Firearms – Electric appliances
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-15
2001-09-11
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3641)
Firearms
Electric appliances
C042S070010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06286242
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains generally to firearms, and more particularly to firearms having an integrated security apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In conventional firearms, either a striker or a hammer and firing pin is provided for detonating percussion primers. Although many advances in conventional firearm design have been made over the years, the underlying principle of ignition by impact is based on technology essentially optimized in the last century. Percussion primers in today's ammunition and the complexity of moving parts in a firearm having a mechanical fire control system are key design constraints in implementing significant improvements in safety, performance and reliability using conventional technology.
The complexity of moving parts in a mechanical fire control system is especially problematic in a handgun having multiple chambers, such as a revolver, in which a cylinder is rotatable about its centerline on a center pin, and pivotable on a yoke in order to insert and remove the cartridges.
Although electronic components have been designed into the ignition systems of firearms, generally the electrical components either supplement or displace existing parts of the mechanical firing mechanism. The percussion primer is still detonated in the conventional manner, e.g., by impact from a firing pin or striker. U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,085 Electronic Firing System for Target Pistol, for example, shows a pistol in which a mechanical trigger bar is displaced by a solenoid. U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,153 Firearm Battery and Control Module describes a firearm incorporating a microprocessor in an ignition system for a firearm using conventional percussion primers.
Electronic safety mechanisms have been developed for use in revolvers as well as pistols, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,819 Firearm Safety System and Method, in which actuation of the firing mechanism is blocked until a grip pattern sensing means on the handgrip of the firearm provides a signal to a microprocessor that corresponds to a prestored grip pattern. Typically, however, the electronic safety system of the '819 patent adds an additional layer of complexity to the revolver, by blocking but not replacing, the conventional mechanical firing mechanism for firing percussion primers.
Electronics have also been designed into ignition systems for firearms that use non-conventional primers and cartridges. U.S. Patent No. 3,650,174 for Electronic Ignition System for Firearms describes an electronic control system for firing electrically primed ammunition. The electronic control of the '174 patent, however, is hard-wired and lacks the multiple sensor interfaces or the programmable central processing unit that is found with the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,972 for a Gun With Electrically Fired Cartridge describes an electrically fired gun in which a heat-sensitive primer is ignited by a voltage induced across a fuse wire extending through the primer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,828 for Combined Cartridge Magazine and Power Supply for a Firearm shows a laser ignited primer in which an optically transparent plug or window is centered in the case of the cartridge to permit laser ignition of the primer. Power requirements and availability of fused and/or laser ignited primers are problematic however.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,056, for Electronic Firearm and Process for Controlling an Electronic Firearm shows a firearm for firing electrically activated ammunition having a round sensor, and a bolt position sensor. The technology of the '056 patent, however, is limited to a firearm with a bolt action.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a gun capable of achieving major improvements in performance and safety through the use of an all electronic fire control system that has the capability to interface with a wide variety of safety and fault detection sensors and to integrate the sensor data to verify authorized and safe firing conditions prior to ignition.
It is a further object of the present invention to utilize a security apparatus of a firearm to verify that a proposed operator is authorized to fire the firearm.
It is a further object of the present invention to utilize the security apparatus of a firearm to verify that a plurality of firearm sensor parameters indicate that the firearm is in a firing mode.
It is a further object of the present invention that the security apparatus will not enable firing of the firearm unless the operator is an authorized operator and the firearm is in a firing mode.
It is a further object of the present invention that the security apparatus prohibits generation of a firing signal until it is verified that the operator is an authorized operator and the firearm is in a firing mode.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a firearm with superior performance by eliminating the mechanical forces associated with the mechanical linkages and the impact fired ammunition, which tend to pull the firearm off target.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a firearm having an electronic fire control system with all of the aforementioned safety and diagnostic features that can be implemented in either a pistol, a revolver, or a multiple chambered firearm.
Still another object of the present invention to is provide a firearm of the foregoing type which is adaptable for use with several types of ammunition, including electrically fired, optically fired and other types of direct energy initiated ammunition.
The present invention is directed to a security apparatus for a firearm including a frame, a power source, a firing chamber adapted to receive a round of ammunition having a primer oriented adjacent a distal end thereof, and a trigger assembly for selectively initiating communication between an ignition system and the primer. The security apparatus further comprises an authorization device for selectively generating a pass signal indicating that an operator of the firearm is an authorized operator, and a firearm sensor for selectively generating a control parameter signal indicating an operational mode of the firearm.
An electronically programmable locking device receives the authorization signal and the control parameter signal, wherein the programmable locking device permits communication between the ignition system and the primer only if the authorization signal generates the pass signal and the control parameter signal indicates the firearm is in a standby mode.
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McCormick Paulding & Huber LLP
Poon Peter M.
Smith & Wesson Corp.
Thomson M.
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