| 20070204756 | Energy harvesting power sources for generating a time-out signal for unexploded munitions | September, 2007 | Rastegar et al. |
| 20040237826 | Protection of blast holes | December, 2004 | Mendelawitz et al. |
| 20090301337 | NANO-ENHANCED KINETIC ENERGY PARTICLES | December, 2009 | Wilson et al. |
| 20020000172 | Optronic fuse device for a flying object | January, 2002 | Ganghofer |
| 20070107618 | Optical mine clearance probe and process for identification of a material | May, 2007 | Lacroix et al. |
| 20050235863 | Auto igniting pyrotechnic booster | October, 2005 | Stevens |
| 20060027131 | Ammunition | February, 2006 | Byer |
| 20060027128 | Firearms projectile having jacket runner | February, 2006 | Hober |
| 20070266882 | Active body | November, 2007 | Gaisbauer et al. |
| 20020005137 | Lead-free frangible projectile | January, 2002 | Stone |
| 20090211483 | CARTRIDGE FOR M16/AR15 RIFLES | August, 2009 | Kramer |
[0001] This application incorporates Provisional Patent Application No. 60/209,788 filed Jun. 7, 2000.
[0002] This invention relates to small arms ammunition and more particularly to a system that will enable investigative authorities to better solve crimes involving the discharge of firearms utilized with such ammunition. When firearms are utilized in the commission of a crime, the crime scene often includes spent ammunition casings. It would thus be desirable to be able to link those crime scene casings to the person or persons committing such crime. Presently there are anti-diversion tracking systems referred to as ADTS which allow manufacturers to trace products using overt and covert technologies from point of manufacture throughout the distribution chain. For instance, scannable indicia, codes including conventional bar codes can be incorporated into labels of many products such as cosmetics, shampoos and the likes in order to be able to trace the manufacturing and purchase history of such articles for purposes of recall and policing unauthorized distribution. Accordingly, it would be desirable if the general principles of such product tracking systems could be utilized and modified to enable the tracking of ammunition cartridges such that crime scene firearms' casings could be traced to the last authorized purchaser of the ammunition cartridge from which the casing was part of.
[0003] It is, accordingly, an objective of the present invention to modify such anti-diversion tracking systems in a unique and unobvious manner so as to achieve crime scene identification of spent ammunition casings. Such is accomplished by the present ammunition tracking system which is designed to serialize ammunition cartridges in such a fashion as to be able to trace them from manufacturer, to distributor, to the retailer and finally to the final consumer or purchaser via a network of computer terminals at the point of purchase. Such system places a number or other unique identification on an interior surface of the cartridge casing which indicia will be still visible after the cartridge is fired such that investigative personnel can visually identify such number or other indicia and utilize such to trace the ammunition to the purchaser and additionally place an optically readable code on the shell casing exterior surface such that it may be read by high speed optical scanning equipment so as to, in part, establish a manufacturing and distribution history of such cartridge. Such system would thus allow casings found at crime scenes to be traced to the person who purchased them greatly enhancing the ability of law enforcement agencies to quickly and confidently solve crimes. These and other objectives of the present invention are accomplished by a small arms ammunition cartridge including a casing having a cylindrical body having inner and outer wall surfaces and opposed top and bottom ends wherein said bottom end is closed by a bottom wall in turn having a top inner surface and a lower outer surface, an explosive charge contained in the casing, a bullet attached to the top of the casing body and means for initiating the explosive charge to fire the bullet, the improvement comprising a machine readable code on at least one of the outer wall surfaces of said casing and a unique indicia visible by the human eye on at least one of said inner surfaces of said casing, said indicia identifying a particular casing and said code including identification of said indicia.
[0004] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.
[0005] In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:
[0006]
[0007]
[0008]
[0009]
[0010]
[0011]
[0012]
[0013]
[0014]
[0015]
[0016] Several unique manners of achieving the results of the present invention have been devised. In one method (Method No.
[0017] Coding by such laser etching of the top and bottom surfaces of the stock can occur simultaneously with impartation of matching numbers either visibly readable or encoded. Such a tracking number can take the form of a multiple digit number, e.g., a twelve digit number which would provide the capability of tracking up to 999,999,999,999 individual cartridges per year. Following years could begin with a letter prefix (Example: A99,999,999,999). This method will provide a system wherein no two cartridges could have the same tracking number for decades to come. In addition, prefixes or suffixes of numbers, letters or other indicia could be provided for each different manufacturer.
[0018] In this first method of forming cartridge casings from stock already provided with indicia as by the above-described laser etching process, the top code or tracking number will become the inside of the cartridge which will enable humanly readable tracking of such number and the bottom code will become the outside of the cartridge casing which will enable such to be machine readable in data matrix format ECC200. Such data matrix code format is, in essence, a two-dimensional barcode and is utilized as the marking code of choice of many industries such as computer chip manufacturers to mark their small manufactured components. There are also a number of other barcodes including one-dimensional barcodes that may be utilized with this invention so as to not exclude a symbology that may be suited for this application including preprinted labels to visibly readable inks—all of which including the laser etchable coding must be environmentally resistant to the condition of use, that is, the indicia applied to the cartridge shell's inside surface must be capable of withstanding the explosive and burning forces of the propellant upon firing, and the surface destined to become the outside surface of the cartridge must be able to withstand environmental conditions, e.g., temporary high temperature and normal abrasion contact.
[0019] In a second method of coding, the cartridge primer, which may be manufactured on site or supplied by a vendor, is coated with a laser reactive material or dark colored finish. The laser to produce a machine-readable code, e.g., data matrix format ECC200, will remove this micro coating.
[0020] As the cartridges are assembled, the primer is placed in the bottom and seated into the cartridge casing. Prior to injecting the explosive charge, e.g., gunpowder, into the cartridge casing, a machine vision system will read and decode the data matrix code previously formed by the laser on the primer. This information will then be translated by computer software and sent to an online laser that will print the humanly readable equivalent in two probable locations. These locations are inside the edge of the cartridge casing or on the bottom inside surface of the cartridge casing. This number will be used to locate the purchaser of the cartridge if the cartridge is involved in a crime. In this method, it would only be necessary to apply a laser etchable coating to that surface of the stock destined to form the inside surface of the cartridge or apply such coating to that surface after the formation of the cartridge casing. The cartridge manufacturing process will continue as the explosive charge, e.g., gunpowder, is added and the projectile is seated and crimped to the cartridge casing to form the completed ammunition cartridge.
[0021] A third method applies the desired indicia after the primer has been seated into the cartridge casing but before the cartridge is filled with gunpowder. Two (2) lasers—one firing a data matrix on the outside bottom of the primer and the second laser printing the humanly readable equivalent inside the rim or on the inside bottom of the cartridge are utilized. It is also possible to print, etch or otherwise apply the machine-readable code to the outside bottom surface of the cartridge casing, that is, that surface surrounding the bottom surface of the primer rather than on the primer itself. As stated before, an ink jet printer could also print the machine-readable data matrix.
[0022] In the example set forth above, the completed ammunition cartridge
[0023] As an example, the cartridges are then placed in a holder with the primer
[0024] The building of shipping cases is also illustrated in
[0025] A palette is built in the same fashion. After a preset number of cases have been placed on a palette, the Ammunition Tracking System will assign and print a palette label. This palette label when scanned will link every case, package and cartridge identification to its destination.
[0026]
[0027] How the Ammunition Tracking System is used to track cartridges from the retailer to the consumer is as follows:
[0028] When the retailer sells any ammunition cartridges to a customer, the retailer will enter via the Ammunition Tracing System's direct Internet link or onsite computer, the package identification number and/or scan the tracking barcode
[0029] Ammunition found at crime scenes are decoded by visibly looking into the interior bottom
[0030] The above-explained systems for utilizing the markings applied to an ammunition cartridge casing enable the objectives of the present invention to be carried out in a cost effective, relatively simple manner. A key feature of the invention is not only the broad concept of marking cartridges for the purpose of tracing them to a purchase source, but also the concept of including a serial identification number on a surface of the cartridge casing which is hidden from the user and only visible after the bullet is fired from a gun and that any attempt to alter such interior indicia would normally destroy the usefulness of the product.
[0031] While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying this invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.