Patent Application
20230273000
The present disclosure generally relates to firearms accessories, and more particularly, to a video camera assembly attached to a firearm.
Body cameras are often worn by members of law enforcement to record their encounters with the public, and more specifically, the actions of the members of law enforcement wearing body cameras during these encounters. These recordings are used to determine whether the actions taken by law enforcement, such as the use of lethal force, is justified or appropriate in accordance with laws and the training of the members of law enforcement.
However, there are events, such as the unholstering and drawing of a firearm by the member of law enforcement, that may block the view of the camera. When the camera's view is blocked, the actions taken by the law enforcement officer, or the member of the public for which the law enforcement is pointing his firearm, is not able to be determined from the video camera. The blocked video footage prevents comprehensive evidence of the events during the encounter. The moments after a firearm is drawn is often critical information in determining the justification of use of lethal force with the firearm.
Further, body cameras exist that are battery powered. However, leaving the body camera turned on the entire time a law enforcement officer is on duty requires frequent charging of the battery of the body camera, or frequent swapping of the battery to a battery that is fully charged to prevent the battery powering the body camera from dying.
While effective, there remains a need for improved video cameras, such as video cameras used by members of law enforcement.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a video camera assembly for a firearm is disclosed. The video camera assembly is attached to the firearm, and has a frame and a controller located on a circuit board inside of the frame. In operative connection with the circuit board is a memory, a video camera, integrated with a lens, that generates video data to be stored on the memory, a microphone that generates audio data to be stored on the memory, and a power supply. A power switch connects power to the controller from the power supply in an on position and disconnects power to the controller in an off position. The video camera generates video data and the microphone generates audio data when the power switch is in the on position.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method of generating video data with a video camera assembly is provided. The method includes providing the video camera assembly attached to a rail mount of a firearm. The video camera assembly has a frame, a controller located on a circuit board inside of the frame. In operative connection with the controller is a memory located on the circuit board, a camera integrated with a lens, a microphone, and a power supply. A power switch connects power to the controller from the power supply in an on position and disconnect power to the controller in an off position. The camera generates video data to be stored on the memory, the microphone generates audio data to be stored on the memory, and the camera generates the video data and the microphone generates the audio data when the power switch is in the on position. The method further includes turning the power switch to the on position.
These and other aspects and features of the present disclosure will be more readily understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
This disclosure relates to firearms, such as pistols, rifles, or other portable guns having a video camera to record in the direction the firearm is pointed when the firearm is unholstered and in an aiming position to provide increased visibility of the video camera, improved efficiency, and so on. A firearm is a ranged gun designed to use the gun barrel to launch solid projectiles, such as a bullet, when the firearm is discharged or fired.
One object of the present disclosure is provide for personal insurance in the act of self-defense, for law enforcement, and for the justice system, whether the user is a civilian defending themselves or law enforcement protecting the people. Another object is to provide clear video and audio understanding of the moments in which the discharging of a firearm takes place. A further object is to allow the user of a firearm prove that they were lawfully firing the firearm by capturing footage and audio as soon as the firearm is unholstered, serving as evidence in a court of law.
Turning now to a more detailed description of the principles set forth herein,
In one exemplary embodiment, the video camera assembly 4 attaches to a clip (not shown) and the clip attaches to the firearm frame 5 for attaching the video camera assembly 4 to the firearm 2. The clip may also attach to the barrel 8 or pistol grip 6 for attaching the video camera assembly 4 to the firearm 2. In another embodiment, the firearm frame 5 includes a trigger guard fixture (not shown) that attaches to a trigger guard 56 and the video camera assembly 4 for attaching the video camera assembly 4 to the firearm 2. The trigger guard fixture is a clip method that allows the video camera assembly 4 to be mounted on the firearm 2 when a rail mount 9 is not present.
The firearm frame 5 may also have a firearm safety 11. The firearm safety 11, is moveable to a engaged position, in which in the engaged position the firearm is prevented from being able to discharge, or fire, a bullet. The firearm safety 11 is also moveable to a disengaged position, in which the firearm is able to discharge, or fire, a bullet when the trigger 7 is pulled. The firearm safety 11, as shown in the
As best shown in
The frame 12, as shown, has a cylindrical shape, but may be rectangular, cube shaped, or any other shape. The slide attachment 10 is located on top of the frame 12, and is used to attach the video camera assembly 4 to the rail mount 9 of the firearm frame 5.
The video camera 14, having the integrated lens 15, is located on the front of the frame 12, and is used to capture video, or pictures, in the direction that the firearm 2 is pointed, or in other words, in the direction bullets are fired out of the barrel 8. The video camera 14, in one exemplary embodiment, may be a thermographic camera, such as a night vision camera, and the thermographic camera creates an image using infrared radiation.
As best shown in
Further in operative connection with the controller 18 is a power supply 20 that is located inside of the frame 12. The power supply 20 is a battery that is capable of supplying power to the controller 18, and powering the camera 14, microphone 13, and all powered components of the video camera assembly 4.
The video camera assembly may also have a power switch 21. As shown in
The power switch 21 may also have a third position, being the standby position. In the standby position, power is supplied to the controller 18 from the power supply 20 but the controller 18 only sending the signal to the video camera 14 to generate video data and the microphone 13 to generate audio data when the controller 18 receives a signal from one or more sensors 22 that the firearm 2 with the attached video camera assembly 4 is unholstered. Unholstered means that the firearm 2 is not in a gun holster (not shown) on the waist of a user and the firearm 2 is drawn and positioned in a firing position by the user. The one or more sensors 22 are in operative connection with the controller 18, and are located within the frame 12 of the video camera assembly 4. In one exemplary embodiment, the firearm safety 11 is the power switch 21, and the disengaged positioned of the firearm safety 11 may be the on position of the power switch 21 or the standby position of the power switch 21. In a further embodiment, the power switch 21 is located on the frame 12 of the video camera assembly and has the on, off, and standby positions, and the user may place the power switch 21 in the on, off, or standby positions. In an even further exemplary embodiment, the video camera assembly 4 is automatically placed into the standby position when the video camera assembly 4 is charging. The video camera assembly may have an LED light indicator for showing if the video camera assembly 4 is in the on, off, or standby positions. For example, if the video camera assembly is in the standby position, the LED light may be solidly lit, or flashing to indicate that it is in the standby position.
In one embodiment, the sensor 22 is an accelerometer that is configured to detect when the firearm is moved from the holstered position to the unholstered position, with the video camera 14 generating the video data when the unholstered position is detected and the power switch 21 in the standby position. Thus, the accelerometer detects and recognizes movements of the video camera assembly 4 that is attached to the firearm, and is operative connection with controller 18, and is configured to measure movement using 3-axis coordinates, such as movement in the x, y, and z axis.
In another exemplary embodiment, the sensor 22 is a heartbeat sensor in operative connection with the controller 18. In this embodiment, the heartbeat sensor may be located on the pistol grip 6 or the trigger 7, and is utilized to measure the presence of a heart beat of a user using the firearm 2. Thus, the heartbeat sensor detects that the firearm 2 in unholstered by measuring a the presence of a heartbeat on the heartbeat sensor, when the power switch in in the standby position, and the heartbeat sensor sends a signal to the processor that a heartbeat has been detected. Once the processor 18 receives a signal that a heartbeat has been detected, the controller 18 sends a signal to the video camera 14 and the microphone 13 to generate video and audio data.
The video camera assembly may also contain an additional element 21 located on the front of the frame 12 of the video camera assembly 12. This additional element may be a flashlight, laser light, or other lighting source. The additional element is in operative communication when the controller 18, and is configured to turn on when the video camera 14 is generating video data.
Turning to
Further, when the firearm 2 is holstered in the charging holster 60, and is drawn from the holster 60, the second contact point 70 is no longer in connection with the first contact point 68, and the video camera assembly is no longer charging. The controller 18, in one exemplary embodiment, receives a signal from the power supply 20 that it is not longer being charged, and the controller 18 sends a signal to the video camera 14 to begin recording the video data and the microphone to begin recording the audio data.
While the preceding text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of protection is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment since describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims defining the scope of protection.
