Patent ID: 6560910
Filing Date: 2003-05-13
Classification: F41A

Abstract:
A locking device in combination with a firearm having a barrel with a muzzle, a bore in the barrel with a first diameter, and a chamber wall that defines a chamber with a second diameter larger than the first diameter, the combination comprising:a hollow tube adapted to fit coaxially within the bore, the tube having a proximal end portion, a distal end portion, and a length sufficient to extend from the muzzle to the chamber; a first subassembly on the distal end portion of the tube that is adapted to be moved under user control between a first configuration of the first subassembly that fits within the bore so that the first subassembly does not obstruct removal of the tube from the bore, and a second configuration of the first subassembly that fits within the chamber but does not fit within the bore so that the first subassembly does obstruct removal of the tube from the bore; a second subassembly connected to the proximal end of the tube for enabling a user to selectively move the first subassembly between the first and second configurations while the tube is within the bore, the second subassembly including an actuator knob adapted to be rotated manually a partial turn between a first position of the actuator knob corresponding to the first subassembly being in the first configuration and a second position of the actuator knob corresponding to the first subassembly being in the second configuration, and the second subassembly including means for locking the actuator knob in the second position; and a rod disposed coaxially within the tube to serve as means for coupling axial movement from the second subassembly to the first subassembly when the actuator knob is rotated to the second position; the distal end portion of the tube defining first, second, third, and fourth apertures disposed in a ring formation at circumferentially spaced apart locations around a periphery of the distal end portion; the first subassembly including first, second, third, and fourth radially moveable balls disposed in a ring formation within the distal end portion of the tube, said first subassembly adapted to hold each of the radially moveable balls in alignment with an associated one of the first, second, third, and fourth apertures so that the radially moveable balls are free to rotate and to be moved radially; the first subassembly including first and second compression balls within the distal end portion of the tube, the first compression ball located distally of the radially moveable balls, the second compression ball located proximally of the radially moveable balls, both the first and second compression balls free to rotate, and the first and second compression balls adapted to bear against and move the radially moveable balls radially outward when the second compression ball is moved axially toward the first compression ball; the second subassembly so adapted that moving the actuator knob from the first position to the second position with the tube in the bore causes the rod to bear against and move the second compression ball axially toward the first compression ball, thereby causing the radially moveable balls to protrude through the first, second, third, and fourth apertures to the chamber wall to obstruct removal of the tube from the bore; and the second subassembly so adapted that moving the actuator knob from the second position to the first position causes the rod to retract from the second compression ball so that the radially moveable balls are free to move radially inward sufficiently to not obstruct removal of the tube from the bore.