Patent Application
20100212482
This subject invention relates to weapons and firing pins for weapons and also to remotely fired weapons.
In a traditional firearm, the operator takes some action to load the firing pin (e.g., pulling a bolt) and to then release the firing pin to fire the weapon (e.g., pulling a trigger).
When a firearm is to be fired remotely, however, it can be more difficult to load the firing pin and to also ensure there is no inadvertent firing of the weapon due to jostling, impact, and the like.
This is especially true when the firearm is mounted on a remotely controlled mobile robot. In one specific example, a weapon such as a 40 mm grenade launcher is mounted on a robot platform such as Foster-Miller, Inc.'s (Waltham, Mass.) “Talon” robot. The robot can be maneuvered to a position remote from the operator and the grenade launcher fired. For safety reasons, it is important that the grenade launcher does not fire until so intended by the operator.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new firing pin assembly.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a firing pin assembly which is safe.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a firing pin assembly which can be used with remotely controlled mobile robots and in other systems.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a firing pin assembly which cannot fire unless the operator of the robot so intends.
The subject invention results from the realization that a safer firing pin assembly includes a shaft driven by a cam between a standby or safe position and a load position and then again to the standby position after firing wherein the firing pin is fixed in place at a distance from the primer of the munition for safety. The subject invention, however, in other embodiments, need not achieve all these objectives and the claims hereof should not be limited to structures or methods capable of achieving these objectives.
The subject invention features a firing pin assembly. A firing pin includes a shaft with a distal bearing thereon. The firing pin has a standby position, a load position, and a fire position. A cam engages the bearing and is configured to drive the shaft between the standby position and the load position. A spring is disposed about the shaft and is compressed when the shaft is driven into the load position. A driver such as a motor turns the cam when energized to drive the shaft from the standby position to the load position and then to turn the cam further whereupon the compressed spring urges the firing pin to fire.
In one example, the drive is configured to turn the cam to the standby position after the pin is fired. There may be a sensor for detecting the position of the cam. In one example, the cam includes a flag which is sensed by the sensor.
The shaft preferably includes a flange thereon for compressing the spring. A fixed bushing abuts an opposite end of the spring and the shaft is slidable through the bushing.
In one embodiment, the shaft includes two sections. The typical firing pin assembly further includes a face with an orifice through which the firing pin fires. The face abuts a munition and the pin in the standby position is fixed by the cam to be spaced from the munition. Preferably, the bearing is rotatable on the shaft.
A robot in accordance with this invention features a robot platform, at least one weapon mounted to the robot platform, and a firing pin assembly for the weapon. The preferred firing pin assembly includes a firing pin including a shaft with a distal bearing thereon. The firing pin has a standby position, a load position, and a fire position. A cam engages the bearing and is configured to drive the shaft between the standby position and the load position. A spring about the shaft is compressed when the shaft is driven into the load position. A driver turns the cam when energized to drive the shaft from the standby position to the load position and then to turn the cam further whereupon the compressed spring urges the firing pin to fire.
Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which:
Aside from the preferred embodiment or embodiments disclosed below, this invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Thus, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. If only one embodiment is described herein, the claims hereof are not to be limited to that embodiment. Moreover, the claims hereof are not to be read restrictively unless there is clear and convincing evidence manifesting a certain exclusion, restriction, or disclaimer.
In one particular example, firing pin assembly 10,
Thereafter, motor 24 turns cam 18 further to the standby position shown in
Other preferred components associated with assembly 10 include lower housing 40 and upper housing 42 with cover 43. Shaft 44 of cam 18 is supported by bearing 46 and is driven by shaft 48 of motor 24 via retaining pin 50 as shown. Bearing 16 preferably rotates with respect to shaft 14 via roller assembly 52. Retainer 54 is positioned between flange 20 and spring 7. Printed circuit board assembly 56 under cover 57 serves as an interface between the power supply to assembly 10 and motor 24.
The standby position of cam 18 and shaft 14 is shown in
Cam 18 then continues to turn until the position shown in
In one implementation, firing pin assembly 10 is a component of a remotely controlled mobile robot 80,
Fire control unit 90 acts as an interface between the fire control system of robot 80 (see co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/543,427 incorporated herein by this reference) and power input port 60 of each firing pin assembly.
The result is a safer firing pin assembly which cannot fire unless the operator of the robot so intends. The firing pin assembly of the subject invention, however, maybe used in conjunction with weapons other than the grenade launcher subsystem depicted in
Thus, although specific features of the invention are shown in some drawings and not in others, this is for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the invention. For example, the firing pin assembly of the subject invention is useful in connection with weapons other than grenade launchers and in connection with weapons not necessarily mounted on a robot. The words “including”, “comprising”, “having”, and “with” as used herein are to be interpreted broadly and comprehensively and are not limited to any physical interconnection. Moreover, any embodiments disclosed in the subject application are not to be taken as the only possible embodiments. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims.
In addition, any amendment presented during the prosecution of the patent application for this patent is not a disclaimer of any claim element presented in the application as filed: those skilled in the art cannot reasonably be expected to draft a claim that would literally encompass all possible equivalents, many equivalents will be unforeseeable at the time of the amendment and are beyond a fair interpretation of what is to be surrendered (if anything), the rationale underlying the amendment may bear no more than a tangential relation to many equivalents, and/or there are many other reasons the applicant can not be expected to describe certain insubstantial substitutes for any claim element amended.
