Refrigeration – Gas controller or director
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-09
2001-01-30
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Gas controller or director
C062S419000, C089S014100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178769
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus for introducing a coolant into the breech-side end of a weapon barrel.
German Offenlegungsschrift (application published without examination) 38 27 740 discloses a cooling apparatus for a large-caliber weapon barrel wherein a cradle tube rigidly connected with the cradle constitutes the outer wall of a jacket for guiding the coolant therein. The cradle tube, for ensuring an intensive heat removal, has channels in the region of the rearward and forward barrel support bushings for supplying and removing a gaseous or liquid coolant. Such a cooling apparatus is a fixed component of the large-caliber weapon barrel and thus has to be manufactured separately for each weapon.
German Patent No. 40 22 542 discloses a cooling apparatus which, for supplying a coolant to the chamber of a weapon barrel, has a nozzle for spraying the inner barrel face of the chamber with a coolant. The nozzle extends, by means of a central connecting tube, into the frontal half of the chamber and the coolant is pumped through the connecting tube to the nozzle. Since such a cooling apparatus has to be manually inserted into the chamber, risks are high that the tube and nozzle are not centrally guided and may thus be damaged or destroyed. Further, such an apparatus is not capable of ensuring a uniform cooling of the entire chamber.
German Patent No. 40 22 541 also discloses an apparatus for introducing a coolant into the chamber of a weapon barrel. The cooling apparatus has a coolant container which is introducible into the weapon chamber and which is composed of a jacket and a container bottom connected therewith. The coolant is driven out of the container towards the weapon muzzle through openings provided in the container. It is a disadvantage of such an apparatus that the cooling process affects mainly the rearward portion of the loading chamber rather than the frontal portion where maximum loading temperatures prevail.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cooling apparatus of the above-outlined type which ensures with simple means a uniform and effective cooling of the entire loading chamber during firing pauses.
This object and others to become apparent as the specification progresses, are accomplished by the invention, according to which, briefly stated, the cooling apparatus for introducing a coolant fluid into a weapon barrel through a breech end thereof for cooling internal wall faces of a loading chamber of the barrel includes a bellows having a circumference provided with a plurality of holes. The bellows has a retracted state and an elongated, tubular expanded state and being introducible into the weapon barrel in the retracted state. The cooling apparatus further has a coolant driving arrangement coupled to the bellows for introducing the coolant into the bellows to place the bellows into the expanded state and to force the coolant out of the bellows through the holes.
By using a bellows which upon introduction into the barrel from the breech side extends, in its expanded state, into the frontal half of the barrel chamber and which has circumferentially distributed openings, a simple cooling apparatus is provided which results in a reduction of pauses between shots by virtue of its simple operation. The coolant, preferably air, is driven into the bellows by a pressure generating apparatus, for example, a high-power blower which may be flanged to the bellows. The compressed air exits the bellows openings as the bellows expands and contacts the inner face of the weapon barrel ensuring a cooling of the entire barrel chamber. As an alternative, the coolant may be water, driven by a suitable pump. The installation and removal of the cooling apparatus may be performed in a few seconds.
The bellows is made of a flexible material and is preferably closed at its frontal end so that the bellows may expand abruptly when the coolant is introduced thereinto. The diameter of the bellows corresponds approximately to the inner diameter of the weapon barrel while ensuring that a small clearance between the two components is preserved to allow the exiting coolant to escape in the direction of the barrel muzzle. The cooling apparatus is secured preferably with a simple clamping apparatus to a breech ring of the weapon barrel. The high-performance blower may be directly attached to the weapon barrel in a central alignment therewith or may be mounted on a tower and connected by a hose with the bellows.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4203364 (1980-05-01), Dobbs
patent: 4884490 (1989-12-01), Hurlemann
patent: 5202530 (1993-04-01), Stephens
patent: 5355765 (1994-10-01), Rogers
patent: 5837921 (1998-11-01), Rinaldi et al.
patent: 38 27 740 (1990-02-01), None
patent: 40 22 541 (1992-12-01), None
patent: 40 22 542 (1994-03-01), None
Doerrler William
Jiang Chen-Wen
Kelemen Gabor J.
Rheinmetall W & M GmbH
Venable
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