Dry Marking System for Ballistic Pellets

Abstract

A coating designed to transfer on impact from a ballistic projectile onto a target. Due to the many possible applications for which this might find use, it has been designed to allow as open-ended a range of application as possible by separating the requirements of the marking system from the requirements of the projectile substrate. To this end the coating is designed to be applied to a wide range of materials and shapes. The coating itself is therefore independent of whatever carrier it is coated onto which allows the carrier to be selected for its own suitability for the application rather than conditional upon compatibility with the marking system.

1 - 3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . A projectile comprising:
 a ballistic pellet; and   at least one frangible coating on an outer surface of the ballistic pellet configured to provide a dry marking on impact with a target.   
     
     
         5 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  wherein the ballistic pellet is made from at least one of a solid metal, plastic, and biodegradable material 
     
     
         6 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  wherein the at least one frangible coating further comprises one or more base pigments. 
     
     
         7 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 6  wherein the at least one frangible coating further comprises one or more optical brighteners. 
     
     
         8 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 6  further comprising further comprising one or more additional pigments imprinted on the at least one frangible coating, the one or more additional pigments contrast from the one or more base pigments. 
     
     
         9 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 8  wherein the one or more additional pigments are imprinted on the at least one frangible coating to encode one or more identifying data fields in the at least one frangible coating. 
     
     
         10 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 9  wherein at least one of a size, shape and color of the one or more additional pigments is used to encode the one or more identifying data fields in the at least one frangible coating. 
     
     
         11 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  further comprising at least one seal on the at least one frangible coating. 
     
     
         12 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 11  further comprising at least one dry power lubricant on the at least one seal. 
     
     
         13 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  wherein the at least one frangible coating further comprises at least one marker which is only visible under a first range of wavelengths of light. 
     
     
         14 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  wherein the at least one frangible coating comprise at least one fluorescent material. 
     
     
         15 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 4  further comprising one or more trace elements imprinted in the at least one frangible coating. 
     
     
         16 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 15  wherein the one or more trace elements comprise DNA. 
     
     
         17 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 16  further comprising at least one encapsulating material for the DNA. 
     
     
         18 . The projectile as set forth in  claim 16  wherein the at least one frangible coating comprise at least one fluorescent material. 
     
     
         19 . A method of making a projectile, the method comprising:
 obtaining a ballistic pellet; and   coating at least one frangible layer on an outer surface of ballistic pellet configured to provide a dry marking on impact with a target.   
     
     
         20 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the obtained ballistic pellet is made from at least one of a solid metal, plastic, and biodegradable material 
     
     
         21 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the at least one frangible layer further comprises one or more base pigments. 
     
     
         22 . The method as set forth in  claim 21  wherein the at least one frangible layer further comprises one or more optical brighteners. 
     
     
         23 . The method as set forth in  claim 21  further comprising further comprising imprinting one or more additional pigments on the at least one frangible layer, the one or more additional pigments contrast from the one or more base pigments. 
     
     
         24 . The method as set forth in  claim 23  wherein the imprinting the one or more additional pigments on the frangible layer further comprises encoding one or more identifying data fields in the at least one frangible layer with the imprinting. 
     
     
         25 . The method as set forth in  claim 24  wherein at least one of a size, shape and color of the one or more additional pigments is used to encode the one or more identifying data fields in the at least one frangible layer. 
     
     
         26 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  further comprising coating at least one seal on the at least one frangible layer. 
     
     
         27 . The method as set forth in  claim 26  further comprising coating at least one dry power lubricant on the at least one seal. 
     
     
         28 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the at least one frangible layer further comprises at least one marker which is only visible under a first range of wavelengths of light. 
     
     
         29 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the at least one frangible layer comprise at least one fluorescent material. 
     
     
         30 . The method as set forth in  claim 19  further comprising imprinting one or more trace elements in the at least one frangible layer. 
     
     
         31 . The method as set forth in  claim 30  wherein the one or more trace elements comprise DNA. 
     
     
         32 . The method as set forth in  claim 30  further comprising encapsulating the DNA with at least one encapsulating material. 
     
     
         33 . The method as set forth in  claim 30  wherein the at least one frangible layer comprise at least one fluorescent material.