Patent Application
20250044049
The present invention relates to a noise suppressor for a firearm, the noise suppressor is monolithic and comprises a casing and a number of baffles arranged within said interior of the casing to divide said interior into a number of chambers, each of said baffles comprising a projectile opening positioned and dimensioned to allow said projectile to go through in its way from the entry opening and to the exit opening. A shield is provided enclosing at least a part of the casing, said shield comprising one or more coherent structures having a plurality of through going openings and being connected to an outer surface of the casing by one or more connecting members extending between an inner surface of the shield and an outer surface of the casing thereby providing a distance between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing.
Noise suppressors, sometime also referred to as silencers, for a firearm are often heavy due to being designed with an aim to being durable. As a noise suppressor is arranged at the mouth of a barrel, the weight distribution of the firearm with noise suppressor often becomes less attractive for the user.
Further, gasses leaving the mouth of a barrel in relation to firing a projectile are hot, resulting in that after firing relatively few rounds with the firearm, the noise suppressor becomes so warm that it poses a safety risk e.g. burning a user accidentally touching the silencer. In addition, a relative high mass of a noise suppressor may delay the point in time, where its temperature reaches a safety limit due to the specific heat capacity of the material from which the noise suppressor is made, but also prolongs the time it takes before it is cooled down.
Hence, an improved noise suppressor would be advantageous, and, in particular, a noise suppressor of low weight and/or a noise suppressor mitigating the problems with respect to heating of the noise suppressor would be advantageous.
It is an object to the invention to provide a noise suppressor having low weight and/or a noise suppressor mitigating the problems with respect to heating of the noise suppressor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art.
Thus, the above-described object and several other objects are intended to be obtained in a first aspect of the invention by providing a noise suppressor for a firearm, the noise suppressor is monolithic and comprises
A noise suppressor as disclosed herein refers to a device that reduces the noise created by firing a firearm. By this, a noise suppressor according to the present invention does not make the firing totally silent, but reduces the noise compared to the noise emitted with no noise suppressor equipped.
A shield is preferably provided enclosing at least a part of the casing, said shield comprising one or more coherent structures having a plurality of through going openings and being connected to an outer surface of the casing by one or more connecting members extending between an inner surface of the shield and an outer surface of the casing, thereby providing a distance between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing, wherein a total cross sectional area of the one or more connecting members evaluated at the outer surface of the casing is less than 10% of the total area of the outer surface of the casing enclosed by the shield.
By preferred embodiments of the invention the heat transfer from the casing to the surroundings are mostly heat radiation and since the shield comprises a plurality of through going openings, allowing the radiated heat to effectively be absorbed by the surroundings, the result is a noise suppressor for most uses, which can be handled without the risk of serious burns, since the temperature of the shield does not reach a temperature where a human may burn his skin.
Besides suppressing noise created by the firearm, the suppressor has also shown to reduce the recoil from a shot. In some preferred embodiments, where baffles are curved, the reduction of recoil is found to be even higher than for e.g. baffles being non-curved.
Further embodiments are presented in the following as well as in the appended claims.
The present invention and in particular preferred embodiments thereof will now be disclosed with reference to the accompanying figures. The figures show ways of implementing the present invention and are not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.
Reference is made to
In the illustrated embodiment, the noise suppressor comprising a casing 2 having an interior 3. As most clearly seen in the cross sectional view of
The casing 2 also has an exit opening 6 for exit of a projectile and the exit opening 6 is provided at a second end 7 of the casing.
Suppression of the shot sound is at least partially provided by a number of baffles 8, which are arranged longitudinally distributed, as illustrated, within the interior of the casing 2. These baffles extend across the longitudinal direction of the noise suppressor and divide the interior 3 into a number of chambers 9. In the embodiment illustrated, seven baffles 8 are providing eight chambers 9, but the invention is not limited to seven baffles as another number of baffles 8 may be provided.
To allow for a projectile passage from entry opening 4 to exit opening 6, each of the baffles 8 has a projectile opening 10 positioned and dimensioned to allow said projectile to go through in its way from the entry opening 4 and to the exit opening 6.
The baffles are preferably rotationally symmetric around an axis passing through the center of the projectile opening. As can be seen in
The noise suppressor comprising a shield 11 enclosing at least a part of the casing 2. In the illustrated embodiment in
As illustrated, the shield comprising a coherent structure having a plurality of through going openings 12. In other embodiments, the shield comprising more than one coherent structure e.g. by the shield only encasing first end 5 and the second end 7, leaving a middle section with no shield 11.
The shield 11 is connected to an outer surface of the casing 2 by one or more connecting members 19 extending between an inner surface of the shield 11 and an outer surface of the casing 2, thereby providing a distance d between the inner surface of the shield 11 and the outer surface of the casing 2.
During use of the noise suppressor, heat produced inside the casing and to minimize the amount of heat being transferred to the shield by heat conduction, which heat conduction occur mainly through the material of the connecting members 13, the total cross sectional area of the one or more connecting members 19 evaluated at the outer surface of the casing 2 is preferably less than 10% of the total area of the outer surface of the casing 2 enclosed by the shield 11. By this, the shield may be seen as being thermic isolated from the casing, whereby the outer surface of the shield 11 does not get so warm that a human would be burned by touching the shield 11. This effect is pronounced by distance d between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing 2, as the void thereby created contains air that also acts as an insulator. Thus, without being bound by theory, the heat transfer from the casing to the surroundings are mostly heat radiation and since the shield comprising a plurality of through going openings, allowing the radiated heat to effectively be absorbed by the surroundings, the result is a noise suppressor that for most uses can be handled without the risk of serious burns.
In preferred embodiments of the noise suppressor, the total area of the through going openings 12 occupies at least 50% of the total area of the shield 11. By total area of the shield is preferably meant the area of the shield including the openings and may be evaluated as
In other embodiments, the through going openings occupy at least 75%, such as at least 80% and preferably less than 95% of the total area of the shield 11. By such large area occupied by the openings, the radiation of heat to the surroundings may occur effectively thereby contributing to an efficient cooling of the casing 2.
The distance d (see
The shield will represent some heat capacity being able to store energy in form of heat. Such a heat capacity governed by at least two factors, namely the specific heat capacity Cp (J kg−1 K−1) for the material from which the shield is made and the total mass of the shield. To keep the total mass of the shield 11 low and thereby its heat capacity low, the shield is preferably given a substantial uniform thickness being larger than 0.5 mm, such as larger than 1.0 mm, such as larger than 2.0 mm and smaller than 4.0 mm. Providing the shield with a thickness larger than 1.0 mm further more incorporates a safety function into the shield 11, namely that it may function as a device preventing fractures from the casing 2 or from the interior component to be spread to the surroundings, as the shield may catch such fractures. Such fractures may originate from e.g. a projectile unintendedly hitting e.g. one of the baffles 8. It is noted that the size and shape of the through going openings 12 in the shield may be shaped also to catch fractures of a certain size.
In the illustrated embodiment of
As the shield 11 is connected to the casing by the connecting members 19 as disclosed herein, the shield 11 may be subjected to being bend inwardly towards the casing 2, when e.g. being handled and/or transported. While the material of the shield may be selected with a suitable elasticity to allow for such bending it may be preferred to limit the amount of bending e.g. to avoid fatigue of the material and/or plastic deformations of the shield 11. To this, the shield 11 may be provided with a number of protrusions 13 (see
The distal end 14 being opposite to a proximal end from which the protrusions 13 extend from said inner surface of the shield 11 or from the outer surface of the casing 2. By such protrusions 13, the displacement of the shield towards the casing is limited by the amount of the clearance in the regions of the shield, where the protrusion is provided. The clearance between the the distal end 14 of protrusion and the outer surface of the casing 2 or inner surface of the shield 11 may be less than 1/10th of the distance d between the inner surface of the shield and outer surface of the casing 2. In preferred embodiments, the protrusions may taper in the direction towards the casing 2 as illustrated in
In the illustrated embodiment of
In the illustrated embodiment of
It is often beneficial to place weight of a firearm as close as possible to the handle of the firearm to avoid introducing too much weight at the end of a barrel. Although noise suppressors according to the present invention may be manufactured with a relatively low weight, preferred embodiments may comprise a tubular section 16 extending, in an longitudinal direction of the noise suppressor, a distance inwardly from the first end 5 so as to define a cavity configured for receiving an end of a barrel of a firearm with the entry opening 4 positioned at the internal end of the tubular section 16. By this, the noise suppressor may be placed with its centre of gravity closer to the handle of the firearm.
To attach the noise suppressor 1 to a barrel of a firearm, the noise suppressor may further comprise a thread 17 typically provided at the first end 5. Such a thread is configured to co-operate with a thread provided at the end of a barrel of a firearm, so as to arrange the noise suppressor on the barrel by a screwing action. In embodiments, where the noise suppressor is made by an additive material process such as 3D-printing, the thread may be provided during the additive material process and optionally refined afterwards or cut afterwards.
In the embodiments disclosed in figures, the thread 17 is provided at the internal end of the tubular section 16.
Preferred embodiments are designed with the aim of keeping the total weight of the noise suppressor low and by this reducing the wall thickness of the elements of the noise suppressor in particular the thickness of the casing 2 and the thickness of the baffles 8. In order to achieve a low weight, it may be beneficial to the structural strength of the noise suppressor to provide support elements internally in the noise suppressor. To this, some embodiments may comprise a number of radial support struts 15a as illustrated in e.g.
Another way to increase the structural strength of the noise suppressor is to provide a number of longitudinal support struts 15b extending with a longitudinal component in the longitudinal direction between a first baffle 8 and the tubular section 16 as illustrated in the figures. The first baffle 8 is the one being closest to the entry opening 4. By a component in the longitudinal direction is typically meant that the strut have a component in the direction (longitudinal direction of the noise suppressor), when projected onto the longitudinal direction. While it may be preferred to provide both the longitudinal and the radial struts 15a, 15b, one of them may be omitted.
Another measure to increase the structural integrity of the noise suppressor, which may be used together with the radial support struts 15a and the longitudinal support struts 15b, is to provide longitudinal support struts 15b extending between a first baffle 8 and an adjacent second baffle 8, where the first baffle 8 is the one closest to the entry opening 4 and the adjacent baffle is the one next to the first baffle in the direction towards the exit opening 6. Further longitudinal struts 15b extending between the second baffle 8 and an adjacent third baffle 8 may also be provided. This is illustrated in
While use of such supports 15a, 15b do indeed provide a structural integrity and allows for reduction of the wall thickness of the casing 2 and the baffles 8, the baffles which due to the suppressor being monolithic are made integral with the casing 2 provide a good structural integrity of the suppressor as the casing 2 and the baffles support each other. Further, in embodiments as the one illustrated in
Without being bound by theory, it is suggested by the present invention that a noise suppressor having a chamber 9 with different volumes provides a more efficient suppression of noise and possibly also recoil. In preferred embodiments of the invention, this has been utilized by designing the noise suppressor with the volume of the chambers decreasing from chamber to chamber in a direction from the first 5 end to the second end 7.
In preferred embodiments, the cross sectional areas of projectile openings 10 are increasing in the direction from the first 5 end to the second end 7, such as to provide a conical projectile opening. By this, the projectile opening may be made relatively narrow close to the mouth of the barrel and at the same time be relatively wide at the exit opening 6. By this a distortion between centre line of the barrel and centre line of the noise suppressor may be allowed, which may reduce the high manufacturing precision demand for e.g. attachment of the noise suppressor to the barrel, which in turn may reduce the manufacturing costs for the noise suppressor.
It has been found in connection with the present invention that while baffles being a general flat member can suppress noise, it may be beneficial to used baffles 8, which are curved. In the illustrated embodiments, all of the baffles 8 are curved and essentially rotational symmetric around a longitudinal axis (centre axis) of the noise suppressor. However, some of the baffles 8 may be shaped differently. The illustrated baffles 8 have a curve shape wherein the generatrix of a cross sectional view of a baffle 8 proceed from the projectile opening 10 of the baffle towards the inner wall of the casing in concave shape with the cavity of the concave shape facing the first end 5. By this the baffles have been given a form, which is believed to fertilise creation of gas motion having a torus like a vortex structure, since the flow of gases is directed by the curved shaped producing a vortex.
It is suggested, that producing such a vortex may reduce the magnitude of the recoil, as the curved shape of the baffles will provide a thrust reversing in a fluid dynamical smooth manner.
Further, the curved shape of the baffles in combination with the connections to the casing are also found to strengthen the structural integrity as the baffles 8 and the casing 2 structurally support each other.
Although not illustrated, one or more such as all baffles 8 may have penetration to allow fluid to pass through the surface of the baffles 8.
Noise suppressors according to preferred embodiments of the invention may be designed to depart from having a casing, which are cylindrically shaped from end to end. In the illustrated embodiments, the outer shape of the casing 2 and the shield are both tapered towards first end 2 and the second end 7 and being cylindrically shaped in between the taperings, or being substantially ellipsoid. Besides from serving a technical purpose, this also opens up for designing the suppressor to have a certain aesthetic design.
It is often desirable to provide information on a noise suppressor to e.g. identify the noise suppressor and/or the owner. To this, the shield may comprise an outwardly facing labelling section 18 (cf.
It may be relevant for e.g. the user and/or the manufacturer of the noise suppressor to monitor certain parameters related to the use of the noise suppressor and to this the noise suppressor may comprise one or more electronic elements embedded in the noise suppressor. Such electronic elements may be a data collecting element, collecting data pertaining to the operation of the noise suppressor during use, such as speed of the projectile, temperature of the noise suppressor, g-actions on the noise suppressor. Other electronic elements, such as a clock device logging the time a shot is fired, a counting device counting the total number of shots either after a re-set and/or the total number of shots fired since first-time use of the suppressor, an accelerometer determining the amount of vertical displacement of the suppressor when a shot is fired, typically determined when a projectile passes through the suppressor.
The suppressor may also be equipped with a camera at the exit opening of the suppressor and having a field of view including an expected target position for the projectile.
To power the electronic elements, a battery such as a rechargeable battery, or capacitor may be embedded in the noise suppressor. In case of a rechargeable battery or capacitor, inductive charging may be applied so that physical access to the battery or capacitor is not needed.
Electrical power may also be provided by embedding a linear generator. Such a linear generator may be powered by the pressure build up in the gas in the suppressor during a shot and/or through the recoil motion.
Embedded is to be understood in broad terms preferably to mean one or more cavities in which the electronic elements are placed. The cavity/cavities may or may not be accessible from the outside of the suppressor.
By embedding the electronic elements in the suppressor, heat either generated by the electronic elements or transferred to the electronic elements will be transferred to the surroundings as disclosed in the above with reference to the shield and reduction of heat transfer to the shield by conduction.
To access the data collected, a transmission element such as a wireless transmission or wired transmission for transmitting collected data to a receiver is typically provided.
While a noise suppressor according to the present invention may be made by virtually any material, which can provide sufficient strength and allow the noise suppressor to be monolithic, it is often preferred to produce the noise suppressor from titanium or a fibre reinforced composite. Preferably, a noise suppressor to the invention may be manufactured by an additive manufacturing process such as 3D-printing.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is set out by the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms “comprising” or “comprises” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as “a” or “an” etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PA 2021 70623 | Dec 2021 | DK | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2022/050282 | 12/14/2022 | WO |
