TW202136704A - Determination of round count by hall switch encoding - Google Patents

Abstract

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and apparatus for detecting and displaying a number of rounds in a firearm magazine comprising a maximum number of N rounds. The magazine may comprise a follower, magnets on the follower, and < N magnetic switches arranged along a path of the magnets when the follower moves along a length of the magazine, the switches configured to activate based on a magnetic field exceeding a threshold, and a first antenna arranged on an inside of the magazine and parallel to a firing direction of the firearm, and configured to wirelessly transmit a round count indication to a second antenna on the firearm, the round count indication based on the round count data, the second antenna affixed to an inside of a magazine well of the firearm and mostly overlapping with the first antenna.

Description

Judgment of ammunition count by Hall switch coding

The present invention generally relates to gun ammunition/bullet counting. In particular (but not limited to), the present invention relates to a system, method and device for wirelessly counting the number of ammunition left in a magazine.

US Patent No. 9612068 discloses a magnet (180) that can be coupled to a spring to support a spring plate and is coupled to another part of a magazine or gun and is configured to detect the proximity of the magnet (180). Letter element (145). For example, the signaling element (145) may include a reed switch or Hall effect sensor. The proximity of the magnet (180) is converted by the signal transmission element (145) into a signal indicating the bullet status of the gun (105). Then, the signaling component (145) can send a wired or wireless signal to a reporting component (130, 135) to display a remaining ammunition count to the gun user. There is no sensor in the magazine.

US Patent No. 9784511 discloses a magnet (33) on the spring support plate (38) or compression spring (34), which causes the tactile indicator (44) to physically move on one of the outer parts of the magazine to thereby provide the inside of the magazine One of the tactile indications of the position of the supporting board.

US Patent No. 8215044 discloses a gray-coded ferromagnetic strip arranged along the magazine to indicate a position of a support plate and therefore indicate the ammunition count of a magazine.

International Patent No. WO2018172738 discloses an ammunition counting device for monitoring the number of ammunition contained in a gun magazine. The system includes a magnet installed on the support plate and a plurality of reed switches arranged in a spaced arrangement along a length of the magazine. When the support plate is in a given position, the adjacent reed switch is activated, and a signal indicating the number of ammunition in the magazine is provided.

US Patent No. 5,303,495 discloses a pistol with a grip that completely encloses a magazine. The firearm also includes a permanent magnet (92) mounted on a top rail of a support spring 93 and a series of Hall-effect switches mounted on a mylar base plate (95) in the hollow handle of the firearm. (94). The number of Hall-effect switches (94) is equal to the number of cartridges to be counted, and the switch (94) in which the magnets (92) will be positioned directly adjacent to the position of a switch 94 when firing each ammunition. One cartridge diameter. One Hall-effect switch (94) is activated at a time. There is no sensor in the magazine.

U.S. Publication No. 20110252682 discloses one of the handle of a long gun or a receiver member (41) (such as a Hall-effect sensor) in the magazine chamber, and its sensing is located on one of the cartridge lifters (22) The magnetic field strength of one of the magnets (24). As far as the long gun is concerned, the present invention proposes to monitor only the last cartridge in the magazine (21). Therefore, the receiver member (41) is placed in an area adjacent to the upper part of the magazine (21) (ie, In the magazine room). There is no sensor in the magazine.

The following presents a simplified overview related to one or more aspects and/or embodiments disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary should not be regarded as a broad overview related to all considered aspects and/or embodiments, and the following summary should not be regarded as identifying the key or critical points related to all considered aspects and/or embodiments. Elements or definitions are associated with any particular aspect and/or embodiment category. Therefore, the following summary is only used to present the specific concepts related to one or more aspects and/or embodiments of the mechanism disclosed herein in a simplified form before the detailed description presented below.

Some embodiments of the present invention can be characterized as an ammunition counting system for a gun with a detachable magazine, the system including a magazine and a support plate, the support plate including one or more magnets, And the magazine includes: magnetic switches, which are arranged substantially along a path of the one or more magnets when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, and the magnetic switches are configured to be based on the one Or a plurality of magnets are activated relative to a position of one of the magnetic switches and a respective magnetic field of one of the magnetic switches exceeds a threshold value; and a first antenna configured to be at least partially assembled in the The first antenna is configured to indicate one of the magnetic switches or one of the active magnetic switches in an area of the magazine in the magazine room of a gun and parallel to the shooting direction of the gun. At least one of ammunition count data or an ammunition count indication is wirelessly transmitted to a second wireless antenna on the gun, wherein the first antenna wirelessly receives power from the gun, and wherein the power from the gun is used for the Wait for the magnetic switch to supply power, and wherein the second antenna is configured to be attached to the inside of a magazine compartment of the gun and has an area substantially overlapping with an area of the first antenna.

Another embodiment of the present invention can be characterized as a method for modifying a magazine using an ammunition counting system, the magazine including a support plate, and the method includes: installing one or more magnets on the support plate On; when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, substantially along a path of the one or more magnets <N magnetic switches, where N can be loaded in the magazine of the cartridge A maximum number, the magnetic switches are configured to be activated based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to one of the <N magnetic switches and the respective magnetic field of one of the magnetic switches exceeds a threshold value; The configuration is configured to be at least partially assembled in an area of the magazine in a magazine chamber of the gun and to arrange a first antenna parallel to a shooting direction of the gun, and the first antenna is configured to set the < At least one of an indication of one of the N magnetic switches or one of the multiple active magnetic switches, ammunition count data, or an ammunition count indication is wirelessly transmitted to a second antenna on the gun, wherein the first antenna is configured such that An area of the first antenna defined by a height and width is mainly aligned with an area of the second antenna coupled to the inside of a magazine compartment of the gun.

Another embodiment of the present invention can be characterized as a method of manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system. The magazine includes a support plate, wherein the support plate includes one or more magnets, and the method includes: When the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, substantially <N magnetic switches are arranged along a path of the one or more magnets, where N is the largest one of the cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine Number, the magnetic switches are configured to be activated based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to one of the <N magnetic switches and the respective magnetic field of one of the magnetic switches exceeds a threshold; The antenna is configured in an area of the magazine that is configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun, and the first antenna is configured to activate one or more of the <N magnetic switches At least one of an indication of the switch, ammunition count data, or an ammunition count indication is wirelessly transmitted to a second wireless antenna on the gun, wherein the first antenna wirelessly receives power from the gun, and wherein the gun from the gun Electricity is used to power the <N magnetic switches, wherein the first antenna is configured such that an area of the first antenna defined by a height and width is mainly coupled to the inside of a magazine compartment of the gun A region of the second antenna is aligned.

Another embodiment of the present invention can be characterized as a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium, which uses processor-readable instruction encoding to execute for detecting and displaying ammunition left in one or more gun magazines One method of one number of barrels, each gun magazine includes: a support plate, the support plate includes one or more magnets; a magnetic switch, which waits substantially when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine The upper side is arranged along a path of the one or more magnets, and the magnetic switches are configured to be activated based on the magnetic field of one of the magnetic switches exceeding a threshold value. The method includes: identifying one or more uniquely Is assigned to one or more first antennas, wherein each unique identifier is associated with one first antenna; for each gun magazine inserted into the gun’s magazine compartment, a respective ammunition count indicator is identified; for insertion To each gun magazine in the magazine compartment of the gun to temporarily store the respective ammunition count indication and the unique identifier assigned to the first antenna of the respective gun magazine, one of the second antennas is configured To receive the unique identifier after inserting the respective gun magazine into the magazine compartment; and display the respective ammunition count indication of the one or more gun magazines on a user interface of the gun, wherein The user interface is selected from the group consisting of: a number displayed on a red dot oscilloscope or an aiming display, a frequency of a flashing light, a color of one or more lights, and a multi-pixel display A number on the display, a number of LED lights on an LED display, an audible signal, a fuel gauge indicator or a graph indicator. The user interface can also reside outside the gun, for example, to give two non-limiting examples, located in augmented reality glasses or a commander display.

The priority claim according to 35 USC § 119 This patent application claims the priority of the U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/003,041 filed on March 31, 2020 under the name "Determination of Round Count by Hall Switch Encoding", and Claim the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/965,761 named "Determination of Round Count by Hall Switch Encoding" and filed on January 24, 2020. This patent application is also a partial continuation of the U.S. Patent Application No. 16/635,692 named "Determination of Round Count by Hall Switch Encoding" and filed on January 31, 2020, and the U.S. Patent Application No. 16/635,692 According to 35 USC 371, the PCT application named ``Determination of Round Count by Hall Switch Encoding'', filed on October 22, 2019 and published as WO2020/086598, is one of the national applications of PCT/US2019/057460 , PCT Application No. PCT/US2019/057460 claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/748,602 named "Determination of Round Count by Hall Switch Encoding" and filed on October 22, 2018. All the above-mentioned applications are assigned to the assignee of this application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Although it has spent decades trying to develop an accurate, durable, low-cost and reliable ammunition counting system for small arms (this application refers to the early ammunition counting system applied for as early as 1992), but it has not solved all the challenges to achieve it. Commercial interests. For example, RADETEC (Rade Technology) has developed two main lines of ammunition counters: one is part of a gun handle and uses a magnet on the bullet plate and a magnetic field sensor in the gun handle to estimate the magnet and the sensor. Measure the distance of the instrument and use this to estimate the position of one of the pallets and therefore estimate the number of ammunition in the magazine; the other is for the pike mounts such as AR-15, and this system uses one of the pallets again The magnet is a magnetic field sensor in the magazine chamber or the receiver to detect a distance between the magnet and the sensor. Both systems rely on analog magnetic field sensors that are prone to low signal-to-noise ratio and therefore erroneous readings. In addition, two of these systems also use "long-distance" magnetic field sensing. The strength of the magnetic field decreases ^{exponentially with distance (for example, r 2} ), so even a small distance increases will have a profound effect on the field strength. By positioning the magnet inside the magazine and the sensor outside the magazine (in the handle or receiver), the magnetic field is greatly reduced when it reaches the sensor. In addition, as far as the long gun type is concerned, because the sensor is only arranged on the magazine compartment or receiver, the magnet is even farther away for a full or almost full magazine. In addition, the layer of material (such as metal) between the magnet and the sensor will further interfere and degrade the magnetic field detected by the sensor, and the thickness of this material is usually not consistent along one of the lengths of the magazine. For example, in the long gun type, the magazine chamber does not extend along the entire length of the magazine, which means that different materials and material thicknesses are inserted between the magnet and the sensor(s) for different positions of the holding plate. All these factors result in a system that suffers from a high and variable signal-to-clutter ratio and ultimately leads to inaccurate ammunition counting. From the point of view of ease of use, the Radetec technology also requires users to calibrate the system before use, and this calibration is inconvenient.

In some aspects, the present invention alleviates some of the problems that the industry has not solved for more than 30 years by combining some or all of the following: (1) Use of Hall-effect switches instead of Hall-effect sensors; (2) ) A Hall-effect switch is arranged along the full length of one of the path of the supporting plate, so that the position of each cartridge has a consistent signal strength and a high signal-to-noise ratio; (3) The magnetic sensor or switch is arranged in the magazine, where the magnetic sensor The device or switch is close to the magnet on the spring board to maximize the magnetic field strength at the magnetic sensor or switch; (4) A plane or "thin" (for example, about 2 mm to about 6 mm thick) near field communication (NFC) The antenna is arranged in the magazine; (5) A processor is arranged in the magazine to process the sensor signal before transmission across the wireless connection; and (6) It is connected to one of the guns such as a battery via NFC The power source harvests energy.

(1) Hall effect switch

Most systems rely on Hall-effect sensors instead of Hall-effect switches to detect a magnet in a spring board, because these more advanced sensors can better determine the position of a magnet in a single use ( For example, a Hall-effect sensor provides an analog signal proportional to the magnetic field strength and therefore distance, while a single Hall-effect switch provides a high or low signal that varies with a threshold magnetic field). For the purpose of the present invention, a "Hall effect switch" is configured to provide a digital or at least one of pulse or square wave output compared to a wave or sinusoidal analog output by a "Hall effect sensor" Magnetic switch. In some situations, Hall-effect sensors are susceptible to many of the variables mentioned above with respect to the Radtec block. A system using Hall-effect sensors usually requires user calibration due to its susceptibility to these variables. In addition, the Hall-effect sensor also requires an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to process its signal, which increases the computational complexity of the system using one of these sensors. The inventor of the present invention unexpectedly discovered that the simpler Hall-effect switch does not need to be used in an array with <N magnetic switches (or N/2) (where N = the maximum number of cartridges in the magazine). An ADC is calibrated and can provide a more accurate carrier plate position than an array of Hall-effect sensors equal to or greater than the number of cartridge positions in the magazine.

In order to implement a Hall-effect switch array where the number of magnetic switches is less than N, a processor can be used to evaluate the signals from the array and two solutions are sought: (1) When only a single magnetic switch or Hall-effect switch is active When two magnetic switches or Hall-effect switches are active, the spring-supporting plate may be closely aligned with the magnetic switch or Hall-effect switch; Using these two solutions, even if using <N or N/2 or N/3 or N/4 magnetic or Hall effect switches, the processor can distinguish each cartridge position. In some cases, reducing the number of switches can also be used to reduce cost and complexity.

Another advantage of using magnetic or Hall-effect switches is that the processor can analyze the switch output and determine the number of cartridges without storing any status or other data in the memory. Therefore, in some embodiments, a processor with less or no cache/memory can be implemented. Alternatively, this implementation may allow a processor with a cache/memory to optimize the use of cache/memory for ammunition counting processing.

(2) Sensors arranged along the full length of one of the magazines

Although Hall effect sensors can be used to estimate the distance to a moving magnet using a single sensor, these systems also introduce errors because each cartridge position must be associated with a unique magnetic field strength. By positioning the magnetic field sensor along the full length of one of the magazines, the sensor can be configured so that each cartridge position can be correlated with a consistent magnetic field strength, thereby greatly reducing errors. This also helps avoid the calibration challenges seen in the prior art.

(3) Sensor in the magazine

Most existing systems use sensors outside the magazine, because this simplifies manufacturing and design. This also avoids the challenge of having to wirelessly transmit data from the magazine to the gun. However, in some cases, these systems are not sufficient for actual implementation, which can be overcome by choosing a more complicated route for positioning the sensor in the magazine. For example, US Patent No. 9612068 vaguely mentions that ammunition count information can be wirelessly transmitted to a display, but it does not provide advantageous details surrounding this so-called wireless embodiment. WO2018172738 also vaguely indicates that a wireless chip can be implemented, but does not further discuss the relevant details required to implement this wireless embodiment. Therefore, this technology does not solve in detail the challenges associated with obtaining ammunition count data from the magazine to the gun. The aspect of the present invention relates to, for example, achieving a more consistent magnetic field strength measurement by providing almost no material between the magnet of the spring support plate and the magnetic field strength sensor. In addition, the strongest possible magnetic field can be picked up by positioning the sensor or switch closer to the spring support plate than in the prior art, which can also be used to minimize errors.

(4) Antenna in the magazine

In fact, the wireless communication between the magazine and the gun is full of many challenges that the known system cannot recognize and cannot solve. For example, most wireless technologies consume power. Electricity requires bulky batteries. Therefore, power-consuming wireless systems result in bulky guns, which are not conducive to field use to some extent. Although there are known low-power wireless protocols such as Near Field Communication (NFC), these protocols only operate at very short distances and it is often difficult for signals to pass through anything other than air (for example, passing through a component of a gun can cause Error of data transmission). In addition, because a gun is a high-tolerance device and is designed to fit into the smallest available space, the additional space for inserting or disposing an antenna on a gun is severely limited. However, the inventor found that there are two unused areas in close proximity to a gun, so that there is no need for any metal components between them, which proved to be an ideal location for two interoperable planar NFC antennas. That is, in the front part of the magazine where one of the magazines is tapered, there is a space in the polymer magazine that can be cut to assemble a planar NFC antenna without compromising the structural integrity of the magazine. There is also a depression in the left side of an AR-15 magazine compartment, which does not touch the magazine and is just deep enough (for example, depth: 0.0175+/-0.0075 inches (0.44+/-0.19 mm), width: 1.77 inches (45 mm), height: 2 inches (50.8 mm)) to assemble a thin (for example, thickness: 0.010 inches (0.25 mm), height: 1.6 inches (40.64 mm)) without interfering with the insertion and removal of the magazine, W : 1.050 inches (26.67 mm)) planar NFC antenna. In some cases, the NFC antenna can be fabricated on a dielectric substrate (such as ROGERS RT/DUROID or RO3000 or DiClad series composite/laminate materials, gallium arsenide (GaAs), GaN, epoxy or for high frequency A microstrip patch antenna on any other composite or substrate in the application.

Even after the inventor found a solution to avoid the metal interference between the antennas to allow a low-power wireless system to enter the magazine compartment, this solution created a new problem: how to store the wired storage between the antennas inside the magazine compartment Take one of the external displays provided to the receiver. Again, the high tolerance of a gun does not leave much (if any) space to run the wiring between these two components. Unexpectedly, the substrate of the planar NFC antenna is flexible, and the inventor realized that a part of the NFC circuit board can be flexed around the bottom of one of the magazine compartments and then adhered to the outside of one of the magazine compartments (for example, refer to the figure). 14. Figures 16 and 17), where a connection to an RF cable can be made to thereby avoid having to drill/machine any openings in the receiver to provide a routing path for a traditional cable.

In some embodiments, an antenna may be arranged in a magazine room of a slightly thicker size, such as larger than 2 mm but smaller than 6 mm or smaller than 10 mm. In some cases, an antenna may be embedded in a wall of the magazine chamber (for example, a front wall of the magazine chamber close to the trigger guard). In some cases, an antenna may be built into a part of the trigger guard adjacent to the magazine compartment or partly built into the trigger guard and partly extended into the magazine compartment within the allowable range.

(5) The processor in the magazine

Another challenge in placing the sensor in the magazine is to minimize the bandwidth requirements of the wireless connection. The prior art uses a processor in or on a gun (such as a receiver) to process raw data signals from one or more sensors. If this same technique is applied to the inventor's Hall-effect switching method, more than thirty separate data streams will be wirelessly transmitted through the NFC connection. In order to avoid the burden of NFC connection, the inventor found that placing a processor on the magazine to process the Hall-effect switch signal allows a single indication of the ammunition count to be transmitted across the NFC connection, thereby greatly reducing the processing throughput requirements of the NFC connection.

(6) To the magazine wireless Power transmission

Reducing cost and weight means minimizing the number of batteries required for the ammunition counting system. Fewer batteries not only reduce cost and complexity, but also reduce logistics and maintenance concerns. The prior art system includes a battery on the gun, but it is usually not used to power any components on the magazine. When a magazine draws power, the prior art uses a battery on a second magazine. The inventor has realized a system that has a single battery but can also provide power to the magazine. Specifically, the NFC connection can unexpectedly transmit both data and power to allow the magazine to upload ammunition count data to the gun, while transmitting power back to the magazine in the opposite direction.

It can be seen that an effective ammunition counting system for guns (such as an AR-15 and most semi-automatic long guns) that can be inserted into a magazine in a magazine compartment is not only a complex challenge that requires design choices. A holistic approach that needs to overcome a large number of challenges. The discovery of each invention usually leads to a new challenge to be solved, and one of the various benefits must be found to balance the invention to reach a system-level solution. The industry has sought an effective, reliable and accurate solution for ammunition counting for more than 30 years, but little progress has been made (for example, US Patent No. 5303495 of 1992 uses a sensor for each cartridge). Although this challenge has existed for decades, no one has come up with a solution that is as simple, low-power, lightweight, accurate and reliable as the solution disclosed in this article.

Alternative

In some cases, the reed switch can be a viable alternative to the Hall effect switch. Like the Hall effect switch, the reed switch can be an example of an electrical switch that uses an applied magnetic field to operate. There are two main variants of reed switches: normally open and normally closed switches. A normally open reed switch can be disconnected or disconnected under the influence of a magnetic field, while a normally closed (or closed) reed switch (such as a reed switch found in a flip phone or laptop computer) can be in a magnetic field Start to flow current. In some cases, a normally closed reed switch can be implemented in an ammunition counting system. For example, when a magnet on a spring board is adjacent to the reed switch, a normally closed reed switch is activated. In these cases, a magnetic processing circuit connected to a plurality of reed switches (for example, N/2+1) arranged along the inside of the magazine can identify which reed switch has been activated and then determine which of the reed switches is supported. Location (and ammunition count). This embodiment will achieve a low-power application because the reed switch does not require external power to operate.

In some scenarios, capacitive band encoders can be used in an ammunition counting system. Capacitive band encoders can use a high-frequency reference signal to measure a change in capacitance as a measurement of displacement (ie, linear or rotational). An ammunition count can be judged by analyzing the change in capacitance when the supporting board moves through the magazine. In one example, capacitive sensors (such as those found in digital calipers) can be arranged along the inside of the magazine. In some cases, the support plate may include a circuit board, and a plurality of rectangular notches (or grids) may be carved into a metal band inside the magazine. In some cases, the grid on the circuit board and the metal strip can form a grid of capacitors. In addition, when the support plate moves along the inside of the magazine, the rectangular notch can be aligned or misaligned with the circuit board to cause a change in capacitance. In some cases, a processor in the magazine or the gun can determine a position (and a count of ammunition) in the magazine based on the analysis of the variable capacitance.

，其中

=8.854×10^-12 F/m (空間之電容率)，k=板之間的介電材料之相對電容率(自由空間為1，空氣約為1，其他介質＞1)，A=板之面積，d=板分離距離。在一些實施例中，電容可隨著托彈板之板與彈匣底板之間的距離變動而變動(即，電容隨著距離增大而減小)，因為其他因數係恆定的。在此等情況中，一電容偵測器或另一處理器可使電容與一已知托彈板位置相關且判斷彈匣中之剩餘彈藥之一數目。In another example, a spring inductance can be used to determine the position of a spring support plate, which can then be used to determine the number of ammunition remaining. For example, when the spring board moves and compresses or relaxes the spring, the spring inductance changes. A coil inductance detector or another device configured to measure an inductance can detect the spring inductance and correlate the spring inductance with a known pallet position and therefore a number of ammunition remaining. Additionally or alternatively, a capacitance value can be measured to determine the position of a spring board. In an example, the support plate and the magazine bottom plate may each include a metal plate on the bottom side and the top side thereof. In this way, the plates separated by the air gap can form a capacitor, where air is a dielectric material. In some cases, the capacitance of a capacitor (ie, a parallel plate capacitor) formed by two metal plates with a dielectric material between the two plates is given as follows:

,in

=8.854×10 ^-12 F/m (space permittivity), k = relative permittivity of the dielectric material between the plates (free space is 1, air is about 1, other media>1), A = plate Area, d=board separation distance. In some embodiments, the capacitance can vary with the distance between the plate of the support plate and the bottom plate of the magazine (ie, the capacitance decreases as the distance increases) because other factors are constant. In these cases, a capacitance detector or another processor can correlate the capacitance with a known position of the pallet and determine the number of ammunition remaining in the magazine.

In some scenarios, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used in an ammunition counting system. For example, an RFID tag can be placed on the magazine to accurately determine its position in the magazine. In some examples, an RFID reader can be placed on the weapon (for example, on the magazine compartment, trigger guard, or elsewhere on the receiver), and the determination can be based on a time delay of the signal received from the RFID tag The position of the support board. In some other cases, a unique RFID tag can be embedded in each ammunition of the magazine (for example, attached to or in each cartridge), and the magazine ammunition counting system can be left based on the RFID reader scanning. The ammunition in the magazine is used to determine the number of ammunition consumed (or remaining). Therefore, the RFID reader can also be used to identify an empty state of the magazine when there is no RFID tag identification.

In some embodiments, treatment may be performed on the gun side, the magazine side, or the crack between the magazine side and the gun side. For example, a processor on the gun side (referred to as a "gun processor" in this article) or a processor on the magazine side (referred to as a "magazine processor" in this article) can be configured to receive similar to the above One of the parallel plate capacitors and one of the parallel plate capacitors indicate one of the capacitances. The gun and/or magazine processor can use this single capacitance reading to first determine the distance between the support plate and the bottom plate of the magazine, and the gun and/or magazine processor can determine the distance left in the magazine based on it. The number of ammunition. Similarly, the gun and/or magazine processor can receive a single inductance reading of a spring that couples the support plate to the bottom plate of the magazine. The processor can determine the distance between the support plate and the bottom plate and the ammunition count of the magazine based on the inductance. In other cases, the gun and/or magazine processor can identify active magnetic or Hall effect switches (that is, switches that output a positive or high signal based on the magnetic field strength at the switch exceeding the magnetic field threshold) to determine the magazine One of the inner side supports the elastic board position. Then, the position of the support plate can be used to determine the ammunition count or the number of ammunition remaining in the magazine.

The term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily construed as being better or superior to other embodiments.

First of all, it should be noted that the flowcharts and block diagrams in the following figure illustrate the architecture, functions, and operations of possible implementation schemes of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, some blocks in these flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or part of a code, which includes one or more executable instructions for implementing (several) specified logic functions. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions mentioned in the blocks may not occur in the order mentioned in the figure. For example, two blocks displayed in succession may actually be executed at the same time, or blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block of the block diagram and/or flowchart and the combination of blocks in the block diagram and/or flowchart can be a system based on dedicated hardware that performs specified functions or actions or a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions Implement.

The following descriptions and detailed descriptions of various embodiments will help readers understand and understand the inventive concepts mentioned above.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a gun receiver and a detachable magazine, which illustrates an embodiment of an ammunition counting system based on a magnetic sensor. The firearm 102 may include a magazine 104 having a support plate 106 and one or more magnets 108 or a compression spring 110 attached to the support plate 106. The magazine 104 may also include a magnetic sensor array 112 (for example, a magnetic switch, such as a Hall effect switch). The array 112 may span the entire height of the magazine 104 or a certain subset thereof. For example, if the magnet(s) 108 is disposed at one of the seats 114 of the spring support plate 106, the spring support plate may have tines 115 that prevent the spring support plate support 114 from reaching the bottom of one of the magazines 104 when the magazine 104 is fully loaded. The bottom of the array 112 may be approximately aligned with a position of the magnet(s) 108 or approximately the height of the supporting plate base 114 above the bottom of the magazine 104. The array 112 may extend to a position on the top of the magazine 104 or below the top of the magazine 104.

When one or more magnets 108 are located within a threshold detection range of one or more magnetic sensors 112, the sensors 112 can generate a detection signal and provide this to a magnetic sensor for processing Circuit System 116. The processing circuit system can compare the signals from the sensor 112 to determine a position of the pallet 106 and convert this position into a number of remaining ammunition (or the number of consumed ammunition). Then, the ammunition count can be transmitted to the transmitter 118, and the transmitter 118 wirelessly transmits the ammunition count to a wireless receiver 120 and transmits the ammunition count to a display device 122. As shown in the figure, the display device 122 is attached to an external digital display of a red dot oscilloscope, but this is by no means a limitation. For example, the display device 122 may be configured on the gun (for example, integrated in an oscilloscope or attached to an external digital display of an oscilloscope, coupled to an external digital display of the gun receiver, and configured in the magazine 104 A digital display on a visible part, etc.), but it can also be configured on a user (for example, in a display of glasses/goggles). The display device 122 may be part of an oscilloscope (such as a red dot oscilloscope) or iron sight, but may also be a display separate from a sight/sighting member. Although the transmitter 118 and the receiver 120 are shown separated by a few inches, in other embodiments, these may be NFC interfaces and each may be configured within a few millimeters, for example, where the transmitter is located just under the magazine compartment and receives The device 120 is located on a part of the trigger guard closest to the bottom of one of the magazine chambers.

A typical magnetic sensor 112 starts to detect one or more magnets 108 at a distance, and the intensity of this detection increases as the one or more magnets 108 get closer to the sensor 112. Therefore, for example, when each sensor 112 generates a voltage proportional to the magnetic field generated by the one or more magnets 108, this voltage will increase as the one or more magnets 108 approach the sensor 112. When the voltage exceeds a threshold, the processing circuit system 116 can determine that the spring board 106 is close to the sensor 112 whose voltage exceeds the threshold.

Each sensor 112 may include an analog-to-digital converter 202 followed by a digital comparator 204. The digital comparator 204 compares the digital signal from the digital converter 202 with a reference signal 206 or threshold. When the digital comparator 204 finds that the signal from the digital converter 202 exceeds the reference signal 206, it can generate a detection signal and transmit it to the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116.

2A shows a variant in which each sensor 112 includes an analog-to-digital converter 202, a reference signal 206, and a comparator 204, wherein the output of the comparator 204 is provided to the processing circuit system 116. FIG. 2B illustrates an embodiment in which the output of each sensor 112 is converted into digits and then transmitted to the processing circuit system 116, and the comparator 204 of the processing circuit system 116 determines whether each signal exceeds the reference signal 206.

In an embodiment, the sensor 112, the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 may be configured on a circuit board or other substrate attached to an inner surface of a magazine. This can be performed during the manufacture of a magazine or during the modification of a magazine. For example, an adhesive can be applied to a back side of the substrate and the substrate can be transferred into the inside of the magazine and then close to one side of the magazine to fix it to the magazine via the adhesive. In one embodiment, a groove may be formed on an inner surface of the magazine, wherein the groove may be shaped and sized to allow the substrate to be attached to the groove (ie, the groove is slightly larger and/or Deeper than the substrate). In some examples, a grinder, drill, or CNC head that can spin around an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the tool head is inserted into the magazine can be used to laterally remove material from the inside of one of the magazines to form a groove .

Alternatively, a groove may be formed on an outer surface of the magazine, and the sensor 112, the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 may be disposed on a circuit board or a circuit board attached to the bottom of the groove. On other substrates. Then, a thin cover plate can be applied to the circuit board to protect it. Alternatively, the circuit board may be overmolded into an outer surface of the polymer magazine (for example, a low temperature overmolding may be used).

In another embodiment, a hole can be drilled through a magazine, where the holes can be spaced apart from each other. In some embodiments, the sensor 112 may be fixed in the hole (toward the inside of one of the holes). The converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 may be attached to the outside of the magazine, and electrical leads may be formed between each of the sensors and the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116. The lead can be formed on an outer surface of the magazine. Alternatively, a groove may be formed on an exterior of the magazine. In these cases, the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 can be attached in the groove, and a cover layer can be applied on the top of the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 to hold them together. Attach to the magazine and protect it from damage. For example, an epoxy resin or polymer with a relatively low melting temperature (for example, lower than a melting point of the solder used to make electrical connections to the converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116) can be liquefied and poured on The converter 202, the comparator 204, and the processor 116 are used to attach them to the magazine.

FIG. 3A shows a variation in which each sensor 112 may include an analog comparator 304 that compares the analog output of the sensor 112 with a reference signal 306. When the analog comparator 304 finds that the signal from the sensor 112 exceeds the reference signal 306, it can generate a detection signal and transmit it to the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116. FIG. 3B shows an embodiment in which the output of each sensor 112 is transmitted to the processing circuit system 116, and the comparator 304 of the processing circuit system 116 determines whether each signal exceeds the reference signal 306.

In another embodiment, each sensor 112 can send its signal in analog or digital form (an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is interspersed between the sensor and the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116) Provided to the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116. Then, the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116 can process these signals and determine a position of the spring board 106. For example, the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116 can be programmed or wired to determine that the sensor 112 with the strongest signal is closest to the spring board 106. The magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116 can be hard-wired with data or include data that provides a position of each sensor 112 in the memory.

In some examples, the reference signal 206 may be a threshold value to be compared with the output value of the sensor 112 before being transmitted to the magnetic sensor processing circuit system. In an embodiment, when the magnet is approximately equidistant from the two sensors, the threshold value may be slightly lower than the output value of one of the sensor(s) 112. For example, when a magnet is positioned between two adjacent sensors and the output voltages from the sensors are 2 V and 2.1 V, respectively, the reference signal 206 can be set to <2 V (for example, 1.95 V). In these cases, the output readings from the sensors farther away may not be passed to the processing circuitry (ie, if <1.95 volts). In some embodiments, an operational amplifier (or op-amp) can be used as a voltage comparator. The polarity of the output circuit of an operational amplifier depends on the polarity of the difference between two input voltages (ie, the input voltage and the reference voltage). Therefore, an operational amplifier can be used as a voltage comparator.

For example, the comparator 204 (or 304) may include an operational amplifier in which a first reference voltage (for example, the reference signal 206) is applied to an inverting input of the operational amplifier, and the voltage compared with the reference voltage (that is, from The output of the sensor 112 is applied to the non-inverting input. In some examples, a resistor divider (ie, for constant reference) or a battery source, diode, or potentiometer (ie, for variable reference) can be used to set the input reference voltage of the comparator (ie, Reference signal 206 or 306). The output voltage of the operational amplifier can depend on the value of the input voltage relative to the reference voltage. For example, if the input voltage is less than the reference voltage, the output voltage is negative; if it is equal to the reference voltage, the output voltage is zero; if it is greater than the reference voltage, the output voltage is positive. Therefore, based on the polarity and/or magnitude of the output voltage from the comparator or operational amplifier, only the signal exceeding the reference signal 206 (306) can be filtered and passed to the circuit system 116 for further processing.

The array 112 may include one sensor for each cartridge, wherein each sensor 112 is roughly arranged at a position where one of the cartridges will stop. However, in other embodiments, there may be one sensor 112 for every two cartridges: when one sensor 112 generates a strong signal and two adjacent sensors 112 generate a much weaker signal, the magnetic sensitivity The sensor processing circuit system 116 can determine that the magnet(s) 108 is closest to the sensor 112 that provides a strong signal; and when two adjacent sensors 112 provide substantially the same signal, the magnetic sensor processing circuit system 116 can determine The magnet(s) 108 is located between the two sensors 112. This configuration can reduce the number of sensors 112 and therefore reduce the complexity and cost of the array 112.

In an embodiment, instead of attaching a different magnet(s) 108 to the spring support plate 106, the spring support plate 106 may be made of a material that incorporates a magnetic material or is made of a magnetic material. For example, in some embodiments, a polymer support plate 106 having magnetic threads or particles incorporated into the polymer prior to molding and/or curing may be utilized. In some other cases, the sensor 112 may be positioned on the bullet support plate, and the magnet(s) 108 may be arranged along the inside of the magazine.

In one embodiment, the sensor 112, the comparator 304, and the processor 116 may be configured on a circuit board or other substrate attached to an inner surface of a magazine. This can be performed during the manufacture of a magazine or during the modification of a magazine. For example, an adhesive can be applied to a back side of the substrate and the substrate can be transferred into the inside of the magazine and then close to one side of the magazine to fix it to the magazine via the adhesive. In one embodiment, a groove that is just larger and exactly deeper than the substrate can be formed on an inner surface of the magazine, so that the substrate can be attached to the groove. For example, a grinder, drill, or CNC head capable of spinning around an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the tool head is inserted into the magazine can be used to laterally remove material from the inside of one of the magazines to form a groove.

In another embodiment, a magazine hole can be penetrated at a distance from each other and the sensor 112 can be fixed in the hole (toward the inside of one of the holes). The comparator and the processor can be attached to the outside of the magazine and electrical leads can be formed between each of the sensors and the comparator and the processor. The lead can be formed on an outer surface of the magazine. Alternatively, a groove may be formed on the outside of one of the magazines, the comparator and the processor may be attached in the groove, and a cover layer may be applied on the top of the comparator and the processor to attach them, etc. To the magazine and protect it from damage. For example, epoxy resins or polymers with a relatively low melting temperature (for example, lower than the melting point of the solder used to make electrical connections to the comparator and processor) can be liquefied and poured on the comparator and processor .

FIG. 4A shows a processor 116 that receives a signal from the Hall-effect switch 404, where there is a Hall-effect switch 404 for each cartridge position.

4B shows a processor 116 that receives signals from the Hall-effect switch 404, in which there is a Hall-effect switch 404 and an additional Hall-effect switch 404 (not shown in the figure) for every two cartridge positions, but additional The Hall effect switch 404 is not necessarily required. Usually, there is a measurement state that is one more than the number of cartridges, that is, an empty magazine state. For example, for a 7 ammunition magazine, there are 7 cartridge positions plus an empty magazine support plate position. Therefore, it is desirable to have "N+1" Hall effect switches 404, where "N" is the number of ammunition in the magazine. However, in some cases, the same result can be achieved by using only "N" Hall effect switches 404. For example, when the non-Hall effect switch 404 is activated, the processor 116 may be coded/programmed to determine that the spring board is in the empty position. Therefore, “N” or “N+1” Hall effect switches 404 can be implemented.

In both Figures 4A and 4B, the dashed lines indicate possible cartridge positions, but these are for illustration only and by no means limiting. It is roughly aligned with the lower half of one of the switches 404. However, in other embodiments, the cartridge position may be aligned with a middle, upper half, bottom, top or even offset from the switch 404.

Although the magnet(s) 108 is shown not to be quite aligned with the sensor 112 and the Hall-effect switch 404, in other embodiments, the magnet(s) 108 may be paired with the sensor 112 and the Hall-effect switch 404 allow.

In an embodiment, the Hall-effect switch 404 and the processor 116 may be configured on a circuit board or other substrate attached to an inner surface of a magazine. This can be performed during the manufacture of a magazine or during the modification of a magazine. For example, an adhesive can be applied to a back side of the substrate and the substrate can be transferred into the inside of the magazine and then close to one side of the magazine to fix it to the magazine via the adhesive. In one embodiment, a groove can be formed on an inner surface of the magazine just larger and just deeper than the substrate, so that the substrate can be attached in the groove. For example, a grinder, drill, or CNC head capable of spinning around an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the tool head is inserted into the magazine can be used to laterally remove material from the inside of one of the magazines to form a groove.

In another embodiment, a magazine hole can be penetrated at a distance from each other and the switch 404 can be fixed in the hole (toward the inside of one of the holes). The processor 116 may be attached to the outside of the magazine and electrical leads may be formed between each of the switches 404 and the comparator 116. The lead can be formed on an outer surface of the magazine. Alternatively, a groove may be formed on an exterior of the magazine, the processor 116 may be attached in the groove, and a covering layer may be applied on the top of the processor 116 to attach it to the magazine and Protect them from damage. For example, an epoxy resin or polymer having a relatively low melting temperature (for example, lower than a melting point of the solder used to make electrical connections to the processor 116) can be liquefied and poured on the processor 116.

Figure 5 shows a circuit system that implements a magnetic sensor/switch array 504 for processing signals from the sensor/switch 504 (not visible in Figure 5, but see (for example) the magnetic processing circuit 2702 in Figure 27, An isometric view of one of the magazines 502, such as a processor, a cartridge 508, a support plate, and at least one magnet on the support plate. The switch array 504 may be disposed inside or outside of the casing of the magazine 502 or even integrated into a layer of the casing material. The circuit system can be configured on a circuit board 510 (such as a printed circuit board (PCB)) or a circuit assembly that can include electrical traces from a sensor or switch array 504. In the illustrated embodiment, the sensor or switch array 504 is configured on the same circuit board or assembly as the circuit system, but in other embodiments, the switch array 504 may be located on a board and the circuit system may be located A second board. Alternatively, the circuit system may be located on a circuit board or circuit assembly and the array 504 may not be configured on a board (for example, sensors/switches and electrical traces may be integrated into the magazine 502 housing itself or printed on the magazine Box 502 on the housing itself). In some other cases, the circuit system and array 504 may be located outside the magazine, such as in the handle of one of the guns or any other part of the gun. Although in FIG. 5, the circuitry is located on one of the back sides of the board (ie, the side facing the page), in other embodiments, the circuitry may be located on the front side of the board (ie, the side facing away from the page). The circuit system can provide an ammunition counting signal to a wireless transmitter (such as an NFC chip), and the wireless transmitter can wirelessly transmit the ammunition counting signal from the magazine 502 to a wireless receiver or transceiver, such as a magazine for a gun In the chamber, on the trigger guard, at the base of one of the magazine chambers, on the outside of one of the magazine chambers, or an antenna on another part of the gun. The circuit system 506 may be configured to be adjacent to the switch array 504 on one side of the magazine 502, or may be configured to be close to a bottom plate 512 of the magazine 502 or as part of a bottom plate 512 of the magazine 502. In an embodiment, the wireless transmitter may be configured in an upper half or an upper 1/3 or an upper 1/4 of the magazine. In one embodiment, the wireless transmitter may be configured in an upper area of a magazine configured to be disposed in a magazine chamber (for example, see FIGS. 12 and 16A).

)(例如30彈藥彈匣中之16個)。無論組態如何，一額外開關(N+1)可用於偵測空狀態，或處理演算法可用於基於N個開關或

個開關來識別空狀態。在一些實例中，可利用諸如霍爾效應感測器之磁場感測感測器來代替磁性開關或霍爾效應開關。The switch array 504 may include one switch for each cartridge (for example, 30 out of 30 ammunition magazines). The switch array 504 may include one switch for each cartridge followed by an additional switch (e.g., 31 out of 30 ammunition magazines). Alternatively, the switch array 504 may include one switch for every two cartridges (e.g. 15 of 30 ammunition magazines) or one switch for every two cartridges plus one (

) (E.g. 16 out of 30 ammunition magazines). Regardless of the configuration, an additional switch (N+1) can be used to detect the empty state, or the processing algorithm can be used based on N switches or

A switch to identify the empty state. In some examples, a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall effect sensor can be used instead of a magnetic switch or a Hall effect switch.

During the manufacture of the magazine, the circuit board 510 may be attached to one of the inner surfaces of the magazine 502. For example, a groove may be formed on an inside of the magazine 502 and the circuit board 510 may be adhered in the groove. Then, a protective layer may be formed on the circuit board as appropriate, which is thin enough or made of a material that does not significantly hinder the magnetic field. In some embodiments, the circuit board or assembly may be overmolded with a material used to form the magazine, where, for example, the material is permeable or substantially permeable to magnetic fields. The material layer overlying the circuit board can also be selected to be as thin as possible to thereby optimize the magnetic field penetration through this layer. Alternatively, a magazine can be modified to include the circuit board 510. Third, a groove can be formed on one of the insides of the magazine 502, and the circuit board 510 can be adhered in the groove. However, in another embodiment, the circuit board 510 can be made thin enough (for example, less than .5 mm or less than .1 mm) to be inserted into the magazine 502 without hindering the movement of the magazine's support plate. Attached to an inner surface of the magazine 502. Although the spiral NFC antenna 514 is shown on the circuit board 510 in the magazine, in other embodiments, the NFC antenna 514 may be formed on an outer surface of the magazine 502 or adhered to an outer surface of the magazine 502 through One or more electrical paths through the wall of the magazine 502 are electrically coupled to the circuit board 510. Although the NFC antenna 514 will be described later as being operated in conjunction with another NFC antenna in a magazine compartment (for example, FIG. 14), it should be understood that other NFC antenna configurations and positions (for example, outside one of the magazine compartments) can also be implemented. Or an NFC antenna on the outside of the receiver).

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a circuit diagram of a ammunition counting system 600 based on a magnetic sensor. The system 600 includes a magazine 602 and a weapon system 604. The magazine may include a support plate with one or more magnets, wherein the magnets travel along a straight or curved path as the number of ammunition/cartridges in the magazine changes. A magnetic sensor array 606 (eg, magnetic switches, such as Hall effect switches) can be arranged along the path of one or more magnets, so that one or more of the switches 606 closest to the one or more magnets generate a strongest signal. Each switch 606 communicates with a processor 608 (such as a microprocessor or a microcontroller), and the processor 608 receives signals from the switch 606 and determines a position of the springboard based on these signals. In some cases, a microcontroller is designed to manipulate a small integrated circuit for a specific operation in an embedded system. A typical microcontroller includes a processor, memory, and input/output (I/O) peripherals on a single chip.

Then, the processor 608 determines the number of ammunition remaining in the magazine 602 based on the position of the support plate and transmits this data to a near field communication (NFC) chip 610. In some embodiments, the magnetic switch 606 may have a binary output. For example, the magnetic switch 606 may be configured to activate based on a position of one or more magnets relative to the magnetic switch and a respective magnetic field at the magnetic switch 606 exceeding a magnetic field threshold. In some cases, the magnetic switch 606 can output a high signal (that is, when the magnetic field exceeds a threshold value) or a low signal (that is, when the magnetic field is below a threshold value) in the form of a digital or square wave or pulse output. . Next, the NFC chip 610 communicates with an NFC chip 616 on the weapon 604 via the NFC antennas 612 and 614. Next, the NFC chip 616 processes the wireless signal and transmits the resulting output to a second processor 618 on the weapon 604. The processor 618 can be configured to display the ammunition count on a display 620 and/or optionally transmit the ammunition count to an optional RF radio 622, which transmits the ammunition count to other devices via an optional RF antenna 624 (For example, a display on the user's glasses). In some embodiments, the NFC antenna 612 in the magazine 602 may be parallel to one of the shooting directions of the gun. In other words, the NFC antenna 612 can be arranged along one side of the magazine instead of its back or along one side of the magazine that is wider and longer than the two ends. Additionally or alternatively, the processor 608 can also be arranged along one side of the magazine and parallel to a shooting direction.

In one embodiment, the NFC chips 610 and 616 can also transfer power from the weapon 604 to the magazine 602. In other words, they can transmit data and power simultaneously and in opposite directions. Various known protocols can be used to transmit power and data through this wireless channel. For example, a battery can store power in the handle or grip of the weapon 604, and the NFC interface can transfer power from the battery (eg wirelessly) to the magazine 602 to power the processor 608 and the magnetic sensor array 606 as appropriate. . It should be noted that the Hall-effect switch usually uses an external power source, and the reed switch does not require external power.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a block diagram of a media access controller (MAC) 700 which is a microcontroller hardware that controls the interaction with wired, optical, and/or wireless transmission media. A board 706 (such as a printed circuit board, embedded system board, etc.) may include a microcontroller unit (MCU) 706-c, one or more drivers 706-b, and firmware 706-a (ie, Provides low-level control software/code) hardware of the device hardware. In some cases, the MCU hardware 706-c can serially communicate 704 with the user interface 702 of a gun. The user interface 702 can be used to display the ammunition count of a gun magazine, the number of consumed ammunition, the remaining battery power, and so on. In some cases, the user interface may be an example of a user interface and a display case that will be further described with reference to FIG. 21 and FIG. 22. In one embodiment, the magazine may include, for example, a user interface 702 in the form of an LCD display that presents the ammunition count to the user. The LCD display can receive power when the value changes, but otherwise it can be de-energized to thereby allow the LCD to operate, regardless of whether the magazine is coupled to the gun. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 702 can be configured to display the ammunition counts of a plurality of magazines temporarily stored by the firearm, with or without the total transfer associated with the firearm, as described later in the present invention Will be described.

The MCU hardware 706-c can also receive the digital input/output (I/O) stream 708 from one or more of the sensors 710 located in the magazine of the gun. In some cases, the sensor 710 may be a Hall-effect switch, a Hall-effect sensor, a reed switch, and so on. As previously described, a Hall-effect switch can provide a digital or at least a pulse or square wave output, while a Hall-effect sensor can provide an analog output and therefore requires an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (not shown in the figure). Show), as described in Figure 2.

FIG. 8 shows the MCU 706 in FIG. 7, the magazine bullet sensor 710 (such as a magnetic field sensor or a magnetic switch), and the user interface 702 (such as a screen/display for displaying ammunition count) A sequence diagram 800 of an embodiment of the communication. The MCU 706 can serially communicate with the user interface 702 and can receive digital I/O streams from one or more magazine sensors 710. In some cases, one or more magazine sensors 710 may be substantially evenly spaced apart from each other and may be arranged along the inside of one of the magazines. The MCU 706 can be exemplified by the processor 608 in FIG. 6.

In 801, the MCU 706 can be initialized. In some cases, the initialization can be triggered in response to turning on the ammunition counting system, an accelerometer in the magazine (or gun) is triggered by the movement of the gun or any other user action. If the MCU 706 or the sensor 710 is not in sleep mode in 802 (ie, when the system is still initializing), the MCU 706 can start to read and process the output from the magazine sensor 710 in 803 (ie, the ammunition Counting data). In 804, the MCU 706 can convert the ammunition count data into an ammunition count indicator. For example, the ammunition count data may include an indication of the number of active magnetic field sensing sensors (such as Hall-effect switches or sensors, reed switches, etc.), based on which the MCU 706 can determine that the ammunition includes a magnet The position of the board in the magazine and the ammunition count indication.

In 805, the MCU 706 can transmit the ammunition count 805 to the user interface 702. In some cases, the MCU 706 can be coupled to a first planar antenna (such as a microstrip patch antenna or any other antenna manufactured on a PCB) and the first planar antenna can transmit the ammunition count indication to a first planar antenna on the gun. Two planar antennas (for example, located in a magazine chamber of a gun). The user interface 702 can communicate with the second planar antenna via one or more RF cables and connectors (see, for example, FIG. 15).

In some other cases, the MCU 706 may be positioned on the side of the gun opposite the side of the magazine. In these cases, the ammunition count data can be transferred wirelessly between the two antennas before being processed. In some scenarios, for example, if the battery or power source of the ammunition counting system is located on the gun, the two antennas can also be connected via an NFC to transfer power. In one example, the battery can be located in the grip of the gun. The pulsating power can be connected across NFC to save power, and a wake-up algorithm can be implemented to save power when the gun is not in use. Such an algorithm can be based on, for example, movement sensed via an accelerometer. When not in use, the ammunition counter can enter a lower power mode.

After receiving the ammunition count indication 805, the user interface 702 can display the ammunition count to the user. In 806, if the MCU 706 does not receive any further I/O from the magazine sensor 710 (for example, the gun is not in use or after a certain degree of inactivity), the MCU 706 and/or the sensor can be switched to low power /Sleep mode. Unlike reed switches, Hall effect switches or sensors require external power to operate, therefore, a sleep mode can be used to save power.

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an ammunition counting system 900. Here, the compression spring 905 is used as part of the counting system. As the spring board moves and compresses or relaxes the spring 905, the spring inductance changes. A coil inductance detector 906 in the base of the magazine or located elsewhere in the magazine can detect this inductance and correlate it with a known pallet position and therefore a quantity of ammunition remaining. The magazine can also include a first reference contact 901 and a second reference contact 902, and the magazine can include a third reference contact 903 and a fourth reference contact 904. These contacts can be used for calibration sensing. For example, when the first contact 901 is in contact with the third contact 903, the system can know that the pallet is at a full height position, that is, there is no ammunition in the magazine. When the second contact 902 is in contact with the fourth contact 904, the system can know that the spring board is at a minimum height position, that is, full load. In another embodiment, the first reference contact 901 and the second reference contact 902 can be a single contact or a part or all of the spring support plates can be conductive and thereby operate as a contact.

In one embodiment, the limit of inductance can be tracked to self-calibrate the unit when there is no load, and the spring 905 will be the longest and have the largest inductance. When fully loaded, the spring 905 will be the shortest and have the smallest inductance. In this way, the detection circuit system can "adjust" and learn the full-load/no-load limits and infer the intermediate value between the full-load extreme value and the no-load extreme value.

In one embodiment, a spiral wire can be inserted into the main support spring 905 or manufactured into the spring 905 or attached to the spring 905. The spiral wire can be coupled to the top of the main support spring 905 and thereby generate a return loop to enhance the inductance measurement. In one embodiment, the detection circuit system 906 can inject current into the spring 905 or the return wire to enhance the inductance that can be measured. The spiral wire can be wound in the same direction as the main spring 905, so that it will also contribute to the inductance measurement to thereby make the measurement more sensitive.

In another embodiment, a multi-layer spring (such as conductor-insulator-conductor) can be used, which integrates the loop function into the main spring itself. The two conductor layers will be electrically connected at the top near the support plate, but electrically isolated during the travel from the top to the bottom of the magazine.

In some other cases, the spring 905 may be coated with an insulator (such as an oxide layer) to prevent the conductive parts of the spring from contacting each other when compressed. In some instances, this system needs to be calibrated for different ammunition sizes and weights because the compression and inductance of the spring can vary.

Figure 10 shows an ammunition counting system 1000, in which an NFC interface is used to transfer information from the magazine sensing circuit system to the weapon (such as a display on the weapon) or a stronger wireless transmitter on the weapon (which can transfer The ammunition count is transmitted to a receiver/display or other remote entity on a user). In some cases, the NFC interface may include two NFC inductively coupled antennas 1001-a and 1001-b. As shown in the figure, the NFC interface can be arranged at the bottom of one of the magazine compartments and near the trigger guard. One half of the interface can be attached to a weapon (such as any side of the trigger guard) and the other half can be integrated into each magazine for use with the weapon. In this way, each magazine can send ammunition count information to the weapon. The NFC interface can also be coupled to a power source on the weapon (such as a battery or weapon system circuit system 1003), and this interface can wirelessly transmit power from the weapon to the magazine and its sensing circuit system 1002. The trigger guard side of the interface can be attached to or integrated with the trigger guard. In addition, the trigger guard can then provide a wiring path from this side of the NFC interface (ie, the trigger guard side) to a processor and/or battery (such as the weapon system circuit system 1003) in the grip or butt.

In one embodiment, an NFC chip may have a unique ID (for example, a 64-bit ID or a 128-bit ID). This ID gives each magazine a unique identification or serial number, which can be used for tracking and inventory and other purposes. Alternatively, a serial number can be coded or hardwired into the processor or microcontroller. Alternatively, a serial number can be distributed between the processor and the NFC chip. In other cases, a first substantially planar antenna (i.e., NFC antenna) of the magazine can be assigned a unique ID, and (for example) a second substantially planar antenna ( That is, the NFC antenna can be configured to read the unique ID associated with the first substantially planar antenna after inserting the magazine into the magazine compartment of the gun. In some embodiments, the gun processor and optionally the magazine processor can be configured to store the unique ID and ammunition count of the magazine after the magazine is inserted into the magazine compartment. In this way, the gun processor can be configured to temporarily store each magazine after each magazine is inserted into the magazine compartment and store both the ammunition count indicator and the unique identifier of a plurality of magazines. In some cases, the ammunition count indication of any magazine previously inserted into the magazine compartment or temporarily stored by the processor can be displayed through a user interface of the gun.

In some embodiments, for example, when the total ammunition count of one of the plurality of magazines is lower than a threshold value, the gun or magazine processor may be configured to display a warning on the gun display. In some cases, the ammunition counting system can be configured to display the most recently recorded magazine ammunition count of each of the plural magazines used in a gun to thereby provide the user with a transfer, or even current A magazine that is not in a gun.

In some scenarios, eddy currents are induced in a conductor (for example, the NFC antenna 1001-a) due to the movement of the magnet on the flipper plate relative to the NFC antenna 1001-a. In some embodiments, eddy currents can also be used to power the NFC connection and processing these signals can occur on the weapon. Alternatively, the eddy current signal can be processed on the magazine and transmitted to the weapon via the NFC connection.

Although the present invention generally refers to a substantially planar antenna, in some embodiments, other antenna shapes may be used. For example, the magazine may include a substantially planar antenna, while the firearm (eg, the magazine chamber) includes a non-planar antenna, such as a coil antenna (eg TC0502HF NFC SMD antenna manufactured by PREMO) coiled around a longitudinal axis. Such an antenna may have a dimension of several millimeters on each axis (for example, less than 6 mm on each side) and a capacitance of 10 pF to 100 pF. The magazine side antenna may also have different positions, such as being embedded in the trigger guard or extending from the trigger guard, embedded in the magazine over-insertion stopper, or partially extended from the magazine over-insertion stopper. In other words, the magazine side antenna can be arranged on the back of the magazine instead of on one side of the magazine.

The methods described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be directly embodied in hardware, processor executable code encoded in a non-transitory tangible processor-readable storage medium, or a combination of the two. For example, referring to FIG. 11, a block diagram depicting the physical components that can be used to implement an ammunition counter (and generally the processor 116 or the Hall switch encoding circuit system 116 or the processor in FIG. 33) according to an exemplary embodiment 1100. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, a display portion 1112 and a non-volatile memory 1120 are coupled to a bus 1122, and the bus 1122 is also coupled to a random access memory ("RAM") 1124, a processor Part (which includes N processing components) 1126, an optional field programmable gate array (FPGA) 1127, and a transceiver component 1128 including N transceivers. Although the components depicted in FIG. 11 represent physical components, FIG. 11 is not intended to be a detailed hardware diagram; therefore, many components depicted in FIG. 11 can be implemented by a common structure or distributed among additional physical components. In addition, after consideration, other existing and to-be-developed physical components and architectures can be used to implement the functional components described with reference to FIG. 11.

This display portion 1112 (such as the Pixel Embedded Memory (MIP) 2822 in Figures 21 and 22, and Figure 28) generally operates to provide a user interface to a user, and in some embodiments, the display consists of a Gun’s oscilloscope, one LCD/LED display mounted to one gun, one pair of goggles or glasses worn by one user of the gun, electronic paper (e.g. electronic ink) attached to one weapon or user, and one touch The screen display is implemented. Generally speaking, the non-volatile memory 1120 is a non-transitory memory used to store (such as persistent storage) data and processor executable code (which includes executable code associated with the implementation of the methods described herein) . For example, in some embodiments, the non-volatile memory 1120 includes boot loader code, operating system code, file system code, and non-transitory processor executable code to facilitate further descriptions from this article (for example, FIGS. 31 to 33 and/or the signal processing of the magnetic sensor of Fig. 41 to Fig. 45).

In many implementations, the non-volatile memory 1120 is implemented by flash memory (such as NAND or ONENAND memory), but other memory types can also be used after consideration. Although the program code from the non-volatile memory 1120 can be executed, the executable code in the non-volatile memory is usually loaded into the RAM 1124 and executed by one or more of the N processing components in the processing portion 1126.

The N processing components generally operate in conjunction with the RAM 1124 to execute the instructions stored in the non-volatile memory 1120 to be able to process the signal from the magnetic sensor, for example, to determine the number of ammunition remaining in the magazine. For example, a non-temporary processor used to distinguish between the Hall-effect switches or aligned with one of the Hall-effect switches (where a switch is used for every two positions (see Figure 4B)) can be a non-temporary processor. The execution code can be permanently stored in the non-volatile memory 1120 and executed by the N processing components combined with the RAM 1124. Those skilled in the art should understand that the processing part 1126 may include a video processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, a graphics processing unit (GPU) or other hardware processing components or a combination of hardware and software processing components ( For example, an FPGA or an FPGA that includes a digital logic processing part). In some embodiments, the correlation between various Hall-effect switch signals or signal pairs and the position of the spring plate/magnet (and therefore the ammunition count) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 1120, for example in a look-up table .

Additionally or alternatively, the processing portion 1126 may be configured to implement one or more aspects of the methods described herein (e.g., based on one or more of the magnetic sensors/switches 112, 404, 504, etc.). Measure the position of one or more magnets on the support plate to determine the ammunition count, or as seen in Figure 31 to Figure 33 and/or Figure 41 to Figure 45). For example, non-transitory processor-readable instructions can be stored in the non-volatile memory 1120 or RAM 1124 and when executed on the processing portion 1126, the processing portion 1126 will cause the processing portion 1126 to recognize that the spring board is in a position in the magazine (for example, as shown in the figure). 31 to Figure 33 and/or Figure 41 to Figure 45). Alternatively, non-transitory FPGA configuration commands can be permanently stored in the non-volatile memory 1120 and accessed by the processing part 1126 (for example, during startup) to configure the hardware configurable part of the processing part 1126 to realize the Hall effect. The function of the switch encoding circuit system 116 (or a processor for judging the ammunition count based on the Hall effect switch signal).

The input component 1130 operates to receive one or more patterns indicating the position of the sling and therefore the ammunition count signal (for example, the output or voltage from the magnetic sensor/switch 112, 404, 504, etc.). The input component 1130 can also receive the signal sent from the circuit system/processor 116 of the magazine through the NFC interface. The signal received at the input component may include, for example, a voltage from a Hall-effect switch indicating that the switch is active or a voltage from two Hall-effect switches indicating that the switch is active. The signal received at the input component may include, for example, analog or digital signals from the magnetic sensors/switches 112, 404, 504, etc. The output component generally operates to provide one or more analog or digital signals to realize an operation mode of the magazine transmitting the ammunition count information to the weapon. For example, the output part 1132 can provide the ammunition count described above with reference to the figure. The depicted transceiver assembly 1128 includes N transceiver chains that can be used to communicate with external devices via wireless or wired networks. Each of the N transceiver chains may represent a transceiver associated with a communication scheme (such as Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Profibus, NFC, etc.). The transceiver component 1128 can be an NFC component and can be configured to send and receive data and power at the same time. The transceiver component 1128 can also be a stronger second transceiver configured on the weapon, so that NFC transfers data from the magazine to the second transceiver, which then uses a stronger radio transmitter to count the ammunition Passed to a receiver/display far away from the weapon (e.g. on a user or a user’s goggles/glasses). As another example, the output part 1132 may provide a voltage indicating the ammunition count from the processor to a display.

FIG. 12 shows a side view of a gun 1200 having a sensor/switch array 1201 and a magazine antenna 1202 in the magazine or coupled to the magazine. In some cases, the magazine antenna 1202 may be an example of an NFC antenna. In addition, the magazine antenna 1202 and optionally a magazine processor (not shown in the figure) can be arranged on one side of the magazine parallel to a shooting direction of the gun. The second antenna (not shown in the figure) on the gun 1200 may have an area that is substantially aligned with and/or overlaps with an area of the antenna 1202 (see, for example, FIG. 16). FIG. 12 also shows an alternative shape of the antenna 1202 compared to the shape of the antenna shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 13 shows a detailed view 1300 of the sensor array 1201 and the magazine antenna 1202 in FIG. 12. Although the magazine antenna 1202 is shown as having an L shape, in other embodiments, other shapes of the magazine antenna 1202 can also be implemented. The magazine antenna 1202 also covers an area that can be regarded as having a height and a width. The antenna can be substantially flat so that it can be assembled in the magazine without modifying the functional dimensions of the inside of the magazine or the outside of the magazine.

14 is an isometric cross-sectional view 1400 of the trigger assembly 1401 and the magazine chamber 1402, which illustrates an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, an NFC antenna 1403 (such as a planar NFC antenna) may be disposed in the recess 1404 in the magazine chamber 1402. As described above with reference to FIG. 10, one half of the NFC interface (ie, NFC antenna 1403) can be attached to the weapon and the other half (ie, a second NFC antenna, not shown in the figure) can be integrated into each magazine to interact with Weapons are used together. In this way, each magazine can wirelessly transmit the ammunition count information to the weapon. As previously described, in some cases, each magazine can be identified when inserted into a magazine compartment of a gun (for example, using a unique identifier to temporarily store (if not previously stored) or based on a previously assigned Unique identifier to identify). In addition, the magazine or gun processor can determine an ammunition count when a magazine is initially inserted into the gun, and can store the ammunition count in the memory together with the associated magazine ID. In this way, the gun or magazine processor can be configured to track the ammunition count of multiple magazines used by the user of the gun. In some embodiments, the gun or magazine processor may be configured to, for example, display a warning on the gun display when the total ammunition of one of the plurality of magazines is below a threshold value. In some cases, the ammunition counting system can be configured to display the most recently recorded magazine ammunition count for one or more magazines in the gun, which even includes ammunition in the magazine that is not currently inserted into the gun. One is shown. In some embodiments, the NFC interface can also be coupled to a power source (such as a battery or a weapon system circuit system) on the weapon, and this interface can wirelessly transmit power from the weapon to the magazine and magazine sensing circuit system.

Wired access can be provided between the antenna 1403 inside the magazine compartment 1402 and a display on the outside of the receiver. In these cases, the NFC antenna 1403 and its circuit board or circuit assembly can be manufactured on a flexible substrate or a substrate with a flexible part. In one example, a part of the NFC circuit board or assembly may be flexed around a bottom of the magazine chamber 1402 and then attached (eg, adhered) to the outside of one of the magazine chambers, as described further with reference to FIG. 16. This part of the NFC circuit board on the outside of the magazine chamber 1402 can then be coupled to an RF cable that is also arranged outside the magazine chamber 1402 (see FIG. 15). This design does not require any modifications to the receiver (such as drilling/machining openings) to provide a wiring path for a traditional cable or flex circuit. In an alternative embodiment, a wiring connection can be made through a magazine release switch (for example, through a magazine release switch having a wiring aperture). It should be noted that FIG. 14 only shows an embodiment of the antenna 1403, and other shapes and positions of the antenna 1403 can also be implemented without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. In one example, the gun NFC antenna 1403 can be arranged on a bottom surface of the magazine compartment 1402 so that it is arranged concentrically around one of the NFC antennas on the magazine (for example, the magazine NFC antenna is circumferentially arranged around one of the upper parts of the magazine , So that it is roughly aligned with the gun’s NFC antenna). In another example, the magazine NFC antenna can be installed on an outer surface of the magazine, and the NFC antenna can be disposed on an inside of the magazine compartment. In this case, the coil of the NFC antenna in the magazine compartment can be crimped or wound around an inner surface of the magazine compartment so that it is roughly aligned with the coil of the NFC antenna in the magazine coiled or wound around one of the outer surfaces of the magazine . In other words, the coil of the NFC antenna in the magazine compartment can be wound around the inner periphery of the magazine compartment. In some aspects, for example, if two antennas are projected onto the same plane, the coil of the NFC antenna in the magazine compartment may seem to surround the coil of the NFC antenna in the magazine. In an alternative embodiment, the magazine NFC antenna can be arranged on an outer surface of the magazine, the circuit board including the processor and/or the magnetic or Hall effect switch can be arranged in the magazine, and one of the magazine compartments Vias or other conductive apertures can realize an electrical connection between these internal and external components of the magazine. Alternatively, a planar flex circuit may be used that is configured to, for example, descend from the circuit board and wrap around one of the bottom edges of the magazine and turn up to reach the antenna along the outer surface of the magazine. In another structure, a first coil antenna (such as an NFC antenna) can be installed at or near a flange on the magazine, wherein the first coil antenna or flange can be connected to another coil on the magazine compartment The antennas are roughly aligned. In another embodiment, a funnel of the magazine chamber or a similar attachment at the bottom of the magazine chamber can be seen, which is thick enough to accommodate the NFC antenna on the side of the gun. In some embodiments, the antenna 1403 may be adhered to the magazine compartment 1402 during the manufacture of the firearm or during a modification process.

Although FIG. 14 shows an antenna 1403 shaped on a flexible substrate to fit in a recess 1404 unique to an AR-style magazine chamber, if the antenna 1403 is used in a different seat, the antenna 1403 and the flexible substrate The shape and size can be adjusted to fit other unique features of the magazine compartment. In particular, the flexible substrate can be shaped and sized to fit tightly within a unique feature of another magazine compartment that may or may not include a recess (such as recess 1404). For example, when a gun has a wider recess 1404, a flexible substrate tightly fitted in the wider recess 1404 can be formed. The antenna 1403 may or may not be enlarged. In addition, because the antenna 1403 can be installed in a factory or by a user using uncomplicated and inaccurate tools and components, the flexible substrate can be sized to fit tightly in a recess or other feature of the magazine compartment And this close assembly makes it easier for a worker or home user to align the antenna 1403 with an ideal position (ie, align with one of the antennas in the magazine). In some cases, the antenna 1403 and the flexible substrate can be manufactured to assemble multiple types, sizes, and shapes of magazine chambers, wherein different magazine chambers may have different recesses or other structural features to thereby each require a different flexible substrate Shape and size. For this universal antenna set, one antenna 1403 can be used, but the flexible substrate can include lines, perforations, etc., which can be used to mark the outlines on the flexible substrates used in different seats. When a user needs to modify the flexible substrate to assemble a different magazine compartment 1404, the user can cut along the line or perforation and separate the "discarded" flexible substrate to form a flexible one that is tightly assembled in a different magazine compartment 1404 Substrate. Alternatively, the perforation may allow a user to pull out the additional flexible substrate.

When a polymer or other non-metal magazine compartment is used, a gun side of the NFC interface (ie, the gun side of the NFC antenna) can be disposed on an exterior of the magazine compartment. So far, the gun side of the NFC antenna has been described as being disposed inside the magazine chamber. This is largely because the metal magazine chamber hinders the wireless signal from the magazine to the outside of the magazine chamber. However, when the magazine compartment does not interfere with the wireless signal (for example, when the magazine compartment is non-metallic or transparent wireless signal), the NFC signal can be directly transmitted to an external antenna to avoid placing one of the NFC interfaces on the gun side Compromises and design challenges in the magazine compartment and then the need to route data and power to one of the outside of the magazine compartment.

FIG. 15 shows an example of an RF cable 1500 used to connect the antenna 1403 to a display mounted on a weapon. In some cases, the RF cable 1500 is detachable, which can be used to provide strain relief on the antenna attachment. Additionally or alternatively, the detachable cable 1500 may also include a connector with strain relief for attachment to the display. In some examples, the connector can be attached to both the antenna and the display and connected via an RF cable.

Figures 16A, 16B and 16C respectively illustrate the bending around the bottom of the magazine chamber (such as the flexible lower part 1601) and then attaching (such as adhering) to an outside of the magazine chamber (where an RF cable can be generated) Different views of NFC circuit boards 1600-a, 1600-b, and 1600-c (such as one of the RF cables 1500 in FIG. 15 connected). FIG. 17 shows a detailed view 1700 of an NFC antenna 1403 including a flexible lower part 1601 of the circuit board that can be wrapped around the bottom of the magazine compartment. As described with reference to Figure 14, the left side of an AR-15 magazine compartment may include a recess 1404 that does not touch the magazine and is just deep enough (for example, depth: 0.0175+/-0.0075 inches (0.44+/-0.19 mm)) , Width: 1.77 inches (45 mm), height: 2 inches (50.8 mm)) to assemble a thin, substantially planar NFC antenna 1403 (for example, thickness: 0.010 inches ( 0.25 mm), height: 1.6 inches (40.64 mm), W: 1.050 inches (26.67 mm)). In some examples, the NFC antenna 1403 can be fabricated on a dielectric substrate (such as ROGERS RT/DUROID or RO3000 or DiClad series composite/laminate materials, gallium arsenide (GaAs), GaN, epoxy resin, or for electromagnetic A microstrip patch antenna (such as copper or another highly conductive material) on any other composite or substrate in high-frequency applications. As shown in the figure, the antenna 1403 may cover an area smaller than the main area of the circuit board. For example, when the main part of the circuit board in FIG. 17 has a height and a width, the antenna 1403 has a smaller width and a much smaller height (for example, approximately one-half the height of the main part of the circuit board) .

In some other cases, the planar NFC antenna 1403 may include a highly conductive trace (such as copper) manufactured on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board in the shape of a coil, a circle, an ellipse, or any other continuous shape. In some embodiments, a continuous metal layer (ie, a ground plane) may be bonded to the second side of the substrate (ie, the side that does not include the antenna traces). The thickness of the substrate should be selected to at least ensure that the planar NFC antenna 1403 fits in the magazine chamber of the receiver. In addition, the substrate material and thickness can also be selected based on one or more antenna performance parameters such as resonance frequency, directivity, gain, return loss, and bandwidth. For example, a high frequency (smaller wavelength) application requires a thinner substrate than a low frequency application. In addition to the substrate material/thickness, the 2D geometry of the NFC antenna can also affect its radiation field, beam width, etc., and different shapes can be selected for different situations.

For example, FIGS. 34-40 show alternative NFC antenna patterns, but these different shapes rarely affect inductive coupling, power, and so on. On the other hand, the number of turns in the NFC antenna will affect the inductive coupling between the two sides of the NFC interface. In some embodiments, the NFC antenna (such as the magazine and/or gun side) may also include a second layer of coils and thus may have a three-dimensional shape. For example, the inductive coupling between the NFC antennas on both sides of the NFC interface can be enhanced by increasing the number of coils. In some cases, the coil count of the NFC antenna can be increased radially or vertically (for example by adding a layer to the NFC antenna(s)), which can be used to increase the inductance and enhance the coupling between the NFC antennas. Similarly, two NFC antennas can be configured on the magazine (one on each side of the magazine) but wired in parallel, so that they transmit the same signal to the gun side of the NFC connection. Doubling this antenna sending the same signal can increase the inductance and thus allow each of the NFC antenna pairs to be smaller than an embodiment in which only one NFC antenna is used on the magazine.

In some embodiments, the magazine may include both an NFC antenna and a non-NFC antenna, so that long-distance transmission via a non-NFC antenna can be paralleled with NFC transmission or instead of NFC transmission. In another embodiment, a single NFC antenna can be configured to transmit via both NFC and non-NFC (for example, see US Patent No. 9793616, which is incorporated herein by reference).

In some embodiments, the reader side of the NFC antenna (usually the magazine side of the interface) may include an antenna larger than the transmission side (usually the magazine side of the interface). This difference in size allows greater tolerance when placing both sides of the interface, as either can deviate slightly from the ideal alignment while still ensuring that all or most of the smaller antenna is always aligned with some part of the larger antenna. For example, the larger of the two antennas may be 30 mm×30 mm and the smaller may be 20 mm×20 mm. It should be noted that the larger antenna draws more power than the smaller antenna. Therefore, it is desirable to balance easy alignment and low power draw.

In other embodiments, the NFC antenna may include two different NFC coils on each of the transmitting side and the receiving side of the interface (for example, refer to FIG. 40). The first of these antennas can be configured to transmit data, and the second can be configured to transmit power. Similarly, an NFC antenna formed by two separate interfaces can enhance coupling and therefore data and power transfer. In this example, the two separate interfaces imply two pairs of separate inductively coupled coils, for example, a first pair of inductively coupled coils and a second pair of inductively coupled coils. In an embodiment, the magazine may include a first coil on a first side of the ammunition stack (for example, a first side of the magazine parallel to the shooting direction of the gun) and a second side of the ammunition stack (for example, A second side of the magazine opposite to the first side, wherein the second side is also parallel to a second coil on the shooting direction of the gun. In addition, the magazine chamber may include a third coil on the first side of the magazine chamber aligned and coupled with the first coil in the magazine, and one of the magazine chambers coupled with the second coil in the magazine One of the fourth coils on the second side. Alternatively, each of the two pairs of NFC antennas (such as two interfaces and four antennas) can be arranged at an angle (such as orthogonal or 90°) relative to the other pair to thereby minimize the coupling between the pairs. In some scenarios, configuring the NFC antenna pair so that they are orthogonal to each other can be used to minimize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Additionally or alternatively, this configuration may also allow two NFC antenna pairs to operate and/or transmit different data via different protocols.

18 illustrates a magnet position sensing 1800 using a Hall effect switch 1805 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a single magnet 1810 is positioned on a spring support plate 1815 and the number of Hall effect switches 1805 is N/ 2 or N/2+1. In some cases, the magazine may be lined with magnets instead of Hall effect switches. In these cases, one or more Hall-effect switches and associated electronic devices can be placed on the spring board. As shown in the figure, at the 0 position (e.g. empty magazine), the magnet 1810 can be sensed by a sensor or switch 1805-a. Then, at the 1 position (an odd position), the magnet 1810 can be sensed by the two adjacent switches 1805-b and 1805-c. It should be noted that in this example, "P" is the pitch distance that the elastic plate 1815 moves for each ammunition, and the switch 1805 is separated by two (2) pitch distances. Therefore, at position 1, the magnet 1810 on the spring support plate 1815 will be approximately equidistant from the first two switches 1805-b and 1805-c. Similarly, at the 2 position (an even-numbered position), the magnet can be aligned with the second sensor or switch 1805-d because it has moved two (2) pitch distances from the 0 position. Therefore, it can be seen that for a single magnet 1810 on the spring support plate 1815, the magnet 1810 is sensed by a single sensor or switch 1805 at even-numbered positions and by two adjacent switches 1805 at odd-numbered positions. Figures 19 and 20 show different embodiments using two and three magnets 1910 and 2010 on the spring support plates 1915 and 2015, respectively. Figure 19 can also be implemented using Hall-effect sensors, where the output of each sensor can be provided to a comparator, so that the sensor that only sees a specific signal strength will be temporarily stored as an active sensor.

As mentioned above, unlike reed switches, Hall effect switches require a power supply to operate. For efficient power management of the Hall switch, it is only necessary to supply power to the switch that actively senses a magnet. When a magnet leaves the active sensor, the sensor generates a digital signal (for example, an interrupt). In these cases, since the active switches for the next state can be known, only the switches can be activated until the position of the magnet on the spring board is determined. Therefore, the amount of current drawn by the switch can be minimized to extend battery life. In some situations, an accelerometer can be installed to wake up the ammunition counting system. For example, the accelerometer can be configured to detect the movement of the shell to allow the Hall-effect switch to be turned off when the weapon is inactive or during storage. Additionally or alternatively, the Hall switch can be turned off after a certain inactive period (e.g., 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, etc.), and can be periodically (e.g. every 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) Input the most recent active Hall sensor to check for a state change before restarting operation. In other cases, an accelerometer can be coupled to the elastic support plate, where the accelerometer can electronically communicate with the magazine processor. In addition, the accelerometer can be configured to recognize the upward "jerk" movement of one of the pallets, which can indicate that one of the uppermost ammunition in the magazine is loaded into the chamber after firing the gun. In these cases, the magazine processor may subtract 1 from the current ammunition count based on the measurement from the accelerometer. In some cases, the accelerometer coupled to the shell plate can only provide acceleration readings that exceed a threshold value, which can be used to filter out misjudged readings associated with the normal movement of the gun. In some examples, the data from the Hall-effect switch can be combined with other data (including but not limited to capacitance data related to an air gap between the spring support plate and the bottom plate, spring inductance data, and/or used to identify when Need to update an ammunition count (for example, accelerometer data minus 1) to use.

FIG. 19 illustrates a magnet position sensing 1900 using a Hall effect sensor or switch 1905 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which two magnets 1910 are positioned on the spring support plate 1915 and separated by approximately three (3) sections Distance. As shown in the figure, in the 0 position, the magnet can be sensed by the first three (3) sensors or switches 1905-a, 1905-b, and 1905-c, which comes from one of the first sensor 1905-a The output may have the highest magnitude and the outputs from the second sensor 1905-b and the third sensor 1905-c have the same but smaller magnitude. For example, at position 1, the first and second sensors 1905 may have an equal magnitude and the third sensor 1905 may have a larger magnitude. In this way, the processor or MCU hardware can, for example, distinguish between 0 position and 1 position by using a comparator, even if the same number of sensors 1905 are active. Similar to Figure 18, N/2 or N/2+1 Hall effect switches can be deployed in this setup.

FIG. 20 illustrates a magnet position sensing 2000 using a Hall effect switch 2005 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, three magnets 2010 are positioned on the spring support plate 2015 separated by four (4) pitch distances (or separated by three (3) to four (4) pitch distances). In addition, N/3 Hall effect switches 2005 are required in this setting. Similar to FIGS. 18 and 19, a processor can determine the position of the support plate 2015 and the subsequent ammunition count based on analyzing and comparing the output from the active switch 2005. In the 0 position, switches 1, 2, and 4 (ie, switches 2005-a, 2005-b, and 2005-c) can be active. Similarly, in the 1 position, switches 1, 3, and 4 are active. In the 2 position, switches 2, 3 and 4 are active. In this embodiment, a Hall effect sensor can also be implemented. Although more complicated than Figure 19 from a magnet and processing point of view, Figure 20 may provide a cheaper solution because fewer Hall-effect switches/sensors 2005 (eg N/3 vs. N/2) are required.

In the two examples of FIGS. 19 and 20, a stronger magnet that can trigger more switches than a weaker magnet can be used. Therefore, for example, the spring-loading plate magnet can trigger three Hall-effect switches at a time, and less than three Hall-effect switches are triggered when the spring-loading plate is in other positions. This embodiment may allow more accurate sensing of the position of the spring support plate or may allow the use of fewer Hall-effect switches (for example, <N/2 switches).

Fig. 21 shows an example of a display case mounted on a weapon according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the display housing 2101 may include a screen or a display (refer to FIG. 22), which has a user interface including display graphics and control buttons. In some examples, the display housing 2101 can be used to indicate the ammunition count 2201, the ammunition fired since the last reset 2202, along the side and/or top of the display for quick reference to a fuel gauge ammunition count indicator 2203, and so on. The user interface/display can also implement features, such as the ability to flash an indicator or change the brightness when the ammunition count drops below a threshold (for example, 9 ammunition or less) (ie, the ability to set or change the brightness by the user) Automatically set based on ambient light). For example, lights of different colors can be used to indicate the ammunition count or a range of ammunition remaining in the magazine. An oscilloscope (such as a red dot oscilloscope) may contain one or more LEDs around its periphery that provide indications for ammunition counts. In another embodiment, a light ring surrounding the oscilloscope can be used to indicate the ammunition count (e.g., via brightness, color, or the number of LEDs lit). These visual indicators can also be integrated into or overlaid on the aiming optics (for example, via an additional device such as COTI Thermal overlay). In addition to or instead of light indicators, audio and tactile feedback indicators can also be used.

In some cases, a user can use one or more buttons to change the display type. The user interface can also communicate wirelessly with other devices (such as another soldier's weapon/body device or a command unit) (such as Bluetooth). The display case 2101 can be powered by an internal battery, and the same battery can provide power to the magazine through an NFC connection. Alternatively, the display housing 2101 may receive power from one of the batteries stored in the butt or the handle of the gun. In some embodiments, power can be provided via a live auxiliary rail.

As previously described, in some embodiments, the display housing can be configured to indicate the ammunition count of one of a plurality of magazines temporarily stored by the gun (for example, a different ammunition count for each magazine or a total of all the magazines ). In some examples, after inserting a magazine into a magazine compartment of the firearm, the NFC antenna in the magazine compartment can be configured to, for example, be a magazine processor and/or NFC antenna in the magazine Receive one of the unique identifiers associated with the magazine. In some cases, the unique identifier and the magazine ammunition count can be stored by the gun processor in its internal memory or in another memory device electronically coupled to the gun. In some cases, the user can view the ammunition count indication of a plurality of magazines previously used by the same user (or other users) in the gun. For example, as a non-limiting example, the display housing 2101 can display multiple ammunition counts of multiple magazines on a red dot oscilloscope display.

FIG. 23 illustrates the communication between a magazine 2301 and a weapon system 2303 (such as a weapon system circuit system and a display) or communication between the magazine 2301 and other devices or even other magazines (not shown in the figure) A wireless mesh network communication system 2300. The magazine sensing circuit system 2302 can establish a wireless mesh network 2304 for magazine-to-weapon communication (such as for transmitting and displaying a magazine ammunition count on the weapon system 2303). In some cases, the weapon system may include at least one display housing similar to the display housing 2101 described with respect to FIGS. 21 and 22. Additionally or alternatively, the magazine sensing circuit system 2302 can establish a wireless mesh network 2305 for communicating with other magazines. In some cases, the magazine sensing circuit system 2302 may be an example of the ammunition counting system or the magazine processing circuit described with reference to any figure herein.

The wireless mesh networks 2304 and/or 2305 may use (to name a few non-limiting examples) threading protocol, low-power Bluetooth (BLE) protocol or Zigbee protocol to operate. In some scenarios, the magazine 2301 may usually be in a dormant state (ie, to save power). In addition, if the number of ammunition in the magazine changes (increases or decreases), the magazine can be awakened, a new ammunition count and a unique magazine ID are sent to the weapon system 2303, and then it returns to a dormant state. In some cases, the wake-up procedure may be based in part on triggering an accelerometer in one of the weapons or magazine 2301. In one example, the accelerometer can be mounted on the spring board, but other positions can be considered in different embodiments. In some cases, the accelerometer on the bomb board can also be combined with other data (for example, from magnetic or Hall effect switches) to infer an accurate ammunition count. In some cases, the magazine 2301 may also report an ammunition count and unique ID to any other nearby magazines or guns on the mesh network 2305. The magazine sensing circuit system 2302 can be embedded on one side of the magazine 2301 together with a battery source. Alternatively, as shown in the figure, the battery source 2310 may be located in the grip 2307 of the gun. In other cases, the battery source may be located at or near or in the display or weapon system 2303. It should be noted that the battery source 2310 is rechargeable or rechargeable (ie, primary or secondary type).

FIG. 24 illustrates an ammunition counting system 2400 using an ultra-high frequency (UHF) radar or mmW transceiver (for example, operating around 60 GHz) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In some scenarios, a mmW transceiver can transmit electromagnetic waves and analyze its reflection from objects, which can be referred to as active scanning. In some other cases, a mmW transceiver may only use ambient radiation and/or radiation emitted from the human body or objects to generate images or detect objects, which may be referred to as passive scanning.

As shown in FIG. 24, a gun 2420 may include a magazine 2401, a support plate 2410 mounted on the magazine 2401, an object 2402 with a high radar side view, and a notch 2403 in front of the magazine chamber 2412. . A mmW transceiver can be used to detect the position of the support plate 2410 in the magazine 2401 by emitting UHF waves (notch 2403 allows UHF waves to pass through the magazine chamber 2412) and then detecting the reflected waves. In some cases, the position of the support plate (and the ammunition count) can be determined based on the time required for reflection (ie, time delay), the phase of the reflected wave, any frequency changes, and so on. In other words, by analyzing the subtle changes of the reflected signal over time, the mmW transceiver and its processing circuit system can be used to accurately locate the position of the pallet 2410 in the magazine 2401 and thus the ammunition count.

In some cases, in addition to adding a high radar side view object 2402 on the pallet, the ammunition counting system 2400 based on mmW requires limited modification of the magazine 2401. In addition, because the mmW transceiver is placed on the weapon and completes all processing of the reflected wave received at the transceiver, no battery is needed in the magazine. However, this system requires minor modifications to the magazine compartment (that is, the notch 2403 in the magazine compartment 2412, also seen in Figure 25), and the overall power requirement can be equivalent to or greater than the use of a Hall-effect switch in the magazine. But smaller than RFID tags.

FIG. 26A is a front view of the magazine board 502 in FIG. 5, which shows the PCB layout and a substantially planar antenna 2601, such as an NFC antenna. FIG. 26B is a detailed view of the NFC antenna 2601 of the magazine plate 502 in FIG. 26A.

27A is a rear view of the magazine plate 502 in FIG. 26A, which shows a magnetic processing circuit 2702 of the magazine plate. FIG. 27B is a detailed diagram of the magnetic processing circuit 2702 in FIG. 27A. An example of the magnetic processing circuit 2702 is the processor 608 in FIG. 6. The magazine board in FIGS. 26 and 27 may be the circuit board 510 seen in FIG. 5 or the circuit board seen in FIGS. 12 and 13 or also the circuit board seen in FIG. 16.

Some jurisdictions implement regulations to limit the number of ammunition that a magazine can have (for example, 10 ammunition or less, 30 ammunition or less, etc.). In these cases, it is necessary to generate a separate ammunition counting system for 10 ammunition and 30 ammunition magazines (that is, with a different number of Hall effect switches or sensors or reed switches). Although the number of switches or sensors needs to be changed for different magazine sizes, a single PCB can accommodate two sizes. In some cases, the magnetic processing circuit 2702 may include an additional circuit 2703 that can be cut off (for example for a smaller magazine) and kept for a larger magazine. In some other cases, an additional loop 2703 can be formed when the two pins on the magnetic processing circuit 2702 are connected. In these cases, the extra loop 2703 can initially remain "open" for a smaller magazine (ie, the two pins remain unconnected or open) and "short circuit" before being installed in a larger magazine (Or vice versa). In some embodiments, the two pins can be short-circuited by soldering (ie, soldering both ends of a wire to the first pin and the second pin), or the two pins can use the same bus on the PCB Line up to connect to each other. In this way, only a single PCB can be designed and produced, and additional circuits can be used to optimize the production of different types of magazines and ammunition counting systems.

The circuit board shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 can be adhered to the inside of a magazine during manufacturing or during a modification process. For example, the circuit board can be thin enough to slide into the magazine and stick it to the inner surface of the magazine, so that the circuit board does not interfere with the operation/movement of the magazine. Alternatively, a groove shaped to receive the circuit board may be formed on the inside of one of the magazines, for example, via drilling or CNC milling.

FIG. 28 shows a magazine 2801 with a magazine circuit board (also shown as the magazine circuit board 502 in FIGS. 5, 26, and 27), and a substantially planar antenna on the gun (such as an NFC antenna) 2802) and a block diagram 2800 of an embodiment of the ammunition counting system of a display assembly 2803.

The magazine 2801 may include one or more magnets 2804 and an elastic support plate. The magnet can be installed on the elastic board together with an optional accelerometer. In addition, the magazine circuit or circuit board may include a number of Hall-effect switches 2805 equal to one of the positions of the magazine (ie, the number of ammunition) or <N Hall-effect switches 2805 (for example, N/2, N/3, N/4, N/2+1, N/3+1, or N/4+1). The circuit board or assembly may also include a processor including an MCU 2806 and an EEPROM 2807 and an NFC antenna coil 2809-a. The NFC antenna coil can be manufactured on a printed circuit board. In some examples, the EEPROM 2807 may be an integrated circuit (IC). The circuit can also optionally include a filter 2808 and an NFC controller (such as an NFC tag 2807).

The NFC antenna system 2802 on the gun may include an NFC antenna coil 2809-b, the area of which may substantially overlap with an area of the NFC antenna coil 2809-a. The NFC antenna system 2802 may also include a connector 2810, a coaxial (or RF) cable 2811, and a plug-in RF connector 2812-a. One or more sub-components of the NFC antenna system 2802 may be interconnected with each other via one or more bus bars. In some cases, one or more buses can be used to exchange both power and data.

The display assembly 2803 may include an RF connector 2812 for receiving from the NFC antenna 2802, as described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. The display assembly 2803 can also include an NFC reader 2813, an MCU reader 2814, a regulator 2815, a battery 2816, an accelerometer 2817 (optional), an ambient light sensor 2818 (optional), a EEPROM 2819, a Bluetooth module 2820, a backlight 2821, a display (such as Pixel Embedded Memory (MIP)) 2822, and one or more menu buttons 2823. As shown in the figure, one or more sub-components of the display assembly 2803 may be connected to the MCU reader 2814 via one or more buses. In some embodiments, a separate NFC connection can be used between the firearm and the display assembly 2803 to simplify the digital connection between the display assembly 2803 and the firearm (for example, the display assembly 2803 and the NFC receiver on the magazine compartment There is no need for a wired connection between the devices).

FIG. 29 shows a low-level block diagram of an embodiment of the display assembly 2803. As shown in the figure, one or more sub-components of the display assembly 2803 may be connected to the MCU reader 2814 via one or more buses.

The display assembly 2803 may include an RF connector 2812-b for receiving from the NFC antenna system 2802 (not shown in the figure), as further described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. The display assembly 2803 may also include an MCU reader 2814 connected to each of the following: NFC reader 2813, a regulator 2815, one or more menu buttons 2823, an LED controller 2824, an accelerometer 2817 (optional ), an ambient light sensor 2818 (optional), a battery monitor 2827, an EEPROM 2819, a Bluetooth module 2820, and a display (e.g., Pixel Embedded Memory (MIP)) 2822.

In addition, the regulator 2815 (for example, a 3V regulator) can be connected to a battery 2816, and the battery 2816 can be connected to a battery monitor 2827. In some examples, the LED controller 2824 can be connected to the backlight 2821, where the backlight brightness can be adjusted based on the output from one of the ambient light sensors 2818. In some examples, the MCU reader 2814 may also communicate with a serial wire debug (SWD) interface 2825 to enable a tester to access system memory, peripherals, and/or debug registers. In some scenarios, the NFC reader 2813 can be connected to an external crystal oscillator or clock 2826 (for example, operating at 27.12 MHz), and the external crystal oscillator or clock 2826 can be used instead of the MCU reader 2814 or the NFC reader 2813 One has a built-in internal oscillator. In some cases, when serial communication is used or when a fast clock or accurate timing is required, the built-in oscillator is susceptible to errors, and an external clock 2826 can be used to improve accuracy.

FIG. 30 shows a low-level block diagram of an embodiment of a magazine 2801. FIG. 30 implements one or more aspects of the diagram described herein (which at least includes FIG. 28B).

Turning now to FIG. 31, a method 3100 for manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system will now be described. In some cases, the magazine may include at least one overtravel stopper and an elastic support plate, wherein the elastic support plate includes one or more magnets.

The method may include arranging the 3102 magnetic field sensor (for example, <N magnetic switches or sensors) substantially along a path of one or more magnets when the elastic support plate moves along a length of the magazine, where N is One of the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine. The sensor generates ammunition count data based on the position of one or more magnets relative to a magnetic field sensor. In some cases, magnetic switches such as Hall effect switches can be used instead of sensors.

The method may also include placing a first substantially plane at or above the overtravel stopper (or in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the firearm) The antenna configuration 3104 is on the inside of one of the magazines. The first substantially planar antenna is configured to transmit an ammunition count indication from the magazine to a second substantially planar antenna on the gun. The ammunition count indication is based on the ammunition count data. In some examples, the second substantially planar antenna can transmit power from, for example, a power source located on a gun (eg, a gun grip) to the first substantially planar antenna in a direction opposite to the data flow. In this way, the magnetic processing circuit system and the sensor in the magazine can receive power, and no power supply is needed in the magazine.

In addition, the method may include configuring 3106 the first substantially planar antenna such that an area of the first substantially planar antenna defined by a height and width is mainly coupled to the inside of a magazine compartment of the gun and a second substantially One area of the planar antenna is aligned.

Figure 32 illustrates a method 3200 of installing an ammunition counting system on a gun. The method may include installing 3202 a detachable magazine including at least one overtravel stopper and a spring support plate, the spring support plate including one or more magnets.

The method may further include arranging 3204 magnetic field sensing sensors (for example, <N) substantially along a path of one or more magnets when the elastic support plate moves along a length of the magazine, wherein N series can be loaded in the magazine The sensor generates ammunition count data based on the position of one or more magnets relative to one of the magnetic field sensors. Similar to FIG. 31, in some embodiments, a magnetic switch such as a Hall effect switch may be used instead of the sensor.

In some cases, the method may include placing a second at or above the overtravel stop (or in an area of a magazine that is configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the firearm). A substantially planar antenna 3206 is arranged on the inside of one of the magazines. The method may also include installing a second substantially planar antenna 3208 on an interior of a magazine compartment of the gun so that an area of the first substantially planar antenna is substantially aligned with an area of the second substantially planar antenna , Wherein the first substantially planar antenna and the second substantially planar antenna are configured to exchange an ammunition count indication and power based on ammunition count data via a near field communication (NFC) connection.

It should be noted that methods 3100 and 3200 can be OEM or retrofit procedures.

FIG. 33 shows a method 3300 for obtaining the number of ammunition in a magazine by using an ammunition counting system with a Hall-effect switch array. The method 3300 may be implemented by receiving computer-readable instructions from one or more tangible and programmable computer-readable media via one or more processors. The processor can receive data from other parts of the system (such as from the Hall-effect switch array) and provide data and commands to other parts of the system. The system at least includes a processor on the magazine or in the magazine for evaluating data from the Hall-effect switch array. In some cases, this processor may be referred to as a magazine processor. Additionally or alternatively, the processor may be located on the gun. In addition, the system at least includes a Hall-effect switch array and an electrical data connection between the switch and the processor. If located on the magazine, the magazine processor can be configured to transmit the ammunition count data to a wireless interface that spans an air gap between the magazine and the gun. This may include an NFC interface with two opposing NFC antennas, an NFC antenna disposed on or in the magazine and an NFC antenna disposed on the gun (for example, in the magazine chamber). The gun side of the NFC interface can be configured to transfer the ammunition count to a second processor (ie, a gun processor) on the gun. The ammunition count can be used by the second processor in various ways (for example, sending instructions to a display or sending the ammunition count to the outside of the gun).

In some embodiments, the number of switches deployed in the method 3300 may (but not necessarily)<N. In addition, the method 3300 can use analog devices inside the magazine, analog devices outside the magazine (for example, on a receiver or an oscilloscope), digital devices inside the magazine, and digital devices outside the magazine (for example, in a receiver or an oscilloscope). On an oscilloscope) or a combination of analog and digital devices. For example, analog sensors such as Hall-effect switches can be used to generate analog signals. A digital processor can analyze the analog signals to determine the position of one of the pallets, the last cartridge, and therefore the number of ammunition left in the magazine. . It should be noted that N represents the ammunition capacity of the magazine. In some cases, the method may include identifying 3302 the number of one of the active Hall effect switches. In some scenarios, a processor such as a magazine and/or gun processor can be used to evaluate the signal from the Hall-effect switch array.

The method may further include determining 3304 the position of a support plate including a magnet in the magazine based on the number of identifying active Hall-effect switches. For example, if a single Hall-effect switch is active, the processor can be programmed to recognize a signal based on the active signal from a single Hall-effect switch (such as the "0" or "2" position in Figure 18). The first ammunition count, where each Hall-effect switch provides a unique signal or each Hall-effect switch is coupled to a different input on the processor. Either way, the processor is configured to distinguish one of the signals from each of the various Hall-effect switches. In some cases, the processor may be configured to store a correlation between the signal of each Hall-effect switch and the remaining ammunition that occurs when a respective switch is aligned with the magnet on the spring support plate in the memory (for example, On the processor or another memory device in electronic communication with the processor). Alternatively, there may be two active Hall effect switches (e.g. "1" or "3" position in Figure 18). In this case, the processor can be programmed to correlate this recognition of a second ammunition count based on two active signals from two adjacent Hall-effect switches. In some other cases, if the two Hall effect opening relationships are active, the spring support plate can be roughly located between the two switches, as shown in FIG. 18.

Although the method 3300 only refers to a single magnet interacting with one or two Hall effect switches, in other embodiments, more than two magnets may be used, such as the two magnets shown in FIG. 19 or the two magnets shown in FIG. 20 Of the three magnets.

In some cases, the method may also include obtaining the number of ammunition in the 3306 magazine based on determining the position of the magazine in the magazine. For example, using the two schemes described in 3304, a processor can distinguish each cartridge position even when using <N Hall effect switches.

FIG. 41 shows a method 4100 for obtaining the number of ammunition in a magazine by using an ammunition counting system with a Hall-effect switch array. The method 4100 can be implemented by receiving computer-readable instructions from one or more tangible and programmable computer-readable media via a processor. In some cases, the computer-readable medium may be configured on a processor or a single chip system the same as the processor. The processor can receive data from other parts of the system (such as from the Hall-effect switch array) and provide data and commands to other parts of the system. The system at least includes a processor on the magazine or in the magazine for evaluating data from the Hall-effect switch array, which is also referred to as a magazine processor. In some cases, the processor may be located on the firearm and may be referred to as a firearm processor. The system may at least further include a Hall-effect switch array and an electrical data connection between the switch and the processor (such as a magazine processor). If located on the magazine, the magazine processor can be configured to transmit the ammunition count data to a wireless interface that spans an air gap between the magazine and the gun. This may include an NFC interface with two opposing NFC antennas, an NFC antenna disposed on or in the magazine and an NFC antenna disposed on the gun (for example, in the magazine chamber). In some embodiments, the gun side of the NFC interface can be configured to transfer the ammunition count to a second processor on the gun. The ammunition count can be used by the second processor in various ways (for example, sending instructions to a display or sending the ammunition count to the outside of the gun).

A processor (such as a magazine processor) can be configured to monitor the signal from the Hall-effect switch in the array to determine the count of one of the ammunition in the magazine. These can be analog signals. Alternatively, the analog signal may first pass through an analog-to-digital converter to thereby provide a digital signal to the processor. In some embodiments, the processor is configured to analyze several different signal configurations from the Hall-effect switch. However, in order to reduce the number of one of the switches used, the processor can be configured to determine an ammunition count based on signals from fewer switches (or sensors) than one of the cartridges that can be loaded into the magazine. For example, N can be defined as the maximum number of ammunition that a magazine can hold. In one embodiment, there may be N/2 switches, and the processor may be configured to determine an accurate ammunition count based on signals from the N/2 switches (or sensors). This allows fewer switches per ammunition position to thereby reduce costs. However, in order to implement this cost reduction, the processor needs to determine the position of the ammunition in the magazine by distinguishing between a position aligned or adjacent to a switch and a position between two switches.

In some scenarios, when one or two signals are received by the processor (block 4102), the processor may be configured to first determine whether to receive one or two signals (decision block 4104). Decision 4104 needs to determine whether to receive one or two signals (ie, a magnet on the flipper is aligned with a switch or aligned with a position between two switches). If the processor determines that a single switch relationship is active, it can be configured to use one of the active switches to look up a look-up table and responsively receive an ammunition count (block 4106). Alternatively, if the processor determines that the two magnetic opening relationships are active, it can be configured to use the identification of the two active switches to look up the look-up table and responsively receive an ammunition count (block 4108). In some cases, other techniques for matching a set of signals to a corresponding value can be implemented without departing from the scope of the present invention. In some embodiments, the magazine processor may be configured to transmit ammunition counts corresponding to the active switch or active switches via an NFC antenna or another substantially planar antenna in the magazine. In some cases, this may include transmitting the ammunition count across a wireless NFC interface (block 4110) to another processor (such as a gun processor), which may convert the ammunition count to direct a display via a display or Other components are used to indicate the display command of the ammunition count, for example, as described with respect to FIG. 21 and FIG. 22.

As previously described, in some cases, the NFC interface may include: a magazine side of the NFC interface, which may include a first NFC or other type of antenna (such as a first substantially planar antenna); and the NFC interface A gun side may include a second NFC or other type of antenna (for example, a second substantially planar antenna). In some embodiments, the magazine-side antenna may be disposed in the magazine, for example, in a recess in the magazine covered with an insulating or dielectric material (such as a polymer similar to a polymer that can form the magazine). In some other cases, the magazine-side antenna (ie, the first substantially planar antenna) and/or the circuit board or circuit assembly coupled to the antenna may be overmolded with the same material used to form the magazine. In some examples, the gun side antenna (ie, the second substantially planar antenna) may be disposed in a magazine chamber of the gun. In some cases, the first substantially planar antenna may be configured in an area of a magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun and parallel to a shooting direction of the gun. In addition, both the first substantially planar antenna and the second substantially planar antenna can be roughly aligned so that one antenna (for example, a gun-side antenna) completely covers the other antenna (for example, the antenna is aligned, and one antenna is larger than the other). An antenna). The gun-side antenna can be configured on a circuit board or flexible circuit board and is shaped and sized to be self-aligned with the characteristics of the magazine compartment, so that the gun-side antenna can be easily installed by a factory worker or user and still maintained Align with the antenna on the side of the magazine.

In another aspect of the present invention, an ammunition counting kit can be added to a gun. In one embodiment, the kit can include a modified magazine and an antenna that can be attached to the gun. In another embodiment, the kit may include a replacement plate for an existing magazine, a magazine sub-assembly, and an antenna that can be attached to the gun. One method of using the kit to modify a firearm may include replacing a support plate of the gun's magazine with a support plate having a magnet or adding a magnet to an existing support plate. The modification may also include adding a Hall-effect switch array to the magazine. This addition may include sliding a thin circuit board into the magazine and adhering it to an inner surface of the magazine in a final position similar to that seen in FIG. 5. Alternatively, a hole can be drilled through one side of an existing magazine into the inside of the magazine, so that a Hall effect switch can be fixed in each hole. Then, a processor can be attached to the inside or outside of one of the magazines, and an electrical lead can be formed between the switch and the processor. For example, these leads may travel along an outer surface of the magazine and may be individually attached or deposited on the surface of the magazine. Alternatively, the leads can be attached as part of a single thin circuit board that can be attached to the outside of one of the magazines, still in electrical communication with the Hall effect switch. For example, a small amount of fluid conductor may be deposited in each of the above-mentioned holes and in contact with each Hall-effect switch to serve as an electrical "path" between each switch and an outer surface of the magazine. Then, a circuit board or electrical lead can be conductively coupled to these vias and the processor. In another alternative, one of the inner or outer surfaces of the magazine may be hollowed out or initially formed with an elongated depression. Then, a circuit board can be attached to a surface of the recess and the circuit board can be overmolded to thereby fix it to the magazine and protect the board from impact, corrosion, dust, etc. In another embodiment, the conductive ink can be directly printed on the surface of the magazine or in the aforementioned recesses instead of the circuit board.

Although the circuit board or circuit assembly (such as PCB, Hall-effect switch, processor, and/or magazine antenna) has been basically described as being located inside the magazine, in other embodiments, these components may be inside the magazine. 1. Distribution between internal and external. For example, the Hall-effect switch and the processor can be arranged inside the magazine and the NFC antenna can be arranged on an outer surface of the magazine. Alternatively, the Hall-effect switch can be arranged inside the magazine and the processor and antenna can be arranged on an outer surface of the magazine. In any of these variations, a flexible circuit board can be used, where the flexible circuit board or assembly can be wrapped or folded around the bottom of one of the magazines to provide data and information between the internal and external components of the magazine. / Or an electrical path of electricity. Alternatively, one or more passages can be used to connect the internal and external components of the magazine. In some cases, fewer paths than one of the Hall effect switches can be used. In these cases, multiplexing can be used to send multiple signals from a plurality of Hall-effect switches to a processor on the outer surface of the magazine through a single channel. In some embodiments, a processor such as a magazine processor may be configured to recover individual signals through a procedure called demultiplexing (or demuxing). In some cases, a passage may refer to any hole or opening between the inner surface and the outer surface of the magazine, wherein the hole or opening is filled or mainly filled with a conductive material.

Furthermore, in some cases, the processor may include or may be coupled to an antenna such as an RF or NFC antenna. In addition, another substantially planar antenna such as an NFC antenna can be attached (or glued) to the inside of one of the magazine compartments, such as shown in FIG. 14. In some embodiments, a flat thin flexible wire/conductor from the antenna can be wrapped or folded around a lower edge of the magazine chamber to thereby provide an electrical connection to a component (such as a display) on the exterior of the gun . In this way, a gun and magazine can be modified so that the ammunition counting system and method disclosed herein can be implemented on a gun that does not originally have an ammunition counting system.

Although the NFC antenna is usually shown as a planar coil structure (see, for example, FIG. 14), various other antenna shapes can be implemented without departing from the scope of the present invention. Figures 34-40 show some variations of antennas (such as the planar coil antenna seen in Figure 5, the antenna 1403 in Figures 14 and 17, and the planar coil antenna seen in Figures 26A and 26B).

FIG. 34 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3400, which roughly forms a loop but has an inductive coupling for enhancing the inductive coupling between the antenna 3400 and a corresponding antenna (not shown in the figure) on an opposite side of the NFC interface. The number of different orders of flux 3406. As shown in the figure, the NFC antenna 3400 may include two input/output connections 3404. In addition, the NFC antenna 3400 may include a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, wherein each conductive trace includes a loop and one or more differential stages 3406. This illustration helps to show that other topologies besides a planar coil can be used for NFC antennas.

FIG. 35 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3500, which includes a number of differences 3506 on both sides of a curved or semicircular length 3508 of the NFC antenna 3500. Similar to FIG. 34, the antenna 3500 may include a conductive trace having one or more differential steps 3506 and at least one curved or semicircular section 3508, wherein the one or more differential steps 3506 are arranged in at least one curved or semicircular section. Shaped section 3508 on one or more sides. This antenna 3500 contains two input/output connections 3504. This illustration shows that even an NFC antenna with a topology other than a coil topology can be deployed.

FIG. 36 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3600 including one of two types of coils formed by the same conductor. In other words, the NFC antenna may include a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, similar to the antenna shown in FIGS. 34 and 35. In particular, this variant displays a set of rectangular loops or a rectangular coil and a set of diamond loops. In addition, two input/output connections 3604 are also used.

FIG. 37 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3700 including a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, wherein each conductive trace includes two linear sections 3708 and a curved section 3706. In addition, the NFC antenna 3700 includes two input/output connections 3704.

FIG. 38 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3800 including a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, wherein each conductive trace includes three linear sections 3808 parallel to each other and three linear sections 3808 Section 3808 connects two curved sections 3806 together. The NFC antenna 3800 also includes two input/output connections 3804.

Figure 39 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 3900 including a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, wherein each conductive trace includes a loop 3902a and a short circuit 3902a on both sides 3906. Grade conductor 3902b. The NFC antenna 3900 also includes two input/output connections 3904.

FIG. 40 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna 4000 including a conductive trace fabricated on a substrate or a dielectric circuit board, wherein each conductive trace includes two independent conductor loops 4002a and 4002b. In this embodiment, the two independent conductor loops have a rectangular shape and different sizes. However, in other embodiments, the two loops may have overlapping conductor sections. In some embodiments, one of the conductor loops can be configured to send or receive power, and the second conductor loop can be configured to transmit data. Alternatively, both loops 4002a and 4002b can be configured to transmit the same or separate data streams.

FIG. 42 shows a flowchart 4200 of an embodiment of a program for displaying a magazine ammunition count. The method in flowchart 4200 can be implemented by receiving computer-readable instructions from one or more tangible and programmable computer-readable media by a processor. In some cases, the computer-readable medium may be configured on a processor or a single chip system the same as the processor. The processor can receive data from other parts of the system (such as from the Hall-effect switch array) and provide data and commands to other parts of the system. The system at least includes a processor on the magazine or in the magazine for evaluating data from the Hall-effect switch array, which can be referred to as a magazine processor. In some cases, the processor may be located on the firearm and may be referred to as a firearm processor. The system can also include at least a Hall-effect switch array and an electrical data connection between the switch and the processor. If it is located on the magazine, the processor can transmit the ammunition count data to a wireless interface that spans an air gap between the magazine and the gun. This may include an NFC interface with two opposing NFC antennas, an NFC antenna disposed on or in the magazine and an NFC antenna disposed on the gun (for example, in the magazine chamber). In some cases, the NFC antenna in the magazine and/or on the gun may be parallel or substantially parallel to one of the shooting directions of the gun. In other words, the magazine NFC antenna can be installed along one side of the magazine instead of the back. In some embodiments, the gun side of the NFC interface can then transfer the ammunition count to a second processor on the gun. The ammunition count can be used by the second processor in various ways (for example, sending instructions to a display or sending the ammunition count to the outside of the gun).

As previously described, a processor such as a magazine processor can be configured to monitor the signal from the Hall-effect switch in the array to determine one of the ammunition counts in the magazine. These can be analog signals. Alternatively, the analog signal can be passed through an analog-to-digital converter to thereby provide a digital signal to the processor. In some embodiments, the processor can be configured to analyze several different signal configurations from the Hall-effect switch. In addition, to reduce the number of one of the switches used, the processor can be configured to determine an ammunition count based on signals from fewer switches (or sensors) than one of the cartridges that can be loaded into the magazine. For example, N can be defined as the maximum number of ammunition that a magazine can hold. In one embodiment, there may be N/2 switches, and the processor may be configured to determine an accurate ammunition count based on signals from the N/2 switches (or sensors). In some other cases, N/3 or N/4 switches can be utilized. In some aspects, reducing the number of switches per ammunition position can be used to reduce costs and/or the complexity of installing ammunition counting systems. However, it should be noted that in order to implement this cost reduction, the processor needs to determine the position of the ammunition in the magazine by distinguishing the position of the magnet aligned or adjacent to a switch and the position of the magnet between two switches.

In some cases, the process can start at block 4202, where the processor can determine a unique identifier (or ID) associated with the magazine. In some embodiments, the NFC chip or antenna of the magazine can be associated with a unique identifier. In these cases, for example, after the magazine is inserted into the magazine compartment, the NFC antenna on the gun or in the gun's magazine compartment can capture the unique ID. In some embodiments, the processor (eg, a gun processor) may be configured to direct the gun display to display the current ammunition count of one of the magazines. In some embodiments, a user can also view the most recently recorded ammunition count of any other magazine previously temporarily stored by the gun and/or inserted into the magazine compartment of the gun.

In decision block 4204, the processor can determine whether the bolt of the gun (if present) is open. In some cases, the firearm may include, for example, an optical sensor at or near a buffer tube for determining whether the bolt is open. In some cases, the gun processor can be coupled to an optical sensor and can determine whether the bolt is open or closed based on measurements from the optical sensor. In different embodiments, other types of sensors used to determine the state of the bolt are considered. In some cases, if it is determined in decision block 4204 that the bolt is open, the processor may determine that the barrel of the gun is empty. In these cases, the processor may set a chamber ammunition counter (that is, corresponding to whether there is an ammunition in the chamber) to 0 (block 4206). As shown in the figure, after block 4206, the procedure may include determining the magazine ammunition count in block 4216 and displaying the magazine ammunition count on a visual display of the gun in 4218. In some cases, the judgment and display can be performed according to the technique described in the present invention including at least FIG. 41.

Alternatively, if it is determined in the decision block 4204 that the bolt has not been opened, the processor may determine in the decision block 4208 whether the bolt has been cycled. Alternatively, the processor may determine whether there is an ammunition in the chamber based on the reading from the optical sensor or another sensor near the buffer tube. If so, the processor can set the cartridge count to 1 in block 4210. In addition, the procedure may include determining the magazine ammunition count in block 4220 and displaying the magazine ammunition in 4222 (or transmitting the ammunition count to a display). In some cases, in addition to displaying the magazine ammunition count, the processor can also be configured to display a total ammunition count (ie, the chamber count and the magazine ammunition count). For example, in block 4222, the program may include adding 1 (ie, the cartridge count) to the magazine ammunition count determined in block 4220 and displaying the result on the visual display of the gun (or transmitting the ammunition count) To a display).

In some cases, if it is determined in decision block 4208 that the bolt is not cycled, the procedure may include waiting for the bolt to be cycled/loaded (block 4212). After the bolt is loaded, the procedure may include determining whether the ammunition count has been updated in the decision block 4214. For example, the procedure may include judging whether the ammunition count has decreased by one based on a ammunition loaded into the chamber. If so, the procedure can include: setting the cartridge count to 1 in block 4210; determining the magazine ammunition count in 4220; and displaying the ammunition count in block 4222 (for example, the magazine ammunition count and/or contains The total ammunition count of the chamber count).

Turning now to Figure 43, a method 4300 for modifying a magazine using an ammunition counting system will now be described. In some cases, the magazine may include at least one overtravel stopper and an elastic support plate.

In some embodiments, the method 4300 may include mounting 4302 one or more magnets on a spring support plate.

In addition, the method may include arranging 4304 magnetic switches (for example, <N magnetic switches, such as Hall-effect switches) substantially along a path of one or more magnets when the elastic support plate moves along a length of the magazine, wherein N is one of the largest number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine. In some embodiments, the magnetic switch can be configured to activate based on the fact that one or more magnets exceed a threshold value relative to a position of one of <N magnetic switches and one of the magnetic switches. In one example, when the magnetic field detected by a magnetic switch exceeds a magnetic field threshold, the switch can output (for example, digital or pulse output) a high signal. Conversely, when the magnetic field detected by the switch is lower than the magnetic field threshold, the magnetic switch can output a low signal. In some cases, a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall effect sensor can be used instead of the magnetic switch.

The method 4300 may also include shooting at or above the overtravel stop (or in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially fitted in a magazine chamber of the firearm and parallel to one of the firearms). Direction) A first substantially planar antenna 4306 is arranged on the inside of one of the magazines. The first substantially planar antenna is configured to indicate one of one or more active magnetic switches, ammunition count data, or an ammunition count indicator At least one of them is wirelessly transmitted from the magazine to a second substantially planar antenna on the gun. In some examples, the ammunition count indicator may be based on ammunition count data, where the ammunition count data is related to the position of a support plate in the magazine, and the ammunition count indicator is related to one of the ammunition remaining in the magazine. In other words, the first substantially planar antenna can transmit raw data (i.e., an indication of the active magnetic switch), semi-processed data (i.e., ammunition count data) or fully processed data (i.e., ammunition count instruction) to the second Essentially a planar antenna. In some embodiments, the first substantially planar antenna can transmit raw data or semi-processed data based on the limited computing power of a magazineless processor or a magazine processor, respectively. In other cases, the second substantially planar antenna can directly receive a final ammunition count indication that can be displayed on the gun display, where the gun side requires minimal processing. In some instances, the second substantially planar antenna can transmit power (for example) from a power source located on the gun (for example, the gun grip or butt) to the first substance in the opposite direction (that is, opposite to the data flow). Upper plane antenna. In this way, the magnetic processing circuit system and the sensor or switch in the magazine can receive power, and no power supply is needed in the magazine. As mentioned above, the Hall effect switch requires a power supply to operate.

In some embodiments, the method may further include configuring 4308 the first substantially planar antenna such that a region of the first substantially planar antenna defined by a height and width is mainly connected to the first substantially planar antenna coupled to the inside of the gun’s magazine compartment. Two substantially planar antennas are aligned in one area. In addition, the first substantially planar antenna and the second substantially planar antenna may be examples of NFC antennas, but other types of RF antennas may be used in different embodiments. In some cases, the size and shape of the NFC antenna may be based in part on the data and power requirements of the ammunition counting system. In some embodiments, the first substantially planar antenna (such as the magazine-side antenna) may have a size different from (eg smaller than) the second substantially planar antenna, which can be used to make the two antennas easy to align because of the larger size. The antenna can substantially overlap the smaller antenna even if it is not fully aligned with the smaller antenna.

Turning now to FIG. 44, a method 4400 for manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system will now be described. In some cases, the magazine may include at least one overtravel stopper and an elastic support plate, wherein the elastic support plate includes one or more magnets. In some instances, the method 4400 implements one or more aspects of the diagrams described herein.

The method may include arranging 4402 a plurality of magnetic switches (for example, <N magnetic switches, such as Hall effect switches) substantially along a path of one or more magnets when the elastic support plate moves along a length of the magazine, where N is One of the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine. In some embodiments, the magnetic switch can be configured to activate based on the fact that one or more magnets exceed a threshold value relative to a position of one of <N magnetic switches and one of the magnetic switches. In one example, when the magnetic field detected by a magnetic switch exceeds a magnetic field threshold, the switch can output (for example, digital or pulse output) a high signal. Conversely, when the magnetic field detected by the switch is lower than the magnetic field threshold, the magnetic switch can output a low signal. In some cases, a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall effect sensor can be used instead of the magnetic switch.

Method 4400 may also include shooting at or above the overtravel stop (or in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in one of the gun’s magazines and parallel to one of the guns. Direction) A first substantially planar antenna 4404 is arranged on the inside of one of the magazines. The first substantially planar antenna is configured to indicate one of one or more active magnetic switches, ammunition count data, or an ammunition count indicator At least one of them is wirelessly transmitted from the magazine to a second substantially planar antenna on the gun. In some examples, the ammunition count indicator may be based on ammunition count data, where the ammunition count data is related to the position of a support plate in the magazine, and the ammunition count indicator is related to one of the ammunition remaining in the magazine. In other words, the first substantially planar antenna can transmit raw data (i.e., an indication of the active magnetic switch), semi-processed data (i.e., ammunition count data) or fully processed data (i.e., ammunition count instruction) to the second Essentially a planar antenna. In some embodiments, the first substantially planar antenna can transmit raw data or semi-processed data based on the limited computing power of a magazineless processor or a magazine processor, respectively. In other cases, the second substantially planar antenna can directly receive a final ammunition count indication that can be displayed on the gun display, where the gun side requires minimal processing. In some examples, the second substantially planar antenna may transmit power (for example) from a power source located on the gun (eg gun grip) to the first substantially planar antenna in the opposite direction (ie, opposite to the data flow) . In this way, the magnetic processing circuit system and the sensor or switch in the magazine can receive power, and no power supply is needed in the magazine. As mentioned above, the Hall effect switch requires a power supply to operate.

In addition, the method may include configuring 4406 the first substantially planar antenna such that an area of the first substantially planar antenna defined by a height and width is mainly coupled to the second substantially planar antenna inside one of the magazine compartments of the gun One area is aligned.

Figure 45 shows a method 4500 for detecting and displaying the number of cartridges left in one or more gun magazines. Each gun magazine includes: a support plate, and the support plate includes one or more A magnet; a magnetic switch, which is substantially arranged along a path of one or more magnets when the spring board moves along one of the lengths of the magazine, and wherein the magnetic switch is configured to exceed a magnetic field based on one of the magnetic switches Threshold value to start. In some embodiments, the magnetic switch may include a Hall effect switch, but other types of magnetic switches such as reed switches may be considered in different embodiments. Alternatively, in some embodiments, a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall effect sensor may be used instead of the magnetic switch. Method 4500 implements one or more aspects of the diagrams described herein. In addition, the method 4500 can be implemented using a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium encoded with processor-readable instructions.

In some examples, a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium encoded with processor-readable instructions (also described with respect to FIG. 11) can be configured to assign 4502 one or more unique identifiers to one or more A first substantially planar antenna, wherein each unique identifier is associated with a first substantially planar antenna.

The method 4500 may further include identifying 4504 a respective ammunition count indicator for each gun magazine inserted into a magazine compartment of the gun. In some embodiments, the method 4500 may include temporarily storing 4506 respective ammunition count indications and a unique identifier assigned to the first substantially planar antenna of the respective gun magazine for each gun magazine inserted into the gun magazine compartment , One of the second substantially planar antennas is configured to receive a unique identifier after the respective gun magazine is inserted into the magazine compartment. In some embodiments, the first substantially planar antenna and the second substantially planar antenna may be examples of NFC antennas, but other types of RF antennas may also be considered. As mentioned above, in some cases, the first substantially planar antenna may be configured to be configured to be at least partially fitted in an area of a magazine in a magazine chamber of the firearm and/or to shoot parallel to one of the firearms. direction. In addition, the first substantially planar antenna can be configured to transmit data (such as an indication of an active magnetic switch, ammunition count data, and ammunition count instructions) to the second substantially planar antenna and wirelessly receive from the second substantially planar antenna electricity. In some cases, the second substantially planar antenna may be coupled to one of the power sources or batteries in the firearm, where the power source or battery may be located (to name a few non-limiting examples) in the butt, the trigger guard, or the trigger guard Nearby, in the grip of one of the guns.

In some cases, the temporary storage may include storing the ammunition count indication and unique identifier of each magazine previously inserted into the gun, and the ammunition count indication and unique identifier of one of the magazines currently in the gun. In some embodiments, the ammunition count indicator and the unique identifier may be stored in the memory of the gun (for example, the internal memory of the gun processor or another memory device of the gun that is in electronic communication with the gun processor). In addition, the ammunition count indicator and unique identifier can also be stored in the internal memory of the magazine processor, which allows a user to call up the ammunition count indicator of other magazines previously displayed to the user, even if the user is using a different One of the guns temporarily stores the magazine.

In some embodiments, the method 4500 may further include displaying 4508 the respective ammunition count indications of one or more gun magazines on a user interface of the gun, wherein the user interface is selected from the group consisting of: A number (or numbers) displayed on a red dot oscilloscope or an aiming display, a frequency of a blinking light, a color of one or more lights, a number displayed on a multi-pixel display, an LED display A number of LED lights, an audible signal, a fuel gauge indicator or a graph indicator. In some cases, the user can filter the items displayed on the user interface based on one of the weapon types (for example (to give a few non-limiting examples) automatic or semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, heavy weapons). Ammunition count indicator. This can be applied when the display is linked to multiple weapons and therefore multiple reader antennas/processors. For example, the display can provide a squad leader with transfer data about all weapons in a squad or can provide transfer data for multiple weapons carried by a single soldier or law enforcement officer. Additional embodiment

Some embodiments of the present invention can be characterized as an ammunition counting system for a firearm with a detachable magazine, the system including a magazine including at least one support plate, the support plate including one or more Magnets, and the magazine includes: <N magnetic field sensing sensors, which are arranged substantially along a path of the one or more magnets when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, wherein N is the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine, and the sensors generate ammunition count data based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to one of the <N magnetic field sensor sensors; And a first substantially planar antenna located on an interior of the magazine, arranged in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun, and the wireless antenna is assembled Mode to wirelessly transmit an ammunition count indication from the magazine to a substantially planar second wireless antenna on the gun; and the substantially planar second antenna configured to be attached to a bullet of the gun The inside of one of the cassette chambers has an area substantially overlapping with an area of the first substantially planar antenna.

Other embodiments of the present invention can also be characterized as an ammunition counting system for a gun having a detachable magazine. The system includes a magazine including a support plate, the support plate including one or more Magnets, and the magazine includes: Hall-effect switches, which are substantially arranged along a path of the one or more magnets, where N is the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine, the The Hall effect switches each generate a high or low signal based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to each of the Hall effect switches; and a magazine processor coupled to the Hall effect switches Each of them is configured to convert the high or low signal from each of the Hall-effect switches into a single ammunition count indicator of the magazine; a magazine antenna located inside one of the magazines Above, arranged in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun, and the magazine antenna is configured to wirelessly transmit the ammunition count indication from the magazine to the gun The upper one of the magazine chamber antenna; and the second antenna of the magazine chamber, which is configured to be attached to the inside of one of the magazine chambers of the gun and has an area that overlaps most of the magazine antenna One area.

Other embodiments of the present invention can be characterized as a method of manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system, the magazine includes a support plate, wherein the support plate includes one or more magnets, the method includes: When the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, it is substantially arranged along a path of the one or more magnets<N magnetic field sensor sensors, where N is one of the cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine A maximum number of the sensors to generate ammunition count data based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to one of the <N magnetic field sensor sensors; and when configured to be at least partially assembled in one of the guns In an area of the magazine in the magazine chamber, a first substantially planar antenna is disposed on an inside of the magazine, and the first substantially planar antenna is configured to indicate a bullet count from the magazine wirelessly Transmitted to a substantially planar second wireless antenna on the gun, the ammunition count indication is based on the ammunition count data, wherein the first substantially planar antenna is configured such that the first substantially planar antenna is defined by a height and width An area is mainly aligned with an area of a second substantially planar antenna coupled to the inside of a magazine compartment of the gun.

Other embodiments of the present invention can be characterized as a method of installing an ammunition counting system on a firearm, the method comprising: installing a detachable magazine including a support plate, the support plate including one or more Magnets, and the magazine includes: <N magnetic field sensing sensors, which are arranged substantially along a path of the one or more magnets when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine, where N Is one of the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the magazine, and the sensors generate ammunition count data based on the position of the one or more magnets relative to one of the <N magnetic field sensor sensors; and A first substantially planar antenna located on an interior of the magazine, arranged in an area of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun; and a second substance The upper planar antenna is mounted on an interior of a magazine compartment of the gun, such that an area of the first substantially planar antenna is substantially aligned with an area of the second substantially planar antenna, and the first substantially planar antenna The antenna and the second substantially planar antenna are configured to exchange an ammunition count indication and power based on the ammunition count data via a near field communication connection.

Other embodiments of the present invention can be characterized as a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium that uses processor-readable instruction codes to execute for detecting and displaying a number of cartridges left in a gun’s magazine In a method, the firearm magazine includes a bullet support plate, and the bullet support plate includes one or more magnets, the method includes: when the bullet support plate moves along a length of the gun magazine substantially along the Or a path configuration of a plurality of magnets<N magnetic field sensor sensors, where N is the maximum number of cartridges that can be loaded in the gun magazine, and the sensors are based on the relative relationship of the one or more magnets Generate ammunition count data at a position of the <N magnetic field sensor; in a region of the magazine configured to be at least partially assembled in a magazine chamber of the gun, a first substantially plane The antenna is disposed on an interior of the gun magazine, and the first substantially planar antenna is configured to be coupled to a second substantially planar antenna via a near field communication connection to an interior of a magazine compartment of the gun The antenna exchange is based on an ammunition count indicator and power of the ammunition count data, wherein the first substantially planar antenna is configured such that an area of the first substantially planar antenna defined by a height and width is mainly connected to the area coupled to the gun A region of the second substantially planar antenna in the interior of the magazine chamber is aligned.

In some embodiments, the magazine may include a display that indicates the ammunition count. The display can be powered by the power transferred from the gun to the magazine via the NFC interface. When the magazine is removed from the gun, the display can enter a static mode that does not consume energy (such as LCD). Alternatively, the magazine display can be powered by a battery on the magazine.

Although the present invention has discussed the specific position of the magnet on the spring support plate (the magnet is usually oriented as close as possible to the Hall effect switch), in some embodiments, the magnet can be arranged on other parts of the spring support plate.

The embodiments herein have discussed a magnet and a distance between the magnet and the Hall-effect switch, which allows one or two switches to engage or exceed a switching threshold each time. However, in some embodiments, a stronger magnet or multiple magnets may be used, and in such cases, when the spring board is in a specific position, three or more switches may be engaged, which may result in more Reliable springboard position sensing and/or may result in the ability to use less than N/2 switches.

Some parts of the present invention are presented in the form of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on data bits or binary signals stored in an operating system memory (such as a computer memory). These algorithm descriptions or representations are examples of techniques used by ordinary data processing techniques to convey the essence of their work to other skilled persons. An algorithm is a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar processes leading to a desired result. In the present invention, operation or processing involves physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually (but not necessarily), these equivalent quantities may be in the form of electrical or magnetic signals that can be stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. Mainly due to common reasons, it sometimes proves to be convenient for these signals to refer to bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, values, or the like. However, it should be understood that all these and similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless expressly stated otherwise, it should be understood that in this manual, the discussion using terms such as "processing", "arithmetic", "calculation", "judgment" and "identification" or the like involves one or more The action or program of a computing device of a computer or similar electronic computing device, which is manipulated or transformed in a memory, a register or other information storage device, a transmission device, or a display device of a computing platform, which is represented as physical electronic or magnetic data .

Some parts are presented in the form of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on data bits or binary signals stored in an operating system memory (such as a computer memory). These algorithm descriptions or representations are examples of techniques used by ordinary data processing techniques to convey the essence of their work to other skilled persons. An algorithm is a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar processes leading to a desired result. In the present invention, operation or processing involves physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually (but not necessarily), these equivalent quantities may be in the form of electrical or magnetic signals that can be stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. Mainly due to common reasons, it sometimes proves to be convenient for these signals to refer to bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, values, or the like. However, it should be understood that all these and similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless expressly stated otherwise, it should be understood that in this manual, the discussion using terms such as "processing", "arithmetic", "calculation", "judgment" and "identification" or the like involves one or more The action or program of a computing device of a computer or similar electronic computing device, which is manipulated or transformed in a memory, a register or other information storage device, a transmission device, or a display device of a computing platform, which is represented as physical electronic or magnetic data .

Those skilled in the art should understand that the aspect of the present invention can be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Therefore, the aspect of the present invention can be in the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (which includes firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining software and hardware. All in this article can generally be referred to as a "circuit", "module" or "system". In addition, the aspect of the present invention may be in the form of a computer program product embodied in one of the existing computer readable program codes or multiple computer readable media.

As used herein, the description of “at least one of A, B, and C” is intended to mean “A, B, C or any combination of A, B, and C”. The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable anyone skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Those skilled in the art will easily understand various modifications of these embodiments, and the general principles defined in this document can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown in this text, but should be given the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed in this text.

102: Guns 104: magazine 106: Bullet Board 108: Magnet 110: Compression spring 112: Magnetic Sensor 114: Bullet Board Seat 115: Fork 116: processing circuit system/processor 118: Transmitter 120: receiver 122: display device 202: digital converter 204: Digital Comparator 206: Reference signal 304: Analog Comparator 306: Reference signal 404: switch 502:Magazine/Magazine Circuit Board 504: Magnetic sensor/switch 506: Circuit System 508: Cartridge 510: circuit board 512: bottom plate 514: Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna 600: Ammunition counting system based on magnetic sensor 602: Magazine 604: Weapon System/Weapons 606: Magnetic Sensor Array/Magnetic Switch 608: processor 610: NFC chip 612: NFC antenna 614: NFC antenna 616: NFC chip 618: second processor 620: display 622: Radio Frequency (RF) Radio 624: RF antenna 700: Media Access Controller (MAC) 702: User Interface 704: Serial communication 706: Board/Microcontroller Unit (MCU) 706-a: Firmware 706-b: drive 706-c: MCU 708: Digital input/output (I/O) streaming 710: Sensor 800: sequence diagram 801: Initialization 802: not in sleep mode 803: Read and process the output from the magazine sensor 804: Convert ammunition count data into ammunition count instructions 805: Transmit ammunition count to user interface 806: Switch to low power/sleep mode 900: Ammunition counting system 901: The first reference junction 902: second reference junction 903: third reference junction 904: Fourth reference junction 905: compression spring/main spring 906: Coil Inductance Detector/Detection Circuit System 1000: Ammunition counting system 1001-a: NFC inductively coupled antenna 1001-b: NFC inductively coupled antenna 1002: Sensing circuit system 1003: Weapon System Circuit System 1100: Block Diagram 1112: display part 1120: Non-volatile memory 1122: bus 1124: Random Access Memory (RAM) 1126: processing part 1127: Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) 1128: Transceiver component 1130: Input component 1132: output section 1200: Guns 1201: sensor/switch array 1202: magazine antenna 1300: Detail 1400: Isometric cross-sectional view 1401: trigger assembly 1402: magazine room 1403: NFC antenna 1404: recessed/magazine room 1500: RF cable 1600-a: NFC circuit board 1600-b: NFC circuit board 1600-c: NFC circuit board 1601: Flexible lower part 1700: Detail 1800: Magnet position sensing 1805: Hall Effect Switch 1805-a: sensor/switch 1805-b: switch 1805-c: switch 1805-d: second sensor/switch 1810: Magnet 1815: Bullet Board 1900: Magnet position sensing 1905: Hall effect sensor/switch 1905-a: first sensor/switch 1905-b: second sensor/switch 1905-c: third sensor/switch 1910: Magnet 1915: Bullet Board 2000: Magnet position sensing 2005: Hall effect switch 2005-a: switch 2005-b: Switch 2005-c: switch 2010: Magnet 2015: Springboard 2101: Display shell 2201: Ammunition Count 2202: Ammunition fired since the most recent reset 2203: Fuel Gauge Ammunition Counting Index 2300: wireless mesh network communication system 2301: Magazine 2302: Magazine Sensing Circuit System 2303: Weapon System 2304: wireless mesh network 2305: wireless mesh network 2307: Grip 2310: battery source 2400: Ammunition Counting System 2401: Magazine 2402: High radar side view object 2403: Notch 2410: Bullet Board 2412: Magazine Room 2420: Guns 2601: Planar antenna/NFC antenna 2702: Magnetic Processing Circuit 2703: Extra circuit 2800: Block Diagram 2801: Magazine 2802: NFC antenna/NFC antenna system 2803: display assembly 2804: Magnet 2805: Hall Effect Switch 2806: MCU 2807: EEPROM/NFC tag 2808: filter 2809-a: NFC antenna coil 2809-b: NFC antenna coil 2810: Connector 2811: Coaxial/RF cable 2812: RF connector 2812-a: Plug-in RF connector 2812-b: RF connector 2813: NFC reader 2814: MCU reader 2815: regulator 2816: battery 2817: accelerometer 2818: Surrounding light sensor 2819: EEPROM 2820: Bluetooth module 2821: Backlight 2822: Pixel Embedded Memory (MIP) 2823: Menu button 2824: LED controller 2825: Serial Wire Debug (SWD) interface 2826: external crystal oscillator/clock 2827: Battery Monitor 3100: method 3102: Configuration 3104: Configuration 3106: Configuration 3200: method 3202: Installation 3204: Configuration 3206: configuration 3208: Installation 3300: method 3302: identification 3304: Judgment 3306: get 3400: NFC antenna 3404: Input/output connection 3406: Difference 3500: NFC antenna 3504: input/output connection 3506: difference 3508: Curved or semicircular length/curved or semicircular section 3600: NFC antenna 3604: input/output connection 3700: NFC antenna 3704: Input/output connection 3706: curved section 3708: Linear section 3800: NFC antenna 3804: input/output connection 3806: curved section 3808: Linear section 3900: NFC antenna 3902a: Loop 3902b: secondary conductor 3904: Input/output connection 3906: both sides 4000: NFC antenna 4002a: conductor loop 4002b: Conductor loop 4100: method 4102: block 4104: decision block 4106: block 4108: block 4110: block 4200: Flow chart 4202: block 4204: decision block 4206: block 4208: decision block 4210: block 4212: block 4214: decision block 4216: block 4218: Display magazine ammo count 4220: block 4222: block 4300: method 4302: Installation 4304: Configuration 4306: configuration 4308: configuration 4400: method 4402: configuration 4404: Configuration 4406: Configuration 4500: method 4502: assign 4504: Identification 4506: temporary storage 4508: display

With reference to the accompanying drawings, by referring to the following detailed description and the scope of the attached patent application, various objects and advantages of the present invention and a more complete understanding can be understood and more easily understood.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a gun receiver and a detachable magazine, which illustrates an embodiment of an ammunition counting system based on a magnetic sensor.

2A and 2B are high-level circuit diagrams of the ammunition counting system based on the magnetic sensor, which shows the Hall effect sensor, analog-to-digital converter (ADC), comparator and magnetic processing circuit system.

3A and 3B are high-level circuit diagrams of the ammunition counting system based on the magnetic sensor, which show the Hall effect switch, the comparator, and the magnetic processing circuit system.

Figure 4A shows a processor that receives a signal from the Hall-effect switch, where each cartridge position has a Hall-effect switch; Figure 4B shows a processor that receives a signal from the Hall-effect switch, where every two ammunition The barrel position has a Hall effect switch.

Figure 5 is an isometric view of the detachable magazine in Figure 1, which shows a magnetic sensor array, a circuit system for processing signals from the sensor, a cartridge, a support plate, and a support bullet A magnet and an NFC antenna are on the board.

Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of the ammunition counting system based on the magnetic sensor.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a media access controller (MAC) controlling one of the processors in FIG. 6 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram of the MAC in Fig. 7.

9 is a side view of a gun receiver and a detachable magazine in which a compression spring is used as part of the counting system according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 10 is a side view of one of the NFC interfaces that can be used to transmit ammunition count information from the magazine to a gun receiver of the weapon and a detachable magazine. FIG. 10 also shows the placement of the battery in the handle of the gun according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a computer system according to various embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a side view of the gun and the detachable magazine (in Fig. 5), which shows the area where the magazine antenna and the magnetic field sensor are installed.

Figure 13 is a detailed view of the detachable magazine in Figure 12.

Fig. 14 shows an isometric view of the trigger assembly and the magazine compartment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 15 shows an RF connector and cable for use with NFC antennas and/or weapon system displays.

16A to 16C show different views of the NFC circuit board flexed around the bottom of the magazine compartment.

Figure 17 is a detailed view of the NFC antenna and circuit board.

Figure 18, Figure 19 and Figure 20 respectively illustrate one, two and three magnets on the elastic support plate using Hall effect sensors or switches for magnetic position sensing.

Figure 21 illustrates a display housing for mounting on a weapon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 shows an example of a user interface in the display shell of FIG. 21 for displaying ammunition count.

Figure 23 shows the use of a wireless mesh network communication system to transmit information from the magazine sensing circuit system to a display on the weapon, or to transmit information from the magazine sensing circuit system to other magazines/from other magazines One of the information is the ammunition counting system.

FIG. 24 is a side view of a gun receiver and a detachable magazine according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, which illustrates an ammunition counting system using an ultra-high frequency or millimeter wave (mmW) transceiver.

Figure 25 is a detailed view of the magazine compartment in Figure 24, showing the notch.

FIG. 26A is a front view of the magazine board in FIG. 5, which shows the PCB layout.

Figure 26B is a detailed view of the magazine plate in Figure 26A.

Fig. 27A is a rear view of the magazine board in Fig. 26A, which shows the PCB layout.

Fig. 27B is a detailed rear view of the processing circuit of the magazine plate in Fig. 27A.

28A and 28B are block diagrams of a high-level system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of a low-level system of the display in FIG. 28. FIG.

Figure 30 is a low-level system block diagram of the magazine in Figure 28.

Fig. 31 is a flow chart of a method of manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system.

Figure 32 is a flowchart of a method of installing an ammunition counting system on a gun.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of a method for obtaining the number of ammunition in a magazine by using an ammunition counting system with a Hall-effect switch array.

Figure 34 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna, which roughly forms a loop but has the advantages of helping to increase the inductive coupling and communication between the antenna and a corresponding antenna (not shown in the figure) on an opposite side of the NFC interface. Quantities of several differences.

Figure 35 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna including several different orders on either side of a curved or semicircular length of the NFC antenna.

Fig. 36 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna including one of two types of coils formed by the same conductor.

Figure 37 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna with two linear sections and one curved section and two input/output connections.

Figure 38 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna having three linear sections parallel to each other and two curved sections connecting the three linear sections together.

FIG. 39 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna including a loop and a secondary conductor on both sides of the short loop.

Figure 40 shows an embodiment of an NFC antenna including one of two loops arranged in a substantially concentric manner.

FIG. 41 illustrates a method of performing ammunition counting using an array of sensors or Hall effect switches, a processor, and a wireless NFC interface between a magazine and a gun.

FIG. 42 shows a flowchart of an ammunition count display program according to one or more embodiments.

Figure 43 illustrates a method for modifying a magazine using an ammunition counting system according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 44 illustrates a method of manufacturing a magazine with an ammunition counting system according to one or more embodiments.

Figure 45 illustrates a method for detecting and displaying the number of cartridges left in one or more gun magazines according to one or more embodiments.

102: Guns

104: magazine

106: Bullet Board

108: Magnet

110: Compression spring

112: Magnetic Sensor

114: Bullet Board Seat

115: Fork

116: processing circuit system/processor

118: Transmitter

120: receiver

122: display device

Claims (10)

An ammunition counting system for a gun with a detachable magazine, the system comprising: A magazine, a support plate, the support plate includes one or more magnets, and the magazine includes: A plurality of magnetic switches, which are arranged substantially along a path of the one or more magnets when the spring support plate moves along a length of the magazine, and the magnetic switches are configured to be based on the one or more magnets Relative to the position of one of the magnetic switches and one of the magnetic switches, each magnetic field exceeds a threshold value to start; and A first antenna configured to be at least partially assembled in an area of the magazine in a magazine chamber of the gun and parallel to a shooting direction of the gun, the first antenna is configured To wirelessly transmit at least one of an indication of one of the magnetic switches or one of the active magnetic switches, ammunition count data, or an ammunition count indication to one of the gun’s magazine compartment or trigger guard. An antenna, wherein the first antenna wirelessly receives power from the gun, and wherein the power from the gun is used to power the magnetic switches; and The second antenna has an area substantially overlapping with an area of the first antenna. Such as the system of claim 1, wherein the second antenna is shaped and sized to fit in a recess in the magazine chamber. Such as the system of claim 1, wherein the magazine includes <N magnetic switches. Such as the system of claim 1, wherein the first antenna is associated with a unique identifier, and wherein the second antenna is configured to receive the magazine after inserting the magazine into the magazine compartment of the gun Unique identifier. Such as the system of claim 4, further comprising a firearm processor configured to be coupled to the firearm and in electrical communication with the second antenna, the firearm processor including a tangible computer readable code encoded using computer readable instructions Media, and wherein the gun processor is configured to store an ammunition count indicator and the unique identifier associated with the first antenna and another ammunition count indicator and the magazine previously inserted into the gun The unique identifier associated with one of the antennas of the other magazine. Such as the system of claim 5, wherein the magazine includes <N magnetic switches. The system of claim 1, wherein the first antenna is disposed under an outer layer of the magazine or is overmolded by a material used to form the magazine. Such as the system of claim 1, wherein the first antenna includes a first independent conductor loop and a second independent conductor loop, the second independent conductor loop has a size different from the first independent conductor loop, and wherein the first independent conductor loop An independent conductor loop is configured to receive power from the second antenna and the second independent conductor loop is used to send data to the second antenna. Such as the system of claim 8, wherein the magazine includes <N magnetic switches. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium, which uses processor-readable instruction codes to execute a method for detecting and displaying a number of cartridges left in one or more gun magazines, each gun ammunition The magazine includes: a support plate, the support plate includes one or more magnets; a plurality of magnetic switches, which wait substantially along the one or more magnets when the support plate moves along a length of the magazine A path configuration in which the magnetic switches are configured to be activated based on the magnetic field at one of the magnetic switches exceeding a threshold value. The method includes: Assigning one or more unique identifiers to one or more first antennas, wherein each unique identifier is associated with one first antenna; Identify a respective ammunition count indicator for each gun magazine inserted into the gun magazine compartment; For each gun magazine inserted into the magazine compartment of the gun, temporarily store the respective ammunition count indication and the unique identifier assigned to the first antenna of the respective gun magazine, wherein the second antenna is grouped State to receive the unique identifier after inserting the respective gun magazine into the magazine compartment; and Display the respective ammunition count instructions of the one or more gun magazines on a user interface on the gun, where the user interface is selected from the group consisting of: displayed on a red dot oscilloscope or a sight A number on the display, a frequency of a blinking light, a color of one or more lights, a number displayed on a multi-pixel display, a number of LED lights on an LED display, an audible signal , A fuel gauge index or a graph index.

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