Safety Lever

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/633,643, filed Apr. 12, 2024, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to firearms and, in particular, safety levers for firearms.

BACKGROUND

Firearms have safety mechanisms that are operable to change the firearm between a fire mode and a safety mode. When the safety mechanism is in the fire mode, the safety mechanism permits a user to pull a trigger of the firearm to fire the firearm. When the safety mechanism is in the safety mode, the safety mechanism inhibits the user from being able to fire the firearm. Many existing firearms include a safety mechanism (e.g., a switch) that is operable from one side of the firearm. For example, AK-47 rifles include a safety lever on the right side of the gun that a user shooting with their right hand may switch between the fire mode and the safety mode with their trigger finger. Users may also shoot with their left hand, for example, if they are left-handed or when weak hand shooting, e.g., in a competition. When shooting such firearms with their left hand, a user needs to move the safety lever on the right side of the firearm which can be cumbersome and slow down the user. For example, the user may need to remove their right hand from the stock of the firearm or reach over the firearm with their left hand to flip the safety lever.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an additional safety lever mounted to a firearm, the safety lever in a safety configuration.

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A mounted to the firearm, the safety lever in a fire configuration.

FIG. 2A is a left perspective view of a safety assembly including the safety lever of FIG. 1A, the safety assembly shown in an assembled configuration without the firearm for clarity.

FIG. 2B is a right perspective view of the safety assembly of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C is a top perspective view of the safety assembly of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a kit including components of the safety assembly of FIG. 2A to modify the firearm to include the additional safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4A is a bottom perspective view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4B is a right-side perspective view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4C is a top, front perspective view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4D is a rear view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4E is a front view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 5 illustrates a coupler portion of the safety lever of FIG. 1A coupling the safety lever to a safety axle of the firearm.

FIG. 6 is a right-side view of the safety lever of FIG. 1A coupled to the safety axle with a clip securing the safety lever to a wall of a housing of the firearm, a portion of the firearm removed to show the inside of the firearm.

FIG. 7 is a right perspective view of a pin retainer of the kit of FIG. 3 holding pins of the firearm.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of the pin retainer of FIG. 7 holding pins of the firearm.

FIG. 9 is a front, right perspective view of the pin retainer of FIG. 7 engaged with the safety lever of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional pin retainer of the firearm of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of a safety lever according to another embodiment.

FIG. 11B is a rear view of the safety lever of FIG. 11A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With respect to FIGS. 1A-1B, a firearm 100 is shown having a safety lever 102 on the left side of the firearm 100. The safety lever 102 may be pivoted to switch the firearm 100 between the safety mode (FIG. 1A) and fire mode (FIG. 1B). In the example shown, the firearm 100 is an AK-47 rifle that includes a right side safety lever 104 (see FIG. 2A), as is conventional for AK-47 rifles, which a user typically operates using their trigger or index finger when shooting with their right hand. With the safety lever 102 on the left side of the firearm 100, a user shooting with their left hand (e.g., when weak hand shooting or a left-handed shooter) may operate the safety lever 102 using their trigger or index finger of their left hand rather than having to operate the right side safety lever 104. This permits the user to operate the safety of the firearm 100 while keeping both of their hands at their proper positions on the firearm 100. A user can thus more quickly and easily switch the firearm between the fire and safety modes. The left side safety lever 102 may also permit a right-handed shooter to switch the firearm 100 between the safety mode and the fire mode using their thumb rather than their index finger if desired.

With respect to FIGS. 2A-2C, a safety assembly 106 is shown in an assembled configuration like it would be when assembled on the firearm 100 (but without the clip 114, discussed below). The safety assembly 106 includes the conventional right-side safety lever 104 that is coupled to the safety axle 108. The user may pivot the right-side safety lever 104 (e.g., with their index finger) to rotate the safety axle 108 to pivot an engagement portion 110 of the safety axle 108. The engagement portion 110 may be pivoted to engage portions of the safety mechanism, not shown for conciseness, when moved to the safety mode to prevent the firearm 100 from being fired. The engagement portion 110 may be pivoted to disengage the other portions of the safety mechanism when moved to the fire mode to permit the firearm 100 to be fired by pulling the trigger 105 of the firearm 100.

With respect also to FIG. 3, the safety assembly 106 further includes components of the modification kit 112 to add the left side safety lever 102 to the conventional firearm 100. The modification kit 112 may include the left side safety lever 102, a clip 114, and a pin retainer 116.

With respect to FIGS. 3 and 4A-4D, the left side safety lever 102 has a lever portion 120 and a coupler portion 122. The lever portion 120 has a lever body 123 to extend along a wall 124 of the firearm 100 (see FIG. 1A). The lever portion 120 may include a user engagement portion or flange 126 extending outward of the lever portion 120. The flange 126 provides an upper surface 128 and a lower surface 130 that the user may press against with their finger (e.g., left hand index finger) to pivot the lever portion 120 upward or downward (e.g., to switch between the fire mode and safety mode). The upper surface 128 of the flange 126 may be curved, having a convex shape. The lower surface 130 of the flange 126 may be curved, having a concave shape. The curved flange 126 provides an ergonomic shape to permit the user to engage the safety lever 102 efficiently and safely.

The coupler portion 122 extends from the lever portion 120 to extend through the wall 124 of the firearm 100 to couple with the safety axle 108 of the firearm 100. The coupler portion 122 may extend substantially perpendicularly to the lever portion 120. The lever portion 120 may be pivoted about the coupler portion 122 to cause the coupler portion 122 to rotate about an axis 132 of the coupler portion 122. The coupler portion 122 may include a cylindrical body 134 extending from the lever portion 120 along the axis 132.

With reference also to FIGS. 5-6, the cylindrical body 134 may have a recess 136 sized to receive an end portion 138 of the safety axle 108 of the firearm 100. The recess 136 may include a cylindrical portion 139 (see FIG. 4B) to receive a cylindrical end 141 of the safety axle 108. The recess 136 may also include a non-circular portion 140 (see FIGS. 4A-4B) to receive a non-circular portion 142 of the safety axle 108 to rotatably couple the coupler portion 122 to the safety axle 108. Thus, when the coupler portion 122 is rotated about the axis 132, the non-circular portion 140 of the recess 136 contacts the non-circular portion 142 of the safety axle 108 to cause the safety axle 108 to rotate with the coupler portion 122 and switch the firearm 100 between the safety mode and fire mode.

In the form shown, the non-circular portion 140 is a slot 144 extending perpendicularly through the cylindrical body 134 to form flat opposing walls 146 to engage the non-circular portion 142 (e.g., the rectangular cross-section portion) of the safety axle 108. When the coupler portion 122 is rotated, the opposing walls 146 contact the non-circular portion 142 of the safety lever 102 causing the safety lever 102 to rotate between the safety mode and fire mode. In other forms, the non-circular portion 140 can take other shapes and sizes. For example, the slot 144 may not extend all the way through the sides of the cylindrical body 134, but instead the cylindrical body 134 may extend about and enclose the slot 144.

With respect to FIGS. 3 and 6, the clip 114 secures the safety lever 102 to the wall 124 of the firearm 100, while permitting the safety lever 102 to pivot relative to the wall 124. In the form shown, the clip 114 is a retaining ring clip such as an E-clip. The clip 114 is C-shaped having a central portion 148 and arms 150, 152 extending from the central portion 148 to form a mouth 154. With reference also to FIGS. 2C and 4A, the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion may include grooves 143, 145 proximate to the lever body 123 to receive the arms 150, 152 of the clip 114. The grooves 143, 145 may be spaced from the lever body 123 by approximately the thickness of the wall 124 of the firearm 100. The grooves 143, 145 extend perpendicular to the axis 132 of the cylindrical body 134 and generally parallel with the lever body 123.

To secure the safety lever 102 to the firearm 100, the mouth 154 of the clip 114 may be positioned to face the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion 122 and the arms 150, 152 of the clip 114 aligned with the grooves 143, 145 of the cylindrical body 134. The clip 114 may be urged toward the cylindrical body 134 to insert the arms 150, 152 into a respective groove 143, 145, with a portion of the cylindrical body 134 being received into the mouth 156 of the clip 114. The clip 114 may have a dimension (e.g. a diameter or width) that is greater than an opening 124A in the wall 124 of the firearm 100 into which the coupler portion 122 of the safety lever 102 is inserted. As shown in FIG. 6, the clip 114 is secured the coupler portion 122 after the grooves 143, 145 have passed through the opening 124A of the firearm 100 into an interior of the firearm 100. The clip 114 thus inhibits the coupler portion 122 from being withdrawn from the opening 124A of the firearm 100 as the clip 114 is sized such that it is not able to pass through the opening 124A. The clip 114 permits the coupler portion 122 to be rotated in the opening 124A of the firearm 100, for example, when the lever portion 120 is pivoted about the axis 132.

With respect to FIGS. 2A-2C and 7-9, the pin retainer 116 supports the pins 160, 162 that secure the trigger 105 and hammer of the firearm 100. The pin retainer 116 is modified to accommodate the left side safety lever 102. For reference, a conventional pin retainer 164 is shown in FIG. 10. The pin retainer 116 includes an arm 118 having a first segment 166 connected to a second segment 168 by a transition segment 170. The transition segment 170 extends at an angle (e.g., an oblique angle) between the first segment 166 and second segment 168 to support the first segment 166 substantially parallel to the second segment 168, but in a different plane. The first segment 166 includes a C-shaped recess 172 at an end thereof sized and shaped to receive a portion of the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion 122 of the safety lever 102 (see FIG. 10). Recess 172 of the pin retainer 116 limits movement of the pin retainer 116 relative to the coupler portion 122 when the safety lever 102 is mounted to the firearm 100. The recess 172 of the pin retainer 116 permits the coupler portion 122 to rotate in the recess 172. The second segment 168 of the pin retainer includes a first notch 174 to receive the trigger pin 160 and a second notch 176 to receive the hammer pin 162. With the pins 160, 162 in the notches 174, 176, the pins 160, 162 are not able to move substantially and are thus held in place by the pin retainer 116.

To attach the left side safety lever 102 to the firearm 100, the coupler portion 122 of the safety lever 102 may be inserted into the opening 124A in the wall 124 on the left side of the firearm 100. Where the firearm 100 is a conventional firearm being modified to include the left side safety lever 102, the opening 124A may be drilled out to a size large enough to receive the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion 122. The clip 114 may be snapped over the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion 122 to secure the safety lever 102 to the wall 124 of the firearm 100. For example, the arms 150, 152 may be inserted along the grooves 143, 145 of the coupler portion 122 along the inside of the wall 124. The pin retainer 116 may be inserted into the firearm 100 to position the hammer pin 162 in the notch 176. The pin retainer 116 may be pivoted downward about the hammer pin 162 to position the trigger pin 160 in the notch 174 and the cylindrical body 134 of the coupler portion 122 in the recess 172 of the pin retainer 116. The safety axle 108 may then be move axially to insert the end portion 138 of the safety axle 108 into the recess 136 of the coupler portion 122 until the non-circular cross-sectional portion 142 of the safety axle 108 is at least partially received into the slot 144 of the coupler portion 122. Rotation of either the left side safety lever 102 or the right side safety lever 104 thus rotates the safety axle 108 to shift the firearm 100 between the safety mode and the fire mode.

The left side safety lever 102 permits a user shooting left-handed to use their index finger to move the left side safety lever 102 to switch between the fire and safety modes. The left side safety lever 102 also provide a firearm 100 with an ambidextrous safety system to provide users with options for engaging or disengaging the safety. For instance, a user has the option to use either the index finger or the thumb of their shooting hand to switch the firearm 100 between the safety mode and the fire mode using either the left side safety lever 102 or right side safety lever 104. For example, some users may desire to switch the firearm 100 to the fire mode with their thumb and then switch the firearm 100 to the safety mode with their index finger.

With respect to FIGS. 11A-11B, a safety lever 102A is shown according to another embodiment similar to the embodiments discussed above such that the differences are highlighted. In the safety lever 102A, the cylindrical body 134A of the coupler portion 122A of the safety lever 102A has one annular groove 143A, instead of the two grooves 143, 145, that extends circumferentially about the cylindrical body 134A to permit the clip 114 to be attached in any orientation.

Uses of singular terms such as “a,” “an,” are intended to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms. It is intended that the phrase “at least one of” as used herein be interpreted in the disjunctive sense. For example, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to encompass A, B, or both A and B.

While there have been illustrated and described particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated that numerous changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended for the present invention to cover all those changes and modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims.