Magazine aligner for pistol magazine loaders

• US 20070107291A1
• Filed: 11/13/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maglula, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Guy Tal, Ran Tal
• Inventors: Tal, Ran, Tal, Guy
• Granted Patent: US 7,503,138 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 42/87
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 9/83 Apparatus or tools for reloading magazines with unbelted ammunition, e.g. cartridge clips

Abstract

A magazine aligner is positioned inside a pistol magazine loader for centering the open side of magazines of different widths and depths when mounted into the loader to be in line with a round-inserting plunger of the loader. The aligner comprises an inverted “V”-shaped element adapted to accept the open side of magazines from below and includes a spring for keeping tension on the magazine.

Claims

1. A mechanism for facilitating the aligning of an open side of a firearm magazine placed inside a magazine loader with respect to a projecting member or plunger of said loader, comprising:

an inverted V-shaped member having two inclined-apart spaced legs or wings coupled together where the upper parts of the wings are closer than their bottom ends when said inverted V-shaped member is seen in its inverted V-shaped configuration,

a spring member coupled to said loader and arranged to urge said inverted V-shaped member onto said open side of said magazine,

whereby when said loader is placed and forced over said open side of said magazine, said open side of said magazine will be aligned by said mechanism with respect to said plunger of said loader so that said plunger will be able to force a topmost round in said magazine further inside said magazine.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said wings of said inverted V-shaped member have smooth and symmetrical sloping inner faces.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said wings taper so that their bottoms are narrower than their tops when said inverted V-shaped member is seen in its inverted V-shaped configuration.

4. The mechanism of claim 1, further including a hinge member for operatively coupling said inverted V-shaped member to said loader.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 wherein said hinge member includes a through hole in said inverted V-shaped member.

6. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said spring member is a torsion spring having a first arm on said inverted V-shaped member and a second arm on a body of said loader.

7. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said wings are coupled together at their top.

8. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said wings are coupled together at their rear.

9. A magazine aligner operatively coupled to a magazine loader for centering an open top of a firearm magazine with respect to a projecting member or plunger of said magazine loader, said aligner comprising a member having a top and a bottom and an inverted V-shaped opening at said bottom, said member having a pair of smooth and symmetrical inwardly inclined faces extending from said bottom to said top and adapted to receive said open top of said magazine.

10. The aligner of claim 9, further including a spring coupled to said loader and arranged to urge said member onto said open top of said magazine.

11. The aligner of claim 10 wherein said spring is a torsion spring having a first arm on said member and a second arm on a body of said loader.

12. The aligner of claim 9 wherein said member is operatively coupled by a hinge to said loader.

13. The aligner of claim 12 wherein said hinge includes a through hole in said member.

14. The aligner of claim 9 wherein said pair of smooth and symmetrical inwardly inclined faces are coupled together at their top.

15. The aligner of claim 9 wherein said pair of smooth and symmetrical inwardly inclined faces are coupled together at their rear.

16. A method of centering a firearm magazine in a firearm magazine loader for enabling said loader to more reliably facilitate the loading of rounds into said firearm magazine, comprising:

providing a firearm magazine of the type comprising a hollow body with an open top end and a stack of rounds therein,

providing a firearm magazine loader having a projecting member or plunger at a top thereof and an open bottom end,

said firearm magazine being insertable into said open bottom end of said firearm magazine loader,

said plunger being arranged to press down a top round of said stack of rounds when said firearm magazine is inserted into said open bottom end of said firearm magazine loader and said plunger is pressed,

providing an aligner within said firearm magazine loader for causing said firearm magazine to be forced to a centered position in said firearm magazine loader when said firearm magazine is inserted into said open bottom end of said firearm magazine loader,

whereby said plunger will be directly above and in line with said top round of said stack of rounds in said firearm magazine when said firearm magazine is inserted into said open bottom end of said firearm magazine loader and aligned by said aligner.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said aligner comprises an inverted V-shaped member having two inclined-apart spaced legs or wings where the upper inner parts of said wings are closer than their inner bottom ends when said inverted V-shaped member is seen in its inverted V-shaped configuration.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said aligner further comprises a spring member coupled to said firearm magazine loader and arranged to urge said inverted V-shaped member onto said open top end of said firearm magazine.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein said aligner comprises a smooth flat leafy spring member or wing attached on one side to an internal body part of said firearm magazine loader and extend inwardly within said internal body part of said firearm magazine loader for forcing said firearm magazine placed in said firearm magazine loader to align and be center with respect to said plunger of said firearm magazine loader.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein said aligner is constructed to move linearly up and down without a hinge.