Patent Application
20130263840
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application JP2012-087272, filed on Apr. 6, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to toy guns (so-called open bolt type toy guns which use compressed gas) in which a bolt is moved by a user pulling a trigger, the bolt opens a valve to jet out compressed gas, and a bullet is fired by the pressure of the compressed gas.
The automatic action of an air gun is either fully automatic or semiautomatic. In a firing mechanism for fully automatic action, when a user continues pulling a trigger, bullets are continuously fired until all bullets are exhausted. Since a gun which adopts a fully automatic mechanism has a disadvantage that bullets and gas are consumed at an accelerated pace and the accuracy of fire may deteriorate due to the strong recoil of the gun, in some cases guns which adopt a semiautomatic mechanism are more popular. In a semiautomatic action, the trigger is temporarily disconnected from the firing device (bolt, hammer, sear, etc.).
For example, an air gun as shown in
Then, the compressed gas in the valve body 210 goes not only toward the muzzle but also toward the rear of the bolt to push the bolt backward, so the bolt begins moving backward against the biasing force of the bolt spring. After the bolt has moved back all the way, the bolt attempts to move forward by the biasing force of the bolt spring, but as shown in
At this time, as the user lets his/her finger go from the finger rest of the trigger, the initial state as shown in
However, if the gas pressure becomes low and the bolt fails to move backward to the position where it is locked by the sear, the bolt would reciprocate or move forward and backward and bullets would be fired continuously (fully automatically).
As mentioned above, a fully automatic gun has a disadvantage that bullets and gas are consumed at an accelerated pace and the accuracy of fire deteriorates due to the strong recoil of the gun. On the other hand, the conventional semiautomatic mechanism has a problem that if the gas pressure drops, bullets may be fired fully automatically.
With this background, the present invention has an object to provide a simpler mechanism which ensures reliable semiautomatic action for an open bolt type air gun in which the trigger is pulled with the bolt in its retracted position.
In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a simpler mechanism for semiautomatic action which includes a sear and/or an inner safety, and a trigger bar. More specifically, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toy gun which includes: a barrel extending in a longitudinal direction of a gun body; a valve body in the shape of a cylinder extending in the longitudinal direction of the gun body, forming therein an air chamber filled with compressed gas, communicating with a rear end of the barrel at a front side and having a through hole penetrating in the longitudinal direction of the gun body at a rear side; a discharge valve located inside the valve body, provided movably between a closed position for closing communication between the barrel and the air chamber and an open position, more forward than the closed position, for opening the communication between the barrel and the air chamber; a discharge valve spring pushing the discharge valve backward and bringing the discharge valve into the closed position; a bolt located slidably in the longitudinal direction of the gun body, having an opening at the front and a closed end at the rear, having therein a contact part for pushing the discharge valve from behind, having, on a lateral side, a cam part oriented backward from a portion extending in a forward direction of the gun body, and having a locking projection extending downward from a bottom of the rear closed end and sloping upward from front to back; a bolt spring pushing the bolt forward; a sear located below the bolt, having a projection to come into contact with the locking projection of the bolt; a first trigger bar located turnably below the sear, having a bolt contact part extending upward at or around a front end to come into contact with the cam part of the bolt, and on a lateral side, a locking projection for locking the sear; an inner safety located forward of the sear, having a projection to come into contact with the locking projection of the bolt; and a second trigger bar located below the inner safety and forward of the first trigger bar, slidably in the longitudinal direction, having on a lateral side a locking projection for locking the inner safety.
Preferably, in the above toy gun, the sear includes a shaft, a backward protrusion extending backward from the shaft, a downward protrusion extending downward from the shaft, and a locking projection protruding upward from a rear end of the backward protrusion to come into contact with the locking projection of the bolt and/or the inner safety includes a shaft, a backward protrusion extending backward from the shaft, a downward protrusion extending downward from the shaft, and a locking projection protruding upward from a rear end of the backward protrusion to come into contact with the locking projection of the bolt.
Furthermore, in the above toy gun, preferably the cam part of the bolt is so shaped as to have a front flat portion, a middle slope, and a rear flat portion in order continuously from front to back.
Furthermore, in the above toy gun, preferably the first trigger bar and the second trigger bar are arranged so that when the valve moves backward and engages with the sear and the trigger coupled to the first trigger bar is in its initial state, the front end of the first trigger bar comes into contact with the rear end of the second trigger bar and the first trigger bar and the second trigger bar are in alignment with each other.
According to the present invention, in an open bolt type automatic air gun, even if the trigger is continuously pulled, bullets are prevented from being fired continuously because the bolt is locked by the sear. In other words, a single firing action takes place each time the trigger is pulled once and even if the trigger is continuously pulled, the firing action is not repeated. In addition, according to the present invention, this semiautomatic firing mechanism can be implemented by a relatively simple mechanism including a sear and a trigger bar with a sear locking projection. In addition, according to the present invention, the adoption of an inner safety and a second trigger bar with an inner safety locking projection prevents accidental continuous firing even if the compressed gas pressure drops.
In this specification, “semiautomatic” means a mode of action that a bullet is fired once by pulling a trigger once and even if the trigger is continuously pulled, the firing action is not repeated. Next, embodiments which are illustrative of the present invention will be described but the present invention is not limited thereto.
First, the components located in the front portion of the toy gun 101 will be described. The toy gun 101 includes a frame 1 as a housing, and a barrel 14. In this embodiment, the frame 1 is part of the gun body and defines the front-back or longitudinal direction of the toy gun 101. The barrel 14 is a tubular member extending in the longitudinal direction of the gun body. The front end of the barrel 14 is a muzzle. The inside diameter of the barrel 14 is almost equal to the diameter of the bullet B. The barrel 14 is located on the front side of the frame 1. In this embodiment, the barrel 14 protrudes from the frame 1 in the forward direction of the gun body. Alternatively, the barrel 14 may be housed in the frame 1.
The bolt 2 is a cylindrical member housed in the frame 1, extending in the longitudinal direction of the gun body and located in a way that it can slide freely in the longitudinal direction of the gun body. The front of the bolt 2 is an open end. A cocking lever (not shown) is attached to the bolt 2 so that the bolt 2 can be moved backward manually. The rear of the bolt 2 is a closed end. A hit pin 21 is provided at the closed end, protruding toward the valve body 18. The hit pin 21 is fitted into the fitting hole at the rear end of the valve body 18. The bolt 2 has a cam part 2a on a lateral side thereof. The cam part 2a is oriented backward from its portion extending in the forward direction of the gun body. As shown in
The valve body 18 is a cylindrical member fixed in the frame 1. The outside diameter of the valve body 18 is smaller than the inside diameter of the bolt 2. As the bolt 2 moves forward, the bolt envelops the valve body 18. A space for a discharge valve 19 to slide forward is provided in the inner front space of the valve body 18. A rear lid 18a is attached to the rear end of the valve body. The rear lid 18a has a through hole which enables the outside of the valve body 18 to communicate with the inside of the discharge valve 19. The rear of the through hole has a larger inside diameter to function as a fitting hole. The hit pin 21 of the bolt 2 is fitted into the fitting hole from outside the valve body 18. Also a sliding projection provided on the discharge valve 19 enters into the through hole from inside the valve body 18. This sliding projection protrudes on the fitting hole side. A gas inlet path 18b is formed in the valve body 18. For the gas inlet path 18b, the valve body 18 is shaped so as to have a downward protrusion and is fitted in the frame 1, protruding downward. A compressed gas cylinder 24 is attached to the tip of the gas inlet path 18b. The compressed gas cylinder 24 feeds compressed gas into the valve body through the gas inlet path. An air chamber 17 is formed inside the valve body 18. A gas passage 16 extends from the front of the air chamber 17. The rear of the air chamber 17 is closed by the rear lid 18a.
The discharge valve 19 is a cylindrical member with an open front end. The outside diameter of the discharge valve 19 is smaller than the inside diameter of the valve body. This discharge valve 19 is located inside the valve body 18 to form the air chamber 17 between the valve body 18 and discharge valve 19. A flange part 19a and a sliding projection 19b are provided on the rear end side of the discharge valve 19. The flange part 19a radially protrudes from the periphery of the valve. The sliding projection 19b enters into the through hole and protrudes on the fitting hole side. The discharge valve 19 forms a straight path and a sloped path for compressed gas to pass through. The straight path has an opening on the front end face of the valve, stretching in the longitudinal direction of the barrel 14. The sloped path is continuous with the straight path, stretching in a direction sloped with respect to the straight path with an opening between the flange part 19a and sliding projection 19b. An O ring 19c and a washer 19d are fitted to the periphery of the front end of the discharge valve 19. The O ring 19c lies between the washer 19d and the inner wall of the valve body 18. A discharge valve spring 20 is located between the washer 19d and flange part 19a and disposed in a way to be wound around the discharge valve 14. The discharge valve spring 20 pushes the washer 19d forward and pushes the O ring 19c against the inner wall of the valve body 18. The discharge valve spring 20 pushes the flange part 19a against a packing 19e. This blocks the communication between the straight path and sloped path in the discharge valve and the air chamber.
The trigger 12 is located below the frame 1. The trigger 12 is attached to the frame 1 in a way to be rotatable around a fulcrum. The trigger 12 has a finger rest 12a and an upward extension 12b. The finger rest 12a extends downward from the fulcrum and the upward extension 12b extends upward from the fulcrum. The trigger bar A 6 is turnably coupled to the top end of the upward extension 12b. The upward extension 12b is biased by the trigger spring 13 clockwise as seen in the figure. Just after the trigger is turned with a finger on the finger rest 12a, the upward extension 12b does not turn. As the finger rest 12a turns to a certain extent, the finger rest 12a and the upward extension 12b touch each other and the upward extension 12b begins turning, which moves the trigger bar A 6 forward. This is a safeguard which prevents a bullet from being fired even if a finger accidentally touches the finger rest 12a and moves it. This safeguard is omissible and the finger rest 12a and upward extension 12b may be integrated to make up the trigger 12.
The trigger bar A 6 is turnably located above the trigger 12 in the frame 1. A bolt contact part 6a at the top of the trigger bar A 6 comes into contact with the cam part 2a of the bolt 2. As the bolt contact part 6a moves up and down along the cam part 2a of the bolt 2, the trigger bar A 6 turns according to forward and backward reciprocating motion of the bolt 2. As the bolt 2 moves, the bolt 2 turns the trigger bar A 6, which causes the trigger bar A 6 to engage with, or disengage from, the sear 4. The trigger bar A 6 has a sear locking projection 6b on a lateral side thereof. Although the sear locking projection is located on the lower part of the lateral side of the trigger bar A 6 in the example shown in the figure, its location is not limited thereto as far as it is located on a lateral side of the trigger bar A. The trigger bar A 6 is biased toward the bolt by the trigger bar A spring 7 at or around the muzzle side end. The trigger bar A 6 has a trigger bar B contact part 6c at or around the muzzle side end. In the state shown in
The trigger bar B 8 is located forward of the trigger bar A 6 in a way to be slidable forward and backward. An inner safety locking projection 8a is provided on a lateral side of the trigger bar B 8. The trigger bar B 8 is biased backward by the trigger bar B spring 9. The trigger bar B 8 has a slope part 8b on its front portion.
The sear 4 is turnably located below the bolt 2 and bolt spring in the frame 1. The sear 4 includes a shaft, a backward protrusion 4b extending backward of the shaft, and a downward protrusion 4c extending downward from the shaft. A bolt locking projection 4a which protrudes upward to stop forward movement of the bolt 2 is provided on the gun rear end side upper portion of the backward protrusion 4b of the sear 4. A sear spring 5 is provided under the backward protrusion of the sear 4. The sear spring 5 biases the sear 4 counterclockwise as seen in the figure and holds up the backward protrusion 4b. While the backward protrusion 4b of the sear 4 is held up, the bolt 2 cannot move forward.
The inner safety 10 is turnably located below the bolt 2 and bolt spring 3 in the frame 1 like the sear 4, nearer to the muzzle end than the sear. Also it is similar to the sear in that it includes a shaft, a backward protrusion 10b extending backward of the shaft, a downward protrusion 10c extending downward from the shaft and a bolt locking projection 10a, provided on the gun rear end side upper portion of the backward protrusion, which protrudes upward to stop forward movement of the bolt 2. An inner safety spring 11 is provided on the backward protrusion 10b. The inner safety spring 11 biases the inner safety 10 counterclockwise as seen in the figure and holds up the backward protrusion 10b. While the backward protrusion 10b of the inner safety 10 is held up, the bolt 2 cannot move forward. The inner safety 10 in its initial state is in contact with the locking projection 2b at the rear end of the bolt 2. In this embodiment, the sear 4 and inner safety 10 are almost equal in size and similar to each other in appearance; however, the sear 4 and inner safety 10 may differ in size depending on the type of gun.
If the gun in the initial state is tilted, the bolt 2 may move forward, which might cause the hit pin in the bolt 2 to hit the valve and result in an accidental firing. The inner safety prevents forward movement of the bolt 2 in its initial position in order to avoid such an accidental firing.
A magazine 15 is located at the rear end of the barrel 14. In this embodiment, the magazine is detachably housed in a grip A together with the compressed air cylinder 24; alternatively it may be located forward of the grip. In this embodiment, the magazine 15 includes a cylinder as a cylindrical member and a box type magazine body with a cylinder at one end or both ends. The cylinder has one or more bullet holding holes on its bottom and can turn around the shaft. The bullet holding hole is a hole which is large enough to house a bullet (either a BB bullet or a pellet bullet or both). For an air gun having this type of magazine 15, a nail or similar means for turning the magazine 15 is needed (as explained later). However, the magazine need not be of the rotary type. The type of magazine 15 may vary depending on the shape of the gun; for example, it may be a box type magazine which is inserted from below.
If the rotary magazine 15 is used as in this embodiment, a nail 22 is provided in the gun body. The nail 22 rotates the magazine 15 and places the bullet holding hole in a position opposite to the rear end of the barrel 14. The nail 22 is coupled to a nail support arm 23 turnably provided on the frame 1 and located above the slope portion 8b of the trigger bar B 8.
Next, “cocked state” will be explained referring to
As the user pulls the bolt 2 backward, the bolt 2 moves backward against the biasing force of the bolt spring 3. In the course of backward movement of the bolt 2, the locking projection 2b of the bolt 2 touches the bolt locking projection 4a of the sear 4 and rides over it. At this instant, the sear 4 turns against the biasing force of the sear spring 5. As the bolt 2 further moves backward and reaches the most retracted position, the locking projection 2b of the bolt 2 locks the bolt 2 with the bolt locking projection 4a of the sear 4 to stop the bolt 2.
The trigger bar A 6, which has been held down by the bolt 2, turns as the bolt 2 moves backward. As the bolt 2 moves backward, the bolt contact part 6a of the trigger bar A 6 moves from the rear flat portion of the cam part 2a of the bolt 2 through the slope portion and comes into contact with the front flat portion. The trigger bar A 6 stops turning at the instant it virtually comes into alignment with the trigger bar B 8.
Next, a state in which the sear is released from the bolt after the trigger is pulled will be explained referring to
As the user pulls the trigger 12, the trigger bar A 6 engaged with the trigger 12 moves forward (arrow in the figure). The sear locking projection 6b of the trigger bar A 6 also moves forward and pushes the sear 4 to turn the sear 4. As the trigger bar A 6 moves forward, the trigger bar B contact part 6c at the front of the trigger bar A 6 touches the rear of the trigger bar B 8 and the trigger bar B 8 also begins moving forward (arrow in the figure). The inner safety locking projection 8a of the trigger bar B 8 also moves forward and pushes the inner safety 10 to turn the inner safety 10. As the trigger bar B 8 moves forward, the nail support arm 23 turns while ascending the slope portion 8b of the trigger bar B 8, and the nail 22 coupled to the nail support arm 23 moves up and engages with the magazine 15 to turn the magazine 15. As a consequence, the bullet in the magazine 15 is brought into alignment with the barrel 14. As the sear 4 turns, the bolt locking projection 4a of the sear 4 is no longer in a position to lock the bolt 2. Also, as the inner safety 10 turns, the bolt locking projection 10a of the inner safety 10 is in a position not to interfere with the bolt 2. Therefore, immediately after the bolt 2 and the sear 4 are unlocked from each other, the bolt 2 quickly moves forward by the biasing force of the bolt spring 3.
Next, a state in which forward movement of the bolt pushes down the trigger bar A and the sear returns to its initial state will be explained referring to
As the bolt 2 moves forward, the bolt contact part 6a of the trigger bar A 6 moves from the front flat portion and comes into contact with the middle slope. Consequently the trigger bar A 6 is pushed down gradually. This unlocks the sear 4 from the sear locking projection 6b of the trigger bar A 6 and returns the sear 4 to its initial position by the biasing force of the sear spring 5. At this moment, the trigger bar A 6 and trigger bar B 8 are still barely in contact with each other.
Next, a state in which the bolt further moves forward will be explained referring to
Next, a state in which the bolt opens the valve will be explained referring to
As the bolt 2 continues moving forward, the hit pin 21 in the bolt 2 hits the discharge valve 19 in the valve body 18. This moves the discharge valve 19 forward and breaks the air tightness in the valve body 18. Then, compressed gas which fills the inside of the valve body 18 flows through the gas passage in the discharge valve 19 toward the bullet in the rotary magazine 15. The bullet is fired through the barrel 14 by the gas pressure.
On the other hand, the bolt contact part 6a of the trigger bar A 6 moves from the middle slope on the bottom of the bolt and touches the rear flat portion. Consequently the trigger bar A 6 is further pushed down by the bolt 2. Due to the biasing force of the trigger bar B spring 9, the trigger bar B 8 moves backward and rides over the trigger bar B contact part 6c of the trigger bar A 6 which is held down. Consequently the trigger bar B 8 stops moving backward. As the trigger bar B 8 moves backward, the nail support arm 23 turns while descending the front slope of the trigger bar B 8 and the nail 22 coupled to the nail support arm 23 disengages from the rotary magazine 15 and moves down. As the trigger bar B 8 moves backward, the inner safety 10 and the inner safety locking projection 8a of the trigger bar B 8 depart from each other. Therefore, the inner safety 10 attempts to turn counterclockwise (as seen in the figure) by the biasing force of the inner safety spring 11 in order to return to its initial position; however, the locking projection 2b of the bolt 2 comes into contact with the inner safety 10 and prevents it from turning, so it cannot return to the initial position.
Next, a state in which the bolt begins moving backward and the inner safety returns to its initial state will be explained referring to
The compressed gas in the valve body 18 flows not only toward the magazine 15 but also backward or toward the bolt 2 and pushes the bolt 2 backward. Consequently the bolt 2 begins moving backward against the biasing force of the bolt spring 3. As the bolt 2 moves backward and the bolt 2 and the inner safety 10 depart from each other, the inner safety 10 returns to its initial position by the biasing force of the inner safety spring 11.
Next, a state in which the bolt moves backward and is locked by the sear will be explained referring to
When the user lets his/her finger go from the finger rest of the trigger 12 in this state, the upward extension 12b turns clockwise by the trigger spring 13. Consequently the trigger bar A 6, turnably coupled to the top end of the upward extension 12b, moves backward and returns to the state as shown in
After that, again the bolt 2 is pushed and moved backward by the compressed gas in the valve body 18 and locked by the sear which has returned to its initial state. By repeating the above cycle, bullets can be fired continuously or semiautomatic shooting can be performed.
Next, a state in which the bolt stops since the bolt fails to move backward enough to touch the sear due to a gas pressure drop will be explained referring to
It may happen that the bolt 2 cannot move backward enough to engage with the sear 4 due to a gas pressure drop caused by continuous shooting. In that case, the bolt 2 stops moving backward without engagement between the locking projection 2b of the bolt 2 and the bolt locking projection 4a of the sear 4 and due to the biasing force of the bolt spring 3, the bolt 2 begins moving forward again. At this time, the inner safety 10 is in its initial position, so the locking projection 2b of the bolt 2 touches and engages with the bolt locking projection 10a of the inner safety 10, thereby hampering forward movement of the bolt 2. Meanwhile, there is enough space between the hit pin 21 and discharge valve 19. Therefore, the hit pin 21 in the bolt 2 does not hit the discharge valve 19 and no bullet firing occurs. In this state, by returning the trigger 12, the trigger bar A 6 moves backward and returns to its initial position and the state (initial state) shown in
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the present disclosure. Various modifications and alternations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teaching herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements and methods which, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure and are thus within the sprit and scope of the present disclosure. In addition, to the extent that the prior art knowledge has not been explicitly incorporated by reference herein above, it is explicitly being incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-087272 | Apr 2012 | JP | national |
