The present invention relates generally to safety mechanisms for use on firearms such as AR-style rifles.
External gun safety mechanisms have been used in the prior art to prevent an unintentional discharge. A firearm typically comprises a barrel, receiver, trigger/hammer mechanism and grip or stock. Prior art safety devices include devices that fit over or on a trigger guard, surrounding the trigger or engaging the firing mechanism to prevent accidental discharge.
Gun owners want to secure their guns while still being able to access the gun quickly. Prior art external gun securing devices require the shooter to unlock and remove the device from the gun. Therefore, a quick release gun lock operable by one hand in the shooting position is needed that can be easily and quickly removed.
The quick release gun lock comprises a spring loaded clam-shell configuration. A shooter may close the quick release lock onto a gun with one hand. The shooter may remove the quick release gun lock with one hand while holding the gun in a ready position. The quick release gun lock adapted to fall away from the shooter. The quick release lock may have a first side and a second side. The first side and the second side are attached by a hinge in a clam-shell configuration. For illustration purposes the first side may be a trigger side and the second side a cheek side for use on a gun. The gun may be a rifle having a barrel, receiver, stock and trigger mechanism. The receiver comprising a top and a bottom. A magazine port formed in the bottom of the receiver, the magazine port having a generally rectangular opening surrounded by a outwardly flanged magazine port flange. The trigger mechanism having a trigger and generally a trigger guard on the receiver partially surrounding the trigger.
The first side of the quick release gun lock having an outside, an inside, a hinge end and a stock end. The inside comprising a first lock portion and a first magazine port engagement extending inward. The first hinge end may be connected to the spring loaded hinge. The second side of the quick release gun lock having an outside, an inside, a hinge end and a stock end. The second hinge end connected to the spring loaded hinge. The second inside comprising a second lock portion and a second magazine port engagement extending inward. Each of the first and second magazine port engagements may be a channel having a first flange spaced from a second flange, the magazine port flange disposed between the first flange and the second flange. Alternately, the first and second magazine port engagements may be a flange wall protruding from the first and second inside respectively, the flange wall bearing against the magazine port flange.
The quick release gun lock may be a clam-shell configuration whereby the first side and second side may move from an open position to a closed position about spring loaded hinge. In the closed position, the gun may be sandwiched between the first inside and the second inside. Magazine port engagements on the inside of each of the first and second side engage and bear against the magazine port flange. The first lock portion is attached to the second lock portion whereby the quick release gun lock is releasably attached to the gun in a spring compressed, closed position.
In the open position, the one hand operated quick release gun lock is adapted to receive the gun between the first side and the second side. The quick release gun lock may be closed about the gun and locked in this closed position having the gun sandwiched between the first side and the second side. The quick release gun lock retains the gun by the first and second magazine port engagement bearing against the magazine port flange. The spring loaded hinge may be disposed in front of the magazine port having the magazine port between the hinge and the trigger.
A locking mechanism having a first portion on the first side and a second portion on the second side may extend through the trigger guard to engage and hold the quick release gun lock in the closed position about the gun. Circuitry including an actuator, a shooter interface and memory are attached to the locking mechanism to recognize an open lock command and energize the actuator to urge the first locking portion to release from the second locking portion. Proper engagement with the shooter interface causes the locking mechanism to release. The shooter interface may be adapted to receive input related to a numeric code, bio-metric information, voice command or predefined pattern of keys to actuate the first lock portion to release from the second lock portion. Upon release the spring loaded hinge moves the first side and second side to an open configuration. The energy from the spring loaded hinge causes the quick release lock to project away from the shooter.
The locking mechanism may further comprise a rotating shaft portion and a hasp portion. The shaft portion may be an electric motor drive assembly controlled by the operator interface. The rotatable shaft comprises a pointed tip, a tapered portion a slot adjacent the taper portion and may extend generally perpendicular to the first side. The shaft rotates from a locking position to a unlocked position. The rest position is locking position. The drive assembly is powered by a battery or other power source.
The hasp portion may be a sliding, spring loaded hasp on the second side and adapted to engage the rotatable shaft. As the first side is rotated about the hinge to the closed position, the shaft engages the hasp to displace the hasp. The hasp slides on shaft tapered portion. The shaft traverses to receive the hasp in the slot whereby shaft is attached to hasp. The hasp may be urged out of the slot by rotating the shaft ¼ turn or more or lifting the hasp out of the slot. The spring loaded hasp in the slot holds the first and second side in the closed position.
The quick release gun lock may be attached to the gun with one hand. The gun may be released from the quick release gun lock with one hand upon proper engagement with the shooter interface. The shooter interface may be one or more input devices such as key pad, key lock, touch pad, bio-metric sensor, voice or other mechanism to take a signal from the shooter to release from the rifle. The quick release gun lock falls using momentum created by the two sides moving to the open configuration to urge the quick release gun lock away from the trigger guard, toward the barrel. The locking mechanism may automatically return to a locking configuration.
The above description sets forth, rather broadly, the more important features of the present invention so that the detailed description of the preferred embodiment that follows may be better understood and contributions of the present invention to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and will form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting. It should be appreciated that the invention can be used for any suitable.
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Although the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of this invention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given. Further, the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that other forms, details, and embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.
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9534867 | Dunn | Jan 2017 | B2 |
9677835 | Binns | Jun 2017 | B1 |
20180356172 | Mack | Dec 2018 | A1 |
Entry |
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Jeremy S., “Gear Review: ARmA15 AR-15 Quick Wall Mount”, https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gear-review-arma15-ar-15-wall-mount, (Year: 2015). |
ShotLock, “ShotLock : AR Solo-Vault”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF2R3Oz3aUI, (Year: 2014). |