Ordnance – Multiple barrel guns
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-11
2002-07-09
Johnson, Stephen M. (Department: 3641)
Ordnance
Multiple barrel guns
C089S126000, C089S188000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06415701
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiple-barrel, repeating firearm. The firearm includes multiple bolts, equal in number to the number of multiple barrels, and includes a single lock-up mechanism capable of locking each of the bolts.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various repeating firearms are known in the prior art. Further, a firearm having two barrels and being capable of selectively firing two different types of ammunition is known, from my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,867,039 4,867,039 details a firearm with the capability of firing either shotgun shells or rifle cartridges in response to a positioning of a selector lever. Incorporation by reference is made to the disclosure of this patent for the purposes of explaining the structure and functioning of various firearm components, not improved by the present invention.
Multiple-barrel firearms, as well as single-barrel firearms, include a breech locking mechanism. The breech locking mechanism closes the breech of the barrel by securing a bolt against a chamber formed at the end of the barrel. In typical operation, a round of ammunition is fed, either manually or mechanically, into the chamber at the end of a gun barrel. Next, the bolt is moved to a position adjacent the chamber. The bolt contains a firing pin, which is aligned with a primer of the loaded ammunition. The bolt is locked by some type of breech locking mechanism, so that upon firing of the ammunition the bolt will be blocked against any rearward movement.
To fire the weapon, the firing pin is stuck by a hammer, or released from a spring tension, thereby firing, the round of ammunition. After the ammunition is fired, the bolt is unlock and moved to a position remote from the chamber, so that the spent cartridge may be removed from the chamber, either manually or mechanically. At this point, the firing cycle is completed, and a new round of ammunition may be inserted into the chamber to begin a new firing cycle.
Several types of breech locking mechanisms are known in the background art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,039 illustrates two independent, ball-lockup type breech locking mechanisms. An upper breech locking mechanism operates in conjunction with the upper bolt for firing shotgun shells, and a lower breech locking mechanism operates in conjunction with the lower bolt for firing rifle cartridges.
FIGS. 10 and 11
illustrate the upper breech locking mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,039, wherein a bolt
100
is seated to a chamber
101
. A circular locking groove
102
is provided rearwardly of the chamber
101
. The bolt
100
includes a plurality of balls
103
. A breech locking mechanism
104
includes a forward curved end
105
, which is brought to bear against inner portions of the balls
103
. The balls
103
are pressed outwardly, into the groove
102
, thereby locking the bolt
100
against any rearward movement.
After the ammunition round is fired, the breech locking mechanism
104
is moved rearwardly. The forward curved end
105
moves away from its engagement with the balls
103
of the bolt
100
, thereby freeing the bolt
100
to move in the rearward direction. It should be noted that the components of the breech locking mechanism
104
are located rearwardly of the chamber
101
. Furthermore, the actual locking of the breech, i.e. the balls
103
engaging into the groove
102
, occurs rearwardly of the chamber
101
and forward face of the bolt
100
.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,963 illustrates another well-known type of breech locking mechanism.
FIG. 12
illustrates the breech locking mechanism wherein three locking lugs
200
are attached to a rear portion of a bolt
201
. The bolt
201
is rotated so as to insert the three locking lugs
200
into three locking grooves
202
located in the receiver section
203
. The engagement between the locking lugs
200
and the locking grooves
202
assures that the bolt
201
will not move rearwardly during firing of a round of ammunition.
After firing, the bolt
201
is rotated to free the locking lugs
200
from the locking grooves
202
, so that the bolt
201
may be manually moved rearwardly for cartridge extraction and ammunition reloading. Again, it should be noted that the components of the breech locking mechanism are located rearwardly of the chamber, and therefore the actual locking, i.e. locking lugs
200
engaged into locking grooves
202
, occurs rearwardly of the chamber and the forward face of the bolt
201
.
All known breech locking mechanisms include a locking engagement which occurs rearwardly of the chamber and the forward face of the bolt. Such known breech locking mechanisms take up space inside the receiver section of the firearm. The space inside the receiver section houses essential components of the firearm, such as the trigger assembly, safety, and ejection and feeding mechanisms. Moreover, in a multi-barrel firearm, as in the present invention, the receiver section space also accommodates a selector mechanism for choosing which bolt will be fired, as well as an additional set of extraction and feeding mechanisms. Therefore, the presence of the reach locking mechanism inside the receiver section complicates the design of the receiver section and/or requires that the receiver section have an enlarged volume.
Consequentially, there exists a need in the art for a breech locking mechanism, which requires a minimum amount of space inside the receiver section of the firearm.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a multiple-barrel, repeating firearm which locates most of the breech locking components forward of the chambers and forward faces of the bolts.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multiple-barrel, repeating firearm having a breech locking mechanism wherein the actual locking of the breech occurs forward of the chambers and the forward faces of the bolts.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multiple-barrel, repeating firearm utilizing a single and shared breech locking mechanism for the bolts of the multiple barrels.
These and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by providing a firearm comprising: a first barrel having a first end and a second end; a second barrel having a first end and a second end; a first chamber located at said first end of said first barrel; a second chamber located at said first end of said second barrel; a first bolt having a forward face for abutting said first chamber of said first barrel; a second bolt having a forward face for abutting said second chamber of said second barrel; and a breech locking mechanism for locking said first and second bolts into abutment with said first and second chambers, respectively, wherein said breech locking mechanism includes locking components located between said forward faces of said first and second bolts and said second ends of said first and second barrels.
These and other objects of the present invention are also fulfilled by providing a firearm comprising: a first barrel having a first end and a second end; a first chamber located at said first end of said first barrel; a first bolt for abutting said first end of said first barrel; and a breech locking mechanism for locking said first bolt into abutment with said first end of said first barrel, wherein said breech locking mechanism includes locking components located between said first end of said first barrel and said second end of said first barrel.
Furthermore, these and other objects of the present invention are fulfilled by providing a firearm comprising: a first barrel having a first end and a second end; a second barrel having a first end and a second end; a first chamber located at said first end of said first barrel; a second chamber located at said first end of said second barrel; a first bolt having a forward face for abutting said first chamber of said first barrel; a second bolt having a forward face for abutting said second chamber of said second barrel; a breech locking
Hesco Incorporated
Johnson Stephen M.
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