Patent Publication Number: US-11656054-B2

Title: Training magazine

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/188,798 filed on May 14, 2021, entitled “FIREARM TRAINING APPARATUS AND METHODS OF USING,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that is taught and disclosed therein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to firearms, and more particularly to a training magazine that enables repeated dry firing of a firearm without having to retract the slide or other trigger resetting system or device of the firearm. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     When dry firing a fully functioning firearm, typically performed during a training exercise, traditionally the firearm&#39;s trigger mechanism remains in the fired position without resetting after each time the trigger is pulled. Thus, a shooter practicing dry firing must pull back the slide, hammer, charging handle, or other trigger resetting system and/or device of the firearm after each shot because a round was not fired to reset the mechanism. This results in an unnatural training experience for many types of semi-automatic and fully automatic firearms because nonstandard manipulations of the firearm are required between shots. 
     Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved training magazine that enables repeated dry firing of a firearm without having to retract the slide or other trigger resetting system or device of the firearm. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the training magazine according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of enabling repeated dry firing of a firearm without having to retract the slide or other trigger resetting system or device of the firearm. 
     The present invention provides an improved training magazine, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an improved training magazine that has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned above. 
     To attain this, the preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a body configured to be removably received in the magazine well, a motor connected to the body and operable to generate a motive force, an energy storage element operably connected to the motor and configured to store potential energy generated by the motive force, and an actuator operably engaged to the energy storage element and to the reciprocating action element, and operable to transmit the potential energy to reciprocate the action element. The reciprocating element may be a pistol slide. The energy storage element may be a spring. The spring may be a torsion coil spring having a cylindrical shape with opposed circular ends. There may be an input rotor operably connected to the motor and to a first end of the spring. There may be an output rotor connected to an output end of the spring and to the actuator. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a top isometric view of the current embodiment of a training magazine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    is an isometric side sectional view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1    in use installed in the magazine well of a pistol. 
         FIG.  4    is a front sectional enlarged view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  5    is an enlarged isometric view of the motors, gear train, energy storage element, and input rotor of the training magazine of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  6 A  is a side view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1    with the actuator in the resting or start of travel position. 
         FIG.  6 B  is a side view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1    with the actuator at the half travel position. 
         FIG.  6 C  is a side view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1    with the actuator at the full travel position. 
         FIG.  6 D  is a side view of the training magazine of  FIG.  1    with the actuator in the process of rapidly returning to the resting or start of travel position shown in  FIG.  6 A . 
         FIG.  7    is a rear isometric view of the control mechanism of the training magazine of  FIG.  1   . 
     
    
    
     The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT EMBODIMENT 
     An embodiment of the training magazine of the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . 
       FIGS.  1 - 5    illustrate the improved training magazine  10  of the present invention. More particularly, in  FIG.  3   , the training magazine is shown installed in a firearm  12  having a frame  14  defining a magazine well  16 . The firearm includes a reciprocating action element  18  responsive to actuation of a trigger  20 . The training magazine has a body  22  configured to be removably received in the magazine well. A motor  24  is connected to the body and is operable to generate a motive force. In the current embodiment, there are two motors. The motors can be solenoid motors, servomotors, a DC rotary motor, or an AC rotary motor. An energy storage element  26  is operably connected to the motor and is configured to store potential energy generated by the motive force. An actuator  28  is operably engaged to the energy storage element and to the reciprocating action element. The actuator is operable to transmit the potential energy to reciprocate the reciprocating action element via a hook  54  (shown in  FIG.  3   ). The hook extends from the actuator engages a face  56  (shown in  FIG.  3   ) on the reciprocating action element that would normally support the case head, and would also normally strip a cartridge from a conventional magazine. 
     In the current embodiment, the reciprocating action element  18  is a pistol slide, and the energy storage element  26  is a spring having a plurality of loops about a common axis that interconnects the motor  24  and the actuator  28 . The spring is preferably a torsion coil spring having a cylindrical shape with opposed circular ends  30 ,  32 . An input rotor  34  is operably connected to the motor and to a first end of the spring. The input rotor is connected to two motors by a gear train  46  in the current embodiment. An output rotor  36  is operably connected to an output end of the spring and to the actuator. The spring is received within the input and output rotors. The spring could also be a flat coil spring where the input rotor is connected to the inner end of the flat coil spring, and the output rotor is connected to the outer end of the flat coil spring, or vice versa. A control element  38  is connected to the output rotor and is operable to limit the rotation of the output rotor in terms of both the rotation rate and the total amount of rotation. In the current embodiment, the control element is a motorized worm gear, and the total amount of rotation is limited to one complete rotation. A pivoting lever  40  is connected to the output rotor and is configured to generate a reciprocating motion in response to rotation of the output rotor. This is accomplished by an eccentric cam  48  on the output rotor that is received within an elongated aperture  50  defined by the pivoting lever. A control mechanism  42  that is illustrated in  FIG.  7    will be described subsequently is responsive to motion of the trigger  20  to enable motion of the actuator. A battery pack  44  contained in an extended baseplate portion  52  of the body  22  is connected to the motor to provide a power source. The battery pack can contain a lithium-ion battery or conventional replaceable batteries, and may be weighted so the training magazine  10  simulates the weight of a traditional loaded magazine. 
     The energy storage element  26  is operable to store energy from the motor  24  before releasing the energy to the actuator  28 . The motor is operable to generate a selected amount of potential energy in the energy storage element over a first interval, and wherein the energy storage element is operable to generate motion of the actuator and reciprocate the reciprocating action element  18  over a shorter second interval. Thus, the motor is operable to flex the spring over a first interval, and the spring is operable to generate motion of the actuator and reciprocate the reciprocating action element over a shorter second interval. The input rotor  34  rotates only in a single direction as the reciprocating action element reciprocates. The output rotor  36  rotates only in a single direction as the reciprocating action element reciprocates. The energy storage element is free of any fixed connection to the body  22 , such that all portions of the energy storage element move as the reciprocating action element reciprocates. 
     The training magazine  10  can allow for a finite number of shots before requiring the user to simulate reloading of the firearm  12 . The training magazine can leave the firearm completely operational except that no ammunition is being fired when the trigger is pulled. The firearm&#39;s safety function can be unaffected by the training magazine. 
     When the firearm  10  is fired with the training magazine installed, there is no discharge of a cartridge to provide energy to cycle the reciprocating action element to reset the firearm for another shot. Instead, as is shown in  FIGS.  6 A-D , the stored energy in the energy storage element  26  is released once the trigger  20  is pulled to enable the actuator  28  to pull the reciprocating action element rearward to reset the firearm for another shot.  FIG.  6 A  shows the actuator in the resting or start of travel position. Once the trigger is pulled, the output rotor rotates and pivots the pivoting lever  40  rearward such that the actuator moves rearward and begins to pull the reciprocating action element rearward.  FIG.  6 B  shows the actuator at the half travel position, and  FIG.  6 C  shows the actuator at the full travel position. When the actuator has reached the full travel position, the reciprocating action element has been pulled rearward to the maximum extent. At the full travel position, the stored energy being released from the energy storage element is no longer sufficient to overcome the force exerted by the return spring of the firearm. Thus, the reciprocating action element rapidly pulls the actuator forward as shown in  FIG.  6 D  to return the actuator to the resting of start of travel position shown in  FIG.  6 A  and to reset the firearm for another shot. In the current embodiment, the training magazine can rest the firearm at a rate of 10 shots per second, which is sufficient to simulate the normal firing rate of semi-automatic firearms and some fully automatic firearms. 
     Optionally, the firearm&#39;s normal return spring can be replaced with a weaker spring to reduce the force and power requirements of the training magazine  10 . The force reduction could be enough that the eccentric cam  48  would also force the pivoting lever  40  and actuator  28  forward, rather than simply allowing the return spring to return the reciprocating action element  18  to battery without assistance. The return spring could also be removed entirely, and the eccentric cam would provide all of the force to return the reciprocating action element to battery. 
       FIG.  7    illustrates the improved control mechanism  42  of the training magazine  10 . More particularly, the control mechanism has a lever  58  that is connected to the actuator  28 . When the firearm  10  is fired, the firing pin  60  impacts the lever. The lever actuates a detector switch  62  on a circuit board  64  in the training magazine, which then activates the training magazine to move the reciprocating action element  18 . Alternatively, the lever could directly release the output rotor  36  when the lever is struck by the firing pin. 
     As a further alternative, a lever arm, switch, and circuit board can be contained by a housing that is shaped to mimic the shape of a normal barrel in the firearm, and which replaces the barrel in this embodiment. When the firing pin impacts the lever arm, the switch is activated on the circuit board. Activation of the switch turns on an optical transmitter (in this case, infrared), which may or may not be modulated. An optical receiver in the training magazine detects this optical signal and activates the training magazine to move the reciprocating action element. 
     In the context of the specification, the terms “rear” and “rearward,” and “front” and “forward,” have the following definitions: “rear” or “rearward” means in the direction away from the muzzle of the firearm while “front” or “forward” means it is in the direction towards the muzzle of the firearm. 
     While a current embodiment of a training magazine has been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Although semi-automatic pistols have been disclosed, the training magazine is also suitable for use with fully automatic pistols, semi-automatic and fully automatic rifles, and other firearms. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.