Patent Publication Number: US-10323892-B2

Title: Pellet loading system

Description:
Pellet loading system, of the type that are employed in rifles like “break barrels” type that comprises a butt which the cylinder is attached to, a barrel, wherein the pellet chamber is located, a pellet magazine, together with articulation means and because it comprises: an elastic rod, with a central section and two ends coupled to the cylinder, a body where the central section of the elastic rod is positioned, with forward and backward movement inside said body and that is coupled to the barrel and pushing means linked to the elastic rod and positioned between the pellet to be loaded and the elastic rod, moving the pushing means to one of the pellets in the magazine at the moment when the barrel is cocked, thus the pushing means leaves a pellet inside the pellet chamber and then said pushing means returns to its initial position when the barrel is closed, thus leaving the rifle loaded. 
     BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 
     Patents are known in the state of the art, which comprise pellet loading systems for break barrel rifles. 
     Thus, Patent WO2013074054 is known from 2012, in the name of LUKASHEVYCH ANDRII BOGDANOVICH, which refers to an improvement in a repeating pneumatic air pistol with a feed belt that aims at achieving a cartridge arrangement in a more compact manner on the cartridge belt, which permits the belt to be loaded without the need for any additional instruments and which provides a feed mechanism for the new cartridge belt design. The pistol comprises a cylinder, a chamber, a valve shaft to feed the compressed gas to the barrel bore, a hammer to open the valve, a hammer to activate firing, a bolt to seat the cartridges in the barrel bore and seal the orifice, a cartridge belt and a cartridge belt feed mechanism to move the cartridge belt and reload the weapon. The cartridge belt constitutes a single component made of elastic material that has a series of openings of a smaller diameter than the cartridges loaded on the belt. The cartridge belt feed mechanism comprises a slider mounted on the chamber so that it is able to move in parallel to the barrel, a lever mounted on top of the slider, said lever is connected in an articulated manner to the chamber and it is pressed on the slider by means of a spring and a spring mounted on the end of the lever and participating with the cartridge belt, in which the bolt has a lateral protuberance located inside a longitudinal slot in the slider. 
     BRIEF DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention refers to the pellet loading systems in break barrel rifles, although it could also be understood as included in those break barrel pistols. 
     One of the greatest problems currently existing in break barrel rifles that have a pellet magazine is that when the pellets are housed in the pellet magazine, any misalignment between the barrel and the magazine could damage the pellet at the moment of firing because the pellet does not follow the correct path inside the barrel. 
     There is also the problem of losing power through leaking air pressure between the cylinder and the magazine, which affects the initial path of the pellet at the moment of being separated from the magazine. 
     In order to resolve the problem, the inventors have invented a system, in which a pusher extracts the pellet from the actual pellet magazine and positions it inside the pellet chamber. On the one hand, this assumes that the misalignment between the barrel and the cylinder does not affect the pellet at the moment of firing, because the pellet is already inside the pellet chamber, 
     On the other, the power losses due to leaks do not affect the pellet either, because it is already inside the pellet chamber. 
     One object of this invention is a pellet loading system, of those that are employed in rifles with “break barrels” of the type that comprises a butt, on which the cylinder is attached, a barrel, where the pellet chamber is located, a pellet magazine, together with articulation means and because it comprises: an elastic rod, with a central section and two ends that couple to the cylinder, a body where the central section of the elastic rod is positioned, with forward and backward movement inside said body and that is fixed to the barrel and pushing means linked to the elastic rod and positioned between the pellet to be loaded and the elastic rod, moving the pushing means to one of the pellets in the magazine at the moment when the barrel is broken, thus the pushing means leaves a pellet inside the pellet chamber and then said pushing means returns to its initial position when the barrel is closed, thus leaving the rifle loaded. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to facilitate the description, this report is accompanied by seven sheets of drawings that represent a practical exemplary embodiment, which is cited as a non-limiting example of the scope of this invention: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention with a rotating magazine. 
         FIG. 2  is a close-up lateral view of the barrel articulation zone. 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of  FIG. 1  along line III-III. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of  FIG. 1  without the body. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view continuing from  FIG. 3  with the barrel broken, inserting the pellet into the barrel. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view continuing from  FIG. 3  with the mechanism retracted and 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the invention with a linear magazine. 
     
    
    
     SPECIFIC EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THIS INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a cylinder  2 , a barrel  3 , a articulation means  4 , a body  10  and a magazine  12 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the cylinder  2 , the barrel  3 , articulation means  4 , an elastic rod  6  and one end  7 , body  10 , pin  14  and magazine  12 . 
       FIG. 3  represents the cylinder  2 , barrel  3  and pellet chamber  5 , articulation means  4 , body  10  with pin  14  and elongated opening  16  and magazine  12  with pellet  13 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates the cylinder  2 , barrel  3 , ends  7  and  8  of elastic rod  6 , body  10  and magazine  12 . 
       FIG. 5  shows the cylinder  2 , barrel  3  and pellet chamber  5 , articulation means  4 , elastic rod  6  with its central section  9 , pushing means  11 , body  10  with pin  14  and elongated opening  16  and magazine  12  with pellet  13 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates the cylinder  2 , barrel  3  and pellet chamber  5 , articulation means  4 , central section  9 , pushing means  11 , body  10  with pin  14 , elongated opening  16  and magazine  12  with pellet  13 . 
     Lastly,  FIG. 7  represents the cylinder  2 , barrel  3 , articulation means  4 , elastic rod  6 , central section  9 , body  10  and magazine  12 . 
     Thus, in a specific exemplary embodiment, the pellet loading system is employed in break barrel rifles as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The rifle comprises two parts, the cylinder  2 , which is seated on the butt (not shown) and barrel  3 , which is cocked in order to load the pellet. Said two parts are articulated by articulation means  4 . The barrel  3  is where the pellet chamber  5  is housed, which is where, inside the barrel bore, pellet  13  is housed before being fired. 
     The pellet  13  is held inside a pellet magazine  12 . 
     The system also comprises elastic rod  6 , which is configured with central section  9  and two ends  7  and  8 . The two ends  7  and  8  are housed in cylinder  2  so that elastic rod  6  is joined to said cylinder  2 . Later, it will be explained that said ends  7  and  8  allow the partial rotation of elastic rod  6  when barrel  3  is cocked. 
     It also comprises body  10  where central section  9  of elastic rod  6  is positioned. Said body  10  is fixed to barrel  3 . This special configuration, as will be explained in more detail later, means that when barrel  3  is cocked, the body  10  drags the elastic rod along with it and said elastic rod  6  then rotates because of ends  7  and  8 . 
     Elastic rod  6  is coupled as pushing means  11 , which is what pushes pellet  13 , extracting it from the pellet magazine  12  and inserting it into the pellet chamber  5 . 
     Thus, when the barrel  3  is cocked to load a pellet  13 , said barrel  3  drags body  10  along. Said body  10  may be welded to said barrel  3  or joined, as in the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , by a pin  14  which, because it has movement inside elongated apertures  16 , can prevent breakages caused by the generated forces. 
     Because the aforementioned pin  14  has the alluded movement inside elongated apertures  16 , it is assumed that if, for whatever reason, the insertion of pellet  13  into pellet chamber  5  fails, body  10  would move and allow pellet  13  to exit ( FIG. 6 ). 
     Since the body  10  is coupled to the flexible rod  6 , it is also dragged along. In turn, the flexible rod  6  is coupled to cylinder  2  by means of alluded ends  7  and  8 , which rotate, allowing flexible rod  6  to move with body  10  and, at the same time, remain coupled to cylinder  2 . 
     All this assumes that central section  9  of flexible rod  6  and elastic rod  6 , move in relation to body  10 , advancing towards magazine  12 . 
     As previously described, the pushing means  11  is coupled to the elastic rod  6 , so when said elastic rod  6  moves with respect to body  10 , pushing means  11 , which is between the elastic rod  6  and the pellet  13  to be loaded, approaches pellet  13  until pushes it, removing the pellet  13  from the magazine  12  and housing the pellet  13  inside the pellet chamber  5  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     When the pellet  13  has been loaded into the pellet chamber  5 , the closing movement of the barrel  3  is executed, leaving the pellet  13  ready for firing. 
     Said closing movement assumes that the body  10 , when it moves with the barrel  3 , which closes, causes the flexible rod  6  to approach the cylinder  2  with the pusher  11  moving backwards and exiting the magazine  12  to the initial position when the barrel finally closes, leaving the rifle loaded. 
     Optionally, just as shown in  FIG. 4 , pushing means  11  is coupled to the central section  9  of the elastic rod  6 . 
     In this embodiment, the elastic rod  6  adopts an “L” shape with two loops, although, depending on the materials of which the elastic rod  6  is made, this shape could change. 
     There is the option of the pellet magazine  12  being automatic. If it is manual, the user should push, for example, on a manual linear magazine to position the next pellet  13  ready to be pushed by pushing means  11 . 
     If it is automatic, as in the exemplary embodiment, pushing means  11  returns to the initial position at the moment when barrel  3  is closed, leaving the rifle loaded and the magazine  12  (these embodiments show one rotary and one fixed), which incorporates a spring, supplies a new pellet  13  ready to be pushed by pushing means  11 . 
     As one of the possible manufacturing modes, the magazine  12  is housed in the body  10  so that it is the body  10  that maintains the stability of the magazine  12 . 
     This invention patent describes a new pellet loading system. The examples mentioned here do not limit this invention and thus, it can have various applications and/or adaptations, all of which are within the scope of the following claims.