US3402498A - Multiple barrel firearm with automatic hammer safety mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 24, 1968 G. FREITAG ET AL 3,402,498

MULTIPLE BARREL FIREARM WITH AUTOMATIC HAMMER SAFETY MECHANISM Filed June 22, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 60 5 INVENTORS B b GUNTHER FEEITAG DIETER I30 I50 SCH BEL Sept. 24, 1968 G. FREITAG ET AL 3,402,498

MULTIPLE BARREL FIREARM WITH AUTOMATZC HAMMER SAFETY MECHANISM Filed June 22, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvENmas GUNTHER FQEITAG DIETER SCHUBEL 3,402,498 MULTIPLE BARREL FIREARM WITH AUTOMATIC HAMMER SAFETY MECHANHSM Giinther Freitag, Zella-Mehlis, and Dieter Schiibel, Vesser, Germany, assignors to VEB Ernst-Thiilmann-Werk Suhl, Suhl, Thuringia, Germany Filed June 22, 1967, Ser. No. 643,092 5 Claims. (Cl. 42-41) ABSTRACT OF TIE DISCLOSURE A multiple barrel firearm such as a rifle suitable for hunting or sporting purposes. The firearm includes a pair of hammers and a pair of triggers. A longitudinally shiftable safety member extends between the pair of triggers and has a pair of control pins which respectively coact with cam portions of a pair of safety pawls which respectively coact with catch projections of the hammers to maintain the latter against operation. In addition the hammers have catch projections with which a pair of Sears coact, these sears being actuated by the triggers, and the same longitudinal safety member which carries the control pins which control the safety pawls also carries trigger safety pins which coact with the triggers to prevent operation thereof when the longitudinally shiftable safety member is in a safety position.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to an automatic hammer safety device for multiple barrel hunting and sporting firearms.

While safety devices for hunting and sporting firearms are known, these safety devices, which act as trigger safety devices or sear safety devices, do not perform satisfactorily under all conditions.

Thus, the trigger safety devices coact only with the triggers and take the form of pins, cams, or similar elernents which block the actuation of a safety slide. Be-' cause of the prevention of the movement of the triggers with such constructions, the raising of the sears out of engagement with catch projections of the hammers, and thus the firing of the firearm, is prevented. This type of safety is extremely unreliable, since there is no absolute prevention of operation of the remainder of the trigger mechanism, such as the sears and hammers which, upon falling, impact, or a blow on the firearm, can be released for operation and can produce accidental firing of the firearm.

Furthermore, the so-called sear safety devices include levers or similar safety elements of different types of construction which are supposed to prevent movement of the sears so that when the triggers are operated the cocked hammers will still not be released. This type of safety device has the great disadvantage that it also relies only upon the prevention of operation of a scar to prevent operation of a hammer, and thus, in response to a blow, a fall, or an impact, this construction also can jump out of its safety position coacting with a catch projection of the hammer so as to release the cocked hammer and thus fire the firearm inadvertently.

The two types of safety constructions are often used in combination with each other. An absolute safety is, however, not provided since those components of the trigger mechanism which bring about the ignition of the cartridge do not directly hold the hammer against opera- 3,492,498 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 Summary of the invention It is thus a primary object of the present invention to avoid these drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a construction which will fully exclude the possibility of unintentional firing of a firearm which is placed in a safety position and which is cocked and loaded.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a safety structure whose elements, when the safety structure is in its safety position, block the hammers of the firearm and which provide for cocking the hammers when the firearm is in its safety position, even after firing of a single shot.

In accordance with the invention these results are achieved by providing between a pair of triggers of the firearm a longitudinally shiftable safety member having a pair of control pins which respectively coact with a pair of safety pawls pivoted to a trigger plate and acted upon by a pair of safety springs, these safety pawls respectively coacting with the hammers.

In order to provide for the safety securing of the hammers when the firearm is not cocked, the safety pawls are constantly urged by the safety springs against the rear edges of the hammers.

Thus, this arrangement guarantees that upon opening of the firearm, when the barrels are turned downwardly with respect to the stock, the components automatically are brought into their operative positions. In this way, before the firearm is closed in cocked and loaded condition, the hammers and triggers are blocked against inadvertent operation and firing of the firearm by a blow, impact, or fall in an absolutely reliable manner. The proper operation of all of the safety elements is assured by assembling the trigger plate into a unitary construction with the breach piece by means of suitable fastener structures.

Brief description of the drawings The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in connection with a doublebarrelled rifle, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal fragmentary sectional elevation of the firearm shown in cocked condition with the safety mechanism in the safety position;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the firearm with the safety structures released and with one barrel fired;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation showing the firearm where barrels thereof have already been fired and where the safety structure is in the safety position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary View illustrating how the structure of the invention operates;

FIG. 6 shows the structure in connection with the breech mechanism; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating how the breech lock and longitudinal safety member of the invention coact.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, there are, in a breech piece 21 (FIG. 6), a pair of hammers 1 and 2 which are turnable upon a common hammer pivot 3 and which are respectively under the pressure of a pair of hammer springs 4. A right trigger 5 and a left trigger 6 are supported for rotary movement by a trigger pivot 7 which is parallel to the hammer pivot 3 and located behind the latter. Both of the triggers are constantly urged into their initial trigger positions by a pair of sears 8 .and 9 through the medium of a pair of springs 11 and 11a which respectively act on the scars 8 and 9 to cause them to urge the triggers to their starting positions, respectively, as is most clearly apparent from FIG. 2. Over the hammers 1 and 2, the right sear 8 and the left sear 9 are supported for turning movement on a common sear pivot 10 which is parallel to the pivots 3 and '7.

The hammers .1 and 2 are respectively provided at their rear edges with catch projections 1a and 2a with which the teeth 8a and 9a of the sears 8 and 9 coact so that the sears can releasably maintain the hammers in their cocked positions, respectively. When the firearm is cocked, the sears 8 and 9, under the pressure of the sear springs 11 and 11a, respectively, engage with their teeth 8a and 9a, respectively, hammer catch projections 1a and 2a, and at the same time the scars 8 and 9 respectively engage with their arms 8b and 91) against the triggers 5 and 6 so as to urge the latter to their starting positions.

Referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that in order to reliably provide the proper functioning of all of the safety elements the trigger plate 20, which carries the pivot '7 for the triggers, is connected by way of a pair of screws 25 and 26 fixedly with the breech piece 21 so as to form a unit therewith.

In order to open the firearm, the breech lever 22 (FIGS. 6 and 7) must be swung to the right, .and in this way a breech lever shaft 23, which carries a motiontransmitting pin 23a and which is fixed to the breech lever 22, is swung in the same direction. The motion-transmitting pin 23a extends into a correspondingly formed opening 24a of a breech lock 24 and shifts the latter through the distance Y during the swinging of the lever 22. In this way the weapon is unlocked so that the barrels can be swung down with respect to the stock to have their rear open ends exposed to be loaded.

Inasmuch as the longitudinally shiftable safety member 18, which is situated between the triggers 5 and 6 for longitudinal movement therebetween, has its front end 18a always in engagement with the breech lock 24, the rearward movement of the latter causes a rearward shifting of the safety member 18 into its safety position, as will be apparent from the description which follows. The safety member 18 is formed with a pair of longitudinal slots 7a and 19a which respectively receive the pins 7 and 19 so that through this pin-and-slot connection of the safety member .18 to the trigger plate the safety member 18 is guided for longitudinal shifting movement.

The longitudinally shiftable safety member 18 is shown in its safety position in FIG. 1. FIGS. 4 and 6 also show the safety member 18 in its rear safety position.

The firearm is opened by breaking the weapon so as to swing the barrels thereof downwardly with respect to the stock. This is done for the purpose of loading the firearm as well as to remove the cartridges which remain from the already fired projectiles. The opening of the firearm takes place by unlocking the breech lock elements. After the firearm is unlocked the barrels are tilted downwardly, and as a result the cocking elements which are actuated by the breech piece to cock the hammer also bring about the operation of the safety structure to shift the latter to its safety position. During closing of the firearm, which is to say during return of the barrels to their operative positions, the breech lever turns under the action of a spring so as to return to its starting position and locks the firearm by actuating the locking structure which is connected to the breech lever. The firearm is now loaded and cocked, and the safety mechanism is in its safety position.

During the rearward shifting of the longitudinal safety member 18 to its rear safety position, a pair of coaxial control pins 16 and 16a, which are respectively fixed to the safety member 13 .and which respectively project from the opposed side faces thereof, move respectively along the cam portions 12b and 13b of a pair of safety pawls 12 and 13 which are respectively acted upon by the pressure of a pair of safety springs 15 and 15a, these safety pawls 12 and 13 being supported for turning movement by a pawl pivot 14- so as to be swung by the springs 15 and 15a, in response to rearward movement of the control pins 16 and 16a along the cam portions 12b and 13b, forwardly to bring the pawl teeth 12a and 13a into engagernent with safety catches 1b and 2b which are respectively formed in the rear edges of the hammers 1 and 2 beneath the catch projections 1a and 2a thereof which respectively coact with the teeth of the sears 8 and 9. Simultaneously the teeth 8:: and 9a of the sears 8 and 9 engage the catch projections 1a and 2a at the rear edges of the hammers, and an additional trigger safety pin 17 which projects from opposed faces of the longitudinal safety member 1% become situated over lugs 5a and 6a of the triggers 5 and 6 to prevent turning of the latter.

Thus, the firearm is loaded and cocked, and the safety mechanism is in its safety position. The triggers 5 and 6 are blocked against operation, so that they cannot raise the sears S and 9 away from the catch projections 1a and 2a of the hammers. In the event that a blow, impact or fall should result in breaking of one of the sears 8 or 9, or should result in jumping of one of the sears away from the hammer, the safety pawls 12 and 13 will nevertheless block the hammers against operation in an absolutely reliable manner. This result is achieved by the form of the safety catch projections 1b and 2b, according to the invention, as well as by the teeth 12a and 13a of the safety pawls 12 and 13 which prevent the release of the hammers.

The release of the safety mechanism of the loaded and cocked firearm takes place by forward shifting of the longitudinal safety member 18 so that the control pins 16 and 16a coact with the cam portions 12b and 13b of the safety pawls 12 and 13, which are acted upon by the springs 15 and 15a, to swing the pawls 12 and 13 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawings, about the pivot 14 in opposite to the pressure of the safety springs 15 and 15a, displacing the pawls to the rear and thus bringing their teeth 12a and 13a out of engagement with the safety catch projections 1b and 2b of the hammers 1 and 2.

If it should happen that there is an unknown breakage of a component of the trigger mechanism, such as, for example, breakage of a sear 8 or 9 or the sear pivot 19, or the inadvertent and unknown jumping or breaking of the sear projection 1a or 2a, the firearm still cannot be placed in a non-safety position.

This result is achieved because the teeth 12a and 13a of the safety pawls 12 and 13 cannot be displaced out of the safety projections 1b and 2b of the hammers 1 and 2 since in the event of such breakage or inadvertent release of the sear mechanism, the space required for swinging of the safety pawls 12 and 13 away from engagement with the hammers is not available, as is apparent from FIG. 5, and the pressure which can be exerted by an unillustrated safety slide on the safety member 18 is no longer sufiicient to overcome the pressure forces which act on the safety pawls by way of the hammer springs 4, the safety springs 15 and 15a, and the frictional sliding resistanee of the control pins 16 and 16a at the cam portions 12b and 1317, respectively. Furthermore, this action is augmented by the constructive configuration of the safety catch projections 1b and 2b and the teeth 12a and 13a of the safety pawls.

Thus, with the safety mechanism of the invention the possibility of firing of an inadvertent shot is fully excluded.

What is claimed is:

1. In a multiple barrel firearm, a trigger plate, a pair of triggers situated beside each other and pivoted to said plate, an elongated safety member situated and longitudinally shiftable in the space between said triggers, said elongated safety member carrying a pair of control pins, a pair of swingable hammers respectively formed with safety catch projections, a pair of safety pawls respectively situated at opposed sides of and pivoted to said trigger plate and respectively coacting with said catch projections of said hammers for preventing swinging of the latter, said safety pawls respectively having cam portions engaged by said control pins, respectively, to be controlled thereby during longitudinal shifting of said elongated safety member, and a pair of springs respectively coacting with said safety pawls for urging them into engagement with said catch projections of said hammers, so that said hammers will be automatically maintained by said safety pawls against operation, when said longitudinally shiftable elongated safety member locates said control pins in a position releasing said safety pawls to said spring-s, respectively, and said hammers are released for operation when said elongated safety member is shiftable to a position where said control pins respectively engage said cam portions of said safety pawls to displace the latter in opposition to said springs to locations where said hammers are free of said pawls.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a pair of sears respectively coact with said hammers for also preventing operation thereof until said sears are respectively released by said triggers, and means responding to opening of the firearm for automatically placing said safety pawls in engagement with said catch projections of said hammers before engagement of said sears with said hammers.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said safety pawls respectively coact with said hammers at said catch projections thereof for preventing operation of said hammers even if the operation thereof is for any reason not prevented by said sears or by failure of any other part of the firearm.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said hammers are situated beside each other and having common turning axes, said triggers also having a common turning axis which is parallel to the turning axis of said hammers and being situated behind the latter, and said elongated safety member which is situated between said triggers engaging a breech lock for being moved longitudinally in response to movement of the breech lock during opening and closing of the firearm, said control pins having a common axis and respectively extending from opposed sides of said elongated safety member and said safety pawls also being situated on opposite sides of said safety member and having a common turning axis parallel to the axes of said hammers and triggers, said pawls being respectively situated between said hammers and triggers and said hammers respectively having rear edges formed with said catch projections with which said safety pawls respectively coact, said rear edges of said hammers respectively being formed with a pair of additional catch projections and a pair of sears respectively coacting with said additional catch projections and with said triggers, said elongated safety member having a rear safety position and carrying trigger safety pins which respectively coact with portions of said triggers to prevent turning thereof when said elongated safety member is in said rear position thereof, said control pins being shiftable with said elongated safety member to a rear safety position Where said springs respectively swing said pawls into engagement with said first-mentioned catch projections, so that both said triggers and said hammers are maintained against operation.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein when said firearm is closed said hammers are in a cocked position engaged by said safety pawls and said triggers are maintained against operation by said trigger safety pins of said elongated safety member when the latter is in said rear safety position thereof, and said sears respectively coacting with said additional catch projections of said hammers to further maintain the latter against operation, said elongated safety member being shiftable forwardly to a release position where said control pins respectively coact with said safety pawls for swinging them away from said hammers to release the latter for operation while said trigger safety pins are shifted with respect to said triggers also to release the latter for operation, so that said triggers can then be respectively actuated to raise said sears away from said hammers to release the latter for firing the firearm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,071,994 9/1913 Flues 4270 2,047,789 7/ 1936 Loomis 42-41 3,360,879 1/1968 Freitag 42--4l BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primm'y Examiner.

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