Ambidextrous Safety Selector With Mating Faces And Retaining Boss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ambidextrous safety selectors for firearms like AR-15 rifles require additional modifications or components, making them cumbersome and prone to accidental disassembly, and are not efficiently designed for use by both left and right-handed users.
Innovation Solution
An improved ambidextrous safety selector using mating faces and a retaining boss, which allows for tool-less installation and operation on both sides of the firearm, reducing the number of parts needed and making it impossible to disassemble unintentionally, thereby enhancing user safety and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional safety selector is used on AR-15 rifles, then it is simple in structure and easy to manufacture, but it is not ambidextrous and requires additional modifications for left-handed users
Solution Approach 1:
The safety selector is divided into two separate bodies: a main body that houses the internal mechanism and a secondary body that provides the ambidextrous functionality. This segmentation allows each body to be optimized for its specific function while working together to achieve ambidextrous operation without requiring complete redesign of the entire selector assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The secondary body is designed to interface with the main body in a manner that enables operation from both left and right sides of the firearm. The universal design of the mating faces and retaining boss allows the same assembly to serve right-handed and left-handed users equally, eliminating the need for separate selectors for different user preferences
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional components are added to create an ambidextrous safety selector, then ambidextrous functionality is achieved, but the number of parts increases and assembly becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The secondary body is designed to mate with the main body through precision-machined surfaces, effectively merging the two components into a single functional unit. This merging approach allows the ambidextrous functionality to be achieved with only one additional part rather than requiring multiple separate components, reducing overall assembly complexity while maintaining versatility
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional retention methods are used, then assembly is simple, but the selector can be accidentally disassembled during operation
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining boss features an asymmetric geometry with a specific orientation that corresponds to a matching asymmetric feature on the main body. This asymmetric design creates a mechanically locked configuration that cannot be accidentally disassembled, as the components will not align properly unless intentionally manipulated in the correct orientation. The asymmetric retention mechanism maintains ease of assembly while dramatically improving retention reliability
Data Source
AI summary
An ambidextrous safety selector assembly for use with a rifle having a receiver with holes into which the assembly is inserted and that includes a main body with a user manipulated tab on the exterior of a rifle receiver and an elongated portion that extends into the receiver with a terminal channel defining three clocking faces and an intermediate hole that mate with protruding male faces with a terminal pin on a secondary body with a user manipulated tab on the exterior of a rifle receiver. The male faces of the secondary body are inserted and coupled into the terminal channel of the main body and clocked against the faces of the channel and the pin of the secondary body is inserted and coupled into the hole of the main body when the main body and secondary body are inserted into the receiver. The secondary body also has a foot protruding outwardly and extending into the receiver to retain the assembly in the receiver.