U.S. patent number 3,924,512 [Application Number 05/467,770] was granted by the patent office on 1975-12-09 for removable lockplate to preclude selection of automatic firing.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army. Invention is credited to Charles R. Fagg.
United States Patent |
3,924,512 |
Fagg |
December 9, 1975 |
Removable lockplate to preclude selection of automatic firing
Abstract
A rifle normally having automatic and semi-automatic firing
capability, in hich means are provided for temporarily eliminating
its automatic capability to be utilized in civil disturbance
operations. A removable lock plate is mounted between the pistol
grip and lower receiver of the rifle, with an upstanding lug
portion on the lock plate extending adjacent the lower receiver
sidewall and in the path of the handle portion of a firing selector
lever journalled in the lower receiver for precluding movement of
the pointer portion of the selector lever to its automatic firing
position.
Inventors: |
Fagg; Charles R. (Sherrarde,
IL) |
Assignee: |
The United States of America as
represented by the Secretary of the Army (Washington,
DC)
|
Family
ID: |
23857102 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/467,770 |
Filed: |
May 7, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
89/128;
89/142 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A
19/33 (20130101); F41A 17/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41A
17/00 (20060101); F41A 19/00 (20060101); F41A
19/33 (20060101); F41C 017/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;89/128,142,148 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Bentley; Stephen C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Edelberg; Nathan Gibson; Robert P.
Sommer; William
Government Interests
The invention described herein may be manufactured, used, and
licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without
the payment to me of any royalty thereon.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a weapon having automatic and semi-automatic selective firing
selector lever journalled in a lower receiver of said weapon for
rotational movement about a transversely extending axis in said
lower receiver, said selector lever having a handle portion and a
pointer portion, with both said handle and pointer portions
pivotally movable over a sidewall of said lower receiver, said
pointer portion having the normal capacity of being selectively
directed toward indicia means on said lower receiver sidewall
representing safe, semi-automatic and automatic firing conditions
of the weapon, and a pistol grip secured to said lower
receiver,
a removable lock plate mounted intermediate said pistol grip and
said lower receiver, said lock plate having an upstanding lug
portion extending adjacent said lower receiver sidewall and in the
path of said selector lever handle portion to preclude movement of
said pointer portion to its automatic firing position,
so constructed and arranged that automatic capability of the weapon
is temporarily eliminated for use in civil disturbance
operations.
2. The structure in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lock plate
has a substantially U-shaped base member defined partially by a
pair of bifurcated leg portions, said upstanding lug portion being
integral with one of said leg portions.
3. The structure according to claim 2 wherein the other of said leg
portions has a transverse aperture therethrough, said aperture
being in alignment with a recess in the upper surface of said
pistol grip, said recess accommodating a portion of a selector
lever detent spring.
4. The structure of claim 3 wherein the upper surface of said
pistol grip has an elongated slot laterally spaced from said
recess, the lock plate slot defined by said bifurcated leg portions
is in alignment with said pistol grip slot, and both of said slots
slidably receive a downwardly protruding key integral with said
lower receiver.
Description
This invention relates to weapons, and more particularly to a
weapon having automatic and semi-automatic selective firing
capabilities.
In the past, the use of fully automatic weapons by personnel
attempting to control civil disturbances has been catastrophic in
some cases.
It is an object of the invention to provide a weapon having normal
automatic and semi-automatic capability which can be readily
converted for acceptable use in civil disturbance and the like
operations.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a weapon that
can be readily re-converted back to its normal capability upon
termination of the temporary disturbance operation.
These and other objects, features and advantages will become more
apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings
in which:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a rifle embodying the
principles of the invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the FIG. 1 arrangement with certain
parts omitted.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lock plate in arrangement of
FIGS. 1 and 2.
The automatic rifle, a portion of which is shown generally at 10
(FIG. 1), includes a receiver 11 having a lower portion 12 to which
the substantially hollow pistol grip 13 is removably secured
rearwardly of trigger 14 by an appropriately threaded bolt 15, the
head of which is drawn up upon assembly against the base 16 of the
pistol grip downwardly opening recess 17 with the lock washer 15A
(FIG. 2) therebetween. Bolt 15 passes through a suitable passage 18
in the pistol grip and is threadedly secured in an appropriately
tapped hole 19 provided in the undersurface of a seat or handle key
20 that is integral with and depends from the lower receiver and is
slidably accommodated in the forwardly and upwardly opening recess
or slot 21 provided in the uppermost portion of pistol grip 13. One
of the laterally spaced or bifurcated leg portions 23 that define
slot 21 has an upwardly opening recess 24 in its upper surface 25.
Recess 24 has a length of slightly more than half the extended
length of compression spring 26 which upon assembly is seated
therein.
The upper end of spring 26 biases detent pin 27 upwardly in a
downwardly opening recess (not shown) provided in the lower
receiver portion 12 for operative contact with an internal
mechanism associated with a selective firing selector lever 30 that
is journalled in the lower receiver for rotational movement about a
transversely extending axis. The selector lever 30 has a handle
portion 31 and a pointer portion 32 which are pivotally movable in
union over a sidewall of the lower receiver, the sidewall having
appropriate indicia (SAFE, SEMI, AUTO) that indicates the firing
condition of the rifle to which the pointer portion 32 is
selectively moved. Lateral protrusions or stops 33, 34 are provided
for abutment by the handle portion 31 as the selector lever reaches
the respective diametrically opposed automatic and safety
positions. When the lock plate 40 FIGS. 1, 2, 3, hereinafter
described, is installed in the assembly, its upstanding lug or
shoulder 41 abuts the handle portion 31 as the selector lever
reaches the intermediate semi-automatic position as shown in the
phantom in FIG. 1, thus precluding movement of the selector lever
30 to the automatic position.
The removable lock plate 40 preferably has a U-shaped base portion
42 that has a contour similar to the upper surface of the pistol
grip 13, in that the U-shaped base member 42 is partially defined
by a pair of bifurcated leg portions 43, 44 which define the
elongated slot 45 therebetween. The U-shaped base portion 42, upon
assembly intermediate the lower receiver portion 12 and pistol grip
13, has its leg portions 43, 44 substantially overlying the pistol
grip leg portions 23, 23 with the hole 46 in leg 43 in alignment
with recess 24 and slidably receiving detent spring 26. The lock
plate slot 45 overlies the pistol grip slot 21 for cooperative
accommodation of the downwardly protruding key 20. Integral with
leg 44 of the lock plate is an upstanding lug or shoulder 41 which
in the assembled position closely overlies the receiver sidewall
and extends in a plane substantially normal to base portion 42 into
the operational path of the selector lever handle 31. The lateral
extension 49 (FIG. 3) on the free end of leg 44, by which the
upstanding lug 41 is integrally connected, has a predetermined
lateral dimension sufficient to position the lug 41 in its desired
assembled location. An appropriate laterally extending grasping
flange 50 is provided on a forwardmost extremity of the upstanding
lug 41 remote from its rearmost abutment surface.
Upon completion of the civil disturbance or the like operation, the
pistol grip 13 may be readily disassembled from the lower receiver
12 for removal of lock plate 40. Re-assembly of the pistol grip
will restore the rifle to its normal firing capability.
Various modifications, changes or alterations may be resorted to
without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the
appended claims.
* * * * *