Device with multiple selectable less-lethal options

Abstract

The present invention discloses a personal protection device for using multiple less-lethal ammunition options. The device is comprised of a lightweight carbon-composite forearm gauntlet sleeve assembly having a multiplicity of external mounts for shortened vented composite less-lethal ammunition barrels of various calibers or other less-lethal ammunition dispensers. In addition, Picatinny Rail attachment points are provided for mounting external tactical gear. Internally, the gauntlet sleeve assembly contains a pistol grip with an electronic control system for selecting and activating individual less-lethal ammunition dispensers in any desired sequence. The invention thus provides the user with multiple selectable less-lethal ammunition options in a single reconfigurable device requiring only one-handed operation while protecting the operating arm. The device has defense utility for both law enforcement and civilians in riots, violent protests, domestic disturbances, commercial aircraft cabins, cruise ships, malls, warehouses, offices and home defense.

Claims

1. A personal protection device comprising: a separable 3-piece forearm gauntlet sleeve assembly, said gauntlet sleeve assembly having a rear forearm piece, a front upper piece, and a front lower piece, wherein said 3-piece forearm gauntlet sleeve assembly encloses the hand, wrist, and forearm up to the elbow; and wherein each of the said three pieces is constructed of any combination of the following: carbon fiber composite, aramid synthetic fiber, fiberglass, laminated graphene sheets, aluminum, titanium, and steel; an electronic control system comprising an internal 3-chip CMOS printed circuit board for processing barrel selection and executing firing commands; said electronic control system attaching removably to the front upper piece of the gauntlet sleeve assembly; wherein said electronic control system connects by wiring harness to a manual control system, a system status display panel, and to electrically operated gauntlet sleeve assembly attachments; a manual control system comprising an ambidextrous pistol-type hand grip, an internal, removable, rechargeable battery, an embedded ON-OFF electric power switch, a trigger mechanism with an internal electric switch, and an embedded electric FIRE-SAFE safety switch, said manual control system attaching removably to the inside of the front upper piece of the said gauntlet sleeve assembly, operable by a single hand, and wherein the said battery and electrical switches attach by wiring harness to the said electronic control system; an external personal protection device status panel comprising LEDs and a battery voltage meter for externally displaying device status and barrel selection, said panel further attaching by wiring harness to the said electronic control system; multiple attachment points accommodating one or more of each of the following electrically operated options: individual lightweight, vented, shortened composite barrels of multiple calibers for dispensing less-lethal ammunition, self-contained less-lethal ammunition dispensers not requiring a barrel, electroshock weapons, chemical irritant cartridges, and tactical equipment to include laser designators, flashlights, and video cameras; wherein said attachment points are connected by wiring harness to the said electronic control system so as to be electrically operated on command from the manual control system as processed by the said electronic control system; wherein the personal protection device is readily configurable by an operator so as to have multiple desired electrically activated less-lethal ammunition dispensers and tactical equipment; and further wherein the personal protection device provides the capability to the operator for single-hand-only operation to switch the device power ON and OFF, to switch the device state from SAFE to FIRE, and to select and activate said less-lethal ammunition dispensers and tactical equipment in any desired sequence.

2. A personal protection device according to claim 1, wherein the rear forearm piece of the 3-piece gauntlet sleeve assembly covers the arm from wrist to elbow and is detachable so that the front upper piece and the front lower piece of the forearm gauntlet sleeve, which enclose the entire hand and wrist, are thus configured as a separately functional 2-piece unit; and further wherein both the rear forearm piece and the front lower piece of the 3-piece gauntlet sleeve assembly are separately detachable from the front upper piece of the forearm gauntlet sleeve assembly, to which the pistol grip manual control system is attached, so as to form a separately functional configuration of the personal protection device; and further wherein each of the resulting configurations have a different weight, protective surface area, ammunition dispenser capability and tactical gear capability different from the full 3-piece gauntlet sleeve assembly.

3. A personal protection device according to claim 1, wherein multiple hardpoints are embedded in or secured to each of the three separable gauntlet sleeve pieces; said hardpoints composed of machined and drilled metal brackets for attaching additional Picatinny Rails or attaching retaining brackets for various tactical equipment, said tactical equipment to include a laser designator, a flashlight, and a video camera.

4. A personal protection device according to claim 1, wherein one or more of a laser designator, video camera, or tactical flashlight externally attached to the gauntlet sleeve pieces are activated by a firing safety switch.

5. A personal protection device according to claim 1, wherein acceptance slots, retaining brackets and control wiring are provided for attaching one or more electroshock weapon cartridges and chemical irritant cartridges to the front upper or front lower gauntlet sleeve assembly pieces.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of the specification, illustrate various principles of operation and examples of the present invention, including a best mode of the general embodiment of the invention, as well as alternate embodiments, and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

(2) FIG. 1 presents an exterior view of the best mode of the general embodiment.

(3) FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C present three options for the gauntlet sleeve composition.

(4) FIG. 3 presents a cutaway side view illustrating the interior of the gauntlet sleeve assembly embodiment.

(5) FIG. 4 presents a cutaway side view illustrating the interior of a gauntlet embodiment with the rear forearm piece of the gauntlet sleeve assembly removed.

(6) FIG. 5 presents a cutaway side view illustrating a gauntlet sleeve assembly embodiment with both the front lower piece and the rear forearm piece removed.

(7) FIG. 6 presents a schematic view illustrating the electronic pistol grip and PCB control system.

(8) FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C comprise a 3-view schematic illustrating the features of a three barrel embodiment.

(9) FIGS. 8A and 8B comprise a 2-view schematic illustrating the features of a seven barrel embodiment.

(10) FIGS. 9A and 9B comprise a 2-view schematic illustrating the features of a mixed caliber five barrel embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(11) The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It is to be understood, however, that the detailed description of the various embodiments and specific examples, while indicating preferred and other embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not limitation. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.

(12) The basic operating principle of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1, which is an exterior exploded view of the best mode of the general embodiment. The mainstay of the invention is the carbon fiber composite forearm gauntlet sleeve assembly comprised of elements 1,12,15 and designed to completely envelop the forearm and hand up to the elbow. The carbon fiber materials comprising the structure can take many forms, from woven fabric to wound fibers, and may also have embedded layers of aramid ballistic fibers or metal strips. A plurality of Picatinny Rails 6 are premounted on the gauntlet sleeve assembly for attaching desired and available less lethal ammunition dispensers such as the illustrated foreshortened vented lightweight composite barrels 2 and 22 of calibers 12-gauge and 40 mm, respectively. By way of illustration only, each of the barrels 2,22, shown are removable and replaceable, with each barrel having an associated electric firing pin assembly 31. This embodiment of the present invention also has designed in hardpoints for attaching tactical equipment brackets 16,17. The brackets 16,17 may be used alone or have Picatinny Rails 6 attached to them to facilitate the attachment of LLA dispensers and tactical equipment including a miniature video camera 3, a flashlight 4 with an embedded laser designator, and an electroshock cartridge 13. An external display panel 8 provides the operator with weapon status information, such as ON-OFF power, weapon safety ON-OFF status, individual dispenser selection indication by light emitting diodes, and battery charge level. This embodiment allows for attachment of up to seven barrels as well as the electroshock cartridge, thus giving the operator eight less-lethal options in one handheld device. An adjustable lanyard 38 is secured to attachment loop 39 and slung over the shoulder of the operator to reduce carriage stress and free both hands.

(13) FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate three construction options of the gauntlet sleeve surfaces 1,12,15. FIG. 2A illustrates a common carbon fiber cloth assembly wherein two layers 33 of thick bias-ply weave cloth are bonded to form the sleeve. FIG. 2B is an improved embodiment over that shown in FIG. 2A, wherein two thinner layers 33 of carbon fiber bias-ply cloth are used to sandwich a layer 57 of aramid ballistic fibers. FIG. 2C is the best mode embodiment wherein one thinner layer 33 of carbon fiber bias-ply cloth is used as a central base structural support for two layers 58 of graphene sheets.

(14) FIG. 3 presents a cutaway side view of the interior of the general embodiment in FIG. 1, which is the full gauntlet sleeve assembly 1,12,15. The operator's arm 20 is inserted up to the elbow into an opening in the gauntlet rear forearm piece 1 and nestled in padding 14. The operator hand grasps an internal pistol-style hand grip controller 10 which is attached to the gauntlet front upper piece 15 with four #4-40 hex head machine screws. An electronics storage area 19 is provided for electroshock weapon electronics. A shortened lightweight composite 12-gauge barrel 2 with an attached firing pin assembly 31 is shown externally top-mounted to a Picatinny Rail 6 above the internal hand grip 10. An external light emitting diode (LED) display panel 8 provides the operator with weapon status information, including ON-OFF power, weapon safety ON-OFF status, barrel selection, and battery charge level. An optional tactical video camera 4, tactical flashlight 3, and laser designator 5 are shown front mounted to brackets.

(15) FIGS. 4 and 5 present cutaway schematics views illustrating two variations of the embodiment in FIG. 3 in which portions of the gauntlet sleeve assembly are removed. Shown in FIG. 4, the rear forearm piece 1 of the gauntlet sleeve assembly aft of the wrist and up to the elbow is removed to provide a lighter, more flexible configuration 1,15 which fully encloses the hand and wrist. This configuration is basically a lightweight 1-barrel to 7-barrel selected-fire pistol with options for varied barrel caliber and tactical gear mounts. FIG. 5 illustrates a version of the embodiment of FIG. 3 wherein both the rear forearm piece 1 and the front lower piece 12 under the hand in the gauntlet sleeve assembly are removed to provide a lighter, more flexible configuration 15 which protects only the top of the hand. This version is basically a lightweight 1-barrel to 5-barrel selected-fire pistol with options for varied barrel caliber and tactical gear mounts.

(16) FIG. 6 illustrates the elements of the internal pistol-type hand grip 10 and the associated electronic control system printed circuit boards (PCBs) 8 and 21. The pistol-type hand grip assembly 10 has an ON-OFF electric power switch 43, a trigger 11 with electric firing switch 45, an ambidextrous thumb-operated safety 9 with an electric ON-OFF safety switch 44, a trigger guard 29, an internal storage capacity for a LiPO battery 18, and a base 37 with a sliding bottom entry battery access door. Individual less-lethal ammunition options are selected electronically through the CMOS circuit on PCB 21 by cycling the trigger 11 with the external safety lever 9 in the ON position, as is shown in the figure. When the safety lever 9 is depressed downward to the OFF position, electric safety switch 44 is closed and sends a signal to the PCB 21 electronic control circuit. In this condition, pulling the trigger 11 closes the electric firing switch 45 sending a signal to the PCB 21 electronic control circuit which fires the currently selected less-lethal ammunition dispenser, and then cycles the selector to the next less-lethal ammunition option.

(17) PCB 21 is comprised of three CMOS chips 40, 41, 42 connected to the pistol-style hand grip 10 by wiring harness 23, which transmits power to PCB 21 when switch 43 is ON, transmits ON-OFF status of safety lever 9 via safety switch 44, and transmits FIRE commands from trigger 11 firing switch 45 to PCB 21. Wiring harness 24 connection to PCB 8 is used to transmit power when switch 43 is ON, to transmit ON-OFF status of safety lever 9, and to transmit specific barrel selection from PCB 21 to PCB 8. This information is displayed by barrel selection LEDs 25, power ON-OFF LED 27, and safety ON-OFF status LED 26. Chip 40 on PCB 21 is a 556 dual timer with associated timing resistors and capacitors, an LM4017 decade counter 41, and one or more LM4081 quad two-input AND gates 42. Chip 40 produces two consecutive signal pulses when the trigger 11 is pulled and trigger switch 45 is closed. The first pulse is a 0.25 second wide FIRE pulse. At the end of the FIRE pulse, a 50 millisecond barrel CYCLE pulse is generated. If the safety 9 is in the OFF position and safety switch 44 is closed when the FIRE pulse is generated, a firing pin activation signal is sent through wire harness 36 to the firing pin assembly attached to the currently selected LLA dispenser; otherwise no firing pin activation signal is sent. At the end of the subsequent CYCLE pulse, the next dispenser in a programmed sequence is selected.

(18) FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C comprise a 3-view schematic illustrating the features of a representative embodiment with external less-lethal barrel mountings. The side view FIG. 7A, illustrates gauntlet sleeve assembly 1,12,15 with only three barrels 2 attached, as well as a forward mounted flashlight 3, laser designator 5 and video camera 4. Front view FIG. 7B, shows the lateral spread arrangement of the mounted barrels 2, and top view FIG. 7C, shows the fore-aft stagger of the barrel arrangement, as well as the location of status display panel 8.

(19) FIGS. 8A and 8B comprise side and front schematic views illustrating the features of a representative embodiment with external LLA dispenser mountings. The side view FIG. 8A illustrates gauntlet sleeve assembly 1,12,15 with a total of seven 12-gauge barrels 2 attached. Front view FIG. 8B shows the lateral spread arrangement of the mounted barrels 2, and side view FIG. 8A shows the fore-aft stagger arrangement of the upper three barrels.

(20) FIGS. 9A and 9B comprise side and front schematic views illustrating the features of a representative embodiment with mixed caliber barrel mountings. The side view FIG. 9A illustrates the full gauntlet sleeve assembly 1,12,15 with only five total barrels attached. Three barrels 2 of the five barrels are 12-gauge and two barrels 22 are 40 mm caliber. Front view FIG. 9B shows the lateral spread arrangement of the mounted barrels 2 and 22, and side view FIG. 9A shows the fore-aft stagger arrangement of the upper three barrels.

(21) Accordingly, the present invention provides several other advantages over conventional less-lethal ammunition dispensers. One advantage of the present invention compared to conventional shotguns is that the launcher can be held, manipulated, and fired with one hand, is easily maneuvered in confined urban settings, and can be conveniently stored and carried hands free if desired. The gauntlet sleeve assembly provides protection for an operator hand and forearm up to the elbow using the lightweight carbon fiber or reinforced polymer materials construction. A further significant advantage that the present invention provides is a selectable multiple shot capacity, which is a feature that no other less-lethal firearm currently has. The electronic ammunition dispenser selection and fire control system provides simplicity of operation and reliability. Each attachment point having a less-lethal ammunition option is independently selectable for firing from inside the gauntlet sleeve assembly. The invention thus provides for unique multiple, selectable less-lethal ammunition dispenser options in a single hand-held device, essentially combining multiple less-lethal weapons into one device. The invention may further be configured by an operator on-scene as required for specific tactical situations allowing for escalation of less-lethal force.

(22) It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. The invention includes all such changes and modifications made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof.