SAFETY HOLSTER FOR AUTOMATIC PISTOLS

Abstract

The present invention relates to a holster for an automatic pistol that loads and cocks the pistol as it is released from the holster. The holster is configured to allow the release of the pistol from the holster with one hand.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a safety holster for storing an automatic pistol. More particularly, the invention relates to a holster for an automatic pistol that loads and cocks the pistol as it is released from the holster.

Description of the Related Art

Automatic pistols, as contrasted with revolver pistols, typically are less safe during their withdrawal from a holster. All currently available automatic pistol holsters require two hands to withdraw the pistol from the holster, to load a bullet into the chamber, and to cock the pistol.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention is an automatic pistol holster having: a body with opposed sides cojoined by a cross member; a pair of clamp blocks engaging each side of the body, wherein one clamp block on each side of the body engages a slide of the pistol whenever the pistol is holstered; a clamp bolt transversing the opposed sides of the body, wherein rotation of the clamp bolt adjusts a distance between the clamp blocks that engage the pistol slide thereby adjusting the force that resists the movement of the pistol slide as the pistol is withdrawn from the holster; and a holster mount.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly several aspects of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an oblique view of an automatic pistol.

FIG. 2 is an oblique view of one embodiment of a belt mounted gripper holster configured for a left handed user.

FIG. 3 is an oblique view corresponding to FIG. 2, but taken from the side opposed to that of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the holster shown FIGS. 2 and 3 having an automatic pistol gripped in the holster slide.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the holster and pistol shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 corresponds to FIGS. 4 and 5, but is taken from the belt mounting side of the holster.

FIG. 7 is an oblique view corresponding to FIGS. 4 to 6, wherein the action required to cock, load, and remove the pistol from its holster is indicated.

FIG. 8 is an oblique view of another embodiment of the holster.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the holster shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an end view of the holster of FIGS. 8 and 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a safety holster for storing an automatic pistol. The safety holster loads and cocks the pistol as it is released from the holster. Reference herein is made to the descriptive drawings of FIGS. 1 to 10.

Referring to FIG. 1, a typical automatic pistol 10 is shown. This type of gun stores ammunition in a magazine loaded into its grip 12. With the chamber of the pistol unloaded, the pistol is cocked and loaded with a round in its chamber by moving the slide 14 on the axis of the pistol barrel 16 and outwardly from the grip 12. For safety, the pistol should be stored with its chamber empty.

FIGS. 2 to 7 illustrate one embodiment of a belt mounted holster 20. The withdrawal of the pistol 10 from the holster 20 and the simultaneous cocking and loading of the pistol is described below. In FIGS. 2 and 3, it is seen that the body 22 of the holster 20 includes a flexible body 22 that is typically a thin piece of metal bent into an “U” shape, with a radiused bend and approximately parallel sides. Transverse to the plane of symmetry of the holster body, its lower end has its outwardly extending arms of the “U” cut back by large equal chamfers 32. Each side of the body 22 on the outer portion of the arms of the “U” is provided with an array of multiple equispaced clearance holes for the passage of screws. These screw holes are perpendicular to the plane of symmetry of the body and equispaced from the axis of the bend.

Penetrating the approximately parallel sides of the body at approximately midlength are a pair of opposed coaxial transverse holes. These coaxial holes are located approximately halfway up the flat sides of the flexible body 22 from the bend axis. The first hole is sized to provide clearance for the shaft of a clamp bolt 24, while the opposed hole is slightly larger so that it can mount a pressed in cylindrical nut 26 for engagement with the threads of the clamp bolt. Two additional holes on the same side as the hole for the pressed in nut 26 serve to accommodate the mounting screws 28 for attaching a belt mount bracket 27.

The flexible body 22 is typically made of a material with a combination of a sufficiently low bending modulus of elasticity and relatively high strength, so that the outer ends of the “U” can be bent inwardly approximately 0.1 inch without permanent distortion. The clamp blocks 37 are identical elongated rectangular cross-section bodies having a rectangular slot parallel to the two opposed sides of the flexible body. The width of the slot is sufficient to permit the outwardly extending portions of the “U” of the flexible body to be engaged in the slot. The clamp blocks are provided with through holes transverse to the slots. These holes are spaced the same as the screw holes of the flexible body. These holes are countersunk on one side and threaded on the opposed side to accommodate the engagement of flat head screws used for mounting the clamp blocks to opposed outer edges of the “U” of the body, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The clamp blocks 37 are typically made of a relatively rigid plastic which has a relatively low coefficient of friction such as high density polyethylene or nylon. The gap between the clamp blocks when the flexible body is relaxed should be on the order of 0.05 inch more than the transverse width of the pistol slide. The clamp bolt 24 has an elongate shaft threaded on a first end and provided with an upset cylindrical head on the opposed end. A cylindrical clamp bolt handle 36 with a round outer distal end extends outwardly in a radial plane from the head of the clamp bolt 34. The clamp bolt handle is inclined at an angle less than 90 degrees from the axis of the clamp bolt in order to provide clearance from the clamp blocks and the body of the clamp.

The belt mount bracket 27 of the holster is formed from a flat elongated rectangular piece of metallic sheet having rounded ends. Prior to bending the bracket during fabrication, two elongated holes 29 having rounded corners and chamfered edges are punched through the bracket 27 adjacent the two ends of the bracket. These elongated holes 29 are perpendicular to the long sides of the bracket and are sized to permit clear passage of a belt which can be used to support the holster 20. A pair of mounting holes are punched or drilled through the belt mount bracket 27 on its transverse longitudinal midplane equispaced from the sides of the bracket. Round head mounting screws 28 with hex nuts are used to mount the belt mount bracket to the body of the holster 20. In order to ease attachment of a supporting belt, the outer portions of the belt mount bracket are bent outwardly symmetrically about the short midplane of the bracket.

Another embodiment of the safety holster 80 is shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. This embodiment is made to be attached to a wall or other flat supporting surface. Its principle of operation and its working elements are similar to the working elements of the belt mounted holster 20 shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, although its actual configuration is different. Referring to FIGS. 8 to 10, the wall mounted holster 80 uses similar clamp blocks 87, clamp bolt 84, and pressed in clamp screw nut as does the belt mounted holster 20. However, the body 82 and the wall mount 85 differ significantly from the flexible body 22 and the belt mount bracket 27 of the belt mounted holster 20.

The body 82 of the wall mounted holster has spaced apart equal sides which extend symmetrically approximately perpendicularly to the flat bottom of the body to form an “U” shape. The width of the body 82 is about the same as the length of the clamp blocks 87. Downwardly offset a short distance from the outer ends of the “U” is an array of three symmetrically spaced holes. These holes accommodate the flat head screws used to mount the clamp blocks 87 to the body 82.

Approximately at midheight and midlength of the sides of the “U”, a pair of coaxial holes penetrate the sides of the “U”. The hole on a first side is a clearance hole for the clamp bolt 84, while the hole on the opposed side is sized to accommodate the mounting of a pressed in nut. A pressed in nut is installed in the second hole and the clamp bolt 84 is engaged through the hole on the first side and then into the threads of the pressed in nut on the opposed second side of the “U”.

On the longitudinal midplane of symmetry of the body 82, a pair of through holes are equally spaced from the transverse midplane of the body. These holes mount a pair of round head attachment screws which are used to attach a wall mount 85 such as a metal angle. The wall mount 85 is provided with holes corresponding to those on the bottom of the “U”, and nuts are engaged with the round head screws in the bottom of the body in order to retain the wall mount. The vertical leg of the wall mount 85 is provided with holes appropriate for mounting it to a wall or other surface.

Operation of the Invention

The two holsters disclosed herein function in the same manner other than their mounting. When the automatic pistol 10 is inserted into the holster 20, the slide 14 of the pistol is engaged between the clamp blocks 37 of the holster (as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6) and the clamp bolt 24 is rotated by means of torque application to the clamp bolt handle 36 until the slide 14 of the pistol is firmly gripped. Care must be taken to ensure that the clamp blocks 37 are engaged only with the slide 14, rather than also engaging the body 18 of the pistol.

The clamping force should be sufficiently large to resist the sliding removal of the pistol 10 from its holster 20 by a force on the order of four to eight times the weight of the pistol. Likewise, the clamping force should be large enough to resist disengagement with the slide 14 when the body 18 of the pistol is pulled away from the slide during the cocking and loading manipulation. Additionally, the mounting of the belt mount bracket and/or the wall mount bracket should also be capable of supporting a load larger than that required to slide the pistol out of its holster.

An uncocked and unloaded pistol is safely mounted in its holster as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7. The pistol 10 is removed from the holster by exerting sufficient force in a direction for moving the slide to cause the cocking and loading of the pistol and then overcoming the frictional forces of the clamp blocks 37 on the pistol slide 14. The clamping forces should be experimentally adjusted to achieve this result for a particular pistol.

Advantages of the Invention

Use of the holsters of this invention permits safe, unloaded and uncocked storage of an automatic pistol, while at the same time permitting one hand cocking, loading, and release of the pistol from its holster. The gripping force of the holster can be made such that it is not readily dislodged by vibration or small children. The ease of the removal of the pistol with a single hand is particularly desirable in emergencies.

The fabrication cost of the holsters is low, while the basic design is robust. The ease of adjustment of the gripping force is advantageous. Additionally, there is no need to modify the automatic pistol in any way.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed might be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or redesigning the elements of the holsters for carrying out the same purpose. It should be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. An automatic pistol holster having: a body with opposed sides cojoined by a cross member;a pair of clamp blocks engaging each side of the body, wherein one clamp block on each side of the body engages a slide of the pistol whenever the pistol is holstered; a clamp bolt transversing the opposed sides of the body, wherein rotation of the clamp bolt adjusts a distance between the clamp blocks that engage the pistol slide thereby adjusting the force that resists the movement of the pistol slide as the pistol is withdrawn from the holster; anda holster mount.