Abstract:
An environmental cover for a handgun security holster, which provides noise deadening and debris protection for said handgun.

Description:
PRIORITY  
       [0001]     This application claims the priority date of the provisional application entitled Tactical Holster filed by Mike Lowe on Feb. 11, 2004 with application Ser. No. 60/543,956. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Background Information. Some security holsters are designed primarily for law enforcement officers. For security holster designs for law enforcement officers, the main considerations are easy accessibility and retention in the face of an assault by a criminal. For these purposes, the inventor&#39;s previous security holster utilizes a finger tube, which is built into the shroud around the security holster, to protect access to the handgun release mechanism. By the use of this finger tube, a police officer has enhanced control over his weapon, and the assailant will find it very difficult to gain access to the officer&#39;s weapon.  
         [0003]     In other situations, a different style of security holster is required. For instance, in tactical operations such as SWAT teams, Navy Seal teams, Special Forces teams, and also by soldiers in any combat situation, there are different needs. One requirement in such a situation is that a holster, made of rigid plastic, be made to be less noisy if it bumps or scrapes against an object. The typical hard plastic holster may make quite a bit of noise in such a situation, and a sound reduction feature is very useful in such an application. Tactical situations may also result in the handgun being subjected to significant environmental debris. This can be in the form of mud, dirt, water, grass, leaves, sticks, and other vegetation. This could occur when a soldier is crawling and/or rolling on the ground. It could also occur during hand-to-hand combat when the wearer of the security holster is wrestling and/or rolling on the ground. It could also occur when crawling through mud, sand, or being exposed to wind driven sand in the desert. All of these conditions require a covering that meets the earlier requirement of reducing sound, while also protecting the locking mechanism of the holster and the moving parts of the handgun from environmental debris.  
         [0004]     Another requirement for a holster in a tactical situation may be for it to blend into a number of different environments. For instance, a holster might be required to be non-reflective black in some situations, forest camouflaged in other situations, desert camouflaged in still other situations, and may have a requirement for a dress or parade appearance at certain times.  
         [0005]     It is important that in whatever configuration, such a tactical security holster must be removable from under an environmental cover without requiring additional effort or thinking on the part of the user of the handgun.  
         [0006]     Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The security holster of the present invention includes a holster body, which is made up of an inner and outer rigid sidewall, which are joined together to form a holster inner shell. Attached to the holster body is a locking tab that is configured to admit the handgun into the security holster body and to move into engagement with a feature of the handgun until the locking tab is released. This prevents withdrawal of the handgun prior to the release of the locking tab.  
         [0008]     The locking tab is released by a release tab, which is operationally connected to the locking tab. By activating the release tab, the locking tab is moved from the ejection port or other handgun feature, thus disengaging the locking tab from the handgun feature. The holster of the invention includes an environmental cover that covers at least part of the holster body. The environmental cover protects the handgun in the holster from the environment. It is designed to allow removal of the handgun without obstruction and without requiring any action beyond withdrawing the handgun.  
         [0009]     This is accomplished by the use of an environmental cover that is somewhat flexible. Neoprene or other synthetic materials achieve this purpose well. A fabric, plastic or leather cover of the right consistency would also be suitable. The environmental cover is attached to the holster body by various means, including hook and loop fasteners, hooks, snaps, buckles or other attachment means that would be obvious to a person dealing with attaching fabric. In one embodiment of the invention, the environmental cover overlays the upper part of the security holster, including the area of the locking tab, and the general region of the ejection port of a semi-automatic weapon. Thus, the ejection port of the gun is also covered. Preferably, the environmental cover also extends from over the gun barrel to the back of the handgun. The rear surface of the environmental cover can have a slight taper, so that when the handgun is withdrawn, the back of the environmental cover automatically pops out of the way and allows the hand gun to be freely withdrawn from the security holster without hindrance.  
         [0010]     A desirable feature of the environmental cover is for it to cover the release tab of the security holster. The fabric involved in the environmental cover, such as neoprene, would also preferably be of a consistency that the user of the handgun could press down on the environmental cover and release the locking tab of the handgun through the environmental cover without having to remove the environmental cover or even without having to place his/her finger under the environmental cover.  
         [0011]     A hard plastic security holster has the advantage of rigidity and toughness, which makes plastic a preferred material for security holsters. Plastic has the disadvantage of being noisy, and a flexible neoprene or other fabric material over a rigid plastic holster serves to deaden the sound when the hard plastic holster is scraped against rocks, walls, or bricks. Any sounds made during a stealthy operation would tend to be muffled. The environmental cover could also be changed according to the situation, such as a light absorbent black cover for some missions, a desert camouflage cover for other missions, a forest camouflage cover for other missions, and a dress cover could be utilized to match a department&#39;s configuration rules. The environmental cover would preferably cover the barrel end of the security holster and thus would also protect the barrel of the handgun from environmental debris. A drain hole would preferably be present in the environmental cover so that water trapped within the security holster could drain out.  
         [0012]     In the case of using the security holster in water based missions, such as the Navy Seals may encounter, the environmental cover would not be in place to keep the gun dry. The gun and holster might become totally submerged in such missions. However, once out of the water, the security holster and its environmental cover would tend to protect the gun from other debris, such as mud, sand, grass, and leaves when crawling or walking through brush or forested areas.  
         [0013]     The purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.  
         [0014]     Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive in nature. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the security holster with environmental cover of the invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the security holster of the invention with the environmental cover partially peeled back.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]     While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.  
         [0018]     Some preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in  FIG. 1  and  2 .  FIG. 1  shows an environmental cover  104  of the invention in place over the holster body  12  of a security holster  10 . The environmental cover  104  includes a removal loop  106  attached to the cover over the slide of the gun.  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  shows the environmental cover  104  partially pulled back, showing more of the holster body  12  of the security holster  10 . The holster body  12  includes a locking tab  22  and a release tab  26 . The locking tab  22  passes through a locking tab passage  42 , in the holster inner shell  80 , and into the handgun ejection port  54 , which is part of the handgun  40 , and is not visible in the figures. The environmental cover  104  of the invention includes an optional drainage hole  108  and a removal loop  106 .  
         [0020]     The environmental cover  104  is preferably made of material which is sound absorbing, or sound deadening, and which is also flexible. This can include neoprene, which is a foam material which may have its inner and outer service covered by a number of different materials. The environmental cover  104  can also be made of other fabrics which provide the flexibility and sound deadening characteristics required by the environmental cover. Examples of such material includes Rentex Powerflex, Polartec®, nylon, Windstopper, Gore Tex®, Hypalon™, Kydex®, Ev50®, fleece, Paclite, Gore Tex XCR or any number of synthetic fabrics which are currently popular, and those that may be developed in the future.  
         [0021]     While there is shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that this invention is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.