Patent Application
20150101228
The present disclosure relates generally to safety systems, and, more particularly, to a modified magazine for live-round prevention in a firearm.
Firearm safety is an increasingly important issue. Generally, the overall purpose of firearm safety is to eliminate or minimize the risks of unintentional death, injury, or damage caused by improper possession, storage, or handling of firearms. One major area of concern is the prevention of inadvertent discharge of a firearm loaded with real, or live, ammunition, particularly in instances in which the firearm was thought to be either unloaded or loaded with blank ammunition. This is an ongoing concern in fields in which the handling and use of firearms is routine, such as the military and law enforcement.
Military forces, for example, conduct drills, simulated combat, and training exercises using live-fire firearms loaded with blank ammunition in place of live ammunition, so as to provide a realistic element to the situation. The term “live-fire” as used herein refers to the ability of the firearm to discharge live ammunition. The military is aware that extra precaution is required so as to ensure that the firearm is loaded only with blank cartridges during these exercises. However, blank-fire operations are inherently dangerous because a live cartridge, or round, may be inserted, either mistakenly or intentionally, into a firearm, creating the possibility that a user will discharge the live round, which may injure or kill another participant.
For example, in order to simulate combat against an enemy, blank-fire training often calls for a participant to “fire” a blank-loaded weapon at other participants in the training exercise who are acting as opposing forces. When a live round is introduced into the weapon and fired at a participant, serious injury and death may result.
In some training exercises, the military utilizes civilian personnel and equips them with weapons that are live-fire capable, but loaded with blank ammunition. The inclusion of civilians in training exercises has proven to be very useful, as civilians provide the necessary diversity, friction and realism required. However, even with screening and background checks, the issue remains that one or more of the civilians may be a rogue individual trying to bring harm to the personnel being trained and may thus intentionally load a weapon with live ammunition so as to cause harm to other participants. Furthermore, an improperly trained civilian may inadvertently load a weapon with live ammunition, thus presenting a situation in which the discharge of a live round may result, which may injure or kill another participant.
There are currently a variety of different safety systems that are directed to reducing the risk of unwanted discharge of live ammunition, particularly in training situations. For example, some firearms are manufactured solely for the purpose of firing non-standard blank cartridges, such that they are not live-fire capable. However, such “training-only” firearms take away from realistic training, are limited in their use (e.g., not live-fire capable), and may be costly. Some systems include blank-firing adapters (BFA) positioned at the end of a barrel of a firearm. The BFA generally allows blank cartridges to cycle with most automatic firearms. The BFA is designed such that if a live round is mistakenly fired, most of the energy is spent colliding with and smashing through the BFA, reducing both the range and damage inflicted by the live round. However, trainees may forget to check whether the weapon has been loaded with live ammunition. If the weapon is loaded with a live round and fired, artillery from the magazine will strike the BFA, causing the gun to explode in the hands of the operator.
Additionally, standard magazines have been used to hold live rounds, blank rounds, and non-lethal training rounds. Unfortunately, using the same standard magazine for holding both live rounds and blank/training rounds can be hazardous if a live round is intermixed with blank/training rounds within the same magazine. For example, prior to inserting a magazine into a receiver of a firearm, a user may check the magazine to determine the type of round (e.g., live, blank, training, etc.) loaded. However, the user may only see blank rounds loaded at the top of the magazine, while one or more live rounds may be intermixed and loaded within the magazine at a lower level, which is not visible to the user. As such, the user may not be aware that the standard magazine contains one or more live rounds within. The magazine may then be inserted into the magazine well of a firearm, and the live round(s) will be fired in the midst of the blank/training rounds, which may result in injury or death to those in the line of fire.
The present disclosure is generally directed to a safety mechanism for preventing discharge of live ammunition from a firearm. In particular, the present invention includes a modified magazine adapted to prevent live ammunition from being loaded into the magazine, subsequently preventing loading of the live ammunition into the chamber of a firearm, thereby rendering the firearm completely safe for use in training scenarios, while maintaining maximum realism.
In certain aspects, the invention includes a modified magazine for use with a firearm. The modified magazine includes one or more safety modifications to a standard magazine. In one aspect, a standard magazine is modified by way of a restriction plate disposed within a cavity of the magazine. The restriction plate is securely coupled to an interior surface of a front wall of the magazine. The restriction plate generally corresponds to the shape and contour of the front wall and runs along an entire length of the front wall, from the upper end to the lower end of the magazine. The restriction plate has a thickness sufficient to reduce the size (e.g., length from rear wall to front wall) of the opening of the magazine to prevent loading of a live round of ammunition into the magazine.
In one aspect, the length of the modified opening of the magazine, as reduced by the thickness of the restriction plate, is less than the length of the live round of ammunition, thereby preventing the loading and/or feeding of a live round of ammunition into the magazine and further preventing subsequent loading of a live round of ammunition into the firearm. The reduced size of the opening, however, is sufficient to receive blank rounds of ammunition. The modified magazine may further include a visual indication (e.g. marking) for providing indication that the magazine is limited to use with blank rounds and any firearm equipped with such a magazine is blank-fire only.
The modified magazine of the present invention reduces accidental or deliberate firing of live ammunition, particularly during non-live fire training. The modified magazine prevents chambering of a live round of ammunition, thereby preventing the chance of discharge of a live round from the firearm. The modifications described herein are adaptable to most weapon systems, and are especially suitable for magazines for automatic weapons, including assault rifles. The embodiments of the invention described herein provide relatively simple and effective modifications to previously live-fire capable weapons, thereby providing realistic Opposing Forces or Opposition Force (OPFOR) weapons that produce an effective sound signature. The embodiments described herein increase safety, require less inspections and supervisory personnel, and provide realistic training.
Features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments consistent therewith, which description should be considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.
By way of overview, the present disclosure is generally directed to a safety mechanism for preventing discharge of live ammunition from a firearm. In particular, the present invention includes a modified magazine adapted to prevent live ammunition from being loaded into the magazine, subsequently preventing loading of live ammunition into the chamber of a firearm to which the magazine is coupled, thereby rendering the firearm completely safe for use in training scenarios, while maintaining maximum realism.
In certain aspects, the invention includes one or more modifications to a standard magazine for use with a firearm. The modified magazine includes one or more safety modifications to a standard magazine. In one aspect, a standard magazine is modified by way of a restriction plate disposed within a cavity of the magazine. The restriction plate is securely coupled to an interior surface of a front wall of the magazine. The restriction plate generally corresponds to the shape and contour of the front wall and runs along an entire length of the front wall, from the upper end to the lower end of the magazine. The restriction plate has a thickness sufficient to reduce the size (e.g., length from rear wall to front wall) of the opening of the magazine to prevent loading of a live round of ammunition into the magazine.
In one aspect, the length of the modified opening of the magazine, as reduced by the thickness of the restriction plate, is less than the length of the live round of ammunition, thereby preventing the loading and/or feeding of a live round of ammunition into the magazine and further preventing subsequent loading of a live round of ammunition into the firearm. The reduced size of the opening, however, is sufficient to receive blank rounds of ammunition. The modified magazine may further include a visual indication (e.g. marking) for providing indication that the magazine is limited to use with blank rounds and any firearm equipped with such a magazine is blank-fire only.
The modified magazine of the present invention reduces accidental or deliberate firing of live ammunition, particularly during non-live fire training. The modified magazine prevents chambering of a live round of ammunition, thereby preventing the chance of discharge of a live round from the firearm. The modifications described herein are adaptable to most weapon systems, and are especially suitable for automatic weapons, including assault rifles. The embodiments of the invention described herein provide relatively simple and effective modifications to previously live-fire capable weapons, thereby providing realistic Opposing Forces or Opposition Force (OPFOR) weapons that produce an effective sound signature. The embodiments described herein increase safety, require less inspections and supervisory personnel, and provide realistic training.
Turning to
The firearm 10 includes a body 12, including a receiver assembly 14, a stock 16, and a barrel 18. As shown, the barrel 18 generally defines the forward portion of the firearm 10 and the stock 16 defines the rearward portion of the firearm 10. The firearm 10 further includes a handle 20, a trigger 22, and trigger guard 24 coupled to the body 12 and receiver assembly 14. The receiver assembly 14 may serve as a support for all major components and may house action components (not shown) of the firearm 10, and, through a series of cam ways, may control operation (e.g., firing) of the firearm 10. The firearm 10 also includes a detachable magazine 26 attached to the receiver assembly 14, wherein the magazine 26 stores and provides ammunition to be discharged by the firearm 10. The barrel 18 may include a grip 28 component as a well as a sight 30 coupled thereto. The firearm 10 may include other features known in the art.
The magazine 26a has an upper end 32 with a magazine opening 33 adapted to receive blank rounds of ammunition and a lower end 34 including a base plate 36. The magazine 26a further includes a front wall 38 and an opposing rear wall 40, both of which extend from the upper end 32 to the lower end 34. The magazine also includes opposing sidewalls 41a, 41b (shown in
As shown, the restriction plate 44 has a shape that generally corresponds to the shape and/or contour of the interior surface of the front wall 38. The restriction plate 44 further runs along the entire length of the front wall 38, from the upper end 32 to the lower end 34 of the magazine 26a. In other embodiments, the restriction plate 44 may only extend along a portion of the interior surface of the front wall 38.
The restriction plate 44 may include a material having sufficient strength and durability to resist the wear accompanied with military applications. For example, the restriction plate 44 may include the same, or substantially similar, material(s) from which the magazine 26a is constructed and/or from which other components of the firearm 10 are constructed. The restriction plate 44 may include a metal, such as aluminum, steel, metal alloy, etc. The restriction plate 44 may include any other known materials having sufficient strength and durability for resisting wear, such as carbon fiber. It should be noted that the restriction plate 44 may be provided separately from a magazine, such that the restriction plate can be added post-manufacture of the magazine (e.g., in the field). In other embodiments, the restriction plate 44 may be included within the magazine during the manufacturing process.
As described in greater detail herein, the restriction plate 44 is configured to prevent or reduce the possibility of loading a live round of ammunition into the magazine 26a. More specifically, the thickness of the restriction plate 44 reduces the overall size (e.g. length) of the cavity 42 of the magazine 26a, thereby preventing previously loadable live rounds from being loaded in the reduced cavity 42. Inclusion of the restriction plate 44 may therefor require modification to one or more components of the magazine 26a to account for the reduced size. For example, the front lip of a magazine follower, indicated by arrow 48, may need to be modified so as to allow the follower to fit within reduced cavity 42. Additionally, the internal spring 50 is shaped and/or sized to fit within the reduced cavity 42.
The restriction plate 44 results in a reduced cavity size so as to prevent loading of a live round into the magazine 26a. For example,
In the embodiments described herein, the magazine 26a is for use with a standard AK-47 assault rifle, which generally includes the standard 7.62×39 mm live round, having an overall length of 56.00 mm (from base, or rim portion, to tip of bullet). In this example, the original length L1 of the cavity 42 of the magazine 26a would be at least greater than or equal to 56.00 mm, the length L3 of the 7.62×39 mm live round, so as to receive the live round. However, the thickness T of the restriction plate 44 is sufficient to reduce the length L1 of the cavity 42 to a length of L2 when the restriction plate 44 is installed within the cavity 42, wherein the resulting length L2 is less than 56.00 mm, effectively preventing loading of the 7.62×39 mm live round into the cavity 42 of the magazine 26a. As generally understood, a round, or cartridge, of ammunition, may come in different lengths, shapes, and diameters depending on the type of firearm, and may further be dictated based on the specific type of bullet and/or case to be used. Accordingly, the restriction plate 44 may shaped and/or sized (e.g. thickness T) based on the type of live round associated with any specific firearm so as to prevent loading of such live rounds. Furthermore, in some instances, a variety of live rounds having different dimensions may be fired from the same weapon. Accordingly, the restriction plate 44 may shaped and/or sized (e.g. thickness T) to account for a variety of live rounds compatible with a single firearm so as to prevent loading of such a variety of rounds.
The reduced size of the cavity 42, however, may generally be sufficient (e.g. large enough) to allow loading of blank rounds of ammunition into the cavity 42. For example, a blank round 70 compatible with the modified magazine is shown in
The magazine 26a may be further modified to include visual indications (e.g. markings) for providing indication that the magazine 26a is a blank-only component (holds only blank rounds of ammunition). In particular, at least a portion of the lower end 34, including the floor plate 36, of the magazine 26a may include a visual marking, such as a specific color (e.g., blue), indicating the blank-firing operability. Use of visual indications will provide users with a quick method of visually inspecting weapons in training. Furthermore, it will prevent use of the blank-only magazine from being used in real combat situations in which live rounds are desired.
As previously described, a safety assembly consistent with the present disclosure is suitable for modification for magazines of any number of different firearm types. As such, the invention is not limited to use with a magazine of an AK-47 assault rifle, as generally depicted in the figures and described herein. Rather, it should be noted that the safety assembly may be used to modify most, if not all, firearm magazine types, including any magazine size (e.g., ammo capacity) and/or shape. For example, a safety assembly consistent with the present disclosure may be incorporated into a magazine having a storage capacity of any number of rounds (e.g., 1-, 5-, 10-, 20-, 30-, 40- rounds, etc.). Further, the safety assembly may be incorporated into a magazine having any number of shapes, such as the more common rectangular (e.g., handgun magazine, M14 magazine, etc.) or arcuate shape (e.g., M16 or AK-47 magazine), as well as a cylindrical drum (e.g., AK-75 magazine).
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a modified magazine for use with blank or non-lethal rounds. The modified magazine includes a magazine including a closed lower end and a front wall, an opposing rear wall, and opposing sidewalls extending from the closed lower end and terminating at an open upper end and forming a cavity within. The modified magazine further includes a restriction plate positioned within the cavity and coupled to an interior surface of the front wall. The restriction plate has a thickness sufficient to prevent insertion and storage of one or more live rounds of ammunition within the cavity while permitting insertion and storage of one or more blank or non-lethal rounds of ammunition within the cavity.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a safety assembly for preventing loading of live ammunition into a firearm. The safety assembly includes a firearm and a modified magazine coupled to the firearm and adapted to store and subsequently feed blank or non-lethal rounds of ammunition to the firearm. The modified magazine includes a magazine including a closed lower end and a front wall, an opposing rear wall, and opposing sidewalls extending from the closed lower end and terminating at an open upper end and forming a cavity within. The modified magazine further includes a restriction plate positioned within the cavity and coupled to an interior surface of the front wall. The restriction plate has a thickness sufficient to prevent insertion and storage of one or more live rounds of ammunition within the cavity while permitting insertion and storage of one or more blank or non-lethal rounds of ammunition within the cavity.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a modified magazine for storage and feeding of blank or non-lethal rounds of ammunition. The modified magazine includes a magazine comprising a closed lower end and a front wall, an opposing rear wall, and opposing sidewalls extending from the closed lower end and terminating at an open upper end and forming a cavity within. The modified magazine further includes a restriction plate positioned within the cavity and fixedly coupled to an interior surface of the front wall. The restriction plate has a shape corresponding to a shape and/or contour of the interior surface of the front wall and extends along the entire length of the front wall from the upper end to the lower end of the magazine. A length between a portion of an interior surface of the rear wall and a portion of an interior surface of the restriction plate is less than a length of a live round of ammunition for a firearm to which the magazine is couplable to and greater than or equal to a length of one or more blank rounds of ammunition.
While several embodiments of the present disclosure have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present disclosure. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present disclosure is/are used.
Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the disclosure described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present disclosure is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present disclosure.
All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms. The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified, unless clearly indicated to the contrary.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
References and citations to other documents, such as patents, patent applications, patent publications, journals, books, papers, web contents, have been made throughout this disclosure. All such documents are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Various modifications of the invention and many further embodiments thereof, in addition to those shown and described herein, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the full contents of this document, including references to the scientific and patent literature cited herein. The subject matter herein contains important information, exemplification and guidance that can be adapted to the practice of this invention in its various embodiments and equivalents thereof.
The present application is a non-provisional application that claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/890,538, filed Oct. 14, 2013 and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/890,540, filed Oct. 14, 2013, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61890540 | Oct 2013 | US | |
| 61890538 | Oct 2013 | US |
