Patent Publication Number: US-2020292257-A1

Title: Firearm

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a firearm, in particular to a firearm with a tensioning lever with an unchanged position during the movement of the breech caused by the shot. The firearm comprises a tensioning lever that is independent of the movement of the breech during shooting in the said sense. The tensioning lever is used to manually pull the breech to the rear position; after its releasing the firearm is loaded. Further, it makes it possible, in case of incomplete closing of the breech, to move it to the initial front position before firing. The tensioning lever can be positioned at the right or left side of the firearm housing. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     An example of a design known from the prior art is the design contained in the document GB413071A. This document discloses a tensioning lever assembly that comprises a tilting tensioning lever connected to the breech. The purpose of the tilting design of the tensioning lever is that the tensioning lever should not disturb the shooter during shooting. 
     In the prior art designs, several common approaches to the design of the tilting lever arrangement can be generally distinguished. 
     1. Tensioning Lever Fixed to the Breech 
     This is the most frequently used design, which is mainly advantageous for its simplicity and easy interchangeability of the side of the firearm where the lever is mounted (in the case of the position of the tensioning lever at the right or left side of the firearm in the shooting direction). A disadvantage of this design is that the lever moves during shooting while this movement may disturb the shooter or there is a potential risk of injury of the operator if the firearm is gripped in an unsuitable manner. 
     2. The Tensioning Lever is Independent of the Breech Movement During Shooting 
     From the operation point of view, this design is more advantageous than that with the tensioning lever being fixed to the breech. The tensioning lever is fixed to the firearm housing during shooting and does not disturb the operator. On current firearms, the tensioning lever is installed at the left or right side of the firearm housing, or in the rear part of the housing over the shoulder support of the firearm. 
     The disadvantages of the said designs are:
         necessity to have a special mechanism to push the breech to its front position in case of “incomplete closing” (during loading of the firearm or after a shot the breech will not move to the initial front position and before the next shot, the operator must move the breech to this position manually),   the need to fix the tensioning lever in the front position during firing (by connecting it to the firearm housing or a spring acting in the firing direction), and   complexity of the mechanism of the tensioning lever in case of variable mounting of the tensioning lever at the right or left side of the firearm housing in the firing direction—the mechanism has up to twice the number of parts to ensure its operability from both the sides.       

     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The disadvantages of the prior art are eliminated by a firearm in accordance with the invention, comprising a firearm housing connected to the barrel assembly, a firearm breech mounted in the housing and connected to a spring for forcing the breech to its initial shooting position, a tensioning lever as well as a tensioning lever carrier that is connected to the tensioning lever and arranged for common linear movement in the axial direction of the firearm with the tensioning lever in and against the shooting direction, wherein the tensioning lever contains the first latch and lever part, wherein the first latch is arranged for controlled movement by means of manual control of the lever part from the first position—shooting position, wherein the first latch is engaged with the barrel assembly, fixing the tensioning lever to the barrel assembly, to the second position, wherein this engagement is disconnected and the tensioning lever can move in the said axial direction against the shooting direction, and the carrier comprises the second latch arranged in such a way that when the first latch is in the said first position, the second latch is out of engagement with the breech, so the breech, during its movement against the shooting direction caused by the shot, is not connected to the carrier, and when the tensioning lever is outside the shooting position and touches the breech at the same time, the second latch is in engagement with the breech and the tensioning lever is thus fixed to the breech, the carrier being further arranged for controlled movement in the said axial direction by means of manual control of the lever part. 
     In one of preferred embodiments, the tensioning lever comprises a spring arranged to force the first latch into engagement with the barrel assembly and the lever part arranged in such a way that manual exertion of a force against the shooting direction on the lever part will set the first latch in motion from the said first position to the said second position against the spring force. 
     In one of preferred embodiments, the tensioning lever is inserted in a carrier, and can be inserted into the carrier optionally in such a way that the lever part can be mounted at the right or left side of the firearm. 
     The firearm is preferably arranged in such a way that the tensioning lever and carrier are removable from the housing without the use of any tools. 
     The tensioning lever preferably comprises a grip that the lever part is fitted with. 
     The new design of the loading mechanism describes the option that enables positioning of the tensioning lever at the right or left side of the firearm housing. To minimize the number of parts in the loading mechanism, it is not just the tensioning lever as such but an assembly of several parts that changes its side. The assembly contains both the tensioning lever and the latch that ensures fixing of the loading mechanism to the firearm housing during shooting. The carrier of the tensioning lever remains in the firearm housing, wherein the tensioning lever assembly can be inserted into the carrier from the left or right side. 
     In case of a fault of the firearm, when the firearm breech needs to be moved manually to the front position, the carrier of the tensioning lever can contain a latch that will ensure connection of the carrier of the tensioning lever and the firearm breech. A precondition for this design is that in the front position of the breech, the carrier of the tensioning lever and the breech must get disconnected again to ensure independent movement of the breech and tensioning lever during shooting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be further clarified with the use of its embodiment example with reference to attached drawings, where: 
         FIG. 1  shows the tensioning lever of a firearm according to the invention, 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the embodiment example of the firearm according to the invention with the firearm breech in the front position, 
         FIG. 3  shows the firearm of  FIG. 2  in a partial longitudinal cross-section, 
         FIG. 4  shows the firearm of  FIG. 3  with the breech removed outside the initial front position, 
         FIG. 5  shows the mechanism of cooperation of the tensioning lever with the barrel assembly in the firearm of  FIG. 2 to 4 , and 
         FIG. 6  shows the firearm of  FIG. 2 to 5  with the position of the firearm breech and the carrier of the tensioning lever wherein the right or left mounting side of the tensioning lever assembly can be changed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows the tensioning lever  11  of a firearm according to the invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the tensioning lever  11  comprises a base  9 , a lever part  7 , the first latch  6  and a spring  10 . The spring  10  acts upon the first latch  6 , which fixes the tensioning lever  11  to the barrel assembly  2  during shooting (see  FIG. 2 ). To improve handling, a grip  8  is mounted on the lever part  7 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , before a shot goes off, the breech  3  is in the initial front position—position before shooting and the tensioning lever  11  is, by means of the first latch  6 , which is engaged with the barrel assembly  2 , fixed to the barrel assembly  2 . The barrel assembly  2  is fixed to the housing  1 . 
     Similarly to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3  also shows the firearm in the position before shooting, but in a cross-section. The firearm comprises a housing  1  connected to the barrel assembly  2  and a breech  3  that is mounted in the housing  1  and a return spring (not shown) holds it in the initial position before shooting where it is in contact with the barrel assembly  2 . The return spring is pretensioned in such a way to push the breech  3  forwards (i.e. in the shooting direction) to the position before shooting. Over the breech  3 , the sliding carrier  4  of the tensioning lever  11  is positioned, the carrier being connected to the tensioning lever  11  in such a way that the tensioning lever  11  is inserted in the carrier  4 , so the carrier  4  and the tensioning lever  11  always linearly move together forwards (in the shooting direction) or backwards (against the shooting direction). Thus, the carrier  4  is arranged as linearly moving in and against the shooting direction, wherein in  FIG. 3  it is shown in its front position, wherein the second latch  5 , which is fixed to the body of the carrier  4  in a rotary way, is in a lifted position because it is lifted by the barrel assembly  2  at its front tooth  14  as the front tooth  14  sits on the barrel assembly  2  in the contact place  13 . Due to this lifting, the rear tooth  15  of the second latch  5  is also out of engagement with the breech  3 , so after the shot, the breech  3  can move, without engagement with the second latch  5 , backwards, i.e. against the shooting direction against the action of the above mentioned return spring acting upon the breech  3 . In the initial front position—in the shooting position (position before the shot), the carrier  4  is fixed in its front position by means of the first latch  6  engaged with the barrel assembly  2 , fixing the position of the tensioning lever  11  and consequently the carrier  4  connected to the tensioning lever  11 . 
     During the shot, when the breech  3  moves against the shooting direction, the tensioning lever  11  is fixed in the front position by tooth on the first latch  6 . The second latch  5 , as described above, is in the lifted position due to a contact with the barrel assembly  2  in the contact place  13 , and therefore it is deflected in such a way that it does not get in contact with the breech  3 , which can move against the shooting direction after the shot thanks to this. 
     The breech  3  is moved manually to the rear position when force is exerted on the lever part  7  against the shooting direction. As one can infer e.g. from  FIG. 5 , the first latch  6  is first deflected by tilting of the tensioning lever  7 , which will get the latch out of engagement with the barrel assembly  2 , so further pushing of the tensioning lever  7  against the shooting direction will cause removal of the tensioning lever  11  together with the guide  4 , which is connected to the tensioning lever  11 , so it moves together with the tensioning lever  11 . The removal of the tensioning lever  11  from the front position before the shot (from the shooting position) will result in the front tooth  14  of the second latch  5  being no longer lifted by the barrel assembly  2  in the contact place  13 , so the second latch  5  will descend from the lifted position and its rear tooth  15  will fit into the recess  12 , getting in engagement with the breech  3 . This way, a connection will be established between the carrier  4  and the breech  3 . To move the breech  3  to the front position again, it is sufficient to release the lever part  7 —by the action of the return spring, which pushes the breech  3  forwards, the breech  3  with the carrier  4  and the tensioning lever  11  will return to the initial front position before the shot. 
     In case of “incomplete closing”, i.e. condition when the breech  3  does not completely move to the front position during loading of the firearm or after the shot and the operator must move the breech  3  to the front position manually before the subsequent shot, the tensioning lever  11  with the carrier  4  must first be put in contact with the breech  3 . This will ensure their mutual fixation through the second latch  5 , which engages into a recess  12  in the breech  3  with its rear tooth  15  as this condition is shown in  FIG. 4 . Then, force can be exerted on the lever part  7  in the shooting direction to move the breech  3  to the initial front position before the shot. 
     The tensioning lever  11  can be optionally mounted at the right or left side of the housing  1  within the basic dismantling.  FIG. 6  shows the position of the breech  3  and carrier  4  where the right or left mounting side of the tensioning lever  11  can be changed. The tensioning lever  11  can be removed thanks to the recess in the housing  1 . 
     LIST OF REFERENCE MARKS 
       1 —housing 
       2 —barrel assembly 
       3 —breech 
       4 —carrier (of the tensioning lever) 
       5 —second latch 
       6 —first latch 
       7 —lever part 
       8 —grip 
       9 —base 
       10 —spring 
       11 —tensioning lever 
       12 —recess 
       13 —contact place 
       14 —front tooth 
       15 —rear tooth