Abstract:
The invention is directed toward a heated grip for a firearm. The heated firearm grip comprises a grip body, and a rechargeable cartridge comprising a power source and an electrically resistive heating element. The grip body is shaped as a pistol style firearm grip and has a hollow internal cavity in the grip body. The grip body is interchangeable with the factory installed grip of a firearm. The rechargeable cartridge may have a shaped rigid outer body. The rigid shaped outer body may be configured to operate as a pistol clip. The rechargeable cartridge may be removably secured within the hollow internal cavity of the grip body. The rechargeable cartridge may be removed when a user presses a magazine release button on the grip body of the firearm.

Description:
PRIORITY 
     This application is a Continuation-in-Part, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/159,175 filed on Jan. 20, 2014. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to firearms and firearm components and more particularly to a system method for providing a heated firearm grip which may be interchanged between multiple receivers and firearms. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Most grips simply attach to the firearm and allow the user to handle and control the weapon. In extremely cold conditions a person&#39;s hands can become cold and stiff, restricting the movement of the hands and fingers. A person needs to have smooth and steady trigger control and maximum dexterity in order to shoot a firearm accurately. While gloves on the users&#39; hands can help provide some warmth, they also restrict movement, dexterity and sensitivity. What is needed is a heated firearm grip that allows a user to retain more heat in their hands and fingers, decreasing the restrictive movement caused from gloves and the cold environment. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,003 on Dec. 26, 2000 to Miller shows a heated firearm stock which requires batteries held in the stock of the firearm to provide power to heat a portion of the stock surface. The Miller patent is limited in that it the heating element is limited to the shooting hand and the Miller patent does not teach the heating of the non-shooting hand. Additionally, the Miller patent teaches that only a portion of the grip of the firearm contains a heating element instead of the entire grip of the firearm. The Miller patent also requires the use of the entire stock of the firearm instead of only the grip of the firearm. What is needed is a system and method of heating a firearm grip without use of the firearm stock and that heats the entire surface of the firearm grip. In addition, what is needed is a heated firearm grip which is removable and interchangeable between multiple firearms. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later. 
     The invention is directed toward a heated firearm grip comprising a grip body and a rechargeable cartridge. The grip body has a hollow internal cavity. The grip body is shaped as a pistol style firearm grip. The rechargeable cartridge comprises a power source and an electrically resistive heating element electrically connected to the power source. The rechargeable cartridge may be connected to a recharging station to recharge the power source. The rechargeable cartridge may be removably secured within the hollow internal cavity of the grip body. The grip body is interchangeable with the factory installed grip of a firearm. 
     The heated firearm grip may further comprise a level switch disposed on the rechargeable cartridge, the level switch regulating the amperage of electricity flowing from the power source and through the electrically restrictive heating element. The level switch has a plurality of positions. The heated firearm grip may further comprise a power switch disposed on the rechargeable cartridge. Furthermore, the rechargeable cartridge may further comprise a rigid shaped outer body. 
     The outer body of the rechargeable cartridge may have a lock recess, wherein the grip body further comprises a magazine release button, wherein the rechargeable cartridge is released from the inner cavity of the grip body when the magazine release button is pressed. The rechargeable cartridge may further comprise a filler material. 
     The invention is also be directed toward a system for heating a handgrip of a firearm comprising a grip body, one or more rechargeable cartridges, and one or more charging stations, each one or more charging stations comprising a power cord and one or more battery receivers. The grip body has a hollow internal cavity. The grip body is shaped as a pistol style firearm grip. Each rechargeable cartridge comprises a power source and an electrically resistive heating element electrically connected to the power source. A rechargeable cartridge may be connected to a battery receiver on a recharging station to recharge the power source. Each of the one or more rechargeable cartridges may be removably secured within the hollow internal cavity of the grip body. The grip body is interchangeable with the factory installed grip of a firearm. The charging station may further comprise a pair of electrical connection points in each of the battery receivers. Each of the rechargeable cartridges may further comprise a pair of electrical connection points. 
     The invention is also directed toward a firearm having a heated grip comprising a grip body, a grip mount bolt, and a rechargeable cartridge. The grip body has a hollow internal cavity. The grip body is shaped as a pistol style firearm grip. The grip mount bolt passes through the hollow internal cavity of the grip body to removably secure the grip body to the firearm. The firearm may be a paintball gun or a semiautomatic rifle. 
     Still other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described the embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of the best modes suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious aspects all without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, wherein like reference numerals refer to identical or similar components, with reference to the following figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of the grip installed on a firearm. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the grip with an external sleeve. 
         FIG. 3  is a cut away view of the grip. 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the grip. 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the grip. 
         FIG. 6  is a cut away view of the grip. 
         FIG. 7  is a cut away view of the grip. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the grip with a rechargeable cartridge. 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of a charging station. 
         FIG. 10A  is top perspective view of a charging station. 
         FIG. 10B  is top perspective view of a charging station. 
         FIG. 10C  is top perspective view of a charging station. 
         FIG. 10D  is top perspective view of a charging station. 
         FIG. 11  is a bottom perspective view of a rechargeable cartridge. 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of a rechargeable cartridge. 
         FIG. 13  is a side cut away view of a rechargeable cartridge. 
         FIG. 14  is a side view of a firearm with an alternative embodiment of the rechargeable cartridge. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the claimed subject matter may be practiced with or without any combination of these specific details, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and the claims. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms or embodiments. Alternative materials and designs may be used in the alternative forms and embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the grip body  100  is attached to a firearm receiver  200 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of the invention is displayed. In this embodiment the grip body  100  is covered by a polyurethane sleeve  110 . Wound within the polyurethane sleeve  110  is a resistive wire  105 . As electricity passes through the resistive wire  105 , heat is produced. The heat passes through the polyurethane sleeve  110  to warm the hand of the user. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , an alternative embodiment of the invention is displayed. In this embodiment, the resistive wire  105  is molded into the grip body  100 . The grip body  100  is secured to the firearm receiver  200  by means of a grip mount bolt  115 . The grip mount bolt  115  passes through the mount bolt hole  135  to removably secure the grip body  100  to the firearm receiver  200 . The resistive wire  105  is powered by any number of batteries  300 . The batteries are connected to the resistive wire  105  by springs  125  and contact tabs  120 . The batteries  300  are held in an internal cavity  140  in the grip body  100 . The batteries  300  are held in the internal cavity  140  by a bottom lid  130 . The bottom lid  130  may have a spring  125  and a contact tab  120  connected to the bottom lid  130 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the bottom lid  130  has a switch  145 . The switch  145  regulates the power level that runs through the resistive wire  105 . The switch  145  may have any number of usable positions. The switch  145  has an “on” position and an “off” position. In the “on” position, electricity runs through the resistive wire  105  to produce heat. In the “off” position, the circuit is broken, no electricity passes through the resistive wire  105  and no heat is produced. The switch  145  may also have a “hi” position, a “medium” position, and a “low” position. These positions regulate the amount of electricity passing through the resistive wire  105  and thus the amount of heat produced by the resistive wire  105 . The “hi” position allows the largest amount of electricity to pass through the resistive wire  105  and thus produce the most heat. The “low” position allows a minimal amount of electricity to pass through the resistive wire  105  and thus produce a minimum amount of heat. The “medium” position allows an amount of electricity to pass through the resistive wire  105  that is less than the amount from the “hi” position but more than the amount from the “low” position. This allows the resistive wire  105  to produce an intermediate amount of heat. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a close up view of the grip body  100  is displayed. In the embodiment displayed, the resistive wire  105  is molded into the grip body  100 . As heat is produced by the resistive wire  105 , the heat transfers into the grip body  100 . Referring to  FIG. 7 , an alternative embodiment of the invention is displayed. In this embodiment, the resistive wire  105  is located within the internal cavity  140  of the grip body  100 . In the displayed embodiment, the resistive wire  105  is in direct contact with the internal surface of the grip body  100  within the internal cavity  140 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , an alternative embodiment of the invention is displayed. In this embodiment the functional components of the heating device are housed in a rechargeable cartridge  400 . Within the rechargeable cartridge  400  are the resistive wire  105  and batteries  300 . The rechargeable cartridge  400  can be inserted into the grip body  100 . In this embodiment, the rechargeable cartridge  400  is inserted into the internal cavity  140  of the grip body  100 . The rechargeable cartridge  400  may then be turned on to provide heat to the grip body  100 . When not in use, a user may remove the rechargeable cartridge  400  and plug the rechargeable cartridge  400  into a charging station to recharge the batteries  300 . A user may use multiple rechargeable cartridges  400 . In this manner the user may use one rechargeable cartridge  400  in the grip body  100  while another rechargeable cartridge  400  is recharging its batteries  300  in a charging station. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a charging station  500  for the rechargeable cartridge  400  is displayed. The charging station  500  is has a power cord  504  extending from the charging station  500  and terminating in an outlet plug  506 . The outlet plug  506  is configured to plug into a standard wall outlet to provide power to the charging station  500 . The charging station  500  has one or more battery receivers  502 . The charging station  500  may have any number of battery receivers  502 . The battery receivers  502  are depressions configured to hold the rechargeable cartridge  400  during recharging. The battery receivers  502  may be any size and shape. In other embodiments, the battery receivers  502  may be outcroppings extending above the charging station  500 . In the embodiment illustrated, within each battery receiver  502  is a pair of electrical connection points  508  which contact the rechargeable cartridge  400  to permit the flow of electricity to the rechargeable cartridge  400  to recharge the rechargeable cartridge  400 . In other embodiments, the charging station  500  does not have connection points  508  and recharges the rechargeable cartridge  400  via inductive charging. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10A  through  FIG. 10D , the use of the charging station  500  is illustrated. First, as shown in  FIG. 10A , a charging station may set in a charging location with the battery receivers  502  empty because the rechargeable cartridges  400  are in use. When a rechargeable cartridge  400  needs to be recharged the user chooses a battery receiver  502  to place the rechargeable cartridge  400  in as in  FIG. 10B . The user places the rechargeable cartridge  400  in a battery receiver  502  for recharging as in  FIG. 10C . Each battery receiver  502  of the charging station  500  can hold and charge a rechargeable cartridge  400  at the same time as shown in  FIG. 10D . 
     The rechargeable cartridge  400  can be made in any configuration. In one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the rechargeable cartridge  400  has a pair of connection points  402  which create an electrical connection with connections points  508  of the charging station  500 . In one embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 12 , the outside of the rechargeable cartridge  400  has a power switch  420  and a level switch  422 . The power switch  420  permits the user to turn the rechargeable cartridge  400  on and off so that when the power switch  420  is in the “on” position the rechargeable cartridge  400  is generating heat and when in the “off” position the rechargeable cartridge  400  is not generating heat. The level switch  422  permits the user to adjust the amount of heat generated by the rechargeable cartridge  400 . The level switch  422  may have any number of power levels. In the illustrated embodiment, the level switch  422  may operate at a “HI” power level which generates the most amount of heat, a “MID” power level which generates a medium amount of heat, or a “LO” power level which generates a small amount of heat. The power switch  422  may operate in any known manner to adjust the amount of heat generated by an electrical circuit. In the preferred embodiment the power switch  422  utilizes a rheostat to adjust the level of current being delivered to the heating element of the rechargeable cartridge  400 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 13 , a cut away side view of the rechargeable cartridge  400  is illustrated. Within the internal body of the rechargeable cartridge  400  are one or more cells  408  which are in electrical connection with each other. The cells  408  may be in any location in the body of the rechargeable cartridge  400 , but in the preferred embodiment are in the core of the rechargeable cartridge  400 . The multiple cells  408  may be wired in series or in parallel. The rechargeable cartridge  400  has a layer formed by the resistive wire  404  which surrounds the cells  408 . The resistive wire  404  is electrically connected to the cells  408 . The rechargeable cartridge  400  has an outer body  406  which gives shape to the rechargeable cartridge  400  and defines the outer edge of the rechargeable cartridge  400 . The outer body  406  may be any type of material. The outer body  406  may be a rigid, thick, material forming a hard body, such as a hard thermoplastic or a metal casing. Alternatively, the outer body  406  may be a thin, pliable material, such as a tight wrapping of a plastic material. In some embodiments the inner body of the rechargeable cartridge  400  may contain a filler material  410 . The filler material  410  may be any type of material. In one embodiment the filler material  410  is an insulating material which operates as a blanket to slow the amount of heat loss from the rechargeable cartridge  400  when it is in use. In another embodiment the filler material  410  may be a material with a high heat capacity. In this embodiment, the resistive wire  404  quickly heats the filler material  410 . When the rechargeable cartridge  400  is turned off, the filler material  410  then slowly releases its stored heat. In this way the heat is released over a longer period of time after the rechargeable cartridge  400  is turned off. 
     The rechargeable cartridge  400  may be inserted into the internal cavity  140  of the grip body in any manner. The rechargeable cartridge  400  may be inserted into the internal cavity  140  from an opening in the bottom of the grip body  100 . A user may remove the grip body  100  from the firearm receiver  200  and insert the rechargeable cartridge  400  into an opening in the top of the grip body  100 . In some embodiments there may be a special grip body  100  with a hinged opening in the side of the grip body permitting the user to insert the rechargeable cartridge  400  from the side. 
     In other embodiments the rechargeable cartridge  400  has a textured outer body  406  to resemble a portion of a standard grip body of a firearm. In this embodiment, the grip body  100  may have a fixed opening which is not covered until the rechargeable cartridge  400  is inserted in to the grip body  100  to fill the fixed opening and complete the handle. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 14 , the rechargeable cartridge  400  is configured as a magazine clip for a firearm. In this embodiment the grip body  100  has an internal catch (not shown) and a magazine release button  150 . The outer body  406  of the rechargeable cartridge  400  has a lock recess  430  which engages the internal catch to hold the rechargeable cartridge  400  within the grip body  100 . 
     In other embodiments, the rechargeable cartridge  400  may be combined with a standard firearm magazine so that the rechargeable cartridge  400  contains a spring-loaded receptacle for housing and delivering rounds of ammunition directly from the rechargeable cartridge  400  into the firearm receiver  200 . 
     A user can use utilize the invention on any firearm receiver  200  structured to receive a pistol style grip. To replace, a person removes the original factory installed grip. Then the person places the grip body  100  on the firearm receiver  200 . The person then securely attaches the grip body  100  to the firearm receiver  200  by means of the grip mount bolt  115 . The person screws the grip mount bolt  115  through the mount bolt hole  135  in the grip body  100 . It is anticipated that the heated grip body  100  may be attached to any type of firearm, including but not limited to pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and paintball guns. 
     What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that many further combinations and permutations of such matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. 
     The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.