Magazine Opener

Abstract

A magazine opener for removing a floor plate of a firearm magazine, wherein the floor plate defines a hole and the magazine defines a side wall, wherein the opener includes: a handle having a first end and a second free end; a first arm pivotally connected with the first end of the handle; a second arm extended from the handle to form an engagement point biased against the side wall; wherein the first arm comprises a L-shaped element inserted into the hole to secure the first arm with the floor plate.

Claims

1. A magazine opener for removing a floor plate of a firearm magazine, wherein said floor plate defines a hole and said magazine having a magazine body defines a side wall, wherein said opener comprises: a handle having a first end and a second free end; a first arm pivotally connected with said first end of said handle; and a second arm extended from said handle and biased against said side wall to define an engagement point; wherein said first arm comprises a L-shaped element inserted into said hole to secure said first arm with said floor plate.

2. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 1, wherein said handle further comprises a first arm receiving cavity formed adjacent to said first end of said handle for receiving first arm to create a compact size while said first arm is not in use.

3. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 2, wherein said first end of said handle further comprises a blocking wall downwardly and integrally extended from a bottom wall of said first arm receiving cavity for being used to suspend said first arm thereon.

4. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 2, wherein said first arm, said second arm, and said second end are associated with said magazine body through a leverage, which is applied to remove said floor plate from said magazine body.

5. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 4, wherein lengths of said first arm and said second arm are arranged in such manner that said first arm is associated with said floor plate with a variety of thicknesses.

6. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 5, wherein a press force towards a direction is exerted on said second free end of said handle towards said magazine body, and said engagement point is defined as a fulcrum, and naturally a pulling force towards an opposite direction is generated to said first arm for removing said floor plate from said magazine body.

7. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 6, wherein a magnitude of an angle formed between a longitudinal axis of said handle and said first arm is gradually decreased during said floor plate is removing from said magazine body.

8. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 6, wherein a distance between said L-shaped element and said engagement point is gradually decreased during said floor plate is removing from said magazine body.

9. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 6, wherein said second arm further comprises an engagement surface touching with said side wall of said magazine body while said engagement point is moved upwardly towards said floor plate.

10. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 5, wherein said L-shaped element comprises a vertical member extended from said first arm, and a transversal pin extended from said vertical member towards a direction opposite to said first arm.

11. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 10, wherein said transversal pin is biased against an inner surface of said floor plate to secure against the detachment between said L-shaped element and said floor plate.

12. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 11, wherein a press force towards a direction is exerted on said second free end of said handle towards said magazine body, and said engagement point is defined as a fulcrum, and naturally a pulling force towards an opposite direction is generated to said first arm for removing said floor plate from said magazine body.

13. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 12, wherein said second arm further comprises an engagement surface touching with said side wall of said magazine body while said engagement point is moved upwardly towards said floor plate.

14. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 13, wherein a magnitude of an angle formed between a longitudinal axis of said handle and said first arm is gradually decreased during said floor plate is removing from said magazine body.

15. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 13, wherein a distance between said L-shaped element and said engagement point is gradually decreased during said floor plate is removing from said magazine body.

16. A magazine opener for removing a floor plate of a firearm magazine, wherein said floor plate defines a hole and said magazine having a magazine body defines a side wall, wherein said magazine opener comprises: a first arm; a vertical member extended from said first arm; a transversal pin extended from said vertical member towards a direction opposite to said first arm; wherein said vertical member and said transversal pin is inserted into said hole to hook with said floor plate.

17. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 16, wherein said transversal pin is biased against an inner surface of said floor plate to secure against the detachment between said first arm and said floor plate.

18. The magazine opener, as recited in claim 17, wherein a press force towards a direction to said magazine body, and then a pulling force towards an opposite direction is generated to said first arm for removing said floor plate from said magazine body.

19. A method of removing a floor plate from a firearm magazine body through a magazine opener, comprising the steps of: (a) Inserting a L-shaped element arranged on a first arm of said magazine opener into a hole of said floor plate. (b) Biasing a second arm of said magazine opener against a side wall of said magazine body. (c) Exerting a press force on a handle of said magazine opener to generate a pulling force to said first arm for removing said floor plate.

20. The method, as recited in claim 19, further comprising the steps of: (d) Being touching an engagement surface of said second arm with said side wall of said magazine body.

21. The method, as recited in claim 19, wherein said L-shaped element comprises a vertical member extended from said first arm, and a transversal pin extended from said vertical member towards a direction opposite to said first arm.

22. The method, as recited in claim 21, wherein said transversal pin is biased against an inner surface of said floor plate to secure against the detachment between said first arm and said floor plate.

23. The method, as recited in claim 19, wherein a direction of said press force is opposite to that of said pulling force, wherein said second arm is biased against said side wall of side wall of said magazine body to define a fulcrum, wherein said floor plate is removed from said magazine body by a leverage.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magazine opener according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a firearm magazine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a side view of the magazine opener according to the above mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that a first arm is in an extended position.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a side view of the magazine opener according to the above mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that a first arm is in a stored position.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a side view of the magazine opener according to the above mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that the magazine opener is cooperated with the firearm magazine.

[0030] FIG. 6 is a side view of the magazine opener according to the above mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating that the floor plate of the firearm magazine is removed by the magazine opener.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0031] The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of the drawings, a magazine opener 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the magazine opener 10 is applied for removing a floor plate 21 of a firearm magazine 20. The floor plate 20 comprises a hole 211, and the magazine 20 further comprises a magazine body 22 having a side wall 221 adjacent to the floor plate 21.

[0033] The magazine opener 10 comprises a handle 11 having two spacedly tabs 121 formed on a first end 12 of the handle 11, and a second free end 13, a first arm 14 pivotally connected within the two tabs 121 of the first end 12 of the handle 11, a second arm 15 integrally extended from a predetermined position where a polygonal hole 16 formed on the handle 11, and a first arm receiving cavity 111 formed on a top portion of the handle 11 for storing the first arm 14 while the first arm 14 is not in use.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 of the drawings, the first end 12 of the handle 11 comprises a blocking wall 122 downwardly and integrally extended from a bottom wall 112 of the first arm receiving cavity 11 to form a blocking end 123 and a blocking cavity 124 defined between the blocking wall 122 and two tabs 121. The first arm 14 comprises a pivot end 141 pivotally connected with the two tabs 121 of the first end 12 of the handle 11 and a terminus having a L-shaped element 142, and a bottom surface 143, wherein the first arm 14 is pivotally operated through the pivot end 141 to conceal the first arm 14 into the first arm receiving cavity 111 in a stored position, as shown in FIG. 4, and selectively, the first arm 14 can be withdrawn from concealment within the first arm receiving cavity 111 in an extended position, as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, the blocking end 123 of the blocking wall 122 is biased against with the bottom surface 143 of the first arm 14 while the first arm 14 is in the extended position, so the first arm 14 is suspended on the blocking wall.

[0035] The L-shaped element 142 comprises a vertical member 1421 downwardly extended from the bottom wall 143 of the first arm 14 and a transversal pin 1422 integrally extended from the vertical member 1421 towards a direction opposite to the first arm 14, wherein the transversal pin 1422 is adapted to be inserted into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21. The second arm 15 comprises an engagement point 151 and an engagement surface 152 which can engage with the side wall 221 of the magazine 20.

[0036] In addition, the first arm 14 and the second arm 15 have different lengths, wherein the first arm 14 is longer than the second arm 15, so while the bottom surface 143 of the first arm 14 touches with the blocking end 123, the terminus of the first arm 14 is positioned below the second arm 15. A distance (d) is defined between the terminus of the first arm 14 and the engagement point 151 of the second arm 15, wherein the distance (d) is adjustable since the first arm 14 is pivotally connected with the first end 12 of the handle 11 through the pivot end 141. Therefore, the adjustable distance (d) between the first arm 14 and the engagement point 151 of the second arm 15 is able to receive or grip the firearm magazines 20 having different shapes and sizes, and especially for a magazine 20 having a variety of types of floor plates, such as extended floor plates or the magazine having an extended ammunition capacity.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 of the drawings, the magazine opener 20 is adapted to remove the floor plate 21 of the magazine 20 which is received or gripped by the magazine opener 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the L-shaped member 142 is inserted into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21, and at the same time, the engagement point 151 of the second arm 15 is biased against the side wall 221 of the magazine 20, and then a press force (F) is applied on the handle 11 to slide the floor plate 21 towards the engagement point 151 of the second arm 15. After that, the engagement surface 152 of the second arm 15 naturally touches on the side wall 221 of the magazine 20. It is worth mentioning that the L-shaped member 142 is inserted into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21 while the transversal pin 1422 is biased against with an inner surface 212 of the floor plate 21, and in other words, the floor plate 21 is hooked by the L-shaped element 142 to secure L-shaped element 142 to the floor plate 21, so while the floor plate 21 is pulled by the first arm 14 by the press force applying on the handle, the L-shaped element 142 will not detach from the floor plate 21.

[0038] It is worth mentioning that the engagement surface 152 is provided to prevent the side wall 221 of the magazine 20 being damaged during the press force F applying on directly thereon through the engagement point 152. Therefore, while the engagement surface 152 touches on the side wall 221 of the magazine 20, the contact area between second arm 15 and the side wall 221 is increased, so the press force F exerted on the second end 13 of the handle 11 can be evenly distributed on the magazine 20 without damaging the surface of the side wall 221.

[0039] Accordingly, the magazine opener 10 is adapted to remove the floor plate 21 of the magazine 20 through three points, which is a force point A formed where the press force F towards a direction is exerted thereon, the engagement point 151, and a pulling point B where the hole 211 located on floor plate 21, wherein the three points are operated through a leverage. The engagement point 151 is defined as a fulcrum, and the press force F is defined as an input force to provide a greater output pulling force P to the pulling point B for pulling the floor plate 21 towards an opposite direction. Therefore, the operator is able to provide one relatively smaller press force F on the force point A of the handle 11, and then a greater pulling force P is generated to remove the floor plate 21 from the magazine 20.

[0040] Accordingly, a longitudinal axis of the handle 11 and the first arm 14 are located to form a first angle .sub.1 while the L-shaped element 142 is inserted into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21. In other words, a value of the first angle .sub.1 naturally changes by a curvature of the side wall 221 and the shapes and sizes of the floor plate 21. For instance, the first angle .sub.1 generated between an extended floor plate and a regular magazine is smaller than the first angle .sub.1 generated between a regular floor plate and a regular magazine. After the press force F is exerted on the force point, a second angle .sub.2 is generated between the longitudinal axis of the handle 11 and the first arm 14. Since the first arm 14 is pivotally connected with the first end 12 of the handle 11, a value of the second angle .sub.2 is larger than that of the first angle .sub.1.

[0041] It is worth mentioning that a first distance .sub.1 is formed between the L-shaped element 142 and the engagement point 151 while the L-shaped element 142 is inserted into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21, and the second arm 15 is biased against the side wall 221 of the magazine 20. After the press force F is exerted on the force point A of the handle 11, the engagement point 151 is moved upwardly towards the floor plate 21, and then the floor plate 21 is removed from the magazine 20, and in such manner, a distance between the L-shaped element 142 and the engagement point 151 is defined as a second distance .sub.2, which is smaller than a value of the distance 1.

[0042] The magazine opener 10 is a one-hand operation tool. Therefore, the operator uses one hand holding the magazine body 22 and the handle 11 of the magazine opener 10, and then applies one press force F on the second end 13 of the handle 11 to perform the leverage between the magazine opener 10 and the magazine 20, so the floor plate 21 can be easily removed from the magazine body 22 by the small amount of press force F. In addition, the transversal pin 1422 of the L-shaped element 142 is able to secure against the detachment between the floor plate 21 and the first arm 14, so as to prevent the L-shaped element 142 being accidently detaching from the floor plate 21 during the removing of the floor plate 21.

[0043] The present invention further provides a method of removing the floor plate 21 from the magazine body 22, wherein the method comprises the following step:

[0044] (1) Insert a L-shaped element 142 into the hole 211 of the floor plate 21.

[0045] (2) Bias the engagement point 151 of the second arm 15 against the side wall 221 of the magazine body 22.

[0046] (3) Exert the press force F on the second 13 of handle 11 to remove the floor plate 21 from the magazine body 22 through the leverage.

[0047] According to the preferred embodiment, in the step (1), the transversal pin 1422 of the L-shaped element 142 is biased against the inner surface 212 of the floor plate 21, so the floor plate 21 is hooked by the L-shaped element 142, so while the pulling force P is generated to the first arm 14, the L-shaped element 142 is secured to the floor plate 21 without accidently detaching from the floor plate 21, and then the floor plate 21 is naturally pulled by the pulling force and to be removed from the magazine body 22.

[0048] According to the preferred embodiment, after the step (3), the method further comprises a step of being touching the engagement surface 152 with the side wall 221 of the magazine body 22. Accordingly, the engagement point 151 is moved upwardly along the contour of the magazine body 22, and simultaneously, the engagement surface 152 touches with the side wall 221 of the magazine body 22, so as to prevent the damage generated on the side wall 211.

[0049] It is worth mentioning that first arm 14 is pivotally connected with the first end 12 of the handle 11, and the second free end 13 of the handle 11 is provided to endure the press force F. In addition, the engagement point 151 formed on the second arm 15 is defined as the fulcrum for the leverage between the magazine opener 10 and the magazine 20. Therefore, the press force F applied on the second end 13 of the handle 11 is defined towards a direction, and the first arm naturally generates the pulling force P towards an opposite direction for removing the floor plate 21.

[0050] One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

[0051] It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.