FIELD OF ART

An optical firearm trigger is disclosed, revealing means and methods of initiating discharge of a firearm without the use of a mechanical trigger. In this manner the grip of the firearm will not change due to the mechanical loading required to pull the trigger further alleviating the hold, or squeeze, on the firearm during discharge. It further relates to firearm safety as it provides methods and means to prevent reflexive, unintentional trigger pull by the shooter. No personalization or additional security is incorporated in the firearm by this disclosure.

BACKGROUND

Present day firearms are typically initiated with a mechanical trigger. A trigger for a firearm is part of a mechanism that actuates the discharge sequence of the firearm. A small amount of energy applied to the trigger causes a chain of events that results in the release of a much greater energy imparted to a projectile commonly known as the bullet. This action is known as firing or discharging the firearm.

The pull on the trigger required to fire the firearm, sometimes referred to as squeezing off the shot, mechanically loads the firearm and must be compensated by the grip on the firearm to maintain aim. Trigger control is widely considered to be one of the most crucial shooting fundamentals.

There are five common trigger action types in current use. First is the Single Action Only (SAO) trigger. A SAO trigger performs the single (only) action of releasing the hammer or striker to fire the firearm each time the trigger is pressed. If the hammer is not cocked on a SAO firearm, pressing the trigger will result in no shot being fired. The SAO is considered the simplest action with the shortest, lightest, and smoothest press. The press, typically four pounds, is more consistent from shot to shot facilitating minimal adjustments in technique being necessary for good accuracy.

Second is the Double Action (DA) trigger. DA indicates that pressing the trigger causes two (double) actions at the same time: (1) cocking and (2) releasing the hammer. DA triggers provide the ability to fire the firearm whether the hammer is cocked or not. This feature has proven attractive for police, military, and self-defense shooters. One disadvantage of any DA trigger is the extra length the trigger must be pressed and the extra trigger press required to overcome the spring tension of the hammer or striker.

Third is the Double Action Only (DAO) trigger. DAO firearms cannot be fired in SAO mode. DAO firearms cannot be manually cocked, since the hammer is only cocked and released by trigger manipulation. The hammer will not be automatically cocked after a shot is fired. It returns to a de-cocked position after each shot. DAO revolvers are seemingly hammerless, so they cannot be manually cocked and shot in single action. Trigger control is especially important with a DAO as the length and force of the trigger press is crucial. Trigger control deviations and erratic movements tend to amplify errors.

Fourth is the Double Action/Single Action (DA/SA) trigger. This type of trigger is found on many semi-automatic DA/SA pistols. The first shot can be double action or single action, depending on whether the trigger is pressed initially for double action or if the hammer is manually cocked back with the thumb for single action, but one press of the trigger does cock and release the hammer if it is not cocked manually. If the hammer is manually cocked, the pressing of the trigger will release the hammer. Semi-automatic DA/SA pistols are typically re-cock by the slide after the firearm is fired. With a DA/SA type of firearm, all subsequent shots after the first DA press will be fired single action until shooting stops and the hammer is de-cocked. A DA/SA firearm is always ready to fire as soon as the trigger is pressed with no need to disengage a safety. DA/SA firearms have a first press of the trigger between 8-12 pounds (DA). The second trigger press typically ranges from 4 to 6 pounds.

Fifth is the Striker Fired/Partially Cocked (SF) trigger. SF firearms are neither DAO nor SAO trigger mechanisms. They are striker fired with their own system, trigger safeties and striker blocks. In SF pistols, the trigger engages the firing pin directly through a linkage rather than by engaging and releasing a hammer to fall against the firing pin. As the trigger is pulled the striker bar is drawn rearward and eventually released. The end of the striker acts as a firing pin and strikes the primer firing the firearm. The slide cocks the striker and then the trigger completes the other half of the cocking action releasing the striker. A typical trigger press is between 5 to 7 pounds.

A trigger pull weight of less than four pounds is considered hazardous for many applications though some specialty triggers provide pull weights of as little as two pounds. Many attempts have been made to reduce the trigger pull required to fire the firearm. The goal is to improve shooter precision while at the same time maintaining a sufficient pull requirement to maintain safety. The present disclosure reduces the pull weight to zero allowing for the improvement of shooting accuracy while at the same time providing improved safety by removing the mechanical trigger. Another issue addressed by the present disclosure is the accidental firing of a firearm by reflexive squeezing of the trigger.

There are many well-known incidents of the involuntary discharge of a firearm caused by known trigger pull issues. These trigger pulls are sometimes caused by sympathetic contraction of the hand holding the firearm due to such things as loss of balance, reflexive reaction to a loud noise, or by another startling reaction all initiating discharge of the firearm by intentionally squeezing the trigger. Sympathetic contraction refers to an involuntary contraction occurring in the muscles of one limb when the same muscles in the other limb are performing an intended forceful action. This effect is known as a mirror movement, with the intensity of the sympathetic contraction depending on the amount of force exerted during the intended action. In policing, a common situation causing such a sympathetic contraction might be a law enforcement officer attempting to restrain a struggling suspect with one hand while holding a firearm such as pistol in the other, the sympathetic contraction discharging the firearm. Significant training and safety instruction are often provided to police and others to avoid these unfortunate incidents, yet they still occur.

Another scenario involves loss of balance. When balance is disturbed a rapid involuntary contraction occurs to aid in the return to a position of equilibrium. When a person is holding a handle for support there is a tendency to use the arm muscles to maintain balance rather than the leg muscles. Under such circumstances the focal point of regaining balance is any contact point an individual has with their surroundings. If a person starts to fall while grasping a handheld firearm, the person is likely to grasp it more forcefully accidentally discharging the firearm.

Another well-known phenomenon is a whole-body response to an unexpected stimulus such as a loud noise. This reflex causes rapid involuntary contractions that spread to all muscles of the body. The reaction of the hands typically occurs less than 200 ms after the stimulus and leads to an individual clenching their fists. In this manner an officer startled by a loud, unexpected noise while searching for a suspect with the firearm drawn may increase the grip force on the firearm and cause an involuntary discharge.

The present disclosure provides a firearm initiation methodology that directly address the accidental trigger pull issue by removing the need to pull a trigger to discharge the weapon. Prior art reveals a method of initiating a firearm when a beam of light is broken by the shooters finger, or by completing the light beam to the receiver by reflection of the beam from the shooters finger. Both methods are flawed as they do not require consistent action by the shooter to facilitate the action as no fixed relationship is made between the beam to be broken or reflected and the starting position of the finger. Reflection of the beam off a shooters finger is dependent on the particular circumstance of the shooters finger and may not be consistent from shot to shot. The present disclosure initiates the firearm upon receipt of a previously blocked beam through the action of a finger moving from a defined beam blocking position in a defined manner to a position no longer blocking the beam. In this way the beam illumination is consistent and reliable. The finger action may be either forward, away from the shooter, or backward, towards the shooter as desired for the specific application. Further, prior disclosure reveals a pulling action to interrupt the light beam. The present disclosure discloses moving the trigger finger forward or backward to unblock and complete the light beam initiating discharge

In the manner of the finger moving forward unintended discharge is eliminated. For the present disclosure the beam is a source of divergent radiant energy to include light radiating from a source. The energy is considered to be shaped or otherwise constrained or manipulated as per the desired application with the radiant energy from certain types of laser having the smallest beam divergence. For the present disclosure it is preferred that the beam be any form of energy emission as facilitates a particular application.

The present disclosure does not require the use of a mechanical trigger to initiate a firearm. A light beam is detected in the manner herein described to initiate firing. In this manner mechanical loading of the firearm by the mechanical trigger pull is avoided. Safety is further provided maintained by the shooters control and knowledge of the fire/no-fire condition of the firearm and the ability to fire the firearm by finger extension rather than contraction, avoiding unintentional firing of the firearm by reflexive contraction of the trigger finger. The present disclosure is not a smart firearm as it does not incorporate a safety feature or features that allow it to fire only when activated by an authorized shooter. Any shooter can operate the present disclosure without authorization just as any common firearm.

SUMMARY

This disclosure relates to the firing of a firearm through use of an optical trigger. The firearm is initiated by the completion of an optical signal by the shooter in the manners herein disclosed. In this way the firearm's aim is not affected by the loading of a mechanical trigger to initiate a discharge. This embodiment gives the present invention a distinct advantage not only in common use but also when used in high precision activities such as long-range hunting and military applications.

This disclosure further relates to shooter safety by the avoidance of unintentional discharge of the firearm through provision of methods and means of avoiding the reflexive and involuntary contraction of the trigger finger squeezing a mechanical trigger initiating discharge of the firearm.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including trade, technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and relevant art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The terms gun, weapon, firearm and firearms are used interchangeably.

