Pistol with loaded chamber indicator

Abstract

A pistol including a loaded chamber indicator to identify the presence of a cartridge loaded in the firing chamber. The pistol may generally include a barrel, a receiver attached to the barrel thereby defining a barrel-receiver assembly, and a chamber associated with the barrel-receiver assembly. An indicating element is provided which in one embodiment may be pivotally mounted in the barrel-receiver assembly. The indicating element is displaceable in response to contact by the cartridge from a first position which may in one embodiment correspond to an absence of a cartridge loaded in the chamber, to a second position which may in one embodiment correspond to a presence of a cartridge loaded in the chamber. A biasing member, such as a spring, may be provided to bias the indicating element towards the first position. In one embodiment, the indicating element protrudes outwards from the exterior of the pistol in response to contact by the cartridge rim to provide a visual and tactile indication of a loaded chamber condition to a user of the pistol.

1 . A pistol with loaded chamber indicator comprising: 
 a chamber to receive a cartridge having a rim;    a continuous circumferential seat surrounding the chamber that locates the rim of the cartridge; and    an element positioned to contact the rim of the cartridge, the element displaceable to a loaded-chamber-indication position by contact with the cartridge rim.    
   
   
       2 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the element is positioned in the loaded-chamber-indication position by contact with a side of the cartridge rim.  
   
   
       3 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the element comprises a pivot to pivotally mount the element in the pistol.  
   
   
       4 . The pistol of  claim 3 , wherein the element is substantially rigid in structure such that the element does not bend by contact with the cartridge rim but is moveable about the pivot by contact with the cartridge rim.  
   
   
       5 . The pistol of  claim 3 , wherein the pivot comprises a pin.  
   
   
       6 . The pistol of  claim 3 , wherein the element comprises a sensor contact surface to operably contact the cartridge and a signal area to communicate the loaded chamber condition to a pistol user, the signal area being located at a distance farther from the pivot on the element than the sensor contact surface.  
   
   
       7 . The pistol of  claim 6 , wherein the signal area has an indicia to denote a loaded chamber condition.  
   
   
       8 . The pistol of  claim 7 , wherein the signal area is sized to include an indicia in the form of at least one alphanumeric character that is at least about 0.075 inches tall.  
   
   
       9 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the pistol comprises an exterior surface and at least a portion of the element protrudes outwards from the exterior surface of the pistol in the loaded-chamber-indication position to provide a user of the pistol with a visual and tactile indication that the cartridge is in a loaded condition.  
   
   
       10 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the chamber is sized to receive a 0.22 caliber cartridge.  
   
   
       11 . The pistol of  claim 10 , wherein the element comprises a broadened portion that is flanged and has a thickness that is less than the thickness of an adjacent body portion of the element, the flanged portion laterally projecting outwards from the body portion in a direction generally towards the chamber when the element is mounted in pistol.  
   
   
       12 . The pistol of  claim 11 , further comprising the broadened portion having an arcuately shaped surface configured to contact the cartridge rim.  
   
   
       13 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the element is positioned in the pistol to a lateral side of the chamber area and the element contacts the rim of the cartridge behind and outside of the chamber.  
   
   
       14 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the element is displaceable by the cartridge rim in generally a lateral direction along a transverse axis with respect to the pistol.  
   
   
       15 . The pistol of  claim 1 , further comprising a biasing member mounted in the barrel-receiver assembly that biases the element towards the first position.  
   
   
       16 . The pistol of  claim 15 , wherein the biasing member is a spring.  
   
   
       17 . The pistol of  claim 1 , further comprising the chamber being disposed in a chamber block having a rear surface and the continuous circumferential seat is disposed on the rear surface, wherein the element contacts the cartridge rim at the rear surface with the cartridge loaded in the chamber.  
   
   
       18 . The pistol of  claim 17 , wherein the chamber block has sidewalls without cutouts to substantially support the cartridge.  
   
   
       19 . The pistol of  claim 1 , wherein the cartridge rim holds the element in the loaded-chamber-indication position.  
   
   
       20 . A pistol with loaded chamber indicator comprising: 
 a barrel-receiver assembly having an exterior surface and defining a chamber that receives a cartridge having rim;    a continuous circumferential seat surrounding the chamber that contacts the rim of the cartridge when the entire body of the cartridge is disposed in the chamber; and    an indicating element positioned to contact the rim of the cartridge and simultaneously protrude outwards from the exterior surface of the barrel-receiver assembly.    
   
   
       21 . The pistol of  claim 20 , wherein the indicating element is disposed in a first position wherein the cartridge rim does not contact the indicating element and a second position wherein the indicating element contacts the cartridge rim and protrudes outwards from the exterior surface of the barrel-receiver assembly.  
   
   
       22 . The pistol of  claim 21 , wherein the indicating element does not protrude outwards from the exterior surface of the barrel-receiver assembly in the first position.  
   
   
       23 . The pistol of  claim 20 , wherein the indicating element is pivotally mounted in the pistol about a pivot and is substantially rigid in structure such that the indicating element does not bend by contact with the cartridge rim but is moveable about the pivot by contact with the cartridge rim.  
   
   
       24 . The pistol of  claim 20 , wherein the indicating element comprises a sensor contact surface to operably contact the cartridge and a signal area to communicate a loaded chamber condition to a user of the pistol, the signal area being located farther from the pivot on the indicating element than the sensor contact surface.  
   
   
       25 . The pistol of  claim 20 , further comprising a biasing member that biases the indicating element towards the first position.  
   
   
       26 . The pistol of  claim 20 , further comprising a continuous circumferential seat to abuttingly contact the cartridge rim when the cartridge is loaded in the chamber.  
   
   
       27 . The pistol of  claim 26 , further comprising the chamber being disposed in a chamber block having a rear surface, and the circumferential seat located on the rear surface surrounding the chamber.  
   
   
       28 . The pistol of  claim 20 , wherein the indicating element comprises a longitudinally-extending substantially planar side and an opposite longitudinally extending irregularly-shaped side, the irregularly-shaped side facing towards the chamber to operably contact the cartridge rim.  
   
   
       29 . The pistol of  claim 20 , wherein the indicating element includes an indicia to denote a loaded chamber condition to a user of the pistol.  
   
   
       30 . A method of indicating a loaded pistol chamber comprising: 
 locating a rim of a cartridge on a continuous circumferential seat; and    displacing an element to a loaded-chamber-indication position with the rim of the cartridge.    
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the step of protruding at least a portion of the indicating element outwards from an exterior surface of the pistol to provide a user of the pistol with a visual and tactile indication that a cartridge is loaded in the chamber.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising the step of retracting the indicating element inside the pistol to an unloaded-chamber-indication position in the absence of contact between the indicating element and cartridge rim.  
   
   
       33 . A pistol with loaded chamber indicator comprising: 
 a housing that defines a chamber to receive a cartridge with a rim, the chamber being disposed along a longitudinal axis passing through the chamber;    a firing pin offset from the longitudinal axis of the chamber; and    an indicating element positioned to contact the rim of the cartridge, the element displaceable to a loaded-chamber-indication position by contact with the cartridge rim.    
   
   
       34 . The pistol of  claim 33 , wherein the chamber includes a continuous circumferential seat to locate the rim of the cartridge.  
   
   
       35 . The pistol of  claim 33 , further comprising the chamber disposed in a chamber block having sidewalls without cutouts, the chamber block substantially supporting the cartridge.  
   
   
       36 . A pistol with loaded chamber indicator comprising: 
 a housing having an exterior surface;    a barrel having a bore defining a longitudinal axis;    a chamber having a longitudinal centerline to receive a cartridge with a rim, the chamber disposed adjacent to the barrel and positioned such that the chamber centerline and longitudinal axis are concentrically aligned;    a firing pin offset from the centerline of the chamber; and    an indicating element positioned to contact the rim of the cartridge and simultaneously protrude outwards from the exterior surface of the pistol housing to indicate a loaded chamber condition to a user of the pistol.    
   
   
       37 . The pistol of  claim 36 , wherein the indicating element is moveable from a first position wherein the cartridge rim does not contact the indicating element to a second position wherein the indicating element contacts the cartridge rim and simultaneously protrudes outwards from the exterior surface of the pistol.  
   
   
       38 . The pistol of  claim 36 , further comprising the chamber disposed in a chamber block having a continuous circumferential seat to provide abutting contact with the cartridge rim when the cartridge is loaded in the chamber.  
   
   
       39 . A pistol with loaded chamber indicator comprising: 
 a frame;    a trigger mounted to the frame;    a barrel-receiver assembly having an exterior surface and defining a chamber that receives a cartridge having rim, the barrel-receiver assembly mounted to the frame;    a continuous circumferential seat surrounding the chamber that supports the rim of the cartridge when the entire body of the cartridge is disposed in the chamber;    a bolt slidably disposed in the barrel-receiver assembly;    an indicating element positioned to contact the rim of the cartridge and simultaneously protrude outwards from the exterior surface of the barrel-receiver assembly; and    a spring to bias the indicating element towards a position wherein the indicating element does not protrude outwards from the exterior surface of the barrel-receiver assembly when not contacting the rim of the cartridge.