EP0163899B1 - Ignition system for a cartridge in a barrel - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a system for firing a cartridge in a barrel weapon according to the preamble of the main claim.

DE-OS 27 34 169 and DE-OS 30 24 554 devices for the contactless transmission of electrical energy for pyrotechnic detonators, in particular in electrically controllable weapons are known. The electrical ignition energy is transmitted contactlessly according to the transformer principle, the charge space of the ammunition being hermetically sealed by a fixed partition made of non-magnetic material. The primary system for excitation of the secondary coil in the primer is housed in these known systems in the weapon breech.

• 1. Da sich die Primärspule im Waffenverschluß befindet, kann aufgrund der geforderten Festigkeit gegen die hohen Belastungen beim Abschuß die magnetische Kopplung der Primärspule an die Sekundärspule nur unter Zwischenschaltung eines massiven Stoßbodens aus nichtmagnetischem Material erfolgen, wodurch der Wirkungsgrad der Energieübertragung äußerst schlecht wird.
• 2. Die Primärspule selbst bzw. deren sie umgebende Hohlraum im Waffenverschluß führt zur Schwächung der mechanischen Festigkeit des gesamten Verschlußsystems.
• 3. Die Leitungsverbindung zwischen der Primärspule und der vorgeschalteten elektronischen Waffensteuereinheit muß durch das komplette Verschlußteil beweglich mitgeführt werden und erfährt während der Munitionszuführung und beim Schuß, insbesondere bei Maschinenwaffen, eine hohe mechanische Belastung, was zu Störungen führen kann.
• 4. Bei Funktionsstörungen des Übertragungssystems, insbesondere der Primärspule mit Zuleitungen, sind zeitaufwendige Austauscharbeiten im Waffenverschluß notwendig.
• 5. Eine Kontrolle des Waffenverschlusses hinsichtlich seiner Momentanposition und seines Verschleißzustandes kann nur durch äußerst aufwendige zusätzliche Mittel erfolgen.

However, these known systems have a number of disadvantages:

• 1. Since the primary coil is in the weapon breech, the magnetic coupling of the primary coil to the secondary coil can only take place with the interposition of a solid bump bottom made of non-magnetic material due to the required strength against the high loads during firing, whereby the efficiency of the energy transmission becomes extremely poor.
• 2. The primary coil itself or its surrounding cavity in the weapon breech leads to a weakening of the mechanical strength of the entire breech system.
• 3. The line connection between the primary coil and the upstream electronic weapon control unit must be carried movably through the complete breech part and experiences a high mechanical load during the ammunition supply and when firing, in particular with machine guns, which can lead to faults.
• 4. In the event of malfunctions in the transmission system, in particular the primary coil with feed lines, time-consuming replacement work in the weapon breech is necessary.
• 5. A check of the weapon breech with regard to its current position and its state of wear can only be done by extremely expensive additional means.

Starting from the above-mentioned prior art, it is an object of the present invention to design a system for firing a cartridge in a barrel weapon in such a way that the reliability of the weapon provided with it is increased.

This problem is solved by a system according to the main claim; preferred embodiments result from the subclaims.

Due to the arrangement according to the invention of one or more primary coils in the fixed housing, while the movable closure only contains "passive" magnetically conductive transmission elements, the closure no longer experiences any mechanical weakening; at the same time, it is no longer necessary to supply the supply voltage of the primary coils to the movable closure, which therefore only has to be replaced very rarely. At the same time, the weapon breech designed according to the invention can be checked with regard to its instantaneous position and also with regard to its state of wear, since the primary coil (s) in connection with the magnetically conductive transmission elements in the breech represents one (or more) inductive measuring sensors which can be used in a manner known per se .

Since, as is known, there is a risk of eddy current losses in inductive transmission systems, the non-magnetic material which surrounds the magnetic energy-transmitting elements is advantageously selected or constructed such that there is a high electrical resistance in at least one direction perpendicular to the magnetic field lines acting. On the one hand, this can be done simply by the choice of the material, on the other hand, layer arrangements are also suitable for this purpose, which either have layers of low conductivity at regular intervals or have high electrical resistance at the connecting surfaces.

Furthermore, this sandwich construction facilitates the manufacture of the closure, in particular, since it must not have any “defects” in accordance with the high loads that occur.

In order to bond the different layers, possibly consisting of different materials, to one another, the process of explosive plating is advantageously used.

If only one primary coil is used, the position of the closure with the magnetic transmission elements located therein can be done simply by measuring the coil inductance, since this is also determined by the position of the magnetic transmission elements in the closure relative to the coil core. Furthermore, from the inductance of the coil when the closure is closed, conclusions can be drawn about the state of wear of the closure, since the air gaps between the core of the primary coil and the magnetic transmission elements in the closure change when worn.

Of course, the measurement method explained above is also possible in a system with several primary coils. In such a system, however, one of the coils is advantageously used as a transmitter coil for a measurement signal, and one or more further coils are used as receiver coils. The arrangement thus created can then be used in a manner similar to a differential transformer sensor.

The fact that several primary coils can easily be arranged in the weapon housing makes it possible to set up a redundant system in which one fires towards the __ energy can also be transferred if all but one of the primary coils fail.

• Figur 1 den Längsschnitt durch eine erste Ausführungsform der Erfindung,
• Figur 2 einen Querschnitt entlang der Linie 11-11 aus Figur 1,
• Figur 3 eine zweite Ausführungsform der Erfindung mit Schutzring,
• Figur 4 eine dritte bevorzugte Ausführungsform der Erfindung in "zwei-poliger" Ausführung,
• Figur 5 einen Horizontalschnitt englang der Linie 11-11 aus Figur 1, jedoch in "zwei-poliger" Ausführung,
• Figur 6 eine vierte bevorzugte Ausführungsform der Erfindung mit einer einzigen Primärspule,
• Figur 7 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Verschlußteiles ähnlich dem nach Figur 4,
• Figur 8 eine perspektivische Darstellung eines Primärspulenkernes ähnlich der Ausführung nach Figur 4,
• Figur 9 die perspektivische Darstellung einer weiteren Ausführungsform eines Verschlußteiles ähnlich Figur 7,
• Figur 10 eine weitere Ausführungsform eines Primärspulenkernes ähnlich Figur 8,
• Figur 11 die Prinzipschaltskizze einer "ein-poligen" Ausführung,
• Figur 12 die Prinzipschaltskizze einer "zweipoligen" Ausführung mit mehreren parallel geschalteten Primärspulen und
• Figur 13 eine Schaltskizze ähnlich Figur 12, jedoch mit separat in die Steuerung geführten Primärspulenanschlüssen.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail below with the aid of figures. Here shows

• FIG. 1 shows the longitudinal section through a first embodiment of the invention,
• FIG. 2 shows a cross section along the line 11-11 from FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the invention with a protective ring,
• FIG. 4 shows a third preferred embodiment of the invention in a “two-pole” design,
• 5 shows a horizontal section along line 11-11 from FIG. 1, but in a "two-pole" design,
• FIG. 6 shows a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention with a single primary coil,
• FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a closure part similar to that according to FIG. 4,
• FIG. 8 shows a perspective illustration of a primary coil core similar to the embodiment according to FIG. 4,
• 9 shows the perspective illustration of a further embodiment of a closure part similar to FIG. 7,
• FIG. 10 shows a further embodiment of a primary coil core similar to FIG. 8,
• FIG. 11 shows the basic circuit diagram of a "single-pole" version,
• Figure 12 shows the schematic diagram of a "two-pole" version with several primary coils connected in parallel and
• FIG. 13 shows a circuit diagram similar to FIG. 12, but with primary coil connections routed separately into the control.

In all figures, 1 denotes the rear part, 1 'the non-magnetic part and 3 the butt plate of the closure. The breech 1 is movable and can be moved in the drawings to the left in the weapon housing 8. In the cartridge chamber 4 there is a cartridge 22 which is provided with an ignition cap 21 which contains the secondary coils with a core and electrical ignition means.

A first preferred embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment there is a non-magnetic insert 1 'of the breech concentrically with a pressed-in bolt 5 made of magnetically conductive material, the strength of which is so high that the shot load cannot cause any deformation. The bolt 5 forms a plane with the non-magnetic impact floor 3. The bolt 5 is supported by the non-magnetic insert 1 '. In the radial direction of the closure, four round rods 6 made of magnetically conductive material are pressed into the non-magnetic insert 1 'at an angular distance of 90 ° to one another and to the bolt 5. The round rods 6 and the bolt 5 are geometrically matched to one another so that there is no air gap between the bolt 5 and the round rod 6, so that the magnetic losses remain low.

In all figures, the closure is shown in the fully closed state, that is to say ready for fire. In this position, the bolts 6 are exactly opposite the cores 11 of the primary coils 15-18, the arrangement being such that there is only a minimal air gap between the core 11 and the round rod 6. At their ends facing away from the round rods 6, the cores 11 of the coils 15-18 are connected to the weapon housing 8 made of magnetically conductive material. With this particularly simple construction, the magnetic circuit is thus brought up to the core (not shown) of the secondary coil in the primer 21 via the bolt 5, the round rods 6, the cores 11 and the weapon housing 8, the magnetic flux on the one hand axially via the bolt 5 and on the other hand is coupled radially via the weapon housing 8.

To reinforce the weapon housing in the area of the primary coils 15-18, the part which does not have to be available for the primary coils 15-18 is advantageously filled with non-magnetic material 9 (see FIG. 2). Since this material encloses the cores 11 and the non-magnetic material 1 'round rods 6, care must be taken that this material has a low electrical conductivity at least in one direction perpendicular to the magnetic flux, since otherwise the non-magnetic material acts as a short-circuit turn, which leads to high losses brings with it.

Another preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, on the one hand, the radial branches 6 of the magnetically conductive transmission elements are formed by a single, essentially circular plate which is constructed in a layered manner in order to avoid magnetic reversal losses. Located in this plate 6 is the bolt 5 which is coaxial with the closure and which is conically shaped at its end which engages in the plate 6 in order to achieve a particularly firm connection. The bolt 5 can of course also be constructed again in a layered construction, in which case coaxial layers or rods which are firmly connected to one another (e.g. with a hexagonal cross section) can be provided for the closure.

In this embodiment, a further essentially rotationally symmetrical protective ring is provided between the closure 1, 1 'and the primary coils with cores 11, which consists of layers of magnetically non-conductive material 12, 12' and magnetically conductive material. 13 exists. The layers 12, 12 ', 13 are preferably constructed again as lamellar bodies, whereby on the one hand the eddy current losses mentioned and on the other hand magnetic losses in the components are kept low. With this arrangement, a particularly good seal of the closure to the primary coils 15-18 is ensured.

The coil cores 11 are in the case in FIG. 3 shown example as sheet metal packages, as usual in transformer construction, executed. This construction is of course essentially suitable for all of the embodiments shown here.

A further preferred embodiment is shown in longitudinal section in FIG. In this embodiment, the magnetic flux is not guided over the weapon housing 8 as in the embodiments according to FIGS. 1-3, but is coupled "bipolar" in the axial direction into the primer 21 through the breech 1 or its non-magnetic sections 1 '. For this purpose, the coils 15-18 are seated on cores with a U-shaped cross section, the two legs 11, 11 'of which are spaced apart from one another in the axial direction. The rear coil core 11 faces the radial branch 6 when the closure is closed, which is in a magnetically conductive connection with the coaxial bolt 5. The leg 11 'is opposite the radial branch 6' of a further magnetically conductive transmission element, which opens into an axial branch 5 ', which also ends flush with the butt plate 8.

The coils 15-18 with their cores 11, 11 'are shielded from the weapon housing 8 by a layer 14 of magnetically non-conductive material.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is also a two-pole version, the longitudinal section of which corresponds to that of FIG. 1. Compared to the embodiment according to FIG. 4, however, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the two magnetic poles are not spaced apart from one another in the axial direction, but lie in the same cross-sectional plane and are separated from one another by an angular distance. Here, the connection between the cores 11, 11 'is made at one end via the weapon housing 8. To avoid losses, it is again advantageous to establish the connection instead of via the weapon housing 8 via a separate ring made of magnetically conductive material, which is shielded from the weapon housing 8 by a layer 14 made of non-magnetically conductive material (see FIG. 4). In the embodiment according to FIG. 5, the coils 15 and 17 are thus wound in the same direction, the coils 16 and 18 in the opposite sense, while in all the embodiments shown above, the coils are wound in the same direction.

Another preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the closure 1, 1 'is enclosed by a single coil 15, the magnetic field of which is coupled into the magnetically conductive transmission elements 5, 6 and 5', 6 'by cores 11, 11'. In this embodiment too, it is advantageous if the primary coil 15 with cores 11 and 11 ', as shown in FIG. 4, is separated from the weapon housing by a shield 14 made of magnetically non-conductive material.

Perspective sketches 7-10, which are explained below, are intended to facilitate understanding of the sectional drawings shown above. The longitudinal sections through the weapon breeches according to FIGS. 7 and 9 and through the primary coil arrangements 8 and 10 result in an image corresponding to FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 shows how the transmission elements made of magnetically conductive material can be constructed in a sandwich construction as well as the front closure part 1 'made of non-magnetic material. Appropriate material combinations can on the one hand reduce the eddy current losses in the non-magnetic material 1 ', and on the other hand the magnetic reversal losses in the magnetically conductive transmission elements can be minimized. Explosive plating technology is very well suited for connecting the layers to one another, as it allows a high-strength connection between materials that are otherwise difficult to connect. In this way, a closure with particularly good electrical, magnetic and mechanical properties can be produced.

FIG. 8 shows a preferred embodiment of the primary coil core, in which the coils 15, 17 sit on cores 11 which are connected to the annular core section 11 'by a tubular yoke.

A further preferred embodiment of the closure part is shown in FIG. 9, in which circular pole shoes 5, 5 'are formed by the coaxial arrangement.

Of course, it is also possible in this embodiment to design the radial branches 6, 6 'of the magnetically conductive transmission elements not in the form shown, but rather in the form of a ring, so that a completely axially symmetrical arrangement is produced.

For the sake of completeness, FIG. 10 shows the structure of layered primary coil cores, as advantageously used in the embodiments according to FIG. 4.

The basic structure of the single-pole embodiment of the weapon lock according to the invention is explained in FIG. This figure shows that the primer 21 in the cartridge 22 contains a secondary coil, the core of which ends axially with one pole and radially with the other pole. The two magnetic poles of the secondary coil face the axial pole piece 5 and the radial pole piece formed by the weapon housing 8. This figure also shows that the breech 1, 1 'contains only passive components, namely the magnetically conductive transmission elements 5 and 6, while in the weapon housing 8 the primary coils 15-18 with the associated cores 11 - the most sensitive parts of the device - are included. In the embodiment shown in Figure 11, the primary coils 15-18 are already electrically and magnetically connected in parallel in the weapon housing 8. This circuit results in a redundant system if the primary coils are fed in such a way that the magnetic field of a single primary coil is strong enough to apply the necessary ignition energy.

The primary coils 15-18 are connected to the electronic weapon control unit. On the one hand, this weapon control unit contains an alternating current source, which supplies the current required to excite the primary coils. On the other hand, there are 20 measuring devices in the weapon control unit, by means of which the operating state and the state of wear of the breech system can be checked. For systems with only a single primary coil or with several primary coils that are already connected in parallel in the weapon housing, an inductance measuring system is suitable for this. The inductance of the primary coils changes with the position of the breech 1, 1 'or the pole shoes 6 relative to the weapon housing 8 or the primary coil cores II. If the inductance of the primary coils is changed by means of a high-frequency alternating current with very low energy (to avoid premature Ignition) measures, you can generate a control signal when a maximum of the inductance is reached, which releases the AC generator for generating the ignition energy as the identifier "lock to".

Furthermore, the wear of the air gap between the magnetic poles 6 and 11 changes, which also leads to a decrease in the inductance of the primary coils. In order to be able to monitor the state of wear of the closure, it is therefore only necessary to have a reference level of the inductance without a cartridge inserted, for example after inserting a new closure. hold it with a digitally pre-adjustable potentiometer so that you can then use this value to check the state of wear of the lock.

FIG. 12 shows the two-pole embodiment of the weapon lock according to the invention in a schematic form, the electrical connection of the primary coils 15-18 being identical to that according to FIG. This figure shows that the entire magnetic energy is transmitted by the transmission element made of magnetically conductive material in the weapon breech 1, 1 ', the weapon housing 8 is thus not limited to magnetically sufficiently conductive materials. Nevertheless, in this embodiment, too, only "passive" components, namely magnetic yokes, are located in the closure.

The circuit arrangement according to FIG. 13 corresponds magnetically to that according to FIG. 12, but the feed lines of the primary coils 15-18 are each led separately into the weapon control unit 20. With a correspondingly high level of circuitry, it is of course also possible for one connection pole of the primary coils to be routed together via the weapon housing 8.

In the embodiment of the electrical circuit shown in FIG. 13 there is a further possibility of checking the closure with regard to its position and its wear. With primary coils that can be used separately, at least one of the coils can be used as a transmitter coil for an alternating measurement field, and the other coils can be used as receiver coils. In this way, a position measurement of the closure according to the differential transformer principle is possible. Furthermore, the wear state of the closure can be measured by measuring the inductances of the individual coils, a differential inductance measurement between two opposing coils being particularly suitable for achieving a sensitive measuring system.

In addition, when using several primary coils, it is also possible to check the operating state of the induction coils by using an excitation coil, or to use one of the primary coils to control the firing pulse.

The arrangement according to the invention therefore makes it possible to produce an overall particularly reliable weapon breech which achieves this high level of operational reliability through a sum of individual features which support one another in their effect.

Claims (9)

1. System for the ignition of a cartridge in a weapon with a barrel, in which ignition energy can be transmitted from a primary coil in the weapon housing inductively to a secondary coil arranged in the cartridge approximately axially symmetrically and from there out into an ignition means, characterised in that at least one primary coil (15-18) is arranged in the weapon housing (8) at the level but externally of the breech block (3), ahd that magnetically permeable transfer elements (5, 5', 6) are so arranged in the breech block (1, 1') that they couple inductively the primary coil (S) (15-18) to the secondary coil like a magnetic yoke.

2. System according to claim 1, characterised in that the breech is constructed from non-magnetic material (1'), at least in the region containing the transfer element (5, 5', 6).

3. System according to claim 2, characterised in that the non-magnetic material possesses a high electrical resistance at least in a direction at right- angles to the acting magnetic line force.

4. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the transfer system (5, 5', 6) consists of rods.

5. System according to one of claims 1-3, characterised in that the transfer system consists of a circular disc (6) with pins (5).

6. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the breech is formed in a sandwich construction in the region containing the transfer elements and/or the transfer elements (5, 5', 6) is/are formed in a sandwich construction.

7. System according to claim 6, characterised in that the parts of the sandwich arrangement are connected with one another by explosive plating.

8. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the or one of the primary coils (15-18) is connected with a circuit (20) for checking of the breech condition and/or the primary coil(s) (15-18).

9. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that several primary coils (15-18) are arranged at least during ignition in electrical and magnetic parallel connection.

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