Adjustable night sight for a pistol

Abstract

An adjustable night sight for a pistol includes a sight base, a vertical tilt member and a horizontal windage slide. The three components form the adjustable night sight which can be mounted on a slide of a pistol. Sources of luminescence are used to define a rear sight notch. The adjustable night sight horizontal windage slide is supported very securely on the vertical tilt member so that it will not fail under high stress loads. The overall sight assembly is very smooth and compact. It provides much greater resistance to snagging than has been exhibited in prior sight assemblies.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This U.S. patent application claims the benefit, under 35 USC 119e and 120 of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60 / 748,179, filed Dec. 8, 2005. That provisional patent application is related to pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 922,918. The disclosures of these applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention is directed generally to a rear sight assembly that is adapted for use with a pistol. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an adjustable rear sight assembly which is adjustable for both elevation and windage. More specifically the present invention is directed to an elevation and windage adjustable night sight for a pistol. [0003] The adjustable night sight in accordance with the present invention includes a sight base that is configured to be received in a Novak-type notch on the upper surface of the pistol's slide. The windage adjust...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable night sight which is robust and which will not fail over thousands of duty cycles.

[0019] A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable night sight that is smooth in overall physical structure and which is thus not prone to snagging.

[0020] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable night sight for a pistol which has superior night sighting capabilities.

[0022] In accordance with the present invention, an optical aligning instrument, or sight, is adapted for use in a Novak-style dovetail, as is customarily seen on the slide of an automatic pistol. The sight assembly includes a rear notch, in the embodiments illustrated below, but could just as easily include a peep aperture or other optical alignment structure. The rear sight provides an easy click-detent adjusting mechanism for horizontal translation of the notch, as well as a second click-detent mechanism for vertical translation of the structure defining the notch, thereby providing for the customary adjustments of windage and elevation, without requiring the shooter to either file down the front sight or to strike his or her pistol with a hammer and drift pin.

[0024] In the adjustable sight assembly of the present invention, the vertical tilt member carries a horizontal slide which preferably includes or defines a sighting notch that is translatable in the horizontal, or windage, direction by use of a click-detent windage adjustment screw. The windage adjustment screw also has a flanged head adapted to engage or to cooperate with a detent mechanism to thereby provide a positive click adjustment, give the user feedback and to maintain a zero setting of the sight during rugged use of the firearm. The horizontal slide member has a lower slide sleeve. The interior of the cylindrical sleeve is threaded to receive and to cooperate with the threaded windage adjustment screw. The windage adjustment screw moves the cylindrical sleeve of the horizontal slide member left and right laterally through an adjustment range, as provided by a slot which is defined in the vertical tilt member. The windage adjustment screw is kept in place by a threaded member or nut which is received in a circular receiving socket or aperture on the side of the vertical tilt member. The depth of the socket is substantially equal to the thickness of the nut so that the nut is sunken within the side wall to provide a flush fit. The windage adjustment screw has first and second outer diameters, with the distal end of the windage adjustment screw having a smaller diameter than the majority of the length of the elevation adjustment screw body which is received in the threaded sleeve. The smaller distal portion of the elevation adjustment screw is threadably received in the retaining nut which, being round, spins freely within the socket which is defined in the side of the vertical tilt member. Rotation of the windage adjustment screw causes the cylindrical sleeve member carried by the horizontal slide to move left and right freely within the vertical tilt member tunnel. A substantially rectangular slot in the vertical tilt member provides clearance for the supporting segment of the horizontal slide which connects the horizontal slide member's cylindrical segment to the rest of the horizontal slide, defining the sighting notch.

[0025] The adjustable night sight, in accordance with the present invention overcomes a number of the limitations of prior devices of this general type. The attachment of the horizontal slide to the vertical belt member is accomplished using a much larger layer bearing surface that was provided in the prior devices. In addition, the cooperating engagable faces of the horizontal slide and of the vertical tilt member each have cooperatively angled or inclined faces. These cooperating inclined faces effectively prevent the pivoting or shifting movement which has been apt to characterize prior horizontal slide portions of the windage adjustment sections of adjustable rear sights. The provision of somewhat inclined bearing surfaces is effective to prevent this pivoting or rocking motion that has been apt to cause the horizontal slide to fracture or break under strenuous usage.

Problems solved by technology

While the combat sights of the prior art do provide a smooth and snag-free draw, a clear sight picture and rugged service, they do not provide the adjustability many have come to enjoy when using target pistols equipped with adjustable target sights.

Adjustments for windage have required the shooter to strike the side of the sight with a pin punch and hammer, to force the sight laterally in the notch, a procedure which does not permit fine adjustment.

Target sights are also relatively fragile, and may move out of adjustment if a pistol is dropped or struck.

Both of these results present an unsatisfactory result if the firearm is to be used in life-threatening situations.

In the prior sights, there has been an issue of durability, particularly among high volume users.

In the course of thousands of violent reciprocations of the slide, to which the rear sight is attached, that web may fracture.

Such a fracture is obviously unacceptable as it renders the sight non-functional.

Unfortunately, various ones of the night sights that are currently available have not been able to withstand the rigors to which they are subjected.

Again the result has been a sight which has failed, thus rendering the weapon to which it is attached much less effective.

Previously available adjustable rear sights for pistols have been prone to not be smooth, compact and to present a low risk of snagging during unholstering or placement into a use position.

The various screws, knobs and adjustment devices in prior adjustable rear pistol sights have tended to be somewhat delicate and snag-prone.

It is readily apparent that such a structure is not acceptable for incorporation into a pistol that may be used by a person whose life may well depend on his ability to place the pistol in a use position.

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