Patents by Inventor Kai Thorin Kloepfer

Kai Thorin Kloepfer has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220349665
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for determining whether a user is holding a gun. The gun may include a sensor, such as a laser proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a load cell, an accelerometer, or a biometric sensor, and the gun may determine whether a user is holding the gun based on an output generated by the sensor. A processor housed in the gun may identify activation of a proximity sensor, determine that a user is holding the gun based on the activation of the proximity sensor, and perform an action in response to determining that the user is holding the gun. The action performed by the processor may include performing a boot procedure, performing a health check procedure, visually indicating state information about the gun, audibly indicating state information about the gun, or tactilely indicating state information about the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Publication date: November 3, 2022
    Inventors: Christopher James Owens, Bryan Edward Rogers, Benjamin William Dwyer, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Kai Thorin Kloepfer
  • Publication number: 20220341694
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for an attachment that can be fastened to a gun. The attachment may include a top surface having a longitudinal axis and an aiming sight that is parallel with the longitudinal axis, a front surface having a latitudinal axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the front surface including a muzzle aperture, a left surface, a right surface, and a fastening system. The fastening system may include a first mounting aperture of the left surface, a second mounting aperture of the right surface, and a locking pin capable of being positioned in the first mounting aperture and in the second mounting aperture such that the locking pin fastens the attachment to the gun. The attachment may be fastened to the gun such that the longitudinal axis is parallel with a longitudinal bore axis of the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Inventors: Benjamin William Dwyer, Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Bryan Edward Rogers, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Christopher James Owens
  • Publication number: 20220341706
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for an attachment that can be fastened to a gun. The attachment may include a top surface having a longitudinal axis and an aiming sight that is parallel with the longitudinal axis, a front surface having a latitudinal axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the front surface including a muzzle aperture, a left surface, a right surface, and a fastening system. The fastening system may include a first mounting aperture of the left surface, a second mounting aperture of the right surface, and a locking pin capable of being positioned in the first mounting aperture and in the second mounting aperture such that the locking pin fastens the attachment to the gun. The attachment may be fastened to the gun such that the longitudinal axis is parallel with a longitudinal bore axis of the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Inventors: Benjamin William Dwyer, Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Bryan Edward Rogers, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Christopher James Owens
  • Publication number: 20220341702
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for determining whether a user is holding a gun. The gun may include a sensor, such as a laser proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a load cell, an accelerometer, or a biometric sensor, and the gun may determine whether a user is holding the gun based on an output generated by the sensor. A processor housed in the gun may identify activation of a proximity sensor, determine that a user is holding the gun based on the activation of the proximity sensor, and perform an action in response to determining that the user is holding the gun. The action performed by the processor may include performing a boot procedure, performing a health check procedure, visually indicating state information about the gun, audibly indicating state information about the gun, or tactilely indicating state information about the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Inventors: Christopher James Owens, Bryan Edward Rogers, Benjamin William Dwyer, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Kai Thorin Kloepfer
  • Publication number: 20220333888
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for an electromechanical trigger that is implementable in a gun. The gun may include a trigger mechanism, a trigger sensing mechanism, and a fire control manager. The fire control manager may identify a trigger break based on the trigger sensing mechanism generating a voltage, and the fire control manager may transmit a signal to an actuator mechanism based on the trigger break. A detent mechanism may be dislocated in response to a force applied to a trigger mechanism, and the trigger sensing mechanism may generate the voltage based on the dislocating of the detent mechanism. Dislocating the detent mechanism may correspond to satisfying a trigger break threshold. The actuator mechanism may be displaced in response to the signal, and displacing the actuator mechanism may result in a projectile being propelled from the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Donna Kelley, Sara Elizabeth Falcone, Katherine Joanne Lund, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Joseph Ray Wilding, Benjamin William Dwyer, John Andrew Tomasik
  • Patent number: 11473866
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for an electromechanical sear that is implementable in a gun. The gun may include a fire control manager, and the fire control manager may identify a trigger break based on a trigger sensor, transmit, based on the trigger break, a first signal to a first actuator located in a displacement path of a sear, so as to cause the first actuator to be displaced in a first direction, and transmit, based on the trigger break, a second signal to a second actuator located in the displacement path of the sear, so as to cause the second actuator to be displaced in a second direction. The transmitting the first signal to the first actuator and the transmitting the second signal to the second actuator may cause displacement of the sear and firing of the gun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Biofire Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Donna Kelley, Sara Elizabeth Falcone, Katherine Joanne Lund, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Timothy Joel Thorson, Benjamin William Dwyer, Christopher James Owens, Joseph Ray Wilding, Karl Fredrick Brakora, John Andrew Tomasik
  • Publication number: 20220319258
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for authenticating biometric data while protecting user privacy. Aspects of the present disclosure include collecting biometric query data at a biometric sensor of the gun, generating a set of query features from the biometric query data, each query feature of the set of query features including a first number of dimensions, generating a projection matrix, each element of the projection matrix being drawn independently from an identical distribution having zero mean and unit variance, transforming the set of query features into a transformed set of query features according to the projection matrix, retrieving a transformed set of enrollment features from memory of the gun, identifying a data match based on the transformed set of query features and the transformed set of enrollment features satisfying a similarity threshold, and unlocking the gun in response to the identifying the data match.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Publication date: October 6, 2022
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Christopher James Owens, Patrick Eduard Moffitt Ekel
  • Publication number: 20220307786
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides techniques, systems, and devices that support indicating gun state information. One or more electronic components may be used to indicate the gun state information, and the electronic components may be coupled with a gun. The gun may identify a state of the gun based on a compute component including a data signal, and the compute component may be coupled with the gun. The gun may select a representation of the state of the gun, where the representation of the state of the gun is compatible with an electronic component coupled with the gun. The gun may indicate, at the electronic component and based on the compute component, the state of the gun with the representation of the state of the gun. Indicating the state of the gun may include displaying an icon, illuminating the electronic component with a color, or pulsating the electronic component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2021
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Kai Thorin KLOEPFER, Bryan Edward ROGERS, Benjamin William DWYER, Donna KELLEY, Jack Hugo THIESEN, Christopher James OWENS
  • Publication number: 20220307789
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for an electromechanical sear that is implementable in a gun. The gun may include a fire control manager, and the fire control manager may identify a trigger break based on a trigger sensor, transmit, based on the trigger break, a first signal to a first actuator located in a displacement path of a sear, so as to cause the first actuator to be displaced in a first direction, and transmit, based on the trigger break, a second signal to a second actuator located in the displacement path of the sear, so as to cause the second actuator to be displaced in a second direction. The transmitting the first signal to the first actuator and the transmitting the second signal to the second actuator may cause displacement of the sear and firing of the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Donna Kelley, Sara Elizabeth Falcone, Katherine Joanne Lund, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Timothy Joel Thorson, Benjamin William Dwyer, Christopher James Owens, Joseph Ray Wilding, Karl Fredrick Brakora, John Andrew Tomasik
  • Publication number: 20220307787
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for authenticating a user at gun. The gun may include an authentication manager capable of implementing logic, processing signals, or executing instructions. The authentication manager may receive first query data from a first authentication sensor of the gun, receive second query data from a second authentication sensor of the gun, perform an authentication procedure to determine whether the first query data or the second query data matches enrollment data, where a match is determined based on the first query data or the second query data and the enrollment data satisfying a similarity threshold. The authentication manager may determine that the user is authorized to operate the gun and transmit a signal in response to the determining that the user is authorized to operate the gun. The signal may cause the gun to enter an active state which allows the gun to be fired.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Bryan Edward Rogers, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Timothy Joel Thorson, Christopher James Owens
  • Publication number: 20180142977
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention may include a biometrically-enabled gun. The biometrically-enabled gun may detect a presence of a user. In response to detecting a presence of a user, a processor may be awoken from a power-saving mode. The processor may query for a presence of a finger of a user. A fingerprint image may be captured. A template of the captured fingerprint image may be generated. A correlation between the template and one or more authorized user templates may be determined. In response to the correlation exceeding a threshold, a processor may cause an actuator may unlock the gun. In response to a lapse of user contact with the gun, a processor may cause the actuator to lock the gun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Publication date: May 24, 2018
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Bradley Derek Stapley, Benjamin Roy Haymond, Paul Daniel Seiter
  • Patent number: 9857133
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention may include a biometrically-enabled gun. The biometrically-enabled gun may detect a presence of a user. In response to detecting a presence of a user, a processor may be awoken from a power-saving mode. The processor may query for a presence of a finger of a user. A fingerprint image may be captured. A template of the captured fingerprint image may be generated. A correlation between the template and one or more authorized user templates may be determined. In response to the correlation exceeding a threshold, a processor may cause an actuator may unlock the gun. In response to a lapse of user contact with the gun, a processor may cause the actuator to lock the gun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: BIOFIRE TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventors: Kai Thorin Kloepfer, Bradley Derek Stapley, Benjamin Roy Haymond, Paul Daniel Seiter