Patent Publication Number: US-8522470-B2

Title: Rear rifle stabilizer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/542,173 ( i.e., Oct. 1, 2011). The entire content of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/542,173 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is directed to stabilizers for rifles. More specifically, the invention is a rear rifle stabilizer (RRS) which functions by stabilizing a rifle&#39;s buttstock. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently there are two popular methods of stabilizing a rifles buttstock. One is the sand sock and the other is a threaded bolt device that is used to raise and lower the rifle buttstock. 
     In the sand sock method a sock or cloth bag is filled with sand or beads to the desired level for a soft or hard support, usually one of each. The sock/socks are placed under the buttstock of the rifle with the non-shooting hand. The rifle is rested on the socks at the desired level to acquire a target. If the rifles barrel needs to be raised for targets further away the shooter releases his grip on the sock allowing the buttstock of the rifle to lower. If the barrel of the rifle needs to be lower the shooter increases his grip on the sock pushing the buttstock up. 
     The threaded bolt device for lowering and/or raising the buttstock employs bolt device that is fixed on the rifle. It is a threaded bolt screwed into a cylinder with a base plate at the bottom. This device is worked by twisting the cylinder around the bolt and lowering or raising the rifle buttstock. 
     A brief review of the prior art follows. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,054 discloses a pneumatic gun alignment system for accurately adjusting a gun position. The pneumatic gun alignment system includes a support bag having an air bag positionable beneath a firearm, and an air supply fluidly connected to the air bag for supplying pressurized air to the air bag. A valve unit is preferably positioned within the hose for allowing the user to slowly release air from the air bag and for maintaining a desired amount of air within the air bag. The user increases the air pressure to elevate the firearm and decreases the air pressure to lower the firearm. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,751 discloses a firearm support for holding and steadying a small arm such as a rifle. The firearm support includes a barrel support for supporting the barrel end of the firearm, a stock support for supporting the stock of the firearm and at least one adjustable slider rod interconnecting the barrel support with the stock support. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,461 describes an apparatus that helps a user to steadily hold a pointable device, such as a camera, a telescope, or a gun. It includes an arm rest having upper and lower portions, respectively, for supporting an upper arm from below and for restricting rotation of a lower arm bent at the elbow. The upper and lower arm holding portions each can press against a user&#39;s arm from enough directions to retard motion of the arm perpendicular to its length. The upper and lower portions can include cylindrical inner surfaces angled to bend an arm at least sixty degrees at the elbow. A support holds the arm rest from below. The support can include a rigid elongated member. In some embodiments, this member reaches to the ground. In many others, it rests against a user&#39;s hip and has a lower end designed to be supported by a pocket, belt, or Velcro pad on the user&#39;s hip. It is preferred that the elongated member slant down and in toward the hip from the arm rest at an adjustably fixed angle and that the lower arm holding portion be supported in a diagonal direction which points both up and in toward a position in front of the user&#39;s face. The apparatus often includes a mounting for the pointable device, preferably one which can be rotated with two degrees of freedom, and one the height of which relative to the arm rest can be adjustably fixed. 
     None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention relates generally to stabilizers for rifles. More specifically, the invention is a rear rifle stabilizer (RRS) designed to replace the current methods of stabilizing a rifle for accurate fire. The RRS comprises a base block having a recess at the top thereof such as a curved U-shaped or V-shaped recess. Lining the recess is an air bladder operatively connected to a hand operated air pump and release valve capable of very minor movement. The purpose of the air bladder is to give the shooter the ability to make very small adjustments in elevation without taking his/her eye away from the sights of the rifle or make any major body movements. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an end view of a rear rifle stabilizer according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows an environmental view of a rear rifle stabilizer according to the invention. 
         FIG. 2A  shows a perspective view of a base block according to the invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross-section view at line  3 - 3  of the base block shown in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 4  shows a cross-section view at line  4 - 4  of the base block shown in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 5  shows a longitudinal section view at line  5 - 5  of the base block shown in  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 6  shows a bottom internal view of a base block according to the invention. 
         FIG. 7  shows a side view of a base block according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is directed to stabilizers for rifles. More specifically, the invention is a rear rifle stabilizer (RRS) denoted generally by the numeric label “ 100 ”. The terms “rear rifle stabilizer” and “RRS” are used interchangeably. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the rear rifle stabilizer  100  comprises a base block  120 . The base block  120  defines a top surface  130 . A recess  140  is located in the top surface  130  of the base block  120 . The base block  120  has front and rear ends  180  and  200 , respectively. The top surface  130  defines an inclined slope  220  which has a positive elevation from the rear end  180  in the direction of the front end  200 . The base block  120  defines a bottom base  230 . The base block  120  can be made of any suitable material such as, but not limited to, a synthetic material such as a polymer or a natural material such as wood. For example, the base block  120  can be made of polyethylene or expanded polystyrene. 
     The recess  140  is contoured to accommodate the lower edge  240  of a rifle&#39;s buttstock  260 . The recess  140  can have any suitable overall shape; for example, the recess  140  can have a U-shaped cross-section  142 , but other suitable cross-section recess shapes can be used such as, but not limited to, a V-shaped cross-section  144 . The recess  140  can be V-shaped at one end  180  and U-shaped at the other end  200 , and vice versa, as shown in  FIG. 2A . 
     Lining the recess  140  is an air bladder  280  operatively connected to a hand pump  300  and an air release valve  320 ; the hand pump  300  and release valve  320  enables minor adjustments in the inflation and/or deflation of the air bladder  280  thereby enabling very minor movement of the buttstock  260  which during use rests on the air bladder  280  of the rear rifle stabilizer  100 . The air bladder  280  can be a rubber air bladder. The hand pump  300  can be located at any suitable location relative to the air bladder  260  and base block  120 . For example, the pump  300  can be located alongside the base block  120  or proximate to the front end  180  or rear end  200  of the base block  120 . 
     The purpose of the air bladder  280  is to give a shooter the ability to make very small adjustments in positive elevation or negative elevation without taking his/her eye away from the sights of a rifle or make any major body movements with respect to the shooter. 
     When shooting long range (i.e., LR) a 1/60th of a degree movement at the rifle can be an 8 inch movement at a target 800 meters away. The key for accurate multiple target interdiction is a mobile, stable shooting platform that can be adjusted to a fraction of an angle. By diminishing or removing human error and increasing consistency the shooter will be more effective. The controllable air bladder  280  makes such adjustments by means of the hand pump  300  and release valve  320 . The hand pump  300  enables the shooter to increase rifle elevation by controllably adding air to the bladder  280 ; and the release valve  320  enables the shooter to decrease rifle elevation by controllably releasing air from the bladder  280 . 
     In a combat environment any large movement can compromise a shooters position. When shooting at distances greater than 500 meters small adjustments are necessary to find a point of aim in between the sights methods of adjustments. For large quick adjustments the base block  120  can be slid forward by the shooter thereby dropping the rear of the rifle and in turn raising the rifle barrel and vice versa. 
     The base block  120  can be in the form of a frame  340  which can be made out of any suitable material such as a polymer plastic. The frame  340  can include at least one void  360  to save on material costs and weight. The frame  340  can be covered with a cover made out of any suitable material such as, but not limited to, nylon or leather. A hook-and-loop fastener make up of hooks and loops akin to Velcro® can be attached to the block  120  to secure the air pump  300 . 
     The recess  140  defines a recess surface  160 . One or more layers of leather can be deployed between the bladder  280  and recess surface  160  to protect the bladder  280  from wear and tear. A layer of nylon can be deployed between the one or more layers of leather and the recess surface  160 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an interior surface  235  of bottom base  230  can be fitted with a two-way ratchet mechanism  236  to allow the base block  120  to be moved linearly for a predetermined distance in either direction relative to the bottom base  230 . Hinges  237  can also be fitted to adjust the orientation of the top surface  130  (see  FIG. 7 ). 
     A method is also provided to adjust the elevation, and by implication de-elevation, of a rifle buttstock  260 , the method comprising the steps of: 
     providing a rifle having a buttstock  260 ; 
     providing a rear rifle stabilizer  100 , the rear rifle stabilizer  100  comprising a base block  120  having a top surface  130  and a recess  140  disposed in the top surface  130  of the base block  120 , the recess  140  being at least partly lined by an air bladder  280 , the air bladder  280  being operatively connected to a hand pump  300  and an air release valve  320 ; 
     resting the buttstock  260  on the air bladder  280 ; and 
     making adjustments to the elevation of the buttstock  260  by making adjustments to the air bladder  280  by means of the hand pump  300  and the air release valve  320 . 
     In summary, the invention provides a stable shooting platform for such activities as Long Range (LR) target interdiction. It is believed that the rear rifle stabilizer ( 100  of the invention represents an important improvement over prior art apparatus and methods of stabilizing a rifle for accurate fire. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be evident that the same may be varied in many ways by a routineer in the applicable arts. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.