Ammunition and explosives – Projectiles – Nonlethal or deterrent
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-11
2001-10-16
Tudor, Harold J. (Department: 3641)
Ammunition and explosives
Projectiles
Nonlethal or deterrent
C102S444000, C102S513000, C102S529000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302028
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a controlled-deformation projectile, particularly but not exclusively intended for use at short range to incapacitate people or animals in ordinary order-maintaining or riot-control operations without giving rise to irreversible lesions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various “incapacitating” projectiles are known for use in order-maintaining operations. They are of various shapes, being spherical or rod-shaped, and they act by the effect of the impact that occurs on kinetic energy being transformed when contact is made with the target. Whatever their caliber (12-bore, i.e. 18 mm, or 35 mm, 37 mm, 38 mm, 44 mm, and 56 mm), these projectiles all share the characteristics of being light in weight and of moving at high velocity, with their deformability at the moment of impact remaining rather relative, and in nearly all cases depending on the elastic qualities of the materials used.
In other known projectiles, the looked-for objectives are to obtain a soft impact effect or to disperse a liquid or a powder on a target person.
These high velocities are associated with the fact that in order to obtain good accuracy and a sufficiently large impact effect, on the basis of criteria concerning the energy of the round, its muzzle velocity from a launcher must be high. The mass of the projectile that is put into motion is small, so a large propellant charge is required to obtain proper combustion and firing that is regular. Such rounds therefore operate in a manner that is similar to that of conventional projectiles. The surfaces of such projectiles need to be relatively rigid in order to avoid any in-flight deformation which could spoil accuracy at such velocities.
Because of this rigidity and because of the high elastic qualities of the round, its impact area remains much the same as the area of its initial caliber. In addition, since the impact is pseudo-elastic, a portion of the energy E={fraction (
1
/
2
)}MV
2
of the projectile is lost in rebound and in heat of deformation. This point is particularly true when the target has a hard portion. To mitigate this drawback, manufacturers propose “spring” type mechanisms for breaking into a plurality of portions or for stretching, which mechanisms are indirect ways of consuming energy to prevent rebound and to lengthen the duration of impact so as to come closer to the effect of a soft impact.
Fragmentation is to be avoided, not only because it departs from soft impact, but also because it can give rise to severe localized lesions.
Although the energy that is, in fact, dissipated in the target is an essential criterion, that assumes that the impact can be thought of as a soft impact in which all of the momentum Q=MV is uniformly transferred from the projectile to the target. To do this, it is necessary for the projectile to be very highly deformable on impact and for it to have minimum elasticity on the impact axis so as to avoid any rebound.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to mitigate the drawbacks of conventional rounds by obtaining a large amount of momentum at lower velocities, thereby optimizing impact area, given the high degree of deformability associated with quasi-zero elasticity on the firing axis, and thus making it possible to remain highly reproducible regardless of the (hard or soft) part of the target that is hit in terms of energy dumped per unit area, and consequently easier to adapt so as to avoid giving rise to irreversible lesions.
The invention seeks:
to control the fluidity of the projectile or of the bodies making it up. In addition to problems of unbalance and thus of inaccuracy when firing, excessive fluidity gives rise to severe problems on impact. A body that is too fluid will tend, during compression on impact, to penetrate into the cavity created at the point of impact. For example, a semi-solid fluid such as Plasticine can have a very high degree of disrupting and cavitating effect, which is to be avoided;
to eliminate any body having a disruptive effect. For example, any disrupter used for destroying objects or suspects based on water or on explosive aqueous gels;
to avoid problems associated with low temperature operation and using a fluid that contains water;
to avoid any premature disruption or bursting of the projectile on being fired since that would lead to using wads that are quite strong for guidance and protection purposes, thereby also giving rise to a problem of separation on leaving the firing barrel; and
to avoid defining a stable and accurate shape for the projectile when at rest, outside its cartridge.
According to the invention, the projectile that is very highly deformable on impact and that is for the purpose of incapacitating by the effect of impact, comprises at least one flexible, elastic, and extensible envelope filled with at least one divided solid. The divided solid may be a powder or a substance having small grain size.
In the invention, the envelope is fine or very fine, e.g. having a thickness of less than 0.5 millimeters (mm) and is selected so that it does not impose a shape on the projectile, while nevertheless conserving its coherence. The projectile is thus amorphous, i.e. it does not have its own shape and its shape memory is minimal or non-existent. During an impact or sudden stop on the target aimed at, the projectile collapses along the firing axis and deforms radially (for an impact at normal incidence on a plane surface). Because of inertia, the grains of the substance are compressed along the firing axis at substantially zero velocity (relative to the surface of the target). The radial deformation produced by this compression causes the elastic envelope to expand radially in instantaneous manner and makes it possible to obtain uniform distribution of the energy that is transferred to the target. Naturally, the result obtained depends on the diameter of the envelope and on the mass of the grains included therein. The deformable projectile for neutralizing by the impact effect can be launched by a firearm, or by a weapon that is pneumatic or mechanical, and it may optionally be in the form of a cartridge, propelled by powder, by a gas, or by a spring. The present invention seeks to distribute the force of the impact over an area that is enlarged so as to avoid giving rise to excessively large amounts of trauma. In the examples mentioned below, the term “proximity” is used to mean a distance in the range zero to 50 meters.
The substance used for filling the flexible envelope is of grain size in the range less than 1 micron to 100 microns, depending on the surface coefficient of friction of the substance used, regardless of its origin, and it retains sufficient cohesion when traveling along the launch barrel and when in flight to prevent any undesirable deformation. In non-limiting manner, it may for example be a powder or a set of powders having grain size of about 1 micron, or it may be optionally hollow balls of glass, of PVC, or of Teflon (PTFE), with diameters of up to 100 microns, or it may be an arbitrary assembly of substances of these types.
The invention makes it possible to mitigate the drawbacks of prior art projectiles. In particular, the fluidity of the projectile depends on the nature and the grain size of the divided solid, and these parameters can be controlled during manufacture; the effect obtained is the result of a body which is neither a liquid nor an aqueous gel, thereby avoiding disruptive effects. The projectiles are stable at all temperatures of use. Since the projectile is amorphous, on being fired it suffices for it to be compressed in a cartridge and for it to be protected against heat. A simple skirt separates very easily from the projectile on leaving the barrel. The projectile is amorphous, i.e. it has no defined shape outside the cartridge, nor does it have shape memory. It therefore does not present any energy distribution on the firing axis at the moment of impact and it deforms solely as a function of the impact and not as a function of its own shape.
Guillot-Ulmann Richard
Hamy Gerard
Duane Morris & Heckscher LLP
Isher (S.A.R.L.)
Tudor Harold J.
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