The present disclosure is in the field of firearm safety. More particularly, the present disclosure teaches systems and methods of blocking a trigger safety mechanism of a firearm such that the mechanism cannot be moved and the firearm thus unable to be discharged.
Gun safety rules and practice recommendations are intended to avoid accidental and unauthorized discharge or negligent discharge, or the consequences of firearm malfunctions. Their purpose is to eliminate or minimize the risks of unintentional death, injury or property damage caused by improper possession, storage or handling of firearms.
A locking safety mechanism or safety is a component of the trigger assembly in many popular handguns. The safety mechanism stops the gun from being fired without the user first manipulating a component which disengages the safety mechanism so the gun can fire. In many popular models, the safety is alongside the trigger such that once the safety is pulled, the trigger alongside the safety can then be pulled and the firearm discharged.
In many handguns, the safety is immediately adjacent the trigger. A user wishing to fire the weapon pulls the safety, deactivating it, and pulls the adjacent trigger, discharging the weapon.
The present disclosure is directed to firearm safety and to supplement existing methods for securing a trigger safety mechanism or safety of a firearm. A locking assembly provided herein interferes with the safety engage/disengage process by moving and inserting a mechanical stop or eccentric into the path of the safety. The safety consequently cannot be pulled and therefore released and the trigger hence not accessible. The risk of accidental or unauthorized discharge of the firearm is thus reduced.
The process of unlocking and locking the safety as provided herein may be controlled electronically via an application or app on a mobile device such as a mobile phone. A user of the device can configure the app such that once the firearm and the mobile device are more than a predetermined distance from one another, the eccentric is moved into position causing the safety to be blocked and the firearm no longer able to fire.
The locking assembly provided herein comprises the eccentric and a small motor embedded in or near the trigger. The motor moves the eccentric forward and backward. Each such movement of lock or unlock, respectively, causes the eccentric to be secured in place by a spring which rests in a small cut out groove of the eccentric. A power source for moving the eccentric and electronic parts are also local.
The eccentric and motor, when in forward and locked position with the eccentric secured in place, prevents the safety from being moved and therefore released. The trigger cannot be pulled and the gun therefore cannot be fired.
The locking assembly comprising eccentric and motor may attach to or be embedded into the trigger. The eccentric is semi-circular in shape and turns on an axis perpendicular to the direction of the trigger's movement. The motor turns the eccentric into position to block the safety from being released.
Once the eccentric is in forward position and held there, the safety is blocked and cannot be moved. Conversely, when the firearm is to be discharged or be otherwise readied for firing, the motor turns the eccentric backward such that it no longer blocks the safety. The safety can be pulled, releasing it, and thereafter the trigger can be accessed and the firearm discharged.
The motor contained in the locking assembly is remotely controlled by the mobile device and a programmable application executing thereon. The motor may receive instructions via a locally operating transceiver. The application is password protected and allows the user to configure a distance from the firearm wherein the locking assembly is enabled or disabled, hence blocking or unblocking, respectively, movement of the safety mechanism.
When the mobile device detects that the firearm is within the configured distance, the motor moves the eccentric out of blocking position. The safety may then be released and the weapon may be fired.
Should the weapon and mobile device be moved beyond the predetermined distance from each other, the motor may automatically move the eccentric into position, blocking movement of the safety, and preventing accidental or unauthorized discharge of the weapon.
Systems and methods also provide for the locking mechanism to be engaged and the firearm disabled even if the firearm and the mobile device are together or otherwise within the predetermined distance. In an embodiment involving an emergency and prevention of a possible tragedy, a user may have placed the firearm and the mobile device together in an item of luggage, for example. The user in this example may misplace the luggage or discover that the luggage has been stolen.
The present disclosure provides for the user to remotely and with minimal delay access an Internet web site from a browser or a toll-free number from a telephone and order immediate disabling of the firearm via activation of the locking mechanism. This action thus overrides the functionality described above regarding disabling and enabling the firearm based on the predetermined distance and therefore allows the possibility of a tragedy to be circumvented.
Turning to the figures,
An eccentric 102 is a semicircular component that turns on an axis. In
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