EP0108031B1

EP0108031B1 - Detachable cushioned gun grips

Info

Publication number: EP0108031B1
Application number: EP83630177A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jack R. Farrar; Frank W. Farrar
Original assignee: Pachmayr Gun Works Inc
Current assignee: Pachmayr Gun Works Inc
Priority date: 1982-10-29
Filing date: 1983-10-27
Publication date: 1986-12-30
Also published as: DE108031T1; JPS5995398A; DE3368761D1; EP0108031A1

Description

This invention relates to a grip assembly to be secured to the receiver of a gun, said grip assembly including a body of elastomeric material adapted to be gripped by a user's hand and containing an upwardly facing recess, the upper end of said grip assembly being adapted to be received behind a rearwardly facing surface of the receiver, and the grip assembly being detachably connectable to the receiver by a fastener.
A type of gun which is often used by police as a riot gun takes the form of a pump shotgun having a pistol type handle enabling the gun to be manipulated more conveniently than a conventional shotgun with a shoulder stock. This riot gun may have a folding stock connected to the pistol type grip and adapted to swing to a position functioning as a shoulder stock when desired.
A cushioned gun grip of the type referred to above is known from US-A-4 148 149. The known cushioned gun grip is directly attached to a rearwardly and downwardly extending projection formed on the receiver itself and comprises a body of elastomeric material having a reinforcing sleeve embedded therein. The reinforcing sleeve receives the receiver projection therein and the fastener exerts upward clamping force against the reinforcing sleeve. A similar cushioned gun grip is also described in DE-A-3 000 018. For use with the known cushioned gun grips the receiver is provided with an integral projection inclined downwardly at a steep angle with respect to the axis of the gun barrel. With the grip so mounted on an integral projection of the receiver, precise aligning tolerances of the integral projection with the barrel axis must be observed during manufacture to permit optimum orientation of the grip with respect to the barrel when mounted on the receiver projection.
In accordance with the characterising part of claim 1 the grip assembly comprises an adaptor formed separately from said elastomeric body and detachable therefrom, said adaptor having an upper portion adapted to be received behind the rearwardly facing surface of the receiver and being adapted to be secured by said fastener to said receiver, said adaptor further having a lower projection extending downwardly into said recess and a second fastener extending upwardly within said elastomeric body and detachably securing said body to the lower projection of said adaptor.
The grip assembly has in certain respects been devised primarily for application to a gun of the above discussed type, but may also be usable with other types of guns. The grip assembly may be easily and quickly secured to the receiver of a gun, and when installed provides a very high strength positive connection between the grip and receiver.
With the grip assembly secured to the receiver of a gun, the upper connector portion of the adaptor is positioned above the level of the finger contacted portion of the trigger of the gun, and the fastener for securing the adaptor to the receiver is also located above the level of the trigger.
A special fastener may be provided for retaining the elastomeric body to the adaptor, the fastener may have a head to which a sling connector is attached for holding an end of a gun sling.
The above and other features of the grip assembly will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a pump shotgun having a grip assembly embodying the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section through the rear portion of the gun and grip;
Fig. 2A is a further enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 2A-2A of Fig. 2;
Fig. 3 is a generally horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary generally vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the adaptor of Figs. 1 to 5; and
Fig. 7 is a side view of a variational form of gun having a folding stock.

There is illustrated at 10 in Fig. 1 a pump shotgun which is essentially conventional in most respects except as to the provision of a grip assembly 11 embodying the invention, including an adaptor 12 and a grip 13 detachably connectable to the remainder of the gun by the adaptor. The conventional portion of the gun includes a receiver 14, a barrel 15 connected to the forward end of the receiver and extending along an axis 16, and a magazine tube 17 extending forwardly from the receiver beneath and parallel to the barrel for containing a series of shotgun shells to be successively fed to the receiver. A tubular pump forend part 18 is disposed about tube 17, and adapted to be manually reciprocated in a front to rear direction relative thereto. Upon movement rearwardly and then forwardly of forend 18 relative to the rest of the gun, two actuating rods 19 extending rearwardly therefrom actuate conventional firing, loading and ejecting mechanism 20 within the receiver to eject a spent shell laterally through a side opening 21 in the receiver, feed the next successive shell into the firing chamber at the rear of the barrel from magazine 17, and cock the firing mechanism. A user may then fire the gun by contacting the exposed actuating portion 22 of a trigger element and pulling it rearwardly.
As seen best in Figs. 2 through 5, the receiver 14 consists essentially of a hollow metal body having a generally rearwardly facing slightly inclined planar back surface 23 disposed at an angle a to a plane 24 perpendicular to the axis 16 of the barrel. A peripheral flange 25 projects rearwardly along the edge of surface 23, and at an approximately central location a projection or boss 26 projects rearwardly from and beyond surface 23 and contains an internally threaded bore 27 by which grip assembly 12 may be attached to the receiver. The trigger loop element 28 about actuating portion 22 of the trigger may project rearwardly beyond surface 23 at 29.
Adaptor 12 is formed of a suitable material such as steel, zinc die casting alloy, a rigid resinous plastic material or the like, adapted to withstand the forces encountered in use and handling of the gun, and has a forward face 30 which is adapted to be tightened forwardly against back surface 23 of the receiver and flange 25. This face 30 includes a surface 31 extending along the periphery of the forward face 30 of part 12 and facing generally forwardly, preferably perpendicular to an inclined axis 32 which is the axis of threaded bore 27 and is disposed at an angle to and intersects barrel axis 16. This surface 31 may engage or be received closely adjacent the rear edge of flange 25 in the assembled condition of the parts. Within and encircled by surface 31, adaptor twelve has a fowardly projecting rib or flange 33 which in the assembled condition is received within and closely adjacent and extends essentially parallel to peripheral flange 25 of the receiver, with the forward edge 34 of rib 33 lying in the plane 35 of receiver surface 23 to contact that surface in the assembled condition of the parts. Within rib 33, the forward face 30 of adapter 12 may contain a recess 35 to lighten the adapter part and receive boss 26. The adapter is tightenable against the receiver by a screw 36 having a threaded shank 37 extending through and fitting closely within an opening 38 in the adapter and connecting threadedly into bore 27 to tighten head 138 of the screw against a shoulder 39 in the adapter and clamp the adapter tightly against the receiver. Screw 36 may be of the alien head type, containing a non-circular recess 40 engageable with an allen wrench to tighten or remove the screw.
At its rear side, adapter 12 has a connector portion 41 to which grip 13 is detachably secured. This connector portion has a projection 42 extending along an axis 43 which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly as shown and which intersects and lies in a common vertical plane with axes 16 and 32. The projection 42 may have an upper straight cylindrical external surface 44 and a lower slightly downwardly tapering surface 45, both centered about axis 43, with a threaded recess or bore 46 extending upwardly into and being centered within projection 42 for engagement with the threaded shank 47 of a screw 48 which retains the grip proper 13 on adapter 12. At opposite sides of projection 42, adapter 12 may have two similarly arcuately curved surfaces 148 (Fig. 6), with a portion 49 of the adapter projecting rearwardly at a location laterally between the two arcuate surfaces 148 and being defined by opposite side surfaces 50 and an inclined rearwardly and downwardly facing planar surface 51 from which the projection 42 extends. A strengthening brace or portion 52 of the adapter may project beyond surface ?1 and be connected to the projection 42 as shown.
The grip 13 is preferably of the type shown and described in US-A-4,148,149 and US-A-4,242,824. More particularly, grip 13 includes a body 53 molded of a suitable resiliently deformable elastomeric material, such as neoprene rubber having a short hardness between about thirty-three and forty-five on the A scale. This elastomeric body projects downwardly to a level well beneath the finger engaged actuating portion of trigger 22, while the upper portion of adapter 12 which contacts rear face 23 of the receiver is desirably located well above that portion of the trigger. Body 53 is shaped externally to be gripped by a user's hand while his finger engages and actuates the trigger. The outer surfaces of elastomeric body 53 may be checkered or otherwise irregularized as shown to enhance the gripping contact between those cushioning surfaces and the user's hand.
Internally, elastomeric grip body 53 contains a reinforcing structure 54 preferably taking the form of a tube extending about and centered with respect to axis 43 and adapted to have its upper end portion received about and fit closely with respect to adapter projection 42 to effectively and rigidly locate the grip relative to that projection. Tube 54 is completely surrounded by elastomeric body 53, and may have a thin layer of the elastomeric material within the interior of the tube so that the elastomeric body and tube 54 define together a recess 56 centered about axis 43 for receiving projection 42 and extending downwardly therebeyond. The reinforcing tube 54 may carry a rigid transverse wall 57 at its lower end containing an opening 58 through which the shank 47 of screw 48 extends, with the head 59 of the screw. bearing upwardly against wall 57 at 60 to tighten the grip upwardly and forwardly against adapter 12. Rearwardly of recess 56 and reinforcing tube 54, elastomeric body 53 may contain a cushioning recess 61, which may be elongated generally vertically as shown to enhance the resilient deformability of the elastomeric material under the influence of recoil forces, in accordance with the teachings of US-A-4,242,824. At its upper end, the elastomeric material 53 may have a portion 62 received behind the upper rear extremity of adapter 12 to avoid contact of a user's hand with any sharp surfaces of the adapter at that location. The front of the elastomeric body 53 of grip 13 contains a recess 63 shaped in correspondence with and adapted to receive portions 49 and 52 of the adapter. Also, the elastomeric body may have a portion 64 extending downwardly behind the trigger and trigger loop to protect a user's fingers against contact with the rear surface of the trigger loop in firing the gun.
The screw 48, besides securing grip 13 to adapter 12, may also serve a second function of providing a connection by which one end of a flexible sling is attached to the gun, with the other end being secured to a loop 67 carried by a removable threaded cap 68 closing the forward end of magazine tube 17. For serving this second purpose, the head 59 of screw 48 may be formed as a hollow element into which the shank 166 of a sling retaining loop element 66 projects. At its inner end within head 59, element 66 has a transverse portion 266 engaging inner shoulders in the head at 366 in a manner connecting loop element 66 to head 59 for relative pivotal or swinging movement between the different positions illustrated in Fig. 2. This pivotal or swivel connection between the loop element 66 and part 59 may be of the type shown and described in US-A-3,226,872.
In mounting the grip assembly 11 on gun 10, a user first positions adapter 12 at the location illustrated in Fig. 2, and then passes screw 36 forwardly through the adapter and into bore 27 of the receiver, to tighten the adapter against the back surface of the receiver. The grip proper 13 is then moved upwardly along axis 43 and about projection 42 of the adapter to the position of Fig. 2, after which screw 48 is inserted upwardly through the grip at its recess 56 into bore 46, to tighten the grip on the adapter. When the grip is thus in position, the elastomeric material 53 contacts adapter 12 entirely about the location of opening 38 in the adapter and screw 36 extending therethrough, to thus hide the screw and present an attractive overall appearance of the assembly. Sling 65 is connected to the swivel loop 66 carried by head 59 of the screw, and at its opposite end is connected to loop 67 secured to cap 68 on magazine tube 17.
In the variational arrangement of Fig. 7, adapter 12a and grip 13a of the grip assembly 11a may be identical with corresponding parts of Figs. 1 to 6 except that the adapter is constructed to carry a folding stock assembly 68, which is adapted to swing between the inactive full line position of extension forwardly along the top of the barrel and the active rearwardly swung position illustrated in broken lines. Assembly 68 may include a first part 69 connected pivotally to the adapter 12a at 70 for the discussed swinging movement, and a second part 169 functioning as a shoulder contacting element and adapted to swing between a retracted position essentially aligned longitudinally with part 69 (full lines in Fig. 7) and the downwardly extending broken line position to form an abutment against which a user's shoulder can engage in firing the gun as a shoulder weapon. Part 69 is mounted to swing between the illustrated positions relative to the adapter about a transverse axis 71, with a spring pressed detenting element 72 functioning to releasably retain part 69 in its active or inactive position. This folding stock arrangement of Fig. 7 may be of the type shown in US-A-3,798,819 but with the folding stock being mounted pivotally to the adapter in the present case rather than to an integral one piece grip as in the Patent.

Claims

1. A grip assembly to be secured to the receiver (14) of a gun, said grip assembly including a body (53) of elastomeric material adapted to be gripped by a user's hand and containing an upwardly facing recess (56), the upper end of said grip assembly being adapted to be received behind a rearwardly facing surface of the receiver, and the grip assembly being detachably connectable to the receiver by a fastener (36), characterized in that the grip assembly comprises an adaptor (12; 12a) formed separately from said elastomeric body (53) and detachable therefrom, said adaptor (12, 12a) having an upper portion (41) adapted to be received behind the rearwardly facing surface of the receiver and being adapted to be secured by said fastener (36) to said receiver, said adaptor further having a lower projection (42) extending downwardly into said recess (56) and a second fastener (48) extending upwardly within said elastomeric body (53) and detachably securing said body (53) to the lower projection (42) of said adaptor (12; 12a).

2. A grip assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said upper connector portion (41) of said adaptor (12; 12a) contains an opening (38) through which said first mentioned fastener (36) extends forwardly for attachment to said receiver (14) to secure said adaptor (12; 12a) thereto.

3. A grip assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said lower projection (42) of said adaptor (12; 12a) extends downwardly and rearwardly into said recess (56) in said body (53).

4. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said elastomeric body (53) contains a second recess (61) extending downwardly and rearwardly behind said lower projection (42) of said adaptor (12; 12a) to enhance deformation of the elastomeric body (53) in response to recoil forces.

5. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by reinforcing means (54) embedded within and more rigid than said elastomeric material and disposed essentially about said first mentioned recess (56) for reception of said lower projection (42) of said adaptor (12; 12a).

6. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by a sling connector (66) attached to said second fastener (48) for holding an end of a gun sling (65).

7. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said first mentioned fastener (36) extends forwardly through an opening (38) in said adaptor (12; 12a) along a slightly inclined axis (32) which advances gradually downwardly as it advances rearwardly, and said second fastener (48) extends upwardly and forwardly within said recess (56) in the elastomeric body (53) and along a different more abruptly inclined axis (43).

8. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said upper connector portion (41) of said adaptor (12; 12a) contains a forwardly facing recess (35) through which said first mentioned fastener (36) extends for connection to the receiver (14), said upper connector portion of the adaptor (12; 12a) having a peripheral rib (33) extending about and defining said recess (35) in said upper connector portion and which is adapted to be tightened forwardly against the receiver (14) by said first mentioned fastener (36).

9. A grip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the upper connector portion (41) of the adaptor (12; 12a) is adapted to be positioned substantially above the level of the finger contacted portion of a trigger (22) of the gun, and the first mentioned fastener (36) is also adapted to be located above the level of the trigger (12).