TARGET FOR TRAINING

Abstract

In an example, a target includes a first layer having a first surface which includes a target image having a plurality of zones of incapacitation. The zones of incapacitation are highlighted with a visual contrast from a remainder of the target image outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation. The plurality of zones of incapacitation comprise two or more of a head zone, an upper thoracic zone, a chest zone, or a pelvic girdle zone.

Claims

1. A target comprising: a first layer having a first surface which includes a target image having a plurality of zones of incapacitation that are highlighted with a visual contrast from a remainder of the target image outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation, the plurality of zones of incapacitation comprising two or more of a head zone, an upper thoracic zone, a chest zone, or a pelvic girdle zone.

2. The target of claim 1, wherein the head zone is substantially round; wherein the chest zone is substantially round; wherein the upper thoracic zone is substantially rectangular and is connected between the head zone and the chest zone; and wherein the pelvic girdle zone is substantially rectangular and is disposed below and spaced from the chest zone by a distance.

3. The target of claim 2, wherein the substantially round head zone includes an elongated bottom having a width that decreases gradually to merge into a width of the substantially rectangular upper thoracic zone.

4. The target of claim 2, wherein the substantially rectangular pelvic girdle zone has two bottom corners that are rounded bottom corners.

5. The target of claim 1, wherein the plurality of zones of incapacitation are each assigned an elevated scoring point as compared to the remainder of the target image outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation.

6. The target of claim 5, wherein at least two of the plurality of zones of incapacitation have different elevated scoring points.

7. The target of claim 1, wherein the target image further comprises an upper body armor line representing an upper edge of a body armor and a lower body armor line representing a lower edge of the body armor.

8. The target of claim 7, wherein one or more zones of incapacitation are disposed at least partially between the upper body armor line and the lower body armor line, as a protected portion of the zones of incapacitation.

9. The target of claim 8, wherein one or more zones of incapacitation are disposed at least partially above the upper body armor line or at least partially below the lower body armor line as an unprotected portion of the zones of incapacitation; and wherein the unprotected portion of the zones of incapacitation has one or more higher elevated scoring points than the protected portion of the zones of incapacitation.

10. The target of claim 9, wherein the protected portion includes the chest zone and a lower part of the upper thoracic zone; and wherein the unprotected portion includes the head zone, an upper part of the upper thoracic zone, and the pelvic girdle zone.

11. The target of claim 7, wherein the upper body armor line and the lower body armor line are broken lines each having a thickness of at least about 0.0938 inches.

12. The target of claim 1, wherein the target image includes a head region, a body region, and a neck region connected between the head region and the body region, the target further comprising: at least one of a bullseye image or a quadrant image disposed adjacent to the head region of the target image.

13. The target of claim 12, comprising both the bullseye image and the quadrant image disposed on opposite sides of the head region of the target image, wherein the bullseye image and the quadrant image are each approximately identical in size to the head region of the target image; and wherein the bullseye image and the quadrant image are horizontally aligned with the head region of the target image.

14. The target of claim 1, wherein the plurality of zones of incapacitation comprise the head zone, the upper thoracic zone, the chest zone, and the pelvic girdle zone.

15. The target of claim 14, wherein the target image includes a head region, a body region, and a neck region connected between the head region and the body region; wherein the target image has a height of about 30 inches, a maximum width of about 7 inches for the head region, and a maximum width of about 12 inches for the body region; and wherein the head zone has a maximum width of about 5.75 inches, the upper thoracic zone has a width of about 2 inches, the chest zone has a maximum diameter of about 8 inches, and the pelvic girdle zone has a maximum width of about 9.5 inches.

16. The target of claim 1, wherein the first layer further comprises an image overlay including a photographic representation of a human figure which anatomically matches the target image on the first surface.

17. The target of claim 1, further comprising: a second layer overlapping with the first layer, the second layer being a transparent layer and having an image overlay including a photographic representation of a human figure which anatomically matches the target image on the first surface.

18. The target of claim 1, wherein the first surface of the first layer is a display surface of a display screen for displaying the target image.

19. A target comprising: a first layer having a first surface which includes a target image having a plurality of zones of incapacitation that are highlighted with a visual contrast from a remainder of the target image outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation; and a second layer overlapping with the first layer, the second layer being a transparent layer and having an image overlay including a photographic representation of a human figure which anatomically matches the target image on the first surface.

20. The target of claim 19, wherein the plurality of zones of incapacitation comprise two or more of a head zone, an upper thoracic zone, a chest zone, or a pelvic girdle zone; and wherein the photographic representation of the human figure in the image overlay of the second layer anatomically matches the plurality of zones of incapacitation of the target image on the first surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The attached drawings help explain the embodiments described below.

[0016] FIG. 1 shows an example of a new standard qualification target.

[0017] FIG. 1A is a close-up view of the score dimensions image of FIG. 1.

[0018] FIG. 1B is a close-up view of the training dimensions image of FIG. 1.

[0019] FIG. 1C is a schematic illustration of the three anatomic zones of incapacitation.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows an example of an image overlay for the standard qualification target of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIG. 3 shows another example of a new standard qualification target.

[0022] FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a scoring example utilizing the target of FIGS. 1-2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] A number of examples or embodiments of the present invention are described, and it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a variety of ways. The embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of ways to make and use the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the teachings and disclosures herein can be combined or rearranged with other portions of this disclosure along with the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0024] Law enforcement officers are encountering adversaries who are increasingly better equipped and trained. The weapons qualification standards are improved and updated to provide a quick incapacitation methodology of the human anatomy and a scoring method that reflects targeting areas from the head to the pelvic girdle including upper thoracic and center mass shots as an effective means to stop a threat. The approach incorporates the understanding that misses do matter both tactically and in litigation. The qualification standards are designed to train shooters to the highest of levels.

[0025] Tactical anatomy identifies three anatomic zones of incapacitation to target for effective thread neutralization. The three zones are the high mediastinum, brainstem, and lateral pelvis. Most traditional qualification targets tend to reward mediocrity and provides no additional training features. The zones of incapacitation are highlighted to reward excellence. They may be assigned more points for scoring.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an example of a new standard qualification target 100. The target 100 has a substrate or a sheet which may be made of paper, fabric, polymer, composites, metal, or any other suitable material. The target substrate 100 or target sheet or target layer 100 provides a planar surface, which may be rectangular in shape, to display a target design.

[0027] The design of the target 100 is based on a quick incapacitation methodology. In the example of FIG. 1, the target 100 shows a body outline 110 of a human body and a target image 112 within the body outline 110. The target image 112 or body image 112 is spaced inwardly from the body outline 110. The target image 112 includes a head region 114, a body region, 116, and a neck region 115 connected between the head region 114 and the body region 116.

[0028] The zones of incapacitation include a head zone 120, an upper thoracic zone 122, and a pelvic girdle zone 126 (center mass zone), in addition to the conventional chest zone 124. The head zone 120 is disposed inside the head region 114. The chest zone 124 and the pelvic girdle zone 126 are disposed inside the body region 116. The upper thoracic zone 122 extends through the neck region 115 between the head region 114 and the body region 116. The head zone 120 is substantially round (e.g., circular, elliptical, oval, etc., in which the maximum diameter and the minimum diameter are within 20% in length). The head zone 120 may include an elongated bottom. The chest zone 124 is substantially round (e.g., circular, elliptical, oval, etc., in which the maximum diameter and the minimum diameter are within 20% in length). The upper thoracic zone 122 is substantially rectangular in shape (e.g., having sharp corners or rounded corners, having corners that are 90 or within 10% of 90 so that the opposing edges may be slightly nonparallel and/or the adjacent edges may be slightly non-perpendicular). The upper thoracic zone 122 is elongated vertically and connected between the bottom of the head zone 120 and the chest zone 124. The elongated bottom of the substantially round head zone 120 has a width that decreases gradually to merge smoothly or continuously (i.e., without discontinuity) into the width of the substantially rectangular upper thoracic zone 122. The pelvic girdle zone 126 is spaced by a distance below the chest zone 124. The pelvic girdle zone 126 is substantially rectangular in shape (e.g., having sharp corners or rounded corners, having corners that are 90 or within 10% of 90 so that the opposing edges may be slightly nonparallel and/or the adjacent edges may be slightly non-perpendicular). It is elongated horizontally and may include two rounded bottom corners at the bottom of the substantially rectangular pelvic girdle zone 126. In another embodiment, the two top corners may also be rounded. In yet another embodiment, the shape of the pelvic girdle zone 126 may be oval instead.

[0029] The body outline 110 may be a pronounced line of a sufficient thickness and a dark color (e.g., black) on a white background. In specific embodiments, the thickness is at least about 0.0625 inches (e.g., 10%). The target image 112 may be a pronounced image of a dark color (e.g., dark gray in the grayscale version or dark blue in the color version) on a white background.

[0030] The plurality of zones of incapacitation are highlighted with a visual contrast from a remainder of the target image outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation. The visual contrast may utilize different colors, different shades, different intensities, different hues, different patterns, or the like. In an example, the area within the target image 112, including the zones of incapacitation, has the same number of points (e.g., 1 point) for scoring purposes.

[0031] In the grayscale version of the target image 112 as shown in FIG. 1, the zones of incapacitation have a lighter gray color than the rest of the target image 112. In one example, on the grayscale, the body outline 110 is at 100%, the target image 112 is at 50%, and the head zone 120, the upper thoracic zone 122, the chest zone 124, and the pelvic girdle zone 126 are at 20%.

[0032] In a different embodiment, the zones of incapacitation may be highlighted in a different color from the rest of the target image 112 (e.g., yellow zones within a blue or brown image). In yet another embodiment, the zones of incapacitation have the same hue as the rest of the target image 112 but may be highlighted using different intensities or brightness as compared to the rest of the target image 112 to provide the visual contrasts.

[0033] The target image 112 includes an upper body armor line 130 and a lower body armor line 132. The upper body armor line 130 represents the upper edge of a typical body armor worn by a person. It is disposed between the head zone 120 and the chest zone 124, and is typically closer to the chest zone 124. It cuts across the upper thoracic zone 122. The upper body armor line 130 may be represented by a straight broken line or dashed line (which may be horizontal) as shown in FIG. 1, with a sufficient thickness to be visible to the human eye at a distance of up to about three hundred feet. In specific embodiments, the thickness is at least about 0.0938 inches (e.g., 10%). In another embodiment, the upper body armor line 130 may be represented by a solid line and may be curved in a concave down manner. The lower body armor line 132 represents the lower edge of a typical body armor worn by the person. It is disposed between the chest zone 124 and the pelvic girdle zone 126. It may coincide with the upper edge of the pelvic girdle zone 126. The lower body armor line 132 may be represented by a straight broken line or dashed line (which may be horizontal) as shown in FIG. 1, with a sufficient thickness to be visible to the human eye at a distance of up to about three hundred feet. In specific embodiments, the thickness is at least about 0.0938 inches (e.g., 10%). The thickness of the upper body amor line 130 and lower body armor line 132 may be greater than the thickness of the body outline 110 and may be as dark or prominent as or darker or more prominent than the body outline 110. In another embodiment, the lower body armor line 132 may be represented by a solid line and may be curved in a concave up manner.

[0034] In embodiments, at least one zone of incapacitation is disposed at least partially between the upper body armor line 130 and the lower body armor line 132, as a protected portion of the zones of incapacitation. At least one zone of incapacitation is disposed at least partially above the upper body armor line 130 or below the lower body armor line 132 as an unprotected portion of the zones of incapacitation. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the chest zone 124 and a portion of the upper thoracic zone 122 are within the protected portion of the zones of incapacitation. As such, the protected portion (namely the chest zone 124 and a lower part of the upper thoracic zone 122), which are theoretically zones of incapacitation, may be considered as not being part of the tactical zones of incapacitation as a practical matter. The head zone 120, the pelvic girdle zone 126, and an upper part of the upper thoracic zone 122 are within the unprotected portion of the zones of incapacitation. These are the three tactical zones of incapacitation mentioned above for the novel target design: the high mediastinum, brainstem, and lateral pelvis.

[0035] The target 100 may include a bullseye image 140 and a quadrant image 142 for weapons verification and training. In the embodiment shown, the bullseye image 140 and the quadrant image 142 are significant in size. Indeed, these alternate aim points mimic the head region 114 or head area 114 of the body image 112. For example, they are approximately identical in circumference and approximately identical in size to the silhouette head of the body image 112 (e.g., 10%). They are disposed on opposite sides of and adjacent to the head area and are horizontally aligned therewith. For example, the bullseye image 140 is to the left and the quadrant image 142 is to the right of the head area.

[0036] The target 100 may include dimension verification, which may be used for alternate aim points. A score dimensions image 150 is disposed at a lower left corner and a training dimensions image 152 is disposed at a lower right corner of the target 100.

[0037] FIG. 1A is a close-up view of the score dimensions image 150 of FIG. 1. The score dimensions image 150 shows that the body image 112 has a height of 30, a maximum width of 7 for the head region 114 (which is the diameter of the generally circular head region), a minimum width of 4 for the neck region 115, a width of 6 for the upper body armor line 130, and a width of 12 for the body region 116 and the lower body armor line 132. In alternative embodiments, these dimensions may be larger or smaller by, for example, 10%.

[0038] FIG. 1B is a close-up view of the training dimensions image 152 of FIG. 1. The training dimensions image 152 shows dimensions of the zones of incapacitation. The head zone 120 has a maximum width of 5.75 (which is the diameter of the generally circular head zone). The upper thoracic zone 122 has a width of 2. The chest zone 124 has a maximum width or a diameter of 8. The pelvic girdle zone 126 (center mass zone) has a width of 9.5. In alternative embodiments, these dimensions may be larger or smaller by, for example, 10% or 5% or 2%. The overall target 100 is designed for training and versatility.

[0039] In the example of the score dimensions image 150 shown, the target image 112 has a height of about 30, a diameter for the head region 114 of about 7, a width for the upper body armor line 130 of about 6, and a maximum width for the body region 116 of about 12. The lower body armor line 132 has a height of about 5.14 from the bottom of the target image 112. The upper body armor line 130 has a height of about 19.85 from the bottom of the target image 112. In the example of the training dimensions image 152 shown, the head zone 120 has a diameter of about 5.75, the upper thoracic zone 122 has a width of about 2, the chest zone 124 has a maximum diameter of about 8, and the pelvic girdle zone 126 has a maximum width of about 9.5 and a height of about 2.5. These dimensions may have a range of 10% or 5% or 2%.

[0040] FIG. 1C is a schematic illustration of the three anatomic zones of incapacitation: the brainstem 160 corresponding to the head zone 120, the high mediastinum 162 corresponding to the upper thoracic zone 122, and the lateral pelvis 166 corresponding to the pelvic girdle zone 126.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows an example of an image overlay 200 for the standard qualification target 100 of FIG. 1. The image overlay 200 shown is a photographic representation of a male human figure, from the head to the pelvis, holding a firearm with both arms pointing directly out of the target sheet 100. The image overlay 200 anatomically matches the body image 112. The head of the figure overlaps the head region 114 and the head zone 120. The upper thoracic zone 122 overlaps the upper thoracic anatomy of the figure. The chest zone 124 overlaps the chest of the figure. The pelvic girdle zone 126 overlaps the pelvic girdle of the figure. The upper body armor line 130 and lower body armor line 132 identify simulated body armor for the figure. There is clear contrast between the body image 112 with the zones of incapacitation (120, 122, 124, 126) and the image overlay 200. The image overlay 200 may be changed to create a variety of options or scenarios involving different figures holding different weapons or no weapons for specific threat training.

[0042] The image overlay 200 may be printed on the target substrate 100 which includes the body outline 110, the target image 112, the bullseye image 140, the quadrant image142, the score dimensions image 150, and the training dimensions image 152. Alternatively, the image overlay 200 may be a different layer or different sheet (e.g., having the photographic image printed on a second surface of a second layer) to be placed over the target substrate 100 (a first surface of a first layer). An example is a clear transparent layer with the image overlay 200 printed thereon. The second layer overlaps with the first layer. The image overlay on the second surface of the second layer, which may be a transparent layer, includes a photographic representation of a human figure which anatomically matches the target image on the first surface. In embodiments, the photographic representation of the human figure in the image overlay of the second layer anatomically matches the plurality of zones of incapacitation of the target image on the first surface, including, for instance, the head zone 120, the upper thoracic zone 122, the chest zone 124, and the pelvic girdle zone 126.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows another example of a new standard qualification target 300. The target 300 has image components that are similar or same as those in the target 100 of FIGS. 1-2. They include a body outline 310, a target image 312, a head zone 320, an upper thoracic zone 322, a chest zone 324, a pelvic girdle zone 326, an upper body armor line 330, a lower body armor line 332, a head region 314, and a body region 316. These image components of the target 300 as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3 are identical to corresponding image components in the target 100 of FIGS. 1-2.

[0044] The target 300 further includes a bullseye image 340 and a quadrant image 342 which are smaller in size than the bullseye image 140 and the quadrant image 142 of the target 100 in FIG. 1. They are smaller in circumference (e.g., about 50% smaller) than the silhouette head of the body image 312. They are disposed on the upper left corner and the upper right corner of the target substrate 300, respectively, and are not horizontally aligned with the head area 314. The target 300 also includes a score dimensions image 350 and a training dimensions image 352. They are not disposed at the lower corners of the target 300. Instead, the score dimensions image 350 is disposed near the upper left corner below the bullseye image 340 and the training dimensions image 352 is disposed near the upper right corner below the quadrant image 342.

[0045] In specific embodiments, the target is printed on a substrate such as a sheet of paper. Various trim sizes may be used. Examples include 1420, between 1420 and 2440, and between 2440 and 2445 . Color options include CMYK, RGB, Grayscale, and/or Pantone Spot Color. They may employ Pantone 293 (Blue), with screens at 70%, 50%, 30%, 20%, and 10%; Panton 430 (Grey); and Black, with screens at 70%, 50%, 40%, 20%, and 10%. Printer output may employ 150-line screen at 120 dpi or higher. Examples of stock paper include JCP Code* A61, White No. 1 Offset Book**, Smooth-Finish, Basis Size 2538, Basis Weight #60. A minimum 92 Brightness may be required. Printing may be done using one single color in either Black or Pantone spot color, for instance. Many other options are available.

[0046] To be used as qualification targets, the print color quality and proper color density should be maintained. A color deficiency or an incorrect color density may negate any accreditation the target has gone through for standard qualification. If lithographic link is used, the ink should contain not less than the following percentages of vegetable oil: (a) news ink, 40%; (b) sheet-fed and forms ink, 20%; and (c) heat-set ink, 10%. High quality color process printing on high-speed heat-set presses is excepted when slow drying time significantly increases production costs. Proper margins will provide adequate gripper with no bleeds required.

[0047] FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a scoring example utilizing the target 100 of FIGS. 1-2. This example is for handgun (50) round qualification. It involves a reactive drill under Stage 1 (6 rounds), a reactionary gap drill under Stage 2 (6 rounds), an alternate aim point drill under Stage 3 (6 rounds), a transition drill under Stage 4 (12 rounds), a standing and kneeling drill under Stage 5 (12 rounds), and a distance shooting drill under Stage 6 (8 rounds). The minimum qualification score is 40 out of 50. All hits inside the critical mass area (light and dark gray shaded) are recorded as 1 point. This includes the dark gray area of the target image 112 and the light gray zones (head zone 120, upper thoracic zone 122, chest zone 124, pelvic girdle zone 126) encompassed therein. All hits outside of this are counted as 9 points, except for the Alternate Aim Points (AAP) at the 7-yard line under Stage 3. The 7-yard line shots are counted as 1 point if within the confines of the total circle target under Stage 3. There must be a single hole in each circle for the prescribed shots to count. In this example, the target 100 of FIG. 1 is called #1 full size target, the target with the image overlay 200 of FIG. 2 is called #3 full size threat target, and a reduced size version of the #1 full size target is called #2 reduced size target. The reduced size target (R50) is used for rifles at 50-yard utilization when 100 yards is not available.

[0048] In alternate embodiments, the plurality of zones of incapacitation (120, 122, 124, 126) may be assigned one or more elevated scoring points as compared to the remainder of the target image 112 outside of the plurality of zones of incapacitation. The plurality of zones of incapacitation may have the same elevated scoring points; alternatively, they may have at least two different elevated scoring points. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the chest zone 124 and a portion of the upper thoracic zone 122 are within the protected portion of the zones of incapacitation. As such, the protected portion (namely the chest zone 124 and a lower part of the upper thoracic zone 122), which are theoretically zones of incapacitation, may be considered as not being part of the tactical zones of incapacitation, for instance, at least for scoring purposes. The head zone 120, the pelvic girdle zone 126, and an upper part of the upper thoracic zone 122 are within the unprotected portion of the zones of incapacitation, which may have one or more higher elevated scoring points than the protected portion of the zones of incapacitation.

[0049] The inventive concepts taught by way of the examples discussed above are amenable to modification, rearrangement, and embodiment in several ways. For example, different ways of arranging the images on the target from those described herein can be used.

[0050] Accordingly, although the present disclosure has been described with reference to specific embodiments and examples, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. For instance, the images of the target may be digitized or provided in digital form. The digital target may be displayed on a display surface of a display screen and transmitted digitally or electronically. While the target may be used for target shooting using physical projectiles in some embodiments, it can be used for target shooting using light such as laser in other embodiments. The target is configured with light sensors or an array of sensors to detect light beams received by the target for scoring.

[0051] An interpretation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) is desired only where this description and/or the claims use specific terminology historically recognized to invoke the benefit of interpretation, such as means, and the structure corresponding to a recited function, to include the equivalents thereof, as permitted to the fullest extent of the law and this written description, may include the disclosure, the accompanying claims, and the drawings, as they would be understood by one of skill in the art.

[0052] To the extent the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claimed subject matter. To the extent headings are used, they are provided for the convenience of the reader and are not to be taken as limiting or restricting the systems, techniques, approaches, methods, or devices to those appearing in any section. Rather, the teachings and disclosures herein can be combined or rearranged with other portions of this disclosure and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. It is intended that this disclosure encompass and include such variation.

[0053] The indication of any elements or steps as optional does not indicate that all other or any other elements or steps are mandatory. The claims define the invention and form part of the specification. Limitations from the written description are not to be read into the claims.