VirTra Wins Patents for TASER Training and Simulating Firearms

VirTra Inc. announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued the company two new patents: patent 10,438,503, which relates to VirTra’s TASER cartridge kits, and patent 10,436,539, which relates to mechanical malfunction of real firearms used in simulation training.

Based on the parameters of patent 10,438,503, VirTra is the only company in the United States that can produce or sell a specially triggered training cartridge for the TASER line of products by Axon. The patent covers VirTra’s method of triggering the training device based on the acoustic sound produced by a TASER Conducted Energy Weapon’s (CEW) electrical arc. This innovation allows trainees to deploy the cartridges from a real TASER CEW during simulation training and avoid high-voltage feedback. It also allows trainees to practice with a TASER CEW’s “ARC” and/or “Re-ARC” functions, which increases the realism of each training session. By using a live CEW while training in VirTra’s simulators, trainees are able to improve their technique and develop proper habits that carry into real world situations. The patent applies to both legacy units and the latest multi-cartridge systems used for the TASER X2 and TASER 7 weapons.

“TASER CEWs have been classified as ‘less-lethal’ devices, and as such, require the same type of high quality, judgmental use-of-force simulation training as lethal devices like firearms,” said Lon Bartel director of Training and Curriculum at VirTra. “By combining live TASER CEW and VirTra training cartridges with VirTra’s simulators and library of content, trainees have an opportunity to develop critical decision-making skills when under stress as well as further develop safe weapon handling by practicing the removal and replacement of cartridges during simulations that escalate.”

Based on the parameters of patent 10,436,539, VirTra is the only company in the United States that can produce or sell a specially designed kit that converts a live firearm into a safe and reliable training tool that can simulate mechanical malfunction and therefore increase realism. This patent addresses the growing need to safely, affordably, and accurately reproduce the intricacies of real firearms for training purposes. The patent expands VirTra’s library of intellectual property related to converting real firearms (whether pistol or rifle) into suitable training tools that can be used in realistic simulation training without the expense or hassle of modifying the original firearm.