Patent Publication Number: US-2005115137-A1

Title: Shooter&#39;s rest

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to an apparatus for supporting a firearm and, more particularly, a shooting rest having a plurality of forks, at least one or more of which may telescope, and a plurality of supports for providing improved stability during shooting.  
      In bench rest target shooting, rifle rests are used to support a rifle during a competition. An example of one of these rests has a base with three legs, the end of each leg resting on the upper surface of the bench. The fore end of the rifle is supported by a cradle that is connected by a screw mechanism to the base, while the rear end of the rifle is supported by a sand bag. Since the target and bench supporting the rifle rest is stationery, the shooter has ample time to adjust the rifle to proper position for very accurate shooting. Several apparatuses and methods for supporting firearms are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,644,862; D471,248; 6,526,687; 6,338,218; 6,293,041; 5,933,999; 5,875,580; Des 387,123; 5,666,757; 5,644,862; 5,497,557; Des. 369,904; Des. 364,080; Des. 362,116; Des 359,392; 5,414,949; 5,402,595; 5,332,185; 5,067,268; 5,070,636; 5,058,302; 5,050,330; 4,998,944; 4,987,694; 4,967,497; 5,271,175; 5,149,900; 4,998,944; 4,971,208; 4,937,965; 4,823,673; 4,807,381; 4,776,471; Des. 257,687; 4,007,554; 4,873,777; 4,815,593; 4,702,029; 4,449,314; 3,964,613; 3,947,988; 3,913,746; 3,913,746; 3,608,225; 3,291,317; 2,877,689; 2,774;563; 2,740,530; 2,121,982; 5,640,944; 5,482,241; 5,370,240; 5,125,389; 3,584,820; 3,055,655; and 4,702,029. All of these patents are incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof.  
      Note in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,218B1, an apparatus for supporting a firearm in a shooting position is shown. The apparatus has a base and a mounting member. The firearms support mechanism supports the firearm in a position above the mounting member. A connecting mechanism interconnects the mounting member and the base. U.S. Design Pat. D471,248 shows a device having three points of support.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for supporting a firearm in a shooting position. The apparatus has a base, the primary components of which are molded.  
      In one aspect of the invention, the invention comprises a firearm support apparatus having a plurality of supports for engaging a surface and which cooperate with a plurality of supports on a rear portion of the shooting rest. The supports cooperate to provide a stable gun rest that reduces or eliminates the need for additional stability objects, such as sand bags, clamps and the like.  
      In another aspect, this invention comprises a gun rest comprising a front base comprising a front fork and a plurality of supports separated by a first support distance; and a rear base comprising a rear fork and a second plurality of supports separated by a second support distance, the second support distance being less than the first support distance.  
      In still another aspect, this invention comprises a gun rest comprising a support having a first base having a first fork and further comprising a first plurality of supports and a second base having a second fork and further comprising a second plurality of supports, the first and second plurality of supports being arranged to define a trapezoid and the support being molded from a polymer.  
      In yet another aspect, this invention comprises a method for supporting a gun comprising the steps of pivoting a first support relative to a second support in response to a surface on which the first and second supports are situated and clamping the first and second supports together.  
      These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , illustrating the device used as a rifle rest;  
       FIG. 3  is a fragmentary view illustrating the device as it may be used with a handgun;  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view illustrating various features of the invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a plan view illustrating a handle for carrying the rest; and  
       FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , a shooting rest  10  in accordance with one embodiment of the invention will now be described.  FIG. 1  illustrates the shooting rest  10  in assembled view, while  FIG. 4  illustrates the shooting rest in an exploded view. The shooting rest  10  has a front base  12  which is molded in a one-piece construction of a polymer or plastic. The base  12  has a fork having a threaded shaft  16 .  
      The base  12  comprises a tubular member  20  having a threaded opening  22  for threadably receiving a bolt  24 . A nut  26  is received on the threaded shaft  16  and provides means for raising and lowering the fork  18 . The fork  18  provides a barrel rest for a rifle or a handgun as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Note that the threaded shaft  16  has a channel  28  that receives and cooperates with the threaded screw  24  so that, as the nut  26  is rotated to cause the fork  18  to raise or lower, an end  24   a  of threaded screw  24  prevents the shaft  16  from rotating, thereby enabling the fork  18  to raise and lower as the nut  26  is rotated in either a counter-clockwise or clockwise direction. If desired, once the fork  18  is situated at the desired height, the screw  24  can be tightened all the way into engagement against the shaft  16  to lock the shaft  16  into position. Although not shown, the rifle supporting member  19  may be comprised of a rubber coating or material  19  that is adhered to the base  21  in order to protect the stock  32  or barrel  30  of rifle  34  ( FIG. 2 ).  
      As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the shooter&#39;s rest  10  also comprises a rear support  36  having a stock support  38  comprised of a rubber coating or other polymer material and adhered to the rear support  36 . Note that the support  36  comprises a tubular member  40  that is received in an aperture  42  which is defined by a first shaft support  44 , which is molded into the front support  12 , and a second support or clamp  46 . The second support or clamp  46  has a pair of threaded apertures  50  receiving screws  52  in order to clamp onto the tubular member  40  the rear support  36  to the front support  12  after the rear support  36  is telescoped to the desired position. This is accomplished by simply tightening the screws  52  until the inner surface  46   c  of the shaft support  46  engages the shaft  40 . Note that the tubular member  40  permits the front support  12  to lie in a different plane than the rear support  36  because the supports  12  and  36  can be pivoted or rotated about axis A before the screws  50  are tightened to cause clamp  46  to clamp the tubular member  40 . This enables the rest  10  to provide stable support on uneven surfaces.  
      After the components are assembled and the various screws  24 ,  26  and  50  are tightened, the supports  18  and  36  become locked together to provide a shooting rest for a rifle as illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  5  and  6 . If it is desired to use the shooting rest  10  as a handgun rest, then the support  36  may be removed and the device used in the manner illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Note that the shooter rest  10  comprises a planar area  54  for receiving and supporting a butt end  56  of a handgun  58 , as best illustrated in  FIG. 3 .  
      As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the shooter rest  10  comprises a plurality of support pads  60 ,  62 ,  64  and  66  which provide improvements and stability over the prior art. Note that the pads  60 - 66  cooperate to define a trapezoid area as shown in  FIG. 5 . Note in this regard that a distance SW 2  between the rear supports is narrower than the front support SW 1  as shown in  FIG. 6 . In the embodiment being described, the distance SW 1  is on the order of about 18 inches while the support with SW 2  is on the order of about 5.6 inches. Thus, in the embodiment being described, the support pads  60  and  62  have a wider separation than the pads  64  and  66  as shown. It has been found that provided more than three supports improves the overall stability toward the rear of the shooting rest provides greater stability, without the need for separate clamps, sand bags and the like. The overall weight of the rest  10  is less than about 5 pounds, and the overall length of the rest  10  is about 25.9 inches fully-telescoped. The length of the rest  10  is on the order of about 22 inches when in a non-telescoped position.  
      As further illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , note that the shooter rest  10  further comprises a handle  70  which is molded into the support member  12  as shown. The molded handle  70  makes it convenient to carry.  
      Advantageously, this shooter&#39;s rest improves over the systems of the prior art by providing a stable rest having a plurality of supports at least two of which are distributed across a front fork in a direction generally perpendicular to an axis A ( FIG. 5 ) of the shooter&#39;s rest  10 . Providing a plurality of contacts  60 - 66  on the support  12  and the support  36  has been found to improve the stability of the device during shooting.  
      Advantageously, this system also provides a shooter&#39;s rest molded from a plastic or polymer material which is light-weight and does not require other means for stabilizing the device once it is situated on a surface, such as clamps, sand bags or the like.  
      While the apparatus described herein, constitutes preferred embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made in either without departing from the scope of the inventions, which is defined in the appended claims.