US 6964123 B2
In a low-cost firearm, the frame of the weapon comprises a laminated structure in which operative grooves and recesses having a base wall and one or more sidewalls are formed by laminating the sidewall to the base wall, so as to avoid the necessity for forming the grooves and recesses by performing expensive machining and finishing operations on a unitary frame structure. The sidewalls and the base walls are formed of separate materials that may be different from each other. For example one of the materials may be plastic, to provide light weight, while the other may be metal to achieve desired rigidity and/or strength. The laminations are coupled together by either mechanical members such as screws or rivets, or by bonding agents such as welding or high-strength adhesives or by a combination of both.
1. A method of fabricating an operating lightweight firearm weapon and the relatively movable operating parts thereof, said method comprising the steps of:
selecting three coordinate axes defining said operating parts of said weapon in three dimensions;
forming thin laminations defining said operating parts, said laminations corresponding to plan views of said operating parts parallel to two of said coordinate axes taken at sequential positions along the third of said coordinate axes;
securely fastening said sequential laminations to each other to define a three-dimensional operating part wherein the thickness of said operating part represents the cumulative thickness of each of said laminations, combined; and,
movably coupling a plurality of said operating parts to each other for operative interaction.
2. The method of
said step of securely fastening said sequential laminations to each other comprises adhesive bonding.
3. The method of
said step of securely fastening said sequential laminations to each other comprises capture riveting.
4. The method of
said step of securely fastening said sequential laminations to each other comprises molecular bonding.
This invention relates generally to explosive firearms, and more particularly to hand-held firearms that are exceptionally light in weight and inexpensive to manufacture, and the method of making them. It is well-known that high-quality firearm weapons of the type that fire explosive projectiles, made in accordance with the prior art, are relatively expensive to manufacture; this is attributable in significant part to the high precision and close tolerances required in the manufacturing process in order to assure that the resulting weapon will be safe, reliable and reproducible in quantity.
In general, firearms currently are manufactured using quality metals and precision casting techniques in association with expensive and labor-intensive secondary manufacturing operations such as milling, grinding, broaching, and the like. These expensive and time-consuming machining operations are necessary to produce solid unitary frames that are currently used, and to assure the surface finish of the numerous grooves, bores, recesses and other shapes in such frames, that are required to achieve the various mechanical functions of a modern firearm. That is, in the normal course of use of a weapon, various separate elements of the weapon must rotate, pivot, slide, and/or reciprocate relative to each other. Often, the shapes of the various recesses and projections needed to allow these relative movements to take place are exceedingly complex; for example, a circular diameter hole extending along one axis, may be intersected by a rectangular cross-section channel extending along another axis forming an acute angle with the first.
The forming and machining operations needed to produce complex shapes of this kind are difficult and expensive. Further, the one-piece precision cast parts on which these operations are performed are expensive to produce and the parts tend to be relatively heavy. This is generally a result of the nature of the metals needed to satisfy the requirements of both the casting and machining operations.
This invention generally permits avoidance of, or substantially reduces requirements for, the expensive, labor-intensive casting and machining operations that are required for the manufacture of high-quality weapons, of substantially conventional type, in accordance with the prior art.
In accordance with this invention, the frame of a weapon as well as various parts that are intended to be attached to the frame, are formed by a unique process of laminating together relatively thin, non-integral thicknesses of material having aligned, generally planar, shapes. Because these laminations are generally planar, that is, of uniform thickness throughout, the shape of each lamination can be formed with great precision by inexpensive processes such as stamping and blanking. Even though the laminations in most cases will be characterized by uniform thickness, it should be understood that certain parts of the surface area of some laminations may be made to vary from uniformly flat configuration so as to create and or conform to non-planar shapes such as the interior or exterior surface of a tube or cylinder or sphere. In most applications, these non-planar portions of the surface of a lamination will not be directly abutted against an adjacent surface of another lamination. When the laminations have been properly aligned and joined together, the various stacked shapes cumulatively define shaped and precisely dimensioned three-dimensional configurations including curves, grooves, bores, channels, blind holes and various other recesses, intersecting or not, of relatively unlimited complexity. The recesses and other shapes that are thus formed then serve to receive and/or mate with fixed and movable parts of the finished weapon in a conventional manner. If additional finishing or machining operations are required for the cumulatively defined recesses of the laminated structure, the nature and cost of such operations, as well as the aggregate time required for their completion, have been found to be significantly less than what would be required for construction of the same or an equivalent non-laminated structure in accordance with the prior art.
In the disclosed embodiment of the invention, the structure of a conventional weapon such as a handgun is viewed as having been sliced into thin layers generally parallel to the plane defined by two intersecting, long dimensions. The position and thickness of the layers may be chosen to coincide with or to cut through particularly complex shapes, so as to break the shapes into less complex and/or more convenient elements. As a highly simplified example: a part having a solid body with a trough-shaped recess defined by a bottom, two parallel side walls and two spaced apart end walls, could be “sliced” parallel to the bottom at the juncture of the bottom with the side walls and the end walls so that the two resulting laminations would then comprise one having the bottom surface on its face, and another one having a thickness equal to the depth of the desired trough and a through opening representing the shape of the trough.
Accordingly, it is one object of this invention is make possible the fabrication of precisely formed, frames and parts for weapons at substantially reduced cost.
Another object is the provision of reliable weapons that can be fabricated without reliance on ongoing, difficult, labor-intensive manufacturing operations.
Still another object of this invention is the creation of a manufacturing process for weapons that is low in overall cost, that is reliable, and that is capable of providing parts and frames that are both reliable and reproducible and interchangeable.
These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be made more apparent to those having skill in this art, by reference to the following specification considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description, certain specific details of the disclosed embodiment such as weapon types, shapes, positions and techniques, etc, are set forth for purposes of explanation rather than limitation, so as to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it should be understood readily by those skilled in this art, that the present invention may be practiced in other forms and embodiments which do not conform to the details set forth herein, without departing significantly from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Further, in this context, and for the purposes of brevity and clarity, detailed descriptions of well-known apparatus and techniques have been omitted so as to avoid unnecessary detail and possible confusion.
Referring now to
Accordingly, although it is conceivable that a barrel may be constructed within the scope of this invention, at this time it is contemplated that conventionally formed, one-piece barrels will be mechanically integrated with a laminated weapon structure/frame to complete a weapon in accordance with the invention herein disclosed.
In accordance with the novel aspects of this invention, the structural elements of weapon 10, including, but not limited to, frame 14, are shown to comprise a plurality of relatively thin, parallel, sheet-like laminations 60 arranged in parallel, stacked (i.e. laminated), side-by-side relationship. The method of forming one or more elements of a lightweight firearm weapon in accordance with this invention comprises determining the shape of each lamination by deciding first upon a planar orientation for the laminar interfaces, then selecting a base plane which will most often lie outside the structure of the weapon frame or element that is being constructed, and then creating plan views of that frame or element parallel to and at selected different distances from the base plane. That is, three coordinate axes are selected that define the desired element or elements of the weapon in three dimensions, and the laminations are created corresponding to plan views of the elements taken parallel to two of the coordinate axes and at sequential positions along the third of said coordinate axes; the result being the formation of a three-dimensional element wherein the thickness of the element represents the cumulative thickness of each of said laminations, combined.
In accordance with this aspect of the invention, each plan view will correspond to one laminar thickness of the weapon frame or element that is to be fabricated. The thickness of each lamination accordingly may be adjusted to correspond to the complexity of the changes in the plan view of the frame or element as the distance from the base plane increases or decreases. For example, if the base plane is selected to lie parallel to the longitudinal axis of the barrel of a weapon, and a central thickness of the weapon extending through the axis of the barrel is unchanged for a thickness of, say, one-quarter inch, then the central lamination may be one quarter inch thick, while the laminations on either side of the central lamination may be substantially thinner, say one-thirty second of an inch, or less, to accommodate changes in the shape of the outer surface of the trigger guard, or to mark the start of an internal channel or recess within the weapon frame.
For purposes of illustration, the weapon 10 shown in
That is, in accordance with this invention, the full thickness of weapon 10 can be visualized as being made up of a series of longitudinal section views of the assembled weapon. Each section view then is formed into a very thin planar lamination 60 having full length and height dimensions and a corresponding minimum thickness dimension. Ideally, the thickness of each lamination 60 can be arranged so that one or both of its planar sides coincide with a required planar surface within the weapon structure. Now it can be recognized readily by those having ordinary skill in the weapons art, that a weapon may have many different required parallel planar surfaces, and some of these may be spaced from one another by the thickness of one or more laminations 60.
For example, with reference to
As a further example of how a weapon is constructed in accordance with this invention, it can be seen most clearly in
In addition to base opening 70, magazine receptacle 68 is defined in part by a first pair of opposed spaced apart sidewalls 62, 66, defined by specific surface areas on laminations 60A and 60D, and a second pair of opposed, spaced apart sidewalls 65, 67 defined by the cumulative thicknesses of corresponding specific edges 65B, 67B and 65C, 67C of laminations 60B, 60C etc. A fifth sidewall 63, of receptacle 68, positioned substantially opposite opening 70 completes the definition of receptacle area 68. Fifth sidewall 63 can be understood to be formed, in a manner corresponding to the formation of sidewalls 65, 67, by cumulative thicknesses 63B and 63C, for example of laminations 60B and 60C and as many additional laminations as may be desired to establish the chosen cumulative thickness dimension of walls 63, 65, 67.
A significant advantage of the form of weapon structure herein disclosed is the elimination of any need for expensive and time consuming machining operations to form, just for example, cartridge receptacle 68. In accordance with the prior art, frame 14 of weapon 10 might be defined by two separate half sections lying on either side of a central plane passing through the center of grip 18 and the central axis of a barrel positioned in barrel supporting passage 22. In such a construction, each half section of the receptacle would require significant milling and/or broaching and finish machining operations to establish the closely parallel sides, the smoothly finished large surface areas and the close dimensional tolerances required to assure smooth and reliable insertion and removal of cartridges into and out of the receptacle space. Such machining operations would also be required to complete all of the various other grooves, recesses and openings in the two half sections that are required to form a weapon of any conventional design.
In a manner similar to the formation of receptacle area 68 through use of planar surfaces 62, 66, and the cumulative laminar dimensions of sidewalls 63, 65, 67, other openings, grooves, recesses and passages may be formed in the built-up, laminated structure of frame 14 to define the shapes and parts required for a functioning weapon, in accordance with this invention.
With reference to other, separate parts that interrelate to, and interact with, frame 14 to complete a functioning weapon of otherwise conventional design,
With further reference to hammer 80, breech chamber area 48 is defined within frame 14 by laminar elements 60 of the frame, in accordance with this invention. The breech chamber is used to receive and position bullets for firing, relative to hammer 80, in an entirely conventional manner. The additional mechanism and structure required to achieve this function is well-known in the art, and accordingly it is not illustrated or described in further detail herein. However, it will be recognized that any such structural elements of a breech mechanism may be fabricated of laminar elements in accordance with this invention.
At this point it will be obvious to those skilled in these arts that, regardless of the labor expense and effort invested in creating the high-precision tools needed to manufacture parts such as laminations 60E, 60F and 60G, those costs are incurred only once in the production of a great many such parts. As a result, from an overall standpoint, the per-part cost for each laminar element 60 is continually reduced as the number of production parts increases. Lamination, or secure, permanent joining together of the laminar elements identified generically by reference numeral 60 herein, can be accomplished in any number of ways using materials and processes that are well known in various arms of the manufacturing and fabrication arts. As shown in
Further, it will be understood that the materials forming the laminar layers of the frame and other elements of a weapon in accordance with this invention may be chosen specifically in accordance with the properties and characteristics they exhibit and the ones that are particularly suited to the part of the weapon they define. The materials of the various lamination body elements 60 may, if desired differ from each other. Accordingly, and by way of example only, laminations may be formed of plastic, aluminum, stainless steel, graphite, and titanium alloy as well as any of the various high strength composite materials currently available, and different ones of these materials may be abutted against each other to achieve desirable combinations of their characteristics.
Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, those having skill in this art will recognize that various other forms and embodiments now may be visualized readily without departing significantly from the spirit and scope of the invention disclosed herein and set forth in the accompanying claims.