Patent Publication Number: US-9841254-B2

Title: Front-grip lighting device

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 14/793,016 entitled “FRONT-GRIP LIGHTING DEVICE”, filed on Jul. 7, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/182,140 entitled “FRONT-GRIP LIGHTING DEVICE”, filed on Feb. 17, 2014, the contents of each are incorporated herein in their entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is generally directed to a lighting device for a firearm that is positioned in a front grip of the firearm. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Vertical fore grips have become popular with firearms, such as rifles and machine pistols. A fore grip provides the operator with a front handle to both support and help aim the firearm. Fore grips usually include an elongated handle that can be gripped by the hand not operating the trigger. Often, the fore grip is removable and attached to the firearm by a bracket that attaches to a rail (such as a picatinny rail) underneath the firearm. 
     In addition to elongated handles, vertical fore grips have included other variations such as bipods or tripods to support the firearm while firing it. 
     Often the rail type brackets underneath the firearm are used to support accessories such as lights. However, using a removable fore grip takes away the space that has been used for the accessory lights. Thus, operators often have to choose whether to use the removable fore grips on the bottom facing rails or use accessory lights. To generally solve this problem it has been known to attach lights to vertically-extending fore grips, but the operation of same has been limited. 
     The disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 8,127,485 entitled “GUN WITH MOUNTED SIGHTING DEVICE” to Moore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,665 entitled “SIDE-MOUNTED LIGHTING DEVICE” to Moore et al. and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/707,312 entitled “SIGHTING DEVICE REPLICATING SHOTGUN PATTERN SPREAD” to Moore et al. are incorporated herein by reference. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a fore grip that can be attached to or integrally formed with a firearm and that includes a light source and a power source housed within the fore grip. The fore grip preferably has a portion generally parallel to the gun barrel and a downward-angled portion, rather than just extending vertically downward from the gun barrel. The light source preferably is a laser and has at least three operating conditions: a first condition wherein the light source is constantly on, a second condition wherein the light source is constantly off, and a third condition wherein the light source is turned on by a second switch. A first switch is moveable between three positions, wherein each of the positions corresponds to one of the three operating conditions. At least one second switch is provided that can be activated in any suitable manner (such as by pressing the second switch). To use the light source, the user moves the first switch to either the first position wherein the light source is constantly on or the third position in which the light source is activated when the second switch is activated. In one embodiment, there are two second switches, one on each side of the fore grip, so that a user can press either of the second switches to activate the light source when the first switch is in the third position. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side, perspective view of a fore grip according to aspects of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the fore grip according to  FIG. 1  with the side of the casing removed to expose the inside. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the fore grip according to  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning now to the drawings, where the purpose is to describe preferred embodiments of the invention and not to limit same,  FIG. 1  shows a fore grip  10  according to aspects of the invention. Fore grip  10  has a top portion  20 , a bottom portion  40 , two side portions  60  and  70 , a front portion  80  and rear portion  100 . Top portion  20  in this embodiment is designed to fit on the picatinny rail of a firearm, although any suitable method of attachment may be used. Top portion  20  has a first rail  22  and a second rail  24  opposite first rail  22 . A groove  22 A is at the base of first rail  22  and a groove  24 A is at the base of second rail  24 . The grooves  22 A and  24 A oppose one another, and the picatinny rail (not shown) of a firearm is received between the two. Bottom portion  40  as shown has a first portion  40 A, which is preferably substantially parallel with the gun barrel when fore grip  10  is mounted on a fire arm, a second portion  40 B, which is preferably formed at an angle of about 20° to 45°, and most preferably about 30°, to portion  40 A, and a third portion  40 C that extends downward and outward at either a vertical or 10°-45° angle away from portion  40 B to create support for, and an easy way to properly position on the fore grip, a user&#39;s hand. 
     Fore grip  10  also includes a front grip (or fourth) portion  81  that extends downward from the front of portion  40 A and provides an additional gripping surface. Front grip portion  81  may include ridges  83  to facilitate a better grip. 
     As shown, each of sections  40 A and  40 B include grooves  41  that assist a user in gripping the fore grip  10  and any suitable structure or surface texturing may be used for this purpose. 
     Bolts  110  pass through apertures  112  of side  60  and  114  of side  70  and are threaded into nuts  116 . In this manner, bolts  110  and nuts  116  tighten grooves  22 A and  24 A against the picatinny rail of a firearm, although any suitable method or structure for affixing fore grip  10  to a firearm may be used. 
     To attach casing sides  60  and  70 , fasteners  118  and  120  are utilized and pass through apertures in side  60  to be received in bosses  119  (which receive fasteners  118 ) and bosses  121  (which receive fasteners  120 ). 
     A first switch  90  is in communication with the battery module printed circuit board (or PCB)  200  and the laser module PCB  210 , each of which are best seen in  FIG. 3 . In this embodiment the first switch has three positions wherein each position alters the functioning of the battery module PCB  200  and the laser module PCB  210  to enable the laser module  300  to function in one of three ways: (1) continuously off; (2) continuously on; or (3) on only when one of the second switches is pressed. When activated to be on, the laser may pulse to save power, such as by rapidly pulsing off and on at about 500-2000, or about 1000 times per second, at about a 50% duty cycle, although any suitable pulse rate and duty cycle may be used to save power while still providing a laser light beam adequate to sight a target. 
     One or more second switches  100  can be located at any suitable position on fore grip  10 . The purpose of second switch(es)  100  is to communicate with the laser module PCB  210  and activate the laser module  300  when power is available to module  300  because first switch  90  is in its third position. Most preferably switch(es)  100  are momentary switches that are pressed by a user&#39;s finger. In the embodiment shown there is a switch  100  on either side,  60  and  70 , of fore grip  10 . Preferably, switches  100  function so that the laser module  300  is activated if either of switches  100  are pressed. Alternatively, the laser module  300  can be activated only when both second switches  100  are pressed simultaneously (such as simultaneously by the thumb and forefinger of one hand). That manner of operation helps prevent a user from accidentally activating the laser module  300 . Further, any of the one or more second switch(es)  100  may be another type of switch, such as a slide switch. 
     Second switch(es)  100  are preferably mounted on either side of laser module  300  and include a switch button  302  and a switch board  304 , wherein a pad (not shown) is mounted on switch board  304  and is in communication with module  300 . As shown best in  FIG. 2 , wires  308  connect each switch  100  to laser module PCB  210 . 
     Laser module  300  comprises an outer housing  320  that protects an internal laser module (not shown). Outer housing  320  has an annular outer surface  322 , a first end  324  having an opening (not shown) through which laser light can pass, and a second end  326  that exposes a spring  328  or other biasing device that is connected to the laser module and (in this embodiment) provides a negative electrical contact. A wave washer  330  is between second end  328  and an internal wall  130  adjacent one of the bosses  121  to pressure fit laser module  300  into place and against laser module PCB  200 . A lens (not shown) is at the end of the internal laser module and laser light is projected thorough the lens when the module  300  is activated. The laser light passes through an opening  82  is the front surface  80  of fore grip  10 . 
     As shown, positioned inside of fore grip  10  between first end  324  of laser module  300  and aperture  82  is a laser lens slide  340 . Slide  340  is manually moved by a user between a first position wherein the laser light passes through an opening  340 B and a second position wherein the laser light passes through another opening  340 B. A user moves slide  340  by manually manipulating projection  340 A, which extends outward from slot opening  350 . 
     In this embodiment opening  340 A had no lens and laser light passing through opening  340 A is in a straight beam without interruption. Opening  340 B includes a lens  142  that alters the laser light existing the internal laser module, such as to create a pattern of light, such as a cross hair, vertical beam, horizontal beam, circular pattern of light beams, or circular pattern of light beams with a light beam in the center of the circumference of the circular pattern. Alternatively, there need not be a lens slide or the lens slide may have one or more different types of lenses than the ones described herein. 
     Power module  150  has an outer housing  160  that receives one or more batteries (not shown), which is preferably one 3V lithium photo cell battery, but could be any suitable battery(ies) or power source, and is preferably a 3V power source. Outer housing  160  has an annular outer surface  162 , a first end  164  and a second end  166 . A cap  168  is removalby attached to second end  166  preferably by being threadingly received, and is attached to the outer-casing of fore grip  10  by strap  170 . Cap  168  can be removed to remove and/or add batteries to power module  150 . Cap  168  and strap  170  are preferably comprised of any suitable plastic while modules  150  and  300  are preferably comprised of aluminum. Power module  150  fits in cavity  180  and is pressure fit against wave washer  331 , which presses against wall  131  and biases module  150  towards power module PCB  210  and provides a negative contact. 
     Having thus described some embodiments of the invention, other variations and embodiments that do not depart from the spirit of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art. The scope of the present invention is thus not limited to any particular embodiment, but is instead set forth in the appended claims and the legal equivalents thereof. Unless expressly stated in the written description or claims, the steps of any method recited in the claims may be performed in any order capable of yielding the desired result.