Patent ID: 7739824

Claim:
A mounting assembly for attaching an accessory to a dovetail rail interface on a firearm, said mounting assembly comprising: a mount body having a lower portion and an upper portion, said lower portion configured to engage a first side of said dovetail rail, said upper portion configured to receive and retain an accessory; a boss formation extending from a side of said mount body; a clamping assembly received within an opening in said boss formation, said clamping assembly including a camming foot positioned adjacent a bottom surface of said boss formation, a shaft extending upwardly from said camming foot, said shaft extending through an opening in said boss formation; and an actuator arm positioned adjacent said top surface of said boss formation and affixed to said shaft such that rotation of said actuator arm causes rotation of said shaft and said camming foot, said actuator arm being rotatably movable between an engaged position wherein said camming foot engages a second side of said dovetail rail to retain said mounting assembly on said dovetail rail and a disengaged position wherein said camming foot is disengaged from said second side of said dovetail rail thereby allowing said mounting assembly to be removed from said dovetail rail; and a latching assembly configured and arranged for selectively retaining said clamping assembly in said engaged position, said latching assembly including a latch body configured and arranged with a seat on a first end and an actuator post on a second end, said actuator post being slidably received through a guide hole in said mount body adjacent to said boss formation, said latch body being movable between an engaged position, where said seat engages said actuator arm, and a disengaged position wherein said seat is disengaged from said actuator arm, a captivating head on said actuator post, and a spring captivated between said mount body and said captivating head, said spring normally biasing said latch body to said engaged position.