Apparatus for Prevention of Dropping of Handgun

Abstract

An apparatus for preventing the dropping of a handgun during use thereof is shown firstly by detachable a lanyard type of device and alternatively by a locking mechanism that replaces one of the handgrips of the handgun to be used in conjunction with a special glove with an attachment thereon that can be received into the locking mechanism to hold the gun from separation from the glove until such time that the locking device is intentionally unlocked so that the glove can be separated from the locking device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/778,585 filed Mar. 13, 2013 entitled “Apparatus for Prevention of Dropping of Handgun” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to an apparatus to prevent a hand gun user from dropping his or her weapon during use.

BACKGROUND

During the operation of shooting a firearm such as a handgun, typically the operator grabs the weapon from a holster and holds the weapon in their hand during use. In general, after firing or during use, the weapon can be dropped, lost or dislodged from the operator's hand, leaving the operator vulnerable in a firefight situation. Without the weapon, the operator is defenseless and unable to protect himself/herself or others.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,522 to Norton; U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,884 to Salvitti, U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,371 to Chu; U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,986 to Roush and Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0278262 to Gallagher, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, address the aforementioned problem to some extent but suggest solutions that are quite cumbersome to use during the urgency of battle.

Accordingly, there is a need for simpler and more reliable solutions to the problem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above needs are at least partially met through provision of the method and apparatus described in the following detailed description, particularly when studied in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a handgun having a first embodiment of the present invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the present embodiment of FIG. 1 in use;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial side view of the circled part labeled “3” in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3A is a cross sectional view taken through pin shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 3B is a cross sectional view like FIG. 3A but with the button pushed in to move a cam to allow spherical cam members to move inwardly;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 shown separated from the handgun;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 but showing what happens if the handgun becomes dislodged from the users hand during use thereof;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the glove portion of the second embodiment of the present invention when not on the hand of a user;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a glove portion of a second embodiment of the present invention shown on the hand of a user;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a handgun using the second embodiment of the present invention, which is used in combination with the glove shown in FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational exploded view of the handle part of the handgun of FIG. 8 with the normal hand grips removed in readiness to receive a latching mechanism of the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of FIG. 8 just before a user with the glove of FIGS. 6 and 7 would grasp the handgun from a holster showing how an enlarged metal button structure would be close to, but not in a slot in which it is designed to be received;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of FIG. 10 when the button of the glove of FIGS. 6 and 7 has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism but before the button is locked into the locking mechanism;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun of FIG. 11 when the glove of FIGS. 6 and 7 has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism and is locked into the locking mechanism;

FIG. 13 is a view taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12 to show that the button of the glove of FIGS. 6 and 7 has been received in a slot in a locking mechanism and is locked into the locking mechanism; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged partial view of the handle part of the handgun like FIG. 11 but showing the locking mechanism completely retracted so the button can be received in the cavity or slot as shown in FIG. 13, but before the locking mechanism moves back to the FIG. 12 position.

Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts throughout the several views, FIGS. 1-5 show an apparatus 10 constructed in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention to prevent the dropping of a handgun during use.

A handgun 11 has a flange 13 attached to the handle thereof as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. The flange 13 has an opening 13a therein to receive a pin 14a of pin 14. Small metal balls 14b lock the pin 14a from being removed from the opening 13a in flange 13 so long as the button 14c is not pushed in. To release the pin 14a from the flange 13, one would just hold the handle portions 14h with one's fingers while pushing in (to the left in FIG. 3) so that a cam inside the pin part 14a does not push the balls 14b outwardly to the position shown in FIG. 3. These locking pins 14 are on the commercial market and are available from many different sources, such as Kwik-Loc™ pins from Jergens Industrial Supply, or Ball-Lok® pins from Avibank Manufacturing, Inc. Other types of pins can be used instead of the specific type of locking pin shown in FIGS. 1-5 if desired.

The handle 14h has a hole in it and a cable 15 is attached there through it on one end of the cable 15. The other end of the cable 15 is attached to a wrist band 16, which can be made of a solid plastic material with some elastic properties so it can be slipped over a user's hand for example. But the strap 16 could be a Velcro® brand nylon strap or any other type of reliable strap.

The projection (14b) is a spherical member disposed in a hole (14h) in the pin (14), the hole (13a) being smaller than the spherical member (14b) to allow the spherical member (14b) to project from the hole (14h) in a first position (FIG. 3A) thereof but not fall out of the hole. The spherical member (14b) has a second position (FIG. 3B) not projecting significantly out of the hole (14x). A cam member (14c) is disposed at least partially inside of the pin (14) and is biased by a compression spring (14s) to a first position (FIG. 3A) wherein the spherical member (14b) is pushed to the first position thereof and the cam (14c) is moveable to a second position (FIG. 3B) thereof permitting the spherical member (14b) to move to the second position thereof. An enlarged portion on one end of the pin is a handle (14h), the handle having a button, part of cam (14c), thereon attached to the cam (14c) and being moveable with the cam (14c).

In use of the embodiment 10 of FIGS. 1-5 a user would have the strap 16 around the user's hand as shown in FIG. 2, but can place the handgun in a holster, not shown. The user would then just push on the pin 14c and remove the pin 14a from the flange 13 until such time the user decides that the device is needed. At such time the user would grasp the handgun 11 from the holster, push on the pin 14c and insert the pin 14a into the flange 13 as shown in FIGS. 1-3. The user could then use and fire the handgun 11 as shown in FIG. 2 with one or two hands. If for any reason the handgun 11 would be dislodged from the user's hand, it would still be tethered to the user's wrist as shown in FIG. 5. That way the user could quickly place the handgun back in the user's hand in the position shown in FIG. 2.

FIGS. 6-14 show an apparatus 110 constructed in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention to prevent the dropping of a handgun during use.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a right handed glove 100 with a rivet type button 101 that could be attached to the glove similar to the way that metal buttons are attached to the top front of Levis® brand blue jeans, though the present invention is not limited to that manner of attaching the button 101 to the glove.

The glove 100 of FIGS. 6 and 7 would be used in conjunction with a locking mechanism 201 attached to the right side of the hand grip of a handgun 100. It will of course be understood that a left side device could also be used in conjunction with a left handed glove similar to that shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Looking to FIG. 9, the locking mechanism has a first member 202 that is attached by first by screw/bolt 202a to the handle of the handgun 200 after the original handgrip (not shown) on that side of the handgun 200 has been removed. Then a second assembly part 203 shown in FIG. 9 would be attached to the first member 202 by a screw/bolt 202b and the fact that a pin 205 that pivotally attaches a locking member 204 to the assembly part 203 fits into an opening 205a in first member 202.

A compression spring 204s is attached at one end 204sa to the member 203 and at the other end 204sb to the lever 204 so as to bias the lever 204 to the position shown in FIG. 10 but allow the lever 204 to move out of the way from the FIG. 10 position to the FIG. 14 position. Then as the rivet portion 101r of the button 101 moves to the FIG. 11 position it will push the lever portion 204a out of the way until the rivet portion 101r is moved into opening or cavity 203c as shown in FIG. 13. Once the rivet portion 101r is in the FIG. 12 position, the compression spring 204s will push the lever 204 back to the FIG. 10/12 position, thereby locking the gun 200 to the glove 100, even though some pivoting of the gun with respect to the glove can occur. It is to be understood that instead of using a compression spring 204s, a torsion spring around the pin 205 could be used, or a tension spring pulling the bottom part of the lever 204 to the right as shown in FIG. 9.

The gun 200 could then be used without fear of it ever dropping out of the user's hand. And when the user decides that he/she wants to remove the glove 100 from the handgun 200, the user would merely need to move the lever portion 204b from the position shown in FIGS. 8, 10 and 12 to the position shown in FIG. 14 by moving the lever 204b to the left from the FIG. 12 position to the FIG. 14 position to allow the rivet 101b to be moved to the left out of the slot 203s, at which time the lever 204b can be released.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventive concept as expressed by the attached claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for preventing a user from dropping a gun comprising:

a flange adapted to be attached to a gun, the flange having an opening therein, the opening being of a predetermined size;

a pin selectively disposed in the opening of the flange, the pin having an enlargement on one end thereof that is too large to fit through the opening;

a projection disposed on the other end of the pin, the projection having a first and a second position with respect to the pin; the projection, in combination with the pin, being too large to fit through the opening in the first position of the projection and in the second position with respect to the pin the other end of the pin can fit through the opening;

an attachment member adapted to be attached to the user; and

a flexible tether being operatively connected to the pin and to the attachment member whereby if the user drops the gun, the gun will still be close to the user due to being tethered to the user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the attachment member comprises a flexible strap adapted to fit around the wrist of a user.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the attachment member is a plastic member with some elastic properties.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the projection is a spherical member disposed in a hole in the pin, the hole being smaller than the spherical member to allow the spherical member to project from the hole in a first position thereof but not fall out of the hole, the spherical member having a second position not projecting significantly out of the hole; and

a cam member disposed at least partially inside of the pin and being biased to a first position wherein the spherical member is pushed to the first position thereof and the cam being moveable to a second position thereof permitting the spherical member to move to the second position thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the enlarged portion on one end of the pin is a handle, the handle having a button thereon attached to the cam and being moveable with the cam.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the flange is attached to a handle portion of a handgun.

7. An apparatus for preventing a user from dropping a gun comprising:

a plate member adapted to be attached to a handle of a hand gun, the plate member having a slot of a predetermined width disposed therein, the plate member having an inner face and an outer face, the inner face being closer to the handle of the hand gun than the outer face;

a glove adapted to be worn by a hand gun user, the glove having a palm portion;

a button operatively attached to the palm of the glove, the button having a first end attached to the palm portion, a second end of the button being wider than the predetermined width of the slot in the plate member and a neck portion having a width smaller than the width of the slot in the plate member so that the neck of the button can be moved between a first position outside of the slot in the plate member and a second position disposed in the slot of the plate member, the second end of the button, in the first position of the neck member, being spaced from the plate member; and in the second position of the neck member, the second end of the button is disposed between the outer face of the plate member and the handle of a hand gun.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a locking member operatively attached to the plate member for selectively locking the button into the slot.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a locking member operatively pivotally attached to the plate member, the locking member being biased to a first locked pivotal position and moveable to a second unlocked pivotal position.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein when the button has moved from the first position thereof to the second position thereof the locking member has moved between the first and second pivotal positions and back to the first pivotal position.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein a lever is selectively operatively attached to the locking member for manually pivoting the locking member from the second locked pivotal position to the first unlocked pivotal position.