IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY APPARATUS FOR CERTAIN KINDS OF BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Woodward, the elder, and
David Bentley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th
August 1878.
THOMAS WOODWARD, the elder, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gun Manufacturer, and DAVID BENTLEY, of Aston, near Birmingham aforesaid,
Gun Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY APPARATUS FOR CERTAIN KINDS
OF BREECH-LOADING SMALL-ARMS."
Our Invention has reference to the breech-loading drop-down guns, for which
Letters Patent were granted to one of us, namely, the said Thomas Woodward, on
17th day of February 1876, No. 651, and our said Invention consists in adapting
to or combining with the said drop-down guns safety apparatus constructed
substantially as herein-after described for preventing the accidental discharge of
the guns.
In the Specification of the Patent before referred to a safety apparatus for locking
the triggers, and thereby preventing the accidental discharge of the gun, was
described, the said safety apparatus consisting of a lever jointed to the tang of the
break-off, the said lever when turned into a vertical position crossing the tops of
the shoulders of the triggers and preventing them rising, and when turned into a
horizontal position liberating the said triggers. This safety lever or apparatus is
put into its locking position, and removed therefrom by hand.
Our Invention consists in so constructing and arranging the parts of safety
apparatus for the triggers of the said guns that the act of cocking the gun puts the
safety lever into its locking position, the unlocking or removing of the safety lever
from the triggers when the gun is to be discharged being effected by hand.
For the purpose of adapting the safety lever to be automatically locked by the
mechanism constituting part of our Invention, the following changes are made in
the construction of the safety lever:-We joint the safety lever to the trigger plate,
the said safety lever having motion in a vertical plane through a small angle upon
its joint. To the upper end of the said safety lever a second lever is jointed by a
pin and slot, the said second lever being centred to the tang of the break-off, and

page_text: working in and passing through a slot in the said tang. We will herein-after call
this second lever the thumb plate lever; the projecting end of the thumb plate lever
above the tang has a head for the thumb to act upon; the nearly vertical safety
lever has a shoulder, which, when the said lever is moved towards the break-off
crosses the shoulders of the triggers and prevents the latter rising, and when moved
back out of its vertical position the said shoulder is removed from the triggers, and
the latter may be lifted. When the safety lever is in its locking position the thumb
plate lever is vertical, and by turning it down towards the break-off its lever
arm, acting upon the safety lever, presses it back and leaves the triggers free
to rise.
The safety lever described is brought into its locking position over the triggers
by the act of cocking the gun by the following mechanism :- -On the safety lever
and below its locking shoulder is a nearly horizontal arm situated parallel with the
triggers. In front of this arm is a cranked lever turning on a centre on the lock
plate; on that part of the cranked lever immediately above its centre is a stud
situated near the catch on the striker of the gun, which catch is acted upon by the
short upper arm of the hand lever for cocking the gun. The end of the cranked
lever most distant from its centre carries a pin which bears upon the horizontal arm
of the safety lever. When the hand lever is depressed to cock the gun. .its upper
short arm acting upon the catches on the strikers pushes back and cocks the said
strikers. During the motion of the said short arm of the hand lever, and just before
it has fully cocked the strikers, it bears against the stud on the front part of the
cranked lever, thereby depressing the said cranked lever, and causing its rear end
to travel upon and depress the arm on the safety lever. By this motion the safety
lever is turned on its joint towards the break-off, and its shoulder made to cross
the triggers and prevent them rising, the thumb plate lever at the same time being
raised from the tang; thus by the act of cocking the gun the safety apparatus is
brought into action, and the accidental discharge of the gun prevented. To
discharge the gun it is only necessary to depress the thumb plate lever on to the
tang, when the safety lever is pressed back, and its shoulder removed from the
-triggers, when the latter are free to rise for the discharge of the gun.
Although we have only described the safety lever as being brought into its
locking position automatically, yet it may be put into its locking position and
removed therefrom by the hand operating upon the thumb plate lever.
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