Claims
- 1. A recoil and counterrecoil buffer for a cannon having a portion which recoils substantially in response to firing of the cannon and another portion which remains substantially stationary and non-recoiling in response to said firing, the buffer comprising:
- (a) means in the cannon recoiling portion defining fluid containing first, recoil and second, counterrecoil chambers;
- (b) compressed gas means connected for pressurizing the fluid contained in the first and second chambers;
- (c) a first, recoil piston, a head of which is sllidingly disposed in the first chamber and a shaft of which is connected to the cannon non-recoiling portion,
- said first piston being responsive to recoil movement of the cannon recoiling portion for moving in the first chamber in a direction causing increased pressure in the gas means so as to slow and stop said recoil movement and to then drive the cannon recoiling portion forwardly in counterrecoil;
- (d) a second, counterrecoil piston, having a head which is slidingly disposed in the second chamber and a free shaft which extends to protrude from the second chamber when the cannon recoiling portion is in a full recoil position,
- said second piston being operative in response to counterrecoil movement of the cannon recoiling portion to proximate to battery position for engaging the cannon non-recoiling portion with its protruding free shaft and being thereby moved in the second chamber in a direction opposing the pressure in the gas means so as to slow counterrecoil movement before the cannon recoiling portion reaches its full battery position; and,
- (e) the second chamber being disposed within the first chamber, said first and second chambers being in fluid communication with one another.
- 2. A recoil and counterrecoil buffer for a cannon having a portion which recoils substantially in response to firing of the cannon and another portion which remains substantially stationary and non-recoiling in response to said firing, the buffer comprising:
- (a) means in the cannon recoiling portion defining fluid containing first, recoil and second, counterrecoil chambers;
- (b) compressed gas means connected for pressurizing the fluid contained in the first and second chambers;
- (c) a first, recoil piston, a head of which is sllidingly disposed in the first chamber and a shaft of which is connected to the cannon non-recoiling portion,
- said first piston being responsive to recoil movement of the cannon recoiling portion for moving in the first chamber in a direction causing increased pressure in the gas means so as to slow and stop said recoil movement and to then drive the cannon recoiling portion forwardly in counterrecoil;
- (d) a second, counterrecoil piston, having a head which is slidingly disposed in the second chamber and a free shaft which extends to protrude from the second chamber when the cannon recoiling portion is in a full recoil position,
- said second piston being operative in response to counterrecoil movement of the cannon recoiling portion to proximate to battery position for engaging the cannon non-recoiling portion with its protruding free shaft and being thereby moved in the second chamber in a direction opposing the pressure in the gas means so as to slow counterrecoil movement before the cannon recoiling portion reaches its full battery position;
- (e) the compressed gas means comprising means defining a third chamber in the cannon recoiling portion and a floating, third piston slidingly disposed in the third chamber, said third piston dividing the third chamber into a compressed gas containing portion and a fluid containing portion, said fluid containing portion being in fluid flow communication with the first and second chambers so that movement of the first and second pistons controls movement of the third piston and so that the compressed gas acting on the third piston opposes any movement of the first and second pistons which forces fluid from the first and second chamber into the fluid containing portion of the third chamber; and,
- (f) means responsive to movement of the third piston for enabling a visaul determination of when the amount of fluid in the fluid containing portion of the third chamber is less than a pre-established amount assuring proper buffer operation, said means comprising means defining a fourth fluid chamber defined in the fluid containing portion of the third chamber and in fluid communication therewith, and a fourth piston disposed in said fourth chamber, said fourth piston being configured and positioned so that when the amount of fluid in the fluid containing portion of the third chamber is reduced to less than said pre-established amount, travel of the third piston, caused by the compressed gas in the gas containing portion of the third chamber, pushes against the fourth piston in a direction causing portions thereof to extend outside of the cannon recoiling portion, the amount of the extension of the fourth piston outside the cannon recoiling portion being indicative of the amount of fluid in the fluid containing portion of the third chamber, the greater the extension, the lesser the amount of the contained fluid.
- 3. A recoil and counterrecoil buffer for a cannon having a breech portion which recoils substantially in response to firing of the cannon and a receiver portion which remains substantially stationary and non-recoiling in response to firing of the cannon, the breecy portion being slidingly disposed in the receiver portion, the buffer comprising:
- (a) means in the breech portion defining fluid containing first and second recoil chambers and first and second counterrecoil chambers, said first recoil and counterrecoil chambers being positioned to one side of a barrel bore axis of the cannon and said second recoil and counterrecoil chambers being positioned to the opposite side of the barrel bore axis, longitudinal axes of the first and second recoil chambers being parallel to and equidistant from the barrel bore axis and in a plane passing therethrough, longitudinal axes of the first and second counterrecoil chambers being parallel to and equidistant from the barrel bore axis and in a plane passing therethrough;
- (b) compressed gas means connected for pressurizing the fluid contained in the first and second recoil and counterrecoil chambers;
- (c) first and second recoil pistons, heads of which are slidingly disposed in respective ones of the first and second recoil chambers and shafts of which are connected to the cannon receiver portion, the recoil pistons being responsive to recoil movement of the cannon breech portion for moving in their respective recoil chambers in a direction causing increased pressure in the gas means so as to slow and stop recoil movement and to then drive the cannon breech portion forwardly in counterrecoil;
- (d) first and second counterrecoil pistons, having heads which are slidingly disposed in respective ones of the first and second counterrecoil chambers and free shafts which extend to protrude therefrom when the cannon breech portion is in a full recoil position, the counterrecoil pistons being operative, in response to counterrecoil movement of the cannon breech portion, to proximate to battery position for engaging the cannon receiver portionwith their protruding free shafts and being thereby moved in their respective counterrecoil chambers in a direction opposing the pressure in the gas means so as to slow counterrecoil movement before the cannon breech portion reaches full battery position;
- (e) the first counterrecoil chamber being disposed within the first recoil buffer so that their longitudinal axes are coincident, and the second counterrecoil chamber being disposed within the second recoil buffer so that their longitudinal axes are coincident; and,
- (f) the first recoil and first counterrecoil pistons being coaxial, and the second recoil and second counterrecoil pistons being coaxial.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 52,217, filed 5/18/87, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 796,585, filed Nov. 8, 1985, now abandoned, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 559,304, filed Dec. 8, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,933, issued July 15, 1986.
Government Interests
This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DAAK10-78-C-0026 awarded by the United States Department of Defense. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Lt. Col. William H. Tschappat, Text-Book of Ordnance and Gunnery, 1917, pp. 328-331. |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
559304 |
Dec 1983 |
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Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
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52217 |
May 1987 |
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Parent |
796585 |
Nov 1985 |
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