Jun 3, 2025

US12320614 - Systems and techniques for determining whether a user is holding a gun

The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for determining whether a user is holding a gun. The gun may include a sensor, such as a laser proximity sensor, a capacitive proximity sensor, a load cell, an accelerometer, or a biometric sensor, and the gun may determine whether a user is holding the gun based on an output generated by the sensor. A processor housed in the gun may identify activation of a proximity sensor, determine that a user is holding the gun based on the activation of the proximity sensor, and perform an action in response to determining that the user is holding the gun. The action performed by the processor may include performing a boot procedure, performing a health check procedure, visually indicating state information about the gun, audibly indicating state information about the gun, or tactilely indicating state information about the gun.

Assignee: Biofire Technologies Inc.
Inventors: Christopher James Owens, Bryan Edward Rogers, Benjamin William Dwyer, Donna Kelley, Jack Hugo Thiesen, Kai Thorin Kloepfer
Filing date: 2022-04-27

gunsensorstechnology

The patent describes a firearm equipped with multiple proximity sensors, including a laser proximity sensor, that can determine if a user is holding the gun by detecting infrared electromagnetic radiation. A multi-core processor within the gun executes procedures to verify boot media and perform actions based on the sensor outputs, enhancing the gun’s operational readiness and safety features.

Claim 1

A gun comprising: a grip component comprising a window portion that is transmissible to infrared electromagnetic radiation but largely or entirely non-transmissible to visible electromagnetic radiation; multiple proximity sensors, each proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors comprising a respective controller configured to generate an output in response to determining that a signal satisfies a threshold, wherein at least one proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors comprises a laser proximity sensor that is positioned and oriented such that the laser proximity sensor is capable of transmitting infrared electromagnetic radiation through the window portion of the grip component, wherein the signal is representative of infrared electromagnetic radiation returning through the window portion of the grip component; and a processor that is communicatively coupled with each proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors, wherein the processor comprises multiple cores and is configured to perform a boot procedure in response to receiving the output, the boot procedure comprising: executing a first set of instructions by a first core of the processor to identify boot media stored in memory of the gun and verify an authenticity of the boot media based on a cryptographic key, and executing a second set of instructions by a second core of the processor based on the authenticity of the boot media, wherein the second set of instructions comprises the boot media. a grip component comprising a window portion that is transmissible to infrared electromagnetic radiation but largely or entirely non-transmissible to visible electromagnetic radiation; multiple proximity sensors, each proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors comprising a respective controller configured to generate an output in response to determining that a signal satisfies a threshold, wherein at least one proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors comprises a laser proximity sensor that is positioned and oriented such that the laser proximity sensor is capable of transmitting infrared electromagnetic radiation through the window portion of the grip component, wherein the signal is representative of infrared electromagnetic radiation returning through the window portion of the grip component; and a processor that is communicatively coupled with each proximity sensor of the multiple proximity sensors, wherein the processor comprises multiple cores and is configured to perform a boot procedure in response to receiving the output, the boot procedure comprising: executing a first set of instructions by a first core of the processor to identify boot media stored in memory of the gun and verify an authenticity of the boot media based on a cryptographic key, and executing a second set of instructions by a second core of the processor based on the authenticity of the boot media, wherein the second set of instructions comprises the boot media. executing a first set of instructions by a first core of the processor to identify boot media stored in memory of the gun and verify an authenticity of the boot media based on a cryptographic key, and executing a second set of instructions by a second core of the processor based on the authenticity of the boot media, wherein the second set of instructions comprises the boot media.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12320614

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12320614