Self-Leveling Scope Mount with Adjustable Contact Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for mounting telescopic sights to firearms often require separate devices, precise measurements, or shims to ensure proper alignment of the reticle relative to the barrel, which can be cumbersome and prone to errors, leading to inaccurate aiming due to misalignment.
Innovation Solution
A self-leveling mount with an adjustable contact plate that ensures proper alignment of the scope relative to the firearm, using a vertically movable plate that contacts the scope's saddle to orient the reticle correctly, allowing for manual or automatic adjustment to match the scope's internal alignment with the firearm's barrel axis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If separate devices or shims are used to ensure proper scope alignment, then alignment precision is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the alignment reference surface and the mounting contact surface into a single integrated base structure. The top surface of the base serves dual purposes: as the reference surface for aligning with the scope's bottom surface and as the mounting surface for attaching to the firearm. This eliminates the need for separate alignment devices or shims, resolving the contradiction by maintaining alignment precision while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The base is designed with a precisely machined top surface that inherently provides the alignment reference, eliminating the need for external alignment tools. The scope's bottom surface is manufactured with a flat reference surface that directly interfaces with the base's top surface, creating a self-aligning system that does not require additional devices or complex adjustment procedures.
2Manufacturing precision
If separate alignment devices are used, then alignment precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment reference function is merged into the base structure itself through a precisely machined top surface. This eliminates the need for separate alignment devices and their associated complex procedures, allowing the installer to simply place the scope on the base and attach it to the firearm in a straightforward, single-operation process that maintains high alignment precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If shims of exact size are used, then alignment precision is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the need for precision shims with a permanently integrated reference surface on the base. Instead of using temporary shim components that require precise selection and installation, the base's machined top surface provides a permanent, built-in alignment reference that eliminates the entire shim category from the mounting system, reducing complexity while maintaining precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a self-leveling mount for attaching a sighting scope, having a longitudinal optical axis, to a firearm, having a longitudinal barrel axis. The mount includes a body attachable to a firearm, a pair of scope attachment rings axially spaced apart relative to the body so that at least a portion of the body is situated between the attachment rings, and a vertically movable contact plate on the base between the rings. The plate presents an upper surface that is horizontally perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of a firearm barrel and scope held by the attachment rings. The contact plate makes adjustable alignment contact with a bottom surface of the scope held by the attachment rings to properly orient the scope relative to the firearm.