GB2464556A

GB2464556A - Shot target system

Info

Publication number: GB2464556A
Application number: GB0819545A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Elias Psimolophitis
Original assignee: CNE TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Current assignee: CNE TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Priority date: 2008-10-24
Filing date: 2008-10-24
Publication date: 2010-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 2028-10-24
Also published as: GB2464556B; GB0819545D0

Abstract

A shot target system comprises a target frame 1 which can rotate around a wheeled base frame 4 via a power driven pivoting mechanism. A power driven target paint spreading mechanism 3 provides means for repainting the target board 2. A video camera 6 provides means for creating a digital image of the shot pattern for analysis.

Description

SHOT TARGET SYSTEM

This invention relates to apparatus and methods for capture and analysis of images of targets which have been exposed or fired at by single-projectile weapons, such as rifles and handguns, or by multi-projectile weapons, such as shotguns and machine-guns.

Shooting at targets is practiced by individuals as a sport or professionally, by manufacturers, law enforcement agencies, military establishments and others in order to determine and assess the degree of marksmanship of an individual, to obtain the shot spreading and to determine the accuracy and quality of the firearms and or ammunition used. In the case of multi-projectile weapons, such as shotguns, the distribution of shotgun pellets on a predefined target area, provides such information about the performance of the specific shotgun, barrel choke and type of ammunition used. This information is essential in order to achieve a quantifiable measure of the above mentioned parameters of interest.

The majority of targeting methods rely in the use of paper targets positioned at a specified distance away from the shooter. After firing, the target is retrieved manually or automatically, to examine the shot distribution. The identification of shots is usually performed manually by counting the number of hits within the target area. In the case of shotgun patterns, this procedure can be very tedious, time consuming and often erroneous due to the large number of shots that need to be identified and counted.

There are several methods used for the analysis of shotgun patterns. The most common one is the INCH method where a 30 inch (0.762 meters) circle is drawn on the target. After firing, the number of shots within the 30 inch circle is counted to obtain the number of successful hits. The efficiency of the shotgun pattern is expressed as a percentage of the number of hits over the original number of shots in the shotgun cartridge. A more comprehensive method for shotgun pattern analysis, is the BERLIN-WANNSEE system, where concentric circles of 30 inch (0.762 meters) and a 15 inch (0.381 meters) diameters, respectively, are drawn on the target. These circles are then divided into sectors and segments. After firing, the number of shots within each segment is counted and then related to the overall shot distribution, shotgun and ammunition performance.

Recent interest has been given in automating the shot pattern analysis procedure. This is achieved with the use of image capture devices. The paper target after being fired is processed by an image capturing device such as a CCD camera. The image is then being digitized and scanned with the aid of specialised software for the purpose of identifying the shots within the target area. The most relevant inventions relating to the automation of the shot pattern capture and analysis are discussed briefly in the following sections.

Reinsch, R. A., US Pat. No. 5,134,661 teaches apparatus and methods for electronically processing shotgun target images. The proposed apparatus involves a rigid rectangular frame where the target is placed and an image folding apparatus for capturing the target image. The image folding apparatus consists of a rotating drum which is illuminated from the inside and a complicated mirror arrangement for viewing the target image from a video camera. After firing, the target is wrapped around the illuminating drum and the camera identifies the holes created by the shots as bright spots in contrast to the rest of the target area. This apparatus can be expensive due to its complex structure and relies solely in the precision of the optical arrangement involved. It can only work in a "bright-spot" detection mode. The apparatus fails to recognise the need for an automatic target feed, since a new target wrapped around the illuminating drum will overlap the previous target, which in turn obstructs the illumination for accurate identification of the shots within the new target.

Poirier, K., US Pat. No. 5,031,920 teaches an apparatus for viewing, storing and printing target shot patterns. This invention is intended for single-projectile weapons, such as rifles and handguns. The apparatus consist of a target chamber placed at the end of the target range, a continuous target feed, a camera placed above the target chamber and a video micrometer for measuring the shot pattern.

The video micrometer works in an analogue mode with no digital capabilities. After firing, the shot identification is performed by moving a cross-hair displayed on the video micrometer to the position of the shot as viewed by the camera. The position of the shot is displayed on the video micrometer and then linked to the physical position of the shot within the target area. For multi-projectile weapons, such as shotguns and machine-guns, the identification of each shot within the target area can be just as difficult and labour intensive as the manual procedure with no additional information about the shot distribution.

The present invention overcomes many of the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a target framework which is pivoting on a fixed or wheeled base, a target system with reusable painted target surface, means for capturing and recording the shot pattern, means for digitising the shot pattern image, means for analysing the digitised shot pattern image.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, it will now be described by way of two examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the shot target system for shotgun patterns, FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing the details of the pivoting mechanism which allows the target frame to rotate relative to the wheeled base, FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of the pivoting mechanism, FIGURE 4 shows the details of the target board, FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing the details of the target paint spreading mechanism, FIGURE 6 is a front view showing details of the target paint spreading mechanism, FIGURE 7 shows the generated shotgun pattern on the target board after it has been fired at, FIGURE 8 shows the operation of the repaint mechanism, FIGURE 9 shows the details of the components which control the upward and downward movement of the target paint spreading mechanism, FIGURE 10 shows an alternative embodiment using single-projectile weapons, such as rifles and handguns, fired by several individuals.

The first example is the preferred embodiment of the invention intended for shotgun patterns.

RefelTing now to Fig 1, the shot target system consists of a rigid rectangular target frame 1 with a target board 2 and a target paint spreading mechanism 3. The target frame 1 is attached to the wheeled base frame 4 by means of a pivoting mechanism 5. A video camera 6 is mounted on the support arm 7 which is fixed on one side of the wheeled base frame 4. The target frame 1 is pivoted on the wheeled base 4 with two reference positions defined as the "shoot position" and "camera position". The "shoot position" of the target frame 1 is as shown in Fig 1, where the target board 2 is viewed by the shooter. The "camera position is taken as the position when the target frame 1 is rotated by 180 degrees and the target board 2 is viewed by the video camera 6. The video output from the video camera 6 is then transferred to the video digitiser 8 via a video transmission cable 9.

The function of the video digitiser 8 is to translate the video output into a binary format. The binary data, representing the target image, is transferred to a digital computer 10 via a data transmission cable 11. The control box 12, embodies a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), a number of relays and manual buttons for controlling the pivoting motion of the target frame 1 and operation of the target paint spreading mechanism 3.

The pivoting mechanism 5 of the target frame 1 is now described with reference to Fig 1, Fig 2 and Fig 3. A support plate 13 is secured on the lower part of the lower horizontal member 14 of the target frame 1. One end of the pivoting shaft 15 is fixed on the support plate 13. The pivoting shaft fits inside the shaft housing 16. The shaft housing is secured on the support plate 17 of the wheeled base frame 4. The pivoting shaft 15 rests on a thrust ball bearing 18 and can pivot freely around its axis with the aid of a roller bearing 19 fitted inside the shaft housing 16. A timing pulley is secured on the free end of the pivoting shaft 15. A timing pulley 21 is secured on the drive shaft 22 of the geared motor 23. The geared motor 23 is secured below the support plate 17 of the wheeled base frame 4. A timing belt 24 connects the timing pulleys 21 and 20. This arrangement enables the target frame 1 to pivot with reference to the vertical centre axis of the wheeled base frame 4 in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. The pivoting speed of the target frame 1 should be relatively low so as to minimise the inertia effects due the relatively large size of the target frame 1. This is achieved by selecting a geared motor 23 with high gear ratio and by selecting a timing pulley 20 with larger diameter than that of the timing pulley 21. The geared motor 23 should be powered preferably by Direct Voltage supply so as to enable the rotation in both directions by changing over the polarity of the power supply. Pin 25 mounted on the timing puley activates the forward switch 26 and reverse switch 27. The forward switch 26 and reverse switch 27 are secured on the lower part of the support plate 17 of the wheeled base frame 4. The position of the forward switch 26 is such that so that when the target frame 1 pivots in the clockwise direction, the pin 25 will activate the forward switch 26 when the target frame 1 reaches the "camera position". The position of the reverse switch 27 is such so that when the target frame 1 pivots in the anticlockwise direction, the pin 25 will activate the reverse switch 27 when the target frame 1 reaches the "shoot position". The control box 12 controls the operation of the geared motor 23 through the activation of the forward switch 26 and reverse switch 27.

The target board 2 is now described with reference to Fig 1 and Fig 4. The target board 2 consists of a target sheet 28 which is secured on a wooden board 29 by means of an adhesive agent. The target sheet 28 can be of any material which has bright appearance and its surface hardness is suitable so that when the shotgun pellets hit the target, these will not cause permanent deformation or indentation to the surface of the target sheet 28. One such material is stainless steel which is in its natural state bright and has surface hardness suitable for the purpose of the proposed target system.

The target board 2 is fixed onto the three horizontal members 14, 30 and 31 of the target frame 1 by means of suitable fixing screws.

The target paint spreading mechanism 3 is now described with reference to Fig 1, Fig 5 and Fig 6.

The target paint spreading mechanism 3 consists of a horizontal rigid support member 33 fixed on sliders 34 at either end. In this way the rigid support member 33 is able to slide up and down along the sliding guides 35. The sliding guides 35 are fixed to the upper and lower horizontal members 31 and 14 of the target frame 1 with the supports 36. The movement of the support member 33 along the sliding guides 35 is achieved using a chain link mechanism. A geared motor 37 is supported on the lower horizontal member 14 of the target frame 1 with an angle bracket 38. A drive sprocket 39 is fitted on the geared motor 37 shaft. The drive sprocket 39 is linked to one side of the duplex driven sprocket 40 with a suitable chain 41. The duplex driven sprocket 40 is secured on the bracket 42 with a centre shaft 43 which fits inside the roller bearing 44. The housing of the roller bearing 44 is fixed on the bracket 42. The bracket 42 is fixed on the lower part of the vertical member 45 of the target frame 1. The other side of the duplex sprocket 40 links with a suitable chain 46 to the upper sprocket 47 which is secured on the upper bracket 48 with a centre shaft 49 which fits inside the roller bearing 50. The housing of the roller bearing 50 is fixed on the upper bracket 48. The rotation of the sprocket 47 is transmitted to the sprocket 51 on the opposite side via a shaft 52 which connects the two sprockets. The driven sprocket 51 is secured on the bracket 53 which is fixed on the vertical member 54 of the target frame 1. The centre shaft 55 of the sprocket 51 fits inside the roller bearing 56. The housing of the roller bearing 56 is fixed on the bracket 53. The sprocket 51 links with a suitable chain 57 to the lower sprocket 58 which is secured on the bracket 59 which is fixed on the lower end of the vertical member 54 of the target frame 1. The centre shaft 60 of the sprocket 58 fits inside the roller bearing 61. The housing of the roller bearing 61 is fixed on the bracket 59. The chain 46 is fastened on slider 34. On the opposite side, the chain 57 is fastened on slider 62. This arrangement enables the horizontal rigid support member 33 to move up and down without misalignment when the geared motor 37 is in operation. A horizontal paint spreader 63 is secured on the sliding support member 33 with three shoulder bolts 64. The shoulder bolts 64 pass through the bushings 65 fitted on the support member 33. The threaded end of the shoulder bolts 64 screw on the paint spreader 63. In this way the paint spreader 63 can move horizontally backwards and forwards. Compression springs 66 are fitted to the shoulder bolts 64 between the support member 33 and the paint spreader 63. The spring action enables the paint spreader 63 to exert constant force against the target sheet 28. At the front of the paint spreader 63 a soft pad 67 is bonded. The soft pad 67 can be made of any material such as medium density foam wrapped in fabric material, typical what is used to make ink pads.

Referring now to Fig 7, the sequence of events for repainting the target after it has been fire at is described. Initially, the target sheet 28 is covered manually with dark colour oil based ink, similar to that used for stamp endorsement. This type of ink can not dry when applied to non absorbing material such as stainless steel from which the target sheet 28 can be made off. When the target is fired at, the shotgun pellets hit the target sheet 28 and displace the ink at the point of impact 68, thus exposing the bright colour of the target sheet 28. In this way, a highly contrast view of the shotgun pattern 69 is created. The shotgun pellets that hit the target sheet 28 are represented with bright spots 68 as opposed to the dark colour of the ink covering the target sheet 28 area. To repaint the target sheet 28 the target paint spreading mechanism 3 is put in operation by supplying power to the geared motor 37. The chain mechanism moves the support member 33 downwards. The soft pad 67 as it moves downwards spreads the ink thus covering the bright spots 70 previously created from the shotgun pellets. When the support member 33 moves to the lowest position along the sliding guides 35, the target sheet 28 is again completely covered with dark colour ink and ready to be fired at again. When the target sheet 28 is again fired at, the re-painting operation is repeated by moving the support member 33 in the upwards direction until it reaches the highest position along the sliding guides 35.

RefelTing now to Fig 1 and Fig 9, the control of the upward and downward movement of the support member 33 is described. When the support member 33 moves to the highest position along the sliding guides 35, the pins 70 and 71 that extend from either side of the horizontal paint spreader 63 activate the lever switches 72 and 73 which are mounted on the upper horizontal member 31 of the target frame 1. The lever switches 72 and 73 are connected in series and when either one is activated a command is send to the control box 12 to stop the rotation of the geared motor 37 and at the same time reverse the polarity of the power supply to the geared motor 37.

When an external command is send again to the control box 12 to operate the target paint spreading mechanism 3, the control box 12 supplies power to the gear motor 37 which moves the support member 33 downwards to repeat the repaint operation of the target sheet 28. When the support member 33 has reached the lowest position along the sliding guides 35, the pins 70 and 71 activate the lever switches 74 and 75 which are mounted on the lower horizontal member 14 of the target frame 1. The lever switches 74 and 75 are connected in series and when either one is activated a command is send to the control box 12 to stop the rotation of the geared motor 37 and at the same time reverse the polarity of the power supply to the geared motor 37. When an external command is send again to the control box 12 to operate the target paint spreading mechanism 3, the control box 12 supplies power to the gear motor 37 which moves the support member 33 upwards to repeat the repaint operation of the target sheet 28.

A typical sequence of events of the prefened embodiment for shotgun patterns is described next. A shooter fires at the target sheet 28 while the target frame 1 is at the "shoot position". After firing, an external command is send to the control box 12 which in turn supplies power to the gear motor 23.

The target frame 1 rotates clockwise until the pin 25 activates the forward switch 26 which in turn sends a signal to the control box 12 to stop the geared motor 23 and reverse the polarity of the power supply of the geared motor 23. The target frame 1 is now at the "camera position". An external command is then send to the video camera 6 to capture an image of the target sheet 28 which is then transferred to the video digitiser 8 and converted into binary format. The binary image is then transfened to the digital computer 10 for further processing. An external signal is then send to the control box 12 which in turn supplies power to the gear motor 23 and the target frame 1 rotates in the anticlockwise direction until pin 25 activates the reverse switch 27. When the reverse switch 27 is activated it sends a signal to the control box 12 to stop the geared motor 23 and reverse the polarity of the power supply of the geared motor 23 for its next operation. The target frame 1 is now at the "shoot position". An external signal is then send to the control box 12 to operate the target paint spreading mechanism 3. The control box supplies power to the geared motor 37 which in turn through the chain link mechanism moves the support member 33 in the upward direction along the sliding guides 35. As the support member 33 moves in the upward direction, the soft pad 67 which is attached to the paint spreader 63 spreads the ink evenly over the target sheet 28 covering with ink the bright spots 70 created by the shotgun pellets after the target sheet has been fired at. When the support member 33 is moved to the highest position along the sliding guides 35, the pins 71 and 72 activate the lever switches 73 and 74 which in turn send a signal to the control box 12 to stop the geared motor 37 and reverse the polarity of the power supply of the geared motor 37 for its next operation. The target system is then ready to be fired at again by the shooter and the cycle to be repeated.

The second example, is the preferred embodiment of the invention intended for multiple shoot ranges using single-projectile weapons, such as rifles and handguns, fired by several individuals.

RefelTing now to Fig 10, the construction and operation of a shot pattern system is similar to the shot pattern apparatus described in the first example of the prefened embodiment intended for shotgun patterns. The size of the target frame 1, target board 2, target paint spreading mechanism 3 and pivoting mechanism 5 as were previously described reference to Fig 1, are scaled accordingly to accommodate the preferred size of targets used for single-projectile weapons. The multi-user apparatus are arranged preferably in a row as shown in Fig 9 where the target sheet 28 face the shooting position. The live video signal from each of the video cameras 6 is transferred to the multi-channel video digitiser 76 which transforms each live video signal into the corresponding binary format representing each target image separately. The binary data representing each target image, are transferred sequentially or simultaneously to the digital computer 10 via data transmission cable 11. The digital computer 10 analyses the binary data of each of the target images and reconstructs each shot pattern in digital format.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A shot target system comprising of a target framework which is pivoting on a wheeled base, means for automatic repainting of the target board, means for capturing and recording the shot pattern, means for digitising the shot pattern image, means for analysing the digitised shot pattern image.
2. A shot target system according to claim 1, in which the pivoting mechanism is provided for sequentially rotating the target framework to face the shooting range and then the video camera.
3. A shot target system according to claim 1, in which the target board is provided made of hard and bright colour material.
4. A shot target system according to claim 3, in which the target paint spreading mechanism is provided, so that dark colour ink is spread to cover the target board and provide distinguishable marks representing the shots when fired at.
5. A shot target system according to claim 1, in which the video capturing and digitizer is provided so that a digital image representing the shot pattern is created.
6. A number of shot target systems and means according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4 and claim 5, for multi-user applications and means for capturing, recording, digitising and analysing multiple target images simultaneously or sequentially.