Need Patent # For A Revolver Spring Design

[btvarner]

I have an off the wall question. Need to know if a specific 19th century revolver internal design feature was patented & what that US patent number was?

See images below for visual description. The design in question is for the stirrup & main spring design used on some revolvers. The stirrup is pinned to the back of the hammer & the main spring has a curved split at the top which allows the flat spring to grab the stirrup.

I know that the Colt Lightning & Colt Thunderer had such an arraignment. The Smith & Wesson New Departure also used a similar setup. Not sure if the design was used on any other revolvers before this? Would really like to know the patent number, or at least the designer & timeframe so I can attempt to look the information up. Thanks in advance!

 

[glenwolde]

Inquiring minds would ask.......why? Any patents from that era have long expired.

 

[JMtoolman]

That design was already old. Most percussion locks had this feature.

 

[BMur]

Pepperbox

That's a great historical question.

The saddle link type stirrup goes back to the early Pepperbox type revolver. I believe the patent was applied for by Allen and Wheelock in 1837. I don't have the patent number, but I have read the reference before.

It's been a while. I have also not cross-referenced the European early pistol designs to see in fact who actually invented the design, so it sounds like a good research project to me. Many early European cap & ball revolvers also had that link design, so??


Murph

 

[btvarner]

So, would it be safe to state in a written document that any revolver that was using this saddle link type stirrup in the 1870's-1880's would not have been infringing upon a valid patent? Thanks!

 

[BMur]

Patent expired

Yes,
The patent would have long expired by the 1870's.
You got me thinking on this one. Early European Bulldogs(Pugs) also had this type of link. That includes the hundreds of thousands if not millions of copies both in the U.S. and Europe.

You can see in the photos the early 1845 link patent identical to the 1837 patent.
Followed by the 1857 improvement that is basically identical to the lightning design and 99% of the bulldogs.
By 1861 it was widely used on the planet!

Murph

 

[btvarner]

Thanks Brendan, I just wanted to be sure I was not stating something that was not fact............