Fire Control for Auto-Loading Shotgun

Abstract

A firearm may include a receiver and a barrel coupled to the receiver having a chamber at a breech end thereof for receiving a round of ammunition, as well as a magazine that supplies rounds of ammunition to the chamber. The firearm may further include a bolt assembly movable about the receiver to direct the rounds of ammunition towards the chamber, and the firearm may also include a trigger plate assembly that may have a trigger, a hammer movable upon activation of the trigger, a carrier operable to direct the rounds of ammunition from the magazine towards the chamber, a feed latch operable to release the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, and a latch release operable to engage the feed latch to facilitate the release of the rounds of ammunition.

1 . A firearm, comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to a forward end of the receiver, and comprising a chamber located at a breech end of the barrel;   a magazine configured to store multiple rounds of ammunition for feeding into the chamber; and   a fire control comprising:   a bolt assembly movable along the receiver;
 a trigger; 
 a carrier including a lifting portion operable to receive the rounds of ammunition from the magazine, the carrier being movable between a position wherein the rounds of ammunition are received on the lifting portion, and a position for loading the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; 
 a feed latch operable to block or allow feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier; 
 a latch release adjacent the feed latch and movable from an engaged position blocking operation of the feed latch to a disengaged position to control movement of the feed latch for feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier; and 
 a carrier dog movably mounted along the receiver in a location such that as the bolt assembly moves in a rearward direction along the receiver upon firing or by manual movement of the bolt assembly, at least a portion of the carrier dog is engaged by the bolt assembly so as to cause the carrier dog to move relative to the carrier and to engage and move the latch release to its disengaged position, enabling movement of the feed latch to allow feeding of a next round of ammunition to the carrier and the carrier to load the next round of ammunition into the chamber. 
   
     
     
         2 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the rearward movement of the bolt assembly causes a substantially backwards rotation of the carrier dog relative to the carrier sufficient to generate a tension force therebetween, and wherein release of the tension force between the carrier dog and carrier causes the lifting portion of the carrier to be rotated substantially upwardly to align the next round of ammunition received on the carrier with the chamber of the barrel. 
     
     
         3 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the fire control further comprises a magazine cutoff that positions the carrier in a plurality of positions to facilitate loading of the rounds of ammunition from or into the magazine. 
     
     
         4 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the latch release includes an engaging portion that at least partially engages a rear end of the feed latch when the latch release is in its engaged position for substantially blocking movement of the feed latch toward a position to release the next round of ammunition from the magazine. 
     
     
         5 . A firearm of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to a forward end of the receiver, and comprising a chamber located at a breech end of the barrel;   a magazine configured to store multiple rounds of ammunition for feeding into the chamber; and   a fire control comprising:   a bolt assembly movable along the receiver;
 a trigger; 
 a carrier including a lifting portion operable to receive the rounds of ammunition from the magazine, the carrier being movable between a position wherein the rounds of ammunition are received on the lifting portion, and a position for loading the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; 
 a feed latch operable to block or allow feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier; 
 a latch release adjacent the feed latch and movable from an engaged position blocking operation of the feed latch to a disengaged position to control movement of the feed latch for feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier; 
 a carrier dog movably mounted along the receiver in a location such that as the bolt assembly moves in a rearward direction along the receiver upon firing or by manual movement of the bolt assembly, at least a portion of the carrier dog is engaged by the bolt assembly so as to cause the carrier dog to move relative to the carrier and to engage and move the latch release to its disengaged position, enabling movement of the feed latch to allow feeding of a next round of ammunition to the carrier and the carrier to load the next round of ammunition into the chamber; and 
 a latch release lever rotatably mounted adjacent the latch release and operable to engage and urge the latch release to its disengaged position during firing of the firearm. 
   
     
     
         6 . The firearm of  claim 5 , wherein the fire control further comprises a hammer movable upon actuation of the trigger to initiate firing of a round of ammunition loaded within the chamber, and a spring loaded hammer plunger adjacent the hammer and the latch release lever and wherein, when the trigger is actuated and the hammer released from engagement with a sear, the hammer plunger urges the hammer towards a firing pin for firing the round of ammunition and moves the latch release lever into engagement with the latch release to cause movement of the latch release sufficient to allow the feed latch to release the next round of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier. 
     
     
         7 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the feed latch comprises a two piece assembly comprising an inner body including at least one portion that moves to lock the latch release and the carrier, and an outer body including at least one portion that blocks release of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine. 
     
     
         8 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the bolt assembly further comprises a bolt lever projecting from the receiver, and which can be manually engaged by an operator to move the bolt assembly during manual operation of the firearm. 
     
     
         9 . A firearm, comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to the receiver and having a chamber at a breech end of the barrel for receiving a round of ammunition;   a magazine that supplies rounds of ammunition to the chamber;   a fire control mounted within the receiver and including:
 a bolt assembly translatable along the receiver for feeding the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; and 
 a trigger plate assembly comprising a trigger, a hammer movable into engagement with a firing pin upon activation of the trigger, a carrier operable to direct the rounds of ammunition from the magazine towards the chamber, a feed latch operable to release the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, and a latch release operable upon manual movement of the bolt assembly to engage the feed latch to facilitate the release of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, a carrier dog operable to actuate and control the carrier and movable upon translation of the bolt assembly to operate the feed latch; 
   wherein manual operation of the bolt assembly in a rearward direction along the receiver causes the carrier dog to engage and move the latch release sufficient to allow the feed latch to release a next round of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier and the carrier to direct the next round of ammunition towards the chamber.   
     
     
         10 . The firearm of  claim 9 , wherein the trigger plate assembly further comprises a magazine cutoff selectively movable between a series of positions including a first position allowing substantially free movement of the carrier, and a second position directing the carrier to a generally raised orientation. 
     
     
         11 . The firearm of  claim 10 , wherein the magazine cutoff is movable to a third position to secure the carrier in a raised orientation and open the magazine of the firearm to enable substantially unrestricted access thereto so as to facilitate loading of rounds of ammunition into the magazine and unloading of rounds of ammunition therefrom. 
     
     
         12 . The firearm of  claim 10 , wherein, when the magazine cutoff is in the second position, rearward movement of the bolt assembly causes the carrier to reposition the carrier dog away from engagement with the latch release and substantially lock the bolt assembly against the carrier dog in an open position. 
     
     
         13 . The firearm of  claim 10 , wherein movement of the magazine cutoff to the first position releases the carrier dog to allow the bolt assembly to move in a forward direction about the receiver without a round of ammunition being released from the magazine. 
     
     
         14 . A firearm comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to the receiver and having a chamber at a breech end of the barrel for receiving a round of ammunition;   a magazine that supplies rounds of ammunition to the chamber;   a fire control mounted within the receiver and including:
 a bolt assembly translatable along the receiver for feeding the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; and 
 a trigger plate assembly comprising a trigger, a hammer movable into engagement with a firing pin upon activation of the trigger, a carrier operable to direct the rounds of ammunition from the magazine towards the chamber, a feed latch operable to release the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, and a latch release operable upon manual movement of the bolt assembly to engage the feed latch to facilitate the release of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, a carrier dog operable to actuate and control the carrier and movable upon translation of the bolt assembly to operate the feed latch, 
 wherein the feed latch comprises a feed latch assembly including an inner member operable to contact the latch release, an outer member operable to block the release of a round of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier, a primary latch spring operable to move the feed latch relative to the trigger plate assembly, and a secondary latch spring operable to move the outer member relative to the inner member, wherein compression of the secondary latch spring with the inner member being blocked by the latch release or by the carrier causes the outer member to pivot and unblock the magazine to allow release of the round of ammunition therefrom. 
   
     
     
         15 . The firearm of  claim 9 , comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to the receiver and having a chamber at a breech end of the barrel for receiving a round of ammunition;   a magazine that supplies rounds of ammunition to the chamber;   a fire control mounted within the receiver and including:
 a bolt assembly translatable along the receiver for feeding the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; and 
 a trigger plate assembly comprising:
 a trigger; 
 a hammer movable into engagement with a firing pin upon activation of the trigger; 
 a carrier operable to direct the rounds of ammunition from the magazine towards the chamber, a feed latch operable to release the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier, and a latch release operable upon manual movement of the bolt assembly to engage the feed latch to facilitate the release of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine to the carrier; 
 a carrier dog operable to actuate and control the carrier and movable upon translation of the bolt assembly to operate the feed latch; 
 a latch release lever movable into engagement with the latch release; and 
 a hammer plunger configured to urge the hammer towards the firing pin upon activation of the trigger to fire the firearm, and to urge the latch release lever into engagement with and move the latch release sufficient to enable the feed latch to pivot to a position to allow a next round of ammunition to be released from the magazine onto the carrier. 
 
   
     
     
         16 . A firearm, comprising:
 a receiver;   a barrel coupled to the receiver, the barrel comprising a bore defined therethrough, and a chamber configured to receive a round of ammunition for firing;   a magazine for storing multiple rounds of ammunition for feeding into the chamber;   a bolt assembly movable along the receiver, the bolt assembly comprising a reciprocating bolt carrier and a bolt body coupled to and carried by the bolt carrier; and   a fire control assembly coupled to the receiver, the fire control assembly comprising:
 a trigger mechanism including a trigger operable to initiate firing of the firearm; 
 a hammer operatively connected to the trigger and biased towards a firing position; 
 a sear assembly engaging the hammer and operable to release the hammer in response to operation of the trigger, such that the hammer is moved toward its firing position to initiate discharge of a round of ammunition loaded into the chamber for firing the firearm; 
 a carrier movable between a first position for receiving the rounds of ammunition from the magazine and a second position for loading the rounds of ammunition into the chamber; 
 a feed latch operable to control feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier; 
 a latch release positioned to control operation of the feed latch and comprising a body including an engaging portion at a front end thereof, the engaging portion configured to engage at least a rear portion of the feed latch; and 
 a latch release lever rotatably mounted adjacent to the latch release and operable to engage and urge the latch release to release the feed latch and move the feed latch to lock the carrier in the first position. 
   
     
     
         17 . The firearm of  claim 16 , further comprising a carrier dog comprising at least one portion that contacts the latch release to enable the feed latch to allow feeding of the rounds of ammunition from the magazine onto the carrier. 
     
     
         18 . The firearm of  claim 17 , wherein movement of the bolt assembly causes a substantially backwards rotation of the carrier dog relative to the carrier sufficient to generate a tension force therebetween, and wherein release of the tension force between the carrier dog and carrier causes the carrier to be rotated substantially upwardly to align the a round of ammunition received on the carrier with the chamber of the barrel. 
     
     
         19 . The firearm of  claim 16 , wherein the fire control assembly further comprises a magazine cutoff that positions the carrier in a plurality of positions to facilitate loading of the rounds of ammunition from or into the magazine.