GUN MAGAZINE SPEED LOADER AND METHODS
A gun magazine speed loader that can load an entire magazine simply by pulling the magazines external follower in a downward motion. Rimmed cartridges are aligned nose down and side-by-side in a loading channel and the magazine and speed loader are then tipped up toward a vertical position with the magazine below the loader. By passing the stream of cartridges through an “articulator” that articulates the nose of the cartridge and feeds cartridges ‘rim-first’ and up through feed lips and into the magazine, the cartridges fill the magazine in a continuous stream, essentially at the speed of gravity-falling cartridges under control of the external follower. The articulator has no moving parts and operates with rimmed cartridges and with curved or low-rake angle magazines having an external follower.
This application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent No. 61/679027 filed 2 Aug. 2012, which is herein incorporated in full for all purposes.
GOVERNMENT SUPPORTThis invention was made without government support.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to an improved gun magazine speed loader and in particular to an apparatus for aligning or orienting a plurality of cartridges and loading the cartridges single-file into a firearm magazine and in doing so without requiring the user to handle each individual cartridge or requiring a one-by-one action. The apparatus includes an articulator and can load an entire magazine or clip with gravity feed by simply pulling down the magazine's external follower.
BACKGROUNDRim and rimfire ammunition is generally smaller in caliber and requires greater dexterity to properly orientate and insert the cartridges into a magazine. After many repetitions, one-by-one cartridge insertion into a gun magazine by hand is both time consuming and uncomfortable, particularly for the thumb. This problem is compounded for large capacity magazines commonly used in modern target practice.
Devices for loading multiple cartridges into a magazine are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,572 to Brandenburg discloses a device having two cam followers that move a cartridge in two linear directions during the cartridge loading operation. Brandenburg, while providing means of aligning the cartridges and placing them into a magazine, teaches a pushing force applied to the plunger for each and every cartridge to be loaded into the magazine
U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,820 to Miller illustrates the use of a spring loaded feed finger to achieve the proper transport motion to load a cartridge into a magazine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,449 to Jackson shows a simplified version of this method, incorporating a single rotary cam to accomplish this task. While greatly simplifying the mechanism to load a single cartridge to the magazine, the method still works by a serial one-cartridge-at-a-time action of a rotary cam. One turn of the cam is equal to only one cartridge being loaded, thus requiring a sustained effort by the user to load the magazine to maximum capacity.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,637,048 to Tal shows a universal pistol magazine loader that uses a fulcrum press motion to overcome the force of the magazine spring to facilitate loading. Tal provides a fulcrum and mechanical advantage to overcome the force of the magazine spring, but still requires the user to handle each individual cartridge by hand. The device is designed primarily for pistol magazines of certain caliber ranges.
US Pat. No. 4,392,321 to Bosworth, while providing a means for aligning the cartridges, does not provide a practical means of placing the cartridges into a magazine. McFadden Machine Co. Inc. Ultimate Clip Loader 22 LR Pistol Magazine Loader incorporates a similar method of aligning the cartridges as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,321. The method requires retracting the external magazine follower before the cartridges can be loaded. However, because the cartridges are not contacted and guided by a magazine follower, cartridges will tumble and jam in the magazine when attempted with commonly available curved or limited rake-angle magazines. Thus the device has limitations in its use. The device has been shown not to work for curved rifle magazines and/or for magazines having a limited rake angle (defined by a generally 80 to 90 degree angle of entry of the cartridges into the magazine).
None of these patents or products provides a means for loading curved or limited-rake angle types of magazines reliably. Thus there is an unmet need in the art for a magazine loader for magazines that lack a straight track and/or a high rake angle.
What is needed is a loading apparatus for magazines that require each cartridge be “articulated” as it enters the magazine. Articulation would serve to guide the cartridge correctly past the feed lips and into the magazine. Preferredly, the device or apparatus would eliminate reciprocating cam, rotary-cam, feed finger, or plunger operated mechanisms, in other words have a minimum or no moving parts. Most preferredly the device would function to articulate the cartridges during magazine loading while operating on gravity feed under control of the magazine follower.
It would further be advantageous to provide a gun magazine speed loader that could have cartridges poured directly from unsorted or bulk containers into a receiving tray or trough. A preferred device will enable storing of additional cartridges in excess of what is required to fill the loading tray.
It would also be advantageous to provide a means to orientate the cartridges into a classifier by using a slot with a width sized to allow the nose of the cartridge to pass through but to capture the rim of the cartridge. It would further be advantageous to provide a means to tamp the cartridges into a side-by-side, single-file position for loading.
It would further be advantageous to provide interchangeable magazine well adapters to accept a variety of different gun magazines so the speed loader could be used with many different gun magazines without having to duplicate or modify the classifier and/or articulator sections of the speed loader.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with the present invention, there is provided a firearm magazine speed loader that can load a plurality of rim-type cartridge into a magazine by “articulating” the cartridge in such a manner as to feed the rim past the forward edge of the feed lips of the magazine with no more effort than pulling, in a downward motion, the magazine's external follower.
Bulk cartridges can be poured directly from their container into the hollow receptacle described below. The invention utilizes a conventional type cartridge orienting device such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,321 to Bosworth. This orienting device includes a hollow receptacle having a slot separating two lateral rails. Cartridges placed in the hollow receptacle are directed toward the slot. The width of the slot is sized to accept only the body of the cartridge, but not the rim. Thus the nose of the cartridge can fall into the slot and the rim will stop the falling motion, because the rails will engage the rim to suspend the cartridge nosedown. When a plurality of non-oriented cartridges are placed in the hollow receptacle and the receptacle shaken, the cartridges are uniformly aligned automatically in the slot with their longitudinal axes aligned generally parallel within the slot. An effective number of cartridges to adequately fill the magazine having been sorted into the loading channel with the magazine inserted into the device, a sliding rod may be used to push the cartridges towards the accepting device or magazine. Then by tipping the magazine and speed loader toward a vertical position, magazine down, the user only needs to draw the external follower of the magazine down along its track in the magazine housing. The loader will then feed a plurality of cartridges into the magazine by articulating them one by one through the feed lips. “Articulation” involves an operation of tipping the cartridge to angle rim-first and then displacing the cartridge endwise on a smooth step up a load ramp so that the cartridge is fed rim-first into the mouth of the magazine. Cartridges in the magazine stack one on top of the other. The operation of loading simulates feeding the cartridges by hand into the magazine while maintaining contact between the first cartridge of the cartridge stack and the magazine follower. Contact with the magazine follower prevents disorientation of the cartridges and jams (caused by misfed cartridges) and allows the cartridges to fill the magazine at a rate that approaches the free-fall velocity of a cartridge in gravity.
Thus in one aspect the invention is a gun magazine speed loader for loading of a plurality of rimmed cartridges into a firearm magazine, the magazine having an external follower, the speed loader comprising a) a loading channel defined by parallel inside sidewalls and bottom surface, the loading channel having a first end with cartridge receiving slot superiorly disposed thereon and a open terminus at a second end, where the open terminus of the loading channel is adapted for communicating with the open mouth and feed lips of a magazine; b) contralateral rails are formed on the inside side walls, such that the rails and gap between the rails are dimensioned for supporting a plurality of rimmed cartridges nosedown, slideably pendant in single file between the rails; c) a “cartridge articulator” disposed at the open terminus of the loading channel, the cartridge articulator comprising i) a magazine receiving adaptor disposed to align a magazine or “clip” at an offset from the long axis of the loading channel, ii) a cartridge discharge window defining feed lips on the superior aspect of the open terminus, iii) a load ramp formed as an extension of the bottom surface of the loading channel on the long axis, the load ramp defining a stationary cam having a smoothly sloped step face rising from the bottom surface of the long axis of the loading channel to abut the bottom edge of the magazine receiving adaptor, wherein the stationary cam is positioned so that a cartridge discharged from the terminus is angled rim-first and displaced up between the feed lips and the bottom edge into a magazine by the action of the nose of the cartridge striking the stationary cam when passing through the cartridge discharge window under control of an external magazine follower. The cartridge articulator is configured to continuously “articulate” each of a plurality of cartridges, angled rim-end first, up the load ramp according to an offset pathway, and through the cartridge discharge window into the mouth of the magazine. The speed loader is generally tipped to provide gravity feed and the continuous flow of the stream of cartridges into the magazine is controlled by the action of the external magazine follower. The cartridges are stacked so as to contact the external follower before beginning the loading operation, and “follow” the external follower as they flow into the magazine. Surprisingly, the vertical height of the cartridge discharge window is less then the vertical length of the cartridges, but feed lips and load ramp are spaced to cooperatively direct said plurality of cartridges in single-file, angled rim-end first, along an offset path or “jog” through the cartridge discharge window and into a magazine, such that the plurality of cartridges flow as a continuous stream of cartridges under gravity under control of the action of an external magazine follower.
In a preferred embodiment, the magazine receiving adaptor includes a gate mechanism for blocking the cartridge discharge window when no magazine is present. Multiple magazine receiving adaptors or “mag well” adaptors may be offered to allow use of the speed loader with various kinds of magazines having a low rake angle or curvature such as is found in rifle magazines. The speed loader may also include a push rod for tamping cartridges toward the cartridge discharge window and a storage trough for receiving an excess of cartridges so that multiple magazines may be quickly loaded.
In another aspect, the invention is method for loading rimmed cartridges into a firearm magazine having an external follower, which comprises providing a speed loader of the invention. Method steps include (a) aligning cartridges in a row, side-by-side, nose down, in a channel defined by parallel inside sidewalls in the body of the speed loader, the sidewalls having opposing lateral rails dimensioned for slideably supporting the cartridges nosedown and pendant from their rims; the channel having a first end with a cartridge receiving slot disposed on a superior aspect and a second end terminating in a cartridge articulator; (b) attaching an empty magazine to engage the cartridge articulator, the cartridge articulator comprising a magazine receiving adaptor disposed to align a magazine at a vertical offset from the loading channel, a cartridge discharge window defined by feed lips on the superior aspect of the terminus, wherein the cartridge discharge window is in communication with a mouth of a magazine, a load ramp formed as an extension of the bottom surface of the loading channel on the long axis, the load ramp defining a stationary cam having a smoothly sloped step face rising from the bottom surface of the long axis of the loading channel to abut the bottom edge of the magazine receiving adaptor, wherein the stationary cam is positioned so that a cartridge discharged from the terminus is angled rim-first and displaced up between the feed lips and the bottom edge into a magazine by the action of the nose of the cartridge striking the stationary cam; (c) gravity-pouring the cartridges from the loading channel, through the articulator, and into the magazine while using the external follower to control the flow of cartridges, thereby loading the magazine; and, (d) dismounting the loaded magazine from the magazine receiving adaptor. Optionally, magazine well adaptors may be made interchangeably detachable so that various types of ammunition may be accommodated by speed loaders of the invention.
These and other aspects of the invention now are described in more detail with reference to the drawings and the detailed description given below.
A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent, detailed description, in which:
For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components will generally bear the same designations and numbering throughout the figures. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale and are not intended as blueprints. Certain features or components herein may be shown in somewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. The drawing figures are hereby made part of the specification, written description and teachings disclosed herein.
DESCRIPTIONReferring to
Referring to
In more detail,
Thus the cartridge discharge window 80 is at an angle, and the plane of the window is broken first by the forwardly-angled rimmed-end of the cartridge and the nose of the cartridge is displaced up and out of the long axis of the loading channel as it slides along the bottom surface of the load ramp 42. Surprisingly, the vertical height of window 80 (perpendicular to the long axis of the loading channel) is less than the vertical length of the cartridge 56 and is the hypotenuse of a triangle marked by dimensions 42a and 42b. The window, feed lips, and loading ramp form an offset path that guides the cartridge into the magazine as the external follower is drawn away from the mag well adaptor and down the length of the magazine. In this way curved magazines and low-rake angle magazines are successfully loaded, an advance in the art.
In typical operation, the loader is tipped to a near-vertical or a vertical position during the loading operation, and as will be shown in
In actual operation, a continuous stream of cartridges fall by gravity feed through the “articulator”, (49, which is defined by the load ramp 42 and the feed lips 60 defining the headspace at the open end 80 of the loading channel,
In the above description, for purposes of definition, general connection terms including, but not limited to “connected,” “attached,” and “affixed” are not meant to be limiting and structures so “associated” may have other ways of being associated. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and “fourth” are meant solely for purposes of designation and not for order or limitation. Reference to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or an “aspect,” means that a particular feature, structure, step, combination or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one realization of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment and may apply to multiple embodiments. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be noted that the terms “may,” “can,” and “might” are used to indicate alternatives and optional features and only should be construed as a limitation if specifically included in the claims. It should be noted that the various components, features, steps, or embodiments thereof are all “preferred” whether or not it is specifically indicated. Claims not including a specific limitation should not be construed to include that limitation. The term “a” or “an” as used in the claims does not exclude a plurality. Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims that follow, the term “comprise” and variations thereof, such as, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusive sense that is as “including, but not limited to.” “Conventional” refers to a term or method designating that which is known and commonly understood in the technology to which this invention relates.
To assist in understanding, “cartridge articulator” refers generally to a structure 49 for articulating rimmed cartridges in single file into an open mouth of a magazine under control of an external follower 52. The structure includes a load ramp forming a stationary cam positioned at the terminus of the loading channel, the load ramp having a smooth sloping face configured so as to articulate the cartridge into a rim-first angled position and then to displace the cartridge by a defined offset from the longitudinal axis of the loading channel, the direction of the displacement being such as to push the rim-end of the cartridge along an offset path defined superiorly by the feed lips of the loading channel and inferiorly by the sloping face or step of the load ramp, which terminates in an abutment level with the lower edge of the mouth of the magazine. Thus as shown in
For purposes of explanation and understanding, relative terms must be construed as such. For example, the terms “under” or “beneath” is meant to be relative to the terms “over” or “above”, the term “right” is meant to be relative to the term “left,” the term “vertical” is meant to be relative to the term “horizontal,” the term “front” is meant to be relative to the term “back,” the terms “upper” or “superior” are meant to be relative to the terms “lower” or :“inferior”, the term “top” is meant to be relative to the term “bottom,” the term “inside” is meant to be relative to the term “outside,” and so forth. Thus relative terms must be construed relative to the orientation of the speed loader body and loading channel, and/or to the direction of gravitational force, and are to be interpreted as would be understood by one skilled in the art.
WORKING EXAMPLESSpeed loaders were designed and made for pistol and rifle magazines. Models tested include the Walther P22 pistol and the GSG MP5 caliber 22LR, GSG AK-47 caliber 22LR, Umarex HK416 caliber 22LR, Umarex MP5 caliber 22LR, Umarex Colt M4 caliber 22LR, Umarex Uzi caliber 22LR, Smith & Wesson MP15-22 caliber 22LR rifles. Operating characteristics are as described for the preferred embodiment below. These magazines have in common an external follower and are built for rimmed cartridges.
Other pistols for which a speed loader of the invention may be developed include the Ruger SR22, Smith & Wesson MRP-22, Sig Mosquito, ISSC MK22 pistols and the Remington 522 caliber 22LR and ISSC MK22 caliber 22LR rifles.
Regarding cartridge types, caliber is not a limiting factor in operation of a magazine and speed loader. For magazines have an external follower, a partial list of ammunition calibers includes the following types—1. Rifle cartridges: .22 LR, .22 Short, .17 Hornady Mach 2, .22 Winchester Magnum, 8×50R Lebel, 7.62×54R 7N1, 8×56R Steyr, .30 Army, .303 British or .600 Nitro Express; 2. Pistol Cartridges: .22 LR, .22 Short, .25 ACP, .32 S&W Short, .32 Short Colt, .38 S&W, .38 Short Colt, .32 Long Colt, .32 S&W Long, .38/200 Mkllz, .45 Auto Rim, .455 Webley Mkll, .44 S&W Russian, .32 H&R Magnum, .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, .38 Long Colt, .45 S&W Schofield, 8 mm Lebel (8×27.5R), .38 S&W Special, .44 S&W Special, .357 S&W Magnum, .41 Remington Magnum, .357 Maximum, while not limited thereto. For cartridges of a different caliber, the loading channel 40, contralateral rails 41, loading slot 43, and articulator 49 may readily be modified according to the dimensions of the cartridges, and thus with simple modifications of the speed loader, an equivalent speed loader may be provided, such that the ammunition type is not limited to .22LR ammunition.
Operation of a Preferred EmbodimentIn an exemplary working example, the speed loader 10 was placed on a reasonably horizontal surface to support it or held horizontally. A mag well for the desired gun magazine 50 was attached as shown in
Other modifications, substitutions and changes to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore the invention is not limited to the example or examples chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes, substitutions and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention in all its forms.
Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the Claims, which are made a part of the specification and disclosure herein.
Claims
1. A gun magazine speed loader for loading of a plurality of rimmed cartridges into a firearm magazine, the firearm magazine having an external follower, said speed loader comprising:
- a) a loading channel defined by parallel inside sidewalls and bottom surface, said loading channel having a first end with cartridge receiving slot superiorly disposed thereon, a long-axis extending the length of said loading channel, and an open terminus at a second end, wherein said open terminus is adapted for communicating with a mouth of a magazine when engaged thereto;
- b) contralateral rails formed on said inside side walls, wherein said rails are dimensioned for supporting a plurality of rimmed cartridges nosedown, slideably pendant in single file between said contralateral rails;
- further characterized by
- c) a cartridge articulator disposed at said terminus of said loading channel, said cartridge articulator comprising a magazine receiving adaptor with bottom edge configured to align a magazine at an offset from said long axis of said loading channel, a cartridge discharge window defining feed lips on the superior aspect of said terminus, and a load ramp formed as an extension of said bottom surface on said long axis, said load ramp defining a stationary cam having a sloped face rising from the bottom surface of the long axis of the loading channel to abut the bottom edge of the magazine receiving adaptor, wherein said stationary cam is positioned so that a cartridge discharged from said terminus is angled rim-first and displaced up between said feed lips and said bottom edge into a magazine by the action of the nose of the cartridge striking against said stationary cam when passing through the cartridge discharge window under control of an external magazine follower.
2. The speed loader of claim 1, wherein the vertical height of the cartridge discharge window is less then the vertical length of the cartridges, and said feed lips and load ramp are positioned to cooperatively direct said plurality of cartridges in single-file, angled rim-end first, along an offset path through said cartridge discharge window and into a magazine engaged in said magazine receiving adaptor, such that the plurality of cartridges flow as a continuous stream of cartridges under gravity when controlled by the action of an external magazine follower.
3. The speed loader of claim 1, wherein said magazine receiving adaptor comprises a gate for blocking said cartridge discharge window when no magazine is present.
4. The speed loader of claim 1, further comprising a push rod slideably aligned within said loading channel.
5. The speed loader of claim 1, wherein said inside sidewalls of said channel are dimensioned to allow the nose of a cartridge to pass through but to capture a rim of a cartridge on said lateral rails therein, whereby said cartridges are slideably aligned in said channel, nose down, in single file.
6. The speed loader of claim 1, further comprising a trough for receiving loose cartridges, said trough with sloping sides and bottom slot communicating with said channel.
7. The speed loader of claim 6, further comprising a trough extension having a capacity for excess cartridges.
8. The speed loader of claim 1, wherein said magazine receiving adaptor is detachably interchangeable, and is provided in a plurality of models for accepting different gun magazines.
9. The speed loader of claim 1, further comprising a magazine engagement lock.
10. The speed loader of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is operative to load a plurality of rimmed cartridges into a curved magazine or a low-rake-angle magazine.
11. The speed loader of claim 10, wherein said speed loader is dimensioned for rimmed rifle cartridges having a caliber selected from.22LR, 22 short, 22 LR,.17 Hornady Mach 2,.22 Winchester Magnum, 8×50R Lebel, 7.62×54R 7N1, 8×56R Steyr,.30 Army,.303 British, and 600 Nitro Express.
12. The speed loader of claim 10, wherein said speed loader is dimensioned for rimmed pistol cartridges having a caliber selected from.22 LR,.22 Short,.25 ACP,.32 S&W Short,.32 Short Colt,.38 S&W,.38 Short Colt,.32 Long Colt,.32 S&W Long,.38/200 Mkllz,.45 Auto Rim,.455 Webley MkII,.44 S&W Russian,.32 H&R Magnum,.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire,.38 Long Colt,.45 S&W Schofield, 8 mm Lebel (8×27.5R),.38 S&W Special,.44 S&W Special,.357 S&W Magnum,.41 Remington Magnum,.and 357 Maximum.
13. A method for loading rimmed cartridges into a firearm magazine having an external follower, which comprises
- (a) aligning cartridges in a row, side-by-side, nose down, in a channel defined by parallel inside sidewalls, said sidewalls having opposing lateral rails dimensioned for slideably supporting the rimmed cartridges nosedown and pendantly therebetween; the channel having a first end with a cartridge receiving slot and a second end with a cartridge articulator;
- (b) attaching an empty magazine to engage the cartridge articulator, the cartridge articulator comprising a magazine receiving adaptor disposed to align a magazine at a vertical offset from said loading channel, a cartridge discharge window defined by feed lips on the superior aspect of said terminus, wherein said cartridge discharge window is in communication with a mouth of a magazine, a load ramp formed by extending said bottom surface of said loading channel past said feed lips, said load ramp articulating upward according to said offset;
- (c) gravity-pouring the cartridges from the loading channel, through the cartridge articulator, and into the magazine while using the external follower to control the flow of cartridges, thereby loading the magazine; and,
- (d) dismounting a loaded magazine from the magazine receiving adaptor.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein step (c) comprises raising said first end of said body above a magazine attached at said second end so that gravity drives the flow of the cartridges according to the rate at which the external follower is drawn through the magazine.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the external follower is retracted at the magazine at a rate approaching a gravitational free-fall velocity of the cartridges.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein said steps (a) and (b) are performed in an interchangeable order, said magazine well adaptor having a gate for preventing spilling of cartridges when a magazine is not engaged to said magazine receiving adaptor.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising attaching a second empty cartridge and repeating steps (c) and (d).
18. The method of claim 13, wherein step (a) comprises loading loose cartridges into a trough with ramped walls and bottom forming said slot, whereby cartridges fall nose down into said channel by a self-aligning process.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein step (a) comprises using a push rod to tamp cartridges together side by side in said channel before loading.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 30, 2013
Publication Date: Feb 6, 2014
Inventor: Dana Joseph Fiorucci (Shoreline, WA)
Application Number: 13/931,953