A DEVICE FOR HOLDING AMMUNITION FOR CARRYING AND LOADING INTO A FIREARM

Abstract

An apparatus for concealing and reloading firearm cartridges. The apparatus may include a plurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments is connected sequentially to form a segment chain; and an ending segment having a segment portion connected to the segment chain, and a tab portion opposing the segment portion, wherein each of the plurality of segments and the ending segment comprises an insert portion and a cartridge holding portion, the insert portion allows for placement of firearm cartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearm cartridge in the insert portion, and wherein, under an open position, the segment chain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/202,315, filed on Oct. 7, 2021, the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure is generally directed to an apparatus for holding and loading ammunition into a revolver type firearm.

Related Art

For many years, the standard duty handgun for a police-officer was a revolver. For a uniformed officer, the issued handgun was typically a six-shot revolver with a 6-inch barrel that fired 0.38-Special cartridges. On the other hand, for a plain-clothes officer, the typical handgun was a five-shot revolver with a 2-inch barrel (commonly referred-to as a “snub-nose” or “snubby”) that also fired the 0.38-Special cartridges. To enable an officer to quickly reload his or her revolver, several devices were invented during the 1960's and 1970's.

In the related art, speed-loaders, mechanical-devices which retain cartridges in a circular fashion that matches the layout of a revolver's chambers, have been used since the 1960's as a way for revolver reload. FIG. 1(A) illustrates examples of conventional speed-loaders. The speed-loaders are typically made of metal. The cartridges are held by the speed-loaders through the cartridges' rims. In use, the spent (fired) cartridges are removed from the revolver's cylinder, with the revolver oriented with its barrel pointed up, and then, with the revolver oriented with its barrel pointed down, the projectile portions of the new cartridges are inserted into the cylinder's chambers. The cartridges are released when either a button on the speed-loader is pushed or a knob on the speed-loader is turned, and causing the cartridges to drop into their respective chamber. FIG. 1(B) illustrates a perspective view of a conventional speed-loader.

In the related art, speed-strips, mechanical-devices with molded pockets that allow for cartridge retention in geometric patterns, have been used since the 1970's as an alternative way for reloading revolvers. The geometric patterns include a straight-line, a staggered-line, and a circular pattern. The speed-strips are typically made of polymer. Similar to the speed-loaders, the cartridges are held by the speed-strips through the cartridges' rims. In use, the spent (fired) cartridges are removed from the revolver's cylinder, with the revolver oriented with its barrel pointed up, and then the projectile portions of the new cartridges are inserted into the cylinder's chambers. The new cartridges are loaded in different fashions depending on the geometric patterns of the speed-strips, e.g. two at a time, three at a time, or all five at a time. FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional circular speed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states. FIGS. 3-4 illustrate a conventional zigzagged speed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states. FIGS. 5-6 illustrate a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states. The cartridges are then released when the speed-strip is peeled/stripped off the cartridges' rims. Use of a speed-strip requires a bit of manual-dexterity as disturbance of loaded cartridges may occur from stripping the speed-strip. In addition, revolver loading using a speed-strip may require more than one sequential action that results in increased loading time during times of need. FIG. 7 illustrates loading of a revolver using a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip. As illustrated in FIG. 7, with a maximum of two cartridges per loading sequence, the loading process takes at least three sequential actions to complete.

In today's world, the snub-nosed, 5-shot revolver remains a popular choice with individuals who conceal carry for self-defense. However, with only five-shots available when loaded, it is important that users also carry a reload to prevent running out of cartridges in their time of need. For individuals who conceal carry, the issue is concealability. A revolver by itself is difficult enough to conceal, not to mention concealment of reloads. As noted above, a speed-loader allows for instant reload of cartridges in a single sequence; however, concealing a speed-loader is at least as difficult as the revolver itself. On the other hand, speed-strips offer easy concealment but at the cost of convenience in cartridge reloading. Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a concealable means to carry a reload for a revolver that not only allows for fast instant reload, but easy to conceal at the same time.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure involve an innovative apparatus for concealing and reloading firearm cartridges. The apparatus may include a plurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments is connected sequentially to form a segment chain; and an ending segment having a segment portion connected to the segment chain, and a tab portion opposing the segment portion, wherein each of the plurality of segments and the ending segment comprises an insert portion and a cartridge holding portion, the insert portion allows for placement of firearm cartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearm cartridge in the insert portion, and wherein, under an open position, the segment chain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various features of the disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate example implementations of the disclosure and not to limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings, reference numbers are reused to indicate correspondence between referenced elements.

FIG. 1(A) illustrates examples of conventional speed-loaders. The speed-loaders are typically made of metal.

FIG. 1(B) illustrates a perspective view of a conventional speed-loader.

FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional circular speed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states.

FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional zigzagged speed-strip under loaded state.

FIG. 4 illustrate the conventional zigzagged speed-strip of FIG. 3 under unloaded state.

FIG. 5 illustrate a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip under loaded state.

FIG. 6 illustrate the conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip of FIG. 5 under unloaded state.

FIG. 7 illustrates loading of a revolver using a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an example cartridge reloading strip in storage configuration, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 9 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 with cartridges loaded, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 in loading configuration, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 13 illustrates side view and front view of an example segment with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 14 illustrates side view of an example cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of an example strip carrier for carrying the cartridge reloading strip 800, in accordance with an example implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description provides details of the figures and example implementations of the present application. Reference numerals and descriptions of redundant elements between figures are omitted for clarity. Terms used throughout the description are provided as examples and are not intended to be limiting. For example, the use of the term “automatic” may involve fully automatic or semi-automatic implementations involving user or administrator control over certain aspects of the implementation, depending on the desired implementation of one of the ordinary skills in the art practicing implementations of the present application. Example implementations as described herein can be utilized either singularly or in combination and the functionality of the example implementations can be implemented through any means according to the desired implementations.

Example implementations disclose a segmented cartridge reloading strip molded from a flexible polymer. Each segment of the segmented cartridge reloading strip orients and retains a single cartridge within the segment. Example implementations provide for optimized ease of concealability while simultaneously providing speedy reload of a revolver.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an example cartridge reloading strip 800 in storage configuration, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 8, under the storage configuration, the four individual segments 802 are connected in a chained fashion, with the last of the four segments connected to an end of an ending segment 804 to form the elongated strip. Each of the four individual segments 802 comprises an insert portion 806 for orienting and retaining a cartridge, and a cartridge holding portion 808 for holding the cartridge in the insert portion 806. The ending segment 804 has a first end that resembles the four segments 802. Similar to the four segments 802, the first end is capable of holding a cartridge in the insert portion 806 through a cartridge holding portion 808. The ending segment 804 further comprises a tab portion 810 that allows a user to grip and holder the strip. The tab portion 810 of the ending segment 804 includes an extended rectangular bar with protrusions on the front and back sides of the bar. The protrusions allow for easy gripping and prevent finger from slipping off the strip. In some example implementations, the protrusions are made of a material different from the segments 802 and the ending segment 804.

The cartridge reloading strip 800 is molded from a flexible polymer. The segments 802 and 804 are connected to each other by a hinged portion 812 that connects two adjacent segments together to provide increased flexibility and bending of the strip. In some example implementations, the cartridge reloading strip 800 is made of at least two different polymers. In some example implementations, the cartridge reloading strip 800 comprises at least five segments. The segment chaining increase allows for cartridge reloading of revolver type firearms having cylinder chamber capacity greater than five.

FIG. 9 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8 with cartridges loaded, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 9, cartridges are loaded into the insert portions 806 of the segments 802 and 804 and held securely by the cartridge holding portions 808. Cartridges can be snapped or slid into the insert portions 806 of the segments 802 and 804.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8 in loading configuration, in accordance with an example implementation. To affect a reload of a revolver, the user rolls the loaded cartridge reloading strip into a circular loading configuration as illustrated in FIG. 10. The user then orients the revolver with its barrel pointed down and partially inserts the projectile ends of the cartridges into the chambers of the revolver's cylinder. This is then followed by the user pulling the tab portion 810 of the end segment away from the resolver to remove the strip from the cartridges, thereby allowing the cartridges to drop into the respective chambers in the cylinder through a single action.

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the cartridge reloading strip 800 is substantially uniform in width. In some example implementations, the cartridge reloading strip 800 is uniform in width. FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading strip 800 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the cartridge reloading strip 800 in the example implementation has a length of 5.546 inches and a width of 0.5 inch.

FIG. 13 illustrates side view and front view of an example segment 802 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 13, segment 802 is angled at 72 degrees between a front wall and a back wall in the side view. With increased segment chaining, the segment angle decreases with increased chaining (e.g., 60 degrees for six cartridges, etc.) When unloaded, the segment 802 has a height of approximately 0.42 inch. The height of the segment 802 does not alter from ammunition/cartridge loading. As illustrated, even under the loaded condition, the height of the segment 802 is slightly thicker than the diameter of the cartridge's rim, at 10% or below. Viewing from the front view, the insert portion 806 includes a right wall 1302, a left wall 1304, and a bottom portion 1306. In some example implementations, a hollow space is created between the right wall 1302, the left wall 1304, and the bottom portion 1306. This reduces the amount of material needed to manufacture the segments 802 and reduces the overall weight of the cartridge reloading strip 800.

FIG. 14 illustrates side view of an example cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the length between a segment 802's center to an adjacent segment 802's center is 0.759 inch. The tab portion 810 has a length of 1.75 inches and a height of 0.062 inch. Each of the protrusions has a height of 0.03 inch and a width of 0.069 inch.

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of an example strip carrier 1500 for carrying the cartridge reloading strip 800, in accordance with an example implementation. The strip carrier 1500 can store at least one cartridge reloading strip 800. In some example implementations, when the strip carrier 1500 is used to carry at least two cartridge reloading strips, a divider can be provided to separate the cartridge reloading strips 800 to allow for easy access and convenient retrieval of the cartridge reloading strips 800. In some example implementations, the strip carrier 1500 has a fastener such as a belt loop or a clip to allow fastening of the strip carrier 1500 to objects.

The foregoing example implementation may have various benefits and advantages. For example, the cartridge reloading strip provides optimized ease of concealability while allowing for speedy reload of a revolver. In addition, the cartridge reloading strip is light weight and flexible, which allows for ease of storage without having to worry about damaging the cartridge reloading strip.

Although a few example implementations have been shown and described, these example implementations are provided to convey the subject matter described herein to people who are familiar with this field. It should be understood that the subject matter described herein may be implemented in various forms without being limited to the described example implementations. The subject matter described herein can be practiced without those specifically defined or described matters or with other or different elements or matters not described. It will be appreciated by those familiar with this field that changes may be made in these example implementations without departing from the subject matter described herein as defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An apparatus for concealing and reloading firearm cartridges, comprising:

a plurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments is connected sequentially to form a segment chain; and

an ending segment having a segment portion connected to the segment chain, and a tab portion opposing the segment portion,

wherein each of the plurality of segments and the ending segment comprises an insert portion and a cartridge holding portion, the insert portion allows for placement of firearm cartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearm cartridge in the insert portion, and

wherein, under an open position, the segment chain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of hinged portions, wherein each hinged portion of the plurality of hinged portions is used to connect two adjacent segments of the plurality of segments or connect the segment chain and the ending segment.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of protrusions located on a first side and a second side of the tab portion.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of protrusions is made of a material different from the segment chain and the ending segment.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises at least four segments.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments and the ending segment are formed from a polymer.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments and the ending segment are formed from at least two different polymers.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, under a loading position, the segment chain and the ending segment are rolled into a circular configuration that allows for loading of firearm cartridges into a revolver.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is uniform in width.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the insert portion comprises a left wall, a right wall, and a bottom portion.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein an area between the left wall, the right wall, and the bottom portion is hollow.

12. A carrier for carrying at least one of the apparatus of claim 1.