Mounting systems and methods for positioning a detector on a weapon holster

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12228369-B2
Application number	US-202318509297-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 14, 2023
Priority date	Feb 14, 2017
Publication date	Feb 18, 2025
Grant date	Feb 18, 2025

Abstract

A detector for detecting the removal and/or insertion of a firearm out of and/or into a holster. The detector may transmit a message each time the firearm is removed from the holster. A recording system may receive the message and determine whether or not it will begin recording the data it captures. A detector may detect the change in a magnitude of an inductance and/or an impedance of a circuit to detect insertion and removal of the firearm into and out of the holster. A placement mode may be invoked to determine an optimal mounting location of the detector relative to the holster. The optimal mounting location may be a location of maximum sensitivity of the detector with respect to the weapon and/or a location wherein the measurements obtained via the detector exceed a threshold. The detector may provide indicia corresponding with the optimal mounting location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for detecting a presence of a provided weapon in a provided holster and an absence of the provided weapon in the provided holster, the system comprising:
a detector comprising a sensor circuit, a communication circuit, a memory, and a processing circuit communicatively coupled to the sensor circuit and the memory, wherein the sensor circuit is configured to detect the presence of the provided weapon in the provided holster and the absence of the provided weapon in the provided holster, and wherein the memory stores program instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform first operations comprising:
initiating a placement mode;
while in the placement mode, obtaining measurements with the sensor circuit as the detector traverses a surface of the provided holster;
in accordance with the measurements, determining a proper location for mounting the detector with respect to the provided holster;
indicating the detector is at the proper location, wherein the proper location allows the detector to be mounted to the provided holster in a manner that permits the detector to detect the presence of the provided weapon in the provided holster and the absence of the provided weapon in the provided holster without interfering with removal or operation of the provided weapon;
entering a field mode; and
while in the field mode:
detecting a first characteristic of a signal provided by the sensor circuit that indicates the presence of the provided weapon in the provided holster;
detecting a second characteristic of the signal provided by the sensor circuit that indicates the absence of the provided weapon in the provided holster; and
responsive to detecting the second characteristic of the signal provided by the sensor circuit, wirelessly transmitting a notice via the communication circuit; and

a recording system configured to perform second operations, comprising:
receiving the notice; and
using information transmitted with the notice, initiating recording of events of an incident.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first operations further comprise:
entering a calibrate mode; and
while in the calibrate mode, determining a base-line value associated with at least one of the presence of the provided weapon in the provided holster and the absence of the provided weapon in the provided holster.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the system further comprises a remote or local user input interface configured to create a control signal in response to receiving user input and provide the control signal to the processing circuit of the detector, wherein the first operations further comprise:
while in the placement mode, determining the control signal has been received; and
responsive to determining the control signal has been received, exiting the placement mode and entering the calibrate mode.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first operations further comprise:
prior to entering the calibrate mode, entering a provisional mode in which one or more circuits of the detector are powered on.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the first operations comprise entering the provisional mode prior to entering the placement mode.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first operations further comprise providing an electronic indication that the detector has entered into the placement mode via one or more local or remote interfaces.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising a smart phone that includes a touch screen, wherein the one or more local or remote interfaces comprises the touch screen of the smart phone.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first operations further comprise entering the placement mode responsive to receiving a signal via one or more user interfaces.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a smart phone that includes a touch screen, wherein the one or more user interfaces comprises the touch screen of the smart phone.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the detector comprises a mechanical control and the signal is received via the mechanical control of the detector.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the proper location of the detector with respect to the provided holster comprises determining a position at which the measurements exceed a threshold.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the proper location of the detector with respect to the provided holster comprises determining a position of maximum sensitivity to the provided weapon inserted in the provided holster.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein indicating the detector is at the proper location comprises providing indicia via an indicator.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein providing the indicia via the indicator comprises providing continuous indicia as the detector is moved about the surface of the provided holster.

15. The system of claim 14 , further comprising a smart phone that includes a touch screen, wherein the indicator comprises the touch screen of the smart phone.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein providing the continuous indicia comprises fluctuating between a first visual output and a second visual output.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein providing the continuous indicia comprises indicating whether a location of the detector relative to the provided holster is more preferred or less preferred than a prior location of the detector relative to the provided holster.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein providing the continuous indicia via the indicator comprises changing one of a color, a brightness, and a frequency of the indicia between the proper location and a nonoptimal location of the detector with respect to the provided holster.

19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mounting system configured to mount the detector to the provided holster, wherein the mounting system comprises an adhesive layer.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recording system comprises a body-worn camera and initiating recording of the events of the incident comprises capturing a video record of the events of the incident.

Assignees

• Axon Entpr Inc

Inventors

• Hatcher Jonathan
• Wilson John
• Shekarri Nache
• Tiwari Shlesh
• Sathyanarayan Varun

Classifications

• G01D5/145

  influenced by the relative movement between the Hall device and magnetic fields (see G01R33/06) · CPC title

• G08B21/24

  Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms · CPC title

• F41C33/04

  Special attachments therefor · CPC title

• F41C33/041

  for connecting a holster to a belt, webbing or other object · CPC title

• G08B5/22

  using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission · CPC title