FOLDABLE OPPOSABLE GRIP ASSEMBLY FOR A FIREARM
In various embodiments, an apparatus is provided, the apparatus comprising: a foldable opposable grip assembly to couple to a firearm, the foldable opposable grip assembly including: an opposable grip device movably attachable to a mount that is attachable to, or integrated with, the firearm, to foldup the opposable grip assembly; and a surface grippable using a thumb of a support hand when the foldable opposable grip assembly is coupled to the firearm and unfolded. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.
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This non-provisional application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/424,392 filed on Nov. 10, 2022, which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUNDOpposable grip accessories (e.g., the Gas Pedal®) may be installed in place of original equipment (e.g., in place of the takedown lever in a Sig® P365®) to reduce the time needed to make accurate follow up shots. Specifically, with an opposable grip accessory, a user may stabilize the firearm (e.g., counteract firearm recoil by applying a compensating force to the accessory with their thumb), which allows the user to quickly re-engage the target.
Some known opposable grip accessories may use a compact thumb grip area to minimize the amount of width added to the firearm by the accessory. Even with the reduced width (due to the compact thumb grip area), firearms employing these accessories may still be too wide for use with some holsters. Also, some users may desire a larger thumb grip area than these compact grip areas provide.
Various embodiments described herein may include a foldable opposable grip assembly. A firearm including the foldable opposable grip assembly may have a narrower width when the opposable grip assembly is closed (e.g., folded up) than when the opposable grip assembly is open (e.g., folded out). In various embodiments, the opposable grip assembly may collapse in response to holstering the firearm. A spring may be arranged to cause the opposable grip assembly to unfold in response to unholstering the firearm.
In this embodiment, the mount 10 is an installable in place of original equipment of a firearm. Namely, the mount 10 is arranged to install in place of the takedown lever of a firearm—a user may remove a takedown lever from the firearm, and install the mount 10 in its place. However, in various embodiments, a mount may have any of the features described herein and may be any of:
-
- an accessory that installs in place of original equipment of the firearm;
- an accessory to operate in addition to the original equipment of the firearm; or
- original equipment of the firearm.
The illustrated embodiment includes a spring 30, which urges the foldable opposable grip assembly 100 to unfold. In this example, the spring 30 is a torsion spring mounted on the pin 40, but other embodiments may use other types of springs, or some other urging mechanism. One end of the torsion spring 30 may engage the opposable grip device 20 and the other end of the torsion spring 30 may engage the mount 10. Also, one of opposable grip device 20 or the mount 10 may include a groove 22 to receive one of the ends of the torsion spring 30, to retain the torsion spring 30 in place.
Referring again to
When the foldable opposable grip assembly 100 is folded up (
The spring 30 (
Referring to
The mount 10 includes a front end to mate with the opposable grip device 20 (
Referring again to
The lever shaft 16 provided on the back end of the mount 10 allows the mount 10 to be used in place of a takedown lever. In other examples, a mount may have any of the front end features illustrated and described herein, but have a backend to mate with a dedicated attachment mechanism of a firearm (e.g., a post, a dedicated port of a firearm, fastener holes, or the like, e.g., the mount 10 may be attached to the dedicated attachment mechanism in front of, or behind, to a takedown lever). In these examples, the mount 10 may be an accessory or original equipment of the firearm. In these examples, the mount 10 may be integrated with the frame of a firearm, or removably attachable to the frame of a firearm using fasteners (e.g., screws may attach the mount 10 to a frame of a firearm, and an opposable grip device may attach to the mount 10 in a similar way to the illustrated embodiment.
The opposable grip device 20 includes a first section with a grip surface 21 and a second section to mate with the mount 10. The second section includes a cavity 26 to receive the corresponding part of the mount 10. The second section also includes a hole 29 for receiving the pin 40 (
The illustrated embodiments include a mechanism for urging (e.g., a spring) a foldable opposable grip assembly to unfold. In other embodiments, a foldable opposable grip assembly may include a mechanism for urging (e.g., a spring) a foldable opposable grip assembly to fold and/or remain in the closed position.
In yet other embodiments, a foldable opposable grip assembly may not include the urging mechanism. For example, one embodiment of a foldable opposable grip assembly may have a mechanism for manually unfolding (e.g., pivotable, hingable, or the like) a foldable opposable grip assembly into a desired positon. These embodiments may include a locking device (e.g., a latch) to fix a position of an opposable grip device relative to the mount once in the desired position (until unlocked). Other variations may be possible and practical.
We claim all modifications and variations coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a foldable opposable grip assembly to couple to a firearm, the foldable opposable grip assembly including: an opposable grip device movably attachable to a mount that is attachable to, or integrated with, the firearm, to foldup the opposable grip assembly; and a surface grippable using a thumb of a support hand when the foldable opposable grip assembly is coupled to the firearm and unfolded.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for urging the foldable opposable grip assembly to fold into a closed position or unfold into an open position.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the urging means comprises a torsion spring.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opposable grip device is hingably couplable to the mount.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the foldable opposable grip assembly further comprises a pin, wherein one of the first and second attachment devices is rotatably coupled to the pin and the other of the first and second attachment devices is fixably coupled to the pin.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the pin is press-fit to the fixably coupled one of the first and second attachment devices.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a spring mounted on the pin, the spring arranged to urge the foldable opposable grip assembly to unfold into an open position.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein an underside of the opposable grip device comprises a smooth surface arranged to slidingly engage an interior of a holster as the firearm is unholstered.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mount comprises a first section to mate with the opposable grip device and a second section comprising a lever shaft.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the foldable opposable grip assembly, when installed on the firearm, is operable as a takedown lever.
11. An apparatus, comprising:
- a foldable opposable grip assembly to pivotably or hingably couple to a firearm assembly, the foldable opposable grip assembly including: an opposed grip device device to mate with a mount that is attachable to, or integrated with, a firearm; means for urging the opposable grip assembly, when pivotably or hingably coupled to the firearm, from one of an open position or a closed position to the other of the open position or the closed position, wherein in the closed position the opposable grip assembly has width that is less than a width of the opposable grip assembly in the open position; and a surface grippable using a thumb of a support hand when the foldable opposable grip assembly is mounted on the firearm and in the open position.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the foldable opposable grip assembly further comprises a pin, wherein one of the opposed grip device and the mount is rotatably coupled to the pin and the other of opposed grip device and the mount is fixably coupled to the pin.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the pin is press-fit to the fixably coupled one of the opposed grip device and the mount.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the urging means comprises a spring mounted on the pin.
15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the urging means comprises a torsion spring.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 8, 2023
Publication Date: May 16, 2024
Applicant: AXTS INC (Redmond, OR)
Inventor: Anibal Salinas (Redmond, OR)
Application Number: 18/504,958