REMOVABLE AMMUNITION MAGAZINES FOR AIR GUNS

Abstract

Removable ammunition magazines for air guns, combinations of such a magazine with an air gun, and methods of use. The removable ammunition magazine includes a pellet feeder and a canister chamber. A puncture needle is disposed at the top end of the canister chamber, and a canister seat is disposed at a bottom end of the canister chamber. A lever with a cam is pivotably secured to a bottom end of the body, and a cam follower engages the cam and operatively coupled to the canister seat. The lever rotates between an open position, in which the canister seat is shifted away from a puncture needle, and a closed position, in which the canister seat is shifted toward the puncture needle. The lever is recessed within a recess in a bottom surface of the body in each of the first and second positions. The cam may have two detents to help hold the lever in the open and closed positions.

Claims

1. A removable ammunition magazine for carrying and dispensing projectiles and compressed for an air gun, the magazine comprising: a body configured to be slidingly received into a magazine receiver of an air gun; a pellet chamber inside the body and a pellet feeder disposed in the pellet chamber; a canister chamber disposed inside the body, the canister chamber having a first axis extending from a top end of the canister chamber to a bottom end of the canister chamber; a puncture needle disposed at the top end of the canister chamber; a canister seat disposed at the bottom end of the canister chamber, the canister seat shiftable along the first axis between a first position displaced away from the puncture needle and a second position displaced toward the puncture needle; a lever with a cam pivotably secured to a bottom end of the body, the lever rotatable between an open position and a closed position; and a cam follower engaging the cam and operatively coupled to the canister seat, wherein in the open position, the cam follower shifts the canister seat to the first position, and wherein in the closed position, the cam follower shifts the canister seat to the second position; wherein in each of the first position and the second position, the lever is disposed recessed within in a recess in a bottom surface of the body.

2. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, wherein the lever rotates 180 about a second axis perpendicular to the first axis from the open position to the closed position.

3. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, further comprising: a first detent on the cam that engages the cam follower when the lever is in the first position; and a second detent on the cam that engages the cam follower when the lever is in the second position; wherein the engagement of the cam follower with first detent holds the lever in the first position; and wherein the engagement of the cam follower with the second detent holds the lever in the second position.

4. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, wherein the cam is disposed at a first end of the lever and a finger pad is disposed at a second end of the lever.

5. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, further comprising: a coupler opening disposed at a top end of the magazine; a gas flow chamber coupling the coupler opening with the puncture needle; and a gas shut-off valve disposed in the gas flow chamber between the coupler opening and the puncture needle, the gas shut-off valve configured to normally close the gas flow chamber.

6. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, wherein the gas shut-off valve comprises a valve plug and a spring that urges the valve plug against a valve seat at the couple opening.

7. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, further comprising a compressed gas canister disposed inside the canister chamber, the compressed gas canister comprising a bottom end and a top end defining a canister opening, the bottom end of the compressed gas canister seated on the canister seat; wherein with the lever in the open position, the top end is spaced apart from the puncture needle; and wherein rotating the lever to the close position drives the top end of the canister against the puncture needle such that the puncture needle punctures the canister opening.

8. The removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, further comprising at least one projectile disposed inside the pellet chamber and engaged by the pellet feeder.

9. A method of using a removable ammunition magazine according to claim 1, the method comprising: with the lever in the open position, inserting a compressed gas canister into the canister chamber through an opening a sidewall of the body such that a bottom end of the compressed gas canister is seated on the canister seat and a top end of the canister defining a canister opening is spaced apart from the puncture needle; and rotating the lever to the closed position to puncture the canister opening with the puncture needle and sealingly seat the top end of the canister in a receiver socket surrounding the puncture needle.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising inserting at least one projectile into the pellet chamber.

11. A combination of an air gun and the removable ammunition magazine of claim 1, wherein the air gun comprises a magazine receiver that slidably receives the removable ammunition magazine into an operative position that supplies projectiles and compressed gas to the air gun from the magazine for use in loading and firing the air gun.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein the air gun includes a male coupler that fluidly couples to the coupler opening of the removable ammunition magazine and opens the gas shut-off valve when the magazine is in the operative position.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein the male coupler pushes a valve plug away from a valve seat to open the gas shut-off valve.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. 1 is a side view of an air gun and removable ammunition magazine according to one nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a top isometric view of the ammunition magazine of FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a side view of the ammunition magazine illustrating loading of a projectile and a compressed gas canister.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the ammunition magazine.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a bottom isometric view of the ammunition magazine with a cannister locking lever shown in an open position.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the magazine along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a bottom isometric view of the ammunition magazine with the cannister locking lever shown in a closed position.

[0020] FIG. 8. is a partial cross-sectional view of the magazine along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7.

[0021] FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the magazine in its operative position inserted into a magazine receiver of the air gun.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] The intended purpose of the following detailed description of the invention and the phraseology and terminology employed therein is to describe what is shown in the drawings, which include the depiction of and/or relate to one or more nonlimiting embodiments of the invention, and to describe certain but not all aspects of what is depicted in the drawings, including the embodiment(s) depicted in the drawings. The following detailed description also identifies certain but not all alternatives of the embodiment(s) depicted in the drawings. As nonlimiting examples, the invention encompasses additional or alternative embodiments in which one or more features or aspects shown and/or described as part of a particular embodiment could be eliminated, and also encompasses additional or alternative embodiments that combine two or more features or aspects shown and/or described as part of different embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims, and not the detailed description, are intended to recite particularly point out subject matter regarded to be aspects of the invention, including certain but not necessarily all of the aspects and alternatives described in the detailed description.

[0023] Although the invention will be described hereinafter in reference to the air gun having the form of a semi-automatic pistol shown in the drawing[s], it will be appreciated that the teachings of the invention are also more generally applicable to a variety of types of air guns, such as, but not limited to, such as air guns that do not have a semi-automatic reloading mechanism, and/or air guns with different body styles (e.g., long guns, carbines, and long guns with pistol grips).

[0024] To facilitate the description provided below of the embodiment(s) represented in the drawings, relative terms, including but not limited to, proximal, distal, anterior, posterior, vertical, horizontal, lateral, front, rear, side, forward, rearward, top, bottom, upper, lower, above, below, right, left, etc., may be used in reference to the orientation of the magazine and/or the air gun during its use and/or as represented in the drawings. All such relative terms are useful to describe the illustrated embodiment(s) but should not be otherwise interpreted as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0025] As used herein the terms a and an to introduce a feature are used as open-ended, inclusive terms to refer to at least one, or one or more of the features, and are not limited to only one such feature unless otherwise expressly indicated. Similarly, use of the term the in reference to a feature previously introduced using the term a or an does not thereafter limit the feature to only a single instance of such feature unless otherwise expressly indicated.

[0026] Turning now to the nonlimiting embodiments represented in the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts an air gun 10 with a removable ammunition magazine 12 according to certain nonlimiting aspects of the invention. The air gun 10 in this example is in the form of a semi-automatic pistol, such as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/523,669 and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/060,893; however, the magazine 12 is not limited to use these particular air guns, and may be used in any air gun configured to receive the magazine 12 in an operative position so as to supply projectiles into a firing chamber and to supply a charge of a compressed gas to fire the supplied projectile from the firing chamber. In this example, the magazine 12 is inserted into its operative position inside a magazine receiver (magazine well) 13 in the pistol grip 14 by sliding the magazine 12 upwardly into the magazine receiver 13 through an opening in a bottom end of the pistol grip 14. Preferably, the magazine 12 includes a locking mechanism that locks the magazine into its operative position for feeding the projectiles 20 into the firing chamber of the air gun 10 in any suitable manner, as is well understood. The magazine 12 can be removed from the magazine receiver 13 by unlocking it and sliding it downwardly out the bottom end of the grip 14.

[0027] As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the magazine 12 has an outer body (e.g., an elongate shell) 12A that is shaped complementary to the magazine receiver 13 in the pistol grip 14. A pellet feeder 16 is disposed inside a pellet chamber 18 sized to receive at least one, and preferably several projectiles 20, and a cannister chamber 22 sized to receive a compressed gas cannister 24 (sometimes also called a gas cartridge). In this example, the projectiles 20 are represented as pepper balls having a pepper gel disposed inside a spherical outer breakable shell; however, other types of projectiles could be used. In this example, the gas cannister 24 preferably contains compressed carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2), however any compressed gas suitable for operating the air gun 10 could be used, and therefore it should be understood that the term air gun is used herein as a matter of convenience. An opening 26 through a side wall of the magazine 12 is sized and shaped to allow the gas cannister 24 to be inserted into and removed from the cannister chamber 22.

[0028] The pellet feeder 16 may be arranged in any suitable manner to store and selectively feed the projectiles 20 as ammunition in the air gun 10. In this example, the pellet feeder 16 preferably includes a spring and a follower such that projectiles 20 can be loaded into the pellet chamber 18 by pressing the projectiles 20 down against the follower through an opening at a top end of the magazine 12. The spring urges the follower and the top projectile 20 in the pellet chamber 18 upwardly toward the top end. When the air gun 10 loads the top projectile 20 into its firing chamber, the follower pushes the next projectile up to the opening. However, other pellet feeding mechanisms suitable for feeding the projectiles 20 into the firing chamber of the air gun 10 when in its operative position can be used.

[0029] As best seen in FIGS. 5 through 8, a movable cannister seat 28 is disposed at the bottom end of the cannister chamber 22. The cannister seat 28 shifts up and down along the vertical axis of the cannister chamber 22 in response to movement of a lever 30 disposed at a bottom end of the magazine 12. The lever 30 rotates around a second axis 32, such as provided by a pin, between the open position shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6 and the closed position shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8. The second axis 32 is perpendicular to the vertical axis of the canister chamber 22. A cam 34 in the form of an eccentric cam lobe is disposed at the end of the lever 30 near the second axis 32, and a finger pad 33 is disposed at the opposite end of the lever 30. Preferably, the second axis 32 extends through the cam 34 offset from the center point of the cam 34 so that the cam lobe is eccentric about the second axis 32. A cam follower 36 is disposed between the cam 34 and the cannister seat 28. In this example, the cam follower 36 is represented as comprising a piston having a head resting on top of the cam 34, and the cam follower 36 extends upwardly terminating with a piston rod that engages the bottom of the cannister seat 28. When the lever 30 is in the open position (FIGS. 5 and 6), the cam follower 36 and the cannister seat 28 are disposed closer to the bottom end of the canister chamber 22. When the lever 30 is in the closed position (FIGS. 7 and 8), the cam follower 36 and the cannister seat 28 are disposed closer toward a top end of the canister chamber 22. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the cam 34 shifts the cam follower 36 and the cannister seat 28 toward the top end of the magazine 12 (upwardly in the drawings) when the lever 30 is rotated toward the closed position. Conversely, the cam 34 shifts the cam follower 36 and the cannister seat 28 back toward the bottom end of the magazine 12 (downwardly in the drawings) when the lever 30 is rotated toward the open position. The stroke length of the cam follower 36 and the cannister seat 28 is a length sufficient to shift the top of the gas cannister 24 upwardly against a piercing pin, such as a puncture needle 40, at the top end of the cannister chamber 22 after the gas cannister 24 is loaded into the cannister chamber 22. The appropriate stroke length will depend on the overall size and configuration of the loading mechanism, on the order of about 1 to about 5 millimeters as a nonlimiting example. Though the cam follower 36 is represented as comprising a piston, other shapes and forms for the cam follower 36 are foreseeable for operatively coupling the cam 34 with the cannister seat 28 to provide the described movement.

[0030] In this nonlimiting embodiment, the canister seat 28 is in the form of a cup shaped seat slidingly disposed on a top end of the cam follower 36. In this embodiment, the canister seat 28 has an upper rim 38 upon which a bottom end of the gas canister 24 rests when disposed in the canister chamber 22 and a hole through the bottom wall. The rod of the cam follower 36 is slidingly received through the hole so that the canister seat 28 can slide axially in and out of the hole. Optionally, the cannister seat 28 slides axially (up and down) along a short guide track that defines at least partially the limit of travel of the stroke length of the cam follower 36. The guide track may take any suitable form, such as a short axially aligned groove or slot in a wall adjacent the cam follower 36 and/or canister seat 28 that receives a tab extending outwardly from the cam follower 36 and/or canister seat 28. An upper end of the guide track can act as a stroke stop that prevents the canister seat 28 from traveling upwardly into the canister chamber 22 (i.e., toward the puncture needle 40) beyond a preselected stop position.

[0031] A spring 42 is arranged to urge the cam follower 36 against the upper surface of the cam 34 (downwardly) to hold the lever 30 in each of the open and closed positions. The spring 42 in this embodiment is a coil spring that surrounds the rod of the cam follower 36 and extends between and engages the bottom surface of the canister seat 28 and a circumferential rim portion of the piston of the cam follower 36. When a stroke stop, such as the guide track or similar stop is provided, the spring 42 can also urge the cam follower 36 toward the cam 34 even when there is no gas canister 24 disposed in the canister chamber 22 when the canister seat 28 is restrained at the top of its stroke length by the stroke stop.

[0032] The lever 30 has two detented positions (open and stowed) corresponding to the open and closed positions. A first detent 44 is formed on one side of the cam 34 positioned to face the cam follower 36 (upwardly) when the lever 30 is in the open position and face away from the cam follower 36 (downwardly) when the lever 30 is in the closed position. A second detent 46 is formed on the opposite side of the cam 34 positioned to face away from the cam follower 36 (downwardly) when the lever 30 is in the open position and face the cam follower 36 (upwardly) when the lever 30 is in the closed position. The detents 44 and 46 in this example are in the forms of small recesses, such as notches or dimples, in the surface of the cam 34, though it is foreseeable that protrusions and/or other types of detents could be used. The detents 44 and 46 help to hold the lever 30 in the respective open and closed positions by engaging the bottom surface of the cam follower 36, for example a bottom spherically convex surface of the piston of the cam follower 36, and can therefore be referred to as hold-open and hold-closed detents, respectively.

[0033] To improve case of use and storage, the lever 30 is attached to the bottom end of the magazine 12, for example by the pin that defines the second axis 32, so as to be substantially integral with the body 12A of the magazine 12. In other words, the lever 30 is attached to the magazine body 12A such that it cannot be separated from the rest of the magazine 12. A recess 48 in the bottom surface of the magazine 12 is sized and shaped to receive the lever 30 therein so that the bottom surface of the lever 30, the cam 34, and the finger pad 33 are even with or preferably recessed slightly below the surrounding bottom surface of the magazine 12 when the lever 30 is in each of the open position and the closed position. When the lever 30 is in the open position, however, the finger pad 33 at least partly extends laterally past the side edge of the bottom end of the magazine 12 so that a user can easily press on the finger pad to rotate the lever 30 toward the closed position. As best seen in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, however, the recess 48 is shaped to substantially completely receive the finger pad 33 when the lever 30 is in the closed position so as to not be accidentally caught and rotated out of the closed position. A cutout 50 through the sidewall of the recess 48 allows a user to easily access the finger pad 33 when it is desired to rotate the lever 30 from the closed position back toward the open position. Thus, the lever 30 is guarded by the geometry of the magazine 12 when stowed in the closed position to prevent or reduce the chances of the lever 30 being accidentally opened, for example by clothing or items inside a purse or bag.

[0034] To load a compressed gas canister 24 into the canister chamber 22, the lever 30 is placed in the open position such that the canister seat 28 is retracted toward the cam 34 (i.e., shifted away from the puncture needle 40). In this position, the spring 42 urges the cam follower 36 against the detent 46 to hold the lever 30 in place in the open position. The canister 24 is then inserted into the canister chamber 22 between the puncture needle 40 and the canister seat 28, for example, through the opening 26 in the side wall of the magazine 12, with an outlet 52 of the canister 24 facing the puncture needle 40 and a bottom end of the canister 24 placed on the rim 38 of the canister seat 28 (FIG. 6). When lever 30 is in the open position, the eccentric lobe of the cam 34 allows the canister 24 to be inserted onto the canister seat 28 such that the canister outlet 52 is not pierced by the puncture needle 40. The lever 30 is then rotated from the open position to the closed position (FIG. 8), for example by manually rotating the lever 180 with a finger, which causes the eccentric lobe of the cam 34 to push the cam follower 36, the canister seat 28, and the canister neck into a seated position in a receiver socket 56 surrounding the puncture needle 40 (upwardly). A sufficient torque applied on the lever 30 at the finger pad 33 is sufficient to overcome the resistance of the spring 42 at the detent 44. At the top of the cam follower stroke, the neck is seated against the puncture needle 40. In this seated position, the outlet 52 of the canister 24 is punctured by the puncture needle 40 such that the compressed gas inside the canister 24 can flow through the puncture needle 40 without leaking around the puncture needle 40, and a gas-tight scal is formed by a seal, such an O-ring 54 or other type of seal, between the canister 24 and the receiver socket 56. Simultaneously, the spring 42 urges the cam follower 36 into the detent 44 to hold the lever 30 in place in the closed (stowed) position. In this position, the lever 30 retains the gas canister 24 in its seated position inside the magazine 12 for use in the air gun 10. In the seated position, the magazine 12 loaded with the canister 24 is ready for firing the air gun 10 when in the operative position in the magazine receiver 13, as will be described hereinafter. When it is desired to remove the gas canister 24 from the magazine, for example to reload a spent canister with a new charged gas canister, the lever 30 is rotated back to the open position, which lowers the canister seat 28 away from the puncture needle 40, and the canister 24 can then be removed from the canister chamber 22 manually by the user.

[0035] As best seen in FIG. 9, the magazine 12 includes a gas shut-off valve 58 that only opens when the magazine 12 is inserted and retained in the operative position in the air gun 10 to prevent compressed gas in the canister 24 from escaping through the puncture needle 40 when the canister 24 is seated in the receiver socket 56 but not yet inserted into the operative position in the magazine receiver 13. The shut-off valve 58 may be any valve arrangement sufficient to prevent the escape of the compressed gas from the magazine prior to being inserted into the magazine receiver 13. In the nonlimiting embodiment shown in the drawings, a connecting chamber 65 fluidly connects the puncture needle 40 with a ring-shaped valve seat 60 surrounding a coupler opening 66, and the shut-off valve 58 is disposed inside the connecting chamber 65. The shut-off valve 58 includes a valve plug 62 that is urged against the valve seat 60 by a spring 64. Unless pressed away from the valve seat 60 by some other object, the spring 64 and any positive gas pressure from the canister 24 forces the valve plug 62 against the valve seat 60 to form a gas-tight seal, thereby preventing the compressed gas from exiting through the coupler opening 66. However, when the canister 24 is in its seated position in the receiver socket 56 and the magazine 12 is in the operative position in the magazine receiver 13, a distal end of a male coupler 68, such as an elongate nipple connector at the end of a gas supply channel(s) 70 of the firing system in the air gun 10, inserts into the coupler opening 66 and presses the valve plug 62 away from the valve seat 60. One or more gas channels 72 recessed in the side walls and/or top end of the valve plug 62 and/or in the side walls of the connecting chamber 65 and/or the distal end of the male coupler 68 allow the compressed gas to flow around the valve plug 62 and into the gas supply channel 70 through the distal end of the male coupler 68. A seal is formed between the male coupler 68 and the coupler opening 66, such as by an O-ring 74 or other type of seal member, disposed around an inner wall of the coupler opening 66 to prevent escape of compressed gas between the male coupler 68 and the coupler opening 66. When the magazine 12 is removed from the magazine receiver 13, the male coupler 68 pulls out of the coupler opening 66 and disengages from the valve plug 62, which allows the spring 64 to re-seal the valve plug 62 against the valve seat 60. Thus, the shut-off valve 58 allows a charged gas cannister 24 to be loaded and seated into the magazine 12 without losing any compressed gas to the surrounding environment. It also allows the magazine 12 to be removed from its operative position in the magazine receiver 13, for example to load or reload projectiles 20 into the pellet feeder 16 without losing an excessive amount of compressed gas from the gas canister 24.

[0036] As previously noted above, though the foregoing detailed description describes certain aspects of one or more particular embodiments of the invention, alternatives could be adopted by one skilled in the art. For example, the air gun 10, magazine 12, projectiles 20 and/or their components could differ in appearance and construction from the embodiments described herein and shown in the drawings, functions of certain components of the air gun 10, magazine 12, and/or projectiles 20 could be performed by components of different construction but capable of a similar (though not necessarily equivalent) function, and various materials could be used in the fabrication of the air gun 10, magazine 12, projectiles 20 and/or their components. As such, and again as was previously noted, it should be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to any particular embodiment described herein or illustrated in the drawings.