Firearms – Miscellaneous
Patent
1994-05-20
1996-02-20
Johnson, Stephen M.
Firearms
Miscellaneous
89 1701, 89 4402, 89177, F41A 110
Patent
active
054919177
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of weapons systems fitted with shock absorbers.
A particular application of the present invention lies in weapons systems fired from the shoulder, and particularly but not exclusively an antitank weapons system. Other applications include the field of artillery and weapons for light infantry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various weapons systems have already been proposed of the type comprising a fixed reference, a launch tube slidably mounted relative to the fixed reference, and a shock absorber interposed between the launch tube and the fixed reference.
Such systems are described, for example, in FR-A-2 625 800, FR-A-2 644 571, and in applicant's French Patent Applications Nos. FR 89 14210, FR 89 1420 FR 90 10684 and FR 91 01621.
For a shoulder-fired weapon, the fixed reference may be in the form of a shoulder piece, a butt, or a pistol grip. In other cases the fixed reference may be in the form of a gun mount.
As shown in FIG. 1, the shock absorbers described in the above-mentioned documents serve essentially to transform an input force Fe of short duration and great intensity as applied to the launch tube while ejecting a projectile into a longer duration and smaller intensity output force Fs as applied to the fixed reference, and as shown in FIG. 2.
For a shoulder weapon, the shock absorber is preferably designed to transform the input force Fe into an output force Fs of amplitude no greater than 12,000N and of duration shorter than 0.2 seconds.
The weapons systems described in the above-mentioned documents have a major advantage. In general, they do indeed enable the peak of the input force Fe to be clipped, thereby avoiding injuring the user.
However, those known weapons systems do not always give satisfaction. Experience has shown that, for projectiles of great mass and/or high ejection velocity, the energy transmitted to the fixed reference is large even if it is spread out over time, and it therefore succeeds in pushing over the firer when firing from the shoulder after some critical length of time Tc.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawback of the prior art.
According to the present invention, this object is achieved by a weapons system of known type comprising a fixed reference, a launch tube slidably mounted relative to the fixed reference, and a shock absorber interposed between the fixed reference and the launch tube, the system being characterized by the fact that it further comprises a latch serving as an abutment for the shock absorber in the launch position, to prevent the shock absorber from moving during an initial stage of launch, and sensor means responsive to launch of the projectile and suitable for releasing the latch so that it then allows the assembly constituted by the shock absorber and the launch tube to be ejected rearwardly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other characteristics, objects, and advantages of the present invention, and in particular the description of various embodiments of the sensing means, are contained in the following detailed description, made with reference to the accompanying drawings and given by way of example.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the amplitude of the input force Fe as a function of time as applied to a launch tube while a projectile is being ejected;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the amplitude of the output force Fs as a function of time as applied to the fixed reference in a known weapon fitted with a shock absorber and as mentioned above;
FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal section through a weapons system in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 shows the same weapons system in an initial stage of projectile ejection;
FIG. 5 shows the same weapons system after the latch has released; and
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the amplitude of the output force Fs as a function of time as applied to the fixed reference by a weapon in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
More precisel
REFERENCES:
patent: 954799 (1910-04-01), Hammond
patent: 2520971 (1950-09-01), Simpson
patent: 3417660 (1968-12-01), Harbrecht
patent: 4672881 (1986-07-01), Betts et al.
Intl. Search Report PCT/FR92/01079.
Baricos Jean
Dilhan Denis
Etienne Lacroix - Tous Artifices S.A.
Johnson Stephen M.
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