Expandable baton holder

Abstract

An expandable baton holder includes a holder body formed with a cavity for inserting therein an expandable baton, and a counter-pull-force device located in the holder body. An expansion force is a force needed to allow the telescoping sections of the expandable baton to be drawn out so the expandable baton is in its fully expanded orientation. A baton holding force is provided by the counter-pull-force device and is a force that keeps the expandable baton held in the holder body. The baton holding force is greater than the expansion force. When the expandable baton is pulled out of the holder body, the baton holding force keeps a portion of the expandable baton held inside the holder body, while the expansion force pulls each telescoping section out of its nested orientation so that the expandable baton is now in its expanded orientation, but the portion of the expandable baton is still held inside the holder body.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to batons used by security forces and, in particular, to an expandable baton holder.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Various types of batons are used in law enforcement. Configurations include straight nightsticks, or those modified with a side handle that may be carried in a holster on the hip or leg. Other designs include a telescoping or expandable baton, which can be carried in a holster on the belt, out of the way and not noticeable until it is needed.

[0003] A typical expandable baton is composed of a cylindrical outer shaft containing telescoping inner shafts (typically two or three), all of which are hollow. The innermost shaft (e.g., the striking tube) would have the smallest diameter (of the other shafts) and include a striking section (e.g., a tip) that would be used to concentrate the force of a blow on a target. In order to expand the baton, a user must hold the outer shaft with one hand and use the other hand to pull on the striking section in order to fully expand out the baton. When the user wishes to collapse the baton, the user compresses the inner shafts within the outer shaft, such that the inner shafts are primarily contained within the outer shaft.SUMMARY

[0004] The present invention seeks to provide a novel expandable baton holder, which allows expansion of an expandable baton with one hand and with one action: the action of pulling the baton out of the holder causes the baton to expand. This may be accomplished by a counter-pull-force device, such as a magnetic element, or alternatively a mechanical catch, spring-loaded teeth, adhesive element, and others, as is described below.

[0005] There is thus provided in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the invention an expandable baton holder comprising a holder body formed with a cavity for inserting therein an expandable baton, and a counter-pull-force device located in the holder body, wherein a nesting force is a force that maintains telescoping sections of the expandable baton nested within each other, and an expansion force is a force needed to overcome the nesting force and allow the telescoping sections to be drawn out so the expandable baton is in its fully expanded orientation, the expansion force being greater than the nesting force, and a baton holding force is provided by the counter-pull-force device, which is a force that keeps the expandable baton held in the holder body, and the baton holding force is greater than the expansion force, so that when the expandable baton is pulled out of the holder body, the baton holding force keeps a portion of the expandable baton held inside the holder body, while the expansion force pulls each telescoping section out of its nested orientation so that the expandable baton is now in its expanded orientation, but the portion of the expandable baton is still held inside the holder body, and a release force, which is greater than the baton holding force, is a force that overcomes the baton holding force provided by the counter-pull-force device and pulls the expandable baton completely out of the holder body.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006] The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

[0007] FIG. 1 is a simplified exploded illustration of an expandable baton holder, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

[0008] FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective illustration of the expandable baton holder with an expandable baton held therein.

[0009] FIG. 3 is a simplified perspective illustration of the fully extended baton being held to an external surface of the expandable baton holder, such as by external magnets.

[0010] FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective illustration of the expandable baton holder with the expandable baton held therein, wherein the holder is coupled to a garment mounting provision (in this example, a paddle).

[0011] FIG. 5 is a simplified exploded illustration of an expandable baton holder, in accordance with another non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, in which the holder does not completely surround the baton and the holder is coupled to a garment mounting provision (in this example, a clip for clipping onto trousers).DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Reference is now made to FIG. 1 is a simplified exploded illustration of an expandable baton holder 10, in accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] The expandable baton holder 10 may include a holder body 12 formed with a cavity 14 for inserting therein a baton, particularly an expandable baton 16 (FIG. 2). As seen in FIG. 2, holder body 12 may completely surround a portion of the stick of baton 16. This is not essential to the invention, and in FIG. 5 an alternative construction is shown in which the holder does not completely surround the baton.

[0014] The holder body 12 may be made of any suitable material, such as but not limited to, metal, leather, polymers and other materials or combination of materials.

[0015] Referring again to FIG. 1, the holder body 12 may include an adjustable element 18 which may be used to adjust the tightness of the holder body 12 against the baton 16. For example, the adjustable element 18 may include a resilient flap 19 with an adjustment screw 20. The resilient flap 19 is cantilevered and presses against the baton with adjustable tightness by means of adjustment screw 20.

[0016] In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the expandable baton holder 10 may include a counter-pull-force device 22 located in the holder body 12, such as at or near an inner end of holder body 12. In a preferred embodiment, counter-pull-force device 22 is a magnetic element, which may be made of any suitable magnetic material, such as but not limited to, rare-earth materials, e.g., neodymium iron boron or samarium cobalt and the like, or non-rare-earth materials, e.g., different ferrous alloys. The magnetic counter-pull-force device 22 magnetically attracts the end of the baton 16, which is made of a magnetic ferrous alloy, such as various steel alloys. The “end” of the baton is not necessarily the very tip of the baton and could be any other portion of the baton which is in the holder.

[0017] Alternatively, counter-pull-force device 22 may be a non-magnetic device, such as but not limited to, a mechanical catch, spring-loaded teeth, adhesive element, and others (such as a hook-and-fastener (VELCRO) member which may mate with a complimentary hook-and-fastener (VELCRO) member disposed at the end of the baton), which grab and / or hold the end of the baton with a sufficient force. The magnetic device is preferred because it solves a problem of the non-magnetic device. The problem is that the non-magnetic device requires adjustment to arrive at the proper holding force and this adjustment is cumbersome and can change over time. The magnet solves this problem by being selected with the correct force by the manufacturer and no adjustments by the user are needed.

[0018] The holding force of the magnetic or non-magnetic counter-pull-force device 22 is now described.

[0019] There are several forces involved with pulling the baton 16 out of the holder 10. First, there is a nesting force F1 that maintains the telescoping sections of the expandable baton 16 nested within each other. F1 may be due to friction between the telescoping sections, or may be the force of a detente, catch or other element that initially maintains the telescoping sections of the expandable baton 16 nested within each other. The nesting force F1 may even be negligible or zero.

[0020] Second, there is an expansion force F2 which is the force needed to overcome the nesting force F1 and allow the telescoping sections to be drawn out so the baton 16 is in its fully expanded orientation. The expansion force F2 is greater than the nesting force F1.

[0021] Third, there is a baton holding force F3, which is the force that keeps the baton 16 held in the holder 10. F3 is the force provided by the counter-pull-force device 22. In the invention, the baton holding force F3 is greater than the expansion force F2, so that when the user grasps the end of the baton 16 that protrudes from the holder 10 and pulls the baton 16 out of the holder 10, the baton holding force F3 keeps the end of the baton 16 held inside the holder 10, while at the same time, the expansion force F2 pulls each telescoping section out of its nested orientation so that the baton 16 is now in its expanded orientation, but the end of the baton 16 is still held inside the holder 10.

[0022] Fourth, there is a release force F4, which is greater than the baton holding force F3. The release force F4 overcomes the baton holding force provided by the counter-pull-force device 22 and pulls the now-extended baton 16 completely out of the holder 10. The baton holding force F3 is sufficiently greater than the expansion force F2 so that the baton 16 will reach its expanded orientation before the release force F4 succeeds in pulling the baton 16 completely out of the holder 10.

[0023] Accordingly, unlike the prior art, the invention allows expansion of expandable baton 16 with one hand and with one action: the action of pulling the baton 16 out of the holder 10 causes the baton 16 to expand.

[0024] In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the expandable baton holder 10 may include one or more external baton-holding members 24, such as but not limited to, magnetic elements or non-magnetic elements, such as mechanical catches, spring-loaded teeth, adhesive elements, and others (such as a hook-and-fastener (VELCRO) member which may mate with a complimentary hook-and-fastener (VELCRO) member disposed on the side of the baton). The one or more external baton-holding members 24 may be mounted in one or more recesses 25 (FIG. 1) formed in holder body 12.

[0025] As seen in FIG. 3, in this manner, the expanded baton 16 may be held in its expanded orientation onto the side of holder 10, which frees both hands of the user for dealing with a combatant. This feature eliminates the need for the user to contract the baton and place it back in the holder.

[0026] Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which illustrates the expandable baton holder 10 with the expandable baton 16 held therein. The holder 10 is coupled to a garment mounting provision 26, which in this example, is a paddle. FIG. 4 shows the telescoping sections of the expandable baton 16 in their expanded orientation.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates another example of the expandable baton holder, in which the holder does not completely surround the baton and the holder 10 is coupled to a garment mounting provision 26, in this example, a clip for clipping onto trousers. Other garment mounting provisions are within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An expandable baton holder comprising:a holder body formed with a cavity for inserting therein an expandable baton; anda counter-pull-force device located in said holder body,wherein a nesting force is a force that maintains telescoping sections of said expandable baton nested within each other, and an expansion force is a force needed to overcome the nesting force and allow the telescoping sections to be drawn out so the expandable baton is in its fully expanded orientation, said expansion force being greater than said nesting force, and said counter-pull-force device has a baton holding force, which is a force that keeps said expandable baton held in said holder body, and said baton holding force is greater than said expansion force, so that when said expandable baton is pulled out of said holder body, the baton holding force keeps a portion of said expandable baton held inside said holder body, while said expansion force pulls each telescoping section out of its nested orientation so that said expandable baton is now in its expanded orientation, but the portion of said expandable baton is still held inside said holder body, and a release force, which is greater than said baton holding force, is a force that overcomes the baton holding force of the counter-pull-force device and pulls said expandable baton completely out of said holder body.

2. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, wherein said holder body completely surrounds a portion of said expandable baton.

3. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, wherein said holder body does not completely surround a portion of said expandable baton.

4. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, further comprising an adjustable element configured to adjust a tightness of said holder body against said expandable baton.

5. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, wherein said counter-pull-force device is magnetic.

6. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, wherein said counter-pull-force device is non-magnetic.

7. The expandable baton holder according to claim 1, further comprising one or more external baton-holding members.

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