Hand grenade support
nited States Patent [1 1 Hall [451 Apr. 22, 1975 HAND GRENADE SUPPQRT [76] Inventor: Joshua D. Hall, Boiling Spring Lakes, N.C. 28461 [22] Filed: Apr. 9, 1973 [211 App]. No.: 349,571  
 [52] US. Cl. 102/64; 102/8; 102/654 [51] Int. Cl. F42b 27/08; F42b 23/10 [58] Field of Search 102/342, 37.4, 37.52,  
 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,762,330 10/1973 Hall 102/64 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 591,500 8/1947 United Kingdom [OZ/34.2 833.873 8/1938 France 102/654 Primary Examiner-Verlin R. Pendegrass Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert K. Rhea ABSTRACT A two-part hingedly connected clamp circumferentiaily surrounds an intermediate portion of a hand grenade and is connected with a soil penetrating stake for supporting a hand grenade adjacent the surface of the earth.  
 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures HAND GRENADE SUPPORT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention.  
  The present invention relates to grenades of the type used in military operations and more particularly to a soil engaging support for positioning a hand grenade adjacent the surface of the earth.  
  As is well known a hand grenade is a form of explosive bomb, relatively small in size when compared with long range shells employed in armament. The hand grenade is specifically used for short range distances where opposing forces are in close proximity. The hand grenade is usually activated by manually pulling a release pin and throwing the grenade, however, the hand grenade may also be used for mining an area wherein the grenade is disposed in a fixed position adjacent the surface of the earth and provided with a trip laynard connected at one end with the firing pin release ring.  
 2. Description of the prior art.  
  US. Pat. No. 2,378,735 discloses a mortar type grenade in which the range of the mortar-like grenade is regulated by a gas valve or by elevation of its muzzle and is adjustably supported by a folding bipod.  
  This invention is distinctive over this patent by providing a hingedly connected clamp which circumferentially grips an intermediate portion of a hand grenade and is provided with a grenade supporting socket having a soil penetrating stake connected with the socket in coaxial alignment with the hand grenade.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A pair of substantially semicircular cooperating clamp jaw members, dimensioned to snugly surround an intermediate portion of a hand grenade easing, are hingedly connected together at one end and separably connected at their other ends by a latch mechanism. A dish-shaped grenade end supporting socket is coaxially connected in spaced relation with one of the clamp jaw members by an arcuate band. An elongated soil penetrating stake is connected with the dish-shaped member in coaxial alignment with the clamp for supporting a hand grenade adjacent the surface of the earth.  
  The principle object of this invention is to provide a hand grenade support for positioning a hand grenade adjacent the surface of the earth whereby the hand grenade may be armed and activated by remote control, or the like.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary elevational view of the support operatively supporting a hand grenade;  
  FIG. 2 is an elevational view, to a smaller scale, of the left side of the grenade support and grenade as viewed in FIG. 1;  
  FIG. 3 is a top view of the grenade support, per looking in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 1 and illustrating, by dotted lines, the movement of one of the clamp jaw members when connecting the support to a grenade;  
  FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view, to a larger scale, looking in the direction of the arrows 44 of FIG. 3;  
  FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 4 and illustrating,  
 by dotted lines, the pivoting movement of the latch pin and sleeve assembly; and,  
  FIG. 6 is a transverse crosssectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of FIG. 4.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Like characters of reference designate like parts in those figures of the drawings in which they occur.  
 In the drawings:  
  The reference numeral 10 indicates the grenade support, as a whole, comprising clamp means 12 connected with a grenade supporting socket 14 in turn connected with an elongated shank or stake 16. The clamp means 12 is formed by a pair of substantially semicircular clamp jaw members 18 and 20 connected at one end by a hinge 22 and separably connected at their other ends by a latch means 24. The clamp means 12 is dimensioned to snugly surround. in gripping relation, an intermediate circumferential portion of a con ventional hand grenade casing 26.  
  As clearly illustrated in FIG. 6, the cross-sectional shape of each clamp jaw member 18 and 20 is substan tially channel-shaped with the edge surfaces of the channel legs 28 and 30 arranged in parallel relation spaced apart a distance for cooperative engagement with the selected peripheral surfaces of the hand grenade casing 26.  
  The latch mechanism 24 comprises a first pair of plate members 32 and 34 connected with a peripheral portion of the respective clamp jaw legs 28 and 30 adja cent their ends opposite the hinge and converge out wardly of the clamp jaw member 20.  
  A sleeve 36 is pivotally connected at one end portion between the plate members 32 and 34 by a pin 38 for pivoting movement of the other end portion of the sleeve toward and away from the clamp jaw member 20. The other end of the sleeve is closed and centrally drilled to provide an annular shoulder 40 and slidably receive the stem 42 of a T-shaped latch. The length of the latch stem 42 is slightly less than the length of the sleeve 36 and is retained within the sleeve by a cylindrical nut 46 threadedly secured to the stem 42 opposite the cross-bar 44 of the Tshaped latch. A helical spring 48 surrounds the latch stem 42 between the nut 46 and the annular shoulder 40.  
  The latch mechanism 24 further includes a second pair of lugs or plate members 52 and 54 similarly secured to the clamp jaw member 18 in alignment with the plate members 32 and 341&#39;, respectively. The plate members 52 and 54 are each provided with a transversely aligned arcuate recess 56 extending from the outwardly disposed edge surface of the respective plate member 52 and 54 inwardly toward the clamp jaw member 18 for receiving the cross bar 44 of the latch to complete the latch mecharrism 24.  
  The dish-shaped cup 14 is coaxial with respect to the clamp means 12 and nests the depending end portion of the grenade casing 26 and is connected to one of the clamp jaw members, for example the clamp jaw member 18, by an arcuate strap-like band 58 secured at one end to the clamp jaw member 18 and connected at its other end portion to the outer surface of the cup 14.  
  The stake 16 is formed from a predetermined length of material, shown strap-like in the drawings but may be of any other configuration desired, preferably having a depending sharpened tip 60 and coaxially connected at its upper end to the cup 14.  
 OPERATION In operation a hand grenade is disposed with its firing pin end upwardly and its depending end supported by the cup 14. The clamp means 12 is placed around the grenade casing and the latch mechanism closed. The stake 16 is then manually forced into the surface of the earth a selected distance so that the grenade is supported adjacent the surface of the earth.  
  A trip laynard, not shown. may be connected to the ring of the grenade firing pin 62 to arm the grenade.  
  Obviously the invention is susceptible to changes or alterations without defeating its practicability, therefore, I do not wish to be confined to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and described herein.  
 I claim:  
  1. In a grenade support for a hand grenade having a casing containing an explosive charge, the improvement comprising:  
 clamp means including a pair of semicircular jaw members surrounding said grenade casing intermediate its ends and being hingedly connected together at one end for movement toward and away from each other;  
 latch means releaseably connecting the other ends of said jaw members; and,  
 socket forming means including an earth penetrating stake secured to said clamp means for supporting said hand grenade adjacent the surface of the earth.  
 2. The support according to claim 1 in which said latch means comprises:  
 a pair of spaced-apart plate members connected to the respective end portions of said jaw members opposite their hinge connection in cooperative aligned relation;  
 one said pair of plate members having a transverse slot formed therein;  
 a sleeve interposed between and pivotally connected at one end portion to the other said pair of plate members;  
 a T-shaped latch having its cross-bar removably received by the slot in said one pair of plate members and having its stem longitudinally slidably received by said sleeve;  
 means including a nut maintaining said latch stem within the sleeve; and,  
 a spring surrounding said latch stem within said sleeve for normally maintaining said latch in locked position.  
 3. The support according to claim 2 in which said socket forming means comprises:  
 a cup-shaped member open toward said jaw members; and,  
 a band connecting said cup-shaped member to one said jaw member in coaxial spaced relation with respect to said jaw members when the latter are in closed position, said stake being coaxially connected with said cup-shaped member opposite said jaw members.