Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present application relates generally to personal under fire trainers for security and military personnel. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Police officers in training undergo a great many drills, one of which is practicing to cope during a simulated gun fight with simulated disabilities. Such drills are colloquially referred to as “Officer Down” scenarios. In such a training scenario a trainee might be positioned in a practice range or combat shooting course in which various targets move, with simulated shooting at the trainee being conducted. The purpose is to train an officer to return fire or otherwise cope with high stress circumstances during a gunfight. 
     As understood herein, a trainee simulating being hit by gunfire during an “Officer Down” exercise typically does so by pretending that his primary gun hand is rendered useless, tucking his primary gun hand in his belt and finishing the combat shooting course with his off-hand. As further recognized herein, simply returning fire during a drill using the off-hand is less than a realistic modeling of actual gun fight conditions, in which an officer might experience pain and trauma far beyond the inconvenience of tucking a hand in a belt. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an assembly is provided that can be worn by a trainee and operated remotely by a trainer to deliver a quick, powerful, yet safe muscle contraction to the trainee that temporarily immobilizes a portion of the trainee&#39;s body, similar to a gunshot wound. The gunshot simulator can be used to train public safety officers, military personnel, recreational participants in paintball contests, and the like to maintain accuracy and focus in combat shooting situations after being hit with an immobilizing simulated gunshot. The trainer can remotely target and contract any of the trainee&#39;s biceps, forearms, hamstrings, calves, or abdomen muscles to temporarily and safely incapacitate the targeted body section with a muscle contraction. 
     Thus, a training apparatus includes plural electrodes attachable to respective locations of a body of a patient and a harness wearable by the trainee and enveloping at least portions of the trainee&#39;s torso, shoulders, and upper thighs. One or more batteries are supported by the harness as is a wireless receiver assembly. A hand-held controller wirelessly communicates with the wireless receiver assembly and bears plural keys manipulable by a trainer to send activation signals to the wireless receiver assembly. The wireless receiver assembly, responsive to the activation signals, causes the battery to activate one or more of the electrodes and thereby cause contraction of at least one muscle of the trainee that is closely juxtaposed with the electrode activated by the battery to simulate a gunshot wound at the site of the electrode activated by the battery. 
     In some implementations, the wireless receiver assembly communicates with the electrodes through respective wires connected to respective electrodes. The wires are supported on the harness. Or, the wireless receiver assembly may wirelessly activate the electrodes. In non-limiting examples each electrode has a conductive gel center supported in a cloth body. 
     A trainee-actuated switch may be provided that is electrically disposed between the battery and at least one electrode and operable by the trainee to open an electrical circuit between the battery and electrode. This deactivates the electrode in the presence of an activation signal from the controller. Moreover, if desired a switch may be electrically disposed between the battery and at least one electrode and operable automatically to open an electrical circuit between the battery and electrode. This may be done responsive to a determination that the controller is deenergized or malfunctioning. 
     In another aspect, a method includes receiving, at a controller, trainer input of an activate command, and responsive to the trainer input, wirelessly sending an activate signal to a wireless receiver. Responsive to receiving the activate signal, the method includes causing the receiver to energize at least one electrode contacting a trainee&#39;s skin above a muscle to cause the muscle to contract. Also, responsive to receiving an emergency stop signal input by the trainee, the method includes deenergizing the electrode in the presence of the activate signal. 
     In another aspect, a personal under fire trainer includes a harness holding a wireless receiver assembly and plural electrode leads. The harness is wearable by a trainee with the leads connected to electrodes attached to the trainee&#39;s body. A controller is operable by a trainer to send a wireless signal to the receiver assembly, activating one or more electrodes which contract the trainee&#39;s muscles, forcing the trainee to react under simulated gun fight conditions while receiving simulated gunshot wounds. 
     The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an example under fire system in accordance with present principles, showing the harness from both the front of the trainee and the rear of the trainee; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an example receiver circuit; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an example receiver assembly; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an example trainee-operated kill switch with the casing shown transparently; and 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of an example trainer remote control transmitter. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring initially to  FIG. 1 , an under fire training system is shown and generally designated  10 . The system  10  includes a trainee-wearable harness  12  that bears a portable battery-powered receiver assembly  14 . The harness  12 , which can be made of nylon webbing, may be worn over a trainee&#39;s clothing and supports leads  16  which connect the receiver assembly  14  with plural electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) electrodes  18  which are selectively activated by the receiver assembly  14  responsive to trainer stimulation command signals received wirelessly from a transmitter remote control (RC)  20 . 
     Accordingly, the harness  14  may be worn by a trainee and is triggered remotely by a trainer manipulating the RC  20 . When activated, the electrodes  18  produce a strong muscle contraction on a targeted area on the trainee&#39;s body (e.g., arms, legs or abdomen). The resulting muscle contraction causes an extreme distraction, discomfort and immobilization of the targeted limb, thus simulating a life-like gunshot wound. In this way, the trainee completes various training scenarios while training himself to re-gain focus in the midst of a significant physical distraction so that he/she may return fire at a simulated advancing shooting suspect with accuracy despite the surprise, stress, and immobilization of the simulated gun shot wound. 
     The possible training scenarios for the system  10  are many. An example of one such scenario is a building search for an armed suspect. As the officer makes entry into the building, the suspect at some point approaches and engages the officer in simulated gunfire. Subsequently, the instructor remotely triggers the electrodes, which initiates a strong muscle contraction on the officer&#39;s forearm of his gun hand causing the officer to involuntarily open his hand and drop his weapon. The officer&#39;s forearm muscles will remain tightly contracted and immobilized. As the suspect advances and continues to fire, the officer is forced to quickly utilize the opposite (weak hand) to either recover the weapon or retrieve his/her back-up weapon and accurately return fire in order to neutralize the suspect&#39;s attack and save his own life. Possible combat training scenarios are possible as well as the system  10  is mobile and can be used anywhere, inside or outdoors. 
     Other example uses include high intensity police paint ball training scenarios using 9 mm paint training ammunition; live fire static target drills, involving highly trained units such as SWAT and SEAL teams, etc.; close quarter urban combat training in which police and military use the system  10  for tactical building and room clearing, downed officer extraction, sniper fire on a foot patrol, search warrant entry team drills and rescue drills, police patrol contacts such as pedestrian and traffic stops, surprise shooters, etc.; use with the military Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement Systems (MILES) XXI—the live training system providing realistic training to our ground forces military war games; combat shooting competitions where accuracy and efficiency are critical, such as in the US military&#39;s Top Sniper competition in which the system  10  adds a new and extremely realistic element and challenge to the course; private shooting schools that develop “Body Guard Combat Courses” or “Under Fire Survival” courses where certification is achieved after a high level of accuracy is maintained during multiple scenarios and in which certification can be used to add to the private security professional&#39;s resume or personal safety development; and paint ball combat course applications. Still other applications include but are not limited to simulating trauma to a fighter, ultimate fight mixed martial arts type fighting. The system  10  may be used to train such fighters to fight with a simulated injured limb and condition them to endure pain and immobility. 
     Returning to the details of the non-limiting example harness  12  shown in  FIG. 1 , the harness  12  envelopes at least portions of the trainee&#39;s torso, shoulders, and upper legs. Specifically, the harness  12  includes shoulder straps  22   a  merging into a back center strip  12   b , with the receiver assembly  14  being sewn into or otherwise supported by the center strip  12   b . A chest strap  12   c  and waist strap  12   d  are connected to the shoulder straps  12   a , with the waist strap  12   d  also being connected to the center strip  12   b  as shown. Opposite ends of the chest strap  12   c  and waist strap  12   d  are joined by detachable clips  12   e  to facilitate donning and removing the harness  12 . 
     Additionally, attached to the shoulder straps  12   a  are ring-shaped upper and lower elastic armbands  22 , one for each of the upper and lower left and right arm as shown. The armbands  22  surround the arms of the trainee and hold leads  16  that are connected to electrodes  18  adhered to the trainee&#39;s upper (biceps) and lower (forearms) arms. The armbands may be detachably engaged with the remainder of the harness by a hook-and-eye fastener such as VelCro® to facilitate disposing an electrode lead or leads under them when they are detached and then attaching the armbands to the remainder of the harness to hold the leads against the trainee. 
     Further, left and right leg strips  24  are attached to and depend down from the waist strap  12   d  and extend along the back of the trainee&#39;s legs to terminate in ring-shaped leg bands  26  which hold leads  16  against the skin, with the leads  16  held by the leg bands  26  being connected to electrodes  18  adhered to the trainee&#39;s upper (thighs) and lower (calves) legs. Electrodes  18  may also be adhered to the abdomen of the trainee as shown in  FIG. 1 . In some embodiments, the leads  16  are wireless leads, i.e., the receiver assembly  14  communicates wirelessly at least in part with the electrodes  18 . In this latter case each electrode may be packaged with its own small battery. 
     In one implementation, the electrodes  18  are disposable electrodes pads that may otherwise be used for EMS Units and that may be physically instantiated by soft, spun-lace cloth electrodes that have conductive solid gel centers and are self-adhering for easy, one-step application. The electrodes may be applied by to the trainee by the trainer to each of the above muscle groups, and then connected to the appropriate leads  16  exiting the wearable harness  12 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , a simplified circuit diagram of an example receiver assembly  14  with electrodes  18  may be seen, with appropriate ground connections omitted for clarity. As shown, the receiver assembly  14  can include a wireless receiver  30  powered by one or more rechargeable or primary batteries  32  and controlled by a control circuit  34 , which may be implemented by a processor such as but not limited to a programmable gate array or microprocessor. The control circuit  34  can also be powered by the battery  32 . The receiver  30  may be a multiple channel nine volt receiver configured to receive a 75 mHz pulse controlled modulation (PCM) signal from the transmitter  20  shown in  FIG. 1 , although any appropriate frequency may be used, e.g., 27 mHz, 2.4 gHz, etc. 
     As shown, responsive to signals received by the receiver  30 , the control circuit  34  selectively energizes one or a group of relays  36 , with each relay  36  closing, when actuated, a respective contact  38 . In turn, each contact  38  when shut completes an electrical path between the battery  32  and a respective electrode  18 . In the embodiment shown, individual electrodes may be energized for, respectively, contracting the trainee&#39;s lower left arm, upper left arm, lower right arm, upper right arm, lower left leg, upper left leg, lower right leg, upper right leg, and abdomen, although when only eight channels are provided one of the arm or leg electrodes may be replaced by the abdomen electrode or the abdomen electrode omitted. Thus, the battery  32  communicates main electrode power to the electrodes  18  through respective main lines  40  while the control circuit communicates control signals to the relays  36  through respective control lines  42 , with a lead  16  containing a main line  40  and a control line  42  in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the relays and contacts are housed in the receiver unit worn in the back of the harness in  FIG. 1  so that the leads  16  contain only the main lines  40 . While  FIG. 2  shows that each contact  38  closes to energize a single electrode, each contact  38  may energize multiple closely-spaced electrodes on the same body portion as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     The control circuit  34  energizes and deenergizes the receiver assembly  14  responsive to on and off signals from a manually operated switch  44 . Also, the control circuit  34  may provide indication of power and battery state by appropriately illuminating power and battery lamps  46 ,  48 , e.g., by turning on the power lamp  46  when power is supplied to the receiver assembly and by illuminating in red the battery lamp  48  when battery voltage falls below a threshold. 
     As contemplated in some embodiments, the trainee may be given the option of terminating electrode energization regardless of signals being received by the receiver  30 , as a safety precaution. To this end, a trainee kill switch is provided which, when actuated as described more fully below, opens a contact  50  between the battery  32  and electrodes  18 . 
     Also, to ensure that the trainee is not subjected to electrode stimulation in the event that the receiver assembly  14  loses communication with the transmitter  20  shown in  FIG. 1  or a malfunction occurs, a timeout kill switch is provided. In the event that the control circuit  34  does not receive information from the transmitter  20  for longer than a threshold timeout period (and/or in the event that the control circuit receives unexpected signals indicating transmitter malfunction), the control circuit  34  controls a relay  52  to open a contact  54  between the battery  32  and electrodes  18 . Opening either contact  50 ,  54  may result in only the electrodes  18  being held deenergized or may result in the entire receiver assembly  14  along with the electrodes  18  being deenergized. 
       FIG. 3  shows that the receiver assembly  14  may be embodied in a parallelepiped-shaped enclosure with the leads  16  extending therefrom. The on/off switch  44  and indicator lamps  46 ,  48  are shown embodied as light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the enclosure. Electrode voltage intensity adjustment ports  56  may be provided on some receiver assemblies configured to vary electrode  18  voltage/current, with the voltage/current adjusted for maximum levels for purposes of present principles. A kill switch  58  with trainee-pullable plunger  60  is connected to the receiver assembly to open the contact  50  shown in  FIG. 2  when a trainee pulls the plunger  60  out of the kill switch  58 . 
     Details of an example kill switch  58  are shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown, the plunger  60  is engaged with a lever  62  of the contact  50 . Pulling the plunger  60  outward pivots the lever  62 , mechanically (and electrically) opening the contact  50 . 
     Details of an example transmitter RC  20  are shown in  FIG. 5 . In one implementation the RC  20  includes a multiple channel battery-powered twelve volt wireless transmitter housed within a casing  64 . The casing  64  can includes an on/off switch  66 , a power indicator lamp  68 , an antenna, and plural (e.g., eight) keys  70 . In the embodiment shown, when a key  70  is manipulated by a trainer, the transmitter RC  20  sends an electrode activation command in a corresponding respective channel which is received by the receiver assembly  14  and correlated to a respective one of the relays  36  shown in  FIG. 2  (and, hence, energizing, with constant current, a respective electrode  18  on a respective body portion of the trainee. The associated electrode is energized as long as the trainer depresses a key  70 . By pressing one or more keys  70  simultaneously the trainer can target any desired combination of muscle groups for a simulated gunshot hit. When a key  70  is released by the trainer the electrode activation command terminates and the electrode is deenergized. As shown in  FIG. 5 , each key  70  (not all possible keys shown) may bear the label of the body portion of the trainee that will be stimulated when the key is pressed. Alternate controllers for triggering the electrodes may include a wireless computer, a laser-based controlled, or other signal sending unit. 
     While the particular PERSONAL UNDER FIRE TRAINER FOR SECURITY AND MILITARY PERSONNEL is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by the claims.

Technology Category: 3