US12277817 - Safety systems for objects and methods

The patent describes a safety system for firearms that utilizes a transmitter and receiver to identify authorized users through capacitively coupled identification signals. It includes features for unlocking and locking the firearm based on the user’s identification and signal intensity thresholds, which can be adjusted according to user characteristics and environmental factors.

Claim 1

1. A safety system for an object comprising: a transmitter comprising a microcontroller configured to generate an identification signal having a given frequency and a resonant circuit configured to amplify said identification signal, the transmitter being suitable to be placed in the vicinity of a body of a user to capacitively couple said identification signal to the body, a receiver suitable to be capacitively coupled to said body and being configured to receive said identification signal and to recognize based on said identification signal if the user is an authorized user, and a resonant frequency estimation means configured to estimate an actual resonant frequency of said resonant circuit when the resonant circuit is amplifying said identification signal and the microcontroller is adapted to choose, based on said estimated actual resonant frequency, as frequency for the identification signal the closest frequency to the estimated actual resonant frequency the microcontroller can generate so that the amplification of the identification signal is maximized; wherein the safety system is configured to generate an unlocking signal in order to unlock the object when the object is locked and the receiver receives the identification signal and identifies the user as an authorized user based on one or both of: the received identification signal, and whether the intensity of the received identification signal exceeds a first signal intensity threshold; wherein the safety system is configured to generate a locking signal in order to lock the object when the object is not locked and the receiver receives the identification signal and based on one or both of: said received identification signal the user is identified as a non-authorized user, and whether the intensity of the received identification signal is under a second signal intensity threshold; and wherein the safety system is configured to adjust the first and second signal intensity thresholds according to one or both of: physical characteristics of the user, and presence of certain objects around the user. a transmitter comprising a microcontroller configured to generate an identification signal having a given frequency and a resonant circuit configured to amplify said identification signal, the transmitter being suitable to be placed in the vicinity of a body of a user to capacitively couple said identification signal to the body, a receiver suitable to be capacitively coupled to said body and being configured to receive said identification signal and to recognize based on said identification signal if the user is an authorized user, and a resonant frequency estimation means configured to estimate an actual resonant frequency of said resonant circuit when the resonant circuit is amplifying said identification signal and the microcontroller is adapted to choose, based on said estimated actual resonant frequency, as frequency for the identification signal the closest frequency to the estimated actual resonant frequency the microcontroller can generate so that the amplification of the identification signal is maximized; wherein the safety system is configured to generate an unlocking signal in order to unlock the object when the object is locked and the receiver receives the identification signal and identifies the user as an authorized user based on one or both of: the received identification signal, and whether the intensity of the received identification signal exceeds a first signal intensity threshold; wherein the safety system is configured to generate a locking signal in order to lock the object when the object is not locked and the receiver receives the identification signal and based on one or both of: said received identification signal the user is identified as a non-authorized user, and whether the intensity of the received identification signal is under a second signal intensity threshold; and wherein the safety system is configured to adjust the first and second signal intensity thresholds according to one or both of: physical characteristics of the user, and presence of certain objects around the user.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12277817

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12277817