Patent Application
20230400280
Embodiments are related to firearms, firearm replicas, firearm accessories, firearm grips, pistol grips for rifles, and to accessories for firearms in the M4 family.
The well-known AR-15 rifle was developed in the 1950s and is often considered the first rifle in the M4 family which also includes the M16, and a vast number of other firearm models. The firearms in the M4 family have standardized dimensions and easily replaceable, interchangeable, and upgradeable parts. Those easily replaceable, interchangeable, and upgradeable parts include rifle stocks, collapsible stocks, forward grips, pistol grips, buffer tubes, sights, trigger assemblies, and many other parts. As such, firearms in the M4 family are easily customized for specific tasks, form factors, and even cosmetics.
The following presents a summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
One aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented as a hand grip. The hand grip can include a cylindrical body, and a top section. The top section can include a right cheek, a left cheek, and a receiver interface. The hand grip can also include a grip screw hole in the receiver interface, and a bottom, wherein the receiver interface is between the right cheek and the left cheek, the cylindrical body is between the top section and the bottom, the grip screw hole is configured for a grip screw to pass through the grip screw hole, and the grip screw hole is configured for the grip screw to attach the hand grip to a firearm receiver.
Another aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented as a method. The method can include forming a monolithic hand grip that includes a cylindrical body, a top section, and a bottom, wherein the top section includes a right cheek, a left cheek, and a receiver interface. The receiver interface can include a grip screw hole, the receiver interface can be between the right cheek and the left cheek, the cylindrical body can be between the top section and the bottom, the grip screw hole can be configured for a grip screw to pass through the grip screw hole, and the grip screw hole can be configured for the grip screw to attach the monolithic hand grip to a firearm receiver.
Yet another aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented as a hand grip. The hand grip can include an attachment means for attaching the hand grip to a firearm, a cylindrical gripping means under the attachment means, an access means for accessing a grip screw attaching the hand grip to the firearm, and a digit resting means located at a bottom of the cylindrical gripping means, wherein the attachment means includes a blind hole that is configured for holding a safety detent spring of the firearm.
In some implementations of the methods and devices, a hand grip includes an access hole in a rear surface of the cylindrical body, wherein the access hole is configured to provide access to the grip screw. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body has an outer diameter that is greater than 1.25″ and less than 1.55″. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body has a circumferential groove that is at least 0.03″ deep. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the hand grip includes a digit rest that is located at the bottom and on a front surface of the cylindrical body. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the top section includes a blind hole configured for holding a safety detent spring of a firearm.
In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body includes a plurality of circumferential grooves. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the circumferential grooves are parallel. In some implementations of the methods and devices, one of the circumferential grooves passes completely around the cylindrical body. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the hand grip is a monolithic hand grip.
In some implementations of the methods and devices, the hand grip further includes a digit ridge, wherein the digit ridge is located between the bottom and the top section, and the digit ridge is located on a front surface of the cylindrical body. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body includes two parallel circumferential grooves, and the digit ridge is positioned between the two parallel circumferential grooves. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the digit ridge is equidistant between the two parallel circumferential grooves. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the hand grip is configured for attachment to an M4 family firearm. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body has an axis, a firearm has a bore line, and the handgrip is configured for attachment to the firearm with the axis of the cylindrical body perpendicular to the bore line.
In some implementations of the methods and devices, the cylindrical body includes a plurality of parallel circumferential grooves that completely encircle the cylindrical body. In some implementations of the methods and devices, the monolithic hand grip includes a digit rest that is located at the bottom and on a front surface of the cylindrical body.
In some implementations of the methods and devices, the hand grip further includes two parallel circumferential grooves in the cylindrical gripping means, and a digit ridge that is positioned between the two parallel circumferential grooves on a front surface of the cylindrical gripping means.
These and other aspects will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows. Other aspects, features, and embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific, exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features may be discussed relative to certain embodiments and figures below, all embodiments can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.
The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate aspects of embodiments and, together with the background, brief summary, and detailed description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. The figures are not necessarily to scale.
It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments as generally described herein and illustrated in the appended figures could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of various embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, but is merely representative of various embodiments. While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by this detailed description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present invention should be or are in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, in light of the description herein, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the invention.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the indicated embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
The early members of the M4 firearm family (e.g., AR-15 rifle, M16 carbine, etc.) had hard plastic hand grips. Improved hand grips, such as the famed beaver tail hand grip offered by Falcon Industries, Inc., became available decades later. The improved hand grips were among the first parts that were designed for upgrading and customizing M4 family firearms. Since that time, new accessories have been brought to market to meet the needs of the firearm users. Those accessories have included stocks, fore grips, optics, lasers, trigger assemblies, and new hand grip designs.
A new type of hand grip that has a cylindrical body, circumferential grooves, digit ridges, and a digit rest has been developed to meet the needs of certain long-range marksmen. In testing, cylindrical bodies with an outer diameter ranging from 1.25″ and less than 1.55″ have performed well with many users preferring a 1.4″ outer diameter. Grooves in the cylindrical bodies provide improved grip. The digit ridges and digit rest are positioned such that the user's hand fits comfortably on the hand grip. The digit ridges are positioned to support individual fingers while the digit rest supports the lowest finger. One of the requirements for high accuracy shooting is that the user's body is comfortable and relaxed. The hand grip described herein is designed such that the user's hand can hold the grip in a comfortable and relaxed manner. Thereby improving accuracy.
The cylindrical body 103 is a perpendicular body because the axis 131 of the cylindrical body 103 is perpendicular to the bore line 130. The bore line 130 is the line passing along the center of the bore of the firearm's barrel. Cylinders have an axis of rotation that passes through the center of the cylinder. The cylindrical body 103 therefore has an axis of rotation that herein is called the axis 131 of the of the cylindrical body 103. For clarity, a first markup line 132 and a second markup line 133 are used to show that the axis 131 of the cylindrical body 103 is perpendicular to the bore line 130. The first markup line 132 is perpendicular to the bore line 130 and to the second markup line 133. The second markup line 133 is therefore parallel to the bore line 130. The axis 131 of the cylindrical body 103 is perpendicular to the second markup line 133 and is therefore also perpendicular to the bore line 130. The angle of the grip is designed to be perpendicular to the bore axis of the host firearms. This aids shooters that use this grip for long range/precision style shooting techniques where the thumb is not wrapped around the grip but left in line with the other 4 digits. This allows shooter to maintain the same hold on their pistol gripped guns as they would on a gun with a traditional gunstock. The grip can also be utilized on compact type guns, where the length of pull is kept extremely short. When the length of pull of a firearm is shorter than the natural length of pull on a shooter, the traditional swept back angle of a grip is too steep and requires the shooter to bend the wrist forward at an unnatural angle.
It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and other features and, functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
