The present disclosure relates generally to the field of electrical power distribution and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing electrical power to one or more power consuming weapon accessories which are mounted on a powered accessory platform of a weapon.
A powered accessory platform for a weapon includes a handguard assembly including an upper handguard portion and an opposed lower handguard portion. The upper handguard portion and the lower handguard portion cooperate to define a sleeve, the sleeve having a proximal end configured to attach to the weapon and a distal end opposite the proximal end. The sleeve is configured to surround at least a portion of the weapon when the proximal end is attached to the weapon. A flexible circuit is disposed within the sleeve, the flexible circuit comprising one or more circuit elements disposed on a flexible circuit substrate. An accessory mounting rail is located on a top portion of the upper handguard portion, the mounting rail having at least one electrical connector thereon. An accessory mounting pad is mechanically and electrically coupled to the accessory mounting rail. A power supply connector on the sleeve configured to attach a power supply.
The invention may take form in various components and arrangements of components, and in various steps and arrangements of steps. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
Referring now to the drawing
The hand guard assembly A includes an upper shell 120 and a lower shell 122 which cooperate to define an axially extending sleeve 124 defining a channel which is attached to the firearm 110 at or near a first, proximal end 126 and extends distally to surround at least a portion of a barrel 128 of the firearm 110. The upper and lower shells 120, 122 may be formed of a metal (including metal alloys) and may be formed by casting, extrusion, molding, machining, additive manufacturing, or any combination thereof.
A flex circuit 130 includes a flexible circuit substrate 132 formed of a material such as a polyimide or other suitable flexible film material having printed circuit elements formed thereon. The flex circuit 130 includes an axially extending portion 134, a first pair of transversely extending arms 136 at or near the proximal end of the hand guard assembly A and partially surrounding the barrel 128 and a second pair of transversely extending arms 138 located at or near the distal end of the hand guard assembly A and partially surrounding the barrel 128. Each of the arms 136, 138 has a plurality of contact pads 140 formed thereon.
A heat shield 150 is disposed between the barrel 128 and the flex circuit 130 to protect the flex circuit 130 and the user's hands from heat buildup in the barrel 128. The flex circuit 130 is sandwiched between the heat shield 150 and the sleeve 124. Fasteners passing through aligned openings in the flex circuit substrate and the heat shield 150 may be employed to secure the flex circuit within the sleeve 124. The heat shield 150 extends in the axial direction and partially surrounds the barrel 128. The heat shield 150 may be formed of aluminum or other thermally conductive material.
The upper shell 120 includes a pair of opposing axially extending edges 160a, 160b, which engage complementary axially extending edges 162a, 162b, respectively, on the lower shell 122. In preferred embodiments, the edges of one pair have a retaining groove which receives a complementary tongue on the edges of the other pair. In the illustrated embodiment, the axially extending edges 160a, 160b, each have axially extending grooves 164a, 164b, which have a generally T-shaped cross-sectional shape. The axially extending edges 162a, 162b, each have an axially extending tongue members including vertically extending tongue members 166a, 166b, which extend continuously along the axial length of the lower shell 122, and horizontally extending tongue members 168a, 168b, which are segmented along the axial length of the bottom shell 122.
The upper facing surface 170 of the upper shell 120 includes a mounting region 172 intermediate the front rail section 112 and the rear rail section 114. The mounting region 172 includes a generally flat surface having first and second apertures 174a, 174b for receiving electrical connector elements 182a, 182b therethrough. The connector elements 182a, 182b include a plurality of contacts electrically coupled to the circuit elements on the flex circuit 130.
The flex circuit 130 includes a connector portion 180 having the connector elements 182a, 182b mounted thereon. A backer or stiffener board 184 formed of a rigid material is disposed beneath the portion 180 to reinforce the flex circuit at the connector portion 180. The connector portion 180 with stiffener board 184 is disposed on a mounting plate 186 which is secured within the interior of the upper shell 120 in alignment with the mounting region 172 via a plurality of fasteners such as threaded fasteners 188 which pass through openings 190 in the upper surface and engage complementary openings 192 in the mounting plate. Rubber or other polymeric (e.g., elastomeric) seals 194a, 194b may be disposed in the apertures 174a, 174b between the upper surface 170 and the connector elements 182a, 182b, e.g., to seal around the connector elements to protect against water or moisture entering into the interior of the sleeve 124 via the apertures 174a, 174b.
The lower shell 122 includes a reinforced portion 200 at or near the proximal end of the lower shell and includes one or more openings 202 for receiving one or more fasteners for securing the hand guard assembly A to the weapon. In certain embodiments, the hand guard assembly A is attached to the weapon at its proximal end and extends distally. In certain embodiments, the hand guard assembly A is configured to attach to a receiver portion, e.g., upper receiver in the case of a two piece type of receiver, of a firearm. In preferred embodiments, the hand guard assembly A is attached to the firearm via a barrel nut which attaches the firearm barrel to the receiver.
The contact pads 140 define a plurality of contacts electrically coupled to the circuit elements on the flex circuit 130 and are aligned with corresponding apertures 210 in the upper shell 120.
The electrically operated device assembly C includes or is attached to an adapter or accessory mounting pad 220 configured to attached to the mounting region 172, e.g., via fasteners 222 passing through openings in the pad 220 and removably engaging aligned openings 224 in the mounting region 172. The platform 220 includes electrical connector elements (not shown) on a bottom surface of the accessory mounting pad which are aligned with the connector elements 182a, 182b. A circuit board is housed within the pad 220 to provide electrical communication between the connector elements 182a, 182b and contact elements 226 on the upper surface of the pad 220.
The electrically operated device C, in turn, is attached to the pad 220, e.g., via fasteners 232 passing through openings 234 in the pad 220 and engaging aligned openings in the device C housing. The illustrated pad 220 and device C are exemplary only. Electrical contacts 230 on the device C engage the contacts 226 on the pad 220.
In certain embodiments, a plurality of interchangeable pads may be provided to accommodate different devices C. In preferred embodiments, the electrically operated device is a sighting device, such as a reflex sight and/or laser sight. In preferred embodiments, the device C may be a combined laser/reflex sight, such as that described in commonly owned U.S. provisional application No. 62/063,210 filed Oct. 13, 2014, and U.S. nonprovisional application Ser. No. 14/881,779 filed Oct. 13, 2015, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The device C may be used in combination with other accessory devices. For example, in the exemplary embodiment appearing in
The vertical handgrip B includes a housing 270 which defines a battery compartment receiving one or more batteries or battery packs 272, which is accessible via a battery compartment cover 274. The upper end of the handgrip B includes a hot shoe receptacle 280, such as a dovetail type hot shoe, having a plurality of electrical contacts 282 thereon. The contacts 282 engage aligned contacts 286 on a hot shoe 284 on the lower shell 122. The hot shoe 284 is attached to a lower surface 294 of the lower shell 122, e.g., via threaded fasteners, and the hot shoe electrical contacts are electrically coupled to the circuit carried on the flex circuit board 130. In certain embodiments, the electrical contacts on the hot shoe are electrically coupled to pick up points on the flex circuit via a wired connection, e.g., via soldering. The electrical contacts 282 on the hot shoe receptacle 280 and the electrical contacts 286 on the hot shoe 284 thus provide an electrical communication between the power supply 272 and the flex circuit 130.
The upper shell 120 includes two side surfaces 290 on opposite sides of the upper surface 170. The lower shell 122 includes two side surfaces 292 on opposite sides of a lower surface 294. Each of the side surfaces includes a plurality of recesses 300a, 300b axially spaced along its length. Each recess 300a, 300b is configured to receive a removable pad 302 which is configured to improve a user's grip and insulate the user's hand from heat generated in the barrel 128. Each of the pads 302 includes a rigid stiffener 304 which may be formed of a high temperature composite material and a cover 310 which may be formed of a flexible, heat-resistant material. In preferred embodiments, the cover 310 is formed of a silicone rubber (polysiloxane) material, having low thermal conductivity and high thermal stability. Preferably, the pads 302 are sized to protrude from the recesses 300a, 300b such that the protruding pads and soft cover materials provide improved traction between the user's hand and the fore end portion of the weapon.
Each of the stiffeners 304 is sized to be removably snap fit or press fit into a corresponding opening 314 in a recess 300a, 300b. Each of the stiffeners 304 also includes a protruding boss 316 on an outward facing surface which is sized to engage a complementary opening (not shown) on the inward facing surface of the cover 310. In the illustrated embodiment, the pads 302 are triangular in shape with every other pad 302 being inverted, although it will be recognized that other shapes are contemplated.
Four of the recesses in the upper shell 120, designated 300a, include the apertures 210 to provide access to the contact pads 140 on the flex circuit 130. A keypad 320 includes front cover 322 having a plurality of depressible buttons (designated 332, 334, 336, 338) extending therethrough. A rear cover 326 includes a first triangular fastener 328a which is sized to be removably received within a desired one of the recesses 300a. A second triangular fastener 328b is configured to be received in an adjacent recess 300b. As shown in
The keypad 320 can be operatively connected to the flex circuit by attaching the key pad 320 at one of four designated positions on the upper shell 120, namely front left, front right, rear left, and rear right. As best seen in
In the illustrated embodiment, the key pad 320 includes a first actuator button 332 (designated “L” in the illustrated embodiment) for actuating the first electrically operated device and a second actuator button 334 (designated “F” in the illustrated embodiment) for actuating the second electrically operated device, and an increment up button 336 and an increment down button 338.
In the depicted embodiment, the second electrically operated device D is a flashlight comprising a flashlight head 350 extending distally from a mounting arm 360. The flashlight head 350 may have one or more light emitting elements, preferably LEDs. In certain embodiments, the flashlight head 350 includes one or more LEDs which emit radiation in a visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In other embodiments, the flashlight head 350 includes one or more LEDs which emit radiation in an infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In still further embodiments, the flashlight head 350 is a dual mode flashlight which includes one or more LEDs which emit radiation in a visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and one or more LEDs which emit radiation in an infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The mounting arm 360 includes a housing 362 which is configured for mounting to a complementary mounting pad 364 on distal end of the lower surface 294 of the shell 122. The mounting arm also includes an electrical connector 366 which mates with a complementary electrical connector 368 on the flashlight mounting pad 364.
The key pad 320 is operative to remotely control operation of both the first device C and the second device D. The flex circuit 130 operates as a power bus wherein both the first and second devices C, D are operable to receive power through the bus responsive to a processor 380 (see
The selector knob 382 is used to select the source(s) that are operated by the keypad buttons. Indicium 390a (“Off”) corresponds to the off position wherein the device C is powered down and no light sources will be activated by the actuator button 332. Indicium 390b (“Ir A”) corresponds to the IR aiming or pointing laser 400 of a laser module 398, which is actuated by the button 332 in this configuration. Indicium 390c (“Ir F”) corresponds to the IR flood laser 402, which is actuated by the button 332 in this configuration. Indicium 390d (“Ir D”) corresponds to the dual IR mode wherein both the IR aiming laser 400 and the IR flood laser 402 are operated simultaneously by the button 332. Indicium 390e (“Rfx”) corresponds to the reflex sight 410 and its corresponding light source is actuated by the button 332 in this configuration. Indicium 390f (“Vis”) corresponds to the visible wavelength aiming or pointing laser 404, which is operated by the button 322 in this configuration. Indicium 390g (“FL”) corresponds to the flashlight 350 which is operated by the button 334 in this configuration. Indicium 390h (“Vis FL”) corresponds to a dual mode wherein the visible aiming laser 404 and the flashlight 350 are operated simultaneously by the buttons 332 and/or 334. The intensity increment button 336 and intensity decrement button 338 are provided to increase and decrease, respectively, the intensity output of whichever light source(s) are selected by the selector knob 382.
In certain embodiments, the user may not wish to use the vertical grip B. In such cases, the hot shoe 284 may be coupled to an alternative remotely located power supply. For example, as shown in
In certain embodiments, as shown in
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon a reading and understanding of the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/156,484 filed May 4, 2015. The aforementioned provisional application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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