Break-Open Muzzle Loader Barrel Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing muzzle loading firearms with fixed stocks and barrel designs complicate cleaning and primer access, making them cumbersome and potentially damaging, while also limiting design options and visibility of operational status.
Innovation Solution
A muzzle loading firearm with a break-open action mechanism, where the barrel assembly is pivotally attached to a rear stock assembly, allowing for easy access to the breech end for service and rapid breech plug removal, using a user-actuated lever arm and interrupted threads for secure locking and unlocking, and O-ring seals to reduce fouling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the stock is fixed to the barrel, then the structural integrity and stability are improved, but the accessibility to the breech for cleaning and service operations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The firearm is divided into separable components: the stock assembly and the barrel assembly. The barrel assembly can be detached from the stock assembly to provide full access to the breech for cleaning operations, while maintaining structural integrity when assembled through threaded connections and locking mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If the stock is contoured to provide access space, then the accessibility to the breech is improved, but the design options and aesthetic flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than contouring the stock to provide access space, the design segments the firearm into removable assemblies. This maintains full stock design flexibility while providing complete breech accessibility when the barrel assembly is removed.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrel assembly is extracted as a separate removable unit from the stock assembly. This extraction provides full access to the breech without requiring any contouring or modification of the stock design.
3Ease of operation
If the barrel assembly is pivotally attached to the stock assembly, then the accessibility to the breech is improved, but the structural stability and rigidity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The barrel assembly employs a dynamic attachment system with both pivotal movement capability and threaded locking mechanisms. During operation, the barrel can be pivoted for breech access, then securely locked in place to maintain structural rigidity and stability during firing.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the barrel-stock connection have different properties: the connection allows pivotal movement at the interface for accessibility, but provides rigid fixed connection through threading and locking when secured, achieving both accessibility and structural integrity in different operational states.
4Reliability
If the breech plug uses finely threaded connection, then the security and reliability of the connection is improved, but the time required to secure or remove the plug deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The breech plug uses interrupted threads that engage for only a portion of a full rotation (e.g., 90-180 degrees instead of 360 degrees). This partial engagement provides sufficient connection security while dramatically reducing the time required to install or remove the plug compared to full-thread engagement.
Data Source
AI summary
A muzzle loading firearm with a break-open action includes a rear stock assembly and a barrel assembly. The barrel assembly includes an elongate barrel, having a bore with muzzle and breech ends, and a breech plug removably connected the breech end of the barrel, which encloses a chamber at the rear of the bore. The barrel assembly is pivotally attached to the rear stock assembly, and is movable with respect to the stock assembly between an open position in which the breech end is accessible for service, and a closed position in which the breech end is inaccessible and secured for discharge. A lever arm, optionally configured to serve as the firearm trigger guard, is user actuated for moving the action between the open and closed positions. The breech plug is configured for rapid removal from the barrel by hand when the action is open.