U.S. patent application number 13/411854 was filed with the patent office on 2012-09-27 for expended cartridge case receiver.
Invention is credited to William JAMES.
Application Number | 20120240754 13/411854 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46876197 |
Filed Date | 2012-09-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120240754 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
JAMES; William |
September 27, 2012 |
Expended Cartridge Case Receiver
Abstract
Disclosed is an expended cartridge case receiver unit which
catches and contains cartridge cases ejected clear of a firearm and
keeps them from underfoot of the shooter. The receiver unit has a
weight bearing surface that allows an ejected cartridge case to
pass through it into a case trap portion disposed below it. A
plurality of the case receiver units can be arranged in a series
with the case trap portion of each receiver unit in communication
with the case trap of an adjacent receiver unit in the series.
Inventors: |
JAMES; William; (League
City, TX) |
Family ID: |
46876197 |
Appl. No.: |
13/411854 |
Filed: |
March 5, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61466324 |
Mar 22, 2011 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
89/33.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A 9/60 20130101; F41J
13/00 20130101; F41J 11/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
89/33.4 |
International
Class: |
F41A 35/00 20060101
F41A035/00 |
Claims
1. An expended cartridge case receiver unit (14) for supporting a
shooter and catching and containing cartridge cases (16) ejected
clear of a firearm (18), the receiver unit (14) comprising: a
horizontal platform (20), the platform being a weight-bearing
surface capable of supporting a shooter and a shooter's gear; a
receiver cover (24) integral with the platform (20) and having a
grated cross-section (26) to allow an ejected cartridge case (16)
to pass through the platform (20) while supporting the shooter and
the shooter's gear; and a case trap (40) for catching and
containing the cartridge case (16) ejected clear of the firearm
(18), the case trap (40) disposed below and covered by the grated
cross-section (26) of the receiver cover (24).
2. An expended cartridge case receiver (10) for supporting a
plurality of shooters and catching and containing cartridge cases
(16) ejected clear of a plurality of firearms (18), the case
receiver (10) comprising: a plurality of expended cartridge case
receiver units (14) of claim 1, arranged in a series and each
receiver unit (14) having a case trap (40) in communication with an
adjacent case trap (40) along the series.
Description
[0001] The instant application claims the benefit of prior filed
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/466,324 of the same title,
filed 22 Mar. 2011, to which this application is a US national
utility application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is in the field of ordinance (Class
89) as related to explosion-operated guns including hand and
shoulder firearms. Specifically, the present invention relates to
empty shell receivers (Subclass 33.4) to catch spent cartridge
cases ejected from a hand or shoulder operated firearm. More
specifically, the present invention relates to such empty shell
receivers adapted for use in a shooting range.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] FIG. 1 is cross-sectional view of the present invention
illustrating an example of a cartridge case receiver unit and the
shell case pass-thru feature of the receiver cover.
[0004] FIGS. 2 and 2a are perspective drawings illustrating a
simplified cartridge case receiver unit, showing a receiver trap
and a detailed portion of a receiver cover.
[0005] FIG. 3 is a top plan of a series of cartridge case receiver
units with their receiver covers removed.
[0006] FIGS. 3a-3b are cross-sectional drawings of features
exemplifying construction of the cartridge case receiver units of
FIG. 3.
[0007] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the present invention with the
cartridge case receiver illustrated as a series of communicating
receiver units (1 to 15) along a shooting range firing line as the
invention was practiced in an indoor shooting range.
[0008] FIG. 5a is a cross-sectional view through a trap of a
cartridge case receiver unit of FIG. 4 incorporating a sump portion
with a conveyer belt.
[0009] FIG. 5b is a cross-sectional view through a trap of a
cartridge case receiver unit of FIG. 4 incorporating a drain sump
portion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention is a expended cartridge case receiver
for catching and containing spent cartridge cases after they are
ejected clear from a firearm. The present case receiver is
specifically intended to trap shell cases ejected from a hand or
shoulder operated firearm. Also, the present case receiver is
intended to be constructed into the floor structure of an indoor or
outdoor pistol/rifle shooting range. Referring now to the drawings,
the details of preferred embodiments of the present invention are
graphically and schematically illustrated. Like elements in the
drawings are represented by like numbers, and any similar elements
are represented by like numbers with a different lower case letter
suffix.
[0011] The expended cartridge case receiver 10 of the present
invention in its preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of
individual expended cartridge case receiver units 14, arranged in a
series. Each individual cartridge case receiver unit 14 is adapted
to catch and contain cartridge cases 16 ejected clear of a firearm
18, while supporting a shooter and the shooter's gear. As
exemplified in FIGS. 1 and 2-2a, an individual cartridge case
receiver unit 14 includes: a horizontal platform 20, a receiver
cover 24 with a grated cross-section 26, and a cartridge/shell case
trap 40. Generally, the shell case trap 40 of a case receiver unit
14 has a box-shaped configuration with a floor 42 that is flat or
is inclined--the latter to use gravity to help focus collection of
the trapped shell cases 16. In a preferred embodiment, an
individual receiver unit 14 defines an individual shooting lane
(see FIG. 4).
[0012] The horizontal platform 20 is a weight-bearing surface
capable of supporting a shooter and the shooter's gear. A receiver
or trap cover 24 is integrated into the platform 20. The
receiver/trap cover 24 is a grate or has a grated cross-section 26.
The length L and width W dimensions of the openings 28 in the
grated cross-section 26 are sufficient to allow an ejected
cartridge cases 16 to pass through the platform 20 while supporting
the shooter and the shooter's gear. In a preferred embodiment, the
openings 28 had a length L of about 4 inches and width W of about 1
inch. The height H and thickness T of the grate 26 is selectable by
one of skill in the art to provide the structural integrity
necessary to support the weight intended by a user that the
platform 20 and receiver cover 24 is to carry. It is preferred that
the thickness T be selected to be as small as possible while
providing the desired structural integrity for the safety reason
set forth below.
[0013] It is to be noted that the asymmetric shape of the trap
cover openings 28 and orientation of the openings 28 relative to
the line-of-fire (arrow) of the shooting lane are both important.
The openings 28 are preferred to have a length L sufficient to
allow the length of substantially all shoulder operated firearms to
easily fall through the receiver cover 24 of the platform 20, as
these types of shell cases have a diameter typically much smaller
than their length. A rectangular or oblong opening having a length
L of about 3-4 inches is satisfactory for this feature.
Additionally, the openings 28 are preferred to have a width W
sufficient to allow the length of a .45 ACP caliber cartridge case
(.about.7/8ths of an inch) to fall through the receiver cover 24.
Dimensions substantially larger than these may be useful for some
special purposes, but generally increasing the dimensions tends to
make the quality of the cover's surface less suitable for a shooter
to stand on. This is particularly true if the shooter is wearing
footware with a small heel surface. Dimensions substantially
smaller than these may improve the quality of the cover surface
more suitable for standing, but will increase the occurrence of
cases that land on the cover surface and fail to pass through the
trap cover 24.
[0014] Another important feature of the trap cover 24 is the
orientation of the cover openings 28 relative to the line-of-fire
(arrow) of the shooting lane. It was unexpected to find that even
heavy duty steel grating of the type generally used for catwalks
and other walkways supporting human foot traffic was not suitable
unless the opening 28 were specifically oriented in the cartridge
case receiver unit 14 relative to the line-of-fire. Specifically,
the length L dimension is to be oriented perpendicular to the
line-of-fire (arrow) of the shooting lane. This orientation reduces
the tendency of the trap cover 24 to give or sag under the weight
of one or more shooters moving about on it. This improved cover
surface stability is important for the handling of a loaded
firearm. Additionally, this orientation allows a wheel chair (or
other wheeled device) to be rolled onto the platform 20 without
risk of narrow wheels becoming bound along length of the cover
openings 28.
[0015] The receiver/trap cover 24 in the preferred embodiment is
removable to allow access to the interior of the cartridge/shell
case trap 40 below. If it is desired to use a light-weight receiver
cover 24 on the platform 20, a cover support 30 (such as the
pedestal 30 set on the floor 42 of the cartridge case trap 40 in
FIG. 3) may be used to bolster the receiver cover 24 from below.
Using a light-weight receiver cover 24 on the platform 20 has the
benefit of making the cover itself easier to remove to access the
interior of the cartridge trap 40. Also, a cover support 30 is
useful when it is intended to place extra-heavy loads on the
platform that are beyond the design limit of the recover cover 24
alone.
[0016] FIG. 3 show a top plan of a cartridge case receiver unit 14
in a series of adjacent case receiver units 14. The receiver covers
24 are removed to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present
invention 10. The figure shows a horizontal platform 20 as a metal
framework including cover ledges 34 for supporting the perimeter of
the receiver cover 24. In this embodiment, the case trap 40 for
catching and containing the ejected cartridge cases 16 was
constructed as a concrete catchment disposed below and covered by
the grated cross-section 26 of the receiver cover 24. The catchment
had solid front and back side walls 44 and in this embodiment a
trap floor 42 that was flat. The front and back side walls 44 were
perpendicular to the line-of-fire (see arrow, FIG. 3b). In this
embodiment, only the cartridge case receiver units 14 at each end
of the series of adjacent case receiver units 14 had a solid left
or right side wall (not shown). All other case receiver units 14 in
the series had left and right side walls 46 open to the adjacent
unit 14 (i.e., adjacent units 14 were without a solid side wall at
their left and right sides--see FIG. 3a).
[0017] FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present
expended cartridge case receiver 10 for catching and containing
spent cartridge cases 16 after they are ejected clear from a
firearm 18. In practicing this embodiment, the cartridge case
receiver 10 was installed in an existing building as a series of
fifteen adjacent cartridge case receiver units 14 to create the
firing line of an indoor shooting range. As can be seen in the
figure, each cartridge case receiver unit 14 defined the shooting
position for an individual shooting lane. The illustrated expended
cartridge case receiver 10 supports a plurality of individual
shooters and catches and contains cartridge cases 16 ejected from a
plurality of firearms 18, allowing the range floor in the vicinity
of the firing line to be automatically clear of the hazard of
ejected shell cases getting underfoot. Keeping the shooter's work
area automatically clear of loose shell cases underfoot is a very
important safety feature of the present invention.
[0018] The plurality of expended cartridge case receiver units 14
were arranged in a series with the case trap 40 of each receiver
unit 14 in communication with an adjacent case trap 40 along the
series. That is to say that adjacent case receiver units 14 were
without a solid side wall between them (see FIG. 3a). The case
receiver units 14 in this embodiment had a case trap 40 that was
about 5.5 inches deep with a flat trap floor 42. The overall
dimensions of the platform 20 was about 4 ft. wide and 5.5 ft.
long. The receiver cover 24, was about 44 inches wide and 62 inches
long and centered within the platform 20. The receiver cover 24 was
accomplished using 1 in..times.4 in..times.1 in. walkway grating.
These dimensions, though used quite successfully in the development
of the instant embodiment, are merely exemplary. In view of the
teaching and illustrations disclosed herein, one of skill in the
art can chose other dimensions and materials to successfully
practice the expended cartridge case receiver 10 of the present
invention.
[0019] Also illustrated in the figure is a holding bin 58 into
which the spent cartridge cases 16 collected from the case traps 40
of the individual receiver units 14 can be deposited. In this
example, the holding bin 58 is outside the wall of the range and a
pass-thru 54 in the range wall connects the interior of the bin 58
with the series of case traps 40 inside the shooting range. As
shown in FIG. 5a, the movement of shell cases 16 from the series of
adjacent case traps 40 can be accomplished using a conveyer system
74. As shown in the figure, this can be accomplished by adapting
the case trap 40 to have an inclined floor 52a. Shell cases 16
passing through the receiver cover 24 are biased by gravity to move
toward a sump trough 70 at the low portion of the inclined floor
52a. There the shell cases 16 are directed to fall on to a conveyer
belt system 74 in the sump trough 70. The conveyer belt system 74
transports the shell cases 16 to the holding bin 58 and deposits
them there for further disposition. Also illustrated in the figure
is a baffle panel 60. Baffle panels are used in the art to
limit/baffle the sound and concussion wave generated by a gun
firing. In the present invention a baffle panel 60 is adapted to
provide the added advantage of restricting the path of an ejected
shell case to the vicinity of the case receiver unit 14 of the
shooter.
[0020] FIG. 5b illustrates a trap of a cartridge case receiver unit
14 incorporating a wet sump trough 70 that serves as a rain water
drain with a drain screen 76 to prevent shell cases 16 from
entering the sump trough 70. This embodiment of the case receiver
unit 14 is useful for practice in outdoor shooting ranges where the
shooting lanes are exposed to the weather.
[0021] While the above description contains many specifics, these
should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the
invention, but rather as exemplifications of one or another
preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible,
which would be obvious to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the
scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the
appended claims and their equivalents, and not just by the
embodiments.
* * * * *