US 458687
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
HENRY F. WHEELER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
CYLINDER-STOP FOR REVOLVERS.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,687, dated September 1, 1891.
Application filed January 16, 1891, Serial No. 377,960. (No model.)
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, HENRY F. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cylinder-Stops for Revolving Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.
This invention relates to revolving firearms; and it consists in certain improvements in mechanism for holding the cylinder locked positively at all times, except at that interval when a partial revolution occurs to produce the proper feed movement.
The drawings represent in Figure 1 a sectional elevation of a revolving fire-arm containing my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the trigger and cylinder-stop. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the stop full size.
In the drawings, 2 is the frame of the arm.
The barrel is indicated at 3, hinged, as usual, to the frame.
The revolvable cylinder is shown at 4, the trigger at 5, and its pivot at 6.
The hammer is represented at 7, the sear at 8, and the lifting-lever at 9.
The cylinder, formed with a series of cartridge-chambers, is circumferentially furnished near the rear with a double series of stop-notches 10, while the pivotal finger 12 serves to impart intermittent partial rotation to produce proper feed. Said finger is actuated by movement of the trigger.
To enable the cylinder to be held locked positively at all times, except during the feed movement occasioned by a pull upon the trigger of the weapon, two rows of notches or recesses 10 10’, as before mentioned, are created, and co-operating therewith is a cylinder-stop 13. In this piece is embodied my invention. This locking-stop or cylinder-stop is composed of a body member, from which extend two ears or lobes, the front one being designated at 14, the rear one at 15. Further, said stop is bored to form an aperture 16, which is elongated vertically to permit the stop to rise and fall with respect to the trigger-pivot, the latter passing therethrough. Pendent from said stop and beneath the slot 16 is a pin 17. The trigger, as shown in Fig. 2, is slotted at 20 to receive the stop, and, furthermore, bored to admit the pin 17, while a plate-spring 18 at the bottom of the slot and in the rear part of the trigger is fastened to the latter. This spring bears against the rear part of the stop and holds the latter against the trigger-pivot 6. Thus in closing the weapon, in case the stop should meet the intact portion of the cylinder, said stop is free to yield, moving transversely of the trigger-pivot, and the weapon can be closed without regard to the position of the cylinder. As the trigger is normally thrown forward by the action of its spring 19, the front lobe 14 is raised and then is in a position to engage in any one of the front series of notches 10 in the cylinder. Hence the latter remains locked while the weapon is inactive. It is to be noticed that the aperture 16 is of such size that the pivot 6 can move freely in it. Hence there would be no way of actuating the stop by means of the trigger were it not for the pendent pin 17. This latter, as before explained, extends downwardly in the trigger, and thereby the latter can operate the stop, while said stop is free to rise and fall about the trigger-pivot. When the trigger is drawn back, occasioned by the pull necessary to release the hammer and discharge the weapon, the front lobe 14 is depressed sufficiently to disengage it from the cylinder, while the finger 12 serves to produce a partial revolution or feed movement of the cylinder. As soon as this is accomplished a further pull upon the trigger, necessary to release the hammer, lifts the rear end of the trigger, and with it the projecting rear lobe 15 of the locking-stop, which now engages in one of the series of notches 10’. Thus it will be seen that the cylinder is held locked during discharge of the weapon. After this act and release of the trigger the latter resumes its normal forward position, the rear lobe 15 is removed from its notch, and the forward or raised lobe now engages the front notch 10, corresponding to that just entered by the rear lobe at the time the weapon was discharged.
What I claim is—
1. In a fire-arm, the combination, with a revolving cartridge-cylinder and a trigger, of a cylinder-stop composed of a body-piece, two lobes, and a pin, the latter engaging the body of the trigger, by which it is actuated to lock or release the cylinder, and the said lobes being arranged on opposite sides of the pivotal point in order that they may be alternately brought into locking contact with the said cylinder, for the purposes substantially as set forth.
2. In a fire-arm, the combination, with a revolving cartridge-cylinder having two series of notches, of an operating-trigger, a cylinder stop provided with lobes 14 and 15 and pin 17, the latter entering the body of the trigger, a slot 20,in which said stop is pivoted, and a spring to impart yielding motion to said stop, substantially as set forth.
In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.
HENRY F. WHEELER.
Witnesses:
H. E. LODGE,
E. K. BOYNTON.