Intelligent multipurpose flexible rifle grip

Abstract

A handguard grip assembly has a connector to be fixed to a barrel of a rifle, the barrel having a barrel axis, a grip having a grip axis and adapted to be held by a user of the rifle and a flexible joint connected between the connector and the grip for allowing the grip and grip axis to pivot to any angle with respect to the barrel axis.

Claims

1. A handguard grip assembly for a rifle (100) having a barrel (114) with a barrel axis (114a), and a handguard (110) extending at least partly around the barrel, the assembly comprising: a connector adapted to be fixed to the rifle handguard; a grip having a grip axis and being adapted to be held by a user of the rifle, wherein the grip is a one-piece, coreless elastomer grip, comprising an integral connecting portion (56) at a first end thereof, the integral connecting portion received in the connector; an integral, flexible joint portion (54) below the integral connected portion and adapted to allow flexibly repositioning the grip axis; and a tapered portion connecting the joint portion (54) to a lower grip portion (52), the lower grip portion having a larger diameter than the connecting portion, and the connecting portion having a larger diameter than the joint portion; and wherein the flexible joint portion allows the grip to pivot as long as the grip is being held, so that the grip axis is at any selected angle to the barrel axis.

2. The grip assembly according to claim 1, wherein the handguard includes a mounting rail, the connector having a channel for engaging the rail.

3. A handguard grip assembly comprising: a connector adapted to be fixed to a barrel of a rifle, the barrel having a barrel axis; a grip having a grip axis and being adapted to be held by a user of the rifle, wherein the grip is a one-piece, coreless elastomer grip, comprising an integral connecting portion (56) at a first end thereof, the integral connecting portion received in the connector; an integral, flexible joint portion (54) below the integral connected portion and adapted to allow flexibly repositioning the grip axis; and a tapered portion connecting the joint portion (54) to a lower grip portion (52), the lower grip portion having a larger diameter than the connecting portion, and the connecting portion having a larger diameter than the joint portion; and wherein the flexible joint portion allows the grip and grip axis to pivot to any angle with respect to the barrel axis.

4. The grip assembly according to claim 3, including a handguard over the barrel and a mounting rail on the handguard, the connector having a channel for engaging the rail.

5. The grip assembly according to claim 3, wherein the flexible joint portion is an elongated elastomer member.

6. The grip assembly according to claim 3, wherein the flexible joint portion is an elongated elastomer member having an upper end non-rotatably fixed to the connector and a lower end non-rotatably fixed to the lower grip portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side view of a rifle with the barrel or handguard grip assembly of the invention installed;

(3) FIG. 2 is a view similarly to FIG. 1, with a mono-pod module in the grip assembly;

(4) FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the grip assembly of the invention with no module included but rather with an empty handle housing;

(5) FIG. 4A is a view, partly in section of the grip assembly of FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 4B is a view like FIG. 4A but with the assembly rotated 90 degrees;

(7) FIG. 5 is a view, partly in section of the grip assembly with a flashlight module installed;

(8) FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the flashlight module;

(9) FIG. 7 is an enlarged, partial sectional view of the front end of the flashlight module;

(10) FIG. 8 is a view, partly in section of the grip of the invention with a mono-pod module installed;

(11) FIG. 9A is a view, partly in section of another embodiment of the grip assembly showing details of the connector; and

(12) FIG. 9B is a side elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 9A, showing how the flexible joint can fully nest in a provide recess in the connector;

(13) FIG. 10 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the grip;

(14) FIG. 11 is a view, partly in section, of a further embodiment of the grip which includes an extended mono-pod feature and can be equipped with a flashlight module;

(15) FIG. 12 is a view like FIG. 11 of the grip with the mono-pod retracted;

(16) FIG. 13 is an exploded view of the embodiment of FIG. 12 but with a further embodiment of the handguard rail connector;

(17) FIG. 14 is a view of an alternate embodiment of the flexible joint of the invention;

(18) FIG. 15 is a view partly in section of the embodiment if FIG. 13 in an assembled and retraced state for the mono-pod;

(19) FIG. 16 is a view like FIG. 15 but with a flashlight module of the invention inserted; and

(20) FIG. 17 is a side view or another embodiment of the invention using a one piece combination grip-plus-flexible joint combination.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(21) Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to the same or similar elements, FIG. 1 illustrates a handguard grip assembly for a rifle 100 having a barrel 114 with a barrel axis 114a and a handguard 110 extending at least partly around the barrel, which assembly comprises a connector 10 adapted to be fixed to the rifle handguard 110, in particular, to the mounting rail 112 along the bottom of many modern military and law enforcement rifles.

(22) The assembly includes a grip 12 having a grip axis 12x and being adapted to be held by a user of the rifle, normally by the weak hand of the user during normal carry and use. A flexible joint 14 is connected between the connector 10 and the grip 12, for allowing the grip to be manually pivoted into any angular position as long as the grip is being held, so that the grip axis is at any selected angle to the barrel axis. This capacity gives the user new and advantageous abilities that are not available with fixed handguard grips.

(23) The flexible joint 14 of the grip assembly is preferably a one-piece elongated elastomer member best shown in FIG. 3, with shore hardness between about 65 and 80 or more preferably about 75 to 80. The inventor, an experienced user of military and law enforcement weapons, has found that this level of elastic bendability gives the user the best balance of resistance to bending and return to initial position for the movement of the grip 12 in a wide variety of holds for support, for aiming and for shooting.

(24) The flexible joint 14 is an elongated elastomer member having a central cylindrical portion 14a, an upper larger diameter portion 14b with at least one non-round area, e.g. opposite flat areas 14d, so as to be non-rotatable fixed to the connector 10, and a lower large diameter portion 14c with at least one non-round area, e.g. flats 14d, so as to be non-rotatably fixed to the grip 12. To this end the connector 10 has a shaped recess for containing the upper portion 14c, that matches the size and shape of the upper portion, and the upper clam-shell halves 12a and 12b of the grip 12, have likewise shaped recess halves for together containing the upper portion 14c, that match the size and shape of the upper portion 14c. When closed together and fastened by screw and nut combinations 12c and 12d, the halves 12a and 12b form the grip 12 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The hollow grip 12 with no module inside is completed by an end cap 15 made of the same or different elastomer as flexible joint 14, and likewise includes a cylindrical portion with flat areas that nest in a like-shaped recesses formed in the bottoms of the grip halves 12a and 12b, so as to resist rotation of the end cap 15.

(25) Grip halves 12a and 12b are made of hard durable material like suitable synthetic polymer or metal.

(26) The connecter 10 is preferably made of hard durable material like suitable metal or synthetic polymer and has an internal dome hollow that receives an upper dome 14e of flexible joint 14. Connector 10 also has a channel 10a for engaging the handguard rail and a set screw 10b for fixing the connecter to the handguard. A filler piece 10c of metal or plastic is connected to the remainder of the connector by a pin 10d and forms the back part of the anti-rotation recess for the upper portion 14b of the joint 14. The front lower part of connected 10 is also shaped with a curved finger recess 10e for the user's index finger if the user wishes to increase the security of his/her hold on the grip-plus-connector combination.

(27) In another embodiment, the flexible joint 14 can be made of a strong coil spring with touching coils in an un-bend condition and a durable fabric cover sheath or nylon or other durable material.

(28) FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a second embodiment of the connecter 11, which includes a rail channel 11a, a set screw 11b for fixing it to the handguard rail, a pin 11d for fixing the upper end of the flexible joint 14 to the connector 11, a curved and textured index-finger engaging surface 11e for the user to hook with his/her index finger and a curved recess 11f for receiving the joint 14 when its elongated central cylinder in bend by 90 degrees forwardly so that it may be made to lay flat up against the bottom of the handguard rail for storage of the weapon or in some cases during use when the shooter wished to manually press the grip up against the rail.

(29) FIG. 1 shows the extreme forward and rearward positions into which the grip can be bent. In likewise fashion, the grip can be bent to either side for any ambidextrous and ergonomic hold of the forward part of the weapon.

(30) With reference to FIGS. 2 and 8, a mono-pod module 16 can be connect into the grip of the invention. The mono-pod comprises one or more parts that are telescopically connected to the grip for linearly expanding the effective length of the grip and allowing the forward part of the rifle to rest on a support surface to improve aiming.

(31) The mono-pod 16 has an outer cylinder 16a telescopically slidable in the grip 12, an inner cylinder 16b engaged with the bottom of the flexible joint 14, a spring 16c between the inner and outer cylinders for biasing the outer cylinder outwardly of the grip, and an elastomer foot 16d connected to a lower end of the outer cylinder by a screw 16e.

(32) To securely position the mono-pod either extended from or retracted in grip 12, the outer cylinder 16a has upper and lower threads 16f and 16g for threading to internal grip threads 12e in the grip in respective outer and inner positions of the mono-pod in the grip. The extending position in FIG. 8, for example, can be changed to the retracted position with outer cylinder 16a fully inside the grip 12, by holding and rotating the elastomer foot 16d to unthread the upper mono-pod threads 16f from the internal grip threads 12e. Once unthreaded, the user pushes the foot 16d up against the bias of spring 16c into the grip housing and then rotates the foot in an opposite direction to now thread the lower threads 16g onto the grip thread 12e to fix the mono-pod in its retraced position.

(33) In FIG. 8, the cylindrical portion of the elastomer member forming the flexible joint 14, is covered by a durable fabric cover layer 14e, of nylon or other durable and flexible material to protect this bendable part of the joint from damage.

(34) Referring now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the grip 12 may also be equipped with a flashlight module 18 for casting visible or invisible (e.g. IR) light along the grip axis 12x and away from the barrel.

(35) To this end, the flashlight module 18 includes a shroud 18a with a conical recess that has an LED 18b at its internal base. A hard rubber of other material cap 18c presses the shroud 18a into housing 18f and against the bias of spring 18e as it is threaded onto threads at the end of housing 18f. A transparent lens 18d covers the shroud and LED and a rubber O-ring 18h engages the inside diameter of cap 18c to make the flashlight water tight. One or more batteries 18g power the flashlight. Rather than a switch, which may be used in other embodiments of the invention, the illustrated embodiment simply uses the threaded position of cap 18c on housing 18f to either make contact between one of the electrodes of LED 18b and one pole of the battery, or not make such contact. The other electrode of the LED is always electrically connected to the opposite battery pole through the conductive shroud 18a and the conductive housing 18f, that are both preferably made of metal, e.g. aluminum.

(36) A flange 18i on the housing 18f sits in a recess in the grip halves to keep the flashlight module fixed in the grip 12.

(37) In further embodiments of the invention the mono-pod 16 and flashlight module 18 may use threaded parts to be more easily interchangeable through the lower end of the grip 12 without having to disconnect the grip halves.

(38) The elastomer or rubber member making up the flexible joint 14 is, for example, polyurethane rubber supplied by Fibro GmbH of Weinsberg, Germany, as a product sold under their registered trademark FIBROFLEX. It is preferably a one-piece solid (i.e. not hollow) member with shore hardness of preferably about 65 to 80 or more preferably 75 to 80 shore.

(39) In a further embodiment of the invention, and as mentioned above, the elastomer flexible joint 14 can be replaced by a strong coil spring covered by a durable fabric sleeve.

(40) FIG. 10 illustrates another embodiment of the grip that has handle halves 12a and 12b, each with two opposed centering pins 12g that are engaged in mating centering recesses 12f in the facing surfaces of the handle halves, to properly align the halves together as they are secuted together by screws 12c and nuts 12d.

(41) Referring now to FIGS. 11 to 13, another embodiment of the grip 19 and flexible joint 17 of the grip assembly, are illustrated. The connecters 10 or 11 of the other embodiments can be used with this embodiment of the invention as can the flashlight module of FIG. 6, with slight modifications. In the alterative, the connector 30 of FIG. 13 can be used with the embodiment of FIGS. 11 and 12.

(42) In FIGS. 11 to 13, the flexible joint 17 is a one-piece elongated elastomer member having a central cylindrical portion 17a which advantageously has a coke-bottle or reduced diameter central part that smoothly tapers outwardly to larger diameter ends. Each end of the portion 17a is integrally connect to upper and lower larger diameter cylindrical portions 17b and 17c, that are respectively pressure fit into mating recesses in the connector (not shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) and the grip 19. This pressure fit and the high coefficient of friction of the elastomer create the non-rotatable characteristic of the joint, connector and grip, so that no non-round shapes are needed in the large diameter portions 17b and 17c.

(43) The grip 19 includes an integrated mono-pod as it comprises an outer cylinder 19a that can telescope with an inner cylinder 19b. A spring 19c biases these two cylinders away from each other from the retraced position of FIG. 11 to the extended position of FIG. 12. The retracted position of FIG. 11 is maintained by the threading of lower outer threads 19d of the inner cylinder 19b, with lower inner threads 19e of the outer cylinder 19a.

(44) To extend the mon-pod, the user unthreads threads 19e from threads 19d and allows spring 19c to push the outer cylinder 19a down and outwardly of the grip combination, toward the position of FIG. 12. The user then threads upper inner threads 19f of the outer cylinder 19a to the lower threads 19d of inner cylinder 19b to keep the mon-pod extended.

(45) In either the retracted or extended position, an elastomer plug 21 is biased downwardly against the lower opening in the outer cylinder 19a, to keep foreign material out of the grip. This plug 21 can be pushed up into the grip 19 against the bias of spring 19c, when a flashlight module 18 is pushed into the volume of inner and outer cylinders 19a, 19b, and is threaded the inner opening threads 19h of the outer cylinder 19a. For this purpose, flashlight module 18 has outer threads that thread to lower opening threads 19h of the grip outer cylinder 19a of grip 19.

(46) Inner and outer grip cylinders 19b and 19a are make of hard plastic or other durable material. To provide a high-friction, non-slip character to the bottom of the mon-pod/grip 19, a softer, high-friction, e.g. rubber ring 19i is captured in an annual slot in the bottom surface of cylinder 19a and extended beyond this bottom surface.

(47) To non-rotatably fix the lower flexible joint portion 17c to the grip 19, a compressible split washed 20 is pressure fit into an upper annular recess in the upper end of the inner cylinder 19b over the portion 17c that also sits in this recess. To further secure this connection, a cap 19j can be threaded to upper threads 19f of cylinder 19b, over the split washer 20.

(48) FIG. 13 is useful for understanding the parts that make up the grip and joint of FIGS. 11 and 12. FIG. 13 also illustrated a further embodiment of the connector, namely and connector 30.

(49) Connector 30 in FIG. 13 is preferably made of hard durable material like suitable metal or synthetic polymer and has two halves 30a that together form an internal annular recess 30c that closely received the upper large diameter portion 17b of flexible joint 17. Connector 30 also has a channel 30a for engaging the handguard rail and a set screw (not shown) for fixing the connecter to the handguard. The close fit of portion 17b in recess 30c creates the anti-rotation effect for joint 17 in connector 30. The front lower part of connected 30 is also shaped with a curved finger recess 30f for the user's index finger if the user wishes to increase the security of his/her hold on the grip-plus-connector combination. Connector halves 30a are fixed together by screws 30d and nuts 30e.

(50) As also visible in FIGS. 15 and 16, retaining cap 19j presses split washer 20 down on lower flexible joint portion 17c and is threaded to upper thread 19g of the inner cylinder 19b of grip 19 to create an anti-rotation connection between joint 17 and grip 19. The remaining parts of the grip are the same as those shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

(51) FIG. 16 illustrates a flashlight module 40 of the invention that has similar parts to those of flashlight 18 in FIG. 6 but can be a high or low, visible or invisible LED light source. Flashlight module 40 is installed by being inserted into the open end of grip 19, pushing the elastomer plug 21 up against spring 19c in inner cylinder 19b.

(52) Flashlight module 40 includes a shroud 40a with a conical recess that has an LED at its internal base that can be a one or two watt white LED or other form of LED suited to the purpose of the weapon and mission. A hard rubber of other material cap 40c presses the shroud 40a into housing 40f of the flashlight module, and against the bias of spring 40e as it is threaded onto threads at the end of housing 40f. A transparent lens 40d covers the shroud and LED and a rubber O-ring 40h on the flashlight housing engages the inside diameter of cap 40c to make the flashlight water tight.

(53) One or more batteries 40g power the flashlight. Rather than a switch, which may be used in other embodiments of the invention, the illustrated embodiment simply uses the threaded position of cap 40c on housing 40f to either make contact between one of the electrodes of LED and one pole of the battery, or not make such contact. The other electrode of the LED is always electrically connected to the opposite battery pole through the conductive shroud 40a and the conductive housing 40f, that are both preferably made of metal, e.g. aluminum.

(54) An outside thread 40i on the housing 40f is threaded to inside thread 19h of outer cylinder 19a of grip 19 to fix flashlight module 40 to the grip 19. Threads 40i and 19h are tightened so that a step 40j of the flashlight housing firmly engages the lower opening edge of grip cylinder 19a so that the cap 40c can be threaded in either direction to activate and deactivate the flashlight without unscrewing the flashlight module from the grip.

(55) FIG. 14 illustrates an alternate embodiment for the flexible joint 22 in the from of a tightly coiled coil spring with enlarged upper and lower ends for being secured to a connector and a grip of the present invention. Such a flexible joint is covered by a durable fabric like nylon or is left uncovered.

(56) With reference to FIG. 17, a one-piece grip sub-assembly 50 made of durable elastic material such as the FIBROFLEX brand polyurethane rubber mentioned above, or other suitable material, comprises a grip 52 as well and the flexible joint 54 of the grip sub-assembly. A larger diameter cylindrical or other larger dimensions portion 56 at the top of the subassembly is connected to a connector such as the connector 10 of FIG. 3 or the connector 30 of FIG. 13 to secure the subassembly to the weapon handguard. No core is needed in grip subassembly and the smaller diameter of the flexible joint 54 is all that is needed to allow flexing of the joint with providing sufficient structural integrity for the larger diameter and shaped contour of the grip 52. As illustrated in FIG. 17, a ringed or other pattern of any suitable kind can be formed in the outer surface of the grip 52 to enhance a user's hold on the grip. As with the other embodiments of the invention, the embodiment of FIG. 17 has the advantages of immediate repositioning of the grip axis with no extra movements required of the user that may through off correct aim and firing of the weapon, while at the same time have the advantage of flexibly moving out of the way when sticking an obstacle.

(57) While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.