Safety selector for a firearm
11927407 ยท 2024-03-12
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
F41A19/46
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F41A35/06
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
F41A17/46
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
International classification
F41A17/46
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
Abstract
A safety selector for a firearm, including a first lever including an integrally formed safety shaft and a first handle located outside the lower receiver for actuation, as well as a bearing portion, a selector portion and a connecting portion. To facilitate disassembly and interchangeability, the first lever is configured for spring-biased coupling to a securing element and has, on the connecting portion, a positioning protrusion projecting toward the opposite side of the weapon. In a longitudinal direction, the positioning protrusion has a shape-complementary bore for receiving a connecting assembly which includes a connecting element, a spring and a spring lock.
Claims
1. A safety selector for a firearm, comprising: a first lever, a securing element, and a connecting assembly; wherein: the first lever includes a first handle and an integrally-formed safety shaft, and is configured for a spring-biased coupling to the securing element; wherein: the safety shaft is configured to be received in a lower receiver of the firearm and to be rotatable into at least one firing selection position, and includes a first, substantially cylindrical bearing portion joined to the first handle in a direction toward an opposite weapon side, a selector portion formed adjacent to the bearing portion and having at least one primary selector surface, and a connecting portion adjacent to the selector portion; the first handle is configured to be outside the lower receiver for actuation of the safety selector when the safety shaft is received in the lower receiver; the securing element includes a substantially cylindrical bearing protrusion for mounting in the lower receiver, the bearing protrusion having in a circumferential direction a primary cam configured to interact with a selector pin disposed in the lower receiver, where the primary cam also defines a mounting groove that is directed toward a weapon midplane; the connecting assembly includes a connecting element, a spring, and a spring lock; the connecting element being configured at a first end for coupling to the spring lock and configured at its opposite, second end for coupling to the securing element; wherein: the first lever has, on the connecting portion of the safety shaft, a positioning protrusion projecting in a direction toward the opposite weapon side, and, in a longitudinal direction, a bore of complementary shape for receiving the connecting assembly; and the bearing protrusion defines a coupling recess that opens outwardly in a radial direction and in the longitudinal direction and is configured to couple to the second end of the connecting element and the positioning protrusion.
2. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the connecting element has at least one bolt protrusion projecting normally to the longitudinal direction, the bolt protrusion being configured to couple to the coupling recess of the securing element.
3. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the connecting element and/or the spring lock has/have a non-circular cross-sectional shape.
4. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the connecting element and/or the spring lock has/have an elliptical, oval, or polygonal cross-sectional shape.
5. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the second end of the connecting element and/or the spring lock has/have a rectangular cross-sectional shape.
6. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the coupling recess of the securing element includes a catch surface that is complementary in shape to the second end of the connecting element and/or to the positioning protrusion.
7. The safety selector according to claim 6, wherein the second end of the connecting element includes a flattened portion that is complementary in shape to the catch surface.
8. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the first end of the connecting element and the spring lock are coupled by a threaded connection.
9. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the selector portion of the safety shaft includes an additional, secondary selector surface.
10. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the securing element further comprises a second lever formed on the securing element, the second lever including a second handle configured to be located outside the lower receiver on the opposite weapon side for ambidextrous operation of the safety selector.
11. The safety selector according to claim 9, further comprising a secondary cam defining a mounting groove directed toward the weapon midplane, wherein the secondary cam is formed on the bearing portion of the first lever in the circumferential direction.
12. The safety selector according to claim 11, wherein the secondary cam is shorter in the circumferential direction than the primary cam.
13. The safety selector according to claim 12, wherein the secondary cam extends over a second selector angle of 40 to 80.
14. The safety selector according to claim 12, wherein the secondary cam extends over a second selector angle of approximately 55.
15. The safety selector according to claim 1, further comprising a closing protrusion is formed on the connecting portion that is configured to cover the mounting groove when the safety selector is in an installed state.
16. The safety selector according to claim 1, wherein the bore is configured as a stepped bore.
17. The safety selector according to claim 1, further comprising at least one interacting positioning aid pair formed on the connecting portion and the securing element.
Description
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(11) The present disclosure relates to safety selectors that can be adapted for ambidextrous use for handheld firearms, in particular for firearms of the M4/M16/AR15 rifle type. The presently disclosed safety selectors are easy to manufacture and operate, and permit disassembly and/or assembly without first having to remove the selector pin and/or the grip of the rifle. In some examples, the safety selectors enable one-sided or ambidextrous operation, without tools, and requiring the smallest possible number of components. In some examples, the safety selectors can be implemented in an existing AR-15 receiver with the smallest possible effort. In some examples, the safety selectors offer the easiest possible adaptation of the selector angle to the needs of the shooter. The safety selectors of the present disclosure are not limited to rifles, carbines, etc., but can in principle also be used for pistols. Some embodiments and their effects/advantages are discussed below in greater detail.
(12) The advantageous properties of the disclosed safety selectors are achieved by one or more of the features disclosed below. In one example, the first lever has a bore in its longitudinal or bore direction, which bore is designed to be complementary to the function and shape of a connecting assembly. The connecting assembly comprises a connecting element, a spring and a spring lock and is designed to couple a securing element and/or a second lever formed integrally therewith in a spring-biased manner. On the connecting portion of the first lever, seen in the direction of the opposite side of the weapon, a positioning protrusion is formed in the longitudinal direction. The connecting element is complementary in shape at its first end for coupling to the spring lock and at its opposite, second end for coupling to the securing element. The securing element has a substantially cylindrical bearing protrusion for mounting in the lower receiver or, in one limiting case, can also consist only of the bearing protrusion, or in another limiting case it can comprise a handle and thus be designed as a second safety selector. On the bearing protrusion, a primary cam is formed in the circumferential direction for interaction with a selector pin arranged in the lower receiver, which cam has a mounting groove directed toward the weapon midplane. In addition, for receiving and supporting the second end of the connecting element and/or the positioning protrusion, the bearing protrusion has a coupling recess which is open both outwardly in the radial direction as well as outwardly in the longitudinal direction.
(13) The advantage of such a safety selector is the high degree of user-friendliness, since it is not necessary to dismantle/assemble the grip for installing or removing the safety selector. The interaction of the connecting assembly and the securing element and the cam arranged thereon allow the first lever to be inserted into the lower receiver from the left and, by actuating the connecting element, the second end of which is simply deflected over the contour of the right-hand side of the lower receiver, to be plugged to the securing element there. Subsequently, the spring of the connecting assembly ensures that the securing element is pulled in the direction of the weapon midplane. By means of the opening in the cam in the form of the mounting groove, it is possible to reach the installation position without having to remove the selector pin and/or the grip. In addition, in the installed situation, due to the existing spring-biased coupling of the first lever with the securing element, only a rotation of the safety selector in the circumferential direction is possible. In this way, the safety selector is positioned in the lower receiver and the risk of loss is significantly reduced.
(14) Numerous further embodiments that are sometimes preferred are explained below with reference to the description of the figures. In particular, various possibilities are considered in this regard for achieving easier handling by means of bolt protrusions and/or the shape of individual components. In addition, the possibility of retrofitting the safety selector to ambidextrous operation is considered in particular, and individual adaptation proposals are made for optimizing the operation, such as setting the selector angle between the safe position and at least one firing position.
(15) Throughout the description and the claims, in front of or forward(ly) is used as the direction toward the muzzle of the barrel, backward(ly) is used as the direction toward the stock, downward(ly) is used as the direction for the bolt toward the magazinethat is, substantially downward in the vertical directionand upward(ly) is used as the direction away from the magazinethat is, upward in the vertical direction. The terms weapon midplane, barrel core, barrel axis, core axis, etc. have the usual meaning assigned thereto in the prior art by a person skilled in the art. Left is thus related to the weapon midplane, from the left corresponds to a movement, actuation, or exertion of force in the direction of the weapon midplane, proceeding from a starting position to the left thereof, etc. Accordingly, the bolt or the bolt carrier is moved backward under the effect of the gases after a shot is fired and is moved forward again under the action of a recoil spring, etc.
(16) In the context of the present disclosure, a safety selector 1 is disclosed, shown and described which is suitable for arrangement in a firearm, preferably an AR-15 type rifle, and designated with reference sign 1.
(17) In the figures of the drawings, it has been attempted to designate everything that relates to the first lever 11 as 1 n, similarly using 2n for the securing element 2 or the second lever 21 according to the present disclosure, 3n for the connecting assembly 3, 4 for the lower receiver, and 5n for the coordinate system fixed in relation to the safety selector 1 for orientation.
(18) In
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(20) In
(21) The different lengths of the second handles 22 in
(22) Considering
(23) In a further preferred variant of the safety selectors of the disclosure, the second end 33 of the connecting element 31 and/or the spring lock 37 has a non-circular, elliptical, oval or polygonal, preferably rectangular, shape. The decisive factor herein is that a round head of the second end 33, as noted above, would already accomplish the coupling to the securing element 2, but the risk of the connecting element 31 rotating in the circumferential direction 53 can be significantly reduced by the choice of the shape of the second end 33. An independent or additional measure can be that the spring lock 37 has a non-round shape. As can be clearly seen in
(24) A particular aspect of the present disclosure relates to the arrangement and design of a primary cam 241 on the bearing protrusion 24 of the securing element 2. Because the spring-loaded selector pinnot shown, but well known to a person skilled in the artprotrudes obliquely from below in the lower receiver 4 (
(25) In addition, it can be clearly seen in all the embodiments in
(26) A further aspect of the present disclosure can also be clearly seen from
(27) A further, possibly independent measure for optimizing the torque or force transmission when the first lever 11 and/or second lever 21 is actuated can consist in the second end 33 of the connecting element 31 having a flattened portion 34 that is complementary in shape to the catch surface 26. This embodiment is included in the selected drawings and is shown clearly in
(28) For the clarity of the assembly of the safety selector 1, reference is made here to a joint consideration of the drawings, in particular
(29) The possible embodiments described above make it possible, in a relatively simple manner, to provide a safety selector 1 which is very user-friendly to disassemble/assemble and also only requires a makeshift tool, such as a cartridge tip or a rod, to actuate the connecting element 31. In the installed situation, however, the spring lock 37 can terminate flush with the first lever 11 toward the outside, or can even be arranged set back behind the surface. This significantly minimizes the risk of accidental adjustment. In particular, the aforementioned individual measures or their combination can permanently ensure the position of the connecting assembly 3 in the operating state without the risk of the coupling to the securing element 2 autonomously releasing.
(30) At this point it should be explicitly pointed out that the safety selector according to the present disclosure is also particularly suitable for optimizing the selector angle 23. This situation can be seen very well from
(31) In addition, it can be advantageous if the user is given the option of providing two different cams, i.e. a primary cam 241 and a secondary cam 141, on a safety selector 1. This situation is shown, for example, in
(32) This is evident from the exemplary sectional views in
(33) In the position indicated in
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(35) A somewhat different situation can be achieved with a selector portion 15 as shown in
(36) In a further preferred embodiment (
(37) The advantage, according to the present disclosure, of this embodiment, namely to allow adjustment of the actuating path or the selector angle 23 by simply reversing the insertion direction of the safety selector 1, is made possible by the positioning protrusion 18 of the first lever 11. Upon insertion from the right-hand side, this positioning protrusion 18 serves to deflect the spring-loaded selector pin in the lower receiver 4, thus making the insertion possible in the first place without removing the selector pin. When the opposite left side of the lower receiver 4 is reached, the bearing portion 14 reaches the predetermined position on the right-hand side of the lower receiver 4 without blocking, since the secondary cam 141 also has a mounting groove 242 open to the opposite side of the weapon and thus allows the selector pin to enter the secondary cam 141 unhindered. This situation can easily be understood from
(38) In one particular embodiment, formed on the connecting element 16 is a closing protrusion 19 which primarily serves to close the mounting groove 242 of the primary cam 241 in the installed situation in the direction of the weapon midplane. In this way, additional protection is provided against the ingress of any dust and/or other foreign bodies. This closing protrusion 19 can further fulfill a function as a positioning aid during insertion and also acts as an additional support in the radial direction when installed. In this way, the transmission of force or torque when the safety selector 1 is actuated can be improved, in particular when a second lever 21 is used.
(39) Further positioning aids can also be provided, as can be seen, for example, in
(40) It is clear to a person skilled in the art that the embodiments disclosed were selected as schematic and/or exemplary representations and it is easily possible for a skilled person to transfer the relationships provided by the present disclosure to embodiments that have not been explicitly shown, and therefore these implicitly disclosed embodiments can be implicitly understood both in the description of the figures and in the claims.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
(41) TABLE-US-00001 1 Safety selector 24 Bearing protrusion 11 First lever 241 Primary cam 12 First handle 242 Mounting groove 13 Safety shaft 243 Selector groove 14 Bearing portion 25 Coupling recess 141 Secondary cam 26 Catch surface 15 Selector portion 151 Primary selector surface 3 Connecting assembly 152 Secondary selector surface 31 Connecting element 153 Safety surface 32 First end 16 Connecting portion 33 Second end 17 Bore 34 Flattened portion 18 Positioning protrusion 35 Bolt protrusion 19 Closing protrusion 36 Spring 37 Spring lock 2 Securing element 4 Lower receiver 21 Second lever 51 Bore direction/longitudinal direction 22 Second handle 52 Radial direction 23 Selector angle 53 Circumferential direction