Firearm trigger mechanism, firearm and method of controlling a rate of the firearm
Patent No. US9052150 (titled "Firearm trigger mechanism, firearm and method of controlling a rate of the firearm") on Mar 15, 2013. The application was issued on Jun 9, 2015.
What is this patent about?
’150 is related to the field of firearm trigger mechanisms, specifically those designed to regulate the rate of fire. In traditional semi-automatic systems, the energy from a fired cartridge is used to automatically cycle the action and chamber a new round, leaving the weapon ready to fire again with a single trigger pull. The background context of this invention is the desire to create a mechanism that interrupts this cycle, requiring a deliberate, non-trigger action by the operator to prepare the firearm for each subsequent shot.
The underlying idea behind ’150 is to break the automated cycle of a gas-operated firearm by physically trapping the bolt carrier in a rearward position after every shot. Instead of allowing the recoil spring to immediately chamber a new round, the invention introduces a mechanical interlock that requires the user to manually toggle a release before the firearm can return to a ready-to-fire state. This ensures that the firearm cannot function in a semi-automatic capacity, as the chamber remains empty and the action remains open until a secondary input is received.
The claims of ’150 focus on a trigger assembly integrated with a spring-biased blocking member mounted to the lower receiver. This member is specifically designed to intercept the bolt carrier assembly after it moves rearward during recoil. The independent claims require a sequence where this blocking member must be moved from a blocking position to a release position and then allowed to return to its original state before the hammer is permitted to strike the firing pin again. This creates a mandatory physical reset for the entire firing cycle.
In practice, when a round is fired, the expanding gases drive the bolt carrier back, compressing the buffer spring and cocking the hammer. As the bolt carrier clears the blocking member, the member snaps into place, preventing the bolt from sliding forward. To fire the next shot, the operator must press a release button located near the trigger guard. This moves a rod that pivots the blocking member out of the way, allowing the bolt carrier to fly forward, chamber a round, and lock into battery.
To prevent users from bypassing this restriction by simply holding the release button down, the invention includes a protrusion on the actuation rod that interferes with the hammer's path. If the release button is held in the depressed position, this feature physically blocks the hammer from reaching the firing pin. This differentiates the system from standard bolt catches by making the manual release an active, required step in the firing logic rather than just a way to hold the action open after the last round in a magazine.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the early 2010s when ’150 was filed, gas-operated firearm architectures were typically implemented using a cycle where the energy from a fired cartridge automatically extracted the spent casing and chambered a new round in a single continuous motion. At a time when systems commonly relied on the rearward and forward travel of a bolt carrier assembly to be governed solely by gas pressure and recoil spring tension, the transition between firing cycles was essentially instantaneous once the trigger was reset. In these standard configurations, hardware constraints made it non-trivial to interrupt the mechanical cycling of the action without manual intervention of the charging handle or the exhaustion of the ammunition source.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention represents a technical advancement by introducing a mechanical interlock that decouples the extraction and cocking phase from the chambering phase of a firearm cycle. This architectural shift is achieved through a spring-biased blocking member that automatically intercepts the bolt carrier in a retracted position after a discharge, combined with a secondary release interface located proximate to the trigger. The technical effect is a forced interruption of the firing sequence that requires two distinct, sequential operator inputs—actuation of the release followed by actuation of the trigger—to fire subsequent rounds. This integration overcomes the constraint of automatic chambering in gas-operated systems, providing a controlled, single-shot mechanical duty cycle within a repeating firearm framework.
Claims
This patent contains 18 claims, with claims 1, 10, and 18 serving as the independent claims. The independent claims focus on a firearm trigger mechanism and method that utilizes a movable blocking member to control the firing rate by selectively impeding the bolt carrier assembly until a release is actuated. The dependent claims provide further detail on the mechanical components, such as spring biasing, pivotal mounting of the blocking member, and the specific configuration of the actuation member and release button used to manage the hammer and bolt carrier movement.
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US9052150
- Application Number
- US13836458A
- Filing Date
- Mar 15, 2013
- Publication Date
- Jun 9, 2015
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents