Integrated manual safety device for hammerless semiautomatic pistols

#1. Field of the Invention

#This application relates to improved safety features for semi-automatic firearms with hammerless designs or which use striker pins to activate a firing pin. More particularly it concerns hand-held or guns of the type which do not have manual safety selectors and which use a striker type firing mechanism rather than a hammer strike firing mechanism.

#2. Description of Related Art and the Class of Weapons to Which the Invention is Drawn

#FIG. 1 is a partially ghosted view of a typical semiautomatic hand-gun which utilizes a striking pin mechanism for firing, showing the safety device installed.

#FIG. 2 is a cut-away view of a typical semiautomatic hand-gun slide showing first embodiment of the invention comprised of a firing pin striker blocking device for the invention in its simplest form.

#FIG. 3 is an expanded, cut-away view illustrating the firing pin striker blocking mechanism in the engaged position.

#The invention will now be described with specific reference to the various figures wherein like numbers represent like parts. FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a Glock-style semiautomatic hand-gun comprised of its various operating parts. FIG. 1 will seem familiar to those skilled in the art as it discloses parts of a semiautomatic hand-gun which are similar regardless of the manufacturer of the firearm. Though Glock firearms are the most popular in this category, other hammerless hand-guns which utilize a striker mechanism are presently popular on the market. The invention will function well with such other firearms.

#FIG. 1 illustrates pistol slide 2, which houses the striker pin 5 and striker pin firing spring 6. The thrust of the operation of the slide and the pistol disclosed in FIG. 1 is well known to those skilled in the art. Upon pulling the trigger, the firearm fires, moving slide 2 rearward, thereby ejecting the spent cartridge and going through a process which loads a new cartridge from the magazine and returns the weapon into an “in battery” condition. In this condition, the hand-gun is ready to fire again by the pull of the trigger. Glock-style pistols do not have manual safety locks, and, therefore, the weapon will fire as long as there is a cartridge in the chamber of the firearm and the trigger is pulled. A firing pin which strikes the primer on a cartridge loaded within pistol barrel 3 is activated by striker pin 5. Striker pin 5 is retracted rearward, compressing the striker pin firing spring 6, such that as when the trigger is depressed fully, the striker pin is released and the energy in the firing spring directs the striker to strike a firing pin which contacts the pistol primer, thereby firing the gun. The key to the present invention is arresting the action of striker pin 5 such that attempting to operate the hand-gun with the trigger against the safety device does not allow the pistol to fire, and even causes the hand-gun to be placed in an “out of battery” condition, which adds to the safety effect of the invention.

#Turning to FIG. 2, a cut-away view of a typical striker pin mechanism within the pistol slide 2 is disclosed. Spring mechanism 6 and striker pin 5, when activate by a trigger is pushed rearward, such as to compress spring 6 ultimately to be released when it reaches a release point because of the design of the mechanism. Once again, striker pin 5 would slide forward at such point, striking the primer on a chambered cartridge thereby firing the pistol.