Firearm mounting apparatus

Abstract

A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm includes a body member having at least one mounting rail configured to support a firearm accessory and a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel. The barrel adapter including a movement limiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a mounting apparatus for firearms and, more particularly, to a firearm accessory mount including a number of auxiliary mounting features for mounting additional accessories to a firearm.

2. Description of the Related Art

A telescopic sight is one type of aiming device that has long been used in conjunction with firearms, such as rifles and handguns, to assist a shooter in aiming the firearm. More recently, other aiming devices such as laser markers, range finders, and infrared imaging devices have been developed for use with firearms. These aiming devices are typically mounted to the firearm above a barrel or receiver of the firearm using a mounting rack or mounting rings. In addition to aiming devices, other accessories may be mounted to a firearm, such as a flashlight, to aid in the use of the firearm.

Conventional mounting apparatus, while satisfactory in facilitating the removal of a firearm accessory from a firearm for replacement with another firearm accessory, are adapted to mount only one accessory to a firearm at a time. Additionally, the location of a firearm accessory on a firearm may be dependent on the environment in which the firearm will be used. For example, firearm mounting apparatus positioned near the middle or rear of a firearm are more suitable for middle or long distance shooting where the firearm user has sufficient time to aim and shoot. In contrast, close-combat environments, such as an urban environment, typically afford the user very little time to aim and shoot. In this type of environment, it may be more practical to mount a firearm accessory near the front of a firearm barrel, since shooters intuitively point the end of their firearm barrel at a target.

Accordingly, a need exists for an improved firearm mounting apparatus that is configured to secure more than one firearm accessory to a firearm and is adapted to be mounted near the front of a firearm barrel for use in close-combat environments or other quick-aiming situations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm is provided that include a body member including at least one mounting rail configured to support a firearm accessory and a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel. The barrel adapter includes a movement limiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a firearm and a mounting apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, showing the mounting apparatus supporting a number of firearm accessories on the firearm;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, shown with a barrel adapter;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, shown without the barrel adapter;

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, shown without the barrel adapter;

FIG. 6 is an exploded end view, in perspective, of the barrel adapter shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mounting rail of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, showing a swivel received in an aperture of the mounting rail; and

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a mounting rail of the firearm mounting apparatus of FIG. 1, showing a swivel stud received in an aperture of the mounting rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, the preferred illustrative embodiments of the present invention are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain the present invention. Further, the embodiments set forth herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limit or restrict the invention to the precise forms and configurations shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary firearm 10, such as a rifle, is provided that includes a barrel 12 secured to a receiver 14 in a known manner. A first firearm accessory 16, which in the illustrated embodiment is a long range flashlight but is not limited thereto, is secured to barrel 12, and therefore to firearm 10, by a mounting apparatus 18 according to the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, mounting apparatus 18 may be configured to support more than one firearm accessory 16, including without limitation, a short range flashlight 16′, as will be described in further detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 2-5, an embodiment of mounting apparatus 18 is shown. Mounting apparatus 18 includes a body member 20 having at least one mounting rail 22, including without limitation, a Picatinny or Weaver-style mounting rail, configured to support firearm accessories 16, 16′. In the illustrated embodiment, mounting apparatus 18 includes three mounting rails 22, each configured to support a firearm accessory 16, 16′. However, it will be appreciated that body member 20 may be configured with any number of mounting rails 22, or no mounting rail at all.

In an embodiment, body member 20 is a generally U-shaped structure having a pair of deflectable longitudinally extending side members 24 and 26 that define a variable capacity channel 28 sized to receive a barrel adapter 30. As shown in FIG. 1, barrel adapter 30 is positioned between body member 20 and firearm barrel 12. In an embodiment, barrel adapter 30 includes a pair of generally semi-circular adapter halves 32A, 32B (FIGS. 3 and 6) that are inserted into channel 28 between firearm barrel 12 and body 20.

Referring to FIG. 6, barrel adapter 30 also includes a movement limiting member 34 configured to limit movement of body member 20 relative to firearm barrel 12. In an embodiment, movement limiting member 34 includes a radially outwardly extending flange 36 that abuts body member 20 when mounting apparatus 18 is secured to barrel 20. When so configured, body member 20 is sandwiched between a structural member of firearm 10, such as a sight housing 38, and flange 36 to inhibit axial movement of body member 20 on barrel 12.

To inhibit movement of barrel adapter 30 relative to barrel 12, movement limiting member 34 may include a gripping surface 40 (FIG. 3) that contacts barrel 12. For example, gripping surface 40 may include a plurality of elevated ridges formed on the inside of barrel adapter 30 that “bite” into the surface of barrel 12 when adapter 30 is pressed against barrel 12. In another example, gripping surface 40 may include an adhesive coating on the inside of barrel adapter 30 that adheres to barrel 12 when adapter 30 is placed upon barrel 12.

Body member 20 also includes at least one threaded fastener 42, such as a screw, which is secured to each of the longitudinally extending side members 24, 26 and is rotatable relative to side members 24, 26 to move the longitudinally extending side members toward and away from each other to reduce and enlarge the capacity of channel 28, respectively. Enlarging the capacity of channel 28 allows barrel adapter 30 to be easily inserted into channel 28 between barrel 12 and body member 20 during assembly of the components onto firearm 10. Reducing the capacity of channel 28 secures body member 20 to firearm 10 by pressing the barrel adapter 30 between barrel 12 and body member 20. The variable capacity channel 28 allows the use of different diameter barrel adapters 30 to accommodate various barrel diameters.

Each mounting rail 22 may also include at least one aperture 44 sized to receive a secondary accessory 46, such as, for example, a swivel or swivel stud. When so configured, aperture 44 may include an inner groove 48 having a diameter greater than the diameter of the aperture 44 itself. As shown in FIG. 7, groove 48 receives one or more spring loaded bearings 50 in secondary accessory 46, which function to releasably retain secondary accessory 46 within aperture 44. In another embodiment shown in FIG. 8, aperture 44 includes a ledge 52 that prevents passage of a flange 54 of the secondary accessory 46 and, accordingly, removal of secondary accessory 46 from the corresponding mounting rail 22.

The present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the foregoing embodiments, which are merely illustrative of the best modes for carrying out the invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that the method and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby. This description of the invention should be understood to include all novel and non-obvious combinations of elements described herein, and claims may be presented in this or a later application to any novel and non-obvious combination of these elements. Moreover, the foregoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature or element is essential to all possible combinations that may be claimed in this or a later application.

Claims

1. A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising:

a body member including at least one mounting rail configured to support a firearm accessory; and

a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel, the barrel adapter including a movement limiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.

2. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body member includes a plurality of mounting rails.

3. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mounting rail includes at least one aperture sized to receive a secondary accessory.

4. The mounting apparatus of claim 3, wherein the aperture includes an inner groove having a diameter greater than the aperture itself, the groove sized to receive one or more spring loaded bearings in the secondary accessory, which retain the secondary accessory within the aperture.

5. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body member is a generally U-shaped structure having a pair of deflectable longitudinally extending side members that define a variable capacity channel sized to receive the barrel adapter.

6. The mounting apparatus of claim 5, wherein the body member includes at least one threaded fastener secured to each of the longitudinally extending side members and rotatable to move the longitudinally extending side members toward and away from each other to reduce and enlarge the size of the channel, respectively.

7. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the barrel adapter includes a pair of generally semi-circular adapter halves.

8. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the movement limiting member includes a radially outwardly extending flange.

9. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the movement limiting member includes a gripping surface that contacts the barrel.

10. The mounting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gripping surface includes a plurality of elevated ridges.

11. The mounting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gripping surface includes an adhesive that contacts the barrel.

12. The mounting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mounting rail is a Picatinny or Weaver-style mounting rail.

13. A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising:

a body member including at least two mounting rails configured to support a firearm accessory; and

a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel, the barrel adapter configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.

14. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the body member includes a plurality of mounting rails.

15. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the mounting rails include at least one aperture sized to receive a secondary accessory.

16. The mounting apparatus of claim 15, wherein the aperture includes an inner groove having a diameter greater than the aperture itself, the groove sized to receive one or more spring loaded bearings in the secondary accessory, which retain the secondary accessory within the aperture.

17. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the body member is a generally U-shaped structure having a pair of deflectable longitudinally extending side members that define a variable capacity channel sized to receive the barrel adapter.

18. The mounting apparatus of claim 17, wherein the body member includes at least one threaded fastener secured to each of the longitudinally extending side members and rotatable to move the longitudinally extending side members toward and away from each other to reduce and enlarge the size of the channel, respectively.

19. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the barrel adapter includes a pair of generally semi-circular adapter halves.

20. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the barrel adapter includes a radially outwardly extending flange.

21. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the barrel adapter includes a gripping surface that contacts the barrel.

22. The mounting apparatus of claim 21, wherein the gripping surface includes a plurality of elevated ridges.

23. The mounting apparatus of claim 21, wherein the gripping surface includes an adhesive that contacts the barrel.

24. The mounting apparatus of claim 13, wherein the mounting rail is a Picatinny or Weaver-style mounting rail.

25. A mounting apparatus for use with a firearm, comprising:

a body member including a generally U-shaped structure having a pair of longitudinally extending side members that define a variable capacity channel, the longitudinally extending side members each including a mounting rail, each mounting rail being configured to support a firearm accessory; and

a barrel adapter positioned between the body member and a firearm barrel, the barrel adapter including a pair of generally semi-circular adapter halves and a movement limiting member configured to limit movement of the body member relative to the firearm barrel.