U.S. patent application number 13/749527 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-30 for signal transmitting firearm.
The applicant listed for this patent is Shahriar Eftekharzadeh. Invention is credited to Shahriar Eftekharzadeh.
Application Number | 20130133234 13/749527 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48465516 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130133234 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Eftekharzadeh; Shahriar |
May 30, 2013 |
SIGNAL TRANSMITTING FIREARM
Abstract
A safety feature within a firearm that emits distinctly separate
warning signals, the first signal warning of the proximity of the
firearm and the second signal indicative of readiness of use of the
firearm. These warnings must be functioning for the firearm to be
operable. The signal generating part of the safety feature is
embedded within the firearm. Optionally, the safety feature
includes remote annunciation and transmission of the first and
second signals to remote stations.
Inventors: |
Eftekharzadeh; Shahriar;
(Torrance, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Eftekharzadeh; Shahriar |
Torrance |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
48465516 |
Appl. No.: |
13/749527 |
Filed: |
January 24, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
42/1.02 ;
42/1.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41A 17/00 20130101;
F41A 17/48 20130101; F41A 17/46 20130101; F41A 17/34 20130101; F41A
17/063 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
42/1.02 ;
42/1.01 |
International
Class: |
F41A 17/48 20060101
F41A017/48; F41A 17/00 20060101 F41A017/00 |
Claims
1. A firearm comprising a self-warning system which produces and
broadcasts at least two levels of clearly detectible warning
signals within a predetermined distance from the firearm,
comprising a firing mechanism for firing ammunition, including a
trigger operable to operate the firing mechanism; and a circuit
adapted to produce warning signals including a first signal
indicative of the presence of the firearm, and a second signal
indicative of a condition wherein the firearm is loaded with
ammunition and therefore is in a condition ready to fire.
2. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit includes a battery
disposed to provide operable electrical power to the circuit.
3. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit includes a first
transmitter disposed to produce the first warning signal and a
second transmitter disposed to produce the second warning
signal.
4. The firearm of claim 3, wherein the circuit includes a circuit
opening switch which closes the circuit to the second transmitter
responsive to insertion of ammunition into the firearm in a manner
enabling firing of the ammunition by the firearm, and wherein the
second signal is transmitted automatically by the second
transmitter upon the circuit opening switch closing the
circuit.
5. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism
that ultimately acts upon the firearm trigger to normally lock the
said trigger in an inoperable position when not in use and unlock
the said trigger to enable operability of the firing mechanism when
the circuit is connected to the battery.
6. The firearm of claim 1, wherein the circuit continuously
produces and transmits the first signal.
7. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising an alarm disposed to
indicate the presence of an unloaded firearm within the
predetermined distance from the alarm to the firearm.
8. The firearm of claim 7, wherein the alarm is disposed to
transmit to a remote station the signal which is indicative of the
presence of an unloaded firearm within the predetermined distance
from the alarm to the firearm.
9. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising an alarm disposed to
indicate the presence within the predetermined distance from the
alarm of a firearm which is loaded with ammunition and therefore is
in a condition ready to fire.
10. The firearm of claim 9, wherein the alarm is disposed to
transmit to a remote station the signal which is indicative of the
loaded state of the firearm within the predetermined distance from
the alarm to the firearm.
11. The firearm of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver to
receive external radio signals.
12. The firearm of claim 11, wherein the firearm is rendered
inoperable if external radio signals are not detected by the
transceiver.
13. The firearm of claim 4, wherein the circuit includes a
transmitter to transmit both the first level alarm and the second
level alarm.
14. The firearm of claim 6, wherein the circuit produces and
transmits a pulsed first level signal
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S.
Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/745,316 filed Dec. 21, 2012 and
the disclosure of which is incorporated by this reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to devices for
improving safety of firearm ownership and use. More specifically,
the present invention provides a public safety feature within a
firearm that emits distinctly separate signals warning of the
proximity of the firearm and readiness of use. The signal
transmitting system must be functioning for the firearm to be
operable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Gun violence is a major problem in the United States of
America and to a lesser extent other countries around the globe.
There are many incidences of a gunman carrying undetected arsenal
of guns to a public place and firing indiscriminately to kill
innocent people. Recently, such incidents have been on the rise
with many individuals killed in movie theaters, schools, shopping
malls and the like.
[0004] The main approach to curbing gun violence has been through
implementing gun control laws at State and Federal levels. Such
attempts have faced fierce resistance by second amendment advocates
who consider gun ownership a right that cannot be restricted. As a
result, there has been little meaningful impact on the magnitude of
gun violence through this approach.
[0005] Another approach has been through increased security at
public places by means of deploying law enforcement personnel and
installing metal detectors at potential target facilities. This
approach has limited effectiveness because of the numerous
facilities that need protection and comparative scarcity of
resources. Recently, the use of passive Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) tagging for guns has been suggested as a
potential viable solution. However, this method suffers from the
ease with which the RFID tag can be disabled, thereby rendering the
technique ineffective.
[0006] Currently, there is widespread consensus on the necessity of
adopting an effective approach to reduce gun violence and provide
better protection for innocent citizens. However, the main approach
continues to be restrictive gun legislation, which is likely to
face continued resistance and take a long time to produce
meaningful results.
[0007] Therefore, there remains a need for an effective approach
that can address the gun violence problem on urgent basis and be
employed in a timely manner to improve protection of civilians
against the guns in the public place.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention provides an answer to the above stated
need with a simple and effective method that equips the gun with an
embedded self-warning system that must be functioning for the gun
to operate. As employed herein, the term "embedded" will be
understood to signify that the embedded elements are so intimately
located within the structure of the firearm that they are not
capable of being removed without dismantling the firearm or
performing work on the firearm other than its customary use. The
system produces and broadcasts two levels of clearly detectible
warning signals within a certain design distance from the gun. The
signals can be different frequency radio waves, inaudible high
frequency sound waves, or any modulation within the electromagnetic
wave spectrum.
[0009] The first level warning signal is emitted continuously and
is intended to make the mere presence of a firearm within the
design distance detectible at all times. As employed herein, terms
such as "gun" and "firearm" will refer to both small weapons held
in one hand and also larger weapons such as rifles and shotguns,
and be used interchangeably unless context clearly dictates
otherwise. The second level warning is emitted whenever the gun is
loaded with bullets for use and is intended to alert of the loaded
status of the gun. The system is configured such that the gun
cannot be operated if either the first or the second level alarm is
disabled or non-functional, through either tampering, loss of
battery charge, or external blocking of signal transmission.
[0010] It is an object of the present invention to enhance public
safety by providing an advanced warning system to alert of the
presence and status of firearms such that precautionary safety
measures can be implemented. It is also an object of the present
invention to make guns safer for use in normal sporting and hunting
applications by communicating the status of the gun to others
present. It is envisaged that the present invention would be
preferred as a safer alternative to ordinary guns and can be
successfully legislated into law as a requirement for all publicly
available firearms.
[0011] These and other objects of the present invention will become
readily apparent upon further review of the following specification
and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the present
invention depicting the normal non-use state of the firearm when
the gun is not loaded and the ammunition magazine is not inserted
in place.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the present
invention depicting the ready-to-fire state when the ammunition
magazine is inserted in place.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic
representation of the invention wherein a system 100 comprises a
circuit 112 embedded inside the firearm, including a battery 111
disposed to provide operable power to the circuit 112, signal
transceiver 121, and signal transmitter 122 in addition to
apparatus for issuing alarms and monitoring the firearm, which
apparatus may include signal receivers 171 located at public places
connected to appropriately positioned sound alarm 173 and optional
computer monitoring system 174 via communication system 172. The
firearm may be any conventional firearm having a firing mechanism
for firing ammunition, a trigger 161 for operating the firing
mechanism, a handle, and other necessary structure. Because the
firearm itself may be conventional, it is not shown in its
entirety. Also, the trigger is meant to imply any component in the
firing mechanism, without which the firearm will be incapable of
firing. FIG. 1 depicts the normal non-use state of the firearm
during which circuit opening switch 113, which can only be closed
by the insertion of ammunition magazine 131, is in the open
position. In this state, only transceiver 121 is in operation and
issues a signal indicative merely of the presence of the firearm,
while the firearm trigger 161 is locked in place by safety latch
151, and signal transmitter 122 is silent indicating that the
firearm is not loaded and cannot be fired. An important feature of
transceiver 121 is in addition to transmitting a signal, it also
receives and detects external radio signals which are normally
presence as background noise in the environment. Absence of such
background noise indicates that the gun is being externally
shielded to block the signal being transmitted by transceiver 121.
Therefore, transceiver 121 is configured such that it is
automatically disabled after a certain duration of continuous
absence of external signal being receive, which in turn renders the
gun inoperable. The signal transmitter 122 is adapted to produce a
warning signal indicative of a condition wherein the firearm is
loaded with ammunition and therefore is in a condition ready to
fire. The circuit opening switch 131 closes the circuit 112
responsive to insertion of ammunition into the firearm in a manner
enabling firing of the ammunition by the firearm. A signal is
transmitted automatically by the transmitter 122 upon the circuit
opening switch 113 closing the circuit 112.
[0015] The system 100 may be provided with alarm apparatus which is
separate from and optionally remote from the firearm. The alarm
apparatus may include at least one wireless receiver and a
generator of audible or visible alarms for indicating presence of
the firearm and readiness of the firearm to fire. Receiver 171 can
detect the signal from transmitter 122 once the gun is in a
predetermined distance, which will be referred to hereinafter as
the design range and energize the alarm 173 with a pre-designated
audible tone, visible sign, or characteristic vibration indicating
the presence of an unloaded firearm within range, while the
optional computer monitoring system 174 can initiate a range of
appropriate warnings and actions. Illustratively, the computer
monitoring system 174 may be adapted to communicate with a security
station remote from the computer monitoring system 174, civil
authorities such as the police, or other parties.
[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the invention 100
depicting the loaded and ready-to-use state of the firearm. In this
state, the ammunition magazine 131 is inserted, which closes the
circuit opening switch 113 that energizes both solenoid 114, which
operates the safety latch 151 unlocking the trigger 161, as well as
transmitter 122. The safety latch 151 is part of a locking
mechanism which ultimately acts upon the firearm trigger 161 to
normally lock the trigger 161 in an inoperable position when not in
use and unlock the trigger 161 to enable operability of the firing
mechanism when the circuit 112 is connected to the battery 111.
When the trigger 161 is in the operable position and with
ammunition loaded, once the gun is within range of receiver 171,
alarm 173 "sounds" a different tone to indicate the presence of a
loaded firearm while the optional computer monitoring system 174
can initiate a range of appropriate warnings and actions.
[0017] It should be noted that the solenoid 141 is configured in
series with both transceiver 121 and transmitter 122 such that it
cannot be energized to operate safety latch 151 if either
transceiver 121 or transmitter 122 is not operating as a result of
damage, intentional tampering, and being automatically disabled
because of external shielding. Therefore, trigger 161 can only be
unlocked to fire the gun only if both transceiver 121 and
transmitter 122 are operational.
* * * * *