Corrosion protection system for anti-tank ammunition

Details Corrosion protection system for anti-tank ammunition Corrosion protection system for anti-tank ammunition

2000-01-05

2002-01-01

Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3641)

Special receptacle or package

For ammunition

C102S293000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06334529

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to ammunition, and in particular, a system for protecting anti-tank ammunition from corrosion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Many defensive vehicles carry ammunition or rounds which are fired from the vehicle during a combat situation. For example, tanks often carry various rounds which are stored within the tank prior to being fired from a gun turret of the tank.
One example of a round carried by most tanks is a 105 millimeter (mm) anti-tank round. An exemplary anti-tank round
10
is shown in FIG.
1
. The round
10
includes two basic parts: a shell casing
20
and a uranium dart tip
30
. The uranium dart tip
30
is bonded to the shell casing
20
by a lead packing material
40
.
Tanks which carry rounds, such as round
10
described above, often include metal (e.g. steel) tubes disposed therein for carrying the rounds when they are not in use.
FIG. 2
shows a conventional ammunition storage system
15
which includes a metal tube
50
for storing an ammunition round, such as round
10
. The metal tube
50
is preferably mounted to the inner wall of the tank so that the tube is disposed parallel to the floor of the tank, as shown by the arrow in FIG.
2
. Rounds, such as the anti-tank round
10
described above, are initially placed into the metal tube
50
by sliding a dart end
11
of the round into a rear end
52
of the tube. The round
10
is then moved forward in the metal tube
50
until the dart end
11
of the round extends from a front end
51
of the tube. The round
10
remains stored in the metal tube
50
until it is needed for firing from the gun turret of the tank. When the round
10
is needed for firing, it is removed from the tube
50
in the same manner in which it was inserted.
A problem associated with the above ammunition storage system
15
is that galvanic corrosion often occurs on the rounds
10
while they are disposed in the tank due to the temperature difference between the interior tank walls and the inside air temperature of the tank. The cool walls present inside the tank as compared to the warm air present inside the tank often causes condensation to form inside the tank. This condensation causes galvanic corrosion to form at the point of the rounds where the uranium dart tip
30
and the shell casing
20
come together (i.e. where the lead packing material
40
is located). When rounds
10
with significant corrosion are attempted to be fired from the gun turret of the tank, the gun turret will backfire, causing damage to the interior of the tank and its occupants.
Thus, there is currently a need for a system for protecting anti-tank rounds from corrosion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an apparatus including a tube with a first cap disposed at a first end of the tube, and a second cap disposed at a second opposing end of the tube. The first cap includes a one-way valve which allows gas to escape the tube, but which prevents gas from entering the tube.
The above and other advantages and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3559872 (1971-02-01), Riboud
patent: 3731585 (1973-05-01), Demberg et al.
patent: 4532997 (1985-08-01), Atherton
patent: 4733773 (1988-03-01), LaBianca et al.
patent: 4785930 (1988-11-01), Fischer et al.
patent: 4979632 (1990-12-01), Lee
patent: 5212337 (1993-05-01), Patteri et al.
patent: 5429268 (1995-07-01), Hale et al.
patent: 5611424 (1997-03-01), Sniezek et al.

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