WO1997010484A1

WO1997010484A1 - Target demonstrator

Info

Publication number: WO1997010484A1
Application number: PCT/US1996/014890
Authority: WO
Inventors: John E. Alexander
Original assignee: Alexander John E
Priority date: 1995-09-14
Filing date: 1996-09-16
Publication date: 1997-03-20
Also published as: AU7239896A

Abstract

This invention is a target and shooting aid having a silhouette of a target (12) connected to a flexible connector (14). The flexible connector (14) is coupled to an attaching device (16) for attaching the connector (14) to the barrel of a gun (11). The target silhouette (12) is sized such that it approximately corresponds to an image of an actual target that a shooter would view down range. The target image may be selectively manipulated with the line of sight of the shooter.

Description

TARGET DEMONSTRATOR

DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to target and shooting aids, and, more particularly, to a device that facilitates the visualization of lead and target alignment as it relates to shooting stationary or non-stationary targets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Target shooting as a sport has enjoyed steady gains in popularity throughout the years for men and women, young and old alike. Obviously the more successful a person is at hitting the targets, the more likely they are to enjoy and promote the sport.

There are a number of shooting aids that enhance the likelihood of hitting the target on a regular basis. With rifle, pistol, or shotgun shooting this is accomplished by using aiming devices.

One type of aiming device are the sights that are attached to the front and back of the barrel; these sights are precision machined and permanently attached to the barrel. By incrementally changing either the front or back sight the point of impact of the bullet is changed to accomplish hitting the target. There are several different types of sights including the shallow- V, peep or aperture sight, and the partridge sight. The other commonly used aiming device is a scope, also mounted on the gun barrel. A scope magnifies distant targets using a series of lenses. Inside the scope are reticles, commonly referred to as cross-hairs. By adjusting the cross-hairs up, down, right, or left, the point of impact of the bullet can be more accurately determined than by mere use of the gun mounted sights.

When teaching students, rifle and pistol instructors generally explain the concept of aiming, including determining the proper alignment of the gun sights with the stationary target. By looking at the results of several firings, the instructor seeks to adjust the student's accuracy by helping to perfect their down range target visualization. This is usually accomplished by trial and error with the instructor seeking verbal feedback from the student as to he or she aligned the target prior to shooting, followed by a review of the impact location to determine the proper corrective action. This method, however, has several drawbacks. First, the student does not have a clear picture at the outset as to what proper alignment looks like down range. Only after repeated firings and much experience does this target visualization skill gradually improve. Another drawback is that the instructor must relay on the students interpretation of what was seen down range prior to shooting, which may or may not be accurate.

The target visualization problem is magnified when shooting at non- stationary targets. While rifle and pistol shooting is predominantly at stationary targets, shotgun shooting is at flying or moving targets.

The sport of shotgun shooting encompasses hunting, trap, skeet, and sporting clays. Trap shooting consists of five shots from each of five stations. Targets are launched from a single thrower at the front of the field and travel away from the shooter at each of three varying angles. Skeet is shot from eight stations arranged in a semi-circle. Targets are launched from two different throwers at either sides of the field—a three and a half foot "low house" and a ten foot "high house". The target travel path is consistent but each station on the semi-circle requires a different lead. Lead is how far in front of a moving target you must aim and shoot to hit it. While the concept of lead is simple, teaching the student to visualize the proper lead is not an easy task. Moreover, the amount of lead changes depending on the angle and height of the moving target and the location of the shooter. Moreover, unlike stationary target shooting where time is not necessarily a factor, when shooting moving targets the student has approximately 2.5 seconds to find the target in the sky, coordinate the movement of the barrel to the speed of the target, determine the proper lead, fire and follow through. More advanced target presentations such as sporting clays and hunting allow less time to determine lead. For a shooter who is strong enough to hold a 8 or 9 pound shotgun on their shoulder and perform this process will take much practice before target lead is understood. The problem is compounded as the physical ability of the shooter decreases. Limited upper body strength inhibits the ability to mount, swing, and provide the proper lead. Whether shooting moving or stationary targets, the fundamental problem is the same; there is no accurate visual baseline by which the instructor and shooter may reference during the course of instruction. The verbal exchange between the instructor and student is helpful but it still lacks the precision need to ensure consistently accurate shooting. In light of the foregoing, there exists a need for device to provide an accurate baseline visualization of target alignment and lead when firing at stationary or moving targets. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a target and shooting aid, which substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to the limitations and disadvantages of the related art. The invention provides for a shooting aid device that may be placed on or in the end of a gun barrel to enable the shooter to more accurately visualize the down range alignment of a target for shooting at moving or stationary targets. The shooting aid consists of a target silhouette that is sized such that the shooter sees what would be seen down the sights of a gun barrel. The target silhouette is attached to a flexible connecting means that can be manipulated to selectively position the target silhouette in the field of view of the shooter to approximate the down range target image.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the invention provides for a target and shooting aid, comprising a target representation means; connecting means having first and second ends, said first end being coupled to said target means; and attaching means, coupled to said second end of said connecting means, said attaching means being adaptable to attach to a gun barrel. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRD7TION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a prefeπed embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure IA is a perspective view of one embodiment of the target demonstrator in accordance with the present invention;

Figure IB is a perspective view of the embodiment of Figure IA with an alternate connection point embodiment;

Figures 2A-2E illustrate representative examples of target means usable with the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the target demonstrator in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is not limited to any particular type of shooting, but may be utilized with all types of guns and all types of stationary and non-stationary target shooting as described further below. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure IA, there is shown an exemplary embodiment of the target demonstrator device 10 of the present invention.

Target demonstrator 10 comprises a target representation means 12 coupled to one end of a connector 14 and an attachment means 16 connected to the other end of the connector 14. In this embodiment the attachment means 16 can be inserted and removed from the bore of the gun barrel 11. By looking down the barrel of the gun the shooter is able to accurately visualize what the target picture should look like.

The target representation means 12 may take on a variety of forms depending on the particular type of shooting. By way of example and not by limitation, Figures 2A-2E depict some target representations usable with the present invention. For example, Figure 2 A shows what a down range sight picture would look like when using a conventional Partridge sight for shooting at a typical bulls-eye target. Figures 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E illustrate other conventional targets that may be used, including the shallow- V, aperture, human silhouette, and skeet or clay silhouette sight pictures. It is understood that many different target representations may be used in the practice of the invention. What is important is that the represented target, no matter what it is, be of such a size so as to approximate the image that the shooter would see down range. The size of the target representation means 12 is thus approximately proportional to the size of the actual target, taking into consideration the typical distance from the target.

Of course, some deviation in the proportionality of the target representation { ineans-to-actual target relationship is expected in the practice of this inventionfowing to the many different target shooting distances. In general, however, the target representation means 12 of the present invention provides a more accurate image of a down range sight picture than the mere verbal exchange with an instructor or tf target representation^ based on over¬ sized graphs and charts.

Each of the target representation means 12 may be selectively positioned in the field of view of the shooter. As described more fully bbeellooww,, tthhiiss sseelleecctitivvee mmaanniippuullaatitioonn iiss eessppecially, to approximate the lead image associated with shooting moving targets. Referring again to Figure IA, the selective manipulation of the target representation means 12 is made possible by connecting means 14. One end of the connecting means is attached to the target representation means, and the other is attached to attachment means 16. The connectingjneans-1 - -.

By bending the connecting means 14 in various positions, the target representation means 12 may be selectively positioned to the desired location to enable visualization of the lead image. Since the lead image changes as the location of the shooter and the travel path of the skeet or clay change, the target representation means 12 can be quickly oriented accordingly.

The target representation means 12 may affixed to the connector 14 by any conventional coupling method « is understood that may different coupling means 13 may be used in the practice of this invention. By way of example and not by limitation, the coupling means 13 may be constructed to utilizej eel-on/peel-off target representation means 12. In that case the end of the connecting means 14 would be flattened to receive the target representation means 12. Alternatively, the coupling means ( 3 may consist of a target representation means 12 that is composed of a dense foam of sufficient depth to merely stick on the end of the connecting means

14.

The attachment means 16 in the embodiment of Figure 1 A is in the form of a truncated cone to facilitate insertion in and removal from gun barrel 11. The attachment means 16 may be of other shapes so long as one end is tapered for easy insertion in gun barrel 11 for instructional purposes and for subsequent removal before firing. For example, the attachment means 16 may take the shape of a cylinder with a tapered end. The attachment means 16 may be made from many different materials, including metal, plastic, rubber, wood, or cork.

The second end of the connecting means 14 is affixed to the attachment means 16 at connection point 18. This connection point may be of any l ui wni nnl ιm un so long as repeated manipulation of the connecting means 14 does not result in failure at the connection point 18. Screw connections, pin connections, and weld points are contemplated. Alternatively, the connecting means 14 may be successively wrapped around the attachment means 16 to provide connection 19 as shown in Figure IB. Figure 3 illustrates an alternate, more permanent embodiment 20 of the attachment means of the present invention. Rather than an attachment means that fits in the gun barrel 11 , the attachment means may comprise a U-clip 24 that attaches to the gun barrel 11. Different U-clips may be utilized, depending on whether the gun is a single barrel, a side-by-side double barrel, or an over-and-under double barrel.

The connecting means 14 and target representation means 12 are the same as described with respect to the embodiment of Figure IA. The U-clip may merely be twisted so that the target representation means 12 is out of the line of fire prior to shooting. A further enhancement to the attachment means 24 would incorporate a hinge and latching means 26 at the base of U-clip 24 so that thej target representation means 12 may be taken out of the line of fire prior to shooting by flipping down the hinge and latching means 26. The hinge and latching means 26 may be any conventional means. The unique advantage of this invention is the combination of the target representation means 12 with a flexible connecting means 14. This allows both lead and target alignment to be accurately illustrated by an instructor prior to actual shooting. This visual image establishes a baseline from which the student and instructor can later base corrections.jjUse of the invention will result in enhanced understanding of lead and target alignment, leading to better and more accurate shooting, and ultimately more enjoyment.

While the invention has been described in terms of the embodiments described above, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMSHaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A target and shooting aid, comprising: target representation means; connecting means having first and second ends, said first end being coupled to said target means; and attaching means, coupled to said second end of said connecting means, said attaching means being adaptable for attachment to a gun barrel.

2. The shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the target representation means is of sufficient size so as to visually correspond to an image of an actual target that a shooter would view down range.

3. The shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the target representation means comprises a representation of a bulls eye type target.

4. The shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the target representation means comprises a representation of a silhouette or a human.

5. The shooting means of claim 1, wherein the target representation means comprises a representation of a skeet or clay.

6. The shooting means of claim 2, wherein the connecting means is flexible, such that the target representation means can be selectively manipulated within a shooter's field of view.

7. The shooting aid of claim 6, wherein the connecting means is an elongated wire-like structure.

8. The target means of claim 6, wherein the connecting means is composed of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic, and rubber.

9. The target means of claim 1, wherein the attaching means is detachably attachable to the gun barrel.

10. The target means of claim 1, wherein the attaching means is adaptable to be selectively inserted and removed from a bore of the gun barrel.

11. The target means of claim 10, wherein the attaching means has an truncated cone shape to facilitate insertion and removal from the gun barrel bore.

12. The target means of claim 1, wherein the attaching means is fixedly attached to the gun barrel.

13. The target means of claim 12, wherein the attaching means further comprises a hinge and latching means, whereby the shooting aid is selectively removable from a line of fire.

14. The target means of claim 12, wherein the attaching means is composed of a material selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic, rubber, wood, and cork.