Device for locking and mounting a fire arm

An device for securing a fire arm has a base with a floor and two upstanding sidewalls, each sidewall defining a groove adjacent the floor. The device also has a first member pivotally mounted between the two sidewalls, a second member slidable in the grooves and adapted to couple with the first member to lock the fire arm between two protruded parts of the fire arm, a lock pin for locking the second member and a lock for locking the lock pin. The floor has at least one through-holes each for passage of a fastener, each through-hole being disposed under at least one of the first member and the second member, so that the fastener is inaccessible when the device is in use.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates in general to a device for mounting and 
locking a fire arm. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Many people who own fire arms, such as rifles having vintage 
characteristics, like to mount the fire arms on display. However, unless 
locked adequately, the fire arms on display may be stolen. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a device for mounting a fire arm. The device 
according to the present invention has a base with a floor and two 
upstanding sidewalls. The floor has at least one hole for passage of a 
fastener for mounting the device to a mounting surface. Each of the 
sidewalls defines a groove adjacent the floor. The device also includes a 
holding member for holding the fire arm. The holding member is adapted to 
be slidable between the upstanding sidewalls and has a pair of 
outwardly-directed flanges slidable in the grooves. The device also has 
means for fastening the holding member to the base. According to the 
present invention, the fastener and the fastening means are inaccessible 
when the device is in use, making it difficult to remove the device from 
the mounting surface or to remove the fire arm from the device. 
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a fire arm 
locking device which has a base with a floor and two upstanding sidewalls. 
Each of the upstanding sidewalls defines a groove adjacent the floor. The 
device also has a first member pivotally mounted between the two 
sidewalls, a second member having flanges slidable in the grooves and 
adapted to couple with the first member to surround the fire arm between 
two protruded parts (e.g., the trigger housing and the butt stock) and 
deny passage of the protruded parts therethrough. The device also has a 
third member for locking the second member and a lock for locking the 
third member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows a fire arm 1, such as a rifle having a stock and a barrel, and 
supported by a support device 3-4 mounted to a mounting surface 2 (e.g., a 
wall). The firearm is supported and locked by a locking device 3 and 
supported by a barrel or fore-end supporting device 4. 
FIG. 2 shows the locking device 3 in a locked state. The locking device 3 
has a base 5, a pivoted member 6, a slidable member 7, a lock pin 8 (e.g., 
a dead bolt), and a lock 9 operable by a key 10. The locking device 3 
locks the fire arm 1 between the butt stock and the trigger housing of the 
fire arm 1. The slidable member 7 and the pivoted member 6 couple with 
each other to deny passage of the butt stock and the trigger housing of 
the fire arm 1 and deny movement of the fire arm away from the locking 
device 3. 
With reference to FIG. 3, to unlock the locking device 3, the lock 9 is 
turned by the key 10. The lock pin 8 passes through a through-hole 12 in 
the slidable member 7 and inhibits movement thereof. The lock pin 8 is in 
turn locked by a hook 11 which rotates with the movement and in the 
direction of the key 10. When the key 10 is turned, the hook 11 disengages 
from the lock pin 8. When the lock pin 8 is disengaged, the lock pin 8 can 
be pulled away from the through-hole 12. After the lock pin 8 is pulled, 
the slidable member 7 is slidable upwardly and disengaged from the pivoted 
member 6. After disengagement with the slidable member 7, the pivoted 
member 6 can be rotated away from the base 5 and the fire arm can be 
easily removed. 
The base 5 of the locking device 3 has a floor 13 and a pair of upstanding 
sidewalls 14 and 15. With reference to FIG. 4, the floor 13 has at least 
two through-holes 16 and 17 for providing passage of fasteners 18 and 19 
for mounting the locking device 3 to the mounting surface 2. Fastener 18 
is represented in FIG. 4 by a screw for mounting to a wooden mounting 
surface. Fastener 19 is represented in FIG. 4 by a bolt for mounting to a 
metal mounting surface. The difference is deliberately made to show that 
different kinds of fasteners can be used, depending upon the type of 
surface to be mounted on. In general, both fastener 18 and 19 would be of 
the same type if the mounting surface is made of the same material. The 
through-holes 16 and 17 are preferably positioned at as close to the ends 
of the base 5 as possible in order to make it more difficult for someone 
to pry the base 5 from the mounting surface 2. Moreover, the through-holes 
16 and 17 are positioned under at least one of the slidable member 7 and 
the pivoted member 6 so that the fasteners 18 and 19 are blocked by either 
the slidable member 7 or the pivoted member 6 and thereby become 
inaccessible when the locking device 3 is locked. 
The pivoted member 6 includes a hinge 20 and a L-shaped bar 21. The bar 21 
is mounted to the hinge 20 by a bolt 22 and combines with the hinge 20 to 
form a U-shape holder for holding the fire arm 1. The hinge 20 is 
pivotally mounted between the two sidewalls 14 and 15 by a pivot pin 23 so 
that the pivoted member 6 can rotate to and from the floor 13. The pivot 
pin 23 is affixed (e.g., by welding) to the sidewalls 14 and 15 at one end 
of the base 5. Referring to FIG. 4, when the pivoted member 6 rotates away 
from the base 5, room must be provided for the rotational movement of the 
lower corner 71 of the hinge 20. Accordingly, edge 70 of the base 5 is 
inclined and the pivot pin 23 is protruded as shown in FIG. 4 to provide 
such room. However, the inclination should be small in order not to let 
someone use the inclination to pry the base 5 away from the mounting 
surface 2. 
The hinge 20 of the pivoted member 6 has a toothed tip section (such as a 
tongue) 26 for engaging a counterpart toothed section (such as a groove) 
27 at the tip of the slidable member 7 to thereby inhibit movement of the 
pivoted member after engagement with the slidable member 7. The end of the 
hinge has a cutoff section 28 (see FIG. 3) for accommodating the lock 9 
and the hook 11. A cutoff section 50 is also provided in the slidable 
member 7 to accommodate the lock 9. 
Preferably, the tip 29 of the bar 21 is long enough to be insertable into a 
hole 30 in the slidable member 7 when the locking device 3 is locked. This 
is to prevent someone from prying the bar 21 open. However, since the 
pivoted member 6 is already locked by the respective toothed sections 26 
and 27 of the pivoted member 6 and the slidable member 7, a gap can be 
provided between the tip of the bar 21 and the end of the slidable member 
7 to allow a more complete view of the fire arm 1, provided that such gap 
is small enough not to allow the fire arm to be removed. 
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upstanding sidewalls 14 and 15 each define a 
groove 24 therein adjacent the floor 13. The grooves 24 are provided for 
receiving respective ones of a pair of outwardly-directed flanges 31 on 
the bottom of the slidable member 7. The grooves 24 of the upstanding 
sidewalls 14 and 15 and the flanges 31 of the slidable member 7 operate to 
deny perpendicular movement of the slidable member 7 away from the base 5 
when the flanges 31 are received within the grooves 24. 
At least one of the upstanding sidewalls 14 and 15 has a through-hole 32 
for receiving the lock pin 8. The lock pin 8 operates to lock the slidable 
member 7 in place when the slidable member 7 has been moved into the 
locked position. The slidable member 7 has a throughhole 12 which is 
coaxial with the through-hole 32 of the upstanding sidewall 14 of the base 
5 when the slidable member 7 has been moved into the locked position. When 
the slidable member 7 is in the locked position, the lock pin 8 is 
inserted through the through-holes 32 and 12 to deny movement of the 
slidable member 7. With reference to FIG. 5, a reduced diameter section 34 
is defined at a point (e.g., about midway) of the lock pin 8. The reduced 
diameter section 34 is provided to receive the hook 11 of the lock 9. The 
lock 9 is locked/unlocked by rotating the key 10. 
To lock the locking device 3, the key 10 is turned (e.g., counter-clockwise 
as in the shown embodiment) to rotate the hook 11 until it engages the 
reduced diameter section 34 of the lock pin 8 and thereby denies lateral 
movement of the lock pin 8. To provide room for the hook 11 to rotate, a 
groove 36 (see FIG. 5) is provided in the slidable member 7. 
To unlock the locking device 3, the key 10 is turned (e.g., clockwise as in 
the shown embodiment) to disengage the hook 11 from the reduced diameter 
section 34 of the lock pin 8. After the hook 11 clears the reduced 
diameter section 34, the lock pin 8 can be pulled out. A first 
spring-loaded retainer pin 37 is provided to retain the lock pin 8 when it 
is pulled out. When the reduced diameter section 34 of the lock pin 8 is 
pulled to the position of the first retainer 37, the retainer 37 is urged 
into the reduced diameter section 34 and holds the lock pin 8 in place. 
When the lock pin 8 is pulled out of the throughhole 12, the slidable 
member 7 can be moved away from the pivoted member 6. With reference to 
FIG. 6, a second spring-loaded retainer 38 is preferably provided at the 
floor 13 of the base 5 to hold the slidable member 7 in an unlocked 
position. The second retainer 38 holds the slidable member 7 in the 
unlocked position by engaging a notch 39 (see FIG. 4) on the slidable 
member 7. The availability of the retainer 38 to hold to slidable member 7 
in the unlocked position facilitates the removal of the fire arm 1. 
In addition to the securing device 3, a fore-end support device 4 is 
provided to hold the fire arm 1 on the mounting surface 2. 
With reference to FIG. 7, the fore-end support device 4 has a slidable 
member 48 and a base 49. 
The slidable member 48 has a U-shape bar 61 mounted thereon. The opening 
formed by the U-shape bar 61 and the slidable member 48 is used for 
supporting the fore-end portion of the fire arm 1. 
The base 49 of the fore-end support device 4 has a floor 51, two upstanding 
sidewalls 52 and an upstanding end wall 53. The upstanding sidewalls 52 
each define a groove 54 therein adjacent the floor 51. The grooves 54 are 
provided for receiving respective ones of a pair of outwardly directed 
flanges 55 on the bottom of the slidable member 48. 
With reference to FIG. 8, the slidable member 48 is fastened to the floor 
51 of the base 49 by a threaded bolt 58 through an opening 59 centrally 
located in the slidable member 48 and a corresponding threaded hole 60 on 
the base 49. When the bolt 58 is removed, the slidable member 48 can be 
moved away from the end wall 53, as shown in FIG. 9. 
With reference to FIG. 10, at least two throughholes 56 are provided at the 
floor 51 of the base 49, each for passage of a screw or bolt 57 for 
mounting the fore-end support device 4 onto the mounting surface 2. FIG. 
10 also shows the bar 61 being fastened to the slidable member 48 by a 
screw 62 at each end of the bar 61. 
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment is provided for 
illustrating the principles of the invention. It will be understood by 
those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be 
made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of 
the invention. 
For example, the slidable member 7, the bar 21 and the hinge 20 of the 
pivoted member 6, and the lock pin 8 of the locking device 3 are 
preferably hardened (e.g., heat treated) so that they cannot be sawed 
open. Similarly, the bar 61 of the fore-end support device 4 is preferably 
hardened so that it cannot be sawed open. 
For another example, the surfaces of the locking device 3 which touch the 
fire arm (e.g., the surface of the bar 21 and the surface of the hinge 20) 
can be covered with a layer of soft material 80 (see FIG. 4), such as 
felt, plastic or leather, to prevent them from scratching the fire arm 1. 
Similarly, the surfaces of the fore-end support device 4 which touch the 
fire arm 1 can also be covered with a layer of soft material 81.