DETACHABLE CUSHIONED GUN GRIPS

Abstract: Cushioned pistol type gun grips detachably connectable to a shotgun or other gun and including a rigid structure (12) having a connector portion (41) which is received rearwardly of the receiver (14) of the gun and is connectable thereto by a fastener (36) located above the level of the trigger (22) of the gun, and an elastomeric body (13) which in use is carried by the rigid structure (12) and has resiliently deformable outer surfaces engageable with a user's hand to cushion contact therewith.

Description: DETACHABLE CUSHIONED GUN GRIPS. This invention relates to improved gun grips of a type formed at least in part of elastomeric material having outer surfaces engageable with a user's hand in cushioned contact therewith. A type of gun which is often used by police as a riot gun takes the form of a pump shotgun having a pistol type handle enabling the gun to be manipulated more conveniently than a conventional shotgun with a shoulder stock. This riot gun may have a folding stock connected to the pistol type grip and adapted to swing to a position functioning as a shoulder stock when desired. The present invention is directed to the provision of a grip assembly which has in certain respects been devised primarily for application to a gun of the above discussed type, but which may also be usable with other types of guns. The assembly may be easily and quickly secured to the receiver of a gun, and when installed provides a very high strength positive connection between the grip and receiver. The assembly includes an essentially rigid structure or part adapted to be received rearwardly of and connected to a back surface of the gun receiver, and includes a body of elastomeric material which, at least when the grip is in use, is attached to and carried by the rigid structure and presents the discussed resiliently deformable outer surfaces for contact with a user's hand. The rigid structure has a connector portion which is positioned above the level of the finger contracted portion of the trigger of the gun, and is attached to the receiver by a screw or other fastener means also located above the level of the trigger. A second portion of the rigid structure may extend downwardly and rearwardly from that connector portion for carrying the elastomeric material of the grip. In one form of the invention, the rigid structure functions as an adapter from which the grip proper including the elastomeric material is detachable, and to which the grip is connectable by a second fastener or fastener means. In another form of the invention, the rigid structure is embedded within and perma nently bonded or secured to the elastomeric body for handling therewith as a unit prior to and during application of the grip to the gun. An additional particular feature of the invention relates to provision of a special fastener for retaining the grip to the rigid structure and which has a head to which a sling connector is attached for holding an end of a gun sling. The above and other features and objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a pump shotgun having a grip assembly embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through the rear portion of the gun and grip; Fig. 2A is a further enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 2A-2A of Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is a generally horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary generally vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the adapter of Figs. 1 to 5; Fig. 7 is a side view of a variational form of gun having a folding stock; ; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to Fig. 2 but showing another form of the invention; and Fig. 9 is a generally vertical section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8. There is illustrated at 10 in Fig. 1 a pump shotgun which is essentially conventional in most respects except as to the provision of a grip assembly 11 embodying the invention, including an adapter 12 and a grip 13 detachably connectable to the remainder of the gun by the adapter. The conventional portion of the gun includes a receiver 14, a barrel 15 connected to the forward end of the receiver and extending along an axis 16, and a magazine tube 17 extending forwardly from the receiver beneath and parallel to the barrel for containing a series of shotgun shells to be successively fed to the receiver. A tubular pump forend part 18 is disposed about tube 17, and adapted to be manually reciprocated in a front to rear direction relative thereto. Upon movement rearwardly and then forwardly of forend 18 relative to the rest of the gun, two actuating rods 19 extending rearwardly therefrom actuate conventional firing, loading and ejecting mechanism 20 within the receiver to eject a spent shell laterally through a side opening 21 in the receiver, feed the next successive shell into the firing chamber at the rear of the barrel from magazine 17, and cock the firing mechanism. A user may then fire the gun by contacting the exposed actuating portion 22 of a trigger element and pulling it rearwardly. As seen best in Figs. 2 through 5, the receiver 14 consists essentially of a hollow metal body having a generally rearwardly facing slightly inclined planar back surface 23 disposed at an angle a to a plane 24 perpendicular to the axis 16 of the barrel. A peripheral flange 25 projects rearwardly along the edge of surface 23, and at an approximately central location a projection or boss 26 projects rearwardly from and beyond surface 23 and contains an internally threaded bore 27 by which grip assembly 12 may be attached to the receiver. The trigger loop element 28 about actuating portion 22 of the trigger may project rearwardly beyond surface 23 at 29. Adaptor 12 is formed of a suitable material such as steel, zinc die casting alloy, a rigid resinous plastic material or the like, adapted to withstand the forces encountered in use and handling of the gun, and has a forward face 30 which is adapted to be tightened forwardly against back surface 23 of the receiver and flange 25. This face 30 includes a surface 31 extending along the periphery of the forward face 30 of part 12 and facing generally forwardly, preferably perpendicular to an inclined axis 32 which is the axis of threaded bore 27 and is disposed at an angle to and intersects barrel axis 16. This surface 31 may engage or be received closely adjacent the rear edge of flange 25 in the assembled condition of the parts. Within and encircled by surface 31, adaptor twelve has a forwardly projecting rib or flange 33 which in the assembled condition is received within and closely adjacent and extends essentially parallel to peripheral flange 25 of the receiver, with the forward edge 34 of rib 33 lying in the plane 35 of receiver surface 23 to contact that surface in the assembled condition of the parts. Within rib 33, the forward face 30 of adapter 12 may contain a recess 35 to lighten the adapter part and receive boss 26. The adapter is tightenable against the receiver by a screw 36 having a threaded shank 37 extending through and fitting closely within an opening 38 in the adapter and connecting threadedly into bore 27 to tighten head 138 of the screw against a shoulder 39 in the adapter and clamp the adapter tightly against the receiver. Screw 36 may be of the allen head type, containing a non-circular recess 40 engageable with an allen wrench to tighten or remove the screw. At its rear side, adapter 12 has a connector portion 41 to which grip 13 is detachably secured. This connector portion has a projection 42 extending along an axis 43 which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly as shown and which intersects and lies in a common vertical plane with axes 16 and 32. The projection 42 may have an upper straight cylindrical external surface 44 and a lower slightly downwardly tapering surface 45, both centered about axis 43, with a threaded recess or bore 46 extending upwardly into and being centered within projection 42 for engagement with the threaded shank 47 of a screw 48 which retains the grip proper 13 on adapter 12. At opposite sides of projection 42, adapter 12 may have two similarly arcuately curved surfaces 148 (Fig.6), with a portion 49 of the adapter projecting rearwardly at a location laterally between the two arcuate surfaces 148 and being defined by opposite side surfaces 50 and an inclined rearwardly and downwardly facing planar surface 51 from which the projection 42 extends. A strengthening brace or portion 52 of the adapter may project beyond surface 51 and be connected to the projection 42 as shown. The grip 13 is preferably of the type shown and described in United States Patents Number 4,148,149 issued April 10, 1979 to Pachmayr et al. on "Cushioned Gun Grip" and 4,242,824 issued January 6, 1981 to Pachmayr et al. on "Pistol Grips Having Cushioning Recesses". More particularly, grip 13 includes a body 53 molded of a suitable resiliently deformable elastomeric material, such as neoprene rubber having a shore hardness between about thirty-three and forty-five on the A scale. This elastomeric body projects downwardly to a level well beneath the finger engaged actuating portion of trigger 22, while the upper portion of adapter 12 which contacts rear face 23 of the receiver is desirably located well above that portion of the trigger. Body 53 is shaped externally to be gripped by a user's hand while his finger engages and actuates the trigger. The outer surfaces of elastomeric body 53 may be checkered or otherwise irregularized as shown to enhance the gripping contact between those cushioning surfaces and the user's hand. Internally, elastomeric grip body 53 contains a reinforcing structure 54 preferably taking the form of a tube extending about and centered with respect to axis 43 and adapted to have its upper end portion received about and fit closely with respect to adapter projection 42 to effectively and rigidly locate the grip relative to that projection. Tube 54 is completely surrounded by elastomeric body 53, and may have a thin layer of the elastomeric material within the interior of the tube so that the elastomeric body and tube 54 define together a recess 56 centered about axis 43 for receiving projection 42 and extending downwardly therebeyond. The reinforcing tube 54 may carry a rigid transverse wall 57 at its lower end containing an opening 58 through which the shank 47 of screw 48 extends, with the head 59 of the screw bearing upwardly against wall 57 at 60 to tighten the grip upwardly and forwardly against adapter 12. Rearwardly of recess 56 and reinforcing tube 54, elastomeric body 53 may contain a cushioning recess 61, which may be elongated generally vertically as shown to enhance the resilient deformability of the elastomeric material under the influence of recoil forces, in accordance with the teachings of prior Patent Number 4,242,824. At its upper end, the elastomeric material 53 may have a portion 62 received behind the upper rear extremity of adapter 12 to avoid contact of a user's hand with any sharp surfaces of the adapter at that location. The front of the elastomeric body 53 of grip 13 contains a recess 63 shaped in correspondence with and adapted to receive portions 49 and 52 of the adapter. Also, the elastomeric body may have a portion 64 extending downwardly behind the trigger and trigger loop to protect a user's fingers against contact with the rear surface of the trigger loop in firing the gun. The screw 48, besides securing grip 13 to adapter 12, may also serve a second function of providing a connection by which one end of a flexible sling is attached to the gun, with the other end being secured to a loop 67 carried by a removable threaded cap 68 closing the forward end of magazine tube 17. For serving this second purpose, the head 59 of screw 48 may be formed as a hollow element into which the shank 166 of a sling retaining loop element 66 projects. At its inner end within head 59, element 66 has a transverse portion 266 engaging inner shoulders in the head at 366 in a manner connecting loop element 66 to head 59 for relative pivotal or swinging movement between the different positions illustrated in Fig. 2. This pivotal or swivel connection between the loop element 66 and part 59 may be of the type shown and described in United States Patent Number 3,226,872 issued January 4, 1966 to Pachmayr on nGun Sling Swivel". In mounting the grip assembly 11 on gun 10, a user first positions adapter 12 at the location illustrated in Fig. 2, and then passes screw 36 forwardly through the adapter and into bore 27 of the receiver, to tighten the adapter against the back surface of the receiver. The grip proper 13 is then moved upwardly along axis 43 and about projection 42 of the adapter to the position of Fig. 2, after which screw 48 is inserted upwardly through the grip at its recess 56 into bore 46, to tighten the grip on the adapter. When the grip is thus in position, the elastomeric material 53 contacts adapter 12 entirely about the location of opening 38 in the adapter and screw 36 extending therethrough, to thus hide the screw and present an attractive overall appearance of the assembly. Sling 65 is connected to the swivel loop 66 carried by head 59 of the screw, and at its opposite end is connected to loop 67 secured to cap 68 on magazine tube 17. In the variational arrangement of Fig. 7, adapter 12a and grip 13a of the grip assembly lla may be identical with corresponding parts of Figs. 1 to 6 except that the adapter is constructed to carry a folding stock assembly 68, which is adapted to swing between the inactive full line position of extension forwardly along the top of the barrel and the active rearwardly swung position illustrated in broken lines. Assembly 68 may include a first part 69 connected pivotally to the adapter 12a at 70 for the discussed swinging movement, and a second part 169 functioning as a shoulder contacting element and adapted to swing between a retracted position essentially aligned longitudinally with part 69 (full lines in Fig.7) and the downwardly extending broken line position to form an abuttment against which a user's shoulder can engage in firing the gun as a shoulder weapon. Part 69 is mounted to swing between the illustrated positions relative to the adapter about a transverse axis 71, with a spring pressed detenting element 72 functioning to releasably retain part 69 in its active or inactive position. This folding stock arrangement of Fig. 7 may be of the type shown in United States Patent Number 3,798,819 issued March 26, 1974 to Hillberg on "Auxiliary Gun Stock", but with the folding stock being mounted pivotally to the adapter in the present case rather than to an integral one piece grip as in the Patent. The form of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9 includes a grip assembly llb consisting of a rigid reinforcing part 12b and an elastomeric part 13b permanently bonded or secured together for handling as a unit in attachment to and detachment from the receiver 14b of a gun of the type illustrated in Fig. 1. Part 12b has an upper portion 73 with a front face 74 adapted to bear upwardly and forwardly against the back surface 23b of receiver 14b, and to be tightened thereagainst by a screw 75 extending through an opening 76 in upper portion 73 of part 12b. Screw 75 extends along an axis 77 which intersects and lies in a common vertical plane with axis 16b of the barrel, and is connectable into a threaded bore 78 in the rear portion of the recess. Head 79 of the screw is tightenable against the upper portion 73 of rigid member 12b to secure it tightly to and against the back face of the receiver. Extending downwardly and rearwardly from its upper portion 73, the rigid part 12b has a projection 80, which is embedded within and bonded to elastomeric body 13b and projects to a location near its lower end, to strenghten the elastomeric material and its connection to the gun. Part 12b, like adapter 12 of the first form of the invention, may be formed of any appropriate rigid material, such as steel, alloy die casting material, or a resinous plastic material. Behind both the upper and lower portions of part 12b, elastomeric body 13b preferably contains an inclined elongated recess 81, serving the purpose of the recess 61 of Fig. 2 in enhancing resilient deformability of the grip in a front to rear direction and thereby improving the cushioning action of the grip with respect to a user's hand under recoiling forces. Screw 75 is insertable into the interior of the grip through an opening 82 behind recess 81 and aligned with axis 77. After the screw has been inserted through that opening and then tightened by a screwdriver extending through opening 82, a plug 83 of rubber or other elastomeric material may be inserted into opening 82 to close it, with an annular rib 84 of the plug being received within a coacting groove in the wall of opening 82 to hold the plug in place in a position in which the rear surface of the plug is aligned with and forms in effect a continuation of the rear surface of the main elastomeric body 13b. A similar plug 85 may be connected into and close the lower end of recess 81, with the plug 85 preferably being formed of rubber or other appropriate elastomeric material and presenting a lower surface forming in effect a continuation of the lower surface of the grip body 13b, and with the plug having a peripheral bead 86 received within a groove in the inner wall of recess 81 to lock the plug in place. The outer surfaces of body 13b may be shaped essentially the same as the outer surfaces of grip 13 of the first form of the invention, and be resiliently deformable to cushion and enhance the contact between a user's hand and the grip during firing and in handling. The grip of Figs. 8 and 9 is attached to the gun by merely placing the grip against the rear surface of the receiver, inserting screw 75 through opening 82 and tightening the screw into the receiver, followed by closure of opening 82 by the plug 83. While certain specific embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed as typical, the invention is of course not limited to these particular forms, but rather is applicable broadly to all such variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A grip assembly for use with a gun which includes a receiver, a barrel, firing mechanism, and a trigger having an actuating portion to be engaged by a user's finger for firing the gun, said grip assembly including an essentially rigid structure adapted to be detachably connected to the receiver, a body of elastomeric material which in use is secured to said rigid structure and is engaged by a user's hand, and fastener means for detachably securing said rigid structure to said receiver; characterized by said rigid structure having a connector portion near an upper end of the grip assembly adapted to be received behind a rearwardly facing back surface of the receiver and to be detachably secured by said fastener means to said receiver above the level of said actuating portion of the trigger, said body of elastomeric material having outer resiliently deformable surfaces of said material which in use extend beneath the level of said actuating portion of the trigger and are adapted to be gripped by a user's hand for cushioning contact therewith in holding the gun. 2. A grip assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which said connector portion of said rigid structure contains an opening through which said fastener means extend forwardly to said receiver to secure the rigid structure thereto, said rigid structure having a second portion extending downwardly and rearwardly from said connector portion and embedded within said elastomeric body. 3. A grip assembly as claimed in either of the preceding claims, in which said elastomeric body has an opening behind said connector portion of the rigid structure for passing a tool forwardly into engagement with said fastener means. 4. A grip assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which said elastomeric body contains a recess extending downwardly and rearwardly behind said rigid structure to enhance deformation of the elastomeric body in response to recoil forces. 5. A grip assembly as claimed in claim 4, in which said elastomeric body has an opening at the lower end of said recess, there being a plug for closing said opening. 6. A grip assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which said elastomeric body is detachable from said rigid structure, and including second fastener means for detachably securing said elastomeric body to said rigid structure. 7. A grip assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, in which said rigid structure has a projection extending downwardly and rearwardly from said connector portion thereof, said elastomeric body being detachably connectable to said rigid structure and containing a recess into which said projection is axially movable during assembly, there being second fastener means adapted to extend upwardly through said elastomeric body and into said recess and connectable to said projection to secure the elastomeric body to said rigid structure. 8. A grip assembly as claimed in claim 7, including reinforcing material embedded within and more rigid than said elastomeric material and disposed essentially about said recess for reception of said projection. 9. An assembly for connecting a grip formed at least in part of elastomeric material engageable with a user's hand to a gun having a receiver, characterized by said assembly including an adapter formed separately from both the gun and grip and having a connector portion to be received rearwardly of said receiver, first fastener means for detachably securing said connector portion of the adapter to said receiver, and second fastener means for detachably securing said grip to a second portion of said adapter. 10. An assembly as claimed in claim 9, in which said second portion of the adapter is a projection extending downwardly and rearwardly from said first portion and receivable within a recess in said grip for attachment thereto. 11. An assembly as claimed in claim 10, in which said projection contains a threaded bore at its lower end into which said second fastener means is threadedly connectable to secure said grip thereto. 12. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 6 through 11, including a sling connector attached to said second fastener means for holding an end of a gun sling. 13. The combination comprising an assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims, and a gun having said assembly secured thereto.

Inventors: FARRAR, FRANK W., FARRAR, JACK R.
Applicants: PACHMAYR GUN WORKS, INC.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: F41C23
IPC codes: F41C23