Patent Publication Number: US-9423208-B1

Title: Vertical foregrip pepper spray device

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to pepper spray devices in general. More specifically to a vertical foregrip for a rifle with a pepper spray canister inside and activating provisions to discharge the pepper spray. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Previously, many types of pepper spray devices have been used in endeavoring to provide an effective means for non-lethal self protection. 
     The prior art listed below did not disclose patents that possess any of the novelty of the instant invention; however the following U.S. patents are considered related: 
     Patent Number Inventor Issue Date 
     
         
         U.S. Pat. No. 9,170,073 B2 Mangold Oct. 27, 2015 
         U.S. Pat. No. 7,644,839 B2 McNulty, Jr. Jan. 12, 2010 
         2006/0120009 A1 Chudy, II Jun. 8, 2006 
         U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,779 B2 Bauer et al. Dec. 9, 2003 
         U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,661 B1 Staubs Apr. 15, 2003 
         U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,548 Lidaescher Nov. 16, 1999 
         U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,628 Teetzel Aug. 4, 1998 
       
    
     Mangold in U.S. Pat. No. 9,170,073 B2 teaches a rifle or pistol slide activated mounted pepper spray device that attached to a picatinny rail. A can of pepper spray slips into a grip that activates the pepper spray when it is pulled toward the user. A lock system and a buffer spring are included. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,644,839 B2 issued to McNulty, Jr. reveals a housing for mounting on a pistol, or other weapon, also used by itself. A canister is installed in the housing and releases an irritant spray when a digit is pressed against the side of the storage cylinder. The housing needs no other mechanisms except the housing and canister. In some other embodiments an actuator compresses a spring-loaded pusher to move the cylinder in the longitudinal axis to release the spray. 
     Bauer et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,658,779 B2 discloses a weapon system with a firearm barrel that may propel a projectile and also non-lethal means ejecting a stream of fluid parallel to the barrel. The system houses a pressurized canister with a nozzle for the release of a fluid. The canister, nozzle and trigger may be removably mounted on said firearm. 
     Lidaescher in U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,548 teaches a combination lethal/non-lethal firearm which fires bullets and a canister unit attachment for tear gas or pepper gas. A top portion is attached to the underside and trigger guard of the firearm. A force pad on the trigger guard communicates with an actuating button on the canister propelling the chemical agent. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,628 issued to Teetzel is for an apparatus fitted to handguns and rifles. The apparatus utilizes a chassis containing a chemical module that houses MACE or tear gas. For a conventional handgun the hand grips are replaced with electronic controls, waterproof switches and a power source. The apparatus can also be activated at a distance from the firearm using an infrared activation control. 
     For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention is related reference may be made to the remaining cited patent application publication and patent issued to Chudy, II 2006/0120009 A1 and Staubs U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,661 B1. 
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     The use of a vertical pistol grip on the forearm of a rifle has been vastly popular for some time in this country since the AR type of firearms have been available in all states. Many pistol grip configurations have been used in size and shape, such as straight, hinged laterally or hinged longitudinally, stout, cylindrical and ergonomically with all sharing the same attachment to a picatinny rail. Non-lethal sprays have been on the market for decades with all types of atomized liquids such as the well known tear gas, MACE, so called (CN) and (CS) sprays including the now current (OC) pepper spray. A myriad of holders and dispensers are presently marketed for accepting a cartridge or, aerosol container holding the spray media. These devices include additional items that are connected to or essentially incorporated within, such as a flat base, finger grooves, a belt clip, a key chain, a key ring and straps with hook and loop closures as well as other useful configurations and superficial enhancements. 
     It is therefore the primary object and novelty of the invention is to incorporate two separate functions or uses in the same device. The utility of having a vertical pistol grip on a specific type of firearm is well known and presently utilized by many. The addition of a non-lethal spray is indeed new, novel and unique. While the AR type firearms are ideal in configuration as the later models include a free float handguard having a built in picatinny rail on multiple sides, at least on the top and bottom. Other existing rifle and long guns could easily be modified by the addition of a picatinny rail on the bottom of the stock fore end. 
     An important aspect of the invention provides a non-lethal option which is already incorporated within the vertical pistol grip. Firing the rifle with live ammunition would be used only as the last resort. This aspect is particularly applicable to law enforcement, however for self defense the same function and benefit is achieved. It is easy to modify an AR type firearm to contain an attachment rail to the bottom of the forearm by simply replacing the existing handguard with an aftermarket quad free-float handguard in the carbine, mid length and rifle length. 
     Another attribute of the invention sprays from bottom of grip, and operates in any position, upright, upside down, or sideways and everything in between. The majority of containers holding liquid, and the like, have a quill that penetrates to its bottom permitting the media to be forced to the top by the pressure of the propellant. Conversely the instant invention utilizes a container that separates the pepper spray media from the propellant such that the pepper spray pressurized aerosol container is operable in any angular displacement. This functional operation is particularly important to law enforcement personnel. 
     Still another feature of the invention is that the foregrip pepper spray device may be released easily and quickly utilizing a quick release assembly which consists of an eccentric cam handle complete with an attached threaded rod, a separate rail keeper and a separate knurled nut. The cam action locks the rod against the nut holding the keeper in place. Relocating the device is also easy if more than one person is using the same firearm and requires the distance between the buttstock foregrip to be changed allowing the device to be comfortably positioned. 
     A further aspect of the invention is the straightforward insertion and replacement of the aerosol container. When the container is originally installed within the device it is not attached and would be resting on its base. The container is inserted into the hollow top of the body until the retaining latch snaps over the containers bottom rim and simultaneously the outlet stem enters the stem chamber over the O-rings creating a seal. To replace the container the device is removed from the firearm rail with the quick release assembly and the operator inserts a finger into the hollow of the body and presses the retaining latch to unlock the container which is manually pulled out through the top of the device. 
     An attribute of the invention is in the safe and easy way to operate the device. When the device is installed on the picatinny rail the operators hand grips the body with his fingers wrapped around the cylindrical portion and the thumb engages the safety mechanism. If an occurrence demands the device to be activated and eject the pepper spray forward, the operator then removes his thumb from the safety mechanism and inserts it into the thumb opening formed within the body moving the safety away against slight spring pressure. At the same time the operator presses the top of the container downwardly until the outlet stem is forced inwardly ejecting the pepper spray through the internal conduit onto the outlet orifice. 
     A final feature of the device that it is ambidextrous in that the device is triggered with the thumb and as both sides of the hollow body contains a thumb opening it makes no difference which thumb is used an there is no need to create directions as it is intuitively obvious in function. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is the vertical foregrip pepper spray device mounted on a modern sporting rifle. 
         FIG. 3  a top view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  a rear view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  a bottom view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  a right side view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  a left side view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  a front view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a cross sectional view taken along an imaginary centerline of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 10  is a partial enlarged portion of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view partial isometric view of the vertical foregrip pepper spray device in the preferred embodiment. 
     
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
     The best mode for carrying out the invention is presented in terms of a preferred embodiment. This preferred embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 1  thorough  11  and is comprised of a hollow body  20  with a cylindrical portion  22  providing a vertical gripping surface  24  for an operator along with dispensing a volume of pepper spray. A raised forefinger grip  26  and an indentation  28  are integrally formed on the forward upper outside surface of the hollow body  20 . The hollow body is made of a material such as aluminum, impact resilient polymer or thermoplastic overmolded on a metallic body, however other materials suitable for the purpose may be used with equal utility. 
     The hollow body  20  includes an integral base  30  which is used for resting on a solid surface and also to provide an extended surface for discharging the pepper spray away from an operator while eliminating any damage to the attached firearm. The integral base  30  incorporates a flat bottom surface  32 , flat sides  34 , a radial front surface  36  and a radial back surface  38 , as depicted in  FIGS. 3  though  8 . 
     A picatinny rail female groove  40  is formed into the hollow body  20  and is used to attach the device  10  onto a firearm picatinny rail  42 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . A modern sporting rifle  86  normally contains a free float handguard with rails incorporated in a plurality of positions, further any conventional long gun may easily contain an to aftermarket picatinny rail  42  attached to the underside of the forestock.  FIG. 2  illustrates a so called AR type of a modern sporting rifle and it is depicted in dashed lines as it is basically the workpiece for the device  10 . 
     The picatinny rail female groove  40  includes a quick release assembly  44 ; shown best in  FIG. 11 , for attachment to the rifle picatinny rail  42 . The quick release assembly  44  comprises of an eccentric cam handle  46  with an attached threaded rod, a separate rail keeper  48  and a separate knurled nut  50 . 
     An upper outside surface of said hollow body  20  has a thumb opening  52  permitting manual activation of the device  10 . The thumb opening  52  is protected by a safety mechanism to eliminate accidental operation of the pepper spray device  10  therefore the safety mechanism blocks an aft end of the thumb opening  52 . While the preferred safety mechanism consists of a safety door  54  it is anticipated that, any or all types, of equivalent safety devices may be used without difficulty. A myriad of safeties are well know in the art, such as a rotating safety, a sliding safety with detents, a wedge or bar block covering an opening, a sliding round pin, an eccentric cam, a manual lever, and the like. The preferred safety door  54 , is shown in  FIG. 9  and the exploded view of  FIG. 11 , and is hinged on the doors upper portion which is retained by a roll pin  56  along with a torsion spring  58  for holding the safety door  54  closed until it is manually opened with an operators thumb placed through the thumb opening  52 . 
     A pepper spray pressurized aerosol container  60  is disposed, within the hollow of the body  20  and has a outlet stem  62  with the pepper spray media consisting of oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper spray or related capsaicinoids (CN) or the preferred (CS) spray. The aerosol container  60  is retained in the hollow body  20  with a spring loaded latch consisting of a separate retaining latch  64  having a spring bore  66 , a latch pin  68  and a compression spring  70  interfacing into the latch spring bore  66 . During installation the container  60  forces the latch  64  to compress against the hollow body  20  until it is completely inserted when the latch  64  is urged by the spring  70  into a at rest position on top of the container  60  producing a locked condition. 
     A conduit  72  is formed within the integral base  30  for directing pepper spray from the aerosol container  60  to discharge in a forward direction from the base  30  of the pepper spray device  10 , as depicted in cross section of  FIG. 9 . The conduit  72  has a stem chamber  74 , a vertical conduit portion  76 , a horizontal conduit portion  78  and a countersunk outlet spray orifice  80 . The stem chamber  74  has at least one O-ring groove  82  with an elastomeric O-ring  84 , preferably two, for isolating the pepper spray pressurized aerosol container  60  and the pepper spray outlet stem  62 . As the pepper spray pressurized container  60  is under a constant force and the outlet stem  62  is spring loaded closed, when the container  60  is manually depressed the outlet stem  62  opens and the pepper spray is discharged until unconstrained. 
     In operation the device  10  may be activated and eject the pepper spray forward, the operator simply moves his thumb against the safety mechanism and inserts it through the thumb opening  52  formed in the body  20  moving the safety door  54  away against slight spring pressure. At the same time the operator presses the top of the container  60  downwardly until the outlet stem  62  is forced inwardly ejecting the pepper spray through the internal conduit  72  onto the outlet orifice  80 . 
     While the invention has been described in complete detail and pictorially shown in the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited to such details, since many changes and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it is described to cover any and all modifications and forms which may come within the language and scope of the appended claims.