the chambers of the cylinder C. 
     It is to be understood that the firearm barrel cleaning system is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.