Upper receiver and hand guard with cable routing guide
View Patent ↗A monolithic upper receiver/hand guard is provided for use with a firearm. The monolithic upper receiver/hand guard can include an upper receiver section, a hand guard section, and an interrupted optics rail extending along the top of the upper receiver section and the hand guard section. Cable routing features can be defined in the hand guard section and/or the upper receiver section for helping to control wires and cables extending from or between peripheral devices and accessories, which can be mounted on the monolithic upper receiver/hand guard. The cable routing features can include one or more crossover cable guides disposed in respective channels in the interrupted optics rail. The crossover cable guide can include one or more grooves for receiving a portion of a cable passing from one side of the monolithic upper receiver/hand guard to the other for connecting two peripheral devices, for example.
1. An upper receiver and hand guard for a firearm having a first side and a second side, the upper receiver and hand guard comprising:
an interrupted top rail disposed along at least a portion of the upper receiver and hand guard for mounting accessories to the upper receiver and hand guard, the interrupted top rail comprising a channel formed at a selected location therealong; and;
a crossover cable guide disposed in the channel of the interrupted top rail for receiving at least a portion of an accessory cable extending between the first side and the second side.
2. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the interrupted top rail comprises a first rail portion and a second rail portion, and the second rail portion is spaced apart from the first rail portion by the channel of the interrupted top rail.
3. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises an upper surface and at least one laterally extending cable groove formed in the upper surface, the cable groove is configured to receive and guide at least a portion of the accessory cable from the first side of the firearm to the second side of the firearm at a location below the upper surface.
4. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 3 , wherein the interrupted top rail comprises a series of spaced lugs defining rail grooves therebetween, and wherein the upper surface of the crossover cable guide generally is coplanar with the series of rail grooves.
5. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 3 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises a retaining feature for retaining the at least one accessory cable in the at least one cable groove.
6. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises a plurality of cable grooves formed at spaced locations, each adapted to receive and guide at least a portion of a respective accessory cable.
7. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , further comprising at least one slot formed in the upper receiver and hand guard on the first side of the firearm adjacent the crossover cable guide for at least partially receiving the accessory cable.
8. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises an interchangeable insert mounted in the channel of the interrupted top rail.
9. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 1 , wherein the upper receiver and hand guard is a monolithic upper receiver and hand guard, and the interrupted top rail is integrally formed with the monolithic upper receiver and hand guard.
10. The upper receiver and hand guard of claim 9 , wherein crossover cable guide is integrally formed with the monolithic upper receiver and hand guard.
11. A firearm comprising:
a barrel;
an upper receiver engaging the barrel and having a hand guard extending forwardly therefrom and along the barrel, the upper receiver and hand guard having a first side and a second side; and
a cable management feature comprising:
an interrupted top rail extending along the upper receiver and hand guard, and having a channel formed at a selected location therealong, wherein the interrupted top rail is configured for mounting accessories to the firearm; and
a crossover cable guide located within the channel of the interrupted top rail for receiving and directing at least one accessory cable extending between the first side and the second side of the upper receiver and/or hand guard.
12. The firearm feature of claim 11 , wherein the crossover cable guide defines at least one cable groove for receiving at least a portion of the at least one accessory cable.
13. The firearm feature of claim 12 , wherein the at least one cable groove comprises a plurality of cable grooves defined in the crossover cable guide for receiving at least a portion of a respective accessory cable.
14. The firearm feature of claim 12 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises a retaining feature for retaining the at least one accessory cable in the at least one cable groove.
15. The firearm feature of claim 14 , wherein the retaining feature comprises at least one protrusion extending from at least one side surface of the cable groove.
16. The firearm feature of claim 11 , wherein the interrupted top rail extends in a generally longitudinal direction, and the cable groove of the crossover cable guide extends in a generally lateral direction.
17. The firearm feature of claim 16 , wherein the upper receiver and hand guard comprise a monolithic upper receiver/hand guard, the interrupted top rail extends along at least a portion of the monolithic upper receiver/hand guard, the cable management feature further comprises at least one slot formed in the monolithic upper receiver/hand guard for at least partially receiving the at least one accessory cable, and at least a portion of the at least one slot extends in the generally longitudinal direction.
18. The firearm feature of claim 11 , wherein the crossover cable guide comprises an interchangeable insert mounted in the channel of the interrupted top rail.