Abstract:
A multi-configurable holster system includes a rail system that allows a holster to be positioned in an infinite amount of positions and configurations. The rail system may attach to various parts of the body. The system may include a firearm holster, a magazine holster, a handcuff holster and a flashlight or baton holster. Each holster is adjustable and may accommodate various sized pieces of law enforcement equipment.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority from provisional patent application No. 60/419,359 filed on Oct. 21, 2002.  
         [0002]    This application did not receive federal research and development funding. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0004]    The present invention generally relates to holsters for carrying firearms and law enforcement equipment. More specifically, the invention relates to an adjustable holster system that includes at least one universal holster that may be configured in various manners.  
           [0005]    2. Background of the Invention  
           [0006]    Many types of holsters exist for holding firearms. Typically, these holsters are named for the body part to which they are attached. Most of these are constructed out of leather and are therefore not pliable. It is very difficult to clean a leather holster. Moreover, the holsters are for use on only one part of the body.  
           [0007]    Law enforcement officers and others must purchase multiple holsters for carrying a firearm in a different area of the body since the prior art type holsters cannot be configured to be worn in multiple areas of the body. Moreover, these types of holsters are not universal and cannot be adjusted to accommodate various sized firearms or other law enforcement accessories.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    This invention is a holster system that may be configured in a variety of manners such that a holster can be attached to various regions or parts of the body of the wearer. In one configuration, a holster may be rigged in an underarm or shoulder holster fashion. In another configuration, the holster may be worn inside of or outside the pants of the wearer on the waist or hip region. In a further configuration, the holster may be worn on an appendage of a wearer such a leg or arm on the ankle or upper arm regions.  
           [0009]    It is an object of the invention to provide a universal holster that may accommodate various sized firearms.  
           [0010]    It is another object of the invention is to provide a holster system that can be configured to be worn on a plurality of body regions on a wearer.  
           [0011]    It is still another object of the invention to provide a comfortable holster that may be worn for extended periods of time without adversely affecting or fatiguing a wearer.  
           [0012]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a holster system that may be laundered and easily cleaned.  
           [0013]    It is another object of the invention to provide a holster system that provides a plurality of accessory holsters for accommodating various types of law enforcement equipment.  
           [0014]    Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the included claims when taken in connection with the previous discussion and the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 1A and 1B are elevation front and back views of a firearm holster, respectively.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIG. 1.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIGS. 3A and 3B are elevation front and back views of a magazine or ammunition holster.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of FIG. 3.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 is a front elevation view of handcuff holster.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 is an exploded view of FIG. 5.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 is an accessory holster for accommodating accessory equipment. The accessory equipment to be carried may include, but is not limited to, a baton, flashlight, single magazine, pepper spray or the like.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 8 is an exploded view of FIG. 7.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a shoulder rail harness.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 10 is an elevation view of a torso rail harness.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a hip or waist rail harness.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a lower leg or upper arm rail harness.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a mesh laundry bag for use in laundering the above mentioned holsters and harnesses.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a shoulder rail system and showing an upper torso of a user.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a waist rail system and showing a midriff region of a user.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a waist rail system rigged for use on a hip of a user.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 17 is a leg rail system and showing an appendage of a user. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0032]    Referring now to the drawings in which like elements are designated by the same reference number throughout, there is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B front and back views of a firearm holster  100 . FIG. 2 is an exploded view of FIGS. 1A and 1B showing the relationship between the various parts that comprise the firearm holster  100 .  
         [0033]    A quick thumb release  5  overlaps a rear area of a firearm (not shown) and includes a female snap fastener  2   b  that mates with a male snap fastener  2   a  to securely hold the firearm in place within the holster  100 . Quick release holder  3  adjustably fastens the adjustable quick release  1  and comprises a strip of hook or loop material sewn to an upper edge of an opening that accommodates a firearm. A complementary strip of material overlaps the adjustable quick release  1  to fasten it in place as showing if FIG. 1A. The adjustable quick release  1  adjusts to a desired size by removing or loosening the complementary strip of material and sliding the adjustable quick release upwards or downwards as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1A.  
         [0034]    The holster  100  includes overlapping edges  14  that attach the front sidewall  8  to the rigid center material  7  and back sidewall  6 . Each of the sidewalls and center material is shaped as shown. However, it is contemplated that various modifications to the shapes may be had without deviating from the spirit of this invention. Stitching is the preferred method of attaching these together. Rigid center material  7  provides a shape for the holster  100 . Thus, the holster  100  will retain its shape when laundered or during the ordinary course of usage. It should be noted that modifications to the holster may be implemented such that either the front sidewall  8  or the back sidewall  6  comprise a rigid material thereby alleviating the need for rigid center material  7 .  
         [0035]    The overlapping edges  14  provide added protection for preventing the edges of the holster from becoming frayed and worn during the ordinary course of use. Likewise, a strip of elastic material  4  is sewn onto an upper edge of front sidewall  8  to prevent fraying of the edge when a firearm is deposited into and removed from the holster  100 . Binding  9  is affixed, preferable through stitching, to the front sidewall  8  and adds support to the rail straps  12  thereby preventing them from being pulled from the front sidewall  8 . Binding  13  is affixed to a bottom of the holster  100 , as shown, for preventing the lower edge of the holster from becoming frayed and worn during periods of use.  
         [0036]    In the preferred embodiment, two sets of rail straps  12  affix to the front sidewall  8  for accommodating rails  38  as discussed below. It is contemplated that any number of rail straps  12  may be affixed to the front sidewall  8  for supporting the holster  100 . The rail straps  12  include hook material  11  and loop material  10  sewn to the front sidewall  8  and are configured to be adjustable. Rail straps  12  are included on the back sidewall  6  as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2 for accommodating the rails  38  during different configurations of the system.  
         [0037]    Turning now to FIGS. 3A, 3B and  4  which depict a magazine or ammunition holster  101 , the magazine holster  101  includes rail straps  12  on a front and back exterior side as shown. The rail straps  12  are preferably fastened to the front sidewall  19 , back sidewall  22  and rigid center material  20  as shown. The holster  101  includes a front sidewall  19  equipped with quick release holders  16  that fasten to quick releases  15  to secure a magazine or ammunition within the holster  101 . An edge of each quick release  15  attaches to an upper edge of back sidewall  22 . A rigid center material  20  and back sidewall  22  are also included in the holster  101 . Generally, the front sidewall  19  is a rectangular shape whereas the center material  20  and back sidewall  22  are shaped in shovel shape as shown. However, it is contemplated that various modifications to the shape of holster  101  may be had without deviating from the scope of the invention.  
         [0038]    Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6 that depict an elevation and exploded view of a handcuff holster  102 , respectively, the handcuff holster  102  includes a rigid center material  24 , a back sidewall  26  and a front sidewall  25 . These are generally shaped as shown. The front sidewall  25  includes attachment extensions  27  and  28  formed by cutting portions of the sidewall  25  away as shown in FIG. 6. These extensions  27  and  28  overlap the rigid center material  20  and back sidewall  21  to be fastened thereto. The front sidewall  25  includes a quick release holder  16  for mating with an end of quick release strap  23 . A second end of quick release strap  23  may be sewn or affixed to the back sidewall  26 . Thus, the wearer merely pulls on the mated end of the quick release strap to gain access to a pair of handcuffs.  
         [0039]    Turning now to FIGS. 7 and 8, an accessory holster  103  for accommodating the likes of a baton, flashlight, pepper spray or single magazine is depicted. The accessory holster  103  is constructed in like manner as the previously discussed holsters. The holster  103  comprises a back sidewall  31 , rigid center material  30  and front sidewall  29  constructed in like manner as the previously mentioned holsters above. The front sidewall  29  includes two rail straps  12  as shown. It further includes a quick release holder  16  for receiving and mating with an end of quick release strap  23 . The front sidewall  29  is generally rectangular in shape. The rigid center material  30  and back sidewall  31  are elongated shapes and having rounded ends as shown. However, it is contemplated that various other shapes may be used to construct this holster.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 9 shows a shoulder rail system  104  for use with the above referenced holsters. The shoulder rail system  104  includes a pair of elastic webbings  34 . Each webbing  34  includes a fixed buckle  33   b  affixed to one end thereof. The opposite end of the elastic webbing passes through the other fixed buckle and through an adjustable buckle  33   a  as shown. Thus, the shoulder rail system  104  may be adjusted easily to accommodate various sized individual. The webbings  34  are affixed to one another through stitching or other such means as shown. One of the above mentioned holsters attaches to the rails  38  as shown below.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 10 is a representation of a torso rail system  105 . In this embodiment, the rail system  105  comprises two rails  38  for attaching at least one holster thereto. The rails  38 , which comprise webbing, create two loops, one arranged above the other. An end of rail  38  is affixed to a fixed buckle  33   b  and a side of zipper  39 . An opposite end of the rail  38  each rail is attached to the opposite side of zipper  39 . Each rail  38  passes through buckle  33   a  to allow for the size of the loop created by rail  38  to be adjusted. This system also includes a redundant buckling system  36  for preventing in the zipper from unzipping during use and also aids in holding the system in place. The redundant buckling system typically comprises a strip of hook or loop material that mates with a complementary piece of hook and loop material as shown.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 11 is a representation of a leg or wrist rail system  106 . This system comprises two rails  38  that are independent of one another as shown. Ends of the rails  38  are affixed to complementary mating portions of impact buckle  40 . An adjustable buckle  33   a  is provided for allowing the rails  38  to be used with different sized individuals.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 12 is a representation of a lower leg rail system  107 . The lower leg rail system  107  is similar to the system  105  shown in FIG. 10. A notable difference is the size of the loops created by the rails  38  and the size of the zipper  39 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 13 depicts a laundry bag  108  comprising mesh material  42  that is used in laundering the holstering system. The holsters and associated systems are deposited in to the laundry bag  108  and dropped into a washing machine and laundered similar to ordinary clothing. Once the washing has been completed, the holsters and associated systems are removed and left to air dry.  
         [0045]    Referring now to FIGS. 14 through 17 which show various ways in which the system may be used. In FIG. 14, the wearer is shown wearing the shoulder rail system  109  and the torso rail system  105  on an upper torso region of the body. The holsters  100  and  101  are shown as being worn towards a front area of the torso. Arrows indicate that the holsters may be position according to individual preferences.  
         [0046]    In FIG. 15 a wearer is wearing a firearm holster  100  with a waist rail system  106 . In this configuration, the wearer is wearing the holster in a front region. In FIG. 16 a waist rail system is rigged for use on a hip of a user such as used by law enforcement when in a tactical mode. Each of the holsters  100  and  101  are tied at the bottom by rail system  106 . In FIG. 17, a leg rail system  107  attaches holsters  102  and  103  to a lower leg region of a wearer as shown.  
         [0047]    As can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the holster system of the present invention can be worn in an infinite amount of ways and accommodate an infinite amount of sizes of firearms and other accessories.  
         [0048]    It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described above. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.