Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6808178
-
Patent Number
6,808,178
-
Date Filed
Monday, August 28, 200023 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, October 26, 200419 years ago
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Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 273 404
- 273 410
- 273 406
- 273 407
- 089 3607
- 089 3602
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
A clearing trap for decelerating bullets includes a housing and a bullet decelerating insert disposed within the housing. Preferably, the insert is slidably removable from the housing and is provided with a plurality of vents which help dissipate the force associated with firing a gun into a small enclosure. Also preferably, a portion of the insert is detachable or openable to facilitate periodic cleaning of the insert.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of decelerating projectiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved clearing trap for decelerating projectiles discharged when performing a clearing check to ensure that the gun is empty.
2. State of the Art
In order to maintain proficiency in the use of firearms, it is common for law enforcement officers and sportsmen to engage in target practice. Participants will typically shoot at targets which are placed before some type of bullet containment system. After passing through the target, the bullet is typically contained in a trap where the bullet may be retrieved and recycled. Such traps include total containment system wherein the bullet is received in a chamber, and less expensive berm traps in which the bullet is received by a bullet deceleration medium.
After a target shooter is finished, it is usually a requirement that he unload the weapon for transportation and/or storage. While it is easy to remove a magazine or other container holding the bullets, it is often difficult to accurately determine if a bullet is contained in the chamber of the gun. Numerous people have been killed or injured when a gun which was believed to be empty discharged.
To prevent such accidents from occurring, it is common for the target shooter to use a clearing trap. A clearing trap is typically a small trap disposed near the main target range into which a gun is inserted and the trigger pulled. If the gun has been properly emptied, there will be no discharge and the user will be assured that the gun is empty. However, occasionally the gun will fire due to a round that was not properly removed from the chamber. Once the round is discharged, the user may pull the trigger again for assurance that the gun is empty. Once it is demonstrated that the gun is empty, the user may store or transport the gun.
While clearing traps are important to prevent accidental discharges, the presently available traps have several disadvantages. For example, in
FIG. 1A
there is shown a perspective view of a prior art clearing trap, generally indicated at
10
. The clearing trap
10
has a cylindrical housing
14
which has a closed lower end
18
and an upper end
22
partially enclosed by a disk with an opening for receiving the barrel of a gun. The cylindrical housing is held at an angle of between about 45 and 70 degrees so that the user may hold the gun in a comfortable position while pulling the trigger.
The cylindrical housing
14
is filled with sand to decelerate rounds which are fired therein. When the housing
14
is sufficiently full of bullets, the housing is turned upside down and the contents removed.
The configuration shown has several disadvantages. For example, the housing
14
must be made either of specially formed steel plate (i.e. steel having a thickness of 0.25 inches), or of standard steel. Forming the steel plate into the cylindrical housing
14
is expensive, and using standard steel raises the risk that the housing will become damaged if a user fires the gun at an angle significantly tangential to the long axis of the housing.
Additionally, cleaning the housing
14
is difficult as the housing must be inverted and the sand and bullets removed. The sand in the housing is heavy, thereby requiring significant strength to lift and invert the housing
14
. Also, while the housing
14
is being cleaned, the trap
10
remains out of service.
In
FIG. 1B
, there is shown a side cross-sectional view of an alternate type of clearing trap, generally indicated at
30
. The trap
30
uses a circular containment chamber
34
similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,070,763; 5,113,700; 5,121,671; and 5,486,008. As the bullet moves through from the opening
38
through the circular containment chamber
34
, the bullet is forced to travel in a circular pattern. While such movement is highly effective at decelerating the bullet, it also tends to cause lead dust to be released into the air. Additionally, the trap
30
is relatively expensive to make, as plate steel must be formed into the circular pattern and be disposed in a relatively large housing.
FIG. 1C
shows yet another trap, generally indicated at
50
, which is used for clearing weapons. The trap has a housing
54
with an opening
58
for inserting a gun. Disposed within the housing
54
are a plurality of rubber sheets
60
. As the bullet travels through the rubber sheets
60
, the bullet is decelerated until it comes to a rest.
While the sheets are effective at stopping the bullet and preventing fragmentation, they also become riddled with holes due to the bullets and begin to fall apart. If used frequently, replacement of the sheets can be relatively expensive.
Thus, there is a need for an improved clearing trap and method for bullet deceleration which provides all of the advantages of prior art clearing traps without the disadvantages of the currently available systems. Such a system should be inexpensive, easy to use, and ensure proper deceleration of bullets which are fired into the trap.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clearing trap which is less expensive than those of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a clearing trap which safety decelerates bullets.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide such a clearing trap which is easy to maintain, and has minimal downtime.
The above and other objects of the invention are realized in specific illustrated embodiments of a clearing trap having a housing, a bullet deceleration insert, and a bullet decelerating material disposed within the insert for decelerating bullets fired into the trap.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the housing is formed of a conventional grade steel which is preformed in a desired shape (typically of square cross-section). The insert is formed of a plate steel which is sufficiently thick to stop high-power or other predetermined strength rounds. The insert may be slid into the housing for use, and then slid out of the housing when the insert becomes sufficiently full to require emptying. While the insert is being cleaned, another insert can be placed into the housing so that there is virtually no downtime for the clearing trap.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the insert is formed from interlocking pieces of plate steel. To empty the insert, one piece must simply be moved relative to another, thereby exposing the contents of the insert and allowing for rapid cleaning and refilling of the insert.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the invention, the insert is provided with a plurality of vent holes. The vent holes are configured to allow release of a small amount of air from the insert when a gun is fired into the insert—thereby dissipating the energy associated with firing the gun.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1A
shows a side view of a clearing trap made in accordance with the teachings of the prior art;
FIG. 1B
shows a side cross-sectional view of another clearing trap made in accordance with the teachings of the prior art;
FIG. 1C
shows a side cross-sectional view of another clearing trap made in accordance with the teachings of the prior art;
FIG. 2
shows a side view of a clearing trap made in accordance with the principles of the present invention, and a gun inserted into the clearing trap;
FIG. 3
shows a side cross-sectional view of the clearing trap shown in
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 4
shows a disassembled top view of a bullet deceleration insert for use in the clearing trap shown in
FIGS. 2 and 3
; and
FIG. 5A
shows a plan view of a pair of end plates disposed at the end of an insert made in accordance with principles of the present invention;
FIG. 5B
shows a fragmented side view of the housing, with the orientation of the end plates demonstrated in shadow; and
FIG. 6
shows an end view of the bottom wall and sidewalls of an insert with a different end plate configuration attached thereto.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the various elements of the present invention will be given numeral designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention. It is to be understood that the following description is only exemplary of the principles of the present invention, and should not be viewed as narrowing the pending claims.
FIG. 2
shows a side view of a clearing trap, generally indicated at
100
, made in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The clearing trap
100
includes an elongate housing
104
into which a gun
108
is inserted and the trigger pulled in order to ensure that the gun has been properly unloaded. The housing
104
is typically formed by an outer wall surrounding a void.
A pair of flanges
112
and
114
are positioned adjacent the top of the housing
104
. The flanges
112
and
114
extend outwardly
104
and hold a rubber shield
116
to form a face plate with an opening for receiving the gun
108
. As will be explained in additional detail below, the flanges
112
and
114
can be attached directly to the housing
104
or to an insert (not shown) which nests within the housing.
The housing
104
is preferably made of a tube of conventional steel having a square cross-section. The housing
104
is disposed at an angle of between about 50 and 70 to the horizontal so that the user may maintain a comfortable position when performing the clearing check on the gun
108
.
The housing
104
is supported by a leg
120
which prevents the housing from being accidentally pulled toward the user. A base plate
124
is attached to the bottom the housing
104
and the leg
120
to provide lateral stability. For reasons which are discussed in additional detail below, the base plate
124
can be anchored to the floor by bolts or some other securement mechanism if desired.
Turning now to
FIG. 3
, there is shown a cross-sectional view of the housing
104
of
FIG. 2. A
bullet deceleration insert
130
is disposed in the housing
104
and extends substantially the length thereof. The bullet deceleration insert
130
is preferably slidably removable from the housing
104
by pulling the insert upwardly along the long axis of the housing. While the housing
104
is typically made of steel, it can also be made of other materials, such as plastic, wood, etc. The housing
104
may be made from materials other than those conventionally used for bullet deceleration because the insert
130
is made from steel which is sufficiently hard and thick (i.e 0.25 inch plate steel) to withstand a desired round. Because the insert
130
decelerates the bullet, the housing
104
does not have to withstand a significant amount of force.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, the insert
130
is filled with a bullet deceleration medium
134
, such a chopped pieces of rubber, which preferably decelerates the bullet before it reaches the lower end
130
a
of the insert. At the opposing upper end
130
b
, the insert
130
may be attached to the flanges
112
and
114
and rubber shield
116
forming the face plate so that the flanges
112
and
114
form a stop which limits advancement of the insert into the housing
104
. In the alternative, the housing
104
can simply be sized so that the insert
130
can only be advanced a predetermined distance into the housing
104
before being stopped by the base plate
124
or some other obstruction.
While not shown in
FIG. 3
, the insert may also include a plurality of vents. The vents allow the force produced by firing a round at close range to be more readily dissipated. If any deceleration medium
134
escapes from the insert
130
through the vents, it will simply collect at the bottom of the housing
104
and may be cleaned out at a later time by use of a vacuum, shovel, etc.
Also discussed in detail below with respect to a preferred embodiment of the insert
130
is that one wall of the insert can be removed from the remaining portions to facilitate rapid cleaning of the insert. When such a configuration is used, the removable wall is disposed adjacent the upper sloping sidewall
104
a
of the housing
104
. In such a configuration, the upper wall of the insert
130
is unlikely to accidentally open under the weight of the bullet deceleration medium
134
and bullets contained therein.
Turning now to
FIG. 4
, there is shown a partially disassembled top view of the insert
130
. The insert
130
is preferably formed by a bottom portion
138
comprising a bottom wall
140
and a pair of sidewalls
144
attached to the bottom wall so as to form a U-shaped cross-section. Ideally, the sidewalls
144
are connected to the bottom wall
140
by a plurality of interlocking channels
146
and tabs
148
. The bottom wall
140
is then welded to the sidewalls
144
to form a three sided container. An end plate
152
is disposed on the lower end
130
a
of the insert
130
and is preferably welded to the bottom wall
140
and the sidewalls
144
. The end plate
152
can be formed from a solid piece of plate or, as is explained below, may be formed from overlapping plates with slots which provide vents for the insert
130
.
Also shown in
FIG. 4
is the top wall
156
. Unlike the bottom wall
140
and the sidewalls
144
, the top wall
156
is not welded to the remaining portions of the insert
130
. Rather, the top wall
156
has tabs
160
and channels
164
which engage the channels
146
and tabs
148
of the sidewalls
144
to facilitate attachment to the bottom portion
138
. Preferably, the tabs and channels
146
,
148
,
160
and
164
engage one another to leave a plurality of small vents along the insert
130
. The vents allow a small amount of air to escape the insert
130
to dissipate the force associated with firing a gun into the insert, but are sufficiently small that a bullet could not pass therethrough without obliterating the bullet.
The insert
130
embodiment shown in
FIG. 4
is a presently preferred embodiment because, by having the top
156
readily removable from the sidewalls
144
, the insert
130
can be opened and cleaned with very little effort. Once returned to its place, however, the top
156
securely engages the sidewalls
144
and the insert
130
forms a highly effective bullet trap. While providing less efficient cleaning, the insert could be formed with all four plates fixedly attached to each other to form a tubular insert closed at the bottom by the end plate
152
.
One principle advantage of the configuration of the present invention is that it is generally of lower cost than the prior art. Because the housing
104
does not need to be extremely bullet resistant, off-the-shelf square tubing can be used. While the steel plate necessary to make the insert
130
is generally expensive, the relatively small sizes which are used for the bottom
140
, sidewalls
144
and top
156
are readily obtainable from scrap left over from cutting larger pieces of plate for full sized bullet containment traps. Thus, the primary costs associated with the clearing trap
100
are the labor to cut the pieces and weld them together.
Turning now to
FIG. 5A
, there is shown a bottom view an end plate
152
′ made in accordance with principles of the present invention. While the lower end
130
a
of the insert
130
can be formed by a solid end plate
152
as discussed above, it is preferably formed by a pair of plates. A first plate
152
A (which is shown in shadow in
FIG. 5A
) is configured with three slots
170
therein. A second plate
152
B is configured with four slots
174
therein. As shown in
FIG. 5A
, when the first and second plates
152
A and
152
B are oriented so that the slots
170
and
174
are parallel, the slots do not overlap. Thus., there is no straight line which a projectile could follow and pass through both the slots
170
in the first plate
152
A and the slots
174
in the second plate
152
B.
FIG. 5B
shows a side view of the housing
104
with the insert
130
, including the end plate
152
′ shown in shadow. Preferably, the first plate
152
A and the second plate
152
B are also spaced apart slightly when they are welded to the bottom
140
and sidewalls
144
. This spacing allows airflow to pass through the slots
170
and
174
while substantially eliminating the probability of a bullet passing through slots. Of course, the narrower the slots
170
and
174
, the less the likelihood that a bullet would pass therethrough. Furthermore, it is important to remember that very few bullets will ever reach the end plate
1521
due to the bullet deceleration medium
134
(
FIG. 3
) disposed in the insert.
While the configuration shown in
FIGS. 5A and 5B
is a preferably preferred embodiment, the first and second plates is
152
A and
152
B could be rotated so that the slots
170
and
174
overlap one another, thereby leaving small holes in the bottom plate
152
to allow air flow, yet substantially prevent bullet fragments from passing therethrough.
FIG. 6
shows an end view of the bottom wall
140
′ and sidewalls
144
′ of an insert
130
′. Unlike the insert discussed above, the bottom wall
140
′, the sidewalls
144
′, and the top wall
156
′ are simply welded together. While such a configuration does not provide vents, vents could be provided if desired by either forming grooves into the edges of the bottom wall
140
′, sidewalls
144
′ or top wall
156
′, or by drilling holes in the walls.
Disposed at the far end of the insert
130
′ is a single end plate
152
″. The end plate
152
″ has six small slots
170
′ formed therein to provide venting of the insert. By providing vents, the force of generated by discharging the gun is dissipated and the risk of the force blowing bullet deceleration medium
134
(
FIG. 3
) back at the user is minimized.
Thus there is disclosed an improved clearing trap for use with firearms which is inexpensive, easy to construct and to use. While the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 2 through 6
are currently preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications can still be made within the principles of the present invention. For example, while a square cross-section is presently preferred for the housing
104
and the insert
130
or
130
′ because plate pieces of steel plate are readily available, the housing and the insert could be formed with some other cross-sectional geometry. Likewise, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous other modifications could be made to the invention with respect to the vents or other aspects of the housing
104
or inserts
130
and
1301
. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.
Claims
- 1. A trap for receiving bullets, the trap comprising:a housing having a cavity defined by an outerwall surrounding a void; and an insert forming a bullet deceleration chamber, the insert being slidably insertable into and removable from the void of the housing, the insert being formed of a bullet decelerating material and having an opening for receiving a barrel of a gun, wherein the insert is formed by plurality of pieces of steel plate.
- 2. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of pieces of steel plate form a bottom portion having a generally u-shaped cross-section and a top removably engaging the bottom portion such that the insert has a square cross-section when the top is attached.
- 3. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 2, wherein the bottom portion is formed by a bottom and a pair of sidewalls, the bottom and sidewalls being fixedly attached to one another.
- 4. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 1, wherein the insert comprises a plurality of vents force from the insert when a gun is fired into the insert.
- 5. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 4, wherein the insert is formed from a top plate, a bottom plate and a pair of sidewalls, and wherein the vents are formed between the sidewalls and at least one of the top plate and the bottom plate.
- 6. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 4, wherein the insert has at least one plate forming a lower end, and wherein the at least one plate has at least one slot formed therein.
- 7. A trap for receiving bullets, the trap comprising:a housing having a cavity defined by an outerwall surrounding a void; and an insert forming a bullet deceleration chamber, the insert being slidably insertable into and removable from the void of the housing, and wherein the insert has bottom plates and wherein the bottom plates each have slots formed therein.
- 8. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 7, wherein the plates are aligned such that the slots in the plates do not overlap.
- 9. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 1, wherein the insert further comprises a bullet deceleration medium disposed therein.
- 10. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 9, wherein the bullet deceleration medium is formed by pieces of rubber.
- 11. The trap of receiving bullets according to claim 1, wherein the housing is formed from a tube having a generally square cross-section.
- 12. The trap for receiving bullets according to claim 1, wherein the housing is formed from a material other than plate steel.
- 13. A method for forming a clearing trap, the method comprising:selecting a housing having a void configured to receive a bullet deceleration chamber and an open end through which a bullet passes; selecting a bullet deceleration chamber formed from a plurality of generally flat pieces of steel; and sliding the bullet deceleration chamber through the open end and into the void configured to receive the bullet deceleration chamber.
- 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the method further comprises forming a face plate at one end of the housing or insert.
- 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the method further comprises filling the bullet deceleration chamber with a bullet deceleration medium.
US Referenced Citations (21)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
9427111 |
Nov 1994 |
WO |