Patent Application
20120180359
The present invention is directed toward firearm hand guards and more particularly to a hand guard cap interface for receiving hand guard caps of different shapes.
Modern firearms, in particular, combat firearms such as assault rifles, are often designed to be modular in nature so that a basic firearm platform can be extremely versatile, filling a wide variety of needs from close urban combat to sniper fire. One area in particular where it can be desirable to provide alternative configurations is a rifle hand guard. The hand guard receives the firearm barrel and typically resides between a distal end of a housing and a barrel sight. In one typical embodiment the hand guard consists of two pieces, a hand guard upper and a hand guard lower, which are constructed to engage along their lengths to define the hand guard. In one known embodiment, the distal ends of the upper and lower cooperate to define a hand guard cap interface so that when mounted on a compatible firearm, the distal end of the upper and the distal end of the lower are brought together in engagement with the hand guard cap. The proximal ends of the hand guard upper and hand guard lower are then brought together and held in place by a proximal hand guard retainer such as a delta ring on the distal end of the housing.
One problem with the system as described above is that the hand guard caps may be of different shapes and thus a single hand guard cap interface may not work with a hand guard cap associated with a particular firearm.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discussed above.
A first aspect of the present invention is a hand guard for a firearm, the firearm being of a type comprising a barrel with a proximal hand guard retainer at a proximal end and a hand guard cap at a distal end. The hand guard cap comprises an end wall having an orifice configured to axially receive the barrel, and a proximally extending flange defining a select shape surrounding the orifice. The hand guard comprises at least first and second body pieces configured to mate lengthwise about a barrel of a firearm between the proximal hand guard retainer and the hand guard cap to form the hand guard. The body pieces cooperatively form a proximal hand guard retainer interface at a proximal end of the hand guard a hand guard cap interface at a distal end. The hand guard cap interface is configured to engage a first select shape defined by a proximally extending flange of a first hand guard cap and a second select shape defined by a proximally extending flange of a second hand guard cap.
In one embodiment, the distal end of the at least first and second body pieces cooperatively form the hand guard cap interface when the at least first and second body pieces are mated lengthwise about a firearm barrel. In another embodiment, the at least first and second body pieces are attached to the barrel by axially engaging the distal end of each body piece forming the hand guard cap interface with a cooperating portion of the hand guard cap proximally extending flange and engaging the proximal hand guard retainer interface with the proximal hand guard retainer. In one embodiment, the hand guard cap interface is configured to receive the first select shape in the form of a circle and the second select shape in the form of a triangle. In one embodiment, the hand guard cap interface comprises a plurality of distally extending bosses extending from the distal end of each of the at least first and second body pieces. The distally extending bosses may form a peripheral interface configured to engage the first select shaped proximally extending flange by being received therein and a channel interface configured to engage the second shaped proximally extending flange by capturing the flange in a second shaped channel. In one embodiment, the peripheral interface is circular and the channel interface is triangular. The channel interface may be formed in part by an inner surface of sliver-shaped bosses and the peripheral interface is formed in part by an outer surface of the sliver-shaped bosses.
Another aspect of the invention is a hand guard cap interface for a hand guard for a firearm. The hand guard is configured to be received between a hand guard cap and a proximal hand guard retainer operatively associated with a barrel of a firearm. The hand guard cap comprises an end wall and a proximally extending flange defining a select shape. The hand guard cap interface comprises a plurality of distally extending bosses, the distally extending bosses being configured to engage a first select shape defined by a proximally extending flange of a first hand guard cap and a second select shape defined by a proximally extending flange of a second hand guard cap. The first select shape may be in the form of a circle and the second select shape may be in the form of a triangle. The distal extending bosses may form a peripheral interface configured to engage the first select shaped proximally extending flange by being received therein and a channel interface configured to engage the second shaped proximally extending flange by capturing the flange in a second shaped channel. In one embodiment, the peripheral interface is circular and the channel interface is triangular.
The hand guard cap interface for a hand guard of the present invention is configured to receive hand guard caps of different shapes. Because hand guard caps predominantly come in only two shapes, the hand guard cap interface is useful with most known hand guard caps, thus alleviating the need for stocking a particular hand guard for each known hand guard cap likely to be encountered. The hand guard cap interface could be modified to engage hand guard caps of more than two shapes.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, dimensions reaction conditions and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about”.
In this application and the claims, the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, use of “or” means “and/or” unless stated otherwise. Moreover, the use of the term “including”, as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included”, is not limiting. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompass both elements and components comprising one unit and elements and components that comprise more than one unit unless specifically stated otherwise.
Referring to
Referring to
In use, the firearm hand guard 18 is installed as follows. Referring to
As described above, if the hand guard cap is a circular hand guard cap 52, the peripheral interface 50 defined by the peripheral surfaces of the sliver shaped bosses 34, 36, 38 and a portion of the boss 28 are received inside the proximally extending flange 58 of the circular hand guard cap 52, thus holding the hand guard upper 40 and hand guard lower 42 together at the distal end. If the hand guard cap 20 is of the triangular configuration 60, the triangular hand guard cap 60 engages the interface by the proximally extending flange 66 being received within the channel interface segments 44, 46, 48 depicted in
Various embodiments of the disclosure could also include permutations of the various elements recited in the claims as if each dependent claim was a multiple dependent claim incorporating the limitations of each of the preceding dependent claims as well as the independent claims. Such permutations are expressly within the scope of this disclosure.
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a number of embodiments, it would be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in the form and details may be made to the various embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and that the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to act as limitations on the scope of the claims. All references cited herein are incorporated in their entirety by reference.
