Patent Application
20170122689
The present invention relates to a safety for firearms and more particularly, an ambidextrous safety for pistols.
A safety is a mechanism that can prevent accidental discharge of a firearm. External safeties, such as thumb safeties, permit a user to manually move a lever between a safe position (i.e., on-safe) and a firing position (i.e., off-safe). Typically, such levers are provided on the left side of the firearm such that they provide ready use by a user's right-hand thumb during right-handed use or gripping of the firearm.
To enable left-handed use of a firearm having a safety, an ambidextrous safety can be installed that provides levers on both sides of the firearm. Accordingly, an ambidextrous safety enables right-handed and left-handed use of the firearm and may provide levers for use by either a left or right hand thumb of the user.
Ambidextrous safeties are typically made in two parts that are located on opposite sides of the firearm and are fastened together such that rotation of one about an axis extending lengthwise through a pivot pin of the safety also rotates the other about the same axis. A problem with ambidextrous safeties is that “backlash” or looseness of the two parts can occur. For instance, over time and repeated use, the mechanism used to interconnect the right and left safety levers may be subject to drag which requires additional force to be applied by the user to operate the safety. This tends to cause the right and left side safety elements to become loosened or misaligned thereby preventing the safety from operating in an intended smooth manner or may produce excessive play causing the right-handed safety to walk out or become separated thereby preventing operation of the safety altogether.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the embodiments disclosed herein should become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A safety on a firearm may be manually activated or deactivated by the shooter. Typically, such a safety is located on the frame of a firearm, such as a pistol, in the proximate area of where the shooter's thumb is positioned when the pistol is properly gripped by the shooting hand of the shooter. Thus, the safety is positioned so as to allow it to be manipulated by the thumb of the shooter without compromising the secure grasp of the pistol allowing it to be held in readiness for immediate use.
By way of example, a firearm 10 as shown in
Each of the thumb lever safeties, 14 and 16, is capable of being pivoted into two different positions by the thumb of the shooting hand of the shooter. The first position may be referred to as the safe, on-safe, or activated position (as shown in
By way of example and not by way of limitation, a pistol that may be equipped with a safety is the so-called Government Model of 1911 or the Model 1911 A1 pistol. The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for a .45 ACP cartridge. Of course, other pistols and styles of pistols may be equipped with a safety.
Such a pistol may be maintained or stored in several conditions of readiness for use. For instance, the pistol may be in a condition with a loaded magazine, loaded chamber with the hammer at full cock and with the thumb safety in the activated or “on safe” position. When the pistol is in this condition, the pistol operator can grasp the pistol by its grip, push off the thumb safety with the thumb of the shooting hand, and press the trigger when the pistol sights have been aligned on the selected target. When the thumb safety is pressed down into the off position, it may be held there by a detent or the like designed into the thumb safety which, when in this position, is aligned with a spring loaded plunger mounted on the frame of the pistol. The thumb safety is secured in the “off safe” position by this detent and plunger arrangement until pushed, intentionally or inadvertently, into the activated or “on safe” position by the thumb of the shooter.
The Model 1911 pistol may include a thumb safety lever on the left side of the frame for actuating or moving a stud connected to the inward side of the lever and within the pistol into a position which locks cartridge firing components, such as the hammer, the sear, and the trigger in positions against being able to move to cause a discharge of a cartridge within the chamber and the firing of a bullet. The thumb safety lever when moved upward into the “on safe” position may also move into an exposed notch in the breech-slide of the firearm to prevent movement of the breech-slide. See
Accordingly, the Model 1911 pistol includes safety components so that the shooter can manually move the pivotally mounted thumb lever safety upward into the on-safe position wherein the trigger, the hammer and the breech-slide are secured or locked against causing the discharge of a cartridge (making the pistol non-fireable), and the shooter can, at will, using thumb pressure depress the thumb lever safety downward to move the lever and the attached internal lock stud to a position wherein the sear, trigger and hammer can be actuated to cause the discharge of a cartridge and firing of a bullet, and the breech-slide is unlocked to allow the cycling of the pistol.
With the Model 1911 style pistol, the thumb safety lever will reside in the off safe or downward position (pistol in fireable state) when pushed into such position, and will not return to an on-safe position (pistol in non-fireable state) until manually moved thereto. Accordingly, the Model 1911 pistol provides a relatively safe design of pistol with its features including the trigger/sear lock, hammer lock, and breech-slide lock operatively associated with the thumb safety lever, i.e., engaged and disengaged with movement of the thumb lever safety.
Referring to
The pistol 10 is fired by reciprocating motion of the trigger 34. For example, the shooter's finger moves the trigger 34 inward toward the grip and the internal movable parts (sear, sear spring, etc.) of the pistol move the trigger 34 back outward into the ready position. The pistol may be fired as rapidly as the shooter can squeeze and let-up on the trigger 34 until such time as all of the cartridges have been fired. The breech-slide 30 locks into the rearward breech open position following the last cartridge being fired and the casing thereof ejected from the pistol, thereby providing a clear indication to the user that the pistol is out of ammunition.
As discussed above, the pistol 10 also includes a thumb lever safety 12 as above described for locking the trigger 34, the hammer 32 (i.e., cartridge firing components), and the breech-slide 30 when pivoted into the on-safe position (up toward the breech-slide 30 as shown in
According to an embodiment, the ambidextrous safety 12 shown in
Each of the safeties, 14 and 16, include a lever portion (which is intended to be engaged by a thumb of the shooter) and a plate, 42 and 44 respectively, from which the lever portion extends. In addition, interlocking shaft portions, 46 and 48, extend from the plates, 42 and 44, respectively on an opposite side of the plates, 42 and 44, relative to the lever portions. See
As best illustrated in
As best shown in
For purposes of reinforcing connection 54 and to prevent the fork 50 of the shaft 46 from spreading, a separate sleeve 56 is slid onto the shaft 40 during assembly such that the sleeve 56 directly and closely surrounds and supports the interlocking shaft portions 46 and 48 and extends directly about the tongue-and-groove connection 54. Little to no play should be enabled between the shaft 40 and sleeve 56.
As best shown in
The inner diameter “D3” of the sleeve 56 is sufficiently large to accommodate the diameter “D1” of the free end segments of the interlocking shaft portions but otherwise closely abuts against the outer diameter of the free end segments of the interlocking shaft portions such that no play or movement of the sleeve 56 can occur relative to the free end segments, 62 and 64. In addition, preferably the inner diameter “D3” of the sleeve 56 is less than the diameter “D1” of the base segments, 58 and 60, of the shaft portions so that the sleeve 56 abuts against the base segments, 58 and 60, and may not extend over the base segments, 58 and 60. In this manner, the sleeve 56 keeps the connection 54 tightly together, constricts and prevents any spreading of the fork 50, ensures smooth operation of the safety 12, and prevents any loosening or failure thereof.
In addition to the above components, the ambidextrous safety 12 may include a locking stud 66. The locking stud 66 may extend inward from the plate 42 of the right-thumb lever safety 14 in a position to engage the hammer and sear as discussed above for preventing movement of the trigger and hammer when the safety is positioned in the “on-safe” position, for instance, as shown in
In addition, the ambidextrous safety may include a hammer pin 68 that interconnects with the plate 44 via a slotted aperture 70 formed in the plate 44. See
The foregoing description and specific embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles thereof, and various modifications and additions may be made to the apparatus by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
