Patent Application
20110036233
This invention relates in general to silencers and in particular to devices and methods for indexing the silencer's orientation as it relates to the muzzle of the host firearm.
Firearms silencers are well known in the prior art. The advantages of reducing the muzzle blast, noise and flash signature of a discharging firearm are well known. The apparatus and method herein described pertains to a booster mechanism which facilitates the autoloading function of the host firearm when the, silencer is in place.
Autoloading handguns generally function by utilizing the energy generated by a discharged round of ammunition to extract, eject and load another round of ammunition. During the extraction and ejecting phase of operation, on “Browning” inspired designs, well known in the prior art, the barrel chamber drops below the level of the handgun's slide and the front of the barrel tilts up, above the axis of the slide. The addition of four or more ounces to the front of the barrel will typically prevent the proper operation of the handgun.
In general, effective silencer designs weigh more than four ounces. Due to weight considerations, a means to allow the host firearm to cycle was necessary. Boosters, as they are commonly referred to, are incorporated into the rear of a silencer to assist in the cycling of the host handgun. Some boosters work by increasing the pressure forced back into the handgun's operating system and others work by isolating the mass of the attached silencer through various means. Examples of these designs are found in the Advanced Armament Corp. ASAP system, Gemtech Tundra or the SWR Trident-9. In general the designs may work so as to allow the proper operating of the handgun, but fail to provide an effective, robust means by which to orient and adjust the orientation of the attached silencer.
Designs such as the Gemtech Tundra utilize a set screw which protrudes into the booster housing as a means to prevent the piston from freely rotating. Unfortunately these set screws can become threadedly unsecured inside of the housing allowing the silencer to rotate freely which will negatively affect the ability of the handgun to deliver accurate fire. Further, the set screw can break off inside of the housing with the same effect. The herein disclosed invention overcomes these weaknesses by providing a robust design which provides five solid indexing notches that positively engage the booster housing and prevents any unintended rotation of the associated silencer.
In the past, other booster designs have relied on specialized tools for the disassembly of the booster housing assembly for maintenance. Further, there was no other tool which could be substituted in emergency conditions for the proper maintenance of the booster housing. My design has no need of specialized tools because the retention cap incorporates surface structures which facilitate the disassembly of the booster assembly.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
Accordingly several objects and advantages of the present invention are
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
One embodiment of the proposed novel invention provides for a housing, piston, spring and retaining cap which are incorporated into an existing silencer and utilized on a handgun. The piston is machined so that it may be threadedly secured to the barrel of a firearm. The housing is designed to contain the piston and is threadedly secured to the silencer body. A centrally located aperture is provided at the distal end of the housing to allow a discharged projectile from a firearm to exit. The piston has an opening through its body, which aligns with the aperture of the housing which facilitates the passing through of a discharged projectile. A series of indexing notches are provided at the bottom of the housing where the piston is nested. The piston utilizes five spokes which interface with five, of ten, notches in the housing in any given orientation. This allows the piston to be oriented in ten different positions. A spring is placed in the housing after the piston is in place and retained by a retaining cap. The retaining cap is designed so that no tool is necessary to threadedly retain it in the housing. The spring provides force to prevent the piston from backing out of the housing except during the discharge of the handgun or the orientation of the piston within the silencer.
The novel features believed to be characteristic of the invention, together with further advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
Turning now to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate corresponding elements throughout the several views, attention is directed to
Improved booster for handgun silencers 10 is secured to a silencer 60 body by external mounting threads 21 located near the proximal end of the booster housing 20. Retention cap 50 secures piston 30 and coil spring 40 within booster housing 20. Silencer 60 utilizing the improved booster for handgun silencers 10 is threadedly secured about a firearm barrel 61 by piston retention threads 33. The user may adjust the orientation of silencer 60 as it relates to firearm barrel 61 by grasping silencer 60 and pulling it forward of the firearm. This motion compresses coil spring 40 and allows piston 30 to rotate freely. Once silencer 60 and booster housing 20 are rotated to the desired position, the user releases silencer 60 so that indexing spokes 34 and indexing notches 23 are allowed to once again interface and prevent rotational movement of the silencer 60 and piston 30 within the booster housing 20. The pentagonal shape of the indexing spokes 34 and the decagonal shape of booster housing 20 indexing notches 23 are machined so that the piston 30 may be oriented in one of ten positions at any given time.
Gripping surfaces 51 located about retention cap 50 allow the user to threadedly restrain retention cap 50 to booster housing 20 without the need for specialized tools. The o-ring 56 provided with retention cap 50 minimizes debris from escaping the booster housing 20 during normal use.
The improved booster 10 is designed to be incorporated into the proximal end of the silencer 60. Piston 30 utilizes threads 33 as a means to removably secure the improved booster 10, and thereby the silencer 60, to a firearm barrel 61. When expanding gases exit the firearm barrel 61, entering both the booster housing 20 and the silencer 60, the gases push the silencer away from the firearm thereby relieving the firearm barrel 61 of the silencer's weight during cycling. Coil spring 40 resists the movement of the silencer 60 and is thereby compressed. Piston stopping spokes 31 keep the firearm barrel's exit aperture 62 aligned with the centrally located void 26 (shown in
As used herein, the word “front” or “forward” or “distal” corresponds to the direction which a discharged projectile would pass through the improved booster housing 20 (i.e., to the left as shown in
Accordingly the reader will see that, according to the invention, I have provided a method for adjusting the orientation of a silencer while mounted on the barrel of a firearm. The orientation method requires no special tools and ten positions of adjustment are provided for. Further, the herein described invention requires no special tools for the disassembly of the booster housing during maintenance of the internal components. The improved booster for handgun silencers may be incorporated into any handgun silencer with very little modification to the original design and ensures the reliable auto loading function of the host firearm.
While my above drawings and description contain many specificities, these should not be constructed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one embodiment thereof.
Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
