Systems and methods for halting locomotion
A weapon halts locomotion by a human or animal target, for example, for arresting the target. The device includes a charging circuit and a discharging circuit. The charging circuit charges a capacitance of the device. The discharging circuit overwhelms voluntary use by the target of the skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current through tissue of the target. Each pulse has a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds. The current may include a plurality of substantially equally spaced apart pulses of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
This application is a continuation application of co-pending application Ser. No. 11/164,764, filed Dec. 5, 2005 which is a continuation application of application Ser. No. 10/673,901, filed Sep. 28, 2003 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/016,082, filed Dec. 12, 2001 now U.S. Pat. 6,636,412, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/398,388, filed Sep. 17, 1999, now abandoned.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to apparatus and methods for preventing the locomotion of a human being or animal. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for assuring, with a high degree of certainty, that a police officer or other law enforcement agent can prevent an attacker or other violent individual from reaching and inflicting bodily harm on the police officer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe use of electricity to disable human beings and other living targets is well known. In the middle 1800's, electricity was directed through a harpoon to electrocute a whale. Electrocution also came into use as a method of carrying out a death sentence resulting from the commission by a prisoner of a serious crime. Various methods of applying lethal electrical pulses are well documented. A weapon for applying non-lethal electrical pulses to disable an attacker is also known. The conventional weapon launches a first dart and a second dart. Each dart remains connected to the weapon by an electrically conductive guide wire. The darts strike an individual. Electrical pulses from the weapon travel to the first dart, from the first dart through the individual's body, into the second dart, and return to the weapon via the electrically conductive wire attached to the second dart. The electrical pulses occur at a rate of from 2 to 10 pulses per second, are each about 20 kilovolts, and each deliver from 0.01 to 0.5 joule. U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,132 issued in 1981 describes such a dart weapon. That patent also suggests that pulses in the range of 0.01 to 0.5 joule induce involuntary muscular contractions.
Since about 1981, it has also been known that a certain minor percentage of individuals struck with a conventional dart weapon are not immobilized and can “walk through” the electrical pulses and continue an attack, despite being struck with darts from the weapon. The ability of some individuals to “walk through” the electrical pulses was thought to be an anomaly and usually was not taken seriously because the weapon was effective with and stopped most individuals, and because the weapon when used appeared to “knock down” an individual or animal or appeared to cause the individual or animal to fall. The weapon would also sometimes appear to cause the skin of a human being or animal to twitch. Consequently, it was assumed that the human being or animal was truly physically incapacitated.
I have discovered that an individual can be readily trained to “walk through” 0.01 to 0.5 joule pulses delivered by a conventional dart weapon. I have been involved in training over 20 individuals. In each case the individual was, by focusing on a goal, able to ignore and overcome any discomfort from the dart weapon and to continue to walk, run, or attack. The individual did not lose his or her locomotion. In addition, several cases have been reported where the failure of a conventional dart weapon led to the death of an individual because police officers had to resort to lethal force when the dart weapon failed to stop the individual. It appears that conventional dart weapons cause an individual to fall down by activating sensory neurons and by producing in an individual a psychological reaction which strongly suggests to the individual that he or she is being incapacitated. The discovery that an individual can overcome a conventional dart weapon and continue his or her locomotion suggests possible dire consequences because many police officers in possession of conventional dart weapons mistakenly assume that these weapons are effective against most or many individuals.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved apparatus and method which would, with a high degree of certainty, enable a police officer or other individual to incapacitate an attacker.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA device, according to various aspects of the present invention, halts locomotion by a human or animal target. The device includes a charging circuit and a discharging circuit. The charging circuit charges a capacitance of the device. The discharging circuit overwhelms voluntary use by the target of the skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current through tissue of the target. The current consists essentially of a plurality of substantially equally spaced apart pulses of from 2 to 40 pulses per second. Each pulse has a pulse width of from 9 to 100 microseconds.
A method, according to various aspects of the present invention, halts locomotion by a human or animal target. The method includes passing a current through tissue of the target that overwhelms voluntary use by the target of the skeletal muscles of the target. The current consists essentially of a plurality of substantially equally spaced apart pulses of from 2 to 40 pulses per second. Each pulse having a pulse width of from 9 to 100 microseconds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGEmbodiments of the present invention will now be further described with reference to the drawing, wherein like designations denote like elements, and:
The drawing shows presently preferred embodiments of the invention for the purpose of illustrating the invention and not by way of limitation of the scope of the appended claims to the invention.
Cartridge 37 includes at least a first electrically conductive dart 18 and a second electrically conductive dart 20. Each dart 18 (20) is connected to cartridge 37 by an elongate electrically conductive wire 16 (21). Each wire 16 (21) typically is coiled in cartridge 37 and unwinds and straightens as dart 18 (20) travels through the air in the direction of arrow A toward a target. The length of each wire 16 (21) can vary but is typically 20 to 30 feet. Two or more cartridges 37 can be mounted on weapon 30.
Cartridge 37 also includes a powder charge 25, compressed air, or other motive power means for firing each dart 18 (20) through the air in the direction of arrow A toward a target. The powder charge, compressed air, or other motive power means utilized to fire a dart is well known in the art and will not be discussed in detail herein. Cartridge 37 is activated and the darts 18 and 20 are fired by manually sliding safety 33 in a selected direction to release safety 33 and then squeezing trigger 34. As will be described, the means for generating the electrical pulses which travel into wires 16 and 21 and darts 18 and 20 are also activated by squeezing trigger 34. Releasing safety 33 also activates or turns “on” laser sight 36 such that at least one laser beam projects outwardly in the direction of arrow A and impinges on the desired target.
Microprocessor 32 preferably includes memory and includes a sensor attached to trigger 34 or to some other desired portion of dart weapon 30 to generate for the memory in microprocessor 32 a signal each time trigger 34 is squeezed and weapon 30 is fired. Each time trigger 34 is squeezed and weapon 30 is fired, the memory in microprocessor 32 retains a record of the date and time the weapon was fired.
In
Transformer 13 receives electricity from power 11 and produces a signal which causes 2,000 volts to be transmitted to capacitor 15. Once the voltage across capacitor 15 reaches 2,000 volts, it is able to discharge an electrical pulse into transformer 14. The pulse from capacitor 15 is a 0.80 to 10 joule pulse, and has a pulse width of 9 to 100 microseconds. Capacitor 15 produces 2 to 40, preferably about 5 to 15, pulses per second. A 0.88 microfarad capacitor is presently preferred, although the size of capacitor 15 can vary as desired. The voltage across capacitor 15 can vary as desired as long as the capacitor produces a pulse having 0.90 to 10 joules, preferably 1.5 to 5.0 joules.
Transformer 14 receives each pulse from capacitor 15 and produces a 50,000 volt pulse. The voltage of the pulse from transformer 14 can vary as desired as long as each pulse from transformer 14 has from 0.75 to 9 joules, preferably 1.0 to 3.0 joules, of energy, has a pulse width in the range of 10 to 100 microseconds, and has a current IRMS calculated as follows:
IRMS=√{square root over ((IPEAK)2·Pulse Width·Rate)}
This current is in the range of 100 to 500 milliamps. The pulse widths and currents of conventional dart weapons and non-dart electric weapons (commonly referred to as “stun guns”) and of a dart weapon of the present invention are set forth in
In the practice of the invention, it is critical to produce contractions of skeletal muscles sufficient to prevent the voluntary use of the muscles for normal locomotion of an individual's body. Twitching of the skin does not, as earlier noted, necessarily indicate that contractions of the skeletal muscles necessary to prevent locomotion are taking place. Producing contractions of smooth muscle is not sufficient in the practice of the invention. Contractions must instead be produced in striated skeletal muscles. Further, the contractions in the skeletal muscles must be sufficient to prevent voluntary use of the skeletal muscles by the individual (i.e., the muscles must lock up and not be operable). The electrical pulses produced by prior art dart weapons do not prevent the use of the skeletal muscles and do not prevent locomotion of an individual. It is not the object of the invention to cause all the skeletal muscles of an individual to lock up, but only some portion of the skeletal muscles.
Based on tests to date, the discomfort and loss of locomotion caused when skeletal muscles lock up in response to pulses produced by the apparatus of the invention is almost always sufficient to halt the locomotion of an individual. In actual tests, over 20 volunteers were each given the task of advancing to a target at least 5 feet away and of simulating an attack. Each test was repeated using the invention described herein. After being hit with darts from the weapon of the invention, each volunteer was immediately immobilized and dropped to the ground. None of the volunteers was able to advance toward or reach the target.
The profile of pulses used in prior art electric weapons is deficient in several respects. First, the energy produced by the pulses is in the range of 0.01 to 0.5 joule. This is outside the range of 0.9 to 10 joules required in each pulse produced in the apparatus of the invention. Second, the width of each pulse in prior art apparatus is about 1 to 7.5 microseconds. The pulse width in the apparatus of the invention must be 9 to 100 microseconds. Third, the current in each pulse produced by prior art apparatus is in the range of about 20 to 65 milliamps. The current in each pulse produced in the apparatus of the invention must be in the range of 100 to 500 milliamps. The pulses delivered to a target produce actual contractions of skeletal muscles sufficient to prevent use of the muscles by the individual subjected to the pulses.
If contractions of skeletal muscles are not produced, the apparatus of the invention is not functioning in the manner desired. If there are no contractions of the skeletal muscles, the individual can “walk through”, or be trained to “walk through”, being hit with darts which conduct electricity through the individual's body. If contractions of skeletal muscles are produced, but do not prevent voluntary use of the muscles by the individual subjected to the pulses, then the invention is not functioning as desired. If contractions of the skeletal muscles do not prevent voluntary use of the muscles by the individual, then the individual can “walk through”, or be trained to “walk through”, being hit with darts which conduct electricity through the individual's body.
In operation, again referring to
In various embodiments of the invention, a dart weapon includes at least two cartridges. In the embodiment of
Cartridge 81 includes transformer 51, capacitor 53, transformer 55, wire 57 connected to transformer 55, dart 59 connected to wire 57, wire 64, and dart 66, operatively associated with wire 57 and dart 59, and electrically coupled to transformer 55. Darts 59 and 66 are fired simultaneously. Dart 59 delivers electrical pulses to tissue (not shown) of an individual's body. Dart 66 receives electricity from the tissue and returns the electricity to the weapon 30′ via wire 64. Dart 59 is connected to motive power means in cartridge 81 in much the same manner that dart 18 is connected to motive power means 25 in
When trigger 34 is depressed a first time, microprocessor 32 sends out a signal which causes switch 12 to route power to transformer 50 such that darts 58 and 62 are fired simultaneously into contact with a target individual's body and pulses are delivered into the target individual's body through dart 58. When trigger 34 is depressed a second time, microprocessor 32 sends out a signal which causes switch 12 to route power to transformer 51 such that darts 59 and 66 are fired simultaneously into contact with a target individual's body and pulses are delivered into the target individual's body through dart 59.
If desired, microprocessor 32 can be programmed such that switch 12 permits power 11 to flow simultaneously both to transformer 50 and to transformer 51 such that darts 58, 62, 59, and 66 are fired simultaneously. Consequently, another embodiment of the invention of
In the embodiment of the invention of
In the embodiment of the invention of
A particular advantage of the switching arrangements just discussed with reference to
An apparatus according to various aspects of the present invention is used for preventing locomotion by a living target by causing repeated involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles of the target. Referring to
An apparatus according to various aspects of the present invention is used for preventing locomotion by a living target by causing repeated involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles of the target. Referring to
A method, according to various aspects of the present invention, is used for preventing locomotion by a living target by causing repeated involuntary contractions of skeletal muscles of the target. The method includes providing an apparatus and operating the activation system of the apparatus. The apparatus includes the apparatus discussed above with reference to
The foregoing description discusses preferred embodiments of the present invention which may be changed or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims. While for the sake of clarity of description, several specific embodiments of the invention have been described, the scope of the invention is intended to be measured by the claims as set forth below.
Claims
1. A weapon that halts locomotion by a human or animal target, the weapon comprising:
- an energy storing circuit; and
- an energy discharging circuit that overwhelms voluntary use by the target of ambulatory skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
2. The weapon of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
3. The weapon of claim 1 wherein the pulse width is from 9 to 100 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target.
4. The weapon of claim 1 wherein each pulse of the plurality has a width of about 13 microseconds.
5. The weapon of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
6. The weapon of claim 1 wherein the discharging circuit comprises a transformer that generates the current in a secondary of the transformer.
7. A weapon that halts locomotion by a human or animal target, the weapon comprising:
- an energy storing circuit; and
- an energy discharging circuit that overwhelms voluntary use by the target of ambulatory skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width of about 13 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
8. The weapon of claim 7 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
9. The weapon of claim 7 wherein plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
10. The weapon of claim 7 wherein the discharging circuit comprises a transformer that generates the current in a secondary of the transformer.
11. A method for halting locomotion by a human or animal target to arrest the target, the method comprising passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising from 2 to 40 pulses per second, each pulse having a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain, and wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the distance traverses any ambulatory skeletal muscle.
12. The weapon of claim 1I1 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
13. The method of claim 1I1 wherein the pulse width is from 9 to 100 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein each pulse of the plurality has a pulse width of about 13 microseconds.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprises generating the plurality of pulses in a secondary of a transformer.
17. A method for halting locomotion by a human or animal target to arrest the target, the method comprising passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width of about 13 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
18. The weapon of claim 17 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
19. The method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
20. The method of claim 17 further comprising discharging energy through a transformer to generate the current in a secondary of the transformer.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 25, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 14, 2007
Inventor: Patrick Smith (Scottsdale, AZ)
Application Number: 11/510,755
International Classification: F41B 15/04 (20060101);