Patent Publication Number: US-7218501-B2

Title: High efficiency power supply circuit for an electrical discharge weapon

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to the field of an electrical discharge weapon for immobilizing a live target. More specifically, the present invention is related to an electrical discharge weapon having an improved shock circuit and a method for driving the same. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Electrical discharge weapons are weapons that connect a shocking power to a remote live target by means of darts and/or trailing wires fired from the electrical discharge weapons. The shocks debilitate violent suspects, so peace officers can more easily subdue and capture them. Stun guns, by contrast, connect the shocking power to the live target that are brought into direct contact with the stun guns to subdue the target. Electrical discharge weapons are far less lethal than other more conventional firearms. 
   In general, the basic idea of the above described electrical discharge weapons is to disrupt the electric communication system of muscle cells in a live target. That is, an electrical discharge weapon generates a high-voltage, low-amperage electrical charge. When the charge passes into the live target&#39;s body, it is combined with the electrical signals from the brain of the live target. The brain&#39;s original signals are mixed in with random noise, making it very difficult for the muscle cells to decipher the original signals. As such, the live target is stunned or temporarily paralyzed. The current of the charge may be generated with a pulse frequency that mimics a live target&#39;s own electrical signal to further stun or paralyze the live target. 
   To dump this high-voltage, low-amperage electrical charge, the electrical discharge weapon includes a shock circuit having multiple transformers and/or autoformers that boost the voltage in the circuit and/or reduce the amperage. The shock circuit may also include an oscillator to produce a specific pulse pattern of electricity and/or frequency. In one embodiment, the charge is then released to the live target via a charge electrode and a ground electrode respectively positioned on a charge dart and a ground dart that are both connected to the weapon by long conductive wires. In the embodiment, the long conductive wires are considered necessary to maintain low force factors necessary for a weapon delivery system which is presumed incapable of seriously injuring a human target, but which is also capable of propelling a projectile at a target for a practical range. That is, it is desirable to use a small propellant charge and a light weight projectile. 
   However, a disadvantage to such a design of using two wired darts is that both minimum and maximum range are sacrificed. That is, as known to those skilled in the art, depending on the angle between the weapon&#39;s bores, the charge and ground darts will not spread enough at closer ranges to insure an adequately large current path through the target, unless the marksman is lucky enough to impact a particularly sensitive area of the body. At further ranges the darts will have spread too far apart for both of them to impact the target as needed to complete the current path through the target. In addition, the wired darts could not pass down the bore of most conventional firearms. 
   Moreover, if the wires are not deployed to their maximum range and length, they will hang from the cartridge over the bottom of the port or firing bay and frequently rest laxly on the ground in close proximity to each other or even resting upon or overlapping each other for portions of their lengths. Accordingly, the wires have to be insulated by heavy insulation to prevent them from being shorted with each other. The weight of the insulation further limits the range of the darts and the type of firearms that can project these darts. 
   In view of the foregoing, it would be highly desirable to create a weapon for immobilization and capture of a live target having a shock circuit that can be entirely located within a projectile or a missile of the weapon so that trailing wires can be eliminated while still allowing the weapon to provide a sufficient stun (shock) power. Also, it would be desirable to provide a shock circuit for an electrical discharge weapon that recaptures some of the wasted energy that appears in the total pulse pattern of a charge (e.g., to recapture the part of the energy of a conventional pulse pattern that does not have sufficient amplitude to cause a debilitating shock). 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a system and/or an associated method for providing an electrical discharge weapon with a shock circuit having a low power consumption, a high power efficiency, and/or a low weight. The shock circuit may be entirely contained in a projectile of the weapon without the need for range limiting trailing wires. In one embodiment, the shock circuit includes a high efficiency circuit that recaptures a certain amount of energy that would otherwise be wasted. 
   In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an electrical shock circuit for an electrical discharge weapon includes a battery source, an inverter transformer, an oscillation capacitor, an independent oscillator, a switch, and a full wave rectifier. The inverter transformer has a primary coil of the inverter transformer connected between a first pad and a second pad and a secondary coil of the inverter transformer connected between a third pad and a fourth pad. The oscillation capacitor is connected between first pad and the second pad. The switch is connected between the inverter transformer and a common voltage node (or a ground.) The switch is also connected to the independent oscillator. The full wave rectifier is connected with the second coil of the inverter transformer via the third pad and the fourth pad. In the present embodiment, the independent oscillator triggers the switch to supply an energy from the battery source to the primary coil of the inverter transformer. The primary coil of the inverter transformer oscillates the energy with the oscillation capacitor at a resonate frequency for a full cycle of the energy. The full cycle of the energy has first and second half cycles, and the first and second half cycles have substantially the same amplitude. 
   In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of immobilizing a live target through electricity is provided. The method includes: oscillating an independently controlled waveform from a positive voltage to a ground voltage; driving a transistor via the independently controlled waveform to turn ON and OFF; energizing an initial energy from a battery source through a primary coil of an inverter transformer only when the transistor is turned ON by the independently controlled waveform; resonating a residual energy with a capacitor connected in parallel with the primary coil of the inverter transformer as a magnetic field initially generated by the initial energy flow from the power source collapses; coupling the initial energy and the resonated residual energy from the primary coil of the inverter transformer to a secondary coil of the inverter transformer; and rectifying an initial voltage and current of the initial energy and then a resonant voltage and current of the resonated residual energy in a full-wave manner. 
   A more complete understanding of the high efficiency power supply circuit will be afforded to those skilled in the art and by a consideration of the following detailed description. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings which will first be described briefly. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features and aspects of the present invention will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary electrical discharge weapon. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a driving waveform of a relaxation oscillator. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a shock circuit using a relaxation oscillator. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a waveform passing through a Mylar gap. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an output waveform of a shock circuit using a relaxation oscillator. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an shock circuit using an independently driven oscillator. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a resonate waveform of the shock circuit of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates an output waveform of the shock circuit of  FIG. 6 . 
       FIG. 9  illustrates another shock circuit using an independently driven oscillator. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates yet another shock circuit using an independently driven oscillator. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an electrical discharge weapon system projecting a wireless projectile. 
       FIG. 12  illustrates a top view of the projectile of  FIG. 11   
       FIG. 13  illustrates a bottom view of the projectile of  FIG. 11   
       FIG. 14  illustrates a cutaway side view of the projectile of  FIG. 11   
       FIG. 15  illustrates a cross-sectional view of a secondary propulsion device of the projectile of  FIG. 11 . 
       FIGS. 16 and 17  illustrate in sequence a terminal operation of the projectile of  FIG. 11 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In the following detailed description, only certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art would recognize, the described exemplary embodiments may be modified in various ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not restrictive. 
   There may be parts shown in the drawings, or parts not shown in the drawings, that are not discussed in the specification as they are not essential to a complete understanding of the invention. Like reference numerals designate like elements. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , an example of an electrical discharge weapon is shown which includes a housing  1 , a shock circuit  10 , a trigger  20 , battery or batteries  30 , a first electrically conductive dart  50 , and a second electrically conductive dart  60 . Each of the darts  50 ,  60  is connected to the housing by elongate first and second electrically conductive wires  16 ,  17 . The wires  16 ,  17  are coiled in the housing  1  and unwind and straighten as the darts  50 ,  60  travel through the air toward a target. The length of wires  16 ,  17  can vary but the increasing distance of the spread between them limits range (typically about six to nine meters or twenty to thirty feet) 
   In operation, an electrical charge which travels into the wire  16  and the dart  50  is activated by squeezing the trigger  20 . The power for the electrical charge is provided by the battery  30 . That is, when the trigger  20  is turned on, it allows the power to travel to the shock circuit  10 . The shock circuit  10  includes a first transformer that receives electricity from the battery  30  and causes a predetermined amount of voltage to be transmitted to and stored in a storage capacitor (e.g., a Mylar cap). Once the storage capacitor stores the predetermined amount of voltage, it is able to discharge an electrical pulse into a second transformer and/or autoformer. The output from second transformer then goes into the first wire  16  and the dart  50 . The darts  50 ,  60  are also projected through the air to the target by the squeeze of the trigger  20 . When the darts  50 ,  60  contact the target, charges from the dart  50  travel into tissue in the target&#39;s body, then through the tissue into the second dart  60  and the second conducting wire  17 , and then to a ground in the housing  1 . Pulses are delivered from the dart  50  into target&#39;s tissue for a predetermined amount of seconds. The pulses cause contraction of skeletal muscles and make the muscles inoperable, thereby preventing use of the muscles in locomotion of the target. 
   Typically, the shocks from an electrical discharge weapon are generated by a classic relaxation oscillator that produces distorted saw tooth pulses as is shown in  FIG. 2 . A shock circuit having a relaxation oscillator is shown as  FIG. 3 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , power is supplied to the shock circuit from a battery source  160 . The closure of a switch SWI (e.g., the trigger  20  of  FIG. 1 ) connects the battery source  160  with an inverter transformer TI. In  FIG. 3 , a tickler coil  110  of the inverter transformer T 1  between PAD 1  and PAD 2  is used to form the classic relaxation oscillator. A primary coil  100  of the inverter transformer T 1  is connected between PAD 3  and PAD 4 . Upon closure of the power switch SW 1 , the primary coil  100  of the inverter transformer T 1  is energized as a current flows through the coil  100  from PAD 3  to PAD 4  as the power transistor Q 1  is turned ON. The tickler coil  110  of the inverter transformer T 1  is energized upon closure of the power switch SW 1  through a resistor R 8  and a diode D 3 . The current through the tickler coil  110  also forms the base current of the power transistor Q 1 , thus causing it to turn ON. Since the tickler coil  110  and the primary coil  100  of the inverter transformer T 1  oppose one another, the current through power transistor Q 1  causes a flux in the inverter transformer T 1  to, in effect, backdrive the tickler coil  110  and cut off the power transistor Q 1  base current, thus causing it to turn OFF and forming the relaxation oscillator. 
   In addition, a secondary coil  120  of the inverter transformer T 1  between PAD 5  and PAD 6  is connected to a pair of diodes D 4  and D 5  that forms a half-wave rectifier. The pair of diodes D 4  and D 5  are then serially connected with a Mylar cap  130  and then with a primary coil  140  of the output transformer T 2 . The primary coil  140  of the output transformer T 2  is connected between PAD 7  and PAD  8 . The Mylar cap  130  is selected to have particular ionization characteristics tailored to a specific spark gap breakover voltage to “tune” the output of the shock circuit. 
   In operation and as described above, the classic relaxation oscillator produces distorted saw tooth pulses as is shown in  FIG. 2 . The distorted saw tooth pulses generated by the relaxation oscillator charge the Mylar cap  130 , which can be a 0.22 to 0.94 mfd Mylar foil capacitor. 
   Referring also to a waveform  130 ′ of  FIG. 4 , when sufficient energy is charged on the Mylar cap  130  as schematically represented by the rising part  130   a ′ of the waveform  130 ′, a gas gap breaks down as schematically represented by the falling part  130   b ′ of the waveform  130 ′. This energy is then passes through the primary coil  140  of output or step up transformer T 2 , which typically has a turn ratio of 1:35 to 1:37 primary coil  140  to secondary coil  150 . A train of trailing sinusoidal waves are then output by secondary coil  150  of the output transformer T 2  as is shown in  FIG. 5 . This output current of  FIG. 5  is essentially a dampened and inverted saw tooth pulse. Its trailing alternating features are the result of “ringing” or tuning in the inverter transformer T 1  (the primary or secondary coils  100 ,  120  inducing steadily declining currents and fields back and forth in each other as the interacting coils magnetic fields repeatedly collapse, regenerate and collapse again). The bulk of the shock energy appears in the first half cycle of the pulses. Though significant energy does appear in the total train of waves trailing thereafter, this tuned energy of the second half cycle is in large measure wasted, as most of the trailing pulses are of insufficient amplitude to cause a debilitating shock. 
   In addition, since the self actualizing relaxation oscillator includes a bipolar transistor Q 1 , switching losses may occur. That is, the oscillator fly back or tickler coil  110  is slow to reverse bias the transistor Q 1  because of its magnetic feedback. This slow ramping or rise time limits how fast the transistor Q 1  can switch without burning up. The slow switching causes power losses. Moreover, because of the slow switching speed, the shock circuit requires larger and bulkier transformers T 1 , T 2 , as transformer size is directly proportional to switching speed. As such, the shock circuit of  FIG. 3  typically operates at less than 20% efficiency. 
   In an embodiment of the present invention and referring to  FIG. 6 , a shock circuit  200  includes an independent, non-self actualizing and/or driven oscillator  210  and a tank circuit  220  that allows the shock circuit  200  to operate with much higher efficiency. 
   In the shock circuit  200  of  FIG. 6 , a power is supplied from a battery source  230  to an inverter transformer T 1 ′. In  FIG. 6 , a primary coil  240  of the inverter transformer T 1 ′ is connected between PAD 10  and PAD 11 . In the embodiment, an oscillating capacitor C is also shown to be connected between PAD 10  and PAD 11  and in parallel with the primary coil  240 . As such, the tank circuit  220  of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is formed by the primary coil  240  of the inverter transformer T 1 ′ and the oscillating capacitor C. A power switch  250  is connected between the inverter transformer T 1 ′ and a ground. The power switch  250  (or a base or a gate of the power switch  250 ) is also connected to the independent oscillator  210 . 
   In more detail, the primary coil  240  of the inverter transformer T 1 ′ is energized as current flows through the coil  240  from PAD 10  to PAD 11  as the switch (or transistor)  250  is turned ON. The independent oscillator  210  is coupled to the switch  250  (e.g., at the base or the gate of the switch  250 ) to turn the switch  2500 N and OFF. A secondary coil  260  of the inverter transformer T 1 ′ between PAD 12  and PAD 13  is connected to a full-wave rectifier  270 . The full-wave rectifier  270  is then serially connected with a Mylar cap  280  and then with a primary coil  290  of the output transformer T 2 ′. The primary coil  290  of the output transformer T 2 ′ is connected between PAD 14  and PAD 15 . 
   In operation, the capacitor C and the primary coil  240  of the embodiment of  FIG. 6  form a second energy saving oscillator. That is, the capacitor C stores energy in the form of an electrostatic field, while the primary coil  240  uses a magnetic field to store energy. As such, any unused energy of the primary coil  240  charges up the capacitor C. The capacitor C then discharges through the primary coil  240 . As the capacitor C discharges, the primary coil  240  creates a magnetic field. That is, as the capacitor C discharges, the primary coil  240  will try to keep the current in the circuit moving, so it will charge up the other plate of the capacitor C. Once the field of the primary coil  240  collapses, the capacitor C has been recharged (but with the opposite polarity), so it discharges again through the primary coil  240 . 
   This oscillation will continue until the circuit runs out of energy and will oscillate at an predetermined amplitude and frequency that depends on the size of the primary coil  240  and the capacitor C. As such, the capacitor C can turn the significant energy in the second half of the total train of waves of  FIG. 5  that would otherwise be wasted (because of the insufficient amplitude) into additional waves having the sufficient amplitude to cause further debilitating shock. Thus, the efficiency of the shock circuit  200  is enhanced by the capacitor  240  that is in parallel with the primary coil  240  of the transformer T 1 ′ thereby forming the tank circuit  220 . 
   In more detail, when the tank circuit  220  is triggered by  250 , it begins to resonate. The resonation would thereafter trail off as is shown in  FIG. 7 . However, switch  250  retriggers the resonant circuit after each full cycle. Accordingly, cycles are continuously produced having a first half cycle and a second half cycle which is near the same in amplitude as the first half cycle, as illustrated in  FIG. 8 . As such, the energy from the collapsing field of the transformer primary coil  240  is no longer wasted as is in the circuit of  FIG. 3 , if the full wave rectifier  270  is positioned between the secondary coil  260  of the transformer T 1 ′ and the charging Mylar cap  280 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 9 , a shock circuit  200 ′ of a more specific embodiment of the present invention includes an oscillator  210 ′ and a tank circuit  220 ′. In this shock circuit  200 ′, a power is supplied from a battery source  230 ′ (e.g., a 12V battery) to an inverter transformer T 1 ″. The tank circuit  220 ′ in this embodiment is formed by a primary coil  240 ′ of the inverter transformer T 1 ″ and an oscillating capacitor C 15 . An NPN transistor  250 ′ is connected between the inverter transformer T 1 ″ and a ground. A base of the NPN transistor  250 ′ is connected to the oscillator  210 ′. A secondary coil  260 ′ of the inverter transformer T 1 ″ is connected to a first pair of diodes D 4  and D 2  and a second pair of diodes D 1  and D 3 . The first and second pairs of diodes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , and D 4  form a full-wave rectifier  270 ′. The full-wave rectifier  270 ′ is then serially connected with a Mylar cap  280 ′ and then an output transformer T 2 ″. 
   In operation, the oscillator  210 ′ creates a periodic output that varies from a positive voltage (V+) to a ground voltage. This periodic waveform creates the drive function for the PNP transistor  290 ′. The output voltage of the oscillator  210 ′ is not a square wave but a pulse waveform that is low for about one third of its period. When the oscillator  210  switches low, it causes zener diode D 27  to conduct, and in turn, causes the transistor  290 ′ to saturate. The zener diode D 27  is needed because the voltage Vcc, that powers the transistor  290 ′ and the positive voltage (V+) that powers the oscillator  210 ′ are at different potentials. When  290 ′ turns on, it in turn causes the transistor  250 ′ to saturate. This, in turn causes current to flow through the primary coil  240 ′ of the transformer T 1 ″. This current flow causes current to flow in the secondary coil  260 ′ of the transformer T 1 ″ based on the turn ratio of the transformer T 1 ″. In this particular situation, the transformer T 1 ″ has a turn ratio of about 110:1 (or 110 to 1). A power current from the battery source  230 ′ then flows in the primary coil  240 ′ of the transformer T 1 ″ only when the transistor  250 ″ is turned on and is in the process of conducting. Residual current, however, can also be flown through the primary coil  240 ′ as the magnetic field, initially generated by the current flow from the battery source  230 ′, collapses and the tank circuit  220 ′ mechanized with the primary coil  240 ″of the transformer T 1 ″ and capacitor C 15  begins to resonate. This “resonant current” is also coupled through the transformer T 1 ″ from the primary coil  240 ′ to the secondary coil  260 ′ and, in turn, also is stepped up by the turn ratio of the transformer T 1 ″. 
   The full wave bridge rectifier  270 ′, mechanized with the four high voltage diodes D 1 , D 2 , D 3 , and D 4 , therefore rectifies the initial voltage and current from the power source  230 ′ when the transistor  250 ′ is caused to conduct, and then the resonant voltage and current created as the tank circuit  220 ′ resonates. The effect of this is to cause the Mylar cap  280 ′ to charge more quickly and with more efficiency, thereby requiring less energy drawn from the power source  230 ′ than if the tank circuit  220 ′ was not present in the design. 
   An additional feature of this shock circuit  200 ′ is that the transistor  250 ′ is a high voltage transistor with a Vcc of greater then 1000 volts. This eliminates the need for a “snubber” diode across the transformer primary. A diode D 6  is required, however, because as the tank circuit  220 ′ resonates, it would have the capability to break down the transistor  250 ′ over in the reverse direction thereby potentially damaging the transistor  250 ′ and “snubbing” the tank circuit  220 ′ resonance prematurely. 
   In a generalized exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a portion of a shock circuit that is employed to generate a high voltage used to deliver a current pulse to an output transformer utilizes a resonant tank circuit. The tank circuit assists in the creation of the high voltage level necessary to charge the Mylar cap through the fact that it resonates at a frequency determined by the inductance of the primary coil of an inverter transformer and the capacitor that is placed in parallel with it. However, the present invention is not limited to the above described exemplary embodiment. For example, referring to  FIG. 10 , an embodiment of a shock circuit  350  can include a digital oscillator  300  coupled to digitally generate switching signals to a base or a gate of a transistor  310 . The transistor  310  is coupled in series with the primary coil  320  of a transformer  340  to alternately conduct from collector to emitter or source to drain of the transistor  310 . The transformer  340  is coupled to an voltage stepper  360  (e.g., an autoformer) to step-up the voltage of the signal generated by the transformer  340 . In this embodiment, no third tickler coil is present as is shown in  FIG. 3 . The digitally generated signal drives the switching transistor  310  and transformer  340 . The driven transformer  340  allows for greater frequency operations control. If a MOSFET transistor is used as the transistor  310 , there is a reduction in power loss from the switching, and the transistor  310  can switch at faster speeds. 
   In view of the foregoing, certain high efficiency circuits can be employed to form electrical discharge weapons with higher energy shocks with similar sizes to weapons with circuits having self actualizing relaxation oscillators. However, the propriety of forming weapons capable of producing such high powered shocks may be in question because the enhanced shocks may increase the weapons lethality, especially where circuits operating at a fraction of the power ranges that can be achieved by these circuits (e.g., at power levels as low as 1.5 watts and 0.15 joules per pulse at ten pps) were demonstrated to completely disable test subjects as early as 1971. In addition, some seventy deaths have occurred proximate to use of such weapons. As such, using these weapons at high power ranges may run contrary to the idea that electrical discharge weapons are intended to subdue and capture live targets without seriously injuring them. Therefore, a more laudable purpose for such high efficiency circuits would be to reduce the weights of shock circuits at the lower and safer power levels, so that the circuits can be entirely contained in projectiles and to eliminate the need for range limiting trailing wires. 
   Less lethal wireless projectiles could not, heretofore, be launched to optimally desired tactical ranges while maintaining safe force factors, because, as currently produced by various manufacturers, the shock circuits that might be contained within the projectile have too great a weight. 
   The primary consideration when assessing the relative lethality of a non-lethal projectile is the kinetic energy that is transferred to the target upon impact. The energy is equal to one-half the mass of the projectile times the square of the velocity:
 
K.E.=½mv 2 
 
   This equation shows the strong dependence on velocity and a lesser dependence on the mass of the projectile. It is desirable to keep the velocity high to deliver the maximum kinetic energy, within the constants of non-lethal impact to the body (blunt impact trauma and penetration). Higher velocities also have the desirable effect of maximizing the accuracy and flight stability of the projectile, for improved flight characteristics and trajectory. 
   Much research has been done to characterize the blunt trauma and penetration characteristics of non-lethal projectiles, and these results have been correlated with specific ranges of kinetic energy and kinetic energy per unit of impact area. Acceptable impact properties can usually be achieved by controlling the kinetic energy delivered to the target, maximizing the impact area that contacts the target, or by designing features into the projectile that absorb or dissipate energy upon impact. 
   When trying to find a compromise between the competing goals of maximum kinetic energy, optimum flight characteristics, and non-lethal impact properties, the designer is usually faced with sacrificing performance in one area to satisfy requirements in another when adjusting the velocity. One way to control the kinetic energy while keeping the velocity as high as possible for optimum flight considerations is to decrease the mass of the projectile. While this has a smaller effect on the kinetic energy than the velocity, it allows the designer some flexibility to decrease the impact energy without affecting performance. 
   In one embodiment of the present invention, a shock circuit includes a non-self actualizing oscillator. The shock circuit can be less than or equal to forty-five grams, produce a shock power that is less than nine watts, and/or produce each pulse at an energy range that is less than 0.9 joules. In one embodiment, each pulse is produced at an energy range that is not less than 0.15 joules and not greater than 0.75 joules. 
   In more detail, the profile of pulses used in an exemplary embodiment should be within the following ranges. First, the energy produced by the pulses should be in the range of about 0.01 to 0.8 joules or about 0.5 to 0.75 joules. Second, the width of each pulse should be about one to nine microseconds or about seven and a half to nine microseconds. Third, the root-mean-square (rms) current of the pulses should be in the range of about twenty to ninety milliamps or about sixty-five to ninety milliamps. In addition, the pulses should be delivered to a target having a travel spacing (or distance) within the target to induce enough skeletal muscles contractions such that the live target subjected to the pulses is actually disabled. 
   Referring to  FIG. 11 , an exemplary shock circuit of the present invention is integrated into an exemplary projectile  512  to allow the above profiled pulses to be delivered into a target  520  with the required travel spacing within the target  520 . As is shown, a grenade launcher  510  (e.g., an M 203 , an M 79 , etc.) is used to propel the projectile  512  to impact the target  520 . The impact of the target  529  has caused connectors  515  and  525  to contact and affix to the surface of the target  520 . The distance between the grenade launcher  510  and the projectile  512  can vary (typically about six to fifty meters or twenty to one hundred fifty feet). As is shown in  FIG. 11 , there are no wires extending from the grenade launcher  510  to the projectile  512  because the shock circuit is entirely contained in the projectile  512 . In addition, a wire tether  530  is shown to be attached to connector  525  for providing a selected separating distance between the two connectors  515  and  525 . 
   In more detail and referring to  FIGS. 12–15 , the projectile  512  is configured as a generally hollow cylinder having end caps  513  and  517 , the latter having the connector  515  extending longitudinally therefrom. A projectile of present invention, however, is not limited to a cylindrical shape projectile and can be any shape known to these skilled in the art (e.g., a sphere, a cube, etc.). As is shown, a diagonal passage  522  extends into the projectile  512  through the center of the projectile  512  to form an opening in the radial surface of the projectile  512  as is shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . 
   A passage  522  is covered with a Mylar tape  521  where it opens adjacent end cap  513 . The tape  521  protects a primer  528  shown in  FIG. 15 . As is also shown in  FIG. 15 , within the passage  522  there are positioned a styrofoam  526 , a foam wad  529 , and a connector body  524  terminating in the connector  525 , the point of which resides near the opening of the passage  522  closer to the end cap  517 . A metal foil contact  519  projects from that opening to and over the end cap  517  terminating adjacent the front end of the projectile  512 . Also positioned within the passage  522  are pins  532  and  534 . The first pin  534  is positioned between the primer  528  and the styrofoam  526  and extends through the styrofoam toward the pin  532 . The second pin  532  is connected to the wire tether  530  and which is, in turn, connected to the axial end of the connector body  524 . 
   The terminal operation of the projectile  512  as it nears and engages the target  520 , is illustrated sequentially in  FIGS. 16 and 17 . As shown in  FIG. 16 , when the projectile  512  and the connector  515  are near the target  520  (actual distance depends upon electrical parameters and ambient conditions), arcing occurs through the target between the connector  515  and the foil  519 . The resulting current flow back into the projectile  512  and including the metal wall of the passage  522 , ignites the primer  528  and propels the connector body  524  through the passage  522  and on a generally diagonal path toward the target  520  until the connector  525  contacts and affixes to the target surface at a location spaced from the point that the connector  515  also contacts and affixes to the target surface. Connector  525  may be launched from passage  522  to target  520  on or after impact with target  520  by other means. 
   This secondary propelling of the second connector  525  only when the projectile  512  is close to or in contact with the target  520  assures that, irrespective of the distance to the target  520 , the spacing between connectors  515  and  525  will be substantially the same. Moreover, the spacing will be within a range to virtually assure optimal disabling effect on the target. 
   In one embodiment, the wire tether  530  can be about forty-six cm or eighteen inches long and the passage  522  can be at an angle greater than forty-five degrees, or about seventy degrees with respect to the axis of the projectile  512 . 
   An embodiment of the projectile  512  can be configured as a fixed ammunition shell which can be fired through a conventional thirty-eight mm or forty mm bore or which can be between 38 to 40 mm in caliber. An embodiment of the projectile  512  can also be launched by gas expansion in the launching cartridge or casing in the chamber of a firearm. In one embodiment, the projectile  512  should be less than 110 grams and should produce a force of less than about twelve newtons or ninety ft·lb/s 2  (pdl) on the target  520 . The shock circuit integrated into the projectile  512  should not be greater than 45 grams or about 25 grams and should produce a shock power that is less than nine watts or between about two to six watts. Otherwise, the operation of the projectile  512  should act like a standard shell when it is desired to immobilize a target. 
   While the invention has been described in connection with certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.