Firearm safety mechanisms, visual safety indicators, and related techniques

Abstract

The techniques described herein relate to methods and apparatus for firearm safety mechanisms, visual safety indicators, and related techniques. A firearm includes a handle with one or more sensors disposed at least partially within a surface of the handle. The firearm also includes a trigger that is actuatable to fire the firearm, and a safety mechanism that has a first position that blocks actuation of the trigger and a second position that does not block the trigger. The firearm further includes at least one processor configured to receive data from the one or more sensors, process the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors, and upon determining the data is indicative of sufficient contact, transmitting a signal to the safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from the first position to the second position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A firearm comprising:
 a handle comprising one or more sensors disposed at least partially within a surface of the handle, such that the one or more sensors can be in contact with an operator's hand when the operator grasps the handle;   a trigger that is actuatable to fire the firearm;   a safety mechanism in mechanical communication with the trigger, wherein the safety mechanism comprises:
 a first position that blocks actuation of the trigger; and 
 a second position that does not block actuation of the trigger; and 
   at least one processor in electrical communication with the safety mechanism, the one or more sensors, and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 receive data from the one or more sensors; 
 process the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors; and 
 upon determining the data is indicative of sufficient contact, transmitting a signal to the safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from the first position to the second position so that the firearm can be fired by the operator. 
   
     
     
         2 . The firearm of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a barrel;   a chamber disposed adjacent to the barrel and sized to receive a cartridge, wherein the cartridge comprises:
 a casing; 
 a bullet disposed at a proximal end of the casing; 
 a fuse disposed at a distal end of the casing; and 
 an explosive disposed within a portion of the casing between the fuse and the bullet; and 
   a firing pin mechanically actuatable by the trigger, such that upon actuation, the firing pin is configured to contact the fuse of the cartridge to ignite the explosive and to cause the bullet to be expelled through the barrel.   
     
     
         3 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors each comprise a pressure sensor configured to sense an amount of pressure exerted against the pressure sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The firearm of  claim 3 , wherein processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors comprises determining whether the one or more sensors sense an amount of pressure above a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         5 . The firearm of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the one or more sensors comprise three pressure sensors;   the three pressure sensors are disposed in a front of a grip of the handle, such that each pressure sensor is spaced from the other pressure sensors along the front of the grip of the handle such that each pressure sensor is configured to contact a different finger of the operator's hand when the handle is grasped by the operator.   
     
     
         6 . The firearm of  claim 5 , wherein:
 processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors comprises determining whether each of the three pressure sensors sense an amount of pressure above a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         7 . The firearm of  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined threshold is a same value for all three pressure sensors, is a different value for each of the three pressure sensors, or some combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The firearm of  claim 6 , wherein the predetermined threshold is configurable. 
     
     
         9 . The firearm of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the one or more sensors comprise at least one pressure sensor disposed on a side of the firearm such that the at least one pressure sensor is configured to contact a thumb of the operator's hand when the handle is grasped by the operator.   
     
     
         10 . The firearm of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the at least one processor to:
 receive data from an authentication device;   authenticate the received data to confirm the operator is authorized to use the firearm; and   transmit the signal to the safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from the first position to the second position upon determining both (a) the data from the one or more sensors is indicative of sufficient contact, and (b) the operator is authorized to use the firearm.   
     
     
         11 . The firearm of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 activating an indicator to indicate the safety mechanism is in the second position.   
     
     
         12 . The firearm of  claim 11 , wherein the indicator comprises a laser sight, a reflex sight, or some combination thereof. 
     
     
         13 . A computerized method for controlling the operation of a firearm, comprising:
 using at least one processor to perform:
 receiving data from one or more sensors disposed at least partially within a surface of a handle of the firearm, wherein the data is indicative of the one or more sensors being in contact with an operator's hand while the operator grasps the handle; 
 processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors; and 
 upon determining the data is indicative of sufficient contact, transmitting a signal to a safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from (a) a first position that blocks actuation of a trigger that is actuatable to fire the firearm to (b) a second position that does not block actuation of the trigger, so that the firearm can be fired by the operator. 
   a handle comprising one or more sensors disposed at least partially within a surface of the handle, such that the one or more sensors can be in contact with an operator's hand when the operator grasps the handle;   a trigger that is actuatable to fire the firearm;   a safety mechanism in mechanical communication with the trigger, wherein the safety mechanism comprises:
 a first position; and 
 a second position that does not block actuation of the trigger; and 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the one or more sensors each comprise a pressure sensor configured to sense an amount of pressure exerted against the pressure sensor; and   receiving the data from the one or more sensors comprises receiving data indicative of a pressure of the operator's hand around the handle of the firearm.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors comprises determining whether the pressure is above a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein:
 receiving data from the one or more sensors comprises receiving data from three pressure sensors; and   processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors comprises determining whether each of the three pressure sensors sense an amount of pressure above a predetermined threshold.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the predetermined threshold is a same value for all three pressure sensors, is a different value for each of the three pressure sensors, or some combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising using the at least one processor to perform:
 receiving data from an authentication device;   authenticating the received data to confirm the operator is authorized to use the firearm; and   transmitting the signal to the safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from the first position to the second position upon determining both (a) the data from the one or more sensors is indicative of sufficient contact, and (b) the operator is authorized to use the firearm.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 activating an indicator to indicate the safety mechanism is in the second position.   
     
     
         20 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one computer hardware processor, cause the at least one computer hardware processor to perform:
 receiving data from one or more sensors disposed at least partially within a surface of a handle of the firearm, wherein the data is indicative of the one or more sensors being in contact with an operator's hand while the operator grasps the handle;   processing the received data to determine whether the data is indicative of sufficient contact of the operator's hand with the one or more sensors; and   upon determining the data is indicative of sufficient contact, transmitting a signal to a safety mechanism to change the safety mechanism from (a) a first position that blocks actuation of a trigger that is actuatable to fire the firearm to (b) a second position that does not block actuation of the trigger, so that the firearm can be fired by the operator.