Projectile launchers and methods of operation
AssigneeSecurity Equipment Corporation
InventorLouis F. Riley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Projectile launchers, their components, and their methods of operation. A safety mechanism provides the projectile launchers with an initial state in which the launcher cannot launch a projectile within a launching chamber, an activation state in which a grip safety is depressed to engage a hammer with a trigger bar and a first pull of the trigger causes a plunger to push a seal of a gas canister into a needle to cause a gas-tight cavity and a gas supply duct to be pressurized with a compressed gas, and a ready-to-launch state in which the grip safety is depressed so that the hammer is still engaged with the trigger bar and a second pull of the trigger causes the trigger bar to actuate and release the hammer to launch a projectile positioned within the launching chamber.
Claims14
A projectile launcher having a frame defining a forward direction and a rearward direction of the project launcher, a barrel at a forward end of the frame, a grip at a rearward end of the frame, a launching chamber within the frame, a launching mechanism within the frame and positioned rearward of the launching chamber for launching a projectile from the launching chamber by means of a compressed gas, and a trigger coupled to the frame and configured to actuate the launching mechanism when the trigger is actuated, the projectile launcher comprising:
- a gas-tight cavity disposed beneath the barrel;
- a puncture needle disposed at a forward end of the gas-tight cavity;
- a plunger body and a plunger reciprocably disposed therein at a rearward end of the gas-tight cavity, the plunger being translatable by actuating the trigger;
- a canister disposed in the gas-tight cavity and containing the compressed gas, the canister having a seal facing the puncture needle and a base facing the plunger, the plunger being operable in an activation state of the projectile launcher to cause the canister to translate in the forward direction to pierce the seal with the puncture needle when the trigger is actuated;
- a gas supply duct for fluidically coupling the gas-tight cavity to the launching mechanism;
- and
- a safety mechanism comprising a grip safety, a hammer, a trigger bar, and a stop member and by which the projectile launcher has an initial state in which the launcher cannot launch a projectile, the activation state in which the grip safety is depressed to engage the hammer with the trigger bar and a first pull of the trigger causes the plunger to push the seal of the canister into the needle to cause the gas-tight cavity and the gas supply duct to be pressurized with the compressed gas, and a ready-to-launch state in which the grip safety is depressed so that the hammer is still engaged with the trigger bar and a second pull of the trigger causes the trigger bar to actuate and release the hammer to launch a projectile positioned within the launching chamber.
A projectile launcher having a frame defining a forward direction and a rearward direction of the project launcher, a barrel at a forward end of the frame, a grip at a rearward end of the frame, a launching chamber within the frame, a launching mechanism within the frame and positioned rearward of the launching chamber for launching a projectile from the launching chamber by means of a compressed gas, and a trigger coupled to the frame and configured to actuate the launching mechanism when the trigger is actuated, the projectile launcher comprising:
- a cavity associated with the frame;
- a puncture needle associated with the cavity;
- a canister disposed in the cavity and containing the compressed gas, the canister having a seal facing the puncture needle;
- a gas supply duct that does not fluidically couple the canister to the launching mechanism in an initial state of the projectile launcher and fluidically couples the canister to the launching mechanism in an activation state of the projectile launcher;
- and
- a pressure indicator that extends from the frame in the activation state but not in the initial state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.