Firearms – Safety mechanism – Firearm lock
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-08
2003-12-16
Knight, Anthony (Department: 3676)
Firearms
Safety mechanism
Firearm lock
C070S034000, C070S058000, C070S386000, C070S408000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06662484
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
The present invention relates to a locking device, preferably to be secured in the chamber or breach chamber of a weapon, and a key for co-operation with a locking device.
Weapons are frequently subjected to thefts and therefor there is a great demand for a locking device, which prevents an unauthorised person to use a stolen weapon. A locking device of this kind can be designed to block the chamber, the barrel or any other vital part of the weapon in that a lock member, comprised in the locking device, by a rotation of a lock cylinder is brought into a position, in which the locking device is secured to the weapon (this function is denominated “securing” hereinafter). The locking device can also be designed to damage any vital part of the weapon and in that way render the weapon unusable in that locking elements in the form of cutting edges, balls or the like, when attempts are being made to remove the locking device, are pressed into the material of the weapon part in question (this function is denominated “destructing” hereinafter). Locking devices with combined securing and destructing function also exist.
A locking device with a securing function is shown for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,115 A. This locking device has a lock member rotatably arranged at the front end of the locking device, which lock member is connected with a lock cylinder via a pin attached to the lock cylinder, the lock member being manoeuvrable into a securing engagement in a slot in the breach chamber of the weapon by rotation of the lock cylinder. This locking device is very easy to manipulate, since the lock member is easily accessible by boring up the lock cylinder.
A locking device with a destructing function is for instance disclosed in SE 510096 C2. This locking device comprises a friction body displaceably arranged in relation to a lock body and insertable into the barrel of the weapon, which friction body is designed to engage with an inside wall of the barrel with frictional effect at the introduction into the barrel. A number of cutting edges are arranged to be moved into engagement with the inside wall of the barrel in case of a mutual displacement between the friction body and the lock body. The locking device further comprises two blocking balls, which are movable between a blocking position, in which they engage with the friction body and prevent longitudinal displacement of the friction body in relation to the lock body, and a free position, in which they do not engage with the friction body and allow longitudinal displacement of the friction body in relation to the lock body. The locking device can be inserted into the chamber of the weapon until the friction body engages with the barrel, whereupon the blocking balls can be brought into the free position by a rotation of a lock cylinder carried out by a key. Due to the frictional engagement of the friction body with the barrel, every displacement of the lock body caused by exterior influence will now result in a relative movement between the friction body and the lock body, which in its turn causes the cutting edges to be pressed outwards towards the barrel. A further displacement of the lock body in the barrel will result in that the cutting edges will be pressed into the barrel and will render the weapon unusable. This locking device lacks a securing function.
The locking device disclosed in SE 510096 furthermore has a lock shaft rotatably and displaceably mounted in the lock body, which lock shaft is rotatably connected with the lock cylinder of the locking device and is arranged to cause said blocking balls to be placed in the desired position, i.e. locking position or free position, in connection with a rotation of the lock cylinder. The lock shaft is preloaded against the lock cylinder by means of a spring in order to prevent a gap between them. The lock shaft is accessible and easily manipulable in case someone by boring or in any other way unduly manages to remove the lock cylinder from a locking device of this kind, which is secured in a weapon. When the lock cylinder is removed, the blocking balls can then be put into the blocking position via manipulation of the lock shaft, whereupon the entire locking device can be removed without damaging the weapon.
The cutting edges of the locking device according to SE 510096 are provided with an edge having its main extension in the axial direction of the locking device and consequently the edge will produce a cut extending in the axial direction of the barrel. These edges work satisfactory in weapons having a barrel with a smooth inner surface and a relatively small thickness of material. In such weapons, the edges will be pressed into the material of the barrel, whereby they secure the locking device in the barrel so that the barrel finally, when the force exerted on the locking device becomes large enough, will be bent and deformed. Some weapons have a chamber at the rear end of the barrel. At the chamber, the material thickness is normally larger than in the rest of the barrel. It is true that a locking device having axially directed edges can cause a certain damage to the inner wall of the chamber but the relatively thick material in the chamber is able to resist the forces transferred via the locking device so well that the chamber and the barrel will not be deformed by bending. The axial cuts that are obtained in the chamber when the locking device is removed by force will not in a satisfactory manner guarantee that the weapon will become unusable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A purpose of the present invention is to provide a locking device to be secured in a weapon, which locking device has a satisfactory destructing function as well as a satisfactory securing function.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a locking device according to claim 1. In this locking device, a locking means is manoeuvrable by means of a lock cylinder comprised in the locking device into a securing engagement in a space located adjacent to the chamber or barrel of the weapon. In this locking device, a locking means having a destructing function is also manoeuvrable by means of the same lock cylinder. In the locking device according to the invention, a locking means having a destructing function is in a constructionally efficient manner combined with a locking means having a securing function, in the same time as a relatively rational and cost-effective manufacturing thereof can be achieved.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a rotary motion of the lock cylinder is transferred into a movement of the second locking means via the envelope surface of a cylinder-shaped wall of the locking cylinder. In this way the locking means can be arranged at the part of the lock body that surrounds the lock cylinder, whereby the lock body can have a relatively short axial extension, which can be suitable from a security point of view since the smaller part of the locking device protruding from the space in the weapon in which the locking device is intended to be secured, the more difficult it will be to unduly manipulate the locking device.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, said rotary motion is transferred via a recess in the envelope surface of the cylinder-shaped wall. In this way a well functioning transfer of motion is achieved in a simple way, at the same time as the lock cylinder comprised in the locking device can be manufactured in a simple and cost-effective way and be easily mounted in the lock body.
A further purpose of the invention is to provide a locking device having a securing function, preferably to be secured in a weapon, which locking device has a locking means which, when the locking device is secured in a space, it is very difficult to get hold of for unduly manipulation in order to remove the locking device from said space.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of a locking device according to claim 8. The rotatably arranged ring-shaped lock element allows an efficient sec
Andrée Reidar
Eriksson Christer
Helgesson Mikael
Boswell Christopher
Dilworth & Barrese LLP.
Knight Anthony
LandOfFree
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