Patent Publication Number: US-6711846-B1

Title: Gun sight system

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to gun sights used in firearms such as rifles, pistols, shotguns and is particularly well suited to rapid fire weapons used in both competition and combat. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Gun sights are devices attached to a gun which a shooter utilizes to aim the gun at a target. The sights most commonly used in rifles, pistols and shotguns are usually notch sights, peep sights, graticule sights and telescopic sights. 
     Shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are prior art examples of notch sights. The notch sight of FIG. 1 comprises a rear sight  1  which comprises an opaque block  2  having a notch  4  formed in the upper central portion thereof. The front sight  6  comprises a blade  8 . In use, the blade  8  of the front side  6  is aligned with the top surface of the block  2  of the front sight  1  and centered in the notch  4 . 
     FIG. 2 shows another example of a notch sight which comprises substantially the same rear sight  1  made of an opaque block  2  with a notch  4  provided therein. The front sight  6 ′ comprises a cylindrical hollow tube  10 . In use, the cylindrical hollow tube  10  of the front sight  6 ′ is centered in the notch  4  of the rear sight  1 . 
     Shown in FIG. 3 is an example of a graticule sight. The graticule sight comprises a graticule pattern  12  formed on a transparent medium  14 . In use, the central portion of the graticule pattern  12  is aligned with the target. 
     The notch sights, peep sights and graticule sights have several problems caused by the way they are designed. Some of these problems are: 
     1. They require considerable practice and expense for a user to master them; 
     2. It is difficult to keep the sights aligned while moving the gun or while moving with the gun, thus making it harder to hit a target during rapid fire or during rapid fire on the move; 
     3. They are ineffective in use in low light conditions such as dusk or dawn; 
     4. Rapid target acquisition is difficult because these sights are difficult to align; and 
     5. Cover up too much area on the target. 
     As to telescopic sights, they are not suitable for rapid fire weapons because they limit or restrict the shooter&#39;s view, are slow to sight and are expensive. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages and problems of the prior art. 
     It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a gun sight which is easy to learn and master. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide a gun sight which provides accurate aiming during rapid fire of the weapon as well as precise aiming during slow fire at long distances. 
     It is yet an other object of the present invention to provide a gun sight which is easy to manufacture and relatively low in cost and which can be adapted easily to most weapons. 
     In keeping with the principles and objects of the present invention, the gun sight system of the present invention comprises a front sight portion and a rear sight portion. The rear sight portion comprises a truncated triangle and the front sight portion comprises a triangle of substantially the same size as the remaining truncated portion from the rear sight. In addition, when the front and rear sights are vertically and horizontally aligned, an image of a complete triangle is formed for the user. If the target is then placed on top of the point of the triangle of the front sight, complete alignment of the weapon and the target is achieved. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above-mentioned features and objects of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and in which: 
     FIGS. 1,  2  and  3  represent prior art gun sights; 
     FIGS.  4 ( a ),  4 ( b ) and  4 ( c ) represent simplified views of a first embodiment of the present invention in which FIG.  4 ( a ) is the rear sight, FIG.  4 ( b ) is the front sight and FIG.  4 ( c ) is the image of the aligned front and rear sights; 
     FIGS. 5,  6 ,  7  and  8  illustrate a second embodiment of the embodiment of the present invention mounted on a pistol in which FIG. 5 is a perspective view, FIG. 7 is a rear view illustrating the aligned rear and front sights and FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating the aligned sights; 
     FIG. 9 is a third embodiment of the present invention illustrating the rear sight; 
     FIG. 10 is a fourth embodiment of the present invention illustrating the rear sight; and 
     FIGS.  11 ( a ) and  11 ( b ) illustrate a fifth embodiment of the present invention wherein FIG.  11 ( a ) is the rear sight and FIG.  11 ( b ) is the front sight. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( c ), shown therein a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.  4 ( a ) is the rear sight  20  comprising an opaque truncated triangular solid  22 . The opaque truncated triangular solid  22  is truncated at the peak at  24 . The rear sight of FIG.  4 ( a ) can be mounted either vertically or at some angle inclined toward the front sight in the manner shown in the second embodiment of FIGS. 5-8 to be described below. 
     The front sight  30  is shown in FIG.  4 ( b ) and essentially comprises an opaque solid blade portion  32  and a triangular portion  34 . The triangular portion  34  appears to be the portion of the rear sight  20  which was cut off of the rear sight  20  to form the truncated triangular solid  22 . The size of the triangular portion  34  is selected so that when viewed by the user of the weapon, it appears to form a complete triangle with the rear sight  20  when horizontally and vertically aligned with the rear sight  20  as shown in FIG.  4 ( c ). In other words, the size of the triangular portion  34  is selected so that based on perspective, distance between the front sight  30  and the rear sight  20  and the distance from the user of the weapon&#39;s eye, the triangular portion  34  which maintains the same forward angle as the rear sight fits on top of the truncated triangle solid  22  when aligned vertically and horizontally to provide the user of the weapon with an image of a complete triangle substantially the same as shown in FIG.  4 ( c ). 
     It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that such an alignment of the front sight  30  and the rear sight  20  can be easily and quickly achieved with the gun sight system of the present invention. In addition, it should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the front and rear sights  30  and  20  can be easily and inexpensively manufactured from commonly available materials such as metals, plastics and ceramics. 
     Referring to FIG. 5-8, shown therein is a second embodiment of the gun sight system of the present invention. In this gun sight system of the second embodiment, the front and rear sights  30  and  20 ′, respectively, are provided on a pistol  40  shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 5-8. In this second embodiment, the front sight  30  is substantially the same as that described in the front embodiment and shown in FIG.  4 ( b ) and it is provided in a groove  42  in the top front surface of the barrel  44  of the pistol  40 . It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the front sight  30  could be mounted to the front end of the barrel of the weapon in a variety of different manners such as welding, screws, etc. 
     The rear sight  20  comprises a triangular truncated solid  22 ′. The rear surface  26  of the truncated triangular solid  22 ′ is inclined toward the front of the weapon as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Still further, the rear surface  26  is preferably provided with a groove  28  at the top in the truncated portion  24 ′. This groove  28  further enhances the speed of alignment of the rear sight  20 ′ and the front sight  30  and particularly with the triangular portion  34  of the front sight  30 . Still further, the rear surface  26  is provided with elongated contrasting rectangular markings  50 ,  52  which are provided along the edge of the truncated triangular solid  22  to also enhance the speed at which the user of the weapon can align the truncated triangular solid  22 ′ with the triangle portion  34  of the front sight  30 . These elongated rectangular markings  50  and  52  can be painted with a high contrast colors such as red or day glow orange or ultimately with a luminescent material which would glow in the dark and provide use for the weapon in low light conditions. Still further, the triangular portion  34  can also be provided with contrasting color or luminescent material in the same manner as the elongated rectangular contrasting markings  50 ,  52  on the rear sight  20 ′. The luminescent material may be a material such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,177,029 and 5,376,303. 
     The rear sight  20 ′ is mounted to a conventional windage and elevation adjustment means  54  which is provided at the rear of the pistol  40 . The rear sight  20 ′ can be attached to the windage and elevation adjustment means  54  by conventional methods such as screw, welding, adhesive, etc. In addition, the front sight can be attached to a barrel of the weapon by any conventional method. 
     In operation, the front and rear sights  30  and  20 ′ are utilized substantially the same way as the simplified sights shown in the first embodiment of FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( c ). 
     Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, shown therein are third and fourth embodiments of a rear sight of the present invention which could be utilized to further reduce the cost manufacture of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 9 comprises a rear sight  20 ″ which is a rectangular solid  60 . The rectangular solid is provided with a groove  28 ′ in the top central portion of the rectangle  60 . A truncated triangle  62  is formed on the rear surface  64  of the rectangular solid  60 . The truncated triangle  62  can be formed on the rear surface  64  utilizing any conventional method such as etching, contrasting paint, luminescent material, etc. 
     In the fourth embodiment of FIG. 10, instead of forming a complete truncated triangle  62  as in FIG. 9, a skeleton of a truncated triangle is formed by two elongated rectangular markings  50 ′ and  52 ′. These elongated triangular portions are similar to the elongated triangular markings  50  and  52  shown in the second embodiment of FIGS. 5-8. These elongated rectangular markings  50 ′ and  52 ′ can be formed also by any conventional method such as etching, contrasting paint, luminescent material, etc. 
     Still further and in operation, the rear sights  20 ″ and  20 ′″ of the third and fourth embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 function together with the front sight  30  in the same manner of the front embodiment of FIGS.  4 ( a )- 4 ( c ). 
     It should also be apparent that the sight system of the present invention could be utilized in other configurations. One such configuration would be to utilize the gun sight system of the present invention in a globe type sight. The globe type sight comprises front and rear portions each made up of hollow cylinders. Into these hollow cylinders are fitted transparent discs. Shown in FIG.  11 ( a ) is a transparent disc  70  to be placed in the hollow cylinder of the rear sight. On this transparent disc  70  is printed a truncated triangle  72 . Shown in FIG.  11 ( b ) is a transparent disc  74  which is to be placed in the hollow cylinder of the front sight. On this transparent disc  74  is printed a triangle  76 . The truncated triangle  72  together with the triangle  76  provide, respectively, the rear and front sight portions of the gun sight system of the present invention and together function in substantially the same way as the first embodiment. 
     It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments are merely representative of a few of the possible embodiments which one of ordinary skill in the art could create without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.