Improved adjustable holster securement device

0001The present invention generally relates to the field of professional accessories issued to police officers, military men, armed surveillance services and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to an adjustable holster securement device of an improved type for securing a holster to a user belt and allowing adjustable positioning of the holster to improve its comfort, effectiveness and safety in use.

0002As is well known, law enforcement personnel generally make use of holsters secured to the belt by means of a loop made of plastic or metallic material or leather. Solutions of this type have proven disadvantageous in that they do not permit an optimal adjustment to the physical conformations of the users and individual holster positioning needs. In particular, it is considered an important feature the possibility to adjust the distance of the holster from the attachment to the belt, the inclination with respect to the vertical of the axis of the holster, the inclination with respect to the vertical of the plane in which the holster lies, and the distance of said plane from the point of attachment to the belt.

0003A holster securement device of the known type that makes it possible to adjust the inclination of the holster is disclosed in Italian Patent Application No. <patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="FI20001000090A"><text>FI20001A000090</text></patcit>. The holster securement device in accordance with this patent application comprises a loop portion engageable with the user's belt, a connection portion inclined with respect to said loop portion and a base extending at the free end of said connection portion and having a disc member to which the holster can be pivotally secured. A row of equally spaced pins extends along the edge of the disc member from one of its faces and a tooth may be snap fit engaged in the spaces between any chosen pair of said pins, thus preventing any further possibility of rotation to occur. The tooth is connected to a sliding arm and it is possible to disengage the tooth from the pins by pressing the end of the arm to allow the disc member to be freely rotated up to find the desired angular position of the holster. Though this and other similar solutions operate in a satisfactory manner, it may prove difficult to operate the rotation unlocking device, especially when the user wears gloves, and the locking of the rotation is not sufficiently stable, especially when the holster bumps against something.

0004The holster securement device in accordance with the cited patent application also permits regulation of the height of the holster, i.e. the distance of the holster from the belt, because the disc member for adjusting the inclination of the holster is fixed to a sliding plate mounted on the base of the holster securement device and capable of being arranged into at least two position in which the holster is at different distances from the belt. In this way the distance of the holster from the belt can be adjusted, but this is obtained by increasing the thickness, and therefore the encumbrance, of the holster securement device. Furthermore, whenever it is not necessary to carry the weapon, while staying in the office for example, the entire holster securement device has to be left attached to the user's belt even after the holster has been removed and this becomes bothersome and uncomfortable due to the encumbrance of the securement device.

0005A holster securement device in which a double-jointed connection is provided between the loop attachment and the base to which the holster is secured is disclosed in <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="ITPI20010082A"><text>Italian patent application no. PI2001A000082</text></patcit>. This connection is constituted by a substantially double-T shaped joint hinged both to the loop attachment and the base of the holster securement device. In this way it is possible to adjust both the inclination of the lying plane of the base with respect to the plane of the loop attachment and the distance between the aforesaid two planes. Nevertheless, this adjustment can only be carried out by using a tool to act on the screws that lock the two hinges. The regulation is therefore laborious and problematical every time it has to be carried out and an appropriate tool is not available.

0006The object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable holster securement device of an improved type by means of which all the aforementioned drawbacks associated with holster securement devices of the known type can be overcome.

0007More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a holster securement device in which the adjustment of the lying plane of the holster can be carried out without the use of tools and in such a way as to lock both hinges with a single movement.

0008Another object of the present invention is to provide a holster securement device of the aforementioned type in which the adjustment of the distance of the holster from the point of attachment to the belt can be obtained without penalizing the dimensions of the device.

0009A further object of the present invention is to provide a holster securement device of the aforementioned type in which the dimension of the portion thereof that remains attached to the belt when the holster containing the weapon is not worn is very low.

0010Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a holster securement device of the aforementioned type in which there is provided a system for adjusting the inclination of the holster by means of a locking device that is readily accessible and assures an adequate stability of the chosen position even when the user is bumped.

0011These objects are attained by means of the improved adjustable holster securement device in accordance with the present invention comprising an articulated joint to provide a connection between the loop attachment and the holster connection plate, said joint being formed by two opposedly arranged, substantially U-shaped members pivotably engaged in respective seatings, the two pairs of seatings being coaxial and parallel and integral with, respectively, said loop attachment and said connection plate, and comprises also tie-rod means acting parallel to said seatings for connecting the substantially U-shaped members to each other at a variable mutual distance. Means for locking the articulated joint operated by the tie-rod means to control the locking or the release of the joint are provided between the substantially U-shaped members and the seatings.

0012In particular, the seatings are formed in pairs on sleeves extending along the adjacent sides of the loop attachment and the connection plate and each of the substantially U-shaped members has two parallel, spaced apart pins engageable with these seatings. The means for locking the articulated joint are provided at the base of the pins and at the ends of the sleeves in the form of toothed portions axially engageable with each other.

0013In a preferred embodiment of the invention the loop attachment comprises a seating engaging with a bracket extending at right angles from the sleeve arranged along one of its sides. The bracket has a flexible tongue with an enlarged end selectively engageable within openings formed along said seating in the longitudinal direction, so that, by engaging the tongue with one or the other of the openings, the height of the holster securement device can be varied.

0014In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the adjustment of the inclination of the holster is obtained by providing the rotatable disc carrying the holster with one or more notches along its edge engageable with a small cylinder integral with the connection plate and constrained to slide in the radial direction with respect to the disc. An arm sliding elastically parallel to the sleeve and extending along the side of the plate has a side with two concave portions of different depths. When the rotation of the disc is locked, the less deep of the concave portions of the arm is maintained elastically in contact with the small cylinder. When the arm is pressed to overcome the elastic reaction, the deeper of the concave portions of the arm comes to be in contact with the small cylinder, thus permitting the cylinder to slide, which therefore moves out of the notch on the edge of the disc and permits the latter to rotate.

0015Other features and advantages of the improved adjustable holster securement device according to the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, which is given by way of a non-limiting example, the description making reference to the attached drawings, of which: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="dash" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> shows a perspective view of the adjustable holster securement device in accordance with the invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref> shows a partially exploded view of the holster securement device in accordance with the invention;</li><li>- <figref idref="f0003">Figure 3</figref> shows a front elevation of the device of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>;</li><li><figref idref="f0003">Figure 4</figref> shows a rear view of the device of <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>;</li><li><figref idref="f0003">Figure 5</figref> shows a sectional view of the device of <figref idref="f0003">Figure 3</figref> taken along lines V-V of <figref idref="f0003">Figure 3</figref>;</li><li><figref idref="f0004">Figures 6 and 7</figref> show sectional views taken along, respectively, lines VI-VI and VII-VII of <figref idref="f0003">Figure 5</figref>;</li><li><figref idref="f0005">Figure 8</figref> is an open plan view of the base to which the holster is attached;</li><li><figref idref="f0005">Figure 9</figref> shows a perspective view of the base of <figref idref="f0005">Figure 8</figref> with the device for locking the rotation in the release position.</li></ul>

0016Referring to the aforesaid figures, the adjustable holster securement device in accordance with the invention is substantially made of three components: <ul id="ul0002" list-style="dash" compact="compact"><li>a loop attachment 1 by means of which the holster securement device can be secured to the user's belt,</li><li>a connection plate 3 to which the holster can be attached,</li><li>an articulated joint 2 that connects the loop attachment 1 to the connection plate 3 in an articulated manner.</li></ul>

0017From the sides of the loop attachment 1 and the connection plate 3, connected to each other by means of the articulated joint 2, two sleeves 4 and 5 extend parallel to each other. At the ends of sleeves 4 and 5 with respective frontally toothed gear 4a and 5a delimiting respective rotation seatings are provided.

0018The seatings provided in the sleeves 4 and 5 form part of the articulated joint 2, which also comprises two substantially U-shaped members, each of which is made up of an end element 6, 7. A pair of pins, respectively indicated by 8a,b and 9a,b, extends from end elements 6, 7, each of them being engaged with the seatings of the sleeves 4 and 5 from opposite sides, thus forming an articulated joint with two hinges having parallel axes. Frontally toothed gears 6a, b and 7a, b are arranged at the base of pins 8a, b and 9a, b in a coaxial relation with them. Gears 6a, b and 7a, b are designed to engage with corresponding frontally toothed gears 4a and 5a at the ends of the sleeve seatings 4 and 5. A stem 10 extends from one of the two end elements 6 or 7 and is formed with a threaded end capable of engaging with a corresponding seating, not shown, provided on a locking nut 11 pivotally connected to the other end element 6 or 7 of the articulated joint 2. Stem 10 is parallel to the axes of the sleeve seatings 4 and 5 and extends between them.

0019By rotating locking nut 11, it is possible to screw it onto the stem 10, thus making it function as a tie rod that will gradually bring the substantially U-shaped members closer to each other and thus also bring the frontally toothed gears 4a and 5a, formed at the ends of the sleeve seatings 4 and 5, closer to the corresponding frontally toothed gears 6a,b and 7a,b, until they eventually engage with each other and completely lock the articulated joint. It is thus possible to choose the preferred angular orientation for the connection plate 3, and therefore also of the plane in which the holster lies, around the axis of the seatings of the sleeve 5, as well as the preferred angular orientation of the sleeve seatings 5 with respect to the sleeve seating 4, thereby displacing the planes of loop attachment 1 and connection plate 3 with respect to each other. Once the preferred angular orientations have been chosen, the articulated joint 2 can be locked by simply rotating the locking nut 11 as described above.

0020The loop attachment 1 comprises a box-shaped body 12 with belt passages 13a and 13b formed along two sides. The interior of the box-shaped body 12 defines a seat 14 for a bracket 15 extending radially from the sleeve 4 and slidingly housed within seat 14. A flexible tongue 16 is cut from the bracket and is so shaped as to be slightly inclined with respect to the plane of the bracket 15. On one face of the box-like body 12 there are provided some axially aligned openings, (three openings and of circular shape in the present embodiment of the invention), while the free end of the tongue 16 has an enlargement 16a of such shape as to snap into a reversible engagement with one of the openings 17, though partially projecting from it. When it is desired to adjust the length of the holster securement device, i.e. the distance of the holster from the belt engaged with the loop attachment 1, all that has to be done is to cause the bracket to slide with respect to the box-like body 12 and press with the fingers on the head 16a of the tongue 16 to disengage it from the opening in which it is engaged and make it slide until it engages with another of the openings 17.

0021The connection plate 3 to which the holster is attached is actually formed by two shells 3a and 3b fixable to each other by means of screws 18 to clasp between them the externally projecting edge 19a of a disc-shaped body 19 provided with means for the holster connection (in this specific case through holes 20 for a screw connection).

0022As shown in <figref idref="f0005">Figure 8</figref>, along the edge 19a there is formed a cavity 21 engaging with a small cylinder 22 perpendicular to the shells 3a, 3b and integrally attached to them, though it can slide in the radial direction of the disc-shaped body 19. For this purpose a seating 23 is formed on the inner face of the shell 3a, said seating being delimited by a U-shaped wall 24 within which one end of the small cylinder 22 is arranged. In stationary conditions the small cylinder 22 is prevented from sliding in the seating 23 by an arm 25 that rests elastically against it. The arm 25 extends slidingly between the two shells 3a and 3b and in parallel with the sleeve 5 between the sleeve and the disc-shaped body 19. An edge portion 25a of arm 25 is shaped and made concave enough to bear against the small cylinder 22 and thus prevent it from sliding. A spring 26 is arranged between the free end of the arm 25 and the edge of the shell 3a to keep the concave portion 25a elastically forced against the small cylinder 22. A further and more concave portion 25b is formed adjacent to the concave portion 25a along with the edge of arm 25 in such a way as not to abut against the cylinder 22, which is therefore free to slide. When the small cylinder 22 is to be released, it is sufficient to press with a finger on the pushbutton end 27 of the arm 25 projecting sideways from the connection plate 3 to overcome the elastic reaction of the spring 26 and make the arm 25 slide to bring the concave portion 25b in correspondence with the small cylinder 22 (<figref idref="f0005">Figure 9</figref>), which, being no longer retained, can therefore slide in a radial direction with respect to the disc-shaped body 19. The radial displacement of the small cylinder 22 permits the rotation of the disc-shaped body 19, so that the holster, which is attached to it, can be arranged in any desired inclined position.

0023In this case the stability of the holster in the chosen inclined position is assured by the resistance to relative sliding between the disc-shaped body 19 and the small cylinder 22, which is forced by the arm 25 against the edge 19a. It is clear that a moderate force exerted on the holster can modify this position and also bring the holster back into its locked position. This possibility is often appropriate, especially when, according to the need, it is desired to make a fine adjustment of the variable configuration of the holster with a single hand. Otherwise, should it be desired to have several stable locking positions with different inclinations, it would be sufficient to provide additional notches 21 at appropriate angular spacings along the edge 19a.

0024From the foregoing it is clear that the adjustable holster securement device according to the present invention allows all the previously recalled drawbacks associated with holster securement devices of the conventional type to be avoided. In particular, it should be noted that the fact that the system for regulating the height of the holster securement device is incorporated in the loop attachment not only allows for a significant reduction of the encumbrance of the connection plate 3, but also offers the possibility of minimizing the number of components of the holster securement device that remain attached to the belt in all the conditions in which it is not necessary for the user to carry the weapon with him. In fact, the bracket 15 can be completely withdrawn from the box-shaped body 12, so that the latter only remains attached to the belt in all these cases.

0025Variations, modifications and alterations to the present invention may be appreciated based on a review of the disclosure. These changes and additions are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.