Patent Application
20200217612
The present invention relates to firearms, and more particularly to a double-barreled revolver that utilizes the trigger lever and a separate guard element to collectively define a protected trigger space.
A revolver is a handgun having a revolving cylinder that includes multiple chambers and at least one barrel. Revolvers enable a shooter to fire multiple shots without reloading. Once a round is discharged, rearward movement of the trigger cocks the hammer and rotates the cylinder to align the next chamber with the barrel.
Revolvers having multiple barrels are well known. The Lefaucheux 20-Round is a double-barreled revolver with the barrels arranged vertically. The cylinder holds 20 rounds with two rows of ammunition. The inner chambers are spaced closer together than the outer chambers. The revolver features an oversized hammer that could discharge either barrel, but had the disadvantage of only discharging one chamber at a time per trigger pull. The Lefaucheaux 20-Round omits a conventional trigger guard. The Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen double-barrel revolver employed the same arrangement of chambers and barrels, and suffered from the same disadvantage of firing only one shot at a time. The Henrion, Dassy & Heuschen double-barrel revolver has a conventional trigger guard.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,173,221 to Ivy discloses a two-barrel revolver cylinder with different chamberings in a single cylinder. The barrels are arranged on radial concentric arcs. Ivy '221 teaches, “ . . . it [the firing pin striking block 26 mounted on the striking face of the hammer head 25H] may be adjusted to an intermediate position for striking both pins simultaneously to fire cartridges of different calibers.” However, Ivy '221 has the disadvantages of requiring the shooter to keep cartridges of different calibers and to perform an adjustment to the firing pin striking block in order to discharge two shots responsive to a single trigger pull. Ivy '221 has a conventional trigger guard.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved double-barreled revolver that utilizes the trigger lever and a separate guard element to collectively define a protected trigger space. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the double-barreled revolver according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of utilizing the trigger lever and a separate guard element to collectively define a protected trigger space.
The present invention provides an improved double-barreled revolver, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an improved double-barreled revolver that has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned above. To attain this, the preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a frame, a trigger lever having a central pivot bore pinned to the frame that rotates between a forward rest position and a rearward actuated position, the trigger lever having a free end extending away from the frame and opposite the first end that engages the hammer, a guard element forward of the trigger lever and having an upper end connected to the frame and a downwardly depending lower end, and the free end of the trigger lever being separated from the lower end of the guard element by a limited gap, such that the frame, trigger lever and guard element collectively define a protected trigger space. The gap may be less than 0.9 cm such that a user's finger may not enter the trigger space except from a lateral direction. The trigger lever may have an exposed actuation portion configured to be actuated by one or two fingers. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
An embodiment of the double-barreled revolver of the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral 10.
More particularly, the double-barreled revolver has a frame/hammer housing 12, a hammer subassembly 14, a hammer strut pin 16, a cylinder 18, a trigger lever 20, a cylinder latch bolt 22, a hammer strut 24, a rotation hand 26, a firing block blade 28, two main springs 30, a barrel body 32, two firing pins 34, a cylinder arm 36, a front port insert 38, a cylinder release 40, a grip cup 42, a cylinder ejector 44, two main spring guide rods 46, two firing pin cups 48, a cylinder arm pivot post 50, an ejector spring bushing 52, a cylinder pivot pin 54, two firing pin springs 56, an ejector spring 58, a hammer strut spring 60, two firing pin bushings 62, a trigger return hand spring 64, a bolt spring 66, a trigger pivot pin 68, a front frame pin 70, a hammer pivot pin 72, a strut plunger 74, a cylinder pivot spring 76, a cylinder bolt pin 78, a middle frame pin 80, a button head cap screw 82, a safety trigger tab 84, a main spring plate 86, two main spring cups 88, a trigger safe pin 90, an elastomer grip 92, a crane lock bolt 94, a crane lock plunger 96, a crane lock pin 98, an ejector spring screw tube 100, a crane bolt spring 102, two trigger bushings 104, a main spring hammer pin 106, a cylinder release pin 108, a barrel retaining screw 110, a trigger safety spring 112, and a trigger spring bushing 114.
The trigger lever 20 has a first end 116 pivotally pinned to the hammer housing 12 and is movable between a forward rest position (shown in
The trigger lever 20 has an exposed actuation portion 130 on a forward face 140 configured to be actuated by one or two fingers 132 (denoted by the dashed circles in
The exposed actuation portion 130 of the trigger lever 20 defines a vertical slot 136 in the uppermost of the adjacent concave finger contours 134. The trigger lever 20 is connected to the trigger safety/firing block blade 28. The trigger safety lever/safety trigger tab 84 has a lower end 138 that protrudes forward through the vertical slot when the trigger lever is in the forward at rest position (shown in
The hammer housing 12 has a top 144, bottom 146, front 148, rear 150, and a hollow interior 152. The top rear of the hammer housing defines an enclosed channel 154 that receives the hammer subassembly 14. The bottom rear of the hammer housing is received within the open top 156 of the grip cup 42 and the open top 158 of the elastomer grip 92. It should be appreciated that the grip cup and elastomer grip are molded as a composite part and are inseparable in the current embodiment. The seam between the grip cup/elastomer grip composite and the hammer housing forms a corner. The grip cup/elastomer grip composite is releasably secured to the bottom rear of the hammer housing by the button head cap screw 82, which is a #8-32 button head cap screw in the current embodiment. The bottom front of the hammer housing forms the guard element 120. The hammer housing also has a left side 160 and a right side 162.
The barrel body 32 has a top 164, bottom 166, front 168, rear 170, and defines a cavity 172. The top rear of the barrel body includes a rear boss 174 defining an aperture 176. When the rear boss is inserted into the hollow interior 152 of the hammer housing 12, aperture 176 is registered with an aperture 178 in the top rear of the hammer housing such that barrel retaining screw 110 can releasably secure the barrel body to the hammer housing. The top of the barrel body includes a front sight 180 and a rear sight 182. The front of the barrel body defines an aperture 184 that receives the front port insert 38. The front port insert defines two rifled barrel bores 186.
The cartridge cylinder 18 has a front 188 and a rear 190. The cartridge cylinder is rotatably mounted on the cylinder arm 36 and cylinder pivot pin 54 within the cavity 172 defined by the barrel body. The cartridge cylinder defines four pairs of chambers 192 for a total of eight chambers. Each chamber pair is separated by a quarter-turn of the cartridge cylinder (90°) and is sequentially registered with the barrels 186 as the trigger lever 20 is cycled to discharge the double-barreled revolver 10 and re-cock the hammer 14.
The hammer subassembly 14 is pivotally connected to the hammer housing 12 to pivot within the enclosed channel 154 in the top rear of the hammer housing. The hammer subassembly interfaces with the first end 116 of the trigger lever 20. The hammer subassembly has a single forward striking face 194 that is positioned to strike the blocker blade 28 that actuates two firing pins 34 that are positioned to discharge rimfire cartridges.
A pair of hammer spring/main springs 30 are operatively connected to the hammer subassembly to bias the striking face of the hammer subassembly toward the rear 190 of the cartridge cylinder 18. The hammer subassembly swings within the enclosed channel with a very small gap between the hammer subassembly and the hammer housing to minimize the overall size of the double-barreled pistol 10. The enclosed channel is an arcuate passage centered on the hammer subassembly pivot point 198.
The cylinder ejector 44 has a front 204 and a rear 206. The front of the extractor is inserted through the rear of an ejector bore 208 in the center of the cartridge cylinder and receives the ejector spring 58. The rear of the extractor is star-shaped, with gaps 208 that are axially registered with the four pairs of chambers 192. The user pushes the cylinder ejector rearward to extract unfired or discharged cartridges from the four pairs of chambers.
The shooter then has three options. The shooter can leave the double-barreled pistol 10 at rest in the safe condition with the trigger lever 20 in the forward rest condition. The user can pull the trigger lever again to simultaneously discharge the two rimfire cartridges in the new pair of chambers 192 that are registered with the two firing pins 34 and the two barrels 186. Or, the user can pivot the cartridge cylinder 18 out of the cavity 172 (shown in
More particularly, the hammer subassembly is heavier and larger than a conventional hammer so the hammer subassembly can simultaneously discharge two rimfire cartridges held within two chambers of a pair of chambers 192 that are registered with the barrels 186. As is shown in
In the context of the specification, the terms “rear” and “rearward,” and “front” and “forward” have the following definitions: “rear” or “rearward” means in the direction away from the muzzle of the firearm while “front” or “forward” means it is in the direction towards the muzzle of the firearm.
While a current embodiment of a double-barreled revolver has been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention or similar larger configurations for various calibers.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
