Firearms – Safety mechanism – Trigger lock
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-26
2001-05-01
Carone, Michael J. (Department: 3641)
Firearms
Safety mechanism
Trigger lock
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223460
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety mechanisms for firearms and particularly to a trigger safety mechanism.
2. Discussion of Background
Due to the potential risks of serious bodily injury or death, firearms must be handled carefully. Each year, numerous people die from the accidental discharge of a firearm. In order to prevent accidental discharge, all firearms come equipped with at least one safety mechanism. If the safety mechanism is engaged, the firearm will be incapable of firing, even if a round is in the chamber.
Although safeties play an important role in preventing accidental discharge of a pistol, a safety must sometimes be capable of quick disengagement. If the pistol is used in a military operation or by law enforcement, the speed in which the safety can be disengaged may be a matter of life or death. While less critical, a hunter may also miss a clean shot if the safety cannot be disengaged quickly.
Often safety mechanisms will be located on either the left or the right side of a firearm. When the user is left-handed, a safety designed for right-handers will either be awkward or will need to be reversed to accommodate the left-hander.
Safety mechanisms for pistols have been used for over a century. Typically, a button or lever on the exterior of the frame of a firearm is pressed with the user's thumb to engage the safety. The action of pressing the button disables an internal part of the pistol, such as the sear or trigger arm, so that the pistol is incapable of firing. Unfortunately, manipulation of an external safety that operates on internal components does not allow a user to verify that the pistol is actually incapable of firing without pulling the trigger. Moreover, the safety's interaction with these internal components is subject to failure so that a pistol with the safety in the off position might not fire if the safety failed.
Therefore, there is a need for a safety device which operates in a way that the user can verify that it will or will not prevent the firearm from firing without pulling the trigger and can be easily operated with the trigger finger of either hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to its major aspects and broadly stated, the present invention is a trigger safety for a pistol that is integrally formed in the trigger so that a user can operate the safety with the trigger finger, regardless of whether the user is left-handed or right-handed. Instead of manipulating internal parts of the pistol, the trigger safety prevents movement of the trigger by the plug's interference with the frame of the pistol. The safety comprises a trigger having a plug slidably received therein so that the plug can be moved laterally between a firing position where the plug allows movement of the trigger and a safety position where the plug prevents movement of the trigger. A spring internal to the trigger, imparts a force on the plug to retain the plug's position where it is placed, regardless of whether it is in the safety position or the fire position and resists movement of the plug. In a safety position, the plug extends outside of the trigger envelope so that the movement of the trigger is blocked by the engagement of the plug with the frame of the pistol; however, in firing position, the plug is entirely confined within the trigger envelope so that the trigger is capable of firing the pistol as usual. The term “envelope” means the cross sectional area defined by outermost dimensions of the trigger when viewed from the front rather than the side of the firearm and which is approximately the same area as that defined by the hole formed in the frame to allow the trigger to be pulled partially into the frame during firing. The safety is in the “off” or firing position when the plug is located within the envelope and in the “on” or safe position when the plug is outside of the envelope to any extent.
A major advantage of the present invention is the ability to operate the safety with the trigger finger of either hand. As a result, the user can control the operation of the safety with a single hand and does not need to bring a non-firing hand to the firearm to take the safety off or put it on. As a result, the safety can be disengaged much more easily and subtly.
The simplicity of the design is another important advantage of the present invention. The manufacturing costs are significantly reduced as a result of the simplicity of the design. Since the safety does not interact with any internal components of the pistol, it is less likely to fail. Furthermore, unlike the safety mechanisms that disengage internal components not visible to the user, the user can see the operation of the present safety and know that it either will or will not prevent firing.
Still another feature of the present invention is the spring bias that urges the plug to remain where it is placed and resist movement, either in the fire position or in the safe position, regardless of the direction the plug is moved. Moreover, the grooves that engage the detent end of the spring provide resistance to movement between the fire position and the safety position.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment presented below and accompanied by the drawings.
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Prisovsky Zdenek
Schmitter Edward P.
Sniezak Gary A.
Spaniel Frank A.
Buchley Denise J.
Carone Michael J.
Mann Michael A.
Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard LLC
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