Systems and methods for halting locomotion
A weapon halts locomotion by a human or animal target, for example, for arresting the target. The device includes a charging circuit and a discharging circuit. The charging circuit charges a capacitance of the device. The discharging circuit overwhelms voluntary use by the target of the skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current through tissue of the target. Each pulse has a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds. The current may include a plurality of substantially equally spaced apart pulses of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
1 . A weapon that halts locomotion by a human or animal target, the weapon comprising:
an energy storing circuit; and
an energy discharging circuit that overwhelms voluntary use by the target of ambulatory skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
2 . The weapon of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
3 . The weapon of claim 1 wherein the pulse width is from 9 to 100 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target.
4 . The weapon of claim 1 wherein each pulse of the plurality has a width of about 13 microseconds.
5 . The weapon of claim 1 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
6 . The weapon of claim 1 wherein the discharging circuit comprises a transformer that generates the current in a secondary of the transformer.
7 . A weapon that halts locomotion by a human or animal target, the weapon comprising:
an energy storing circuit; and
an energy discharging circuit that overwhelms voluntary use by the target of ambulatory skeletal muscles of the target when passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width of about 13 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
8 . The weapon of claim 7 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
9 . The weapon of claim 7 wherein plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
10 . The weapon of claim 7 wherein the discharging circuit comprises a transformer that generates the current in a secondary of the transformer.
11 . A method for halting locomotion by a human or animal target to arrest the target, the method comprising passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising from 2 to 40 pulses per second, each pulse having a pulse width greater than 9 microseconds, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain, and wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the distance traverses any ambulatory skeletal muscle.
12 . The weapon of claim 1 I 1 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
13 . The method of claim 1 I 1 wherein the pulse width is from 9 to 100 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target.
14 . The method of claim 11 wherein each pulse of the plurality has a pulse width of about 13 microseconds.
15 . The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
16 . The method of claim 11 further comprises generating the plurality of pulses in a secondary of a transformer.
17 . A method for halting locomotion by a human or animal target to arrest the target, the method comprising passing a current a distance of at least about 6 inches through any tissue of the target, the current comprising a plurality of pulses, each pulse of the plurality having a pulse width of about 13 microseconds measured into a load of about 1000 ohms in place of the target, wherein voluntary use is overwhelmed whether or not the target feels pain.
18 . The weapon of claim 17 wherein the plurality of pulses has a rate of from 2 to 40 pulses per second.
19 . The method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of pulses has an average of about 162 milliamps RMS for one second.
20 . The method of claim 17 further comprising discharging energy through a transformer to generate the current in a secondary of the transformer.