Patent Publication Number: US-10775119-B2

Title: Firearm

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a firearm comprising a barrel, a trigger, a bolt assembly and a magazine well having a longitudinal direction, in which a magazine movable in the longitudinal direction is accommodated. 
     The invention relates, in particular, to a safety for small arms or handguns. 
     A very wide variety of systems are in use on firearms, especially small arms or handguns, to prevent the accidental firing of a shot. Known safeties act on firing pins, hammers or parts of the bolt assembly or of the trigger assembly, for example. Apart from the fact that most safeties only act when they are manually activated, they can fail mechanically, especially if they break or if the weapon falls to the ground. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore the underlying object of the invention to provide a firearm of the type stated at the outset which offers enhanced safety against accidental firing of a shot. 
     This object is achieved by means of a firearm as claimed. 
     In the invention, a manually actuable slide, which is movable substantially transversely to the longitudinal direction of the magazine well or grip and which engages on a driver connected to the magazine and moves this driver with the magazine from a safety position into a feed position, is arranged on the firearm, preferably on the grip of the firearm, in the region of the trigger. 
     According to the invention, the magazine is always situated in the lower safety position or position remote from the bolt assembly, except when the slide is pressed by hand and the magazine is thereby moved upward from the safety position into the feed position. This ensures that, in the safety position, there is no cartridge in the region of a driver conventionally situated on the bolt assembly that can be pushed into the chamber of the barrel and fired there. 
     The invention is employed primarily on weapons with a blow-forward action, on which the bolt assembly is held in the rear position in the ready-to-fire state and there is no cartridge in the chamber. If the slide is not pressed and the bolt assembly accidentally moves forward to the barrel, it is not possible for a cartridge to be fed in from the magazine and therefore for a shot to be fired. However, the safety according to the invention can also be used on weapons of different design, especially fully automatic weapons, on which there is already a cartridge in the barrel in the ready-to-fire state and the bolt assembly is closed because it is then at least possible by means of the invention to prevent a second cartridge being fed into the cartridge magazine and fired after a shot has been fired accidentally. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, the driver is arranged directly on the magazine. The magazine is therefore moved into the feed position directly by the slide. 
     In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the magazine well has a section which can be moved in the longitudinal direction and is connected to the magazine, and the driver is arranged on the movable section of the magazine well. In this case, the magazine is therefore moved into the feed position indirectly by the slide via the movable section of the magazine well. 
     To ensure good guidance of the magazine, it is preferred in the last-mentioned embodiment of the invention if the magazine well has a fixed section and the section which can be moved in the longitudinal direction since the magazine is held reliably by the movable section of the magazine well and guided precisely in the fixed section. 
     A particularly simple construction and particularly reliable operation of the safety according to the invention are made possible by the fact that the slide and the driver are connected to one another by a guide, which has a region aligned obliquely to the longitudinal direction. This is because the angle at which the guide is aligned relative to the longitudinal direction of the magazine well is an effective means of setting the ratio of force to displacement with which the slide has to be actuated and moved by hand, and of force to displacement with which the magazine is moved. On the other hand, a suitably chosen angle can be used to exploit the effect of self locking, that is to say that the friction in the guide prevents the slide being moved by the action of a high force on the magazine, e.g. due to the weapon falling on the ground, which could cause the uppermost cartridge in the magazine to enter the region of the driver on the bolt assembly. Given these boundary conditions, it is possible to find an optimum angle for each particular case. 
     As an alternative to a guide with an obliquely aligned region, it is of course also possible to transmit the force from the slide to the magazine directly or indirectly via a lever or the like. 
     If the slide and the driver are connected to one another by a guide, there is the possibility of a refinement of the present invention in that the guide has an elongate aperture arranged on the slide, in which the driver engages. As an alternative, however, it is also possible, for example, for the driver, which is arranged on the magazine or on the movable section of the magazine well for example, to have an elongate aperture in which a projection arranged on the slide engages. 
     The elongate aperture can be formed by a groove or a slot in the slide, in the movable section of the magazine well or in the magazine itself, for example, and, correspondingly, the driver can have a projection, bolt or pin which engages in the groove or slot. 
     As mentioned, suitable choice of the angle of the obliquity of the guide already offers the possibility of preventing unintentional movement of the magazine with a relatively high reliability. However, this can be prevented with even greater reliability if the guide has, at one end, a further region, which is aligned substantially transversely to the longitudinal direction. According to the invention, this further region is arranged at the end of the guide at which the driver engaging in the guide is arranged when the slide is in the safety position. The arrangement of the further region transversely to the longitudinal direction of the magazine well makes it impossible for the magazine to move accidentally into the feed position. 
     In addition or as an alternative, it is also possible for the guide to have, at the other end, a third region, which is aligned substantially transversely to the longitudinal direction of the magazine well. By means of this additional region, which, according to the invention, is situated at the end of the guide at which the driver engaging in the guide is arranged when the slide is in the feed position, it is possible in this position to prevent a force being exerted on the slide in the direction of the safety position by the magazine. 
     In order to move the magazine automatically from the feed position into the safety position when the slide is not actuated or pressed, there is the possibility according to the invention that the slide and/or the magazine and/or the movable section of the magazine well can be moved out of a safety position into a feed position against the force of a spring. 
     As already mentioned, the slide is preferably arranged in the region of a trigger of the firearm. In the region of the trigger there is usually a grip, in which, in a further preferred embodiment of the invention, there is arranged a holder, on which the slide and the movable section of the magazine well are movably mounted. This provides a very compact and user-friendly possibility of being able to actuate both the safety according to the invention, i.e. the slide, and the trigger of the weapon with one hand. 
    
    
     
       Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description of a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, which does not restrict the scope of protection, with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings: 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  shows schematically a firearm according to the invention with a magazine in a safety position, 
         FIG. 2  shows the firearm of  FIG. 1  with the magazine in a feed position, 
         FIG. 3  shows schematically a detail of a safety according to the invention in the assembled state, and 
         FIG. 4  shows the safety of  FIG. 3  with the slide removed. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate, in highly schematic form, a firearm  1  according to the invention, wherein components of the firearm  1  which are known per se, such as a barrel  2  having a chamber  3 , a trigger  8  of a trigger assembly, a bolt assembly  4  and a magazine  5  with a cartridge  6  are not illustrated or not illustrated in detail because these can be embodied in the manner known per se from the prior art. A safety  10  according to the invention which is illustrated in the drawings can be the only safety of the firearm  1  but can also be present in addition to a safety known per se of the firearm  1 . 
     The firearm  1  according to the invention has a safety  10 , illustrated in more detail in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , having a slide  11 , which is mounted movably on a holder  12 . For this purpose, the slide  11 , which, in the embodiment which is illustrated and is preferred in the invention, consists of a U-shaped profile bent out of a metal sheet, has a pair of slots  14  in a lower region of each of the two legs  13 , in which slots pins  15  are accommodated, which are inserted through holes  16  in legs  17  of the holder  12 . 
     Mounted on the holder  12  or the legs  17  thereof there is furthermore a magazine well  18 , which, in the embodiment illustrated, has a fixed section  19  mounted in a fixed manner on the holder  12  and a section  20  which is movable on the holder  12 . The magazine well  18  or the sections  19  and  20  thereof, which are likewise illustrated only in a highly schematic way, likewise consist of a U-shaped profile bent out from a metal sheet in the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings. 
     The magazine well  18  has a longitudinal direction  21  and serves to accommodate a magazine  5  for the cartridges  6  of the firearm  1 , wherein the magazine  5  is not illustrated in the drawings because it can likewise be embodied like magazines  5  known per se from the prior art. The magazine  5  can be inserted into the magazine well from below in  FIG. 1 , in the direction of the longitudinal direction  21  of the magazine well  18 , and fixed in a manner known per se on the movable section  20 . In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a straight stick magazine is used, and therefore the longitudinal direction  21  is straight. In the case of a curved magazine, the longitudinal direction would likewise be correspondingly curved. 
     As  FIGS. 2 and 3  show, the movable section  20  is movably mounted by means of two bolts  22  in slotted holes  23 , which are formed in the legs  17  of the holder  12  and are aligned in the direction of or parallel to the longitudinal direction  21 . The bolts  22  are secured in holes  25  in the legs  24  of the U-shaped profile of the movable section  20 . In this way, the movable section  20  with the magazine  5  secured thereon can be moved on the holder  12  in the direction of the longitudinal direction  21  of the magazine well  18 . 
     In the embodiment in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , both bolts  22  project laterally beyond the legs  24  of the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  and form drivers for the movable section  20 , as will be described below. In the embodiment in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , only one of the two bolts  22  projects laterally beyond the legs  24  of the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  and forms a driver for the movable section  20 . 
     The slide  11  furthermore has guides  26  in its legs  13 . In the embodiment in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , only one guide  26  is formed in each leg  13  of the slide  11 , whereas the guides  26  in the embodiment in  FIGS. 3 and 4  are provided in pairs in order to prevent tilting or jamming of the slide  11  or of the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  when the slide  11  and the movable section  20  are moved by actuation of the slide  11 , as will be described below. 
     The guides  26  have a first, central region  27 , a further region  28  and a third region  29 , wherein regions  28  and  29  each adjoin one end of the central region  27 . The central region  27  slopes by an angle α to the longitudinal direction  21  of the magazine well, and the regions  28  and  29  adjoining said central region are aligned substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal direction  21 . The angle α is preferably of the order of 45° or above, although there has to be matching between the possible travel of the slide  11  and the necessary travel of the magazine  5  and can therefore vary from case to case. 
     The bolts  22  projecting beyond the legs  24  of the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  engage in the guides  26 . When the slide  11  is in the position illustrated in  FIG. 1 , which is referred to as the safety position, the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  is in a lower position, in which a magazine  5  fixed on the movable driver  20  is arranged in a position in which it is so far from the bolt assembly  4  situated thereabove that an opening  7  of the magazine  5  which faces the bolt assembly  4  is outside the region of a driver for cartridges  6 , which is arranged on the bolt assembly  4 , in other words the driver cannot push a cartridge  6  out of the magazine  5  into the chamber  3  of the barrel  2 . 
     Movement of the movable section  20  is not possible in this position of the slide  11  because the bolts  22  cannot be moved in the direction of the longitudinal direction  21  in the regions  28  aligned normally with respect to the longitudinal direction  21  since the slide  11  is prevented from moving in the direction of the longitudinal direction  21  by the pins  15  in the slots  14 . 
     If the slide  11  is pushed manually to the right in  FIG. 1 , against the force of a compression spring  30  clamped between the slide  11  and the holder  12 , the bolts  22  slide upward in the central regions  27  aligned obliquely to the longitudinal direction  21 , as a result of which the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  is likewise moved upward toward the fixed section  19 . As a result, a magazine  5  fixed on the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  is moved upward in the direction of the bolt assembly  4  as far as a feed position illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in which the bolt assembly  4  can engage the uppermost cartridge  6  in the magazine  5  and push it into the chamber  3  of the barrel  2 . 
     When the slide  11  has been moved completely in the direction of the holder  12 , the bolts  22  forming the drivers come into the region  28  of the guides  26 , thereby reliably avoiding movement of the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  out of the feed position just described into the safety position because the regions  28  are likewise aligned substantially transversely to the longitudinal direction  21 . 
     If the slide  11  is released, it is pushed away from the holder  12  by the spring  30 , as a result of which the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  is moved back down into the safety position shown in  FIG. 1  by means of the obliquely aligned central regions  27  of the guides  26  and the bolts  22  acting as drivers. 
     In addition or as an alternative, it is also possible, depending on the chosen design or dimensioning of the safety  10 , for springs to engage on the movable section  20  and/or on the magazine  5 , pushing the magazine  5  into the safety position. 
     It is self-evident that the embodiment of the guides  26  which is described in conjunction with the drawings, having the bolts or drivers  22 , can also be modified. Thus, for example, it is not necessary for the bolts  22  used to guide the movable section  20  on the holder  12  simultaneously to be used also as drivers for engagement in the guides  26 . It is also possible for separate projections arranged on the movable section  20  of the magazine well  18  to be provided as drivers. 
     It is likewise also possible for the guides to be arranged as drivers on the movable section  20  and the projections to be arranged on the slide  11 . Finally, it is also possible not to embody the guides  26  in the form of slots or slotted holes which pass through the legs  13  of the slide  11  but to use grooves for this purpose, which by their very nature do not pass through the legs  13 . 
     Finally, it is also possible, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, for the magazine well  18  not to consist of a fixed section  19  and a section  20  which is movable in the direction of the longitudinal direction  21  but for it to consist only of a fixed receptacle, as is known per se or conventional, wherein the projections or drivers which interact with the guide or guides  26  are then formed directly on the magazine  5 . It is of course likewise also possible to arrange the guides as drivers directly on the magazine  5  and to arrange projections on the slide  11 , which engage in the guides on the magazine  5 . 
     If the safety  10  illustrated in the drawings is integrated into a firearm  1 , e.g. a side arm, it can be integrated into the grip on which the trigger  8  of the weapon is situated, for example. In this case, the trigger  8  can be arranged directly above the slide  11 , for example, thus enabling the slide  11  to be actuated with the fingers of the same hand with which the trigger  8  is also actuated. This makes it possible to ensure that the safety of the weapon is only released, by pushing the slide  11  fully in, when the shooter is holding the weapon correctly and firmly in their hand. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS 
     
         
           1  firearm 
           2  barrel 
           3  chamber 
           4  bolt assembly 
           5  magazine 
           6  cartridge 
           7  opening 
           8  trigger 
           9  -- 
           10  safety 
           11  slide 
           12  holder 
           13  leg 
           14  slot 
           15  pins 
           16  holes 
           17  leg 
           18  magazine well 
           19  fixed section 
           20  movable section 
           21  longitudinal direction 
           22  bolt 
           23  slotted holes 
           24  leg 
           25  holes 
           26  guide 
           27  central region 
           28  further region 
           29  third region 
           30  compression spring