The present invention relates to a portable gun case. More particularly this invention concerns an adjustable portable carrying case for a takedown long arm, e.g. rifle or shotgun.
A gun case as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,519,662 of Kempken has a hard two-part shell forming an elongated and generally parallepipedal cavity. Transverse bars in the cavity are each provided with a plurality of holding brackets that can be positioned along the bars so as to fit with the long arm to be held in the case.
Another gun case described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,487 of Munson is of the same shape, but instead is provided with fixed molded blocks custom made to fit with a particular long arm or its parts. Such a case can be produced at relatively low cost, but only fits a single gun or line of guns.
German Utility Model 298 18 077 assigned to Limtec GmbH describes another gun case adapted to be carried like a backpack and provided with hook/loop (e.g. Velcro™) tapes used to secure the parts of a takedown gun in place.
These cases all have in common that they are fairly expensive to manufacture and are normally also at least partially custom made for certain types or sizes of guns. Adapting them to different guns is difficult and refitting the box to accommodate a different gun is even more difficult.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved portable gun case.
Another object is the provision of such an improved portable gun case which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which is inexpensive to manufacture and very easy to adapt to guns of different sizes, in particular takedown long arms.
A portable gun case has according to the invention a generally rectangular floor wall having two long side edges and two short end edges bridging the side edges, respective side and end walls projecting upward from the respective edges of the floor wall and forming an upwardly open cavity, and a top wall secured to one of the side walls and engageable down over the cavity. In accordance with the invention a mounting board fitted to one of the walls in the cavity is adapted to support parts of a gun. A plurality of flexible holding tapes are mounted releasably at any of a plurality of locations on the board so the tapes can be wrapped around the parts of the gun and thereby securing the gun to the board.
The use of flexible tapes, of the hook/loop type that have hook/loop ends that stick to each other or with an eye at one end, makes it possible to not only lock the tapes around any part of the gun having any normal dimension, but also facilitates securing the tapes to the board. What is more, the tapes secure the weapon in the case even without the case being closed, thereby making using the case much simpler. Opening the case and taking out one part of the gun, for instance to switch barrels or get a telescopic sight, is easy because everything remains held solidly in place when the case is open. All the user has to do is undo the tapes of the part wanted to gain access to it.
According to the invention the board is formed with an array of slots through which the tapes are looped. These slots are arrayed in parallel rows and each slot is throughgoing and has a length equal to slightly more than a width of the tapes. The board also has hook/loop regions engaging the tapes and releasably secured thereto. Thus to fit the case according to the invention with a particular gun, its parts are laid down at a spacing to each other on the panel. Then the tapes are threaded through the slots between the parts, automatically adhering to the board, and are overlapped and pressed together atop the gun parts. The board is then fitted to the case.
The board is rigid and has a face turned toward the one wall and the board face and the one wall are provided with complementary hook/loop, that is hook-and-loop, strips that removably secure the board to the one wall. Thus the board can be pulled out, if necessary, and the tapes moved around to accommodate another gun or another part of the gun already being held. The use of a separate board means that, now matter how the tapes are set for a particular gun, the case will have the same outside appearance, as the tapes are nowhere visible outside the case. What is more, this board stiffens the entire case, so that the side and end walls as well as the floor and cover can be made of somewhat lighter stock.
The walls can all be folded flat. More specifically the side walls and end walls are permanently hinged on the floor wall and the top wall is permanently hinged on one of the side walls. Thus cases according to the invention can be shipped flat, in quantity to the end user who can set them up as they are needed, one gun per case normally. The cases are so expensive that guns can be individually packaged in them for inventory purposes or to move them about, and the cases themselves can be used for display, e.g. at a gun show.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
As seen in
The floor 11 is covered by a liner board 15 of slightly smaller dimensions so it fits snugly between the walls 13a–13d. This board 15 is formed with eight rows of nine slots 20a–20i (
The cover 12 is hinged at an axis a at an upper edge of the long side wall 13b, is slightly larger than the floor 11, and has a flap 25 that can be secured by catches 30a and 30b to keepers 31a on the front long side wall 13d, or by snaps as shown at 26 and 27 in
As shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
102 38 155 | Aug 2002 | DE | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2519662 | Kempken | Aug 1950 | A |
2531550 | Bradley et al. | Nov 1950 | A |
3669336 | Robinson | Jun 1972 | A |
3780487 | Munson | Dec 1973 | A |
3907108 | Weimer | Sep 1975 | A |
4480774 | Smith | Nov 1984 | A |
4523702 | Viio | Jun 1985 | A |
5366070 | Wolov | Nov 1994 | A |
5678686 | Hagemann et al. | Oct 1997 | A |
5845780 | Allen | Dec 1998 | A |
6009996 | Purdy | Jan 2000 | A |
6499592 | Wilfer | Dec 2002 | B1 |
6547070 | Kolpin | Apr 2003 | B1 |
20010015325 | Wilfer | Aug 2001 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
298 18 077 | Feb 1999 | DE |
2586766 | Mar 1987 | FR |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20040104137 A1 | Jun 2004 | US |