Gun cabinet

A gun cabinet has an opening door and an enclosure with a bottom wall having a slot. The enclosure contains a drawer which is supported on a caster wheel on an associated floor. The drawer is slidably attached to the enclosure so that the drawer can be pulled substantially out of the enclosure or rolled back into the enclosure with the caster wheel being received into the slot in the bottom wall of the enclosure.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to gun cabinets for storing portable firearms such as long guns, for example, rifles and shotguns and handguns, for example, pistols and revolvers. More particularly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a gun cabinet having a tall drawer with a wheel for supporting the drawer on a floor supporting the gun cabinet. Another preferred embodiment has shelves located in an open space located between a pair of tall drawers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gun cabinets range in design from simple, inexpensive homemade designs to complex, expensive commercial designs. There remains, however, room for improvements in gun cabinet designs. For example, gun cabinets commonly support rifles and shotguns on the floor of the cabinet which is fixedly secured to the cabinet walls. This arrangement makes it difficult to remove a gun from the cabinet especially when several guns are stored in the cabinet and the gun must be taken out past the other guns. It is awkward and problematic to remove a gun from a typical gun cabinet without scratching or otherwise damaging the gun or one of the other guns in the cabinet. It is also awkward and problematic to put a gun into a typical gun cabinet without scratching or otherwise damaging the gun or one of the other guns in the cabinet

It would be desirable if a gun cabinet were able to hold and support guns in a fashion which facilitated their insertion and removal from the cabinet. It would also be desirable if a gun cabinet were to efficiently use its interior space for storage of guns while facilitating their easy insertion and removal. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an improved gun cabinet which is designed to facilitate insertion and removal of guns into and out of the cabinet while also efficiently using the storage space inside the cabinet.

Thus, the present invention is directed to a gun cabinet having a base with one or more notches to accommodate at least one caster which supports a tall drawer on an associated floor. The drawer can be easily pulled forward from the cabinet to facilitate removal of guns from the cabinet. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pair of tall drawers each have a foot portion and an opening with respective openings facing each other. Storage shelves are located in between the tall drawers for storage of ammunition, shooting accessories, handguns and the like.

Further understanding of the present invention will be had from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A gun cabinet has at least one sliding drawer positioned within an enclosure having a door and a bottom wall with a slot therein. Each drawer is supported on a caster wheel on an associated floor. The drawer is slidably attached to the enclosure so that the drawer can be pulled substantially out of the enclosure or rolled back into the enclosure with the caster wheel being received into the slot in the bottom wall of the enclosure. The gun cabinet preferably has a pair of drawers with feet, each drawer being a mirror image of the other, and each drawer having an open face in opposing relationship to the open face of the other drawer thereby defining an opening for shelves or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now referring to the Figures, a preferred embodiment of a gun cabinet of the present invention is shown and indicated generally by the numeral10. Broadly speaking, gun cabinet10has an external enclosure12and a pair of tall drawers14and16. Gun cabinet10can be used to store rifles, shotguns, handguns and the like.

External enclosure12is a structure with walls and a door shown in the Figures as top18, bottom20, sides22and24, back26, and door28defining a hollow interior space30. External enclosure12is well illustrated inFIGS. 8-11which show enclosure12with door28removed for illustrative purposes. Each wall and door of enclosure12can be made of steel or other suitable material with adjacent edges of the walls welded or otherwise secured together to provide a structurally sound enclosure. Each wall and door may, for example, comprise a pair of parallel panels with edges welded together. Bottom wall20has a pair of elongated slots32and34therein. Door28is pivotally attached to side wall24by hinges or the like (not shown in the Figures) to allow access to interior space30from outside of external enclosure12.

A shelf structure36is secured within enclosure12to provide storage for gun accessories or ammunition or hand guns.

A pair of tall drawers14and16are slidably disposed within enclosure12. Now referring to drawer14, but it is to be understood that drawer16is analogous to, but the mirror image of, drawer14, drawer14has a foot38with front wall39, bottom40and tall, vertically extending sidewalls42and44. Drawer14also has top46and back wall48. Front wall39is a short wall leaving an opening above itself for insertion and removal of long guns from tall drawer14. A plurality of dividers50are mounted on back wall48to separate guns52from each other. Caster54with wheel56is secured onto bottom40.

Drawer glides58and60are attached between back wall48of drawer14and sidewall22of enclosure12. Glides58and60allow drawer14to be pulled in and out of enclosure12with drawer14being also supported on an associated floor (not shown in the figures) by castor54. Thus, the weight of guns52and drawer14is largely supported by castor54which facilitates movement of drawer14in and out of enclosure12. As a result, drawer14can be easily pulled out of interior space30to allow easy access for removal or placement of each gun52onto drawer14.

As best shown inFIG. 6, the pair of tall vertical side walls42of drawer14and and tall vertical side wall57of drawer16define a space62therebetween for storage shelves36. Storage shelves36can also include a shelf64above drawers14and16. Additional storage is provided by pockets61on door28.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is subject to modification and variation. For example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while gun cabinet10preferably has two drawers, it can be modified to have only one drawer or modified to have more than two drawers. It is intended that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the broad scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the following claims.