US20150198402A1

US20150198402A1 - Trigger lock

Info

Publication number: US20150198402A1
Application number: US14/155,852
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack Brace
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-01-15
Filing date: 2014-01-15
Publication date: 2015-07-16

Abstract

A system and method for locking a trigger lock onto a firearm is presented. The trigger lock includes a front assembly, a rear assembly and a lock mechanism. The lock mechanism locks the front assembly and the rear assembly together on a firearm. Key pads on the front assembly are used to enter an entered combination. Lock logic determines if the entered combination is the same as an original stored combination and unlocks the lock mechanism when the entered combination is the same as the original stored combination. A security device in the trigger lock allows it to be detected from a location the trigger lock and firearm that it is attached to cannot visibly be seen.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems and methods for protecting possessions. More particularly, the apparatus, systems and methods relate to locking up guns for safety. Specifically, the apparatus, systems and methods provide for locking a trigger of a gun using a key-less lock.
2. Description of Related Art
Society is experiencing an increase in criminal activity against individuals. This has spurred many individuals to keep firearms in their homes for personal protection. While a firearm, by itself, is not dangerous, when loaded there is a potential for accidental discharge. However, an unloaded weapon proves to be of little help when facing an attacker or intruder. Therefore, keeping home firearms loaded is the trend, despite the potential for accidents.
The increasing trend of keeping loaded firearms at home has resulted in an observed increase in the number of accidental weapon firings. Children playing with a weapon or adults who are unaware of the loaded condition of the firearms frequently cause these accidents. Thus, there is a need for devices that enhance the safety of loaded firearms and help reduce the frequency of accidental discharges. Moreover, current trends in legal liability are indicating an increased burden upon those who supply firearms to provide safer weapons.
One device which helps solve these and other problems, relates specifically to firearms with a trigger and/or trigger guard. Typically, the trigger and trigger guard of the firearm are mounted beneath the barrel and firing mechanism. Almost all firearms are currently provided with some form of safety mechanism which, when activated, is designed to prevent accidental or unwanted discharge of the firearm as it is carried or handled. These safety mechanisms may comprise a safety notch in the hammer that is engaged by the sear (or some equivalent element) of the trigger when the hammer is in its safe position (out of contact with the firing pin), or it may comprise a separate member that can be placed between the hammer and the frame to prevent the hammer from striking the firing pin. Also, there are a variety of separate attachable safety mechanisms such as locking mechanisms that frequently cover the trigger area to prevent access to the trigger by a finger. While the above devices address some of the problems of firearm safety, what is needed is an improved firearm safety device.

SUMMARY

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a trigger lock that can be locked onto a firearm to prevent its unauthorized use. The trigger lock includes a front assembly, a rear assembly and a lock mechanism. The lock mechanism locks the front assembly and the rear assembly together on the firearm. Key pads on the front assembly are used to enter an entered combination. Lock logic determines if the entered combination is the same as an original stored combination and unlocks the lock mechanism when the entered combination is the same as the original stored combination.
Another configuration of the preferred embodiment is a method of locking and unlocking a firearm. A locking device is locked onto the firearm to prevent unauthorized use of the firearm. The locking device may be similar to the trigger lock described below. A combination is entered through a keypad located on the locking device to unlock the locking device. The keypad can be similar to the key pads described below. The locking device is then removed from the firearm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more preferred embodiments that illustrate the best mode(s) are set forth in the drawings and in the following description. The appended claims particularly and distinctly point out and set forth the invention.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example methods, and other example embodiments of various aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in some examples one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example side view a preferred embodiment of a trigger lock locked onto a handgun.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example front view a preferred embodiment of the trigger lock locked onto a handgun.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example perspective view the preferred embodiment of a trigger lock.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example exploded perspective view the preferred embodiment of a trigger lock.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example perspective view of the back side preferred embodiment of a front lock assembly.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example view of the preferred embodiment of a trigger lock on a firearm in a vehicle and being detected by a scanning device.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a method for.

Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of a trigger lock 1 used to lock the trigger of a firearm so that it cannot be fired. The components and the structure of the trigger lock 1 are first described before the use and functionality of the trigger lock 1 is later described. The trigger lock 1 includes two components: a front lock assembly 3 and a rear receptacle assembly 5. As describe further below the front lock assembly 3 generally contains the mechanism with moving parts that lock and unlock the front assembly 3 with the back receptacle assembly 5. As best illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, the front lock assembly 3 and the rear lock receptacle assembly 5 are brought together from opposite sides of a trigger 47 of a gun 46 and then locked together around the trigger 47 and the trigger guard 45 of the gun 46 so that the trigger cannot be operated.
The trigger lock 1 has a security device 70 (FIG. 4) that allows it to be detected by law enforcement or other personnel. The security device 70 can be, for example, an Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) tag of the kind used to prevent shop-lifting. Including an EAS type of tag within the trigger lock 1 would allow law enforcement a way of determining a firearm is present. For example, during a traffic stop a law enforcement officer can generate a signal with handheld device 102 (FIG. 6) that energizes the EAS tag and then detects its presence and can indicate that presence to the officer. Alternatively a radio frequency identification device (RFID) can be included in the trigger lock. That same police officer can now use an RFID reading device to wirelessly read information from the RFID such as the type of firearm, who owns that firearm, etc. again before visually locating the firearm. Again the security device 70 can be any device as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to allow authorized personnel to detect the presence of the trigger lock 1 an a gun it is likely attached to ensure their safety as well as the safety of others.
The rear receptacle assembly 5, in the preferred embodiment, is formed with nonmoving parts. The front lock assembly 3 is formed with a front housing 7 and a front contact pad 9 and the rear receptacle assembly 5 is formed with a rear housing 11 and a rear contact pad 13. The front housing 7 and rear housing 11 can be formed with any rigid material such as metal or hard plastic that is hard to break and/or cut when the trigger lock 1 is attached to a firearm. The front contact pad 9 and the a rear contact pad 13 are preferably formed out of a stiff rubber or other material so that when the trigger lock 1 is attached to a firearm, these pads 9, 13 are what primarily makes contract with the firearm so that the firearm is not scratched or damaged by the trigger lock 1.
In the preferred embodiment, the front lock assembly 3 is somewhat an elongated oval shape when viewed from its front surface 15. It has a front 16, a back 18, a top end 17, a bottom end 19, a left end 21 and a right end 23. The top end 17 and bottom end 19 are spaced closer together than the left end 21 and the right end 23. A generally flat beveled wall 25 is sloped at an angle between the front surface 15 and the top end 17 as illustrated. A display 27 that may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or another type of display is located in the beveled wall 25. Numeric keypads 29A-E are located in a wall forming the front surface 15. In the preferred embodiment, each key 29A-E can be used to selected one of two numerical digits but in other embodiment keys can be provided that select a single numerical digit or more than two numerical digits.
The front lock assembly 3 also includes a battery housing 31 that is shaped to hold a battery 33. In the preferred embodiment, the battery 33 is a circular watch type of battery but in other embodiments it can be another type of battery or can include more than one battery. Ideally, the battery housing 31 is easy to install and remove from the front housing in the two directions of arrow A (FIG. 4). As discussed further below, this provides a second layer of security because the trigger lock 1 cannot be opened without power provided by the battery 33.
As best seen in FIG. 5 the front contact pad 9 can be formed with two flanges 43A-B that extend outward from a back side 18 of the front lock assembly 3. These flanges 43A-B are preferably shaped so that a trigger guard 45 of a gun 46 is located between the two flanges 43A-B when the trigger lock 1 is locked onto the gun 46. This can also assure that that the trigger lock 1 is properly positioned on the gun 46 when it is locked in place. One or more protrusions 49 can also extent outward from the front contact pad 9. These protrusions 49 can be at least partially depressible and can be biased outward from the front lock assembly 3 with springs or other biasing devices. These protrusions 49 can further ensure that the trigger lock 1 is properly positioned around the trigger 47 of a gun 46 and/or make it more difficult to remove the trigger lock 1 from a gun 46 when it is locked onto the gun 46.
In the preferred embodiment, a lock mechanism 35 is located on the front lock assembly 3 for locking the front lock portion to the receptacle assembly 5. In the preferred embodiment, a key feature of the lock mechanism 35 is a lock post 37 extending outward from the back side 18 of the front lock assembly 3. The lock post 37 is a round cylinder with a portion of its side removed to create an opening 38. An elongated lock actuator 39 is located in the lock post 37. The lock actuator 39 is generally cylindrical in shape. A series of teeth/beveled edges 40 are formed in part of the lock actuator 39. These teeth/beveled edges 40 are complementary to teeth/beveled edges formed in the rear receptacle assembly discussed below and the interaction of these two sets of teeth/beveled edges are what locks the front lock assembly 3 to the rear receptacle assembly 5.
The front lock assembly 3 houses a lock logic 41 that implements some of the functionally locking and unlocking the front lock assembly 3 to the rear receptacle assembly 5. The actions of the lock logic 41 will be described in detail below when discussing the functionality of the trigger lock 1. “Logic”, as used herein, includes but is not limited to hardware, firmware, software and/or combinations of each to perform a function(s) or an action(s), and/or to cause a function or action from another logic, method, and/or system. For example, based on a desired application or needs, logic may include a processor such as a software controlled microprocessor, discrete logic, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmed logic device, a memory device containing instructions, or the like. Logic may include one or more gates, combinations of gates, or other circuit components. Logic may also be fully embodied as software. Where multiple logics are described, it may be possible to incorporate the multiple logics into one physical logic. Similarly, where a single logic is described, it may be possible to distribute that single logic between multiple physical logics.
As best seen in FIG. 4, the rear receptacle assembly 5 includes a protruding receptacle structure 55. The receptacle structure 55 is generally cylindrical in shape but may have a rounded end 57. The receptacle structure 55 forms an elongated chamber 59 for receiving the lock post 37 of the front lock structure 3. A lock bar 61 is located inside the elongated chamber 59. A series of teeth/beveled edges 63 are locked on the lock bar 61 and are complementary to the teeth/beveled edges 40 on the lock post 37.
As best seen in FIG. 4, the rear receptacle assembly 5 includes two flanges/tabs 51A-B extending upward from the rear contact pad 13. Similar to the flanges 43A-B on the front contact pad 9 of the front lock assembly, these flanges 51A-B are preferably shaped so that a trigger guard 45 of a gun 46 is located between the two flanges 51A-B when the trigger lock 1 is locked onto the gun 46. An array of protrusions 53 that can be cone shaped can also extent outward from the rear contact pad 11 so that this pad can securely grip the trigger guard 45 and trigger 47 of the gun 46 when the trigger lock 1 is locked onto the gun 46.
Having described the components and the structure of the trigger lock 1, it use and operation will now be described. Initially, the trigger lock 1 is in an unlocked state with the front lock assembly 3 removed from the rear receptacle assembly 5. To lock the trigger lock 1 on a firearm, the rear receptacle assembly 5 is placed on one side of a trigger 47 and a trigger guard 45 of a firearm 46 as best seen in FIGS. 1-2. Preferably, flanges 43A-B on the back side 51 of the rear receptacle assembly 5 are placed on each side of the trigger guard 45 so that they aid as a guild ensuring the proper placement of the rear receptacle assembly 5. Next, the front receptacle assembly 3 is aligned with the rear lock assembly 5 so that the lock post 37 of the front lock assembly 3 can be inserted into the receptacle structure 55 of the rear receptacle assembly 5. Notice that due to the geometry of the lock post 37 and the receptacle structure 55, there is only correct orientation that allows the rear receptacle 5 to be connected to the front lock assembly 3. Of course, the front lock assembly 3 can also be first placed on the gun 46 and then the rear receptacle assembly 5 can be aligned with it and attached to the front lock assembly 3. Alternatively, the front lock assembly 3 and the rear receptacle assembly 5 can be placed on the gun 46 at more or less the same time. The flanges 43A-B of the front lock assembly 3 can aid in placing the front lock assembly 3 onto the trigger guard 45.
In the preferred embodiment when the trigger lock 1 is in the unlocked position, the lock actuator 39 will have been rotated by the lock mechanism 35 under control of the lock logic 41 so that the teeth/beveled edges 40 are rotated behind the lock post 37 away from the opening 38 and are not visible. This allows the lock post 37 to be slid into the receptacle structure 55 of the rear receptacle structure 5. When the front lock assembly 3 and the rear receptacle assembly 5 are properly positioned, the lock logic 41 can lock them together by rotating the teeth/beveled edges 40 behind the lock post 37 into the opening 38 so that they align with the teeth/beveled edges 63 of the receptacle structure 55. The interlocking of both of these sets of teeth/beveled edges locks the trigger lock 1 together so that it cannot easily be removed. In one configuration, the lock logic 41 can rotate the lock actuator 39 and its teeth/beveled edges 40 using an electric motor driven with power from battery 33. In another configuration, the lock logic 41 can unlock tumblers in the locking mechanism 35 to allow a user to rotate a “thumb wheel” that allows for the manual rotation of the lock actuator 39 and its teeth/beveled edges 40 to lock (or unlock) the lock mechanism.
A user desiring to lock the preferred embodiment of the trigger lock 1 onto a firearm can indicate this to the lock logic 41 in one of a variety of ways. For example, a user can press a “lock” button 65 and the lock logic 41 will detected that the lock button 65 has been pressed and then rotate the lock post 37 to its locked position. In another configuration, a user could depress one (or more) of the numeric key pads 29A-E for a long enough period of time. For example, if one of the key pads 29A-E is depressed more than five seconds, a timer in the lock logic 41 can detect this and rotate the lock post 37 to its locked position.
The lock mechanism 35 has been describe in detail regarding its lock post and locking teeth/beveled edges 40 and how these components interact with the teeth/beveled edges 63 of the lock bar 61 of the rear receptacle assembly 5. However, the trigger lock 1 with key pads 29A-E can also be locked in other ways as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. Many different mechanical, non-mechanical and/or magnetic locking mechanisms could be used in place of the example lock mechanism 35 describe and illustrated herein.
In the preferred embodiment, the trigger lock 1 is manufactured with a secure combination stored in an internal memory of the lock logic 41. For example, this can be a five-digit value or it can be shorter or longer than five digits. When the trigger lock 1 is locked to a firearm this combination can be entered through the numeric key pads 29A-E. Pressing a key pad 29A-E once would select an odd number associated with a corresponding key pad 29A-E and pressing a key pad 29A-E twice back-to-back would select an even number associated with that corresponding key pad 29A-E. As the combination is being entered, the lock logic 41 can cause what is being entered to display on the display 27 so that a user entering the number can be sure they are entering what they intend. If the lock logic 41 determines that a correct combination of numbers was entered it can automatically unlock the trigger lock 1 immediately at that time. Alternatively, in other configurations, the lock logic 41 would not unlock the trigger lock 1 until an “unlock button” is depressed indicating the combination is complete and the trigger lock 1 should be unlocked. Of course, the preferred embodiment has been discussed with reference to numeric numbers but alphabetic or other symbols can be used to create a combination in other configurations of the preferred embodiment.
In another configuration of the preferred embodiment, the trigger lock 1 includes a “PROG” (program) button 66. This button can be used to perform a variety of actions as understood by those of ordinary skill in this art. For example, a user can press the program button 66 to indicate to the lock logic 41 that a new combination of numbers is to be entered. When the lock logic 41 detects that the program button 66 has been pressed it can begin to display numbers selected on the key pads 29A-E on the display 27 as well as storing them in a memory location in the lock logic 41. When the program button 66 is pressed a second time this indicates that the new combination has been completely entered and that now this combination can be used to unlock the trigger guard 1. In some embodiments, when the program button is pressed a second time, the lock logic 41 can remove the new combination from the display 27 as well as a prior combination from the memory so that now only the new combination can be used to unlock the trigger lock 1. Preferably the memory for storing combination(s) is non-volatile so that combination(s) used to open the trigger lock 1 are not lost when the battery 33 is removed.
The trigger lock 1 can have other useful features and components. For example, when the battery 31 is removed the trigger lock 1 the trigger lock 1 will stay in the locked state so that it cannot be removed from a firearm without destruction. This provides another layer of security because to unlock the trigger lock 1 one needs (1) the correct battery and (2) the correct numerical combination.
Example methods may be better appreciated with reference to flow diagrams. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the illustrated methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks can occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from that shown and described. Moreover, less than all the illustrated blocks may be required to implement an example methodology. Blocks may be combined or separated into multiple components. Furthermore, additional and/or alternative methodologies can employ additional, not illustrated blocks.
FIG. 9 illustrates a method 900 of locking and unlocking a firearm. A locking device is locked onto the firearm, at 902, to prevent unauthorized use of the firearm. The locking device may be similar to the trigger lock described above. A combination is entered through a keypad located on the locking device to unlock the locking device, at 904. The keypad can be similar to the key pads described above. The locking device is removed from the firearm, at 906.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, the representative embodiments, and illustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is an example and the invention is not limited to the exact details shown or described. References to “the preferred embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “one example”, “an example”, and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase “in the preferred embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A trigger lock for preventing unauthorized use of a firearm comprising:

a front assembly;

a rear assembly;

a lock mechanism configured to lock the front assembly and the rear assembly together on a firearm; and

an energizable security device on either one of the front and rear assembly configured to be energized and detected by a separate remote detection device.

2. The trigger lock of claim 1 further comprising:

a plurality of key pads on the front assembly configured for entering an entered combination;

lock logic including one or more of a processor, microprocessor, integrated circuit, or circuitry, having an internal memory, alone or in combination with software and firmware configured to determine if the entered combination is the same as an original stored combination in the trigger lock and configured to unlock the lock mechanism when the entered combination is the same as the original stored combination.

3. The trigger lock of claim 2 wherein the plurality of key pads are numerical key pads and the original stored combination is an original numerical combination.

4. The trigger lock of claim 2 further comprising:

a battery housing repeatably attachable to and removable from the front assembly; and

a battery to provide power to the lock logic wherein the battery is housed in the battery housing.

5. The trigger lock of claim 4 wherein the lock logic will not operate and the lock mechanism will not unlock the front assembly from the rear assembly, when the battery housing is removed from the front assembly so that the trigger lock remains locked.

6. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the lock mechanism further comprises:

a rotating actuator configured to rotate to lock the front assembly to the rear assembly.

7. The trigger lock of claim 2 further comprising:

a lock button, wherein the lock logic is configured to cause the lock mechanism to lock the front assembly and the rear assembly together upon detecting a depression of the lock button.

8. The trigger lock of claim 1 further comprising:

one or more guide flanges on trigger lock configured to guide how the trigger lock is placed on the firearm.

9. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the lock mechanism is shaped so that the front assembly and the rear assembly can only be locked together in one orientation.

10. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the lock mechanism further comprises:

an elongated lock post and wherein the rear assembly further comprises:

a chamber for receiving the elongated post.

11. The trigger lock of claim 10 wherein the lock mechanism is configured when the lock post is in the chamber to lock the front assembly to the rear assembly by rotating the lock post.

12. The trigger lock of claim 10 the lock post further comprises:

post locking teeth; and wherein the chamber further comprises:

chamber locking teeth, wherein the lock mechanism locks the front assembly to the rear assembly when the post locking teeth are adjacent the chamber locking teeth.

13. The trigger lock of claim 2 further comprising:

a program button, wherein the lock logic is configured to program a new lock combination into the lock logic upon detecting the program button has been depressed.

14. The trigger lock of claim 2 wherein the lock logic is configured to erase the original stored combination when new lock combination is programed into a memory in the lock logic.

15. The trigger lock of claim 14 wherein the security device is a security tag and the security tag is at least one of the group of: an electronic article surveillance (EAS) device and a radio frequency identification device (RFID).

16. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the front assembly further comprises:

a non-rigid front contact pad to make contact with the firearm to prevent damage to the firearm.

17. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the trigger lock lacks a physical key.

18. A method of locking and unlocking a firearm comprising:

locking a locking device onto the firearm to prevent unauthorized use of the firearm;

entering a combination through a keypad located on the locking device to unlock the locking device; and

removing the locking device from the firearm.

19. The method of locking and unlocking a firearm comprising:

detecting the presence of the locking device remote with a detection device located at a location where it is not possible to visibly see the locking device.

20. The method of locking and unlocking a firearm comprising: installing battery in the locking device, where the locking device cannot be unlocked without the battery in the locking device.

21. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the energizable security device is nonremovably attached within the rear assembly.

22. The trigger lock of claim 1, in combination with a firearm and a remote detector, the combination comprising:

an indicator to alert a remote operator, prior to the remote operator visually locating the firearm, the indicator alerting the remote operator of one of the following: presence of the firearm, type of the firearm, and owner of the firearm.

23. The trigger lock of claim 1 wherein the security device does not communicate with the lock mechanism and cannot affect operation of the lock mechanism.

24. The trigger lock of claim 1, further comprising:

a beveled wall sloped between a front surface and a top end on the front assembly; and

a display located in the beveled wall configured to display information relating to the trigger lock thereon.

25. The trigger lock of claim 24, further comprising a plurality of key pads entirely below the display operatively coupled with the lock mechanism.

26. The trigger lock of claim 16, further comprising a plurality of depressible protrusions extending outward from the non-rigid front contact pad to ensure the trigger lock is properly position around a trigger on the firearm.