StingerPen PistolRobert J. Braverman, Inventor
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Patents and innovation

The patents behind the Stinger

Two United States patents issued on November 5, 1991, a 2002 application that was abandoned, and a new application for the re-engineered Stinger. The records and drawings are reproduced from the USPTO.

A stainless pen gun with wooden grip panels folded to fire, above a second one closed in its pen form, on dark stone
The folding design: carried as a pen, fired only when folded

Granted patents, 1991

Two patents issued on November 5, 1991

Issued patent

US 5,062,231: “Duel profile pen gun”

Application
07/653,496
Filed
February 8, 1991
Issued
November 5, 1991
Inventors
Robert J. Braverman; Isaak M. Shklyarov
Assignee
R. J. Braverman Corp.
Status
Expired

The folding “dual profile” design that the Stinger used. In its pen profile it cannot be fired. The rear housing has to be pulled back and hinged down to about ninety degrees, which exposes the trigger and gives the gun the profile of a small handgun.

The title is spelled “Duel” in the patent; later filings use “Dual”.

USPTO, 1991

US Patent 5,062,231 drawing sheet 2: Figures 1 to 7 of the dual-profile pen gun, from the pen position to the folded firing position
Drawing sheet 2: from the pen form to the folded firing position.US 5,062,231 · USPTO · public domain

Issued patent

US 5,062,230: “Pen gun”

Application
07/608,707
Filed
November 5, 1990
Issued
November 5, 1991
Inventors
Robert J. Braverman; Isaak M. Shklyarov
Assignee
R. J. Braverman Corp.
Status
Expired

The companion patent, filed first: a single-shot pistol whose parts are aligned on one axis so that it looks like a pen. Unlike US 5,062,231 it does not fold.

USPTO, 1991

US Patent 5,062,230 drawing sheet 2: figures of the straight pen gun, its barrel, trigger collar and firing mechanism
Drawing sheet 2 of the straight “Pen gun”.US 5,062,230 · USPTO · public domain

Published application, 2004

US 2004/0088897 A1: the 2004 published application

Published patent application, 2004 (abandoned; no patent issued)

US 2004/0088897 A1: “Dual profile pen gun”

Application
10/292,108
Filed
November 12, 2002
Published
May 13, 2004
Inventor
Robert Joseph Braverman
Status
Abandoned; no patent was issued

A later application describing improvements to US 5,062,231, which it calls “co-authored by the present inventor”.

The application states that the earlier design had been classified as a “Title One” handgun.

This is a historical publication from 2004. It is not the new application for the re-engineered Stinger.

USPTO, 2004

The front page and the three drawing sheets

  1. Front page of US Patent Application Publication 2004/0088897 A1, Dual Profile Pen Gun, published May 13, 2004, naming Robert Joseph Braverman as inventor
    Front page, published May 13, 2004US 2004/0088897 A1 · USPTO · public domain · select to open full size
  2. US 2004/0088897 A1, drawing sheet 1 of 3: Figures 1 to 3 of the dual profile pen gun
    Drawing sheet 1 of 3: Figs. 1–3US 2004/0088897 A1 · USPTO · public domain · select to open full size
  3. US 2004/0088897 A1, drawing sheet 2 of 3: Figures 4 to 6 of the dual profile pen gun
    Drawing sheet 2 of 3: Figs. 4–6US 2004/0088897 A1 · USPTO · public domain · select to open full size
  4. US 2004/0088897 A1, drawing sheet 3 of 3: Figures 7 to 10 of the dual profile pen gun
    Drawing sheet 3 of 3: Figs. 7–10US 2004/0088897 A1 · USPTO · public domain · select to open full size

The complete publication, with its written description, at Google Patents

Today: patent pending

A new application for the re-engineered Stinger

R. J. Braverman LLC reports that a new United States patent application has been filed for the re-engineered Stinger, and the design is patent pending. It is separate from the 1991 patents and from the 2004 publication above, and its details are not yet public.

About the re-engineered Stinger

The innovation

Why the fold mattered

Pen-shaped guns that fire fixed ammunition were normally regulated as “Any Other Weapons”. Contemporary reports describe federal regulators treating the Stinger as an ordinary handgun instead, because it cannot be fired until it is reconfigured into a pistol shape.

ABC News, October 30, 2003Forgotten Weapons, November 22, 2015

This describes how the design was treated at the time, as history. It is not legal guidance.

US Patent 5,062,231, Figures 3 and 7: the rear housing being hinged down and the pen gun folded to fire
US 5,062,231, Figs. 3 and 7: the rear housing hinged down, and the gun folded to fire.USPTO, 1991 · public domain

Sources

Patent records

Patent text and drawings are US government works in the public domain.

About the inventor   The full history

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