Entangling Projectile Deployment System for Non-Lethal Restraint
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current non-lethal ranged weapons, such as Tasers and pepper spray, are either ineffective at range or pose risks to users and bystanders, and there is a need for a solution that can safely and effectively impede or subdue fleeing subjects without resorting to lethal force.
Innovation Solution
A projectile deployment system that expels an entangling projectile consisting of two pellets connected by a tether, which wraps around a subject's legs, temporarily incapacitating them by creating a secure entanglement that restricts movement, using a launcher and selectively activatable pressure source to propel the projectile from a safe distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ranged engagement devices such as Tasers or pepper spray are used, then law enforcement can engage subjects at a distance without hand-to-hand combat, but these devices are either ineffective at range, cause excessive pain, or pose risks to users and bystanders
Solution Approach 1:
The projectile is divided into two separate pellets connected by a tether, allowing each pellet to independently penetrate fabric and attach to the subject's clothing or body. This segmentation ensures reliable engagement while the tether prevents the pellets from affecting bystanders or returning to harm the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The tether acts as an intermediary element connecting the two pellets, enabling them to work together as a unified entangling system. The tether ensures that both pellets must attach to different locations on the subject, creating a secure restraint that is difficult to escape while minimizing risk to others.
2Speed
If conventional projectiles are fired horizontally, then the pellets travel in a straight line, but they may not effectively entangle the subject's legs or may pass above the target
Solution Approach 1:
One socket is positioned higher than the other, creating an asymmetric configuration that causes the pellets to travel at different vertical elevations. This asymmetry ensures that when the pellets attach to the subject, they are more likely to engage the legs at appropriate heights for effective entanglement, rather than both pellets traveling at the same elevation and potentially missing the target entirely.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively and safely restricts a subject's ability to flee or attack by entangling their legs, allowing law enforcement to maintain a safe distance while minimizing risk of injury, with the entangling projectile wrapping multiple times around the legs to ensure temporary incapacitation.
Implementation Method 1
A selectively activatable pressure source can be operably coupled to the projectile casing. The selectively activatable pressure source can be capable of expelling the entangling projectile from the projectile casing toward a subject.
Data Source
AI summary
A projectile deployment system includes an entangling projectile having a pair of pellets and a tether connecting the pellets. A projectile casing carries the entangling projectile and has a pair of sockets, each socket sized to carry one of the pellets. Each of the sockets is substantially parallel with the horizontal plane and at least a portion of each of the sockets is held at differing vertical elevations when the projectile launcher is held in the firing orientation. The sockets are oriented at an acute angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the projectile casing such that the pellets travel apart from one another as they are expelled from the projectile casing. A launcher carries the projectile casing and a selectively activatable pressure source is operably coupled to the projectile casing and is capable of expelling the entangling projectile from the projectile casing toward a subject.