US1350961A - Automatic firearm - Google Patents

Description

M. G. FARQUHAR AND A. H. HILLl AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

. APPLICATION man APR. l5, 1919. l

1,350,961. Patented Aug. 24, 1920. l

'UNIT-ED sTArEs PATENT oFFlcE.

MOUBRAlY-GORE FARQUHAB--ANDARTHUR HENRY HILL, BMINGHAM, IINGIIII'ANI).l

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, MoURAYGoRE FAR- QUHAR and ARTHUR HENRY HILL, subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Automatic Firearms, a s ecificatlon. l

ur mvention conslsts of the new or 1mof which the following is Yproved construction and arrangement orcombination of parts hereinafter described of automatic fire arms, the said new or improved construction andv arrangement of parts having for their object to render the automatic re arms patented to us on U. S.

Patents Nos. 920,301 May 4th 1909, and

1,019,620 March 5th 1912 suitable for use as a machine gun.

According to the present invention we employ the breech opening spring or springs and breech closing spring of the patented automatic fire arms hereinbefore referred to arranged under the barrel of the gun as heretofore, but the body and bolt cover are inverted, that is to say, the breech opening in the body which is closed and opened by the sliding of the bolt cover is presented downward and the cartridges arevfed'lnto the cartridge chamber from a magazine, belt' or other cartridge feed mechanism situated and working overthe.` body or shoe of the We will further describe the said invention in connection with the accompanying drawing Figure 1 of which represents in side elevation the complete machine gun con'- stituting our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan .of-

the same and Fig. 3 a front elevation.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views of portions of the gun drawn to alarger scale than Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawlng.

'w of the previouslyv patented automatic to say, to fire one I a is the trigger of. the gun situated underA j sition on the inltial cooking The trigger tened at. its rear end to the bod ca c b the pin f. The tube i y p y seating w1 is preferably screwed on to the front end of the body or shoe b.

The stock butt dinary gun shape is attached to the body cap e and the trigger guard dfis referably prov1ded w1th a p1sto1 grip la. of ,the trlgger a when pulled is transmitted to the in the lock case 'i over the body o'r shoe b by means of a lever-lc (or equivalent device) situated and working in the body cap e.

The lock or firing mechanism represented 1s constructed sov that the gun can' be fired automatically or continuously and when deslred can be arranged for single fire, that is cartridge for each pull on the trigger. v f

The firing mechanism comprises a hammer l arranged so as to hang or depend from m as will be seen by an examination of Figs. 4 and 5. Thehammer spring Z3 bears on a projection or heel piece near the pivot m. The sa-id hammer Z has ltwo bents marked respectively. Z1, Z2 to engage g which may be of the or-V sear n is connected with the- Specioaton o'f Letters Patent. Patented Aug- 24, 192i). I Application led April 15, 1919. Serial 110.1290367.

' mechanism hereinbefore referred to and fasi he motion part of the firing mechanism' situated trigger a through the lever c and spring pressed link p which latter has a hook-like part p1 which engages with the shouldernl at the rear Vend of the sliding sear n.

Adjacent the trigger a is a spring pressed lever a1 having a projection a2 on its upper edge which projection, when the triggerv a is 'in its normal position, projects into the path of the projection c2 on the underside of the bolt cover 0 and serves to retain the said cover c and bolt in their retracted poof the hammer l or when the trigger is released after l firing.

For automatic or continuous fire the trigger o:J is held in its pulled back position in which position' itv effects the retraction of- .the sliding sear n thereby preventing the bent Z1 of the hammer Z engagingthere'with, v the hammer under these conditions being retained cocked by the engagementof the bent Z2 with the projectio u1 of the external s ear u which projectio u1 occuples and worksinv a slot in the lockcase the actlng -end projecting into. the pathV of the .ham-

The external sear u is automatically mer 'Z. tripped for effecting the removal of the projectlon u1 from the bent Zf by a lug c1 on the sliding cover c, each time the cover 1n its forward motion is about -to' effect the closing' of the breech and as the recipro-1 cation of the cover under the action of the mechanism of the prior patents hereinbefore referred to is automatic, and continuous automatic fire results.

On'the release of thev trigger a the sear n returns under the action of its spring into the position for engaging with the bent ZL of the hammer Z when the same is cocked on are pulled back by the operation of the trigger a, thelifting of the front part of the link p adjacent the Sear 'n against the action of the spring s, the link p escaping or slipping out of engagement with the sear n and allowing the said sear to return into position for rengaging the hammer Z when again cocked by the backward motion of thebolt for effecting the extraction of the spent cartridge.

On the semi-rotation of the transverse spindle 1' for bringing the flat of the notched part uppermost as is represented in Fig. 4 the sear n, and link p remain permanently engaged and consequently on pulling the trigger a continuous or automatic lire results until the trigger a is released or the magazine (not shown) or equivalent cartridge feed device is emptied.

The safety device for the firing mechanism consists of a lever t one of the arms of which, when in its operative position bears on the lever c through which the motion of the trigger a is transmitted to the part of the-firing mechanism over the body or shoe b and thereby blocks the said lever lc and trigger aand renders them immovable.

On opposite sides of the body cap e are Aprojections or lugs e1 in which projecting spring pressed buffers e2 for the breech cover c are arranged the said buffers e2 absorbing the shock when the cover is forced back and assisting bolt closin spring ofthe prior Vpatented automatic mec anism to return the .cover c to the bolt closing position.

lThe armor link fv by which the action of the springs of the automatic mechanism is transmitted to' the sliding cover c is ar `ranged between the barrel w and spring 'con- .tainmg tubeor case lw instead of on one side `of thevgun as heretofore. We preferably arrange over the spring y1 .which actuates the catch y of the automatic mechanism a metallic sheath or cover a indi' "cated in'dotted lines in Fig. 1.

On a 'rder-like bar 1 fastened at its rear i end to t e tube seating 'w1 and supported at its front end by the fore end cap is a slide 2 carrying two lnclined trunnions or pins 3, 3 on which a pair of legs 4, 4 are jointed the said-legs in their out of use position being parallel 'and situated close or nearly close together under the girder-like bar 1 referred to and beinglfastened by a spring snap fastening 5 or t e like. By operating the spring snap fastening and thereby releasing the legs 4, 4 they fall forwardvby their own weight and automatically take the Fi s. 2 and 3.

magazine ofthe kind described, represented and claimed in the complete specification of our pending application Serial No. 268968 which magazine is arranged on the pvot 6 situated on the upper end of the tube seating lw1 which is fastened on the front end of the body b and the cartridge magazine is preferably secured in position b the spring pressed lever 7 on the front en of the lock case z' situated over the body b.

The back sight `8 is arran ed on the lock case i and being elevated wit respect to the body b the foresight 9 is made capable of turning on a pivot 10 lso that it can be turned up into position for use as .illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, or turned down into a horizontal position over the barrel when the gun is not in use, a spring pressed slide with V shaped acting end engaging in one or other of the V shaped notchesto firmly iix the foresight in one or other of the two positions.

When the gun is to be used on a lixed mounting for which trunnions 11, 11 are provided the stock butt and pivoted legs 4, 4 hereinbefore described may be dispensed with.

We cla1m 1. In an automatic ire arm the combination with a body having a sliding breech closing cover arranged thereon and operating the bolt to give it a backward and forward sliding motion, a depending hammer pivoted over the body and mechanism arranged overthe body for retaining the said hammer in the cocked position against the action of its spring, said mechanism comprising spring e prefer to employ a rotary cartridge l roo pressed pivoted and sliding elements connected at their rear ends to al ivoted lever the end of one arm of whichnears on the trigger lever.

2. In anautomatic tire arm the combination with a body having a sliding breech closing cover arranged on the lunderside of the body and operatm the bolt on its backv bod'yrhaving twovbents,

wardjand forward s lding motion, a lock case supported on 1- said body, a depending hammer pivoted in' vthe lock case .over the an' internal sliding sear for engaging one of said' bents and a acting when the trigger is held back for the purpose of obtaining continuous fire.

3. In an automatic lire armv the combination with a body having 'a sliding breech closing cover arranged on the underside of the body and operating the bolt on its backward and forward sliding motion, a lock.

case supported on said body, a depending hammer pivoted in the lock case over'the body having two bents, an mternal sliding sear for engaging one of said bents and an an external 4when the latter is actuated to ternal sear acting when external pivoted sear for engaging the other bent, said external sear having a projection working in a slot in the lock case, a lever and spring pressed link for operating said in- .ternal sear by the trigger-and a projection on the sliding breach closing cover for operating said external sear, the external sear acting when the trigger is held back for the purpose of obtaining continuous tire, the sliding link of the internal sear having in combination therewith means operating when the mechanism is set for single fire for disengaging the said link from the sear the extent proper for releasing the hammer.

4. In an automatic re arm the combination with a body havingV a sliding breech closing coverarranged on the underside of the body and operating the bolt on its backward .and forward sliding motion, a lock case supported on ,said body, a depending hammer pivoted in said lock case having two bents, an internal sliding Sear for engaging one of said bents and a projection on pivoted sear for engaging the other bent, said projection working in a slot in the lock case, a lever and spring pressed link for operating the internal sear and a projection on the. sliding breech closing cover for operating the external sear, the exthe trigger is held back for the purpose of obtaining continuous fire, the sliding link of the internal sear having means` operating when the said external sear havin breech openlng Atheir rear end to a mechanism is set for single fire for disengaging the said link vfrom the sear when the latter is actuated to the proper extent for releasing the hammer, a spring pressed catch coperating with the trigger and adapted to engage a projection on the sliding cover when the trigger is released and the cover' is pressed into the breech opening osition by the automatic mechanism of the re arm.

`5. In an automatic fire arm the combina]- tion with 'a body havi a sliding breech closing cover arranged n the underside of the body and operating the bolt on its backward and forward sliding motion, a depending hammer pivoted over the body having two bents, an internal sliding sear for engaging one of said bents and an external pivoted sear for engaging the other bent, a projection work'- ing in a slot' in the loc case, a lever and spring pressed sliding link for operating the internal sear from the trigger. and a projec tion on vthe sliding breech closing cover for operating the external scar, the external sear acting when the trigger is held back for the purpose of obtaining continuous fire, the sliding link of the'v internal sear having means operating 'when the mechanism is set for single fire for disengaging the said link from the sear when the latter is drawn back to the extent proper for releasing the hammer, a spring pressed catch adjacent the trigger which engages with a projection on the sliding cover when the trigger is released and the cover is pressed into the position by the automatic mechanism of the fire arm, and a safety lever one of the arms of which when in its operative position bears on said lever and locksI the trigger in inoperative position.

6. -In an automatic fire arm the combination' with a body having a sliding breech closing cover arranged on the underside of the body or shoe, a link connected at its rear end to said cover and at its forward end to the rear of the breech opening spring of the automatic mechanism, said link being situated and working between the underside of the barrel and the spring containing tube of the automatic mechanism and operating the breech cover to open and close the breech, a depending hammer pivoted over the body and mechanism arranged'over the body for retaining the said hammer in the cocked position against the action of its spring, said mechanism comprising spring pressed pivoted and sliding elements connected at pivoted lever bearing at one end on the trigger lever.

7. In an automatic're arm the combina-- tion ofv a sliding cover,- a hammer auto.- matically placed in cocked position a sliding sear and a pivoted searfor re easably maintaining said hammer in cocked position, manual means including a pivoted 130 I lever and. a sliding link for releasing said sliding sear from the hammer, and a lug on said cover adapted to release said pivoted sear just prior to the closing of the breech by said cover. l

8. In an automatic fire arm the combination of a trigger, a sear, a pivoted lever and sliding link actuated by said trigger for manually releasing said sear, means coperating with said sliding link for releasing the latter from the control of said trigger, said means being movable to restore said link to operative'position for automatic {iring and a safety device adapted to act on said lever to lock the trigger in inactive 15 position.

In testimony whereof'we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses. y

MOUBRAY GORE FARQUHAR. ARTHUR HENRY HILL. Witnesses:

ARTHUR J. POWELL, WILLIAM J. Bowxmz.

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