Fastener for Unitary Pistol Hand Grip

Pistols in general have a frame with a butt section which is cut out for lightness and to accommodate the firing spring used in most pistons, leaving downwardly extending front and rear frame members which are interconnected at their lower ends by a foot portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,887 discloses a unitary hand grip which covers the butt frame section of a pistol and is secured thereto by fastener means which includes a yoke straddling the foot of the butt frame section, means for securing the top of the yoke to the foot, and screw means attaching the bottom of the yoke to the bottom of the unitary hand grip. In one form of the fastener, the yoke has an open top, and a roller which rides on the top of the foot is rotatably mounted across the open top of the yoke by means of a pin which is engaged in openings in the upper sides of the yoke adjacent to the open top. It has been found, however, that the kick due to firing the pistol and other shocks received during use, tend to dislodge the pin upon which the roller is mounted and to disconnect the pin from one side of the yoke, thereby disconnecting one side of the yoke from the foot of the butt frame section and thus allowing the grip to move when the pistol is fired. This, of course, decreases the accuracy of the pistol.

The preferred embodiment of the fastener described herein has a yoke straddling the foot portion of the butt section, a pin extending between openings in the upper sides of the yoke above the foot portion, and screw means for attaching the bottom of the yoke to the bottom of the unitary hand grip. The upper sides of the yoke contain concave depressions or dimples around the pin openings and the pin is dimensioned to be flush with the outer side edges of the yoke. The inside of the unitary hand grip is close to the outer side faces of the yoke, and the concave depressions plus the length of the pin and the nearness of the walls of the hand grip prevent the pin from being dislodged from the yoke, even by heavy use of the pistol or by other shocks encountered in use. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, dislodgement of the pin is obviated by using a C-shaped fastener member having an upper cross bar seated on the foot portion, a lower cross bar extending below the foot portion, and screw means for fastening the bottom of the unitary hand grip to the lower cross bar.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a fastener for unitary pistol hand grips which will remain securely fastened under conditions of heavy use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fastener for unitary pistol hand grips which is sturdier and less expensive than those heretofore known in the art.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description herein.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the butt section of a pistol having a unitary hand grip, the lower portion of the hand grip being cut away to reveal the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the yoke used in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the threaded sleeve used in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a fastening screw which is adapted to be turned by a standard handcuff key.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, utilizing an alternate embodiment of the invention having a C-shaped fastener member.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the C-shaped fastener member shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a first modified form of the C-shaped fastener member.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 1, showing the use of the C-shaped fastener member of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a second modified form of the C-shaped fastener.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6, showing the use of the C-shaped fastener member of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates a modified form of the fastener member of FIG. 8.

FIG. 1 illustrates the butt portion of a pistol 10 having a frame 12 with a butt portion 14. The frame butt portion 14 is cut out for lightness and to accommodate the firing spring used in most pistols, leaving a downwardly extending front frame member 16, a downwardly extending rear frame member 18, and a foot portion 20 interconnecting the lower ends of the frame members. A unitary hand grip 22, which has a closed front 24, a closed bottom 26, an open top 28, and an open rear 30, snugly covers the frame butt portion 14. The unitary hand grip 22 can be made of wood, plastic, or any other suitable material.

The preferred form of the fastener is shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and includes a yoke 32 having a lower cross bar 34 and two upwardly extending sides 36 and 38 spaced to straddle the foot portion 20. Two coaxial openings 40 and 42 are formed in the upper portions of the sides 36 and 38 to receive a pin 44, which rotatably supports a roller 46. Roller 46 rides on top of the foot portion 20 and permits the fastener to move along the top of the foot portion 20 when the unitary hand grip 22 is being installed. Two concave depressions or dimples 48 and 50 are formed in the sides 36 and 38 of yoke 32 around openings 40 and 42, and the pin 44 is dimensioned to fit flush with the outside surface of sides 36 and 38. The hand grip has opposed internal channels 23 and 25 extending from near the top to the bottom portion 26, the sides 36 and 38 of the yoke sliding in the channels, as shown in FIG. 2. The depressions 48 and 50 and the length of the pin 44 prevent the pin from being dislodged from the yoke 32 by any type of shock, since there is not enough room between the walls of channels 23 and 25 for pin 44 to escape from the holes 40 and 42.

The yoke 32 is attached to the bottom of the unitary hand grip 22 by screw means illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, which includes a threaded sleeve 52 projecting through a hole 54 in the bottom of the cross bar 34. The threaded sleeve 52 has a flange 56 on its upper end and is press fitted through an opening in a square insert 58. The insert 58 is staked to the bottom of the yoke 32 by stake punches 60 in the lower portion of the yoke sides 36 and 38.

A screw 62 extends through an opening 64 in the bottom 26 of the unitary hand grip 22 and engages in the threads of the threaded sleeve 52 to attach the hand grip to the yoke 32. The head 66 of the screw 62 has a central socket 68 and radial slots 70 to adapt the screw to be turned by the compatible end of a conventional handcuff key 72, as in FIG. 5. This enables a police officer to remove the unitary hand grip 22 from a pistol for the purposes of cleaning the pistol, without requiring a screwdriver. The radial slots 70 are aligned with each other so that the screw 62 can also be turned with a conventional screwdriver.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an alternate fastener which obviates the problem of dislodging the pin 44 by dispensing with the pin 44. This alternate fastener is a C-shaped fastener member 74 having an upper cross bar 76 which rests on top of the foot portion 20 and a lower cross bar 78 which extends below the foot portion 20. The lower cross bar 78 has a threaded opening 80 for receiving screw 62.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a modified C-shaped member 82 similar to member 74, except that the upper cross bar 76 has a V-shaped lower surface 84 to provide a rocking alignment action on top of the foot portion 20 when screw 62 is being tightened.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a second modified C-shaped member 86 wherein the upper cross bar is replaced by a pin 88 which is press fitted into an opening in the upper side portion 90 of the member. Foot portion 20 has a hole 92 into which pin 88 fits, the hole being standard in most pistols to receive alignment pins on conventional individual butt plates.

The fastener member 94 illustrated in FIG. 12 is similar to member 82 in FIG. 8, but is used in conjunction with a retaining plate 96 which has pins 98 projecting from one side. The upper cross bar 76 and lower cross bar 78 have sockets 100 to receive pins 98, so that the retaining plate closes the open side of the fastener and thus wraps the fastener completely around foot portion 20. This arrangement would add strength to the fastener and allow it to be made of plastic material which might otherwise be deformed by the clamping action. It should be noted that the retaining plate is also applicable to the fastener member 74 of FIG. 7.