Projectile for an electrical discharge weapon
View Patent ↗An electrical discharge weapon projectile for immobilizing a live target that includes a shock circuit having a low power consumption, a high power efficiency, and/or a low weight. In one embodiment, the projectile includes a high efficiency circuit that would reduce the weights of shock circuits while providing a more effective and safer power level, so that the circuits may be entirely contained within the projectile to eliminate the need for range limiting trailing wires.
1. A projectile having no wires connecting the projectile to an electrical discharge weapon, the projectile comprising:
a projectile shell; and
a shock circuit integrated within the projectile shell, the shock circuit comprising:
a battery source;
an inverter transformer having a primary coil of the inverter transformer and a secondary coil of the inverter transformer;
an independent oscillator; and
a switch connected between the inverter transformer and a common voltage node, the switch being also connected to the independent oscillator,
wherein the independent oscillator triggers and re-triggers the switch to supply an energy pulse from the battery source to the primary coil of the inverter transformer for a predetermined time period.
2. The projectile of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first connector on the projectile shell and electrically coupled to the shock circuit, the first connector being configured to attach the target at a first location;
a second connector on the projectile shell and electrically coupled to the shock circuit, the second connector being configured to attach the target at a second location; and
a secondary propulsion device for projecting the second connector to the second location when the first connector has substantially connected to the target.
3. The projectile of claim 2 , wherein the secondary propulsion device comprises a passage oriented in the projectile shell for directing the second connector in a direction which is at a non-zero angle relative to a projected path of the projectile to the target.
4. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the projectile shell is about 38 to 40 mm in caliber.
5. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit produces less than nine watts of shock power.
6. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit produces between about one to nine microseconds of pulse width per shock pulse.
7. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit produces between about twenty to one hundred root-mean-square (rms) milliamps.
8. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit produces between about 0.15 joules to 0.75 joules of energy per shock pulse.
9. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit weight less than forty-five grams.
10. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the projectile is less than 110 grams.
11. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the projectile produces less than twelve newtons of force on the live target.
12. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the switch of the shock circuit comprises a bipolar type transistor having a base coupled to the independent oscillator.
13. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the switch of the shock circuit comprises a MOSFET type transistor having a gate coupled to the independent oscillator.
14. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit further comprises:
an output transformer having a primary coil of the output transformer and a secondary coil of the output transformer; and
a spark gap coupled between the secondary coil of the inverter transformer and the primary coil of the output transformer.
15. The projectile of claim 14 , wherein the first and second connectors are coupled to the shock circuit via the secondary coil of the output transformer.
16. The projectile of claim 1 , wherein the shock circuit further comprises an oscillation capacitor connected in parallel with the primary coil of the inverter circuit and a full wave rectifier connected with the secondary coil of the inverter transformer.
17. The projectile of claim 16 ,
wherein the primary coil of the inverter transformer is connected between a first pad and a second pad and the secondary coil of the inverter transformer is connected between a third pad and a fourth pad;
wherein the oscillation capacitor is connected with the primary coil of the inverter transformer via the first pad and the second pad; and
wherein the full wave rectifier is connected with the second coil of the inverter transformer via the third pad and the fourth pad.