Universal gun lock inserted through muzzle

Locks – Hasp – Key lock

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06223566

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of the invention is gun locks and the invention relates more particularly to gun locks for handguns of the type which are inserted in through the muzzle of the gun, extend into the chamber and expand. When expanded, the lock cannot be pulled out of the chamber. Gun locks have been available for many years to help reduce the unauthorized use of a handgun.
A gun lock of the general type as the present gun lock is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,479,107. A shaft is inserted into the muzzle of a revolver and when the key is turned, a locking pin is projected and contacts a shoulder in the chamber so that the lock cannot be removed while the locking pin is projected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,099 shows a similar style of lock where the expandable portion has a diagonally split sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,785 has a split shaft with a center cam which expands the shaft outwardly, thereby holding it in the chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,653 also utilizes a cam expanded outer sleeve together with a spring loaded adapter which permits the device to be used on guns of different barrel lengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,358 shows another style of expandable outer sleeve.
A problem with most prior art gun locks is that the gun lock is useful only for a particular gun. A gun dealer would have to stock a large and expensive inventory of gun locks to be prepared to provide a gun lock for the typical wide selection of hand guns available. Not only do barrel lengths differ, but also the bore size differs as does the chamber size.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a universal gun lock which permits a universal locking portion to be connected with a relatively inexpensive set of ramps and expandable caps to permit the lock to be adapted to fit many sizes of handguns.
The present invention is for a gun lock for insertion in the barrel of a gun, said gun lock being of the type having a shaft assembly insertable into a muzzle end of a bore. A lock assembly has a housing which surrounds a lock which moves an inner locking shaft in and out with respect to the housing. A hollow outer shaft is fixed to the housing of the lock assembly and has an outside diameter which fits within the bore. An inner locking shaft is held within the hollow outer shaft and the inner locking shaft extends and retracts as the lock moves between the locked position and the unlocked position. A locking ramp is held by the hollow outer shaft and positioned inwardly from the chamber end of the hollow outer shaft. The locking ramp has a reduced diameter length and an expanded diameter length with a ramp between the two portions. An expandable locking cup is held to the locking shaft. The locking cup has a wall portion with slotted sides which are positioned over the reduced diameter length of the locking ramp when in an unlocked configuration and when the locking shaft is retracted, the fingers move along the ramp to a position where they extend over the expanded diameter length and thereby abut a shoulder of the chamber preventing the lock from being removed when it is in the locked position. When the lock is provided to a gun shop, it can be provided with a universal portion which includes the lock housing, hollow outer shaft and inner locking shaft. Then a selection of locking ramps are provided separately together with a selection of expandable locking cups. The process of utilizing the universal gun lock includes the steps of selecting a locking ramp having a bore contacting portion with an outside diameter slightly smaller than the bore inside diameter and affixing the selected locking ramp to the chamber end of the hollow outer shaft. Next, an expandable locking cup is selected which has an outside diameter about equal to the outside diameter of the bore contacting portion of the locking ramp and affixing the expandable locking cup to the chamber end of the inner locking shaft. The process may also include the further step of selecting a barrel spacer having an inner passageway larger than the hollow outer shaft and smaller than the housing of the lock assembly, and a length equal to the difference between the bore length and the distance between the lock assembly housing and an inner end of said expandable locking cup. When the expandable locking cup is in a locked configuration, the barrel spacer permits the universal lock to be utilized with different barrel lengths.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4512099 (1985-04-01), Mathew
patent: 4908971 (1990-03-01), Chaney
patent: 5138785 (1992-08-01), Paterson
patent: 5241770 (1993-09-01), Lambert
patent: 5491918 (1996-02-01), Elmstedt
patent: 5664358 (1997-09-01), Haber et al.
patent: 5699687 (1997-12-01), Pittman

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