Methods and systems for enhancing firearm safety through wireless network monitoring

• US 9,395,132 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2013
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yardarm Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Yardarm Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Stewart, Robert John, Schaff, James, Hammond, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): CLEMENT, MICHELLE RENEE
• Application Number:
  US14/023,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20140290109A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 42/701.1, 42/10.1, 421/06, 340/542
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 45/005 Chain-locks, cable-locks or padlocks with alarms
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 45/06 Electric alarm locks E05B45/005 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/063 comprising a transponder
• CPC Class Codes: F41A 17/08 for inhibiting firing in a specified direction, e.g. at a friendly person or at a protected area F41A27/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 13/0012 Electrical discharge weapons, e.g. for stunning
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/385 Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A firearm includes a firing mechanism and a sensor. The sensor is configured for wireless communication over s short range RF network with a hub worn or carried by a user of the firearm. The hub includes a subscriber identity module configured to communicate with a server over a signaling channel of a wireless telecommunications network. The sensor device is configured to control a enable/disable mechanism in the firearm in accordance with instructions received from the hub.

Claims

1. A system, comprising a firearm having included therein a sensor configured for wireless communication over a short range radio frequency (RF) network and a hub worn on the person of a user of the firearm, the hub including a subscriber identity module (SIM) configured to receive communications from the sensor over the short range RF network using a first transceiver and transmit communications to and receive communications from a monitoring station over a signaling channel of a wireless telecommunications network compliant with signaling system 7 (SS-7) using a second transceiver, wherein the communications from the sensor are transmitted by the sensor in response to a detected disabling of a safety mechanism of the firearm and location area identity (LAI) information received from a base transceiver station (BTS) via the wireless communications network is stored in a dial buffer of the SIM in response to the detected disabling of a safety mechanism of the firearm.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hub is further configured to communicate with a plurality of sensors over the short range RF network, each of the sensors associated with a respective firearm or other instrument.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to enable/disable operation of the firearm in accordance with instructions received from the hub.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring station comprises a computer aided dispatch system.