System for activating a weapon with an identification mechanism

Abstract

A system for activating a weapon to a state of readiness to fire includes an identification mechanism which is carried by the user of the weapon. The identification mechanism includes a sensor configured to input an identification code, a store configured to store the identification code and a transmitter. A receiver is provided in the weapon. The transmitter sends an activation signal to the receiver upon a positive identification code comparison. The activation signal activates the weapon to a state of readiness to fire. To maintain the weapon in this activation state, the transmitter continuously emits a signal to the receiver. The receiver controls a processor which is configured to maintain the weapon in the activation state based exclusively on the strength of the signals continuously being received by the receiver. To maintain the weapon in this state, the strength of the received signals must be equal to or greater than the strength of the signals received by the receiver when the identification mechanism is at a specified distance from the weapon.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A system for activating a weapon to a state of readiness to fire including an identification mechanism carried by a user of the weapon, the mechanism having a sensor to input an identification code, a store configured to store the identification code, and a transmitter, and wherein a receiver is included in the weapon, whereby the transmitter is configured to send an activation signal to the receiver upon a positive identification code comparison, which activation signal places the weapon in a state of readiness to fire, and continuous emission of a signal from the transmitter to the receiver causes the weapon to remain in the state of readiness, wherein the receiver controls a processor which is configured to maintain the weapon in the state of readiness when the signals continuously received by the receiver are equal to or greater than a minimum strength of the signals received by the receiver when the identification mechanism is at a specified distance from the weapon, whereby activation of the weapon to the state of readiness is based exclusively on strength of the signal, thus preventing deactivation of the weapon from the state of readiness by an interference signal.  
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the transmitter and receiver communicate by radio signals and the strength of the signals received by the receiver is the field strength of the radio signals.  
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the weapon has a wake-up circuit configured to activate the processor upon receipt of the activation signal and deactivates the processor when the strength of the continuous signals is below a minimum strength.  
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the identification code is a biometric pattern.  
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 4 , wherein the sensor for inputting the identification code is a fingerprint reader.  
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 5 , wherein the fingerprint reader is a CCD sensor with fiber-glass optics.