SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR FIREARM SAFETY ENHANCEMENT

• US 20140366421A1
• Filed: 03/24/2014
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Abhishek Misra, Adeel Arif
• Original Assignee: Abhishek Misra, Adeel Arif
• Inventors: ARIF, ADEEL, MISRA, ABHISHEK
• Granted Patent: US 9,115,944 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 42/70.11
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/00 Safety arrangements, e.g. safeties
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/063 comprising a transponder
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/46 Trigger safeties, i.e. means for preventing trigger movement F41A17/02 - F41A17/40 take precedence

Abstract

The present invention relates to system and methods for providing enhanced firearm safety by utilizing an electronic firearm locking device present in the firearm, in communication with a mobile application of a wireless mobile communication device and a remote firearm management server that provides five levels of safety for selective and dynamic enabling and disabling of the firearm based on real time situations along with several value added features.

Claims

1. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety, the system comprising:

(i) an electronic locking device located in a firearm, further comprising of an electronic assembly and a mechanical assembly,

said electronic assembly comprising of a RFID reader, a microcontroller chip electronically connected to a battery,

said mechanical assembly comprising of two surfaces hinged at a common edge to form a cavity that encloses the finger protector and the trigger of the firearm, an electric motor, a control shaft;

(ii) a mobile application residing on a wireless mobile communication device; and

(iii) a remotely networked firearm management server coupled to a remotely networked e-Health server;

wherein said firearm possesses a passive RFID tag and said electronic locking device wirelessly communicates with the mobile application residing on the wireless mobile communication device and the wireless mobile communication device is adapted to wirelessly communicate with the remotely networked firearm management server coupled to a remotely networked e-Health server.

2. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein the wireless mobile communication device is selected from a group consisting of a smart phone, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a GPS device, a smartbook, a netbook, a notebook, an ultra-mobile personal computer and a wearable computing device.

3. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein the wireless communication means between the electronic locking device and the mobile application is selected from a group consisting of Bluetooth, Zigbee, Near Field Communication and Radio Frequency Identification means.

4. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein the wireless communication means between the mobile application and the remotely networked firearm management server coupled to the remotely networked e-Health server is selected from a group consisting of cellular network and internet.

5. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1 for selectively enabling and disabling a firearm electronically and dynamically through a five level safety check comprising of:

a. User Identification Module (UIM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components to validate the identity of the user by authorization methods such as entry of valid Personal Identification Number (PIN), facial or biometric authorization, designated as a first level safety check;

b. Firearm Authentication Module (FAM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components to checks the pairing of the electronic lock on the firearm with the mobile application by Near Field Communication (NFC) or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) communication means, designated as a second level safety check;

c. Safe Location Verification Module (SLVM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality to checks whether the current location of the firearm is in a permitted and authorized geolocation, designated as a third level safety check;

d. Mental Health Check Module (MHCM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that checks the mental health of the user, designated as a fourth level safety check;

e. Other Firearm Detection Module (OFDM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that detect the presence of other firearms in the vicinity by Near Field Communication (NFC) and/or Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) communication means, indicating degree of potential risk to the user'"'"'s safety, designated as a fifth level safety check;

f. Trust Relationship Module (TRM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that provide a means for the user to categorize the risk level associated with other firearms in the vicinity based on the relationship of their owners with the user;

g. Wireless Personal Area Network Module (WPAN) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that provide wireless communication means between the mobile application and electronic locking device in the firearm;

h. Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that connects the wireless mobile communication device to the remote Firearm Management Server; and

i. Law Enforcement Alert Module (LEAM) further comprising of a set of hardware and software components that provides alerts to law enforcement authorities based on predetermined conditions such as presence of the firearm in an unauthorized geolocation, or an attempt to breach any of the safety levels.

6. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1 which provides a method of controlling selective enabling and disabling of firearm comprising:

(i) authenticating a user identity through the mobile application;

(ii) validating pairing between the RFID reader of the electronic locking device and the passive RFID tag present on the firearm;

(iii) validating if geographical location of firearm is a firearm permissible territory using GPS enabled functionality of the wireless mobile communication device;

(iv) validating if said user has a prior mental health related history;

(v) checking for presence of other firearms in the vicinity;

(vi) categorizing risk level of other firearms based on degree of trust with said user,

(vii) sending automatic alert to law enforcement agencies;

(viii) communicating wirelessly between the electronic locking device and the mobile application residing on the wireless mobile communication device by WPAN means; and

(ix) communicating wirelessly between the mobile application residing on the wireless mobile communication device and the remotely networked firearm management server coupled to the remotely networked e-Health server by WWAN means.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein the law enforcement agency is able to override the control for selective enabling and disabling of firearm.

8. The method as in claim 6, wherein said user is able to override the control for selective enabling and disabling of firearm and an automatic alert is communicated to the law enforcement agency.

9. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein the mobile application is interfaced with a dedicated website hosted by the remotely networked firearm management server.

10. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein any injury to said user is detected and an automatic alert is communicated to the law enforcement agency.

11. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein said user is able to view other firearms in vicinity in a map displayed on the wireless mobile communication device.

12. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein an automatic alert is generated to said user on the wireless mobile communication device on detection of other firearms in vicinity.

13. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein the firearm is automatically enabled and an automatic alert is generated to said user on the wireless mobile communication device on detection of other firearms in vicinity.

14. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein said user is able to opt to not receive automatic alerts on the wireless mobile communication device on detection of other firearms in vicinity, if said user has categorized them as those belonging to a trusted relation.

15. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein said user'"'"'s immediate contacts are automatically notified in event of fall detection said user in case of injury in an incident involving an enabled firearm.

16. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein said user is assigned a threshold value, designated as the “

Firearm Usage Eligibility Score”

based on data accessed by the remotely networked firearm management server related to mental health records, traffic violations, criminal background, credit score of said user for restricting said user rights to override the disabling of the firearm.

17. A system for providing enhanced firearm safety as in claim 1, wherein law enforcement agencies are sent alerts on detection of presence of a firearm within a geographical area.