Patent Application
20190017773
The present invention relates to a firearm for use underwater. More particularly, it relates to a firearm capable of semiautomatic or fully automatic fire without the need for creating or maintaining an evacuated (dry) barrel or other chambers.
When a firearm is discharged in the open atmosphere, the rapid release of pressurized propellant gasses through the muzzle creates a soundwave that travels through the air and to the ears of persons nearby. The sound travels by creating a compression wave through the air. This sound impulse can be reduced to a hearing-safe level by the use of a firearm noise suppressor, which typically includes a series of sealed chambers that temporality capture the high-pressure gas, allowing it to enter the atmosphere more slowly.
Because water is more dense than air, sound travels more than four times as fast through water than through air. Moreover, unlike air, water is nearly incompressible. When a firearm is discharged under water, the sound shockwave created is even more intense and travels even faster to the ears of people in the water. Discharging a firearm under water presents many challenges, including suppression of the sound shockwave to a level that is hearing safe and using the recoil energy to automatically extract a spent cartridge and load a new cartridge into the chamber without manually cycling the action or using a different, pre-loaded chamber.
Various underwater guns have been developed, many of which use a sealed barrel and/or flash and recoil suppressor, are capable of firing only a single shot without switching barrels/chambers, or that are effective only at contact range. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,888, which is a single shot device with a muzzle seal that is displaced or penetrated by the fired projectile. Another device “capable of being fired immediately after being subjected to moderate external water pressures” is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,132, which shows a sound, flash, and recoil suppressor attachable to the threaded muzzle of a firearm barrel. This device uses a series of elastomeric wipes that are intended to reseal after penetration by a projectile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,858 shows a muzzle brake and seal system that provides an evacuated chamber with internal baffles and a ball value at an exit port that is synchronized with the firing of a projectile. This system is intended to completely capture the propellant gases and any water that enters the capture chamber must be purged out between shots. U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,982 provides a method of firing a weapon underwater in which a blank cartridge is fired immediately before discharging a live round to purge water from the barrel and create a temporary bubble of gas at the muzzle. According to the method, once the repeated firing of live rounds has ended, another blank cartridge is used to again purge the barrel and create a bubble at the muzzle before firing another live round. Other devices use a series of pre-loaded chambers/barrels, like a revolver, that are selectively fired. In addition to other limitations, these devices would not be hearing-safe.
More recently, a water-filled sound and flash suppressor attached to the muzzle of a pistol has been used. This system temporarily captures and slows the propellant gases leaving the muzzle, forcing water inside the suppressor chambers to vent through radial ports. Although this device is effective at disrupting the sound shockwave produced by discharging the firearm, there may not be sufficient back pressure to cycle the slide or bolt, effectively making it a single shot system that must be manually cycled between rounds.
The present invention provides an auto-loading firearm capable of underwater semiautomatic or fully automatic fire at hearing-safe sound levels. The invention is capable of being implemented in an AR-platform firearm configured for pistol caliber ammunition using a blowback bolt. Various modifications and improvements are used in combination in a system that does not require any dry or purged chambers within the firearm, barrel, or brake system.
An impulse wave disruptor system may be integrated into a ported barrel assembly so that a muzzle-attached device is unnecessary. This can include a barrel having a bore, a muzzle at a forward end, and at least one barrel port. A housing external to the bore defines at least a first gas expansion chamber in fluid communication with the barrel port and having at least one exhaust port. The barrel bore and expansion chamber are flooded when underwater and propellant gases that push a projectile through the bore are vented through the barrel port to forcefully expel water from the expansion chamber through the exhaust port and to vent propellant gases. This delays the release of gases released to surrounding water and reduces the amount of gas expelled through the muzzle. Other devices that separate and disrupt the bubble of propellant gases being released into the surrounding liquid medium may be used to further lessen the pressure shockwave.
Parts of the fire control system may include a streamlined or hydrodynamic profile to reduce drag as they move through a water-filled environment. Parts of the blowback bolt may be profiled to allow the passage, bypassing, or venting of fluid as the part is moved rapidly through a water-filled chamber. Likewise, the recoil buffer tube may be ported (or skeletonized) to allow controlled venting of water from and into the housing as the action cycles. Other challenges, including the reliable ejection of a spent casing from the upper receiver through the dense fluid medium of water.
Other aspects, features, benefits, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to a person of skill in the art from the detailed description of various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing figures, all of which comprise part of the disclosure.
Like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various figures of the drawings, wherein:
With reference to the drawing figures, this section describes particular embodiments and their detailed construction and operation. Throughout the specification, reference to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “some embodiments” means that a particular described feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” or “in some embodiments” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the described features, structures, and characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In view of the disclosure herein, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various embodiments can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or with other methods, components, materials, or the like. In some instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or not described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the embodiments.
Referring to the various drawing figures, and first to
An upper receiver 28 may be attached (in this case, removably) to the lower receiver 12. The upper receiver 28 houses a longitudinally reciprocating bolt carrier or bolt assembly 30, which will be described in more detail later. A buffer extension tube or housing 32 extends rearwardly from a rear portion of the lower receiver 12, substantially longitudinally and axially aligned with the bolt assembly 30 and interior chamber 34 of the upper receiver 28. The housing 32, which also will be described in more detail later, houses the recoil buffer 36 and recoil spring 38.
A barrel assembly 40 extends forward longitudinally from a forward portion of the upper receiver 28. The barrel assembly 40 may include a barrel 42, having a chamber 44 at its rearward end and a muzzle 46 at its forward end, a barrel attachment member 48, and a handguard 50. The barrel 42 may be rifled or smoothbore, and the type of projectiles to be fired depend on the user's purpose. As will be described in greater detail later, the barrel assembly 40 may include an integral impulse wave disruptor system.
In an underwater environment where all parts of the firearm are flooded with this liquid medium (except the interior of the ammunition cartridge), moving parts and the expelling of rapidly expanding propellant gases act and respond very differently than in a gaseous environment, like air. The liquid environment is essentially incompressible, which significantly changes how the fluid moves within enclosed spaces and passes through openings. The gas discharged into this liquid medium forms discrete bubbles and does not disperse the way discharged gas does in an air environment. The significant density differential exacerbates this effect.
The hammer 18 is the largest and most rapidly moving part of the fire control group, which can present challenges when submerged in the denser liquid environment of water. Referring now to
The illustrated embodiment is a semiautomatic action. The present invention can easily be adapted for fully automatic fire by using a commonly known full auto fire control group and streamlining the full auto hammer 18 as shown and described.
As is commonly used in pistol caliber configurations of an AR-pattern firearm, a blowback bolt 30 may be employed in the present invention. Unlike the bolt carrier assembly in a typical gas-operated action of an AR-platform firearm, a blowback bolt 30 does not typically use a separate, rotating bolt member with locking lugs. Instead, the blowback blot 30 is maintained in battery by the recoil spring 38. Because the bolt 30 is not cycled, either directly or indirectly, by propellant gases ported from the barrel, a typical gas key is unnecessary. Instead, a guide key 58 that is either attached to or integral with the bolt body 60 may project upwardly from a top edge and received in a longitudinal keyway 59 inside the upper receiver 28 to guide the bolt 30 and prevent rotation as it reciprocates longitudinally when the action cycles. The bolt face may include an extractor 62 that engages the rim of an ammunition cartridge to remove it from the chamber 44 when the bolt 30 cycles rearwardly.
Axially aligned within the forward portion of the bolt body 60 is a firing pin 64, which will be described in further detail below. A rear portion of the bolt body 60 may have a substantially hollow interior with upper and lower cut-out openings 66, 68 to allow the hammer 18 to engage the firing pin 64. The rear end of the bolt body 60 may include a plug 70 that can be used to add mass to the bolt assembly 30 or to act as a bumper for the contact interface between the bolt assembly 30 and buffer 36.
One embodiment of the bolt assembly 30 may include other novel features making it particularly suitable and reliable in an underwater environment. Referring now also to
Referring now in particular to
In practice, there can be some difficulty with reliable automatic ejection of spent cartridge casings in an underwater environment. It was found that cartridge casings may too often “stovepipe” and be caught in the ejection port 100 of the upper receiver 28 as the bolt assembly 30 returned toward the in-battery position. To address this, another feature may be included on the bolt body 66 in the form of a longitudinal relief 90 provided by a flat surface cut on the otherwise substantially cylindrical outer surface of the rear portion of the bolt assembly 30.
As shown in
Referring now specifically to
A relatively heavy buffer 36, such as a T3, and a relatively heavy recoil spring 38, such as one intended for an AR10-platform (.308 caliber) firearm may be used. Optionally, an integrated spring/buffer system, such as the Silent Captured Spring system sold by JP Enterprises, Inc. of Hugo, Minn., for either the AR10, AR15, or 9 mm carbine, may be used. The Silent Captured Spring system (not shown) reduces sound-generating vibrations produced by an ordinary spring 38 rapidly rubbing the interior of the housing 32 as it compresses and extends. Likewise, an alternative type of spring recoil system housed entirely within the upper receiver can be adapted to the present invention with appropriate venting to assure water is not trapped in a chamber in a manner that could hinder or prevent normal cycling of the action in a liquid environment. Pneumatic buffer spring systems that are open to the atmosphere (i.e., not a closed system) may not be suitable for use in an underwater environment.
Unlike when a firearm is discharged in air, where high pressure propellant gases are released to the atmosphere, discharging a firearm under water rapidly creates a significant bubble of gas in a liquid environment. The rapid generation of this gas bubble creates an impulse in the form of a shockwave that radiates throughout the surrounding water. As previously described, it has been found that extending the release time of the propellant gas escaping the muzzle can greatly reduce this shockwave, to make underwater firing hearing safe. Additionally, dissipating this high-pressure gas into multiple streams creates many smaller bubbles, also greatly disrupting and reducing the shockwave effect. One prior solution used a muzzle-attached device with a central tube through which the projectile must pass without contacting the tube. This tube, of course, is filled with water as the projectile passes through it. That tube would be surrounded by an outer, water-filled chamber that would be temporarily evacuated by high pressure propellant gas ported from the central tube after leaving the muzzle of the firearm. One aspect of the present invention provides a propellant gas dissipater brake system, integral with the firearm barrel that disrupts the impulse of the shockwave to make underwater use of the firearm 10 hearing safe for those nearby.
Referring now in particular to
In the illustrated AR-pattern firearms 10, the barrel 42 may be attached to a forward threaded extension 110 of the upper receiver 28 using a threaded barrel attachment member 48 that functions as a traditional barrel nut. A tubular extension portion 110, which can be integral with the barrel attachment member 48, provides at least a first expansion chamber 114 radially exterior of and coaxial with the barrel 42. The forward end of the barrel 42 may be supported within the tubular extension portion 112 by a coupling nut 116 that engages a forward threaded portion 118 of the barrel and bears against an annular inner shoulder 120, placing the barrel 42 in axial tension, if desired. In this embodiment, the coupling nut 116 also acts to close the forward end of the annular first expansion chamber 110.
A plurality of exhaust ports 122 are provided through the tubular extension portion 112, which may be at or adjacent to the forward end of the expansion chamber 114. The exhaust ports 122 can be oriented to direct the fluid flow of water (and gas) radially, or may be oriented at a forward angle (shown) or rearward angle. Accordingly, expanding propellant gases flowing through the barrel ports 108 that enter the first expansion chamber 114 and force water out through the exhaust ports 122 and can create a recoil brake effect. The expansion in the first chamber 114 and work required to force water out through the exhaust ports 122 uses energy, delaying, reducing, and disrupting the pressure impulse that enters the surrounding water. The delay caused by evacuating water from the outer chamber 114 through the constricted exhaust ports 122 also helps maintain back pressure within the bore 124 to push the projectile being fired and to cycle the blowback bolt 30. In air, such early porting of the barrel might cause such an early and rapid drop in pressure within the bore 124 that projectile velocity would diminish and back pressure may not be sufficient to cycle the blowback bolt 30.
Once the water has been substantially or completely displaced from the expansion chamber 114, expansion gas may be further vented through the exhaust ports 118, as well. Once the propulsion gases have dissipated or their pressure falls below that of the surrounding water, water will refill the first expansion chamber 114 through the exhaust ports 122 and refill the bore 124 of the barrel 42 through the muzzle 46. Unlike prior devices that only dissipate propulsion gases after leaving the muzzle, the device of the present invention does so integral with the barrel, reducing the volume of blast exiting the muzzle 46. It also does not require the projectile to pass unguided through a liquid-filled tube forward of the muzzle, which may affect its velocity or accuracy.
The use of a barrel shroud or handguard 50 can further dissipate the gas flow exiting the exhaust ports 122, further disrupting the impulse and shockwave effect of the propellant blast. The handguard may be of any desired style (with or without accessory attachment rails) and may include a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced openings 126 of any chosen shape or size. The volume of the radially spaced, water-filled cavities being evacuated by propellant gases is progressively larger as the radius increases. That is, the volume of the first expansion chamber 114 is greater than that of the barrel bore 124, and the volume within the handguard 50 is greater still. Each successive evacuation consumes energy that would otherwise be transferred to the surrounding water as a shockwave.
The handguard can be made of metal, such as stainless steel or anodized aluminum, or can be a fiber reinforced resin matrix composite, such as carbon fiber in epoxy. If desired, the handguard 50 can extend forward some distance (for example 1-4 inches) past the muzzle 46. Because a significant amount of propellant blast will still exit the muzzle 146 into the water environment, this rapidly expanding bubble can be inhibited and/or disrupted by this forward extension of the handguard 50.
Optionally, further disruption of the exhausted gas bubble can be achieved by use of a screen tube 128 situated in or on the handguard 50. The screen tube 128 may be made of any suitable material, such as stainless steel, aluminum, brass, carbon fiber, or fiberglass, that will withstand the pressurized gas flow and salt-water environment to which it may be subjected. The screen tube 128 can extend the full length of the handguard 50 (as shown), extend beyond the handguard, or may be less than the full length of the handguard, such as being positioned only adjacent the exhaust ports 122. If the handguard 50 and/or screen tube 128 extend forward beyond the muzzle 46, they can disrupt the impulse created by propellant gases exiting the muzzle 46. The screen material can be woven wires or fibers, or can be a series of perforations in a tube, either of which break apart bubbles of gas as it passes through. The screen tube may be spaced inward of the handguard 50 (as illustrated in
While one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the foregoing is intended only to be illustrative of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be included and considered to fall within the scope of the invention, defined by the following claim or claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/526,607, filed Jun. 29, 2017, and incorporates the same herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62526607 | Jun 2017 | US |
