Abstract:
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&#39;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.

Description:
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&#39;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&#39;s. Similar larger vehicles are more analogous to small cars and are known as UTV&#39;s or UV&#39;s. Although there are some gun cases or holsters suited for smaller type ATV&#39;s, there is a dearth of gun rests which are particularly adapted for larger type utility vehicles, to which this invention most nearly relates. 
     Disclosures of interest are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,143,900; 3,584,821; 4,481,964; 5,644,862; 5,697,181; 5,723,808; 5,974,719; 6,338,218; 6,634,530; 6,793,108; D33,645; D182,146; D222,368 and D276,668 and U.S. Printed Application 2005/0188,595. 
     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. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a vehicle having the gun rest of this invention attached thereto; 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of a standard or column of a gun rest of this invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a view, partly in section, showing the gun support and how it cooperates with the standard of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric view similar to  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of a mounting bracket of this invention which secures the gun rest to the vehicle while allowing easy rotation of the gun rest without removing or loosening any fasteners; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view of a vehicle equipped with a gun rest of this invention illustrating the firing arc allowed by this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-6 , there is illustrated a gun rest  10  of this invention attached to a roll cage  12  of 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 cage  12  is made of round tubing, typically 1½″ O.D. and includes a pair of rearwardly inclined tubular sections  14 ,  16  which are analogous to the windshield line of conventional automobiles. The inclined tubular sections  14 ,  16  are welded to or are bent into horizontal tubular sections  18 ,  20  and vertical sections  22 ,  24  which are joined to the vehicle  10  to provide a sturdy protective cage around the occupants of the vehicle  10 , all in a conventional manner. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the inclined tubing sections  14 ,  16  are inclined at an acute angle  26  relative to the forward direction of movement of the vehicle  10 . 
     The gun rest  28  of this invention comprises, as major components, a standard or column  30 , a gun support  32  movable up and down on the standard  30  and an attachment  34  securing the standard  30  to the vehicle  10  to allow the standard  30  to be rotated in a significant arc without having to unfasten, loosen or tighten any fasteners. It will be apparent that the gun rest  28  may be mounted on either or both of the inclined tubing sections  14 ,  16  or on either or both of the vertical tubing sections  22 ,  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 column  30  may 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 standard  30  is generally H-shaped in cross-section as shown in  FIG. 5  and comprises a central web  36  and wavy or corrugated edges  38 ,  40 . The gun support  32  extends perpendicularly to the standard  30  and provides a body  42  having a curved top surface  44  on which a rifle or other firearm  45  rests during firing. The body  42  provides a slot  46  receiving the standard  30  as shown best in  FIG. 4 . Curved leading and trailing edges  48 ,  50  exposed to the slot  46  cooperate with the wavy edges  38 ,  40  so the support  32  can be raised or lowered on the standard  30  in a simple, expeditious manner, as by tilting the support  32  relative to the standard  30  and thereby disengaging the edges  48 ,  50  from the standard  30 . With the edges  48 ,  50  disengaged, the support  32  moves easily up and down. Those skilled in the art will recognize the standard  30  and gun support  32 , as heretofore described, as being patterned after a commercially available hunter&#39;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 standard  30  is conveniently modified to provide passages  52  for fasteners, as will be explained more fully apparent hereinafter, and to provide strengthening ribs  54 , as desired, at the top and bottom of the standard  30 . 
     Although the attachment  34  is of a commercially available type, it has an important and novel function in this invention because it allows rotation of the gun rest  28  about an axis of the tubing section on which it is mounted without requiring adjustment, tightening or loosening of any fastener. To this end, the attachment  34  comprises a conventional clamp, known in the trade as an EMT clamp, EMT meaning electrical metallic tubing. The clamp  34  comprises a relatively thick rigid plate  56 , a generally C-shaped bracket  58  having an apertured flange or tail  60  through which extends a bolt  62  secured in place by a nut  64 . Those skilled in the art will recognize the clamp  34  as 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 clamp  34  secures the gun rest  28  to its tubing section sufficiently tightly that the clamp  34  does not slip downwardly on the tubing section in response to a hunter placing the rifle  46  on the gun support  32  or in response to the vehicle driving over rugged terrain. Conversely, the clamp  34  secures the gun rest  28  to its tubing section sufficiently loosely that the clamp  34  easily rotates around the round tubing section to which it is mounted. Clearly, if the clamp  34  is not tightened sufficiently, the gun support  32  will slip downwardly on the tubing section. If the gun support  32  is 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 rest  28  to the roll cage  12  is to measure the amount of force necessary to rotate the clamps  34  on 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 rest  28  and 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 clamps  34  on the tubing section. If it takes less than about six pounds to rotate the clamps  34 , the clamps  34  are not tightened sufficiently and the gun rest  28  will not adequately support the rifle  46  when it is aimed or will slip downardly during travel over rough terrain. If it takes more than fifty pounds to rotate the clamps  34 , they are tightened too tight, cannot readily be adjusted by the hunter and have the potential to damage the roll cage tubing  14 ,  16 . Preferably, the fastener  62 ,  64  is tightened so it takes about ten to twenty pounds force to rotate the gun rest  28  on the tubing section  14 ,  16  and ideally, it takes about 15 pounds force. 
     An important feature of this invention is that the gun rest  28  may be rotated through a significant arc relative to the vehicle  10  as shown best in  FIG. 6 . As shown in the dotted circles  66 , the gun rests  28  are rotatable for 360° about the tubing sections  14 ,  16  allowing the hunter to aim in any direction. In the event the vehicle  10  were to have a closed cab, the gun rests  28  would be rotatable for an arc of about 270°, i.e. from adjacent a door  68  represented by a dashed line to adjacent a windshield  70 . 
     Use of the gun rest  28  should now be apparent. The hunter first decides which tubing section or sections the gun rest  28  will be mounted on. Conveniently, one or both of the inclined tubing sections  14 ,  16  is selected. The clamps  34  are attached to each end of the standard  30  and to the inclined tubing section and the fastener  62 ,  64  tightened as discussed above. When the vehicle  10  is driven along rough terrain, the gun support  32  initially bounces up and down and gravitates to the bottom of the standard  30  where it quits rattling. When the hunter sees something to shoot at, the vehicle is stopped. The standard  30  is rotated on the tubing section  14 ,  16  and the gun support  32  is raised along the standard  30  until it is at a desired height until the rest is at a position that is comfortable relative to the point being aimed at. The rifle  46  is placed on the gun support  32  and 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.