Abstract:
A gun rest includes a support assembly adapted to hook over a window sill and brace against a wall of a game blind. A universal joint on the support assembly provides a mount for a gun support to hold a long firearm. In one embodiment, the gun support includes spaced yokes to support, in a stable manner, a forestock and a stock butt enabling the hunter to look through a scope on the firearm without having to continuously grasp the firearm. In other embodiments, a single yoke, camera, spotting scope, binoculars or other device may be attached to the mount. In other embodiments, one or more of the yokes may be vertically adjustable and flexible straps may be affixed to one or more of the yokes to secure the weapon to the gun support.

Description:
[0001]    This application is based, in part, on Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/855,871, filed May 28, 2013, priority of which is claimed. 
     
    
       [0002]    This invention relates to an improved gun rest for a game blind in which the rest is supported on a window sill. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A common hunting location is inside a game blind where the hunter is partly protected from the elements and is partly hidden from game. In many areas, the game are deer and the blinds are known as deer blinds. In such situations, the hunter sits on a chair or stool with a rifle sticking out of the blind through a window or similar opening. Much of the time, hunting is tedious in the sense of nothing happening so the hunter has to support the firearm on the window sill. If the hunter is using a scope on the rifle to look for game at a distance, the hunter may have to hold the weapon for extended periods and be more-or-less motionless. 
         [0004]    There are gun rests proposed for use in game blinds such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,778,589; 5,964,435 and 7,188,445. Other disclosures of interest are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,324,934; 4,937,965; 5,755,411 and 5,833,308 and U.S. Printed Patent Applications 20100126444 and 20130232844. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A gun rest is provided for use in a game blind and may be supported on the sill of a window. The gun rest may include three major components, an assembly supporting the gun rest on the window sill, a yoke or other support for a long gun and a universal joint mounted on the assembly and connecting the yoke to the support assembly thereby allowing vertical, inclined and horizontal movement of the gun support. In some embodiments, the gun support may include a rigid beam having a pair of upwardly opening yokes allowing a long gun to be supported on the gun rest independently of the hunter whereby the hunter can simply look through a scope without having to support the weapon. 
         [0006]    In some embodiments, an arm rest may be provided on the beam to support the trigger arm of the hunter. The arm rest may preferably be designed to accommodate left and right handed hunters. 
         [0007]    It is an object of this invention to provide an improved gun rest for use in game blinds. 
         [0008]    Another object of this invention is to provide a gun rest which may be supported on a window sill of a game blind and which is capable of supporting a rifle independent of the hunter. 
         [0009]    A further object of this invention is to provide an improved gun rest which incorporates a universal joint allowing horizontal, inclined and vertical movement of a firearm and which provides a rigid arm rest suitable for left or right handed hunters. 
         [0010]    These and other objects and advantage of this invention will become more fully apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a side view illustrating a gun rest supported on a window sill and, in turn, supporting a rifle shown in dashed lines; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view, similar to  FIG. 1 , but without the firearm; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the gun rest of  FIG. 1-2 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an isometric view of a universal joint comprising part of the gun rest of  FIGS. 1-3 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged side view of the universal joint of  FIG. 4 , certain parts being broken away for clarity of illustration; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is an exploded side view of another embodiment of this invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is an end view of a yoke illustrating another embodiment of this invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is an isometric view of another embodiment of this invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , a gun rest  10  is illustrated as supported on a sill  12  of a window  14  comprising part of a game or deer blind  16 . As is well know, the sill  12  is typically provided by a piece of lumber  18  which is supported from the base of the blind  16  by one or more verticals  20  which are typically sheathed on the interior or exterior by suitable panels  22 ,  24 . The gun rest  10  may comprise, as major components, a support assembly  26  temporarily attaching the gun rest  10  to the sill  12 , a universal joint  28 , a gun support  30  and preferably an arm rest  32 . 
         [0020]    The support assembly  26  may comprise a beam  34  having one or more hooks  36  extending over the sill  12  and preventing movement of the gun rest  10  to the left in  FIG. 1 . The beam  34  may be metal, plastic, a composite material or the like and may be tubular or of an angle shape. The support assembly  26  may also include one or more braces  38  pivotally mounted to the beam  34  and connected by a folding strut  40 . To this end, each brace  38  may be pivoted to the beam  34  by a hinge  42 . The braces  38  prevent movement of the gun rest  10  to the right and down in  FIG. 1 . The support assembly  26  includes at least three points of contact with the game blind  16 . As illustrated, the support assembly  26  includes one hook  36  and two braces  38  providing three points of contact with the blind  16  but may instead include two hooks and one brace. The support assembly  26  establishes a horizontal plane  48  which is generally perpendicular to the hook  36 . 
         [0021]    The beam  34  appears to be of ordinary construction but it includes several features that make the gun rest  10  desirable and effective by positioning the remaining components of the gun rest  10  in a position to support a long gun, shotgun or rifle  44  in a suitable position extending out of the blind  16 . The beam  34  accordingly includes a first or front end  46  which typically rests on the sill  12  above the plane  48 . The beam  34  includes a second or rear end  50  vertically below the front end  46  and below the plane  48  and an intermediate section  52  which may rigidly secure the front and rear ends  46 ,  50  into an integral piece. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the hinges  42  may conveniently be located at the junction of the intermediate section  52  and the rear beam end  50 . One overall purpose of the end  50  being lower is to accommodate a relatively deep stock  54  of the rifle  44  compared to the forestock  56  so the barrel  58  is slightly depressed relative to the horizontal plane  48  because the sill  12  is typically substantially above ground level while the target is at ground level. 
         [0022]    The universal joint  28  may conveniently be connected to the read end  50  of the beam  34  and provides the ability to shift the rifle  44  in horizontal, vertical and inclined directions. The universal joint  28  may be of any suitable type. A suitable device may be obtained commercially as a SLIK brand, Model #SBH-120 from Kenko Tokina Co. Ltd. SLIK of Toyko, Japan. Reference is made to publications of Kenko Tokina Co. Ltd. SLIK for a more complete description of the universal joint  28 . 
         [0023]    The universal joint  28  may include a base  60  which may be secured to the rear beam end  50 , a housing  62 , a ball  64  and a releasable connection  66  secured to the ball  64 . The housing  62  may preferably be rotatable relative to the base  60  as suggested by the arrows  70  to accommodate both left and right handed hunters as pointed out more fully hereinafter. The housing  62  may preferably be vertically split by a groove  68  into segments  72 ,  74  and include a thumb screw  76  for squeezing the housing segments  72 ,  74  relative to the ball  64  for making the universal joint  28  more, or less, stiff. 
         [0024]    The connection  66  may include an element  78  fixed to the ball  64  and extending upwardly out of the housing  62 . The connection  66  also may include a platform connector  80  providing a square recess  82  to receive a similarly shaped plate  84  on the bottom of the gun support  30 . A latch  86  may be pivotally secured to the connector  80  to captivate the plate  84  to the universal joint  28 . 
         [0025]    The gun support  30  may include a beam  88  of any suitable shape and material. Although the plate  84  may be connected to the beam  88  in any suitable manner, it is illustrated as connected by a threaded fastener  90  visible in  FIGS. 1-3 . It may be preferable that the plate  84  is vertically aligned, or nearly so, to the center of gravity  92  of the rifle  44  which easily balances the rifle  44  on the gun rest  10 . The gun support  30  may include front and rear yokes  94 ,  96  receiving the forestock  56  and stock  54 . The yokes  94 ,  96  may be made of any suitable material and include a crotch  97  for supporting the long gun  44 . It will accordingly be seen that the forward yoke  94  is raised above the beam  88  so the gun rest  10  supports the rifle  44  in a sturdy position in the window sill  12  at a slight downward angle pointed toward the ground level expected target or game attractor without requiring any effort by the hunter. 
         [0026]    The arm rest  32  may comprise a simple rigid tube or angle  98  pivotally connected to the beam  34 , i.e. the arm rest  32  is rigid from a pivot connection  100  on one end of the arm rest  32  to the opposite free end of the arm rest  32 . The pivot connection  100  may comprise a simple mating pin and sleeve, one being on the arm rest and the other being on the beam  34 . The arm rest  32  may preferably be parallel or nearly so to the plane  48  and is of sufficiently width to be comfortable to a hunter. It will be seen from  FIG. 3  that the arm rest  32  is pivotable between the left and right sides of the gun rest  10  to accommodate left and right handed hunters. It is usually convenient for a right handed hunter to adjust the stiffness of the universal joint  28  with the left hand and the opposite for a left handed hunter. This is accommodated by the housing  62  being rotatable relative to the base  60 . 
         [0027]    The height of the yokes  94 ,  96  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-5  is a function of many factors including the height of the sill  12  in the game blind  16  relative to the expected target, the distance from the game blind  16  to the target and the other dimensions of the gun rest  10 . The height of the sill  12  and the distance to the expected target are, of course, unique to every situation and the dimensions of the gun rest  10  are a compromise between average expected conditions. By vertically adjusting one or more of the yokes  94 ,  96  in the gun rest  10 , the gun rest may be adapted to any reasonable situation. To this end, there is illustrated in  FIG. 6  another embodiment of a gun rest including a yoke  102  supported on a beam  104  by a vertically adjustable connection  106  to make the gun rest  10 . The adjustable connection  106  may be of any suitable type and may include a threaded upstanding post  108  and an interiorly threaded sleeve  110  projecting from the bottom of the yoke  102 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , there is illustrated another embodiment of this invention where a flexible strap  112  is affixed to one or both of the yokes  94 ,  96 . One end  114  of the strap  112  may be more-or-less permanently attached to one side of a yoke and the other end  116  provides a releasable connection to the opposite side of the yoke. Although any suitable releasable connection may be used,  FIG. 7  illustrates a hook and loop connection  118 . One purpose of the strap  112  is to secure the rifle  44  to the gun support  30  so the rifle  44  and gun support  30  may be detached from the universal joint  28  by releasing the latch  86 . This allows the rifle  44  and gun support  30  to be carried in one hand and the 
         [0029]      FIG. 8  illustrates another embodiment of the invention where a universal joint  120  fixed to a beam  122  includes a platform connector  124  and latch  126  as in the embodiments of  FIGS. 1-7 . The platform connector  124  may include an upstanding threaded boss  128  to which an accessory  130  may be directly attached. In the alternative, an extension  132  may be provided to elevate the accessory  130  from the platform connector  124 . The extension  132  may include a threaded sleeve  134  to receive the boss  128 , an intermediate section  136  and a threaded end  138  to provide a connection compatible with the accessory  130 . The accessory  130  may be of any suitable type, such as a camera, a spotting scope, binoculars or a single yoke for receiving a long gun. 
         [0030]    Although this invention has been disclosed and described in one of its preferred forms with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form 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.