Patent Publication Number: US-2017363379-A1

Title: Clamshell gunlock with buffer insert

Description:
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/350,608 filed Jun. 15, 2016, pursuant to 35 USC §119(e). 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to gunlocks, in particular, a clamshell type of gunlock for a shotgun such that the gunlock can be adapted to lock a rifle via the buffer tube of the rifle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The pump shotgun, a staple for law enforcement, was provided a locking mechanism in police vehicles as long ago as the early 1930&#39;s. This gunlock was originally designed by Smith &amp; Wesson of 2100 Roosevelt Avenue, Springfield, Mass. The design proved to be so successful that it remained unchanged for many years. During 1988, this design was improved by Santa Cruz Gunlocks, LLC of Webster, New Hampshire by providing a manual override with a key so that the lock could be opened in the event of a power failure. (See  FIG. 1 , Prior Art). 
     Since police cruisers now have patrol rifles as a part of their weapon accessories, it was recognized that it would be advantageous to be able to convert the shotgun clamshell gunlock into a lock for rifles as well. This was easily done by the addition of insert  18  (see  FIG. 3 ). This part of the gunlock is an aluminum-casting insert that is held in place by a hex head bolt that is screwed to base  15 , (see  FIG. 3 ) which has a threaded hole to receive the bolt. 
     However, despite the improvement, it was found that the rifle would rattle when being held by the modified lock. Further, the rattling caused cosmetic damage to the weapon resulting in scratches and dings to the metal. Most importantly, it was annoying to the police officer who was spending many hours driving in a vehicle and was forced to listen to his/her weapon rattling due to the weapon being held loosely within the lock. 
     At this time, there is no design that permits easily modifying standard clamshell gunlocks to lock a patrol rifle via the buffer tube firmly within the lock without rattling or vibration yet still be able to inexpensively and simply change the gunlock from locking a shotgun to a patrol rifle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an aspect of the invention to provide a clamshell type of gunlock for a pump shotgun, which can be easily modified to fit a rifle by insertion of a rubber-molded insert. 
     Another aspect of the invention is to provide a clamshell type of gunlock for a pump shotgun, which can be easily modified to fit a rifle by insertion of a rubber-molded insert that holds the buffer tube of the AR-15 without any vibration. 
     Still another aspect of the invention is to provide a clamshell type of gunlock for a pump shotgun, which can be easily modified to fit a rifle by insertion of a rubber-molded insert, which prevents the rifle from rattling when holding a rifle. 
     Still another aspect of the invention is to provide a clamshell type of gunlock for a pump shotgun, which can be easily modified to fit a rifle by insertion of a rubber-molded insert that prevents any cosmetic damage to the rifle while it is being held within the gunlock. 
     Finally, it is aspect of the invention to provide a clamshell type of gunlock for a pump shotgun which can be easily modified to fit a rifle by insertion of a rubber-molded insert that can be inexpensively manufactured and adapted to provide a clamshell type of gunlocks without any modifications or changes to the original structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a typical clamshell type of gunlock for a pump action shotgun such as made by Santa Cruz Gunlocks, Model SC-1. 
         FIG. 2A  is a left isometric view of a typical clamshell type of gunlock with buffer tube insert in place shown in a closed position. 
         FIG. 2B  is a left isometric view of the typical clamshell type of gunlock with buffer tube insert in place shown in an open position. 
         FIG. 3  is a left exploded isometric view of the typical clamshell type of gunlock showing the buffer tube insert in position to be attached to the gunlock. 
         FIG. 3A  is a front view of the buffer tube insert. 
         FIG. 3B  is top right isometric view of buffer tube insert. 
         FIG. 3C  is bottom left isometric view of the buffer tube insert. 
         FIG. 4  is a top exploded isometric view of the buffer tube insert in position to be attached to the gunlock. 
         FIG. 4A  is a top exploded isometric view of the buffer tube insert in position to be attached to the gunlock. 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the buffer tube insert. 
         FIG. 5A  is a front-end exploded view of the buffer tube in position to be attached to the gunlock. 
         FIG. 5B  is a rear end view of the buffer tube in place on the gunlock. 
         FIG. 6  is an isometric view of the invention being used to lock a typical police rifle with the gunlock in an open position. 
         FIG. 7  is an isometric view of the gunlock shown in  FIG. 6  in a locked position around the buffer tube of a typical police rifle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , prior art clamshell gunlock  10  is depicted in an isometric view. The apparatus is quite simple. Base  15  can be mounted on a structure such as a police vehicle such that a shotgun (not shown) can be firmly mounted wherein it cannot be removed by an unauthorized person. The shotgun is placed between arm  12  and base  15 . Then arm  12  is hinged down on base  15  and locked, thus holding the shotgun firmly in place. Spring  14  keeps arm  12  fully open when the lock is in an unlocked position. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , buffer tube insert  18  modification is shown in accordance with the invention. A molded rubber insert  18  is firmly attached to base  15  to narrow the opening between arm  12  and base  15 . This modification permits locking a patrol rifle to the officer&#39;s vehicle. In particular, the modified lock does snugly constrain the rifle sufficiently to prevent vibration and movement such that the rifle will not rattle while being held by the buffer tube. Any rattle would be obviously extremely annoying to the vehicle occupants and will cause the rifle to suffer cosmetic damage. 
     The essence of the invention is to provide an additional part, a rubber-molded insert  18  as shown in detail in  FIGS. 3, 3A, 3B, and 3C . Insert  18  is attached to lock  10  by bolt  16  into opening  20  in buffer tube insert  18 . Opening  20  is in insert  18  since it serves to provide access to threaded hex headed bolt  16  into threaded opening  30  in base  15  (see  FIG. 4 ). A plurality of slots  22  (in this case, 4) are provided in insert  18 , which serve to reduce the amount of material needed to mold insert  18 . Channel  24  is molded into insert  18  so as to correspond to the diameter and cross-sectional shape of the buffer tube on the patrol rifle, typically an AR-15. Chamfer  26  is molded into insert  18  to help guide the buffer tube portion of the rifle into channel  24 . Insert  18  is preferably about 3 inches long and about 1¼ inches wide. Channel  24  has a width corresponding to the diameter of the buffer tube on an AR-15 patrol rifle. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4, 4A , insert  18  is held within gunlock  10  via bolt  16  through opening  20  into threaded opening  30  in base  15  of gunlock  10 . 
       FIG. 5  shows the bottom view of buffer tube insert  18  outlining the spacing of finger slots  22  relative to opening  20  which serves to provide access to threaded opening  30  in base  15 .  FIG. 5A  shows buffer tube insert in position to be held by bolt  16  to gunlock  10 .  FIG. 5B  shows gunlock  10  in a closed position with buffer tube  18  in place. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the gunlock can be firmly anchored to a vehicle by lock  10  around buffer tube  26  on typical police rifle  25 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other versions are readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the preferred embodiments contained herein.