The removal of toxic materials from toxic weapon projectiles, such as chemical weapon projectiles, is a major problem for all nations having aging toxic weapons. Typically, the toxic materials within such projectiles are extremely lethal and cannot be dealt with except under extremely secured conditions.
Many of the toxic materials used in toxic chemical weapon projectiles are liquid in form. For such projectiles, prior methods for removing the toxic material from the projectiles generally entail disposing a suction tube into the toxic agent cavity of the projectiles and vacuuming out the toxic material from the cavity. The problems with such methods are several-fold. First of all, the methods are of no use where some or all of the toxic materials are non-liquid in form. This is a considerable problem because many of the liquid toxic materials tend to coagulate with age and form large solid masses within the toxic agent cavity. Secondly, such prior art methods do nothing towards removing the considerable amount of toxic materials which continue to adhere to the interior walls of the projectile.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for removing toxic materials from toxic weapon projectiles which avoids these problems in the prior art in a simple, inexpensive and efficient manner.
The invention satisfies this need. The invention is an apparatus useful in the removal of toxic material from a toxic weapon projectile having a casing, a burster well, a base and an ogive. The apparatus comprises a) a base, b) a projectile retaining container disposed on the base for accepting and retaining the ogive of a toxic weapon projectile, the projectile retaining container having a projectile retainer opening, a ram opening and a drain opening, c) a ram disposed on the base and extending upwards through the ram opening into the projectile retaining container, the ram including a ram head having one or more spray nozzles, the ram being extendible and retractable between (1) a retracted ram position wherein the ram is disposed proximate to the ram opening, and (2) an extended ram position wherein the ram is disposed distal to the ram opening; d) a projectile retainer opening seal for sealing the ogive of a toxic weapon projectile within the projectile retaining opening; and e) a ram opening seal for sealing the ram within the ram opening.
These features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures where:
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
The invention is directed to the removal of toxic materials 1 from a toxic weapon projectile 2 such as illustrated in
The invention is a unique apparatus 10 and a method for using the apparatus 10. The apparatus 10 comprises a base 12, a projectile retaining container 14 and a ram 16.
The base 12 can be of any suitable size and shape capable of retaining a toxic weapon projectile 2, the projectile retaining container 14 and the ram 16 during operation. Typically, the base 12 is made with steel structural components.
The projectile retaining container 14 is disposed on the base 12 and is adapted for accepting and retaining the ogive 6 of a toxic weapon projectile 2. The projectile retaining container 14 defines a projectile retainer opening 18, a ram opening 20 and a drain opening 22. The projectile retaining container 14 is best understood by reference to
The projectile retaining container 14 also includes a projectile retainer opening seal 24 for sealing the ogive 6 of a toxic weapon projectile 2 within the projectile retaining opening 18. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the projectile retainer opening seal 24 is provided by a liner 26 disposed within the interior of the projectile retaining container 14. The liner 26 is typically made from a fluorocarbon polymer, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, marketed by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Del. under the Teflon® trademark. The liner 26 is retained within the projectile retaining container 14 by a liner retention ring 28. Preferably, the liner 26 is biased towards the top of the projectile retaining container 14 by springs 30 or other biasing means disposed between the liner retention ring 28 and the liner 26.
A resilient gasket 32, such as a rubber gasket, is attached to the bottom of the liner 26 to provide a primary means for preventing toxic material from upwardly escaping through the projectile retainer opening 18 along the sides of the ogive 6. Preferably, the interface between the ogive 6 and the liner 26 also forms a tortuous path to further impede the escape of toxic material from the projectile retainer opening 18.
The ram 16 is disposed on the base 12 and extends into the ram opening 20 in the projectile retaining container 14. The ram 16 is extendable and retractable between (1) a retracted ram position wherein the ram 16 is disposed proximal to the ram opening 20, and (2) an extended ram position wherein the ram 16 is disposed distal to the ram opening 20. In a typical embodiment, the travel distance between the retracted ram position and the extended ram position is between about 4⅛ inches and 6⅝ inches.
The ram 16 includes a ram head 34 which comprises a ram head cap 36 retained on the ram 16 by a ram head cap bolt 38.
The diameter of the ram 16 is chosen to closely match the diameter of the central opening 7 in the ogive 6 of the projectile 2 into which the ram 16 will be extended. For example, where the projectile 2 is a 105 mm projectile or a 155 mm projectile, the diameter of the central opening 7 in the ogive 6 is 1.845 inches. For these projectiles 2, the diameter of the ram 16 is chosen in one embodiment to be about 1.75 inches, leaving an annulus between the ram 16 and the central opening 7 in the ogive 6 of less than about 0.05 inches, for example about 0.047 inches. Choosing the diameter of the ram 16 to match the central opening 7 in the ogive 6 in this manner, effectively prevents the escape of any large coagulant particles within the toxic materials 1 from the projectile 2 along the ram 16 and into the projectile retaining container 14. This aspect of the invention is significant because it precludes the necessity for specialized downstream equipment to collect and process large coagulant particles.
The ram 16 is adapted with appropriate hydraulic equipment 40 to extend upwardly and retract downwardly. In a typical embodiment, the ram 16 is designed to deliver at least about 100 tons of force across the ram head 34. In operation, the ram 16 typically delivers between about 50 tons of force and 60 tons of force during the time the ram 16 is used to crush the burster well 4 of the projectile 2 (as described below).
Preferably, the ram 16 includes one or more spray nozzles 42 capable of accepting washing fluid at pressures in excess of 5,000 psig and dispensing such washing fluid at high velocities.
As can be most easily seen in
Preferably, the apparatus 10 further comprises a rotator 46 for rotating a toxic weapon projectile 2 retained within the projectile retaining container 14. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the rotator 46 comprises a drive wheel capable of contacting the exterior of a toxic weapon projectile 2 disposed within the apparatus 10 and rotating such projectile 2 about its longitudinal axis. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of idler wheels 47 to help retain the projectile 2 in place during its rotation.
The apparatus 10 also preferably comprises a projectile base end retainer member 48 for rigidly retaining a toxic weapon projectile 2 within the apparatus 10. The projectile base end retainer member 48 is best seen in
In operation, the projectile base end retainer member 48 is moved to the second retainer member position and a toxic weapon projectile 2, without fuse and explosive materials, is disposed downwardly into the projectile retaining container 14. The projectile base end member 48 is then moved to the first retainer member position, whereby the projectile base end retainer member 48 firmly retains the projectile 2 within the apparatus 10.
The ram 16 is then extended from the retracted ram position towards the extended ram position. As the ram 16 extends towards the extended ram position, it pushes upwardly into the toxic weapon projectile 2. As the ram 16 pushes upwardly into the toxic weapon projectile 2, it crushes the burster well 4, as illustrated in
After the ram 16 has crushed the burster well 4 as illustrated in
After the projectile 2 has been flushed in the manner described above, the projectile 2 retains less than about 2% (by weight), typically less than about 0.1% (by weight), of its initial toxic material pay load. Thereafter, the projectile base end retainer member 48 is moved from the first retainer member position to the second retainer member position and the projectile 2 is removed from the apparatus 10 for further detoxification.
The invention provides a simple but reliable apparatus and method for removing most of the toxic materials from toxic weapon projectiles.
Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/330,732, filed Jan. 11, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,631,588, entitled Apparatus for Removing Toxic Material from Toxic Weapon Projectiles which is a continuation of abandoned application Ser. No. 10/763,434 filed on Jan. 21, 2004, now abandoned the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090241762 A1 | Oct 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11330732 | Jan 2006 | US |
Child | 12419108 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10763434 | Jan 2004 | US |
Child | 11330732 | US |