BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to gun reloading equipment and, more particularly, to a device to facilitate the loading of muzzle-loading firearms with charges of powder and/or bullets or balls with ease, accuracy and dispatch.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Background  
           [0004]    In pioneer times, the principal accouterments for the loading of muzzle-loading firearms were a powder horn, a bullet pouch and a ramrod. These relatively crude implements have not entirely been relegated to history because there remain certain gun buffs that still make use of them. However, there are others that, despite a preference for older muzzle-loading firearms, now rely on an array of more sophisticated equipment for the reloading of firearms of that type.  
           [0005]    There have been a number of past efforts, beginning in the 19 th  century, to develop more convenient devices for the loading of muzzle-loading firearms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 163,404 to O. D. Phillips, granted in 1875, comprises a multi-bore rotatable cylinder rotatable upon a base having a socket to receive the muzzle of a gun or rifle and an offset plunger to discharge the powder from the bores into the muzzle of the firearm. The patent to C. W. Hovis, U.S. Pat. No. 184,079 issued in 1876, is similar except that no plunger is included.  
           [0006]    Beginning in 1980, there has been a resurgence in the development efforts associated with devices to assist with the loading of muzzle-loading firearms. This resurgence is evident from the following series of patents:  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,897 issued to Snowden in 1980,  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,620 issued to Drake et al. in 1984,  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,517 issued to Mansfield in 1985,  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,873 issued to Houk in 1986,  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,125 issued to Curtis in 1986, and  
           [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,623 issued to Delap et al. in 1989.  
           [0013]    Finally, the present inventors, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,781, disclosed a gun loading device having a base with a socket to receive the muzzle of a gun. The base also supports a storage cylinder with a plurality of bores in a circular pattern which receive charges. The cylinder rotates about the base member, and a plunger is pushed perpendicularly, sequentially, through the charges of powder in the bores. All of the elements are readily disassembled for cleaning.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0014]    It is among the several objects of the invention to provide a gun loading device similar to that set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,781, but with the following additional features:  
           [0015]    It is an object to provide a design for a gun loading device which is highly manufacturable, and in which a majority of the component parts can be economically molded and snap-fit together without the need for assembly tools.  
           [0016]    It is another object to provide a gun loading device as described above in which the hand-assembled components may be readily disassembled to render the components easily cleanable to remove any powder adhering thereto.  
           [0017]    It is another object to provide a gun loading device as described above in which cylinders of various sizes may be substituted to accommodate firearms of various calibers. Specifically, the design includes interchangeable bores and bore collars to accommodate different calibers, and for accurate barrel location and alignment to the rifle bore.  
           [0018]    It is another object to provide a gun loading device as described above in which the unit is secured and stabilized by three independent posts.  
           [0019]    These and other objects are accomplished by a gun loading device comprising a base member having a socket to receive the muzzle of a firearm to be loaded with a charge of powder and/or a bullet, a storage cylinder provided with a plurality of bores in a circular pattern which receive such charges and is rotatable about a fixed axis attached to the base member, an upper inlet member having an opening through which a plunger is perpendicularly slideable to push, sequentially, the charges of powder in the bores through a discharge opening in the base member, and multiple posts connecting the base and inlet members together, in a non-twistable configuration, with the cylinder being rotatable therebetween.  
           [0020]    Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and certain modifications thereof. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the improved gun loading device  100  according to a first embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIG. 1 showing its major components  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIG. 1 with a portion of the upper inlet member  14  broken away to show details of the elements below.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a partial vertically-sectioned view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a distal end of post  38 ,  48 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 is a partial vertically-sectioned view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIG. 1.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIG. 1.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper inlet member  14 , illustrating how it indexes rotation of the cylinder.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-section of the cup-like extension  26  shown with the plunger  30  and the piston  32  in the fully retracted position.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0030]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is a gun loading device  100  comprising a cylinder  10  rotatably positioned between a lower base member  12  and an upper inlet member  14 .  
         [0031]    As best seen in FIG. 2, the cylinder  10  is further comprised of an upper bore collar  11  and lower bore collar  13  which stabilize a plurality of parallel like-sized bores  16 . The bore collars  11 ,  13  are clover-shaped rims which snap-fit around the rims of the parallel bores  16 . In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of the cylinders  10  are preferably provided, each sized to accommodate a particular caliber of charge/ball. Thus, for each caliber, a plurality of parallel bores  16  are provided for that particular caliber as well as a matching upper bore collar  11  and lower bore collar  13 .  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 3 is a top plan view, and FIG. 4 is a partial vertically-sectioned view of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIGS. 1 and 2. Each bore  16  is adapted to receive a corresponding measured charge of powder  18  and/or a bullet or ball  20  (see also FIG. 6). One popular example of ball used by shooters of muzzle-loading firearms is sold under the trademark MAXIBALL®. These are constructed in such a way that they have a coating which requires no patch, as is customarily used in muzzle-loading firearms of conventional type.  
         [0033]    With collective reference to FIGS. 1-4, the cylinder  10  is rotatably journalled between the lower base member  12  and upper inlet member  14 . The inlet member  14  is provided with a filling Opening  21 , as clearly shown in FIG. 3, through which said charges of powder  18  and balls  20  are loaded successively into the bores  16 . The opening  21  is preferably slightly greater in diameter than the bores  16  which register with opening  21  as the cylinder  10  is rotated, as described hereinafter.  
         [0034]    Preferably, a cover (not shown) is pivotally attached to upper inlet member  14  for positioning over opening  21  to prevent an inadvertent discharge of the powder  18  and/or the bullet or ball  20  from the bore  16  aligned with the opening  21 .  
         [0035]    In order to maintain the above-described elements in assembled relationship, the present invention employs three independent stabilizing posts  38 ,  48 , each of which is snap-fit between the upper inlet member  14  and lower base member  12 . The two forward stabilizing posts  48  and rear stabilizing post  38  combine to stabilize cylinder  10  and base member  12  with respect to each other and to prevent relative twisting therebetween along the vertical axis. The opposite ends thereof extend respectively through openings  52  in the inlet member  14  and openings  54  in the base member  12 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a distal end of an exemplary post  38 ,  48 . All of the stabilizing posts  38 ,  48  have distal ends equipped with one or more detent latching members  44 ,  56 , respectively, on opposite ends. One such post  38  is a hollow cylindrical tube that extends through a central bore  40  in the cylinder  10 . The lower base member  12  and upper inlet member  14  respectively have holes or bores  42  therein, which respectively receive one of the opposite ends of post  38 . It is of considerable importance that the posts  48  effectively prevent relative twisting of the members  12  and  14  about the axis of post  38  (the latter of which is a pivot for the cylinder  10 ). This arrangement, due to the nature of the posts  48 , is completely effective to prevent such relative rotation between the elements  12  and  14 . The configuration of posts  38 ,  48  also facilitates the assembly, and more importantly, facilitates the disassembly of the various elements, especially to effect general cleaning thereof and removal of remaining powder grains or the like, the opposite ends of the stabilizing posts  38 ,  48 , all of which are the same length, are provided with one or more latch members  44 ,  56 , respectively (see FIG. 5). An exemplary latch member  44 ,  56  is illustrated on one end of one of the posts  38 ,  48 , there is a neck portion  58 , which has limited flexibility and a tapered head  60 , which terminates at its lower end in a transverse overhang  62  which is adapted to engage one surface of either the lower base member  12  or upper inlet member  14  when the latch member  44 ,  56  extends through one of the openings  42 ,  52  in the inlet member  14  or openings  42 ,  54  in the base member  12 . Incidentally, the latch members  44  and  56  are preferably identical in configuration, primarily for purposes of uniformity in molding such latches and the posts with which they are integral. By observing FIG. 5, it readily can be visualized that the neck portion  58  which is thinner than the tapered head  60  enables the same to be flexed sufficiently to disengage the head  60  from the rim of one of said openings  42 ,  52 ,  54  and thereby permit the opposite ends of the posts  38 , which is a pivot for cylinder  10 , or the posts  48  to be unlatched and separated from the openings  42 ,  52 ,  54  and disengaged from the lower base member  12  and upper inlet member  14 , whereupon all of the major elements comprising the gun loading device  100  of the invention can be separated especially for cleaning purposes. Following such cleaning, they all readily may be reassembled in a very short period of time and stored, if desired, until further use is required. To effect the alignment of the latch members  44 ,  56  with the respective openings  42 ,  52 ,  54  referred to above, each latch member  44 ,  56  has associated therewith a transversely-spaced stud-like projection  64 , which is molded integrally with the post  38 ,  48  to which it is connected and said stud  64 , in each instance, engages an opposite wall of the hole or opening  42 ,  52 ,  54  within which the latch member  44 ,  56  is associated. Thus, the combined latch member  44 ,  56  and stud-like projection  64  will effect centering of the end of the post  38 ,  48  upon which the elements are formed within the holes  42 ,  52 ,  54  through which said elements project.  
         [0037]    The latch members  44 ,  56  only prevent axial movement when in latched position. Further to seat the necks of the latch members  44 ,  56  and the stud-like projection  64  within the respective openings in either the lower base member  12  or upper inlet member  14 , it will be seen from FIG. 5 that the latch ends of the posts with which they are integral also are provided with an annular transverse shoulder  66  which abuts the surface of the element through which the latch neck  58  and stud  64  extend, whereby such shoulder  66 , in conjunction with the transverse overhang  62  firmly secures each end of the various posts  38 ,  48  to the upper and lower elements  12 ,  14  between which said posts  38 ,  48  extend. Preferably, in cross-section, not shown, the neck portion  58  and stud-like projection  64  are circular and correspond to the walls of the openings  42 ,  52 ,  54  in the several elements  12 ,  14  abutting opposite ends of the cylinder  10  and through which they project.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 6 is a side-sectioned view and FIG. 7 is a front perspective view, respectively, of the improved gun loading device  100  of FIGS. 1-5. It can be seen that the gun loading device  100  incorporates a limited number of different elements which are readily connected substantially without the use of tools and, similarly, readily may be disconnected especially for the purpose of cleaning the components to remove any accumulated powder grains or the like and thus, permit the device  100  to be stored between uses thereof and always ready to be used. Between uses, the several bores  16  may remain loaded with charges of powder  18  and/or bullets or balls  20 , especially in view of the fact that the lower base member  12  and upper inlet member  14 , as shown in FIG. 3, maintain the opposite ends of the various bores  16  in closed condition. When stored, best practice would indicate that the bore of cylinder  10 , which is aligned with plunger  30 , would remain unloaded with the plunger  30  extended into the empty bore. This configuration serves to prevent any rotation of the cylinder  10  and minimizes the amount of space/volume required to store the present invention.  
         [0039]    Base member  12  is provided with a pair of depending arcuate guide members  22  which define a socket that receives the muzzle end  24  of a firearm, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Guide members  22  are detachably attached to base member  12  such that they are interchangeable, thus enabling the gun loading device  100  to accommodate firearms having different diameter muzzle ends  24 .  
         [0040]    When the muzzle end  24  of a firearm is seated in the arcuate guide members  22 , the material in each of the bores  16  can be discharged into the muzzle of the firearm through a discharge opening  36  in the base member  12 . The powder  18  and ball  20  pass through the discharge opening  36  incident to being received in the upper end of the muzzle  24  of the firearm.  
         [0041]    To facilitate ejection of the powder charge  18  and bullet or ball  20  sequentially from the bore  16  of the cylinder  10 , the upper inlet member  14  is provided with an integrally-molded cup-like extension  26  with a constricted bearing opening  28  in the upper end through which a discharge plunger  30  extends. The lower, inner end of the plunger  30  has a piston  32  mounted thereon, which actually engages the ball  20  and that, in turn, engages the powder charge  18 . The upper end of plunger  30  is provided with a push-button  34  integrally secured thereto.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the upper inlet member  14 , and FIG. 9 is a cross-section enlarged view of the cup-like extension  26  shown with the plunger  30  and the piston  32  in the fully retracted position. As best seen in FIG. 9, a latching mechanism  27  holds the plunger  30  in a fully retracted position such that no part of the plunger  30  or piston  32  remain within one of the parallel bores  16 . The latching mechanism  27  is positioned within the cup-like extension  26  and engages a circumferential notch  31  cut into the piston  32 . Positive force exerted by the user on the push-button  34 , along the central axis of the plunger  30 , is required to disengage the latching mechanism  27  and effect the discharge of the material in the bore  16 .  
         [0043]    Also shown in FIG. 8 is a downwardly protruding tab  33  that is indexed to upwardly protruding dimples (not shown in the Figures) around the top of cylinder  10 . Tab  33  indexes the cylinder  10  into position, thereby ensuring that the cylinder  10  is rotated into exact alignment between the lower base member  12  and upper inlet member  14  such that the filling opening  21  is exactly aligned with a corresponding bore  16  for loading of the powder  18  and ball  20 .  
         [0044]    With collective reference to FIGS. 1-9, the preferred embodiment of the gun loading device  100  is assembled via the following series of steps. The stabilizing posts  38 ,  48  are first attached to the upper inlet member  14 . Four parallel bores  16  are snapped into the upper and lower bore collars  11 ,  13 , respectively, to form the cylinder  10 . The cylinder  10  is then rotatably attached to the centrally-located stabilizing post  38 . The lower base member  12  is then attached to the stabilizing posts  38 ,  48  to hold the cylinder in position between the upper inlet member  14  and the lower base member  12 .  
         [0045]    The plunger  30 , with the push button  34  detached, is then assembled into the present invention by inserting the end opposite the piston  32  through the discharge opening  36 , the bore  16  aligned with the opening  36 , and the bearing opening  28  until it emerges through the top of the cup-like extension  26 . The push-button  34  is then attached to the plunger  30  making the plunger an integral part of the gun loading device  100 . The final assembly step is the attachment of the guide members  22  to the lower base member  12 .  
         [0046]    To disassemble the present invention, the steps outlined above are reversed.  
         [0047]    Use of the gun loading device  100  involves the loading of powder  18  and a bullet or ball  20  into the multiple parallel bores  16  and the transfer of the powder  18 /bullet/ball  20  combination into the muzzle  24  of a firearm.  
         [0048]    To load the present invention, position the plunger  30  in its fully retracted position (i.e. the latching device  27  is engaged with the notch  31  in the piston  32 ). Insert the appropriate, pre-measured amount of powder  18 , followed by the bullet or ball  20 , via the opening  21  in the upper inlet member  14  into the bore  16  aligned with the opening  21 . After making sure that bullet/ball  20  is positioned below the lip of the opening  21 , the cylinder  10  is rotated 90° (i.e. until the downwardly protruding tab  33  engages the next upwardly protruding dimple on the top of the cylinder  10 ) to align an empty bore  16  with the opening  21 . These steps are repeated until three of the four bores  16  are loaded with powder  18  and a bullet/ball  20 . The empty, fourth bore is that aligned with the discharge opening  36  and the plunger  30 . The plunger  30  may then be extended into the empty bore  16  to prevent inadvertent turning of the cylinder  10  resulting in the discharge of the contents of a loaded bore  16 .  
         [0049]    To transfer the contents of a bore  16  to the muzzle  24  of a firearm, the plunger  30  is first fully retracted from the empty bore  16  to enable the turning of the cylinder  10 . The gun loading device  100  is then positioned over the muzzle  24  of a firearm utilizing the guide members  22  to align the discharge opening  36  with the muzzle opening. The cylinder  10  is then rotated to align a loaded bore  16  with the discharge opening  36 . Once the proper alignment of the bore  16 , the opening  36 , and the muzzle  24  is established, gravity will generally cause the powder  18  to fall into the muzzle  24  of the firearm. The bullet/ball  20  is then transferred, along with any remaining powder  18 , into the muzzle  24  of the firearm by extending the plunger  30  into the bore  16 . The same firearm may be reloaded, or another one loaded, by repeating the above steps until each of the bores  16  are empty.  
         [0050]    While it is preferred that the members  12  and  14  be secured to the several posts  38 ,  48  of the device  100  by latch means as described above, especially to assist in loading the bores  16  with powder  18  and bullets or balls  20 , as shown in FIG. 4, the ends of posts  48  which engage base member  12 , may be attached thereto by screws  68  which extend through beveled holes  70  in said base member  12 . Under such circumstances, the inlet member  14  may be unlatched from said posts  38 ,  48 , thus exposing the upper ends of the bores  16  for ready-loading with powder  18  and/or bullets or balls  20 . Also, to assist in loading the bores  16 , at least the cylinder  10  may be molded from transparent resin.  
         [0051]    Having now fully set forth the preferred embodiments and certain modifications of the concept underlying the present invention, various other embodiments as well as certain variations and modifications of the embodiments herein shown and described will obviously occur to those skilled in. the art upon becoming familiar with said underlying concept. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically set forth in the appended claims.
A gun loading device comprising a base member having a socket to receive the muzzle of a firearm to be loaded with a charge of powder and/or a bullet, a storage cylinder provided with a plurality of bores in a circular pattern which receive such charges and is rotatable about a fixed axis attached to the base member, an upper inlet member having an opening through which a plunger is perpendicularly slideable to push, sequentially, the charges of powder in the bores through a discharge opening in the base member, and multiple posts connecting the base and inlet members together, in a non-twistable configuration, with the cylinder being rotatable therebetween. Quick-releasable latch members preferably are used to secure the connecting member respectively to the base and inlet members, as well as render the elements readily disassembled for cleaning, and the preferred material from which the components of the device are formed is synthetic resin, such as "LEXAN" or A.B.F.