Automatic weapon charging handle and bolt latch

• US 4,565,113 A
• Filed: 03/26/1984
• Issued: 01/21/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Saco Acquisition Corp.
• Original Assignee: Maremont Corporation (Meritor, Inc. (Nevada))
• Inventors: Bunning, Ernst
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, David H.
• Application Number:
  US06/593,481
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 89/1.4, 89/187, 89/181, 89/197
• US Class Current: 89/1.4
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/00 Safety arrangements, e.g. safeties
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 7/02 Machine gun rechargers, e.g. manually operated F41A3/72 takes precedence

Abstract

An automatic weapon includes a combination charging handle and bolt latch. A grip on a spindle of the handle is spring biased to be unlatched, and latchable by sliding movement toward the bolt receiver of the gun, where a latch member of the grip is wedged between bosses on the receiver. Slight rearward motion of the handle frees the latch member from the bosses, and the spring then swiftly unlatches the grip.

Claims

1. An automatic weapon comprising:

a bolt receiver including a charging handle slot and a first latch member;

a bolt mechanism received by the bolt receiver; and

a combination charging handle and bolt latch (hereinafter "the charging handle") having a spindle attached to the bolt mechanism through the charging handle slot, a grip including a second latch member, the grip being on the spindle, and bias means for biasing the grip normally away from the bolt receiver, the handle being latchable by movement of the grip toward the bolt receiver against the bias of the bias means, to place the latch members in a bolt latching condition, and the handle being unlatchable by slight movement of the grip which releases the latch members from each other and permits the bias means to swiftly return the grip away from the bolt receiver and in which the length of the weapon defines a longitudinal direction along the length and transverse directions perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the charging handle slot extending longitudinally, the spindle and grip extending transversely, and the first latch member on the bolt receiver being longitudinally forward of the second latch member in the bolt latching condition, the handle being unlatchable by slight longitudinally rearward movement of the grip.

2. An automatic weapon as in claim 1 in which the first latch member is a female latch member and the second latch member is a male latch member.

3. An automatic weapon as in claim 1 in which the charging handle spindle includes a grip stop and the bias means biases the grip against the grip stop.

4. An automatic weapon as in claim 1 in which the bias means is a compression spring.

6. An automatic weapon as in claim 1 in which the length of the weapon defines a longitudinal direction along the length and transverse directions perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, the charging handle slot extending longitudinally, the spindle and grip extending transversely, and the first latch member on the bolt receiver being longitudinally forward of the second latch member in the bolt latching condition, the handle being unlatchable by slight longitudinally rearward movement of the grip which releases the second latch member from the bosses.

5. An automatic weapon comprising:

a bolt receiver including a slide bracket, a charging handle slot and a first latch member, the first latch member being formed on the slide bracket along the charging handle slot and including two bosses opposite each other across the charging handle slot, each boss having an arcuate, concave groove with an arc of a radius, and a ledge above the groove;

a bolt mechanism received by the bolt receiver; and

a combination charging handle and bolt latch (hereinafter "the charging handle") having (a) an internal spindle with (i) a first end attached to the bolt mechanism through the charging handle slot, (ii) a grip guide adjacent the first end, (iii) a second end having a grip stop, (iv) a first spring end flange between the first end and the grip stop, (b) an outer hand grip mounted on the internal spindle for sliding movement along the internal spindle including (i) a bolt receiver end, (ii) cylindrical interior surface, (iii) a second spring end flange which extends inwardly of the grip cylindrical interior surface between the first spring end flange and the grip stop, the sliding movement of the hand grip being guided by the second spring end flange and the grip guide and limited by movement of the second spring end flange between the first spring end flange and the grip stop, and (iv) an outwardly extending, annular, second latch member on the grip at the bolt receiver end of the grip, the second latch member having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the arc of the arcuate, concave groove of the bosses, and (c) a compression spring in compression between the first spring end flange and the second spring end flange which biases the second spring end flange toward the grip stop and thereby biases the hand grip away from the bolt receiver, the spring having a spring rate such that the force of the spring may be manually overcome, the hand grip thereby manually moved toward the bolt receiver, the second latch member captured by the bosses, and the handle thereby latched when desired to the bolt receiver.