Patent Publication Number: US-6658781-B1

Title: Grip for firearms

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Firearms such as pistols, revolvers and rifles are commonly used not only for hunting but also for competitive target shooting. Especially in the latter case, accuracy is extremely important and it is vital that the user hold the firearm as steady as possible in order to achieve maximum accuracy. 
     Typically, shooters of handguns will use one hand to grip the firearm, as there is no additional grip on the handgun to allow the other hand to hold and steady it. Of course, in the case of rifles, the user will place the butt of the firearm against a shoulder and grip the firearm so that the trigger finger can be placed against the trigger while the weapon is steadied with the other hand by placing it on the stock beneath the barrel in an unnatural twisted and skewed holding position. This typical hold position creates excessive muscle and tendon tension resulting in involuntary movement of the hold hand, arm and wrist. This excessive movement results in shot placement inaccuracies. 
     It is desirable that the weapon be held as comfortably and as steadily as possible in order to achieve maximum accuracy. There is therefore a need for an improved manner of gripping and holding handguns and rifles to improve the accuracy of aiming the firearm and to provide for holding it steady when it is fired. Handgun accuracy can be improved by using a two-hand separated hold. Accuracy can also be improved by keeping the hold hand, arm and wrist of a handgun or rifle shooter in a natural and comfortable untwisted, non-skewed position. Any device that is used in connection with a handgun or rifle should not only be comfortable, but it should be easy to attach and remove when the firearm is not in use. 
     It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide an additional grip so that the user can hold and maintain a handgun or rifle as steady as possible to improve and maintain accuracy in aiming and shooting. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a grip that can be easily attached to and removed from a handgun or a rifle. In the case of a handgun, the grip is easily slipped onto the gun frame ahead of the trigger guard, and it extends downwardly with the exterior surface containing soft and comfortable finger grips for the non-firing hand of the user. In the case of a rifle, the grip is provided at its upper end with a quick detachable mechanism that can be quickly attached and removed from the conventional mounting base on the under side of the forearm area of a conventional rifle stock. The mounting base of a conventional rifle is provided for attachment of a sling, and the grip of the invention provides at its lower end an area for re-attachment of the sling. In this manner, the grip can be attached to the underside of the stock of the rifle and the sling attached to the bottom of the grip. The grip is provided with a soft material on its exterior surface with finger grips so that the rifle can be comfortably gripped by the user and the rifle held steady during aiming and shooting. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the grip of the invention detached from a handgun such as a revolver; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the grip of the invention attached to the revolver; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the grip of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the grip of the invention viewing it when it is attached to the handgun; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the grip of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention for attachment to a rifle and showing the grip assembly of the invention assembled to the rifle; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the grip assembly of the invention, the figure showing an exploded view of the grip and sling mechanism; 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the grip of the invention showing it attached to the underside of the stock of the rifle with the sling attached to the bottom of the grip; 
     FIG. 9 is a view showing the grip assembly with the core portion separated and showing these components in a perspective view; 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the core portion of the grip assembly and showing the component of the locking mechanism; 
     FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of yet another embodiment of the grip assembly of the invention; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the grip assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 11 showing the assembly from the front containing the finger recesses; and 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the grip assembly of the embodiment of FIG. 11 showing the assembly from the rear. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring first to FIGS. 1-5, there are shown views of the embodiment of the invention for use in connection with a handgun such as a revolver  10 . The revolver  10  that is shown is a conventional revolver which has a barrel  12  extending outwardly and forwardly from the main frame  14  to which is attached a downwardly extending handle or grip  16 . Extending downwardly from the main frame  14  is a trigger guard  18 . As is well known, the user of the revolver will grip the weapon by holding the handle  16  so that the trigger finger can extend inside of the trigger guard  18  ready to fire the weapon when it is aimed. To aim the weapon, the user will extend his or her arm forwardly so that the weapon can be aimed using the sight  20  at the forward end of the barrel  12 . It is obvious to anyone that has used a handgun that to steady the handgun in such a position for aiming and firing is somewhat difficult. Especially, when the weapon is used in competitive target shooting, accuracy is extremely important and it becomes vital that the user hold the weapon as steady as possible so that it can properly aimed at the target and fired when ready. 
     The invention provides an additional grip, indicated generally by the reference numeral  22 , that can be quickly attached and detached from the revolver  10 . As shown in the drawings, the grip  22  has a central core  24  formed of a solid rigid material such as metal or hard plastic. The core has an upper surface  26  that is substantially flat and of a width approximately the same as the bottom edge of the main frame  14  of the revolver  10 . The core  24  also has a rear surface  28  shaped to fit closely to the forward edge  30  of the trigger guard  18 . The lower portion  32  of the grip assembly  22  surrounds the core  24  and is formed of a relatively soft material containing finger recesses  34  in the forward side to provide a comfortable grip for the user&#39;s hand. Although the drawings show the grip assembly  22  to be somewhat cylindrical in shape, any other shape that would be comfortable for the user&#39;s hand could also be used. The upper portion  36  of the grip assembly  22  is bifurcated and extends upwardly beyond the upper surface  26  of the core  24 . The interior surfaces  38  of the upper portion  36  are substantially flat and spaced apart to provide a tight fit over the lower portion of the main frame  14  when the grip assembly  22  is in place as shown in FIG.  2 . The upper portion  36  also is preferably made of a material such as rubber or pliable plastic so as to provide a snug fit around the main frame  14  of the revolver  10  when the grip assembly  22  is in place. When properly positioned on the revolver  10 , as shown in FIG. 2, the interior surfaces  38  extend alongside of the main frame  14  and because of the tight fit will grip the side surfaces of the main frame  14 . The bottom edge of the main frame  14  will rest on the upper surface  26  of the core  24  while the rear surface  28  of core  24  will engage the forward surface of the trigger guard  18 . When thus properly positioned, the grip assembly  22  of the invention will allow the user to place the other hand (the hand other than the one gripping the handle  16  of the revolver  10 ) so that the aiming and firing of the revolver  10  can be maintained in a steady, constant position more easily than when the revolver  10  is gripped using only a single hand. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 6-10 of the drawings, there is shown a second embodiment of the invention in which a grip assembly constructed according to the invention is adapted for use in connection with a firearm such as a rifle. Only a portion of a conventional rifle is shown which has a barrel  40  beneath which is a wooden or plastic stock  42 . As best seen in FIG. 7, a mounting base  44  is attached to the underside of the stock  42  in any suitable manner such as by inserting the threaded attachment pin  46  into the stock  42  and securing it and locking it into place on the top side using the nut  48 . When in place, the mounting base  44  will extend downwardly from the underneath of the stock  42 . The mounting base  44  has an opening  50  extending laterally through it as best seen in FIG.  7 . 
     As best shown in FIGS. 7,  8 ,  9  and  10 , the grip assembly  52  of the invention has a core  54  of a solid rigid material similar to that of the first embodiment described above. The core  54  is covered with a covering  56  of soft pliable material such as rubber or polyurethane plastic that has finger recesses  58  formed in the forward surface of the grip assembly  52 . The grip assembly  52  thus provides a comfortable grip for the hand of the user. As best seen in FIG. 10, the core  54  has formed with it an upwardly extending portion  60  having an opening  62  formed in it which opening  62  is adapted to receive a pin  64  affixed to it. A second pin  66  extends through a lateral opening  68  just beneath the opening  62  in the upper portion  60  of core  54 . The outer end of pin  66  is affixed to a retainer  70  which has an opening  72  formed in it. The diameter of opening  72  is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the pin  64 . Pin  66  has a coil spring  74  positioned around it and a lock sleeve  76  positioned around the outer end of the pin  66 . Spring  74  is positioned inside of opening  68  and engages a shoulder  78  formed by the enlarged head of the pin  66 . Lock sleeve  76  with internal threads is turned onto the exterior threaded shoulder  78  of pin  66 . The spring  74  therefore biases the pin  66  toward the lock sleeve  76 , and since the outer end of the pin  66  is attached to the retainer  70 , the retainer will normally be positioned against the side  80  of the core  54 . However, when the pin  66  is pushed inwardly, it will force the retainer  70  outwardly away from the core  54  and allow the locking sleeve  76  to be gripped and turned, thus turning the retainer  70  upwardly so that it can engage the pin  64  which will then be seated in the opening  72 . As best seen in FIG. 9, the retainer  70  when in the unlocked position will extend forwardly and be disengaged from the pin  64 . This quick detachable assembly that has just been described permits the grip assembly  52  to be quickly and easily attached to and detached from the mounting base  44 . In other words, with the retainer  70  in its unlocked position as shown in FIG. 9, the pin  64  is slipped through the opening  50  in the mounting base  44  after which the lock sleeve  76  is depressed and turned so that the retainer  70  can be swung upwardly until it engages the pin  64 , and when the lock sleeve  76  is released, the spring  74  will move the retainer  70  onto the pin  64  and maintain it in a locked position. 
     Since the conventional rifle has a sling  82  with a ring  84  typically attached to the mounting base  44 , when it is desired to use the grip assembly  52  of the invention, the sling  82  and ring  84  will have to be detached from the mounting base  44 . To facilitate this, a similar locking mechanism to that just described is used. As best seen in FIG. 7, the bottom of the grip assembly  52  has a mounting  86  having an opening  88  extending through it which mounting  86  is similar to the mounting base  44 . The mounting  86  is formed as or permanently attached to the bottom of the grip assembly  52 . A locking assembly  90  substantially identical to that just described is then removably attached to the mounting  86  with the ring  84  of sling  82  affixed to the locking mechanism  90  by extending the ring  84  through the opening formed in the main base  92  of the locking mechanism  90 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 11,  12  and  13 , there is shown another embodiment of the invention in which a rigid core is molded in two parts and then the soft flexible grip portion is over-molded. In this embodiment, the core has a front pre-molded portion  100  and a pre-molded rear portion  102 . The drawings show the particular configuration of the core portions  100  and  102  which, as shown, are designed to be easily molded by an injection molding process. Each of the portions  100  and  102  are hollow and thus contain strengthening ribs  104 , although the ribs for the portion  100  are not shown in FIG. 11 because of the orientation of the view. Portion  100  contains at its lower end locking tabs  106  that engage corresponding male locking tabs  108  at the lower portion of the core portion  102 . The portions  100  and  102  are molded to receive and hold in place a quick detach mechanism similar to that described with reference to the second embodiment of the invention. However, the quick detach mechanism  110  shown in FIGS. 11-13 is the mechanism shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,267. The formation of the molded core portions  100  and  102  contain recesses to receive the quick detach mechanism  110  when the core portions  100  and  102  are assembled and locked together using the locking tabs  106  and  108 . The quick detach mechanism  110  operates in the same manner as the second embodiment and as fully and completely described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,267. 
     Also received in the bottom of the core portion  102  is an insert  112  that is preformed and inserted into a corresponding opening in the bottom of core portion  102  and retained tightly by an interference bit. A stud post  114  and O-ring  116  are threaded into the insert  112  during the assembly process. 
     Once the insert  112  is pressed into place in the core portion  102  and the core portion  102  is joined to the core portion  100  with the quick detach mechanism  110  engaged between portions  100  and  102 , the core portions  100  and  102  are further held in assembled condition by use of fastener  118  which is threaded through the core portion  100  and into a threaded recess  120  in the core portion  102 . When thus assembled, the quick detach mechanism  110  is firmly held in place by the core portions  100  and  102 . 
     The core formed by the core portions  100  and  102  is then covered by the soft covering  122  which is molded over the assembled core assembly. FIG. 10 shows the covering  122  split into two portions for purposes of clarity. FIGS. 12 and 13 are views of the finally assembled and completed grip assembly. When thus assembled, the stud post  114  provides for mounting of the sling of the rifle by use of the opening  124  in the stud post, similar to that described with reference to the second embodiment. 
     From the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that there has been provided a simple, easily used grip that can be attached to and readily removed from a rifle, revolver or other firearm. Once positioned and assembled to the firearm, the grip assembly of the embodiments of the invention provides a means by which the user can use the other hand to grasp the firearm and hold it steadily in position for more accurate aiming and shooting. The grip assembly of the invention is comfortable for the user, inexpensive to manufacture, and provides a substantial advantage in steadying the weapon for aiming and shooting. 
     Having thus described the invention in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various revisions can be made to the preferred embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is my intention, however, that all such revisions and modifications that are evident to those skilled in the art will be included within the scope of the following claims.