Chamber-Loaded Indicator for Firearms

Abstract

A chamber-loaded indicator for firearms comprises a contact element slidably housed within a bolt of the weapon at least between a forward position, wherein it has a first end ending in the breech face, and a backward position affected by the cartridge being present within the chamber. The contact element is arranged inclined relative to a firing pin. An indicator element is further provided to be rotatably mounted about a rotation axis within a seat of the bolt and comprising an active portion on which a second end of the contact element acts. The active portion is movable about the rotation axis at least between a retracted position in which it remains within the bulk of the bolt and an extracted position in which it signals that a cartridge is present within the chamber following the thrust applied by the contact element.

1 . A chamber-loaded indicator for detecting and signaling that a cartridge is present within the chamber of a firearm, said indicator comprising: 
 a contact element suitable to be slidably housed within a bolt of the weapon at least between a forward position, in which it has a first end ending in the breech face, and a backward position affected by the presence of the cartridge within the chamber, said contact element being suitable to be arranged inclined relative to a firing pin of said weapon,    an indicator element suitable to be rotatably mounted about a rotation axis within a seat of said bolt, wherein said indicator element comprises an active portion on which a second end of said contact element rests or acts, said active portion being movable about said rotation axis at least between a retracted position in which it remains within the bulk of the bolt and an extracted position in which it signals that a cartridge is present within the chamber following the thrust applied by said contact element.    
   
   
       2 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein the second end of said contact element is suitable to rest or act at an intermediate portion of said active portion of the indicator element, which is arranged between a free end of the indicator element and said rotation axis.  
   
   
       3 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 2 , wherein a step is formed at said intermediate portion of the active portion of the indicator element, said second end of said contact element being suitable to rest on said step.  
   
   
       4 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 2 , wherein an inclined plane is formed at said intermediate portion of the active portion of the indicator element, said second end of said contact element being suitable to rest or act on said inclined plane.  
   
   
       5 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 3 , wherein 
 an inclined plane is formed at said intermediate portion of the active portion of the indicator element, said second end of said contact element being suitable to rest or act on said inclined plane, and    said step defines said inclined plane formed at the intermediate portion of the active portion of the indicator element.    
   
   
       6 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said active portion defines, starting from the rotation axis, two arms of different length, the longer arm extending to the end of the active portion that is intended to project from the seat to signal that a cartridge is present within the chamber, the shorter arm corresponding to the distance from the rotation axis of the point of contact or interaction between the contact element and the indicator element.  
   
   
       7 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said active portion comprises a rest surface on a delimitation surface delimiting said seat of the bolt.  
   
   
       8 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 7 , wherein said rest surface is curvilinear and counter-shaped relative to said delimitation surface delimiting said seat of the bolt.  
   
   
       9 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein the active portion has a free end made by means of a bevel having such a size as to ensure the visibility of the indicator element while preventing the free end from getting entangled or jammed when it is arranged in the extracted position.  
   
   
       10 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said indicator element comprises a reaction portion, arranged on the opposite side of said rotation axis relative to the active portion.  
   
   
       11 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 10 , wherein said reaction portion is biased by elastic means interposed between the reaction portion and a plane defining said seat of the bolt to maintain the indicator element in the retracted position.  
   
   
       12 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 11 , wherein said elastic means are partially housed within a hole of said reaction portion.  
   
   
       13 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 10 , wherein the reaction portion extends to form an abutment defining an end-of-travel for the indicator element against a plane of the seat.  
   
   
       14 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 13 , wherein the shape and position of the reaction portion and abutment are such as to restrain the extra-travel of the indicator element beyond the maximum extracted position and to minimize the inertial movements due to the firing cycle.  
   
   
       15 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein the indicator element defines a barycenter system relative to the rotation axis thereof, which is suitable to minimize the stress due to shaking or vibrations on the weapon.  
   
   
       16 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein both the contact element and the contact element/indicator element assembly are balanced such as to further balance the effects of the inertia forces following shaking or vibrations.  
   
   
       17 . The chamber-loaded indicator, according to  claim 1 , wherein the contact element and the indicator element have separate and independent ends-of-travel to ensure that the contact element does not excessively project into the chamber, or that the indicator element remains within the seat in the retracted position.  
   
   
       18 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said contact element is rotatably constrained about a sliding direction of the indicator element in a housing within the bolt.  
   
   
       19 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 18 , wherein said contact element comprises two portions having different cross-sectional dimensions.  
   
   
       20 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 18 , wherein said contact element comprises a first portion extending along a first longitudinal axis and a second portion extending along a second longitudinal axis arranged eccentrically relative to the first longitudinal axis.  
   
   
       21 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said contact element comprises an arched thrust surface suitable to come in contact with the active portion of said indicator element.  
   
   
       22 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said active portion of the indicator element comprises a step or an inclined plane that is formed at an intermediate portion between the free end of the indicator element and the rotation axis, said step or inclined plane being suitable to co-operate with the contact element, preferably with the arched thrust surface.  
   
   
       23 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said contact element comprises an inclined surface suitable to define an inclined plane for contact with the cartridge.  
   
   
       24 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein said contact element comprises a first portion having larger cross-sectional dimensions than a second portion, each of the two portions being inserted within a first portion and second portion of the corresponding and counter-shaped housing, respectively.  
   
   
       25 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 1 , wherein the contact element comprises a first portion defining an abutment surface suitable to abut against a stop surface of the housing such as to define an end-of-travel for the contact element.  
   
   
       26 . The chamber-loaded indicator according to  claim 25 , wherein the length of the second portion is defined as a function of the position of the stop surface, in order to prevent the second portion from projecting in the chamber thus hindering the cartridge loading.  
   
   
       27 . A firearm comprising a barrel defining a chamber and a bolt that can be associated to said chamber when closed, wherein said bolt comprises a chamber-loaded indicator suitable to detect that a cartridge is present within the chamber, said chamber-loaded indicator comprising: 
 a contact element that is slidably housed within said bolt at least between a forward position, wherein it has a first end ending in the breech face, and a backward position affected by the cartridge being present within the chamber, said contact element being arranged inclined relative to a firing pin of said weapon,    an indicator element which is rotatably mounted about a rotation axis within a seat of said bolt, wherein said indicator element comprises an active portion on which a second end of said contact element rests or acts, said active portion being movable about said rotation axis at least between a retracted position in which it remains within the bulk of the bolt and an extracted position in which it signals that a cartridge is present within the chamber following the thrust applied by said contact element.    
   
   
       28 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein the second end of said contact element is suitable to rest or act at an intermediate portion of said active portion of the indicator element, which is arranged between the free end of the indicator element and said rotation axis.  
   
   
       29 . The firearm according to  claim 28 , wherein said active portion of the indicator element comprises a step formed at an intermediate portion arranged between the free end of the contact element and said rotation axis.  
   
   
       30 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein said active portion comprises a rest surface on a delimitation surface delimiting said seat of the bolt.  
   
   
       31 . The firearm according to  claim 30 , wherein said rest surface is curvilinear and counter-shaped relative to said delimitation surface delimiting said seat of the bolt.  
   
   
       32 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein said indicator element comprises a reaction portion, arranged on the opposite side of said rotation axis relative to the active portion.  
   
   
       33 . The firearm according to  claim 32 , wherein said reaction portion is biased by elastic means interposed between the reaction portion and a plane defining said seat of the bolt to maintain the indicator element in the retracted position.  
   
   
       34 . The firearm according to  claim 33 , wherein said elastic means are partially housed within a hole of said reaction portion.  
   
   
       35 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein said contact element is rotatably constrained about a sliding direction within a housing of the bolt.  
   
   
       36 . The firearm according to  claim 35 , wherein said contact element comprises two portions having different cross-sectional dimensions.  
   
   
       37 . The firearm according to  claim 35 , wherein said contact element comprises a first portion extending along a first longitudinal axis and a second portion extending along a second longitudinal axis eccentrically arranged relative to the first longitudinal axis.  
   
   
       38 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein said contact element comprises an arched thrust surface suitable to come in contact with the active portion of said indicator element.  
   
   
       39 . The firearm according to  claim 37 , wherein said active portion of the indicator element comprises a step formed at an intermediate portion between the free end of the contact element and said rotation axis, said step being suitable to co-operate with the contact element.  
   
   
       40 . The firearm according to  claim 27 , wherein said contact element comprises an inclined surface suitable to define an inclined plane for contact with the cartridge.  
   
   
       41 . A chamber-loaded indicator for firearms suitable to detect and signal that a cartridge is present within the chamber, comprising: 
 a contact element suitable to be slidably housed within a bolt of the weapon at least between a forward position, in which it has a first end ending in the breech face, and a backward position affected by the presence of the cartridge within the chamber, said contact element being suitable to be arranged inclined relative to a firing pin of said weapon,    an indicator element suitable to be rotatably mounted about a rotation axis within a seat of said bolt, said indicator element being movable about said rotation axis at least between a retracted position in which it remains within the bulk of the bolt and an extracted position in which it signals that a cartridge is present within the chamber following the thrust applied by said contact element.    
   
   
       42 . A chamber-loaded indicator for firearms suitable to detect and signal that a cartridge is present within the chamber, comprising: 
 a contact element suitable to be slidably housed within a bolt of the weapon at least between a forward position, wherein it has a first end ending in the breech face, and a backward position affected by the cartridge being present within the chamber,    an indicator element suitable to be rotatably mounted about a rotation axis within a seat of said bolt, wherein said indicator element comprises an active portion on which a second end of said contact element rests or acts, said active portion being movable about said rotation axis at least between a retracted position in which it remains within the bulk of the bolt and an extracted position in which it signals that a cartridge is present within the chamber following the thrust applied by said contact element.