Patent Abstract:
A rifle rest structure is adapted to receive first and second sand bags and operative to place a rifle thereon for target practice or the like. The rifle rest has a unitary frame construction including a front portion that supports the front of a rifle, a rear portion that supports the rear of the rifle, and a middle portion that rigidly interconnects the front and rear portions. The front portion has a length that is longer than a parallel length of the rear portion. The length of the front portion is in the range of six times longer than the parallel rear portion. The rifle rest further includes an adjusting mechanism that is operative to adjust the elevation of the front portion relative to the rear portion. The subject arrangement provides good stability for the rifle during use.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The subject concept relates generally to a rest for use to hold a weapon, such as a rifle, during target practice and the like and more specifically relates to a unitary, stable rifle rest that is easy to use, sturdy in construction and has a limited number of moving parts. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Various known rifle supports have numerous moving parts and are made of light weight metal materials and/or plastic materials. Other known rifle supports do not allow the user to hold the rifle against his shoulder during use since the butt end is secured on the support mechanism. Still other known rifle support mechanisms use a single point of contact at the end thereof where the butt of the rifle rests. This single point of contact does not provide much resistance to movement of the support mechanism during shooting of the rifle. It is desirable for the user to be able to rest the rifle on the rifle rest while holding the rifle against his shoulder in a normal manner and fire the rifle at a target or the like with great accuracy and to be able to fire repeated rounds at the target without having to take a lot of time and effort to re-aim the rifle. Likewise it is desirable to readily pick up the rifle rest, without major effort, and move it to a different location. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present concept, a rifle rest is provided that is made substantially of a unitary design having limited moving parts and is a mobile design that can be moved from place to place without requiring major physical efforts. The subject concept has a front portion, a mid portion, and a rear portion each rigidly attached to each other. The front portion has a bag receiving portion spaced upward from a bottom thereof a predetermined distance and positioned generally central of the front portion. An adjustment mechanism is disposed on outer portions of the front portion and adapted to permit vertical adjustment of the front portion relative to the surface that it rests upon. The mid portion has a width of a predetermined size and shape. The rear portion has a bag receiving portion spaced upward from a bottom thereof at a predetermined distance less than the predetermined distance of the bag receiving portion of the front portion. The rear portion has a bottom edge portion having a predetermined width extending parallel to the front portion and being of a width at least the width of the mid portion thereof. 
     The construction of the subject rifle rest provides a more stable rifle rest having limited movement during target practice and is easily moved from one place to another. Since the rifle rest is made of a unitary construction, there are no moving parts to create instability during use. Furthermore, once an elevational change has been made with the adjustment mechanism, the adjustment mechanism is also effective to make minor adjustments from side to side to ensure that the bottom edge portion of the rear portion remains in full contact with the surface on which it is resting. 
     Other objects, features, and advantages of the subject concept will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and certain modification thereof when taken together with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a photographic perspective view of a working model of the subject concept with pre-purchased sand bags in place; 
         FIG. 2  is a pre-shortened top view of the rifle rest illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the rifle rest of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a pre-shortened side view of the rifle rest of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a rifle rest  10  is disclosed having a unitary frame  12  and an adjustment mechanism  14  disposed thereon. The unitary frame  12  is composed of a front portion  15 , a middle portion  16  and an end portion  17 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4  in conjunction with  FIG. 1 , the front portion  15  defines a first member  18  having a predetermined cross-sectional shape. In the subject arrangement, the predetermined cross-sectional shape is a box shape of a predetermined cross-sectional size. The first member  18  has first and second sides  19 , 20  and a predetermined length ‘L’. In the subject arrangement the predetermined length ‘L’ is approximately 305 mm (12 inches). 
     The first member  18  has opposed first and second end portions  21 , 22  with a threaded passage  23  disposed in the first end portion  21  through a first square insert  25  and another threaded passage  24  disposed in the second end portion  22  through a second square insert  26 . The first and second square inserts  25 , 26  are disposed generally adjacent the respective ends of the first member  18  and secured thereto by, for example, welding. It is recognized that the first and second square inserts could be secured to the first member  18  in various known ways without departing from the essence of the subject design. 
     A second member  28  has first and second ends  30 , 32  and the first end  30  thereof is solidly secured to the first member  18  by, for example, welding. The second member  28  has the same cross-sectional shape and size as that of the first member  18 . The first end  30  of the second member  28  is secured to the first side  19  of the first member  18  at the mid-point thereof and the second member  28  extends generally perpendicular therefrom and in a generally vertical direction for a predetermined height ‘L1’. 
     A bag receiving portion  34  is secured to the second end  32  of the second member  28  by, for example, welding and adapted to receive a pre-purchased sand bag  36  (shown in  FIG. 1 ). The sand bag  36  is shown for illustrative purposes only, it does not constituent any part of the subject design. It is recognized that other sand bags could be used without departing from the essence of the subject design. The bag receiving portion  34  includes a u-shaped member  38  having a surface  39  and first and second flanges  40 , 42  formed thereon. The u-shaped member  38  has a width ‘W’ that is substantially the same size as the cross-sectional size and shape of the second member  28  and a length ‘L2’ that is generally one half of the length of the first member  18 . The length ‘L2’ of the u-shaped member  38  is parallel with the length ‘L’ of the first member  18  and has the flanges  40 , 42  defined at opposite ends of the length ‘L2’. 
     The middle portion  16  includes a third member  50  having first and second ends  52 , 54 . The cross-sectional size and shape of the single member  50  of the middle section is substantially the same as the cross-section of first and second members  18 , 28  of the front portion  15 . The first end  52  of the third member  50  is secured to the second side  20  of the first member  18  of the front portion  15  by, for example, welding and extends generally perpendicular therefrom in a generally horizontal direction when laid on a shooting surface (not shown). 
     The rear portion  17  includes a fourth member  58  having first and second ends  60 , 62 , first, second, and third sides  64 , 66 , 67  and a bottom edge portion  68 . The first side  64  of the fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17  is secured to the second end  54  of the single member  50  of the middle portion  16  by, for example, welding. The fourth member  58  herein has a cross-sectional size and shape substantially the same as that of the first and second members  18 , 28  of the front portion  15  and the third member  50  of the middle portion  16 . The fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17  is oriented parallel to the orientation of the first member  18  of the front portion  15 . 
     The fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17  has a predetermined length ‘L3’ that is generally one-half of the length ‘L’ of the first member  18  of the front portion  15 . It is recognized that the ratio of the length ‘L3’ of the fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17  and the length ‘L’ of the first member  18  of the front portion  15  could be within the range of 1 to 6. However, a ratio of 1-4 could be used while a ratio of 1-2 is preferable. 
     The bottom edge portion  68  of the fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17  includes a bottom surface  70  of the fourth member  58  and an edge  72  defined by the bottom surface  70  and the third side  67  of the fourth member  58 . 
     The rear portion  17  also includes a bag receiving portion  78  disposed on the second side  66  of the fourth member  58  thereof and being adapted to receive a pre-purchased sand bag. It is recognized that various other type of sand bags could be used without departing from the essence of the subject design. The bag receiving portion  78  includes a three sided rectangular pan  82  secured thereto by, for example, welding. The three sided rectangular pan  82  is disposed thereon so that the open side of the pan faces towards of the front portion  15  and is located centrally along a vertical reference plane  84  defined along the middle of the middle portion  16 . 
     In the subject design, the three sided rectangular pan  82  is disposed on the second side  66  of the first member  58  of the rear portion  17  and the predetermined height ‘L1’ defined with respect to the position of the surface of the pan  82  and the position of the surface of u-shaped member  38  of the front portion  15 . In the subject arrangement, the predetermined height ‘L1’ is approximately 127 mm (5 inches). It is recognized that the subject predetermine height could be varied depending on the size and shape of the respective sand bags  36 , 80  used. In the subject design, the predetermined height ‘L1’ has approximately a 1 to 2.4 size relationship relative to the predetermined width ‘L’. 
     The adjustment mechanism  14  includes first and second adjusting screws  86 , 88  with associated first and second lock nuts  90 , 92 . The first lock nut  90  is threaded onto the first adjusting screw  86  and the first adjusting screw  86  is threadably disposed within the threaded passage  23  of the first member  18  of the front portion  15 . Likewise, the second lock nut  92  is threaded onto the second adjusting screw  88  and the second adjusting screw  88  is threadably disposed within the threaded passage  24  of the first member  18  of the front portion  15 . The first and second adjusting screws  86 , 88  can be threaded up or down and locked in the chosen position with the respective lock nuts  90 , 92 . It is recognized that other types of adjusting mechanisms could be used without departing from the essence of the subject design. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The subject rifle rest  10  provides a solid rest for a rifle during target practice and the like and does not readily move around during shooting of the rifle. It also provides the ability for the shooter to hold the rifle in a normal position while the rifle is cradled in the rifle rest. The unitary frame  12  acts to ensure that there is no flexing of the bag receiving portion  34  on the front portion  15  relative to the bag receiving portion  78  on the rear portion  17 . Likewise, the second member  28  of the front portion  15  does not permit any relative movement between the first member  18  and the bag receiving portion  34  of the front portion  15 . 
     Since the bag receiving portion  78  on the rear portion  17  is firmly secured to the fourth member  58  of the rear portion  17 , no relative movement is permitted therebetween. 
     During use, the shooter positions his body adjacent the rifle rest  10  and positions the shank of the rifle on the sand bag  36  of the front portion  15  and rests the butt of the rifle against his shoulder and the rear bag  80  of the rear portion  17 . If the target is not in sight of the rifle sights, the shooter raises or lowers the front portion  15  as needed by turning of the respective first and second adjustments screws  86 , 88 . Once the front portion  15  of the rifle rest  10  has been properly adjusted with respect to the target, the shooter visually checks the position of the bottom edge portion  68  with respect to the surface that it is resting upon. If the bottom edge portion  68 , which can either be the bottom surface  70  or the edge  72  defined by the bottom surface  70  and the third side  67 , is not in contact with the surface that it rests upon across it&#39;s full width, the shooter adjusts the appropriate one of the adjusting screws  86 , 88  until full contact is achieved. This full contact of the bottom edge portion  68  works to ensure that the rifle rest  10  is stable and does not allow adverse movement during shooting of the rifle. 
     Other embodiments as well as certain variations and modifications of the embodiments herein shown and described will obviously occur to those skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with the underlying concept. It is to be understood, therefore, that the subject design may be practice otherwise than as specifically set forth above.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5