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.

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.

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.

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.