Patent Publication Number: US-9892607-B2

Title: Firearm mounted firing alarm system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of and incorporates by reference U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/194,250 filed Jul. 19, 2015. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to a firearm safety mechanism and, more particularly, to an alarm system for a firearm that transmits a wireless alert upon the discharge of the firearm. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     There have been numerous attempts to control the indiscriminant distribution and/or the careless or improper use of firearms. Indeed, the implementation of registration requirements, instructional classes, background checks, and waiting periods, as well as the use of gun cases and locks, have all been at least partially aimed at enhancing safety in relation to firearm ownership and use. A problem which still exists, however, is that such existing programs and devices are essentially useless for providing real time, ongoing monitoring of a firearm. Thus, there remains a need for a firing alarm system which would provide real time, remote notifications relating to the discharge of a firearm. It would be helpful if such a firing alarm system was mountable to a firearm such that it also provides such notification in the event an attempt is made to disable or remove it. It would be additionally desirable for such a firearm mounted firing alert system to utilize a plurality of sensors to provide redundancy in determining whether a firearm has been discharged. 
     The Applicant&#39;s invention described herein provides for a firearm mounted firing alert system adapted to provide real time, wireless alerts to one or more remote devices upon the discharge of a firearm. The primary components in Applicant&#39;s firearm mounted firing alert system are a housing, sensors, a networking interface and a controller. When in operation, the firearm mounted firing alert system enables more effective monitoring of a firearm&#39;s use so as to promote more careful handling and use. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by prior art structures are removed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A firearm mounted firing alert system for generating and transmitting alerts upon the discharge of a firearm to which it is attached. The firearm mounted firing alert system comprises a device housing which includes an adhesive surface, a lighting element, a sensor set, a microcontroller, and a power source. The sensor set may embody a contact sensor for generating a contact alert whenever contact with the metallic surface of a firearm is lost, a vibration sensor for generating a vibration alert in response to a discharge vibration and a sound sensor for generating a sound alert in response to a discharge sound. Upon receiving these sensor alerts, the microcontroller transmits a notification over a networking interface to any device which has been preset to receive such notifications as well as cause the lighting element to illuminate. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a firing alarm system which provides real time, remote notifications relating to the discharge of a firearm. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a firing alarm system that is mountable to a firearm such that it also provides such notification in the event an attempt is made to disable or remove it. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide a firearm mounted firing alert system which utilizes a plurality of sensors to provide redundancy in determining whether a firearm has been discharged. 
     These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top plan view of a firearm mounted firing alert system built in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom plan view of a firearm mounted firing alert system built in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the components of a firearm mounted firing alert system built in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows the monitoring process of a firearm mounted firing alert system built in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings and in particular  FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 , a firearm mounted firing alert system is implemented through a device housing  10  which includes an adhesive surface  11 , as well as a set of electrical components which define a lighting element  12 , a contact sensor  13 , a vibration sensor  14 , a sound sensor  15 , a microcontroller  16 , a power source  17 , and a networking interface  18 . In the preferred embodiment, each of the electrical components are electrically connected with both the power source  17  and the microcontroller  16 . 
     The adhesive surface  11  defines a strip of permanent adhesive disposed on the surface of the device housing  10  so as to enable the device housing  10  to be permanently affixed to a firearm (not shown). In the preferred embodiment, it is desirable for the device housing  10  to be affixed to a metallic surface of a firearm, thereby enabling the operating of the contact sensor  13 . In the preferred embodiment, the contact sensor  13  defines a magnetic contact switch which is operable to generate and transmit to the microcontroller a contact alert whenever contact with the metallic surface of a firearm is lost. In this regard, the contact sensor is configured to generate the contact alert in the event the device housing  10  is removed from a firearm to which it had been affixed. 
     It is appreciated that the contact sensor  13  is operative to generate an alert only when an existing metallic contact is broken; thus when the device housing  10  is not connected to a metallic surface on a firearm, the contact sensor  13  is not active. 
     The vibration sensor  14  and the sound sensor  15  provide redundant monitoring of the discharge state of a firearm to which the device housing  10  is affixed. The vibration sensor  14  is operative to generate and transmit to the microcontroller a vibration alert when vibration exceeding a threshold intensity that is indicative of a discharge of the firearm is sensed. The sound sensor  15  is operative to generate and transmit to the microcontroller a sound alert upon detecting a sound exceeding a threshold loudness that is indicative of a discharge of the firearm. 
     Upon receipt of one or more of the alerts from the sensors, the microcontroller  16  is operative to send a notification signal through the networking interface  18  and cause the lighting element  12  to illuminate. In the preferred embodiment, the networking interface  18  defines a wireless local area network (“WLAN”) adapter and a Bluetooth antenna and the lighting element  12  defines an LED light that illuminates when supplied with electricity. 
     In one embodiment, the lighting element  12  defines a multi-color LED light that is caused to be illuminated in different colors depending on the type of alert received by the microcontroller  16 . 
     It is contemplated that the microcontroller  16  can be programmed to send notifications to a plurality of different computer network enabled devices, including law enforcement personnel. In the preferred embodiment, the notification targets are programmed into the microcontroller  16  through a computer device that has been paired with the device housing  10  through a conventional bonding process (such as the conventional Bluetooth bonding process). Once programmed, the microcontroller  16  is operative to connect to the Internet through its networking interface  18  and transmit notifications to each notification target in the event it receives an alert from its sensors. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , when the firearm mounted firing alert system is operational with a target firearm, its contact sensor, vibration sensor, and sound sensor remain in a standby mode until a relevant input is received which triggers their operation. Accordingly, if contact is lost with the firearm, a threshold exceeding vibration is felt, or a threshold exceeding noise is detected, the respective sensor will transmit its alert to the microcontroller. Upon receipt of such an output from the sensor(s), the microcontroller will transmit a notification over the networking interface to any device which has been preset to receive such notifications and cause the lighting element to illuminate. In the preferred embodiment, upon receipt of a contact alert a contact notification is sent by the microcontroller and the lighting element illuminates in a first color. Similarly, upon receipt of both a sound alert and a vibration alert, a discharge notification is sent by the microcontroller and the lighting element illuminates in a second color. 
     It is appreciated that contact notifications and discharge notifications may be transmitted to the same set of targets or different targets (with or without overlap). 
     The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.