GAS OPERATING SYSTEM WITH EXHAUST SYSTEM
A gas exhaust system for a gas operated firearm may include a rear part connected to a gas block of a gas operating system, and a front part connected to the rear part. The rear part and front part have a flow path defined therealong that allows for venting of gases from the gas operating system. The rear part can have a regulating portion that regulates or control the amount of gases released from the gas operating system.
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The present patent application claims the benefit of the filing date of previously filed, co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/423,924, filed Nov. 18, 2016, by the inventors named in the present application.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEThe specification and drawings of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/415,732, filed Nov. 18, 2016, are specifically incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in their entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure generally relates to firearms and, more particularly, to gas operated firearms.
BACKGROUNDSemi-Automatic and automatic firearms generally will include gas operating systems that utilize combustion gases from firing to drive the action of the bolt. In some firearms, such as semi-automatic shotguns, the gas system can be configured to accommodate firing of different size cartridges and corresponding loads, e.g., 2¾″ target loads to 3″ Magnum loads. In such firearms, the gas system generally is designed to compensate for cartridges having lighter firing loads to ensure proper operation. As a result, however, when firing cartridges with higher loads, e.g., Magnum cartridges, too much or excess pressurized gases into the gas operating system can be received from the barrel upon firing, which can cause undesirably high bolt velocities during cycling of the action, potentially damaging the bolt or other components of the firearm. Firing of such higher load cartridges also may generate additional recoil forces, as well as enhanced muzzle climb upon firing. To reduce excess pressures, some gas operating systems have compensation plugs that can include a spring-loaded plunger assembly to try to reduce excess pressure in the gas operating system caused by firing of such cartridges having higher loads. These plugs may vent or release the high pressure gases from the gas operating system, for example, into a cavity or chamber defined within or along the fore-end of the firearm. In some firearms, such as firearms that include ornate or custom crafted fore-ends made from lighter and/or decorative materials such as wood, these components can be damaged by the release of such high pressure gases therein, potentially causing injury. Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a gas operating system which addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.
SUMMARYBriefly described, the present disclosure is directed to a gas compensating system for a gas operated firearm, which includes an exhaust system or component. The exhaust system may include a kit or an assembly having a series of exhaust tubes that can be coupled to the firearm gas operating system, and which are formed as substantially unitary structures or can include parts or components that can be selectively mounted and/or interchanged with the gas operating system to enable tuning or adjustment of the exhaust system, for example to correspondingly adjust for differing gas pressures as needed for firing different cartridges having different loads. The exhaust tubes of the exhaust system each can include a rear portion that detachably connects or couples to a gas block and a front portion that can be integrally formed with, or fixed to, or can be detachably connected to the rear portion. The rear portion also will include a body with a bore or passage defined therethrough and which at least partially defines a flow path in communication with the gas operating system, to allow for release or diversion of excess gases therefrom. The front portion of the exhaust system can include a generally tubular body with a bore or passage defined therethrough, the bore having an inlet at least partially aligned with the bore of the rear portion so as to be substantially in fluid communication therewith. The tubular body of the front portion further can have one or more outlets or exhaust vents for directing the release or exhaustion of excess pressured gases received from the gas operating system into the ambient environment. Such outlets or vents further can be arranged along an exterior surface of the fore-end portion of the firearm to generally direct the excess gases in a direction so as to help mitigate or affect muzzle climb and/or felt recoil upon firing.
The rear portion of each tube further can include a regulating portion or section configured to regulate or otherwise control the amount of gases entering the upstream end of the bore of the rear portion and thus helps control the amount of gases released from the gas operating system through the exhaust system. In one aspect, the regulating portion can include an inlet orifice and/or chamber arranged along or at the front or distal end of the bore of the rear portion that is sized, dimensioned, or otherwise configured to regulate, control or limit the amount of gases allowed to enter the bore of the rear portion from the gas operating system. The exhaust system thus can include a plurality of exhaust tubes or bodies each having regulating portions with differently sized, dimensioned, or configured orifices designed to divert or vent selected amounts of excess gases from the gas operating system, for example, to substantially correspond to specific cartridges or ranges of cartridges firing different firing loads. Alternatively, the size of the inlet orifice can be adjusted or changed by a regulating mechanism to increase or decrease the size of the orifice, to accommodate for firing of various cartridges having different ranges of firing loads.
In another aspect, the regulating portion may include one or more valve assemblies arranged at least partially along or within the bore of the rear portion to further help regulate gas flows into the exhaust system. For example, the valve assemblies can include a valve member biased by a spring or other biasing element toward a position to at least partially obstruct or block the outlet of the bore of the rear portion, to at least partially seal or restrict the flow of gases therethrough; and when the gas pressure in the gas operating system exceeds to a level sufficient to overcome the biasing force of the spring, the valve member can be moved/urged in a direction away from the bore outlet, to allow release of excess gases from the gas operating system into the exhaust system. Such valve assemblies also can be configured to facilitate firing of cartridges having different firing loads. For example, the stiffness of the spring or biasing member can be varied or adjusted to compensate for cartridges firing different loads or ranges thereof.
The exhaust vents or outlets of the exhaust system further can include guide channels defined along the fore-end portion of the firearm, each with an inlet arranged/aligned substantially adjacent and in communication with the outlet of the bore of the front portion, and an outlet or exit opening defined along an exterior surface of the body of the fore-end of the firearm. Each guide channel further may be configured so as to drive an angled or curved vent/exhaust path to vent the gases exhausted from the gas operating system in a direction and in a manner so as to potentially reduce recoil felt upon firing of the firearm, as well as help reduce muzzle climb of the firearm. For example, the outlets or vents of the exhaust passages may be arranged to vent the excess gases upwardly and outwardly at an angle, away from a top or upper surface of the fore-end of the firearm, and with a force that urges the front end of the firearm downwardly to help reduce muzzle climb.
Various objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review of the following detail description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate and understand that, according to common practice, the various features of the drawings discussed below are not necessarily drawn to scale, and that the dimensions of various features and elements of the drawings may be expanded or reduced to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONReferring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views,
The firearm F further can have a fore-end part or portion 19 that generally is arranged along the magazine tube and/or adjacent the barrel 12, as shown in
An example of a gas operating system 10 for use with the exhaust system 5 is shown in
As also generally shown in
As further shown in
For example, as generally shown in
As indicated in
As shown in
In addition, the rear portion 64 of each exhaust tube will have a bore or inlet 94 defined therethrough, and which at least partially defines a first portion of the exhaust/fluid passageway 66 and the regulating portion 52 of the exhaust tube, as generally shown in
As illustrated in
In another aspect of this disclosure, the regulating portion 52 may include one or more compensating valve assemblies 98 arranged at least partially along, or downstream from, the bore/inlet 94 of each exhaust tube(s) 62, such as shown at (
The valve spring 102 will bias the valve member 100 in a rearward direction D2 with a force generally sufficient to at least partially block or restrict the flow of gases through the opening 104, until excess gas pressure in the piston bore 36/bore 94 rises to a level sufficient to overcome the spring force of the valve spring 84. Thereafter, the gases will urge the valve member 100 in a forward direction D1 away from its biased, selected engagement over the opening 104 to allow passage of the gases therethrough and into the passageway 70 of the front portion 68 of the exhaust tube. The valve assembly 98 further can be configured for firing of a desired range of firing loads. For example, the valve spring can be selected to provide a biasing force sufficient to block escape of gases through the exhaust system, when firing cartridges with lower pressure (i.e., target) loads, while requiring higher pressures, such as resulting from firing of heavier loads, such as Magnum loads, to release gases into the exhaust system 5. Also, a series of springs, or other biasing mechanisms, with differing stiffness can be interchangeably used with the valve assembly, or the valve assembly can include a mechanism to adjust the stiffness of the spring, e.g. tighten or loosen the relative stiffness of the spring, to tune the valve to correspond to specific cartridges having different firing loads.
As shown in
In one aspect of this disclosure, as noted, the tubular body 106 of the front portion 68 can be integrally formed with the body 74 of the rear portion 64 of each exhaust tube 62 (
In yet another aspect of this disclosure, the tubular body 106 of a forward portion 68 and the body 74 of a rear portion 64 may be connected together by a coupling 118, such as generally shown in
In addition, as shown in
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a gas operating system for a firearm with an exhaust system that has a reduced number of parts and which can allow for tuning or adjustment of the gas operating system to accommodate different cartridge loads in any easy and efficient manner. For example, the exhaust system can comprise one or more exhaust tubes with regulating portions designed for particular types or ranges of cartridges, which can be interchanged as needed for use with other cartridge types. The exhaust system can be used with existing gas systems, in place of a compensating plug, and further provides for protection of fore-ends made from lighter-weight, decorative, and/or weaker materials such as wood, in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The foregoing description generally illustrates and describes various embodiments of the present disclosure. It will, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the above-discussed construction of without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as disclosed herein, and that it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as being illustrative, and not to be taken in a limiting sense. Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure shall be construed to cover various modifications, combinations, additions, alterations, etc., above and to the above-described embodiments, which shall be considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, various features and characteristics of the present disclosure as discussed herein may be selectively interchanged and applied to other illustrated and non-illustrated embodiments, and numerous variations, modifications, and additions further can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A firearm, comprising:
- a receiver;
- a barrel mounted to the receiver and comprising a chamber located at a proximal end of the barrel and configured to receive cartridges for firing from the firearm;
- a fore-end extending along the barrel;
- a bolt assembly translatable along the receiver for loading cartridges into the chamber and ejecting spent casings from the firearm after firing; and
- a gas operating system driving movement of the bolt assembly along the receiver, the gas operating system comprising: a gas block having a longitudinal piston bore in fluid communication with the barrel for passage of gases generated during firing into the piston bore and comprising an opening at a distal end thereof; a gas piston disposed within and movable along the piston bore, the gas piston operatively connected to the bolt assembly to cause the bolt assembly to be driven along the receiver for cycling the firearm; and an exhaust tube coupled to the distal end of the gas block and defining a fluid passageway that is in communication with the piston bore to allow for release or diversion of excess gases therefrom and in a direction substantially along the fore-end; and a regulating portion at an upstream end of the fluid passageway defined by the exhaust tube and configured to regulate or control an amount of gases entering into the fluid passageway.
2. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the exhaust tube comprises:
- a rear portion configured to be detachably coupled to the gas block, and having an inlet of the fluid passageway defined therein the outlet at least partially in communication with the piston bore of the gas block; and
- a forward portion extending forwardly from the rear portion, and through which the fluid passageway of the exhaust tube extends, wherein the fluid passageway is at least partially in fluid communication with the inlet of the rear portion, and terminates in an outlet that allows for release of gases therefrom.
3. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the regulating portion comprises an inlet arranged along an upstream end of the fluid passage, and wherein the inlet bore has a reduced size in relation to the fluid passage.
4. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the regulating portion comprises a valve assembly having a valve member that is biased toward a position at least partially obstructing an opening of the fluid passageway to restrict gas flow into the fluid passageway.
5. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the fluid passageway of the exhaust tube is in communication with at least one outlet channel defined along the fore-end of the firearm, the outlet channel having at least one vent opening defined along an exterior surface of the fore-end of the firearm.
6. The firearm of claim 5, wherein the outlet channel comprises a redirecting portion that alters a direction of the flow of gases released from the gas operating system.
7. The firearm of claim 6, wherein the redirecting portion comprises an angled or slanted portion.
8. The firearm of claim 5, wherein the opening is defined along an upper portion of the fore-end to provide a generally downwardly directed force to at least partially reduce muzzle climb experienced during firing of the firearm.
9. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the exhaust tube comprises a body having an exterior surface with one or more threaded portions arranged therealong and configured to matably engage with one or more threaded portions arranged along an interior surface of the gas block for connection of the gas block to the exhaust tube, wherein the exterior surface of the body further comprises an annular recess configured to at least partially receive an O-ring sufficient to substantially seal the connection between the piston bore and the exhaust tube.
10. An auto-loading shotgun, comprising:
- a receiver;
- a barrel mounted to a forward end of the receiver, the barrel comprising at least one gas port arranged therealong, and a chamber located at a proximal end of the barrel and configured to receive cartridges for firing;
- a magazine configured to store cartridges for loading into the chamber;
- a fore-end portion having a body that at least partially surrounds the magazine and/or the barrel;
- a bolt assembly translatable along the receiver for loading cartridges from the magazine into the chamber and for ejecting spent casings from the shotgun after firing; and
- a gas operating system for driving movement of the bolt assembly along the receiver, the gas operating system comprising: a gas cylinder having a longitudinal piston bore, and one or more ports in fluid communication with the piston bore and the at least one gas port of the barrel for directing passage of pressurized gases generated during firing from the barrel to the piston bore; a gas piston disposed within and movable along the piston bore, the gas piston operatively connected to the bolt assembly such that the pressurized gases passing into the piston bore and drive the gas piston therealong so as to cause the bolt assembly to translate along the receiver for cycling the shotgun; and at least one exhaust tube in communication with the piston bore of the gas cylinder, the at least one exhaust tube defining a fluid passageway at least partially in communication with the piston bore and at least one outlet that is in communication with one or more vents defined along an exterior surface of the body of the fore-end portion.
11. The shotgun of claim 10, further comprising a regulating portion located along the fluid passageway of the exhaust tube, and configured to regulate or control a flow of gases entering the fluid passageway of the exhaust tube.
12. The shotgun of claim 11, wherein the regulating portion comprises an inlet bore extending along the upstream end of the fluid passageway, and wherein the inlet bore has a reduced size in relation to the fluid passageway.
13. The shotgun of claim 11, wherein the regulating portion comprises a valve assembly having a valve member biased in a direction to at least partially obstruct an opening of the fluid passageway sufficient to restrict gas flow into the fluid passageway.
14. The shotgun of claim 10, wherein the exhaust tube comprises:
- a rear portion configured to detachably couple to the gas block and defining a fluid passageway therethrough that communicates with the piston bore of the gas block; and
- a forward portion extending forwardly from the rear portion, and through which a fluid passageway extends; and
- wherein the fluid passageway extends from the rear portion through the forward portion, and terminates at the outlet to facilitate release of gases through the one or more vents.
15. The shotgun of claim 10, wherein the body of the fore-end portion comprises an outlet channel in communication with the at least one outlet of the fluid passageway of the exhaust tube, and wherein the outlet channel comprises a redirecting portion that alters the direction of the flow of gases passing through the outlet channel.
16. The shotgun of claim 15, wherein the one or more vents of the body of the fore-end portion are defined along an upper surface of the fore-end portion and are arranged to provide a generally downwardly directed force to at least partially reduce muzzle climb experienced during firing of the shotgun.
17. The shotgun of claim 10, wherein the fore-end portion is formed from wood, laminates, synthetics, composite materials, or combinations thereof.
18. A kit for a firearm to facilitate firing rounds of different or varying shot loads, the kit comprising:
- a series of exhaust tubes configured to be selectively interchanged or substituted to enable adjustment or tuning of the firearm for firing of specific cartridges or ranges of cartridges having different or varying shot loads;
- each exhaust tube of the series of exhaust tubes comprising: a body having a fluid passageway defined therethrough; a rear portion having a first portion of the fluid passageway defined therein, and configured to be coupled to a gas block of the firearm such that the fluid passageway of the rear portion is in communication with a longitudinal piston bore of the gas block; a front portion coupled to the rear portion and comprising a second portion or combination of fluid passageway in the fluid passageway of the rear portion, and an outlet to facilitate release of gases from the gas block generated from firing the firearm; and a regulating portion disposed along an upstream end of the first portion of fluid passageway, that extends through the rear portion of the exhaust tube, the regulating portion configured to be used with selected cartridge loads or ranges thereof to enable replacement or change-out of the exhaust system components as needed to facilitate firing of cartridges having different loads.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 17, 2017
Publication Date: May 24, 2018
Applicant: RA Brands, L.L.C. (Madison, NC)
Inventor: Jeffrey D. Hanson (Pittsford, NY)
Application Number: 15/816,085