Claims
- 1. A bullet trap for catching and deenergizing projectiles fired along a substantially horizontal path of flight into the trap from manual firearms not more powerful than a 0.44 Magnum handgun, which trap includes a first pair spaced flat plates located on opposite sides of said path of flight and a second pair of spaced flat plates arranged transverse to said first plates on opposite sides of said path of flight, with said plates defining the respective sides of a passageway having at its front end an entrance opening and at its rear end a throat through which the projectiles can pass, and a spent projectile decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber the circumferential boundary wall of which is of generally spiral configuration and the opposite end walls of which are constituted by portions of said second plates, with said passageway communicating with said chamber substantially tangentially of the latter through said throat; the improvement comprising that:
- (a) said first plates (i) are located, respectively, above and below said path of flight and (ii) are oriented at respective angles of inclination of between 0.degree. and about 15.degree. to the horizontal; and
- (b) said decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber has a substantially horizontal axis between said opposite end walls, and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber is defined by a curved extension of the lower one of said first plates, (i) an initial part of said circumferential boundary wall extending from said throat generally rearwardly of said passageway first at an inclination to the horizontal substantially the same as that of said lower first plate and then arcuately upwardly relative thereto, (ii) a middle part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said initial part generally frontwardly of said passageway first upwardly and then downwardly, and (iii) a terminal part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said middle part downwardly and generally rearwardly of said passageway into substantially coplanar relation with the upper one of said first plates and having an end edge overlying the region of said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall contiguous to said lower first plate;
- whereby a projectile fired into said passageway through said entrance opening along said path of flight and coming into contact with one of said first plates is deflected thereby through a small angle into a flight path running generally along the contacted first plate but out of contact therewith and ultimately passes through said throat of said passageway and impacts against said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at a relatively low angle so as not to be shattered thereby nor to damage the same, and the projectile then circumnavigates the chamber with gradually decreasing speed while in contact with said circumferential boundary wall until the energy of the projectile has been substantially dissipated, so that the spent projectile ultimately falls from said thermal part of said circumferential boundary wall over said end edge thereof onto said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall just rearwardly of said throat of said passageway and moves through said throat back into said passageway and along said lower first plate for removal from the trap.
- 2. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 1; wherein said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at no part thereof has a radius of curvature which is less than about 6 inches.
- 3. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 1; wherein said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at no part thereof has a radius of curvature which is greater than about 10 inches.
- 4. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 3; wherein said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at no part thereof has a radius of curvature which is less than about 6 inches.
- 5. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 1; wherein, for catching a bullet fired from a firearm not more powerful than a 0.22 long rifle, said first and second plates and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are made of high tensile steel sheet, spray nozzle means are provided within said chamber for spraying a liquid lubricating fluid against said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber so as to flow downwardly along said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall and thence through said throat and said passageway along said lower first plate to a discharge location of the latter, and the angle of inclination of at least one of said first plates to the horizontal is about 12.degree..
- 6. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 5; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 12.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 7. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 5; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 12.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 8. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 5; wherein the radii of curvature of the various parts of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are on the order of about 8 inches.
- 9. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 8; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 12.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 10. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 8; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 12.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 11. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 1; wherein, for catching a bullet fired from a firearm not more powerful than a 0.44 Magnum handgun, said first and second plates and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are made of high tensile steel sheet, spray nozzle means are provided within said chamber for spraying a liquid lubricating fluid against said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber so as to flow downwardly along said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall and thence through said throat and said passageway along said lower first plate to a discharge location of the latter, and the angle of inclination of at least one of said first plates to the horizontal is about 7.degree..
- 12. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 11; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 7.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 13. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 11; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 7.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 14. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 2; wherein the radii of curvature of the various parts of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are on the order of about 9 inches.
- 15. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 14; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 7.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 16. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 14; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 12.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 17. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 1; wherein, for catching a BB or pellet fired from a firearm not more powerful than an air gun, the angle of inclination of at least one of said first plates to the horizontal is about 15.degree..
- 18. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 17; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 15.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 19. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 17; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 15.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 20. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 17; wherein said first and second plates and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are made of plastics or graphite.
- 21. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 20; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 15.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 22. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 20; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 15.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 23. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 17; wherein the radii of curvature of the various parts of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are on the order of about 6 inches.
- 24. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 23; wherein the angle of inclination of said lower first plate to the horizontal is about 15.degree., the inclination of said lower first plate being upward in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 25. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 23; wherein the angles of inclination of said first plates to the horizontal are about 15.degree. in opposite senses, with said first plates converging toward each other in the direction from said entrance opening to said throat.
- 26. A bullet trap as claimed in claim 23; wherein said first and second plates and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber are made of plastics or graphite.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of prior copending application Ser. No. 627,705 filed Dec. 14, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,763 issued Dec. 10, 1991. To the extent necessary for an understanding of the invention, the entire disclosure of the prior application is incorporated herein by this reference.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
500781 |
Jun 1930 |
DE2 |
6353 |
Jan 1908 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
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627705 |
Dec 1990 |
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