Pistol collectors have been frustrated in the past with the lack of options for conveniently and securely storing their pistols in a way that they can view and access the pistols—especially large numbers of pistols. There is a currently a need for improved safe designs to address this issue.
A gun safe, according to various embodiments, comprises: (1) a secure housing defining an interior and an opening; (2) a door that is movable between: (a) a first, open position in which the door prevents access to the interior of the secure housing; and (b) a second, closed position in which the door does not prevent access to the interior of the secure housing; and (3) a vertical array of shelves that is disposed within the interior of the secure housing immediately adjacent a lateral portion of the opening. In various embodiments, each of the shelves defines a handgun support portion that comprises a cutout that is dimensioned to allow a portion of a handgun to extend through the cutout as the handgun is supported on opposite sides of the handgun by the shelf.
A gun safe according to particular embodiments, comprises: (1) a secure housing defining an interior and an opening; (2) a door that is movable between: (a) a first, open position in which the door prevents access to the interior of the secure housing; and (b) a second, closed position in which the door does not prevent access to the interior of the secure housing; and (3) a shelf that is adapted to rotate about a central axis. In certain embodiments, the shelf defines: (1) a first handgun support portion that comprises a first type of cutout that is dimensioned to allow a portion of a first handgun to extend through the first type of cutout as the first handgun is supported on opposite sides of the first handgun by the shelf; and (2) a second handgun support portion that comprises a second type of cutout that is dimensioned to allow a portion of a second handgun to extend through the second type of cutout as the second handgun is supported on opposite sides of the second handgun by the shelf. In some embodiments, the first type of cutout is smaller than the second type of cutout. The first and second type of cutouts may be, for example, substantially in the shape of a keyhole, a diamond, a triangle, or any other suitable shape.
A gun safe according to certain embodiments comprises: (1) a secure housing defining an interior and an opening; (2) a door that is movable between: (a) a first, open position in which the door prevents access to the interior of the secure housing; and (b) a second, closed position in which the door does not prevent access to the interior of the secure housing; and (3) a shelving arrangement that is adapted to rotate about a central axis. In particular embodiments, the shelving arrangement comprises: (1) a first vertical array of half-circular shelves, each half-circular shelf within the first vertical array being positioned so that its outer perimeter at least substantially aligns with the respective outer perimeters of the other shelves in the first array; and (2) a second vertical array of half-circular shelves, each half-circular shelf within the second vertical array being positioned so that its outer perimeter at least substantially aligns with the respective outer perimeters of the other shelves in the second array. In certain embodiments, at least one of the first vertical array of half-circular shelves and at least one of the second vertical array of half-circular shelves cooperate to form a substantially circular shelf.
Having thus described various embodiments in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
Various embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Gun safes according to various embodiments are adapted to hold relatively large numbers of handguns in a vertical rotating array of shelves that is positioned within the interior of the safe. In particular embodiments, one or more shelves in the array of shelves includes at least two differently sized cutouts that are each adapted to receive a range of different sizes of handguns.
In particular embodiments, the gun safe includes at least one shelf that includes both a plurality of relatively large, keyhole-shaped cutouts and a plurality of relatively small, keyhole-shaped cutouts. In a particular embodiment, the different sized keyhole-shaped cutouts are disposed (e.g., alternatingly) in an arcuate arrangement that extends at least partially around an exterior portion of a substantially circular or half-circular shelf. In particular embodiments, each of the keyhole-shaped cutouts is positioned so that its main axis is substantially co-liner with a radius of the shelf. This may help to allow for the storage of a large number of handguns in a relatively small space.
It should be understood that the shelves may include cutouts that are in a shape that is different from a keyhole shape. For example, the cutouts may be substantially diamond-shaped, substantially triangular, or substantially in the shape of a rectangle, oval, or any other suitable shape.
In particular embodiments, in addition to the rotating array of shelves described above, the gun safe may include one or more vertical arrays of pistol shelves immediately adjacent one or more lateral sides of the safe's access opening (e.g., in the respective forward interior corners of the safe). Each pistol shelf may include a cutout (e.g., a keyhole-shaped cutout) for receiving a pistol. Such vertical arrays of shelves may serve to expand the overall capacity of the gun safe.
Various embodiments of the gun safe may also be set up in a split configuration, such as the configuration shown in
Gun safes according to various embodiments comprise: (1) a secure housing (e.g., a secure metal housing) that defines an interior storage chamber; (2) a door that is positioned for selectively preventing access to the interior storage chamber; (3) a rotatable shelving system; (4) one or more fixed handgun support shelves; and (5) an exterior rotating shelf. These various components are discussed in greater detail below.
In the embodiment of
In particular embodiments, the safe's housing 12 may be made of any material that is suitable for preventing access to the safe's storage chamber. For example, the housing 12 may be made of a hard metal, such as steel and be formed with no (or minimal) gaps in the housing's structure. This may, for example, help to prevent or otherwise discourage intruders from prying open the safe 10 to access valuables stored within the safe's interior storage chamber 15.
In various embodiments, the safe 10 comprises a secure door (e.g., a reinforced door) 28 that is rotatably attached adjacent the safe's access opening 20 via a plurality of hinges. In particular embodiments, the door 28 is mounted to allow a user to selectively prevent access to the safe's secure storage chamber 15 through the access opening 20. In various embodiments, the safe 10 further comprises a locking mechanism that is configured to selectively maintain the door 28 in a closed and locked orientation in which the door 28 prevents access to the storage chamber 15 via the access opening 20.
As shown in
As may be understood from
In various embodiments, each shelf 100A may be substantially circular and may be formed of two half-circular shelf pieces, such as the half-circular shelf piece 100H shown in
As shown in
In various embodiments, when the various shelves 100A-100K are installed on the central shaft 40, the respective outer perimeters of all or some of the shelves within a vertical array of shelves (e.g., a vertical array of 2-10 horizontal shelves) may be substantially vertically aligned with each other. For example, in the embodiment shown in
It should be understood that, while the various vertical arrangements of shelves are described above as, in some cases, having outer perimeters that align with one another, in other embodiments, two or more of the shelves may form a vertical array in which the shelves' respective outer perimeters are not vertically aligned.
In various embodiments, the safe's shelves may include one or more handgun support portions 130, 140 that are each adapted to vertically and/or laterally support a handgun (e.g., in a particular location on one of the shelves 100A-100K). Examples of such handgun support portions 130, 140 are shown, for example, in
As shown in
As may be understood from
For example, in the embodiment shown in
In a particular embodiment, in order to maximize the number of handgun supports 134, 144 that may fit on a particular shelf 100D, the shelf 100D may include an alternating, arcuate arrangement of relatively large and relatively small handgun supports adjacent the perimeter of the shelf 100D (See
In the embodiment shown in
As discussed above, in various embodiments, the safe 10 may include multiple half-circular shelves, and may include shelves for supporting both long guns and handguns.
It should be understood that the various shelves may include any suitable number of cutouts 132, 142. For example, each circular shelf may include between 2 and 36 cutouts (e.g., 30 cutouts), or any other suitable number of cutouts.
As shown in
In various embodiments, the safe may comprise one or more additional shelves that are disposed within the safe housing in an area between the top of the rotatable item support and the interior roof of the safe housing. In particular embodiments, the additional shelves are substantially fixed with respect to the safe housing.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. For example, as will be understood by one skilled in the relevant field in light of this disclosure, the invention may take form in a variety of different mechanical and operational configurations. Rifle or pistol supports, may, for example, be configured to support other items or other varieties of weaponry (e.g., shotguns, swords, etc.), or other valuables. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that the modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended exemplary concepts. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purposes of limitation.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/816,608, filed Apr. 26, 2013, entitled “Safes with Rotating Inner Supports and Interior Pistol Shelves,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61816608 | Apr 2013 | US |