Vehicular gun rest

A hunting vehicle incorporates a roll cage having a tubular frame member. A gun rest incorporates a standard mounted on the tubular frame member and provides a support moveable up and down on the standard between a plurality of supporting positions. The standard is mounted on the frame member so a hunter may place a rifle on the support to steady the hunter's aim. The standard is mounted on the tubular member for easy rotation by the hunter so the hunter may aim in a wide arc without unfastening or loosening any fasteners and without moving the vehicle.

This invention relates to a gun rest which may be attached to a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A gun rest is an implement used to steady a rifle in an attempt to deliver accurate fire. Many gun rests are designed for range firing and others are designed for hunters. Typical hunter's gun rests have a vertical stake which is pushed into the ground and provides a support extending perpendicular to the stake to receive the rifle stock. Although there are many such gun rests, there are very few gun rests which are attached to motorized vehicles, such as all terrain vehicles. Some all terrain vehicles are smallish vehicles steered with handle bars like motorcycles and are often known as ATV's. Similar larger vehicles are more analogous to small cars and are known as UTV's or UV's. Although there are some gun cases or holsters suited for smaller type ATV's, there is a dearth of gun rests which are particularly adapted for larger type utility vehicles, to which this invention most nearly relates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this invention, a gun rest is attached to a round tubular member of a larger type all terrain vehicle such as a Kawaski Mule, a John Deere Gator HPX Series, a Polaris Ranger or the like.

Specifically, the gun rest is secured to a round tubular member comprising part of the roll cage of the all terrain vehicle. An important feature of the gun rest of this invention is its ability to rotate easily about the axis of the tubular member so the gun support may be swung in a wide arc. This means the shooter has the ability to swing the gun rest in a wide arc from any position to a firing position without loosening or adjusting any fastener and without moving the vehicle. In preferred embodiments of this invention, the gun rest may rotate 360° about the axis of the tubular roll cage member so the shooter has the ability to fire a rifle in almost any direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the gun rest comprises an upright or standard having wavy or serrated edges and the gun support provides a slot receiving the upright and exposing end faces to the serrations as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,964. This arrangement is particularly well suited for mounting on a vehicle because driving over rough terrain shortly causes the gun support to ratchet down to its lowermost position so it rattles for only a short length of time. When in its lowermost position, it does not rattle on the vehicle regardless of how rough the terrain being driven over.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved gun rest which may be attached to an all terrain vehicle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a gun rest for attachment to a vehicle roll cage in such a way that the gun rest may be rotated to support a rifle in a wide aiming arc.

A further object of this invention to provide a combination gun rest and vehicle to provide a better hunting experience.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more fully apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIGS. 1-6, there is illustrated a gun rest10of this invention attached to a roll cage12of an all terrain self propelled vehicle of a type used in hunting, such as a Kawasaki Mule, a John Deere Gator HPX Series, a Polaris Ranger or the like. The roll cage12is made of round tubing, typically 1½″ O.D. and includes a pair of rearwardly inclined tubular sections14,16which are analogous to the windshield line of conventional automobiles. The inclined tubular sections14,16are welded to or are bent into horizontal tubular sections18,20and vertical sections22,24which are joined to the vehicle10to provide a sturdy protective cage around the occupants of the vehicle10, all in a conventional manner. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the inclined tubing sections14,16are inclined at an acute angle26relative to the forward direction of movement of the vehicle10.

The gun rest28of this invention comprises, as major components, a standard or column30, a gun support32movable up and down on the standard30and an attachment34securing the standard30to the vehicle10to allow the standard30to be rotated in a significant arc without having to unfasten, loosen or tighten any fasteners. It will be apparent that the gun rest28may be mounted on either or both of the inclined tubing sections14,16or on either or both of the vertical tubing sections22,24, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. Also as will be more fully apparent hereinafter, the components of this invention are commercially available devices or somewhat modified commercially available devices and thus are subject to wide variation.

The standard or column30may be of any suitable type and is illustrated as of a preferred type made of any suitable material, such as an organic polymer or plastic. The standard30is generally H-shaped in cross-section as shown inFIG. 5and comprises a central web36and wavy or corrugated edges38,40. The gun support32extends perpendicularly to the standard30and provides a body42having a curved top surface44on which a rifle or other firearm45rests during firing. The body42provides a slot46receiving the standard30as shown best inFIG. 4. Curved leading and trailing edges48,50exposed to the slot46cooperate with the wavy edges38,40so the support32can be raised or lowered on the standard30in a simple, expeditious manner, as by tilting the support32relative to the standard30and thereby disengaging the edges48,50from the standard30. With the edges48,50disengaged, the support32moves easily up and down. Those skilled in the art will recognize the standard30and gun support32, as heretofore described, as being patterned after a commercially available hunter's gun rest from MTM Molded Products Company of Dayton, Ohio and as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,964, to which reference is made for a more complete description thereof.

The commercially available standard30is conveniently modified to provide passages52for fasteners, as will be explained more fully apparent hereinafter, and to provide strengthening ribs54, as desired, at the top and bottom of the standard30.

Although the attachment34is of a commercially available type, it has an important and novel function in this invention because it allows rotation of the gun rest28about an axis of the tubing section on which it is mounted without requiring adjustment, tightening or loosening of any fastener. To this end, the attachment34comprises a conventional clamp, known in the trade as an EMT clamp, EMT meaning electrical metallic tubing. The clamp34comprises a relatively thick rigid plate56, a generally C-shaped bracket58having an apertured flange or tail60through which extends a bolt62secured in place by a nut64. Those skilled in the art will recognize the clamp34as being of the type used to secure electrical conduit to a wall or support so that electric cable can later be threaded through the conduit and supported.

An important feature of this invention is the clamp34secures the gun rest28to its tubing section sufficiently tightly that the clamp34does not slip downwardly on the tubing section in response to a hunter placing the rifle46on the gun support32or in response to the vehicle driving over rugged terrain. Conversely, the clamp34secures the gun rest28to its tubing section sufficiently loosely that the clamp34easily rotates around the round tubing section to which it is mounted. Clearly, if the clamp34is not tightened sufficiently, the gun support32will slip downwardly on the tubing section. If the gun support32is tightened too much, it will not rotate easily on the tubing section to which it is attached.

One convenient way to quantitatively determine the parameters necessary to attach the gun rest28to the roll cage12is to measure the amount of force necessary to rotate the clamps34on the tubing section to which it is attached. A simple way to do this is to tie one end of a string to the gun rest28and the other end to a fish scale such as available from Laker Corporation of Comdenton, Missouri and pull on the fish scale to see how much force it takes to rotate the clamps34on the tubing section. If it takes less than about six pounds to rotate the clamps34, the clamps34are not tightened sufficiently and the gun rest28will not adequately support the rifle46when it is aimed or will slip downardly during travel over rough terrain. If it takes more than fifty pounds to rotate the clamps34, they are tightened too tight, cannot readily be adjusted by the hunter and have the potential to damage the roll cage tubing14,16. Preferably, the fastener62,64is tightened so it takes about ten to twenty pounds force to rotate the gun rest28on the tubing section14,16and ideally, it takes about 15 pounds force.

An important feature of this invention is that the gun rest28may be rotated through a significant arc relative to the vehicle10as shown best inFIG. 6. As shown in the dotted circles66, the gun rests28are rotatable for 360° about the tubing sections14,16allowing the hunter to aim in any direction. In the event the vehicle10were to have a closed cab, the gun rests28would be rotatable for an arc of about 270°, i.e. from adjacent a door68represented by a dashed line to adjacent a windshield70.

Use of the gun rest28should now be apparent. The hunter first decides which tubing section or sections the gun rest28will be mounted on. Conveniently, one or both of the inclined tubing sections14,16is selected. The clamps34are attached to each end of the standard30and to the inclined tubing section and the fastener62,64tightened as discussed above. When the vehicle10is driven along rough terrain, the gun support32initially bounces up and down and gravitates to the bottom of the standard30where it quits rattling. When the hunter sees something to shoot at, the vehicle is stopped. The standard30is rotated on the tubing section14,16and the gun support32is raised along the standard30until it is at a desired height until the rest is at a position that is comfortable relative to the point being aimed at. The rifle46is placed on the gun support32and fired at will.

Although this invention has been disclosed and described in its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred forms is only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of operation and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.