Abstract:
An apparatus for preventing the dropping of a handgun during use thereof is shown firstly by detachable a lanyard type of device and alternatively by a locking mechanism that replaces one of the handgrips of the handgun to be used in conjunction with a special glove with an attachment thereon that can be received into the locking mechanism to hold the gun from separation from the glove until such time that the locking device is intentionally unlocked so that the glove can be separated from the locking device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/778,585 filed Mar. 13, 2013 entitled “Apparatus for Prevention of Dropping of Handgun” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to an apparatus to prevent a hand gun user from dropping his or her weapon during use. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    During the operation of shooting a firearm such as a handgun, typically the operator grabs the weapon from a holster and holds the weapon in their hand during use. In general, after firing or during use, the weapon can be dropped, lost or dislodged from the operator&#39;s hand, leaving the operator vulnerable in a firefight situation. Without the weapon, the operator is defenseless and unable to protect himself/herself or others. 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,522 to Norton; U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,884 to Salvitti, U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,371 to Chu; U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,986 to Roush and Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0278262 to Gallagher, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, address the aforementioned problem to some extent but suggest solutions that are quite cumbersome to use during the urgency of battle. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there is a need for simpler and more reliable solutions to the problem. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The above needs are at least partially met through provision of the method and apparatus described in the following detailed description, particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a handgun having a first embodiment of the present invention attached thereto; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the present embodiment of  FIG. 1  in use; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged partial side view of the circled part labeled “3” in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3A  is a cross sectional view taken through pin shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3B  is a cross sectional view like  FIG. 3A  but with the button pushed in to move a cam to allow spherical cam members to move inwardly; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  shown separated from the handgun; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  but showing what happens if the handgun becomes dislodged from the users hand during use thereof; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the glove portion of the second embodiment of the present invention when not on the hand of a user; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a glove portion of a second embodiment of the present invention shown on the hand of a user; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a side elevational view of a handgun using the second embodiment of the present invention, which is used in combination with the glove shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a side elevational exploded view of the handle part of the handgun of  FIG. 8  with the normal hand grips removed in readiness to receive a latching mechanism of the second embodiment; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of  FIG. 8  just before a user with the glove of  FIGS. 6 and 7  would grasp the handgun from a holster showing how an enlarged metal button structure would be close to, but not in a slot in which it is designed to be received; 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of  FIG. 10  when the button of the glove of  FIGS. 6 and 7  has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism but before the button is locked into the locking mechanism; 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of  FIG. 11  when the glove of  FIGS. 6 and 7  has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism and is locked into the locking mechanism; 
           [0021]      FIG. 13  is a view taken along line  13 - 13  of  FIG. 12  to show that the button of the glove of  FIGS. 6 and 7  has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism and is locked into the locking mechanism; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun like  FIG. 11  but showing the locking mechanism completely retracted so the button can be received in the cavity or slot as shown in  FIG. 13 , but before the locking mechanism moves back to the  FIG. 12  position. 
       
    
    
       [0023]    Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0024]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts throughout the several views,  FIGS. 1-5  show an apparatus  10  constructed in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention to prevent the dropping of a handgun during use. 
         [0025]    A handgun  11  has a flange  13  attached to the handle thereof as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  5 . The flange  13  has an opening  13   a  therein to receive a pin  14   a  of pin  14 . Small metal balls  14   b  lock the pin  14   a  from being removed from the opening  13   a  in flange  13  so long as the button  14   c  is not pushed in. To release the pin  14   a  from the flange  13 , one would just hold the handle portions  14   h  with one&#39;s fingers while pushing in (to the left in  FIG. 3 ) so that a cam inside the pin part  14   a  does not push the balls  14   b  outwardly to the position shown in  FIG. 3 . These locking pins  14  are on the commercial market and are available from many different sources, such as Kwik-Loc™ pins from Jergens Industrial Supply, or Ball-Lok® pins from Avibank Manufacturing, Inc. Other types of pins can be used instead of the specific type of locking pin shown in  FIGS. 1-5  if desired. 
         [0026]    The handle  14   h  has a hole in it and a cable  15  is attached there through it on one end of the cable  15 . The other end of the cable  15  is attached to a wrist band  16 , which can be made of a solid plastic material with some elastic properties so it can be slipped over a user&#39;s hand for example. But the strap  16  could be a Velcro® brand nylon strap or any other type of reliable strap. 
         [0027]    The projection ( 14   b ) is a spherical member disposed in a hole ( 14   h ) in the pin ( 14 ), the hole ( 13   a ) being smaller than the spherical member ( 14   b ) to allow the spherical member ( 14   b ) to project from the hole ( 14   h ) in a first position ( FIG. 3A ) thereof but not fall out of the hole. The spherical member ( 14   b ) has a second position ( FIG. 3B ) not projecting significantly out of the hole ( 14   x ). A cam member ( 14   c ) is disposed at least partially inside of the pin ( 14 ) and is biased by a compression spring ( 14   s ) to a first position ( FIG. 3A ) wherein the spherical member ( 14   b ) is pushed to the first position thereof and the cam ( 14   c ) is moveable to a second position ( FIG. 3B ) thereof permitting the spherical member ( 14   b ) to move to the second position thereof. An enlarged portion on one end of the pin is a handle ( 14   h ), the handle having a button, part of cam ( 14   c ), thereon attached to the cam ( 14   c ) and being moveable with the cam ( 14   c ). 
         [0028]    In use of the embodiment  10  of  FIGS. 1-5  a user would have the strap  16  around the user&#39;s hand as shown in  FIG. 2 , but can place the handgun in a holster, not shown. The user would then just push on the pin  14   c  and remove the pin  14   a  from the flange  13  until such time the user decides that the device is needed. At such time the user would grasp the handgun  11  from the holster, push on the pin  14   c  and insert the pin  14   a  into the flange  13  as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . The user could then use and fire the handgun  11  as shown in  FIG. 2  with one or two hands. If for any reason the handgun  11  would be dislodged from the user&#39;s hand, it would still be tethered to the user&#39;s wrist as shown in  FIG. 5 . That way the user could quickly place the handgun back in the user&#39;s hand in the position shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0029]      FIGS. 6-14  show an apparatus  110  constructed in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention to prevent the dropping of a handgun during use. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 6 and 7  show a right handed glove  100  with a rivet type button  101  that could be attached to the glove similar to the way that metal buttons are attached to the top front of Levis® brand blue jeans, though the present invention is not limited to that manner of attaching the button  101  to the glove. 
         [0031]    The glove  100  of  FIGS. 6 and 7  would be used in conjunction with a locking mechanism  201  attached to the right side of the hand grip of a handgun  100 . It will of course be understood that a left side device could also be used in conjunction with a left handed glove similar to that shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
         [0032]    Looking to  FIG. 9 , the locking mechanism has a first member  202  that is attached by first by screw/bolt  202   a  to the handle of the handgun  200  after the original handgrip (not shown) on that side of the handgun  200  has been removed. Then a second assembly part  203  shown in  FIG. 9  would be attached to the first member  202  by a screw/bolt  202   b  and the fact that a pin  205  that pivotally attaches a locking member  204  to the assembly part  203  fits into an opening  205   a  in first member  202 . 
         [0033]    A compression spring  204   s  is attached at one end  204   sa  to the member  203  and at the other end  204   sb  to the lever  204  so as to bias the lever  204  to the position shown in  FIG. 10  but allow the lever  204  to move out of the way from the  FIG. 10  position to the  FIG. 14  position. Then as the rivet portion  101   r  of the button  101  moves to the  FIG. 11  position it will push the lever portion  204   a  out of the way until the rivet portion  101   r  is moved into opening or cavity  203   c  as shown in  FIG. 13 . Once the rivet portion  101   r  is in the  FIG. 12  position, the compression spring  204   s  will push the lever  204  back to the FIG.  10 / 12  position, thereby locking the gun  200  to the glove  100 , even though some pivoting of the gun with respect to the glove can occur. It is to be understood that instead of using a compression spring  204   s , a torsion spring around the pin  205  could be used, or a tension spring pulling the bottom part of the lever  204  to the right as shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0034]    The gun  200  could then be used without fear of it ever dropping out of the user&#39;s hand. And when the user decides that he/she wants to remove the glove  100  from the handgun  200 , the user would merely need to move the lever portion  204   b  from the position shown in  FIGS. 8 ,  10  and  12  to the position shown in  FIG. 14  by moving the lever  204   b  to the left from the  FIG. 12  position to the  FIG. 14  position to allow the rivet  101   b  to be moved to the left out of the slot  203   s , at which time the lever  204   b  can be released. 
         [0035]    Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept as expressed by the attached claims.