US3422559A - Handgrip operated safety mechanism for handguns - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 21, 1969 D. s. WOLOCH HANDGRIP OPERATED SAFETY MECHANISM FOR HANDGUNS Fifed June 15, 1967 INVENTOR.

DAVID S. WOLOCH ATTORNEYS Jan. 21, 1969 o. s. WOLOCH HANDGRIP OPERATED SAFETY MECHANISM FOR HANDGUNS Filed June 15, 1967 FIG. 7

Sheet 2 of 2 144 lrl I42 I7Ib INVENTOR. DAVID S. WOLOCH ATTORNEYS 3,422,559 HANDGRIP OPERATED SAFETY MECHANISM FOR HANDGUNS David S. Woloch, 522 Overwood Road, Akron, Ohio 44313 Filed June 13, 1967, Ser. No. 645,656 US. Cl. 42-66 Int. Cl. F41c 17/04 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention This invention relates to safety devices for revolvers and in particular relates to a safety device which can be set in the locked position either by means of a thumb slide or automatically u on opening and closing of the magazine cylinder. The safety device can only be unlocked by pivoting of the wooden portions of the handgrip about their point of support on the frame.

Description of the prior art The following prior art is known to applicant: Bye US. patent, 795,816; Stone US. patent, 879,018; Donadio US. patent, 1,313,073; Twigg US. patent, 2,992,502.

The above prior art patents all disclose various types of handgun safety mechanisms. These safety mechanisms, however, are generally locked and unlocked by means of finger or thumb operated mechanisms. Thus the Donadio and Bye patents disclose safeties which are released by pushing externally located buttons while the device of the Stone patent is released by depressing a portion of the grip. The Twigg reference discloses a freely rolling bearing element which looks and unlocks the safety mechanism upon movement of the revolver from a vertical to a horizontal position.

It is believed that applicants invention is a definite improvement over these devices since it is, first, structurally considerably simplified and, second, it is virtually impossible to accidentally unlock the safety.

Summary of the invention In the art of handguns it is, of course, desirable to provide safety mechanisms which will prevent firing of the weapon either prematurely by the intended user or accidentally by persons lacking familiarity with revolvers such as children, for example. Handguns have long been provided with various types of safety mechanisms for this ited States Patent 0 F purpose. For example, the prior art references above 3,422,559 Patented Jan. 21, 1969 This is also a disadvantage to law enforcement ofiicers who, on occasion have had their revolvers taken from their holsters in crowds and used against them. Safeties such as known in the prior art are ineffective in such a situation since no high degree of knowledge about weapons is necessary to enable such persons to release the safety.

It has been discovered therefore that, by incorporating the safety mechanism into the handgrip of the weapon and providing the same with a spring-loaded stop member, that the safety device can be automatically moved into the locking position with regard to the hammer upon loading of the weapon.

It has been further discovered that by securing the safety device to the wooden portions of the handgrip for movement in unison therewith that upon twisting of these wooden members, the safety device can be moved out of locking position.

Furthermore, it has been discovered that by provision of such a locking mechanism improved safety features are obtained since the means for unlocking the safety are not visible or apparent to the eye thereby obviating accidental unlocking.

Accordingly, production of a revolver safety mechanism having the foregoing characteristics becomes the principal object of this invention with other objects thereof becoming more apparent upon a reading of the following brief specification, considered and interpreted in the light of the accompanying drawings.

Of the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a revolver partially broken away showing the improved safety mecha- IllSn'l.

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view taken on the lines 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial perspective view showing the grip in its normal position.

FIGURE 3A is a partial perspective view showing the grip moved to unlocking position.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view taken on the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the lines 55 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a partial side elevational view showing the modified form of the improved safety mechanism.

FIGURE 7 is a partial sectional view similar to FIG- URE 5 and showing the modified form of the invention shown in FIGURE 6.

Turning first then to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that the revolver, generally indicated by the numeral 10, consists of a barrel 20, body 30, handgrip 40 and hammer mechanism 50.

The barrel 20 projects from the forward end of the body 30 and is conventional in construction. The body 30 is also conventional in construction and includes a conventional revolving magazine cylinder 31 which can be snapped into and out of the appropriate opening 30a of the body 30 for loading purposes. This magazine cylinder also has a spring-loaded button 31a projecting from its rearward edge for purposes which will be described more fully below.

The body 30 also has the normal trigger 32 and trigger guard 33, with trigger 32 being pivotally connected to the body as at 32a for movement in direction of arrow 32b for firing purposes as will also be described in greater detail below.

The handgrip portion 40 of the revolver 10 projects from the rear end of the body 30' and generally consists of a metal strap member 41 which has secured thereto a pair of opposed plates 42 and 43 which are generally of wood, but which, of course, can be constructed of any desired material.

Handgrip portion 40 also carries the main spring 44 with this spring being a flat piece of steel with its lower end 44a seated in the butt of the handgrip and its upper end 44b being linked to the hammer 50.

The hammer 50 is of generally conventional construction and consists of thumb grip 51 as well as the normal firing pin (not shown). This hammer is pivotally secured to the body as at 50a for purposes which will be described below.

The body 30 also carries a cylinder release slide member 60 which is of generally U-shaped planar configuration as shown in FIGURE 2 and is normally urged to the right of FIGURE 1 by spring 61 which is seated in the forward edge of strap 41. However, when the magazine cylinder 31 is closed, the spring-loaded button 31a thereof engages projection 62 of the slide 60 and overcomes the force of spring 61 so as to push the slide to the left of FIGURE 1.

All of the elements thus far described are substantially found in most revolvers and in this regard, operation of the revolver in the normal instance occurs as follows.

The trigger 32 is pulled by the finger of the user in the direction of arrow 32b. As the trigger is moved in this direction, projection 34 of the trigger engages shoulder 52 of the hammer, thereby pivoting the hammer in the direction of arrow 50b. Inasmuch as the slide 60 is normally forced rearwardly or to the left of FIGURE 1, when the magazine 31 is closed, the hammer 50 is permitted to rotate about point 50a until such time as trigger 32 has been rotated far enough so that its projection 34 clears shoulder 52 of the hammer. At that time, the force of the main spring 44 will violently urge the hammer in the reverse direction causing the firing pin to fall upon the cartridge and firing the weapon.

In the form of handgun shown in the drawings, when the magazine cylinder 31 is moved out of its cavity 30a for loading purposes, the spring 61 will be free to urge slide 60 to the position shown in FIGURE 1. At this time, of course, it would not be possible to fire the weapon due to the fact that movement of the hammer 50 in the direction of arrow 50b would be prohibited by leg 60a of the slide. When the revolver is closed, however, spring-loaded button 31a of the magazine cylinder normally forces the slide to the left so that leg 60a is clear of the hammer and the weapon can then be fired. In order to prevent this, safety means 70 are provided.

The safety means 70 generally consist of a rocker element 71 which is secured to plate 43 of the handgrip by means of screw 72 for movement in unison therewith. It should be understood here that plate 42 normally covers the exposed side of the handgrip 40 and is secured to plate 43 and rocker arm 71 by means of a screw so that both plates 42 and 43 will move in unison. Plate 42 has been broken away in the drawings for convenience of illustration.

Safety mechanism 70 also includes a spring 80 which is seated in the base of the middle portion of the handgrip 40 and also has its opposed end seated in recess 74 in the bottom end 73 of the arm 71.

The opposed end 75 of arm 71 has yoke-like configuration and also carries a coil spring 90 seated therein. A T-shaped stop member 100 seats in the yoke formed by the end 75 of arm 71 and is normally urged upwardly by spring 90 as shown in FIGURE 1. This stop member 100 is normally urged therefore toward the position of FIGURE 1 where it is between slide 60 and the rear wall of the weapon for-med by strap 41 thereby preventing the slide 60 from moving all the way to the left of FIGURE 1.

Due to the fact that stop member 100 is constantly urged in this direction (to the right of FIGURE 1), whenever the magazine cylinder 30 is opened and the slide 60 is forced to the right by spring 61, the stop member 100 will autocatically snap into place so that even when the magazine cylinder is returned to the cavity 30a, the slide 60 cannot return to its open position, and of course, the hammer 50 cannot function.

It should also be noted here that thumb button 110 is connected to slide 60 and is normally referred to as the cylinder release catch. In this regard, slide 60 is moved to the right by pressure on button 110 to overcome the force on button 31a and permit magazine cylinder 31 to be opened. However, this mechanism can also be used to engage safety 70 by moving button 110 and slide 60 to the right only far enough to permit spring to snap locking member into place.

At this point it is important to note that a very secure lock is obtained since hammer 50 is normally urged down onto slide 60 if an attempt is made to fire the weapon. It has been found that pressure can be applied until either the hammer 50 or trigger 32 break without achieving discharge of the weapon.

When it is desired to release the safety 70 and referring to FIGURES l, 3 and 3A, it is merely necessary to grasp the handgrip in the normal firing position with the hand engaging plates 42 and 43. At this time, if the wrist 'of the user is merely snapped forward and down, the

weight of the gun' Will cause a relative pivoting movement between the plates 42 and 43 and the metal portion of the handgrip 41 (see FIGURE 3A). This pivoting occurs about point 45 which is the point of juncture of the plate 42 with the shoulder 410 of strap 41. This pivoting will pull arm 71 downward against the force of the spring 80 and will, of course, also pull stop member 100 from behind slide 60 so that the normal operation of push button 31a of the cylinder will move slide 60 to the left and clear of the hammer 50. Release of handpressure then permits spring 80 to return the plates to their normal position and the trigger 32 may then be pulled in normal fashion and the weapon will fire as intended.

In order to facilitate movement of plates 42 and 43 a short elongate slot 41a has been cut in the plates so that the same may move relatively of locating pin 41b.

It has been shown, therefore, how, by providing a grip actuated safety mechanism that an improved safety device can be provided With it being apparent that accidental release of the safety will be, for all practical purposes, obviated for two reasons.

First, the manner by which the safety can be released is not, in anyway, visibly apparent to the person handling the weapon.

Second, the weapon must be gripped in a precise manner in order to enable the device to be unlocked. In this regard, it has been found that a certain amount of practice is necessary even after the user is apprised of the method of operation of the weapon.

Furthermore, and in contrast to existing safeties it is possible to release the safety while the weapon. is in its holster by hand pressure to the informed user but virtually impossible to accidentally release when being withdrawn from the holster.

It should also be noted here that the safety mechanism 70 can either be incorporated into a revolver at its point of manufacture or can easily be placed in an existing weapon with little or no modification being required. It also could be made integral with one of the plates 42 or 43 if desired.

Thus, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, the rocker element 171 is made integral with plate 143 and the pin 171a is received in a recess 171b in plate 142 so that upon movement of the plates as described above, the safety device will be actuated.

While a full and complete description of the invention has been set forth in accordance with the dictates of the Patent Statutes, it should be understood that modifications may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a revolver having a handgrip and a hammer mechanism the improvement comprising a pair of opposed plates movably mounted on said handgrip and spring-loaded safety means secured to said plates for movement in unison therewith and being normally urged into locking engagement with said hamlmer mechanism; said safety means adapted tobe moved out of locking engagement with said hammer mechanism upon movement of said plates relatively of said handgrip.

2. A safety mechanism for use on a revolver having a handgrip, a cylinder, and cylinder slide release of the character described, comprising:

(A) spring-loaded safety means (1) carried in said handgrip of said revolver and adapted to be normally urged into locking engagement with the cylinder slide release of said revolver,

(a) whereby operation of the hammer of said revolver will be prevented; and

(B) means carried by said handgrip for releasing said safety means.

3. The device of claim 2 further characterized by the fact that said safety means include (A) a first spring seated in the base of said handgrip;

(B) an elongate arm member having one end secured to said first spring;

(C) a second spring projecting from the opposed end of said arm member;

6 (D) a stop member (1) carried by said arm and (2) being normally urged upwardly by said second spring; and

(B) said handgrip including a pair of opposed plates movably mounted thereon;

(F) said arm being secured to said plates for movement in unison therewith.

4. The device of claim 2 further characterized by the fact that said safety means and said means for releasing said safety means are of one piece construction.

5. The device of claim 2 further characterized by the fact that said means for releasing said safety means include (A) a pair of opposed plates (1) carried by said handgrip portion for movement in unison relatively thereof and (2) secured to said safety means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 573,736 12/1896 Wesson 4262 688,141 12/1901 Wesson 4262 1,124,312 1/1915 Mongardi 4262 SAMUEL FEINBERG, Primary Examiner.

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