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Gun lockRelated Patent Categories: Firearms, Safety Mechanism, Firearm LockGun lock description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060112605, Gun lock. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND [0001] This invention relates to a gun lock, a device for locking a gun or parts thereof by securely situating the gun or parts thereof such as the trigger and the trigger guard between a gun lock base and a locking base. The gun lock base house a plurality of spring loaded pins, herein also simply referred to as pin, for totally surrounding the gun or parts of the gun such as the trigger and/or the trigger guard when placed on top of the pins. The gun lock base in the example herein pairs with a locking base housing a latch plate for locking the gun lock when an engagement tooth on the latch plate engages with the locking teeth on the locking posts situated on the gun lock base. The plurality of spring loaded pins covering the surface of a gun lock base to immobilize the gun, trigger or trigger guard is an aspect of this invention that can be implemented with other locking bases to improve their performance. The claimed device can also be used to lock other objects in place aside from a gun or parts of the gun. [0002] Due to the rise of burglaries and other violent crimes occurring in residences, more and more civilians are purchasing handguns to defend themselves. Thousands of shotguns and rifles are purchased each year not only for home protection but also for sports such as hunting, trap and skeet shooting and the like. Most of these deadly weapons, collectively referred to herein simply as gun or guns, are stored in residences, mostly in areas like the drawers, closets or under the bed. Although adults usually lock the drawer or closet where the gun is stored, history has proven that this has not prevented unauthorized use of the gun. Children and adolescents always seem to find them and their curiosity at times have cost human lives resulting from the accidental discharge of the gun. Some have also used it intentionally, judging from the number of suicides and murders, for example, the use of the gun against classmates and teachers in schools. There is therefore a need for a good gun lock and users should not wait until they are required by laws mandating the use of a gun lock because the responsibility of owning a gun should include the responsibility of preventing its unauthorized use. [0003] This problem has been recognized in the design of several gun locks. Several of these designs manually place restraining pins one by one to prevent the movement of the trigger or prevent the movement of a locking device. Most of these designs require time to place the pins which encourage one to resort to the traditional way of just hiding the gun without the gun lock. U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,119 propose the use of pins to prevent trigger movement and aid in the positioning of a trigger blocking structure relative to the trigger and the trigger guard. The proposed pins herein, as stated, have to be manually placed by the user into the user selected conical entrance section of the pin holes. This requires time since one or two pins are always not enough to prevent the trigger movement. Other patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,402 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,272 uses the same concept as U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,119 of selecting and manually placing pins that extend through two opposing body members holding the trigger in between. None of these inventions provide an array of spring loaded pins that would restrain a gun, a trigger and or a trigger head at whatever position it is laid between the opposing bodies. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,552 even if it uses a spring loaded pin, this is used to prevent a locking assembly from shifting relative to the trigger guard because of a locking member that protrudes from the locking plate which will hit the trigger if the locking plate accidentally shifts. The spring loaded pin act as a spacer by having the tip of the spring loaded pin extend out perpendicularly from the locking plate and abut at the surface of the housing opposite the locking plate. The shifting is prevented by the frictional force between the planar tip of the pin and a planar surface of the housing. Additionally, since the pins are used as a spacer, the gun should always be carefully positioned in such a way that there are pins between the locking member and the trigger. Further, wear and tear between the tip of the pin and the surface of the locking plate may loosen and eventually allow some shifting between the locking plate and the housing. The implementation of a plurality of spring loaded pins of the claimed invention for automatically preventing the movement of the trigger or trigger guard may be incorporated in the above cited patented inventions as an improvement. [0004] It is an object of this invention to provide pins that need no manual selection and placement to protect and provide automatic immobilization of the trigger and the trigger guard. [0005] It is also an object of this invention to provide a gun lock that can be operated safely and quickly. [0006] It is a further object of this invention to provide a locking mechanism that is simple in design but securely locks the gun between the gun lock base and the locking base. [0007] It is also a further object of this invention to provide a mechanism for opening an electronically triggered gun lock when the power supplied from a battery is consumed. SUMMARY [0008] This invention relates to a device for locking a gun, a gun lock, comprising a gun lock base having a top surface and a bottom surface, the top surface comprising a plurality of spring loaded pins covering the top surface of the gun lock base, the plurality of spring loaded pins automatically surrounding and immobilizing a gun or parts thereof placed on the top surface; a locking base; and, means for locking the gun or parts thereof between the gun lock base and the locking base. The plurality of spring loaded pins recess or release according to the pressure exerted by the object, herein a gun or parts thereof. The gun lock can include a locking post with locking teeth protruding from the gun lock base for engagement with an engagement tooth on the locking base when the device is in the lock position. The device can be locked or unlocked mechanically or electronically. The object such as the gun or parts thereof is sandwiched between the gun lock base and the locking base before locking the device. An example of a locking base suitable for pairing with the gun lock base comprises a latch plate having an engagement tooth for engagement with the locking teeth of the locking post. For a quick immobilization of the object, the plurality of pins on the top surface should be allowed to recess to or release from the top surface of the gun lock base according to the pressure exerted by the gun or parts thereof placed on top of the pins or on the top surface of the gun lock base. Each pin of the plurality of spring loaded pins are held by a channel of a plurality of channels or placed between interwoven strips of material on the gun lock base. Each spring loaded pin is kept inside the channel or between the interwoven strips of material on the gun lock base by an annular stopper on top of a spring enveloped portion of the pin and a plate placed over the annular stopper. A cover may be placed on the top of the plate to prevent surface scratching between the gun lock base and the gun or parts thereof. The cover has holes corresponding to each channel housing a spring loaded pin thereby allowing all the spring loaded pins to go through the cover. The cover is usually made of a rubber based material or soft flexible plastic material. It is recommended for the cover to have a smooth inner surface and a roughened outer surface. In this gun lock base and locking base pair that are locked mechanically, the latch plate has a cam boss and the key locking cylinder has a cam head. The cam boss and the cam head are made to abut each other when the device is locked. To prevent undesired movement of the latch plate, a cover plate may be placed on top of the latch plate. As in the gun lock base above, a pad may also be placed on top of the cover plate to prevent surface scratching between the locking base and the gun or parts thereof. The pad is similar to the cover of the gun lock base except that the pad does not have holes. [0009] For a gun lock device that is operated electronically, instead of a key locking cylinder, the locking mechanism utilizes a solenoid assembly communicating with an electronic logic board, the solenoid assembly having a solenoid pin lodging on a solenoid receiver on the latch plate after engaging the engagement tooth on the latch plate with the locking teeth on the locking post. The device is unlocked by an entry of a code. [0010] The locking mechanism can be reinforced with a cable threading through the gun barrel or magazine or chamber of the gun. [0011] A method for mechanically locking and unlocking an object, a gun or parts thereof, between a gun lock base and a locking base described above, comprises placing the object on the top surface of the gun lock base; automatically surrounding and immobilizing the object on the top surface by the plurality of spring loaded pins; pairing the gun lock base with the locking base by introducing the locking post into the locking base; engaging an engagement tooth on the latch plate-with the locking teeth on the locking post; locking the object between the gun lock base and the locking base by abutting the cam head connected to the key locking cylinder with the cam boss on the latch plate through a turn of the key on the key locking cylinder; and, unlocking the object from the gun lock base and the locking base by turning the key on a direction opposite a direction for locking the object and releasing the engagement tooth from the locking teeth. [0012] A method for electronically locking an object, a gun or parts thereof, between a gun lock base and a locking base controlled electronically as described above, comprises: placing the object on the top surface of the gun lock base; automatically surrounding and immobilizing the object on the top surface by the plurality of spring loaded pins; pairing the gun lock base with the locking base by introducing the locking post into the locking base; engaging an engagement tooth on the latch plate with the locking teeth on the locking post; locking the object between the gun lock base and the locking base by lodging a solenoid pin of the solenoid assembly into a solenoid receiver; and, unlocking the object from the gun lock base and the locking base by entry of a code on the touching pad to dislodge the solenoid pin from the solenoid receiver and releasing the engagement tooth from the locking teeth. [0013] Other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it shows and describes only certain embodiments of the invention by way of illustration. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING [0014] Aspects of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the gun lock with the gun lock base and the two types of locking bases. [0016] FIG. 1A is a detailed view of the pins as they actually exist in the gun lock base. [0017] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the components and assembly of the gun lock base. [0018] FIG. 3 is a front view of a pin on a spring as it is assembled inside each channel of the nest located inside the holder of the gun lock base. [0019] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the attachment of a mechanical cam to a key locking cylinder inside a hollow housing. [0020] FIG. 4A is an exploded view of the components and assembly of a mechanical locking base. [0021] FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the latch plate with one side of the arm enveloped with a spring. Continue reading about Gun lock... Full patent description for Gun lock Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Gun lock patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. 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