U.S. patent number 3,713,242 [Application Number 05/123,183] was granted by the patent office on 1973-01-30 for safety device for small arms.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Rheinmetall GmbH. Invention is credited to Paul Seifried.
United States Patent |
3,713,242 |
Seifried |
January 30, 1973 |
SAFETY DEVICE FOR SMALL ARMS
Abstract
A safety device for small arms, which comprises a safety lever
and a trigger device connected with the safety device. The safety
lever is pivotally mounted on the underside of the small arms
directly in front of the trigger device crosswise to the operation
plane of the latter. The safety lever includes a part differently
limiting the movement range of the trigger device depending upon
the position of the safety lever, whereby the function positions of
the safety lever are disposed symmetrically on both sides thereto,
starting from the vertical median plane of the small arms.
Inventors: |
Seifried; Paul (Badenweiller,
DT) |
Assignee: |
Rheinmetall GmbH (Dusseldorf,
DT)
|
Family
ID: |
5765941 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/123,183 |
Filed: |
March 11, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
|
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Mar 21, 1970 [DT] |
|
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P 20 13 766.0 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
42/70.06;
89/142 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A
35/06 (20130101); F41A 17/22 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41A
17/00 (20060101); F41A 17/22 (20060101); F41A
35/00 (20060101); F41A 35/06 (20060101); F41c
017/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;42/7E ;89/142,148 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Borchelt; Benjamin A.
Assistant Examiner: Jordan; C. T.
Claims
I claim:
1. A safety device for small arms, comprising
a safety lever,
a trigger device connected with said safety device,
said safety lever being pivotably mounted on the underside of said
small arms directly in front of said trigger device crosswise to
the operation plane of the latter, and
said safety lever including a part differently limiting the
movement range of said trigger device depending upon the position
of said safety lever, whereby the function positions of said safety
lever being disposed symmetrically on both sides thereto, starting
from the vertical median plane of said small arms.
2. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein
said part comprises a disc connected with said safety lever and
rotatably mounted on the bottom side of an arms housing
perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of said arms,
said disc having an end face pointing to said arms housing,
said end face including a recess adjacent the outer diameter
coordinated to each of the function positions,
said recesses including a median recess corresponding with the
function position "firing" and being disposed diametrically
opposite of a handle of said safety lever,
said recesses including that for the function position "safe" is
disposed on both sides of and symmetrically to said median recess,
and
said recesses corresponding with said different function positions
have different depth and cooperate with a lever rigidly connected
with said trigger device.
3. The safety device, as set forth in claim 2, wherein
said disc has a height determining another function position of
said safety lever.
4. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein
said part comprises a disc-shaped segment rotatably mounted in an
arms housing parallel to the longitudinal axis of said arms,
said part includes abutments corresponding with a related function
position,
a median of said abutments corresponding with the function position
"firing" is disposed in the direction of a handle of said safety
lever,
said abutments including that for the function position "safe" is
disposed on both sides of and symmetrically to said median of said
abutments,
said abutments corresponding with the different function positions
have different distances from the rotary point of said segment, and
cooperate with a lever connected with said trigger device.
5. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein
said part has a resting recess coordinated to each of said function
positions, and
a resting device disposed in an arms housing and cooperating with
said resting recesses.
Description
The present invention relates to a safety device for small arms
with a safety lever connected with trigger device.
Safety devices for automatic small arms are known, the safety lever
of which is displaceable and rotatable, respectively, in different
resting positions, however, disadvantageously only on one side of
the arms. By this arrangement such lever is suitable for operation
either by the fingers of the right hand and/or of the left hand. In
the rifle known as G3, for example, the safety lever is disposed on
the left side of the arms. The operation of the safety lever takes
place in case of right-handed rifle men by means of the fingers of
the left as well as of the right hand. In case of left-handed rifle
men, the handling is found very complicated, since the rifle man
must grip over in view of the left trigger with the right hand over
the arms. In order to indicate to left-handed rifle men at least in
a simple manner in which function position the safety lever is
disposed, a bolt is secured to this lever, which is passed through
the housing and at its end provided on the right side of the
housing is a marker which indicates the prevailing function
position of the lever.
Furthermore, safety devices are also known, which are formed as
devices displaceable through the arms housing perpendicularly to
the arms axis. By this arrangement the individual resting positions
are obtained by the displacement by example of a bolt. These safety
devices offer, however, no absolute safety, since this bolt is
displaceably already in case of a comparatively easy hit on one of
its outer sides from its set function position. Furthermore, this
device must be operated alternately on the left and the right arms
side.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a safety
device for automatic arms, which selectively can be operated by a
right-handed person or a left-handed person equally easily and each
of which indicates immediately the present function position of a
rifle equipped with this device. Furthermore this device is to be
provided in a protective position and must be favorably produced as
to its costs.
It is another object of the present invention, to provide a safety
device for small arms, wherein the safety lever is pivotably
mounted on the bottom of the arms directly in front of the trigger
crosswise to its operation plane and has a part differently
limiting the movement range of the trigger depending upon the
position of the safety lever, whereby the function positions of the
safety lever, starting from the vertical center plane of the arms,
are symmetrically arranged on both sides thereof. By this
arrangement in front of the trigger guard, the safety lever is
provided in a protected position easily reachable by the rifle man.
From the symmetrical arrangement on both sides of the function
position results for left as well as for right-handed rifle men an
equally simple manipulation of the safety lever. In small arms for
military purposes each rifle man trained with this firearm can
ascertain even at night and without any difficulty and in case of
an exchanged rifle by sensing of the safety lever, in which
function position the latter is disposed.
In accordance with another feature of the present invention the
part limiting the movement range of the trigger comprises a disk
rotatably mounted on the arms on the bottom side of the arms
housing perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the firearm,
on the end face of which pointing towards the firearm housing close
to the outer diameter, a recess is formed coordinated to each
function position, of which a median recess, by example,
corresponding with the function position for "firing" is disposed
symmetrically opposite the safety lever, while the recesses, for
example, for function positions "safe" and under circumstances
other function positions in relation to the median recess are
symmetrically disposed from both sides, thereto, whereby the
recesses corresponding to the different function positions have
different depths and cooperate with a lever connected with the
trigger.
Furthermore in accordance with the present invention in the above
stated embodiment another function position of the safety lever is
determined by the height of the disk.
In a further embodiment, the part limiting the movement range of
the trigger comprises, in accordance with the present invention, a
disk shaped segment rotatably mounted parallel to the longitudinal
axis of the firearm in the firearm housing, which segment is,
corresponding to the prevailing function position, equipped with
abutments, the median of which, for example, the abutment
corresponding by example with the function position "firing" is
disposed in the direction of the safety lever while the abutments,
by example, for the function positions "safe" under the
circumstances further functions in relation to the median abutment
are from both sides symmetrically provided, whereby the abutments
corresponding with the different function positions have different
distances from the rotary point of the disk shaped segment and
cooperate with the lever rigidly connected to the trigger.
In the shown safety devices an easy handling and space saving
structure is brought about, which is desirable particularly in
small arms for military purposes. The pivoting range of the trigger
lever is limited directly, so that functional disturbances can be
excluded to a great extent. By the use of this relatively simple
safety device, a favorable solution is created thereby as to
costs.
In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the
part limiting the movement range of the trigger a resting recess,
coordinated to each function position, which recesses cooperate
with the resting device disclosed in the firearm housing. Thus it
is simplified for the rifle man by the resting of the resting
position in the resting recess the setting of the prevailing
function position, since a further movement over a resting position
is connected with an additional force.
With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in
the following detailed description the present invention which is
shown by example only, will be clearly understood in connection
with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a safety lever pivotably provided on the bottom side of
the firearm in direct connection with the trigger mechanism, which
is not shown;
FIG. 2 is a perspective showing of a safety lever in accordance
with FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an elevation of FIG. 1 in the arrow direction;
FIG. 4 is a safety lever perpendicular to the trigger and pivotable
in the arms housing in direct connection with the trigger
mechanism, which is not shown; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the safety lever shown in FIG.
4.
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses a section of an
arms housing 1, in which a trigger 2 is pivotable about an axis 3
and whereby the trigger 2 is arranged within a trigger guard 4
secured to the arms housing 1. The trigger 2 is equipped with a
stay 2a, which effects a trigger device (not shown). A safety lever
5 is pivotably disposed on the bottom side of the arms in front of
the trigger guard 4 as a disk 5b equipped with a handle 5a. On the
periphery of the disk 5b are provided recesses 5c and 5d, and one
of the recesses 5c is disposed diametrically opposite the handle
5a, while two additional recesses 5d are arranged on both sides of
the recess 5c and symmetrically thereto at about 45.degree. and
pointing towards the inside of the arm. (For clarification the
visible of the recesses 5d is turned in FIG. 1 in the plane of the
drawing). Likewise on the end face of the disk 5b (FIG. 2) pointing
to the arms housing 1 are provided resting recesses 5e, f, g, (FIG.
2) corresponding with the recesses 5c and 5d, and additionally
thereto are arranged at about 90.degree. to the handle 5, and a
resting device 6 (FIG. 1) is provided which is springbiased
cooperating with the resting recesses in the disc 5b. The resting
recesses 5e, f, g are coordinated to the respective function
positions in the order of "permanent firing," "individual firing,"
"safe." A lever 2b is provided on the trigger 2 at a right angle in
the direction towards the safety lever 5, which lever 2b presses
the trigger over a spring 7, supporting itself in the arms housing
1, the trigger 2 with its nose 2c up to the arms housing 1. The end
of the lever 2b is arranged above the recess 5c of the safety lever
5.
Referring now again to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 3, a
bottom plan view of the arrangement disclosed in FIG. 1 is shown,
in the arrow direction, whereby the arrangement, in accordance with
the present invention, of the safety lever is visible in front of
the trigger guard 4, as well as the arrangement of the function
positions D= "permanent firing," E= "individual firing" and S=
"safe."
The operation of this safety device is as follows:
FIG. 1 shows a function position "permanent firing," in which the
lever 2b of the trigger 2 is in resting position above the recess
5c of the safety lever 5. The lever 2b of the trigger 2 is
connected over the stay 2a with a trigger device (not shown).
During withdrawal of the trigger 2 against the force of the spring
7 into the dotted position, the trigger 2 is moved so far from its
resting position, as the recess 5c permits in the pivotable safety
lever 5. The resting device 6 of the arms housing 1 is disposed in
the rest marking 5e of the safety lever 5.
During the pivoting of the safety lever 5 against the spring force
of the resting device into the function position "individual
firing," one of the recesses 5d comes to lie below the lever 2b.
The resting device 6 operates now with the corresponding resting
recess 5f. During a withdrawal of the trigger 2, the latter can
only pivot corresponding to the depth of the recess 5d, so that the
path performed by the end of the lever 2b is shorter than in case
of the function position "permanent firing." During a further
pivoting of the safety lever 5 into the function position "safe,"
the entire height of the disk-shaped safety lever 5 lies below the
lever 2b of the trigger 2, so that the latter is blocked, while in
this function position a resting device 6 engages into the
corresponding resting recess 5g.
The next example shows, how in an arms housing 8 (FIG. 4) a trigger
9 is pivotably mounted about an axle 10 and is disposed within a
trigger guard 11 arranged on the arms housing 8. The trigger 9 is
equipped with a stay 9a, which is in connection with a trigger
mechanism (not shown). A safety lever 12 is disposed in front of
the trigger guard 11, which safety lever 12 comprises a disk-shaped
segment 12a and is equipped with a handle 12b, and is pivotably
mounted parallel to the longitudinal axis of the arms in the arms
housing 8. The disk-shaped segment 12a is equipped on its side
pointing towards the trigger 9 with abutments 12c, d and e, having
different distances from the rotary point of the safety lever 12
(FIG. 5). A lever 9b is provided on the trigger 9 at a right angle
and in the direction towards the safety lever 12, which lever 9
presses over a spring 13, supporting itself in the arms housing 8,
the trigger 9 with its nose 9c up to the arms housing 8. The end of
the lever 9b is arranged over an abutment 12c of the safety lever
12. Likewise, resting recesses 12f, g, and k are likewise arranged
on the side pointing towards the trigger 9 of the disk-shaped
segment 12a corresponding with the abutments 12c, d and e, and the
function position "permanent firing," "individual firing" and
"safe," respectively, of which the resting recess 12f is in
engagement with a resting device 14 disposed in the arms housing
8.
The operation of this safety device is described as follows:
FIG. 4 shows a safety device in the function position "permanent
firing." The lever 9b of the trigger 9 is disposed above the
abutment 12c and permits upon operation of the trigger 9 a pivoting
upwardly. The resting device 14 rests in the resting recesses 12f
of the safety lever 12. After the pivoting of the safety lever 12
in the function position "individual firing," the abutment 12d of
the safety lever 12 is arranged below the lever 9b and limits the
pivoting range of the latter. The resting device 14 cooperates
together with the resting recess 12g. After a further pivoting of
the safety lever 12 with the function position "safe," the abutment
12e is so close below lever 9b, that the trigger 9 can no more be
operated. This function position is fixed by the resting device 14
entering the resting recess 12k.
While I have disclosed several embodiments of the present
invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given
by example only and not in a limiting sense.
* * * * *