US3502025A - Nonpenetrating drug injecting bullet - Google Patents

Description

March 24, 1970 P. R. PAYNE 3,502,025

NONPENETRATING DRUG INJECTING BULLET Filed Oct. 2, 196'? FIGI FIG. 2

INVENTOR PETER R. PAYNE BY $17M Magi; M

ATTORNEYS ite 3,502,025 NONPENETRATING DRUG INJECTING BULLET Peter R. Payne, Silver Spring, Md., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Wyle Laboratories, El Segundo, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Oct. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 672,178 Int. Cl. F42b 5/12, 11/30 US. Cl. 10292 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to firearm ammunition and specifically to such ammunition adapted to knock down and pacify or incapacitate a man without killing or greatly injuring him.

The increasing seriousness of civil disorder and the rising fatality rates that occur as warfare becomes more sophisticated and deadly have demonstrated the need for a means of subduing persons participating in such actions without fatally injuring them. At the present time, law enforcement and military personnel are equipped with weapons which provide them with essentially only one choice-shoot or dont shoot. A decision to shoot is in effect a decision to kill.

Description of the prior art Non-lethal projectiles are widely used to incapacitate wild animals, permitting capture, transportation, veterinary treatment or marking and registration without danger of injury to the animal or the man. Such projectiles commonly take the form of syringes filled with drugs and fired from a gun powered by carbon dioxide or gun powder, or from a crossbow. These syringes are of substantial size, and are dissimilar in shape to conventional bullets. Therefore, they cannot be fired from a standard firearm, and are incapable of being used in conjunction with a conventional bullet. The user must decide whether to carry a firearm loaded with conventional bullets, a pacification projectile loaded firearm or one firearm of each type.

Another disadvantage of the previously known pacification systems is that the drugs used do not take effect instantaneously, but rather require a short period of time to immobilize the animal. While this is usually not important when the target is a wild animal, it is a major disadvantage in law enforcement or military uses. It is necessary in such uses for the weapon to instantaneously, upon impact, render the person incapable of firing a weapon of his own during the period in which the drug is taking effect.

SUMMARY According to this invention, a nonlethal bullet is formed with the same size and shape as conventional bullets, thereby permitting its use in standard firearms without modification of the firearm. Therefore, the user can, at his option, interchange the nonlethal bullet for a conventional bullet when necessary. The pacification bullet is formed of elastomerically deformable material having about the same mass as a conventional lead bullet,

whereby it will be deformed and flattened upon striking a person without penetrating the skin and yet have the same stopping power as a conventional bullet. The person would be knocked down upon impact but the bullet would not penetrate the skin or do permanent injury.

Another feature of the present invention includes a quick-acting immobilizing drug injection system carried by the pacification bullet for temporarily disabling the person until the user is in control of the situation. The drug system is integrally mounted in the bullet in a manner to eliminate interference 'With the standard operation of the firearm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view partially in section of a cartridge containing the pacification bullet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the pacification bullet shown in FIG. 1 after impact and injection.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGURE 1, a conventional cartridge casing 10 filled with a powder load 12 mounts a collapsing pacification bullet 14. Bullet 14 has a main body 15 made of a material which, upon impact with normal energy, will not penetrate the skin, but rather will deform and flow sideways. The material is of suflicient mass to have about the same energy and hence the same stopping power as a conventional lead bullet. Such a bullet when used in a .45 caliber firearm may weight about 230 grains and have a muzzle velocity of 850 feet per second. The muzzle energy at that velocity would be 369 foot pounds. If used in a .38 caliber firearm, the bullet would weigh at least 158 grains, have a muzzle velocity of 1098 feet per second and have a muzzle energy of 425 foot pounds. A number of conventional materials may be used to form the bullet having these properties, for example re-epoxy impregnated with lead oxide powder to provide adequate mass or rubber base compounds. Such a bullet would be an effective man-stopping round while causing a minimum amount of surface damage and no permanent injury.

The non-lethal bullet of this invention can be used without a drug injection system. However, in order to incapacitate a man after being knocked down by bullet 14, the bullet is preferably formed with a small saucershaped container 16 therein. A hypodermic needle 18 is mounted within chamber 16 and points through a channel 20 toward the front of the bullet. A backing plate 22 is mounted at the rear of chamber 16 and secured in that position by the shape of the chamber until impact. The chamber is filled with a suitable drug such as one of the several conventional nicotine alkaloids, muscle relaxants, narcotics, tranquilizers, sedatives, anticholinergics, preanaesthetics, narcotic antagonists or drugs increasing absorption.

Upon impact, the material of which bullet 14 is made will flatten sufficiently so that it would not penetrate a humans skin, under normal energy of impact. The impact on human skin 24 is shown in FIGURE 2. As the bullet deforms, its energy is transmitted to the target, and, due to its high mass and speed, will in most instances knock the victim down.

The bullet may be hollow for containing an incapacitating agent. As the bullet deforms, needle 18 is pushed through the material of main body 15, and penetrates the skin. The collapse of the bullet and the kinetic energy of the drug and backing plate 18, released by the deformation of the bullet, forces the drug through needle 18 into the subjects bloodstream, thereby incapacitating him.

Since the size, and shape velocity of the bullet of the present invention match present standards of conventional lead bullets commonly used by both military and non'military enforcement agencies, it is apparent that no change in shell case, or in the firearm is necessary in order to fire the round from standard firearms. The weight of the bullet may be the same as with conventional lead ammunition or they may be lighter or heavier. With the higher velocities and slug sizes available in rifles and shotguns, the nonlethal bullet would be even more effective, again without changing configuration or operation of the weapons. The nonlethal bullet could also be used in automatic and semi-automatic weapons, such as sub-machine guns. As far as the potential user is concerned, then, no new training or equipment is necessary to efiiciently carry out his operating mission. Therefore, an oflicer might have his revolver loaded with both standard rounds and pacification rounds according to the present invention. He would, in such case, have the option of firing either of the rounds as the situation warranted. This invention would allow the enforcers of civil and international law to shoot and immobilize, but not kill. This efficient, psychologically deterring, physically incapacitating, and humane operation can be done with the nonlethal bullet.

What is claimed is:

1. A bullet for a cartridge casing, comprising; a body of elastomeric material, one end of said body forming a conical ballistic nose portion, the mid-section of said body being cylindrical in shape to conform to the diame ter of the cartridge casing, and the other end of said body being reduced in diameter to be grippingly received within the cartridge casing, said body deforming and flowing outwardly of the original diameter of said mid-section of the body upon impact with a target body to transmit the kinetic energy of the body to the target body without penetrating the target body, and an incapaciting drug injection system located within the periphery of said elastomeric material, said drug injecting system having a chamber, a pacification drug carried within said chamber, and a hypodermic needle pointing toward the forward end of said bullet and in said fluid communication with said chamber.

2. A bullet as defined in claim 1 wherein said needle lies entirely within said material before impact and is adapted to penetrate the forward end of the nonlethal bullet upon impact to extend beyond the leading edge of that material after impact.

3. A bullet as defined in claim 1 further comprising a backing plate at the rear of said chamber for forcing said drug through said needle upon impact.

4. A bullet as defined in claim 3 further comprising means to secure said backing plate at the rear of said chamber until impact, said backing plate being released by impact to force the drug through said needle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 721,050 2/1903 Kersey 10239 1,651,349 11/1927 Gaertner 128-218 1,815,300 7/1931 Harris l02-92 1,819,415 8/1931 Harris 102-92 3,386,381 6/1968 Ferb 10292 1,517,554 12/1924 Fulcher 10239 1,671,364 5/1928 Gangnes 102--39 2,292,047 8/1942 Calhoun 10239 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner I. FOX, Assistant Examiner

Images