Claims
- 1. An ammunition magazine for a firearm adapted to fire non-impact ammunition cartridges, said firearm including a frame and a backstrap module which houses an electronic firing apparatus for generating a firing signal, said ammunition magazine comprising:an elongated housing for accommodating said ammunition cartridges including a pair of edge members formed along opposing lateral edges of said housing adjacent a bottom end thereof, said housing being selectively insertable into a magazine chamber formed in said frame; an end cap including a pair of groove members formed along opposing lateral edges and adjacent a top end thereof, said pair of groove members selectively accommodating said pair of edge members thereby enabling said end cap to be secured to said bottom end of said housing; and a blind bore formed in said end cap for accommodating a battery, said blind bore having an open longitudinal end facing said top end of said end cap and an outwardly extending electrical contact pad being in electrical communication with a closed end of said blind bore, wherein said contact pad abuts and is in electrical communication with said backstrap module when said end cap is mated with said housing and said housing is inserted into said magazine chamber.
- 2. An ammunition magazine according to claim 1, further comprising:a follower disposed within said housing for supporting said ammunition cartridges; a magazine spring disposed within said housing below said follower; and a battery retainer disposed within said housing having an outer peripheral surface approximately corresponding to an inner peripheral surface of said housing, wherein said magazine spring biases said follower towards a firing chamber of said firearm, and biases said battery retainer in a direction towards said end cap.
- 3. An ammunition magazine according to claim 2, wherein:said battery retainer includes a blind battery bore for selectively accommodating said battery therein.
- 4. An ammunition magazine according to claim 3, wherein:said battery retainer further includes a downwardly extending lip shroud; and said blind bore of said end cap being sized to accommodate said lip shroud when said end cap is mated with said housing, thereby impeding removal of said end cap from said housing.
- 5. An ammunition magazine according to claim 4, wherein:said end cap further includes a pin hole extending from a bottom surface of said end cap into said blind bore, wherein insertion of a tool member through said pin hole shifts said battery and said lip shroud out of engagement with said blind bore thereby permitting removal of said end cap from said housing.
- 6. An ammunition magazine according to claim 1, wherein:said closed end of said end cap abuts a bottom portion of said battery; and said contact pad includes two spring biased steel contacts for abutting electrical terminals of said backstrap module, thereby communicating stored power of said battery to said firing apparatus.
- 7. An ammunition magazine for a firearm adapted to fire non-impact ammunition cartridges, said firearm including a frame and a backstrap module which houses an electronic firing apparatus for generating a firing signal, said ammunition magazine comprising:an elongated housing for accommodating said ammunition cartridges, said housing being selectively insertable into a magazine chamber formed in said frame; a battery; an end cap which is selectively secured to a bottom end of said housing for realeasably retaining said battery therein; said housing accommodating a magazine spring disposed between a follower member and a battery retainer for biasing said follower member towards said frame of said firearm and said battery retainer towards said end cap; wherein said battery retainer includes a battery chamber bore having a downwardly extending shroud; said end cap includes a blind bore; and said battery and said shroud extend into said blind bore, thereby prohibiting said end cap from disengaging from said housing.
- 8. An ammunition cartridge according to claim 7, wherein:said end cap includes a pair of grooves formed adjacent a top portion thereof for selective engagement with a matching pair of edges formed adjacent a bottom portion of said housing.
- 9. An ammunition cartridge according to claim 7, wherein:said end cap further includes a pin hole forming a passageway between a bottom surface of said end cap and into said blind bore.
- 10. An ammunition cartridge according to claim 7, wherein:said end cap includes an electrical contact pad extending therefrom for contacting said backstrap module when said end cap is mated with said housing and said housing is inserted into said magazine chamber.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Some of the material disclosed herein is disclosed and claimed in the following pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/205,391, filed Dec. 4, 1998, entitled: “FIRING CONTROL SYSTEM FOR NON-IMPACT FIRED AMMUNITION”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/206,013, filed Dec. 4, 1998, entitled: “FIREARM HAVING AN INTELLIGENT CONTROLLER”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/629,745, filed Jul. 31, 2000, entitled: “A SECURITY APPARATUS FOR USE IN A FIREARM”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,753, filed Aug. 21, 2000, entitled “AN ELECTRIC FIRING PROBE FOR DETONATING ELECTRICALLY-FIRED AMMUNITION IN A FIREARM”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/642,269, filed Aug. 18, 2000, entitled “A SLIDE ASSEMBLY FOR A FIREARM”; [“AN ELECTRONIC DISPLAY SCREEN FOR USE IN A FIREARM TO COMMUNICATE OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS TO A USER THEREOF”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/629,531, filed Jul. 31, 2000, entitled “A TRIGGER ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN A FIREARM HAVING A SECURITY APPARATUS”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/629,532, filed Jul. 31, 2000, entitled “A BACKSTRAP MODULE CONFIGURED TO RECEIVE COMPONENTS AND CIRCUITRY OF A FIREARM CAPABLE OF FIRING NON-IMPACT FIRED AMMUNITION”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/643,024, filed Aug. 21, 2000, entitled “A METHOD OF ASSEMBLING A FIREARM HAVING A SECURITY APPARATUS”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,722, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “AN ELECTRONICALLY FIRED REVOLVER UTILIZING PERCUSSIVELY ACTUATED CARTRIDGES”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,696, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “AN ELECTRONIC SIGHT ASSEMBLY FOR USE WITH A FIREARM”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,709, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “A FIRING MECHANISM FOR USE IN A FIREARM HAVING AN ELECTRONIC FIRING PROBE FOR DISCHARGING NON-IMPACT FIRED AMMUNITION”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,739, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “A FIRING PROBE FOR USE IN A NON-IMPACT FIREARM”; pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,837, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “A SECURITY APPARATUS FOR AUTHORIZING USE OF A NON-IMPACT FIREARM”; and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/616,697, filed Jul. 14, 2000, entitled “A BACKSTRAP MODULE FOR A FIREARM”, which are hereby incorporated by reference as part of the present disclosure.
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