EP0362064A1 - Quick-firing automatic gun of the barrel type - Google Patents

Abstract

The gun is characterised in that it comprises a star shaft (11) of intermittent movement, arranged in the axis of the barrel (1) and driven in rotation by this; in that the star driven in synchronism with the star shaft is arranged in parallel with and laterally relative to the latter; in that a stripper is arranged between the star and the star shaft, so as to separate the cartridges from the shells and subsequently to direct the cartridges, one by one, towards the star shaft, whilst allowing the shells to be discharged; and in that means (14) are provided to cause to enter the successive chambers (3) the cartridges carried in alignment with these chambers by the star shaft, in proportion as the latter rotates. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to automatic weapons of medium caliber, with a high rate of fire, more particularly but not exclusively to automatic weapons intended to be carried on board aircraft, of the barrel type receiving cartridges in bands via '' a supply star and supplying one or two tubes, controlled by gas borrowing and electrically fired.

Weapons of this type must be able to fire short bursts at high speed almost instantaneously in order to be able to take into account particularly fleeting targets with a satisfactory possibility of attack. To achieve a very high rate of fire, we use either a multitube weapon firing in bursts, or several weapons with one or two tubes firing in bursts, associated on the same support.

In the first case, these are weapons of the "Gatling" type, named after its inventor, which include n tubes associated with as many cylinder heads which move on a cylinder head rotor.

In the second case which is the one to which the invention relates, we manage to produce more compact and light weapons, therefore easier to install, than Gatling type weapons, and also safer because, unlike Gatling type weapons , a long fire simply results in a stop of the shot, the cartridge then remaining inside the chamber. In return and taking into account the current technology which will be briefly recalled below, their rate of fire remains limited to approximately 1,800 rounds / min for the most recent achievements.

The object of the invention is to produce a medium-caliber weapon with a high rate of fire, that is to say a rate of fire greater than 1,800 rounds / min and capable of reaching or even exceeding 2,500 rounds / min, which is capable to fire instantly in bursts at the maximum rate and which is compact and light enough to fit easily on board an aircraft. This weapon must also have a safety and reliability at least equal to that of weapons of the same type known to date.

To this end, the weapon of the type defined in the preamble is essentially characterized, according to the invention, in that it comprises a star shaft with intermittent movement, which is arranged in the axis of the barrel and driven in rotation by it. this ; in that the star, driven in synchronism with the star tree, is arranged parallel to the star tree and laterally with respect thereto; in that a stripper is arranged between the star and the star-shaped tree so as to separate the cartridges from the links, in the strip of cartridges leaving the star, and then direct the cartridges one by one towards the tree starry while allowing the links to be evacuated from the weapon; and in that means are provided for causing the cartridges carried in alignment with these chambers by the star shaft to penetrate into the successive chambers of the barrel, as and measure the rotation of the latter.

This construction increases the rate of fire regardless of the length of the cartridge. Indeed, in conventional weapons, the cartridge strips are brought directly from the feed star to the barrel and dismantled at the latter by a pusher, the star and the barrel being coaxial. We can then say that the strip "crosses the weapon". This results in a large stroke of this drawer, inertia, delayed setting in speed of the barrel and therefore a relatively low rate of fire. On the contrary, according to the invention, the combination of the star, the stripper and the star shaft makes it possible to eliminate the aforementioned pusher while the axial stroke of a drawer, the role of which is essentially to rotate the barrel and the star shaft, is independent of the length of the cartridge and can be reduced to a minimum, which considerably reduces the duration of the movement back and forth of the drawer and therefore the duration of each firing cycle. By way of indication, for a conventional cartridge of 250 mm in length, the stroke of the plunger (s) of traditional weapons is greater than 300 mm for breech weapons and greater than 130 mm for barrel weapons while the stroke of drawer according to the invention can be of the order of only 80 mm.

Preferably, the stripper is arranged so as to drive out the cartridges radially, and not axially, which makes it possible to shorten the weapon.

According to an advantageous construction, the drive means provided between the star shaft and the star are disengageable, which makes it possible to empty the barrel by pulling the cartridges which are there at the time of disengagement.

The drive means provided between the star shaft and the star preferably comprise a first pinion, integral with the star shaft, which meshes with a second pinion integral, at least during normal operation of the weapon, of the star. A decouplable clutch system can then be placed between the second pinion and the star shaft. This decouplable dog clutch system is advantageously constituted by teeth carried by the second pinion and by teeth carried by a sleeve integral in rotation with the star shaft and capable of sliding longitudinally on this shaft, a command being provided to make slide this sleeve in order to decouple the star and the star shaft by separation of the above teeth.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the invention, the drive means provided between the star shaft and the star are provided with a damping device, which preferably comprises a torsion bar. The star shaft being hollow, the torsion bar is advantageously placed inside this hollow shaft by being interposed between the latter and the second aforementioned pinion. Finally, a drive mechanism with limited angular play can be provided between the hollow shaft of the star and the second pinion. This construction makes it possible to remove the links from the cartridge strip from excessive forces, which generate shooting incidents.

Finally, the weapon the barrel of which comprises at least seven chambers can also be characterized in that the means provided for causing the cartridges to penetrate into the successive chambers of the barrel comprise:
- a fixed helical ramp cooperating successively with the base of each of the cartridges to combine their intermittent rotational movement on the star shaft with an intermittent translational movement inside the star shaft to ensure their transport from their station introduction into the star-shaped tree up to the firing point in the respective barrel chambers, and
- A reciprocating translational movement drawer controlled by gas flow to ensure the intermittent rotation of the barrel.

This additional characteristic makes it possible to further increase the rate of fire.

• Les figures 1 et 2 représentent une arme à tube unique établie conformément à l'invention, respectivement en coupe longitudinale passant par l'axe du tube unique et par l'axe du barillet et en coupe transversale selon la ligne II-II de la figure 1.
• Les figures 3 et 4 illustrent les positions respectives du barillet, de l'arbre étoilé et de la rampe hélicoïdale, par des vues longitudinale et transversale simplifiées, la figure 4 montrant un détail de la figure 2 à plus grande échelle.
• La figure 5 schématise, par des vues longitudinales successives ramenées dans un même plan, les positions suc­cessives atteintes par une cartouche aux différentes posi­tions d'arrêt du mouvement de rotation intermittent du barillet et de l'arbre étoilé.
• Les figures 6 à 11 sont des dessins explicatifs du fonctionnement du tiroir de commande du barillet, la figure 7 étant une coupe partielle selon la ligne VII-VII de la figure 6 et la figure 10 une coupe selon la ligne X-X de la figure 9.
• Les figures 12 et 13 représentent le dispositif d'éjection des douilles vides, la figure 12 étant une vue à plus grande échelle d'un détail de la figure 13.
• Les figures 14 et 15 représentent le système d'alimentation de l'arme, respectivement par une vue longi­tudinale avec parties coupées et par une coupe transversale à plus grande échelle.
• Les figures 16 à 19 représentent le mécanisme d'entraînement du système d'alimentation, respectivement en coupe longitudinale et en coupes transversales selon les lignes XVII-XVII, XVIII-XVIII et XIX-XIX de la figure 16.
• Les figures 20 à 22 illustrent schématiquement le fonctionnement d'une arme bitube établie selon une variante du mode de réalisation des figures 1 à 19.

The invention will now be explained in more detail using the attached schematic drawings.

• Figures 1 and 2 show a single barrel weapon established in accordance with the invention, respectively in longitudinal section passing through the axis of the single barrel and through the axis of the barrel and in cross section along line II-II of the figure 1.
• Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the respective positions of the barrel, the star shaft and the helical ramp, by simplified longitudinal and transverse views, Figure 4 showing a detail of Figure 2 on a larger scale.
• FIG. 5 shows diagrammatically, by successive longitudinal views reduced in the same plane, the successive positions reached by a cartridge at the different stop positions of the intermittent rotational movement of the barrel and the star shaft.
• FIGS. 6 to 11 are explanatory drawings of the operation of the barrel control drawer, FIG. 7 being a partial section along the line VII-VII in FIG. 6 and FIG. 10 a section along the line XX in FIG. 9.
• FIGS. 12 and 13 represent the device for ejecting the empty casings, FIG. 12 being an enlarged view of a detail in FIG. 13.
• Figures 14 and 15 show the weapon supply system, respectively by a longitudinal view with cut parts and by a cross section on a larger scale.
• FIGS. 16 to 19 represent the drive mechanism of the supply system, respectively in longitudinal section and in transverse sections along the lines XVII-XVII, XVIII-XVIII and XIX-XIX of FIG. 16.
• Figures 20 to 22 schematically illustrate the operation of a two-tube weapon established according to a variant of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 19.

The weapon shown schematically in Figures 1 and 2 includes:
- A barrel 1 which can rotate about its axis 2 and having seven chambers 3 whose axes are parallel to each other and distributed equidistantly on a geometric cylinder with the same axis 2 as barrel 1;
a control drawer 4 with an alternative translational movement of direction parallel to that of the axis 2, which drawer 4 acts on the barrel 1 by means of a helical grooving 5 which is formed in this drawer 4 and in which are permanently engaged two rollers 6, among seven of these rollers which are distributed equidistantly at the periphery of the barrel 1, the axes of these rollers 6 being located in the same plane perpendicular to the axis 2 of the barrel 1;
- A piston 7 capable of pushing the slide 4 in the direction of the arrow X (FIG. 1), under the effect of the propellant gases sampled, at each firing cycle, in a single tube 8, through a vent 9, the axis of this tube 8 being parallel to that 2 of the barrel 1;
- recovery springs 10 whose role will be explained later;
- a star shaft 11, located in the extension of the axis 2 of the barrel 1 at the rear of the latter and linked in rotation to the barrel 1 by dogs 42 (FIG. 14), this star shaft 11 cooperating with a star supply 12, shaft 58 parallel to that 2 of the barrel 1 but offset laterally relative to the latter axis 2, in order to ensure the routing of the cartridges 57 towards the barrel 1;
a stripper 13 making it possible to extract from their links 47 the cartridges 57 supplied with strips 45; and
- a helical feed ramp 14 which is fixed relative to the casing 15 of the weapon and whose function will be specified below.

The helical ramp 14 extends around the star shaft 11 at an angle of the order of 195 °.

It should be noted that the number common to the chambers 3, the pebbles 6 and the recesses of the star tree 11, which was supposed to be equal to seven, might as well be a little greater than seven. The lower limit of seven has was chosen as a satisfactory compromise with a view to reducing the phenomena of inertia of the entire barrel 1 and the star shaft 11, from one angular stop position to the next, while not excessively increasing the 'lateral dimensions of this assembly.

Figures 3 to 5 show the successive positions of the cartridges 57 induced by the rotation of the barrel 1, in the direction of the arrow R, during a firing sequence. The cartridge 57 is taken over at station A. The base of the socket 59 of the cartridge 57 then rests on the helical ramp 14 which will ensure the gradual introduction (passing through stations B, C, D and E) in the aligned chamber 3 of the barrel 1, as far as F where the cartridge 57 will be stationed. The cartridge is pulled at F and the ejection of the empty socket 59 takes place at station G.

The weapon works as follows:

When the cartridge 57 located at station F is ignited, a portion of the propellant gases passes through the vent 9 and violently pushes back the control slide 4, shown in FIG. 1 in the front neutral position.

During this movement, the grooving 5, in which two of the rollers 6 are engaged, generates the rotation of the barrel 1. The grooving 5 comprises two switching members 16 (FIGS. 6 and 7) which can pivot around axes 17 and determining the tracking of the rollers 6, depending on whether the drawer 4 moves in one direction or the other. It should be noted that the transmission of movement by two rollers 6 at the same time stems from a concern for reliability linked to the mechanical resistance of the axes of these rollers, the weapon being able to work perfectly with a single roller 6 in engagement.

The switching members 16 are integral with pinions 18 (FIG. 7) held in place by pins 19 and meshing with a rack 20. The latter is driven by the drawer 4 and can move relative to the latter perpendicular to the 'axis of the weapon, in a back and forth movement, the direction and amplitude are determined by ramps 21 and 22 parallel to the axis of the weapon and integral with the housing 15; on these ramps 21 and 22 come to bear alternately the ends 23 and 24 of the rack 20 (Figures 8 and 9).

In order to keep the switching members 16 in a fixed and determined position during the movements of the drawer 4, the rack 20 is immobilized against one or the other of the ramps 21 and 22 by retractable pins 25 (Figures 10 and 11 ) being able to be erased by the passage of spans 26 formed on tenons 27 which are integral with the casing 15 and whose lateral faces 28 constitute stops cooperating with the pins 25 to prevent, intermittently, the translation of the rack 20.

When firing a cartridge 57, the drawer 4 is violently pushed by the piston 7 in the X direction (Figures 1 and 6) and drives the rollers 6 which, by cooperating with the grooving 5 and the organs of switch 16, generate up to the rear dead center a rotation of 1 / 14th of a turn of the barrel 1. Due to the kinetic energy stored by the barrel 1, helped in this by the recuperating springs 10, the drawer 4 goes back towards the before. During this movement, the rack 20 undergoes a translation resulting in a rotation of the switching members 16. During a single return trip, the active roller 6 passes from position a to position b (FIG. 6 ), and the barrel 1 rotates 1 / 7th of a turn, bringing a new cartridge 57 to the firing station F and the empty socket 59 to the ejection station G. If the firing is stopped at this time, the recuperator springs 10 maintain drawer 4 in position before neutral, the weapon then being ready to fire.

In its reciprocating movements, the slide 4 drives a slide 29 (Figures 12 and 13) carrying two ramps 30 and 31. These come alternately into contact with two bearing surfaces 32 and 33 of an ejector 34 which can pivot around an axis 35, integral with the casing 15 of the weapon, and the spout 36 of which can engage in the base groove 60 of the socket 59 (FIG. 12). During the firing sequence, at the start of the recoil movement of the drawer 4, the ramp 31 comes to bear on the bearing surface 33 of the ejector 34 by rotating it to bring the spout 36 in the plane of the base groove 60 of the socket 59. The ejector 34 is held in this position by the bearing 33 pressing on the face 37 of the slide 29, until the rotation of the barrel 1 brings the empty socket 59 facing the spout 36 and that , the drawer 4 having started its movement back to its front neutral position, the ramp 30 of the slide 29 strikes the bearing 32 of the ejector 34. The empty socket 59 is then propelled in a chute 38 and the ejector 34 returns to the starting position (Figure 13).

When the drawer 4 is in neutral before, it immobilizes the barrel 1 in rotation by means of mortises 39 trapping tenons 40 (FIG. 14), this in order to ensure the correct positioning of the chambers 3 in front of the firing device electric 41, this device being produced in a known manner.

The rotation of the barrel 1 causes that of the star shaft 11 to which it is coupled by the dogs 42 (Figures 14). This star-shaped tree 11 has seven branches determining as many recesses positioned with regard to the seven chambers 3 of the barrel 1 and, at its rear end, a pinion 43 meshing with a pinion 44 (FIG. 16) made integral with the feed star 12 by a device, a detailed description of which will be given with reference to FIGS. 16 to 19.

The strip cartridges 45 (FIG. 15), guided by a chute 46, are driven by the feed star 12, in engagement with the links 47, and arrive at the sight of the stripper 13, secured to the casing 15. This stripper 13 is constituted by a fork comprising two parallel spouts 48 coming from insert in force into notches 49 of the links 47, thus driving out the cartridges 57 radially, and not axially according to the technique used on most medium caliber weapons known to date. The cartridge released from its link 47 is then guided by a bearing 50 which forces it to take place in the recess which faces it of the star shaft 11.

The base of the socket then comes into axial abutment on the supply ramp 14 and the rotation of the barrel 1, cooperating with said supply ramp 14, will gradually ensure the complete introduction of the ammunition into its chamber 3, from the station A from barrel 1 to station E (Figures 4 and 5).

The link 47, emptied of its cartridge 57, is then evacuated from the weapon and therefore never penetrates inside the latter. By this arrangement, a source of frequent shooting incidents is eliminated, such as is conventionally encountered on weapons crossed by the strip of ammunition, the empty links of which can easily detach and jam the feeding mechanism, or even cause serious damage resulting in the decommissioning of the weapon.

The high rates of fire print strong pulls on the ammunition bands 45. Also the links 47 tend to deform, causing an elongation of the band and sometimes supply difficulties. The supply star 12 therefore comprises a damping device making traction more progressive and the elongation of the strip negligible. This device essentially consists (FIGS. 16 to 19) of a torsion bar 51 interposed between the shaft 58 of the feed star 12 and its drive pinion 44. As shown in Figures 16 and 17, the shaft 58 is tubular and the torsion bar 51 is disposed inside thereof.

The feed star 12 can be easily disengaged at any time to facilitate, for example, the disarming of the barrel. It has for this purpose a dog clutch system constituted by a sliding sleeve 52 having at its periphery a cylindrical rack 53 meshing with a pinion 54 which can be rotated by a limited angle in one direction and in the other (as shown schematically by the double arrow Y in Figure 16), by a lever not shown. On the side of the pinion 44, the sleeve 52 has dog teeth 55 which can engage the dog teeth 56 of this pinion 44 (as shown in the upper part of FIG. 16) and be uncoupled by the rotation of the pinion 54 (as shown in the lower part of figure 16).

To allow the torsion bar 51 to play its role, an angular damping play (FIG. 18) is provided between the hollow shaft 58 of the feed star 12, in which one of the ends of the the torsion bar 51, and the pinion 44, in the hub 61 of which the other end of the torsion bar is anchored (FIG. 16). The hollow shaft 58 and the hub 61 respectively carry clutch teeth 62 and 63 (FIG. 18) which are engaged with one another with the above-mentioned angular play.

In order to avoid the introduction of a cartridge 57 into a chamber 3 already occupied, and the damage which results therefrom, the weapon comprises an electrical safety device with double supply. This security, not shown, can be:
- either a mechanical contact actuated by the base of the socket not ejected;
- or a proximity detector which perceives the presence of the socket.

In both cases, the sensor delivers an electrical signal analyzed by the electronic logic of the weapon which decides to stop shooting. Everything goes without shocks mechanical and therefore without risk of damage to the weapon.

To compensate for possible long fires, the weapon is provided, in known manner, with a rearming device having an autonomy of several shots and which can be pyrotechnic.

Although the weapon which has just been described is a single tube 8, it is possible, as a variant, to envisage a two-tube weapon incorporating the same operating principle. Such a weapon could prove to be advantageous when used on board a vehicle with a high ammunition carrying capacity: in this way, the wear and the heating of the tubes would be limited.

From a single feed and ejector, by doubling the firing device and by adapting the borrowing of gas, this weapon could fire alternately by one or the other of the two tubes.

For example, for a barrel comprising ten chambers and rotating in the direction R, as represented by FIGS. 20 to 22, the stations A and C correspond respectively to the two tubes, the station J for the ejection of the empty sleeve and the food item I; posts marked with a cross are occupied by ammunition which is not fired. The first firing cycle is triggered by the firing of the cartridge located at station C (Figure 20). This firing causes a barrel 1 rotation of 1 / 10th of a turn and, at the end of the cycle, the configuration is that shown in Figure 21. The second cycle is triggered by the firing of the cartridge located at station A. additional rotation of 1 / 10th of a revolution of barrel 1. At the end of the cycle, we find ourselves in a configuration identical to the initial configuration (Figure 22). The third cycle is then ensured by firing the cartridge located at station C.

It can therefore be seen that the operation of such a twin-barrel weapon passes through alternative fire from one or the other of the tubes. Consequently, a suitable and sufficiently safe firing should be provided so that the two tubes cannot fire at the same time, which would stop the weapon and could lead to mechanical ruptures consecutive to the additional charges imposed by these simultaneous fires. In addition, a reduction in the rate of fire can be expected due to the increase in the inertia of the barrel.

Compared to the medium caliber equipment known to date, the weapon according to the invention has a number of innovations and characteristics which make it particularly efficient and interesting:
- The lateral demaillonnage associated with the helical feed ramp 14 makes it possible to increase the rate of fire whatever the length of the ammunition, as explained at the beginning of the description.
- The maximum rate of fire is reached instantaneously, that is to say that, during a burst of 0.5 s, the monotube weapon fires 21 projectiles.
- The reliability of the assembly is high thanks to the use of redundant systems (two rollers in engagement, control of the extractor entirely positive plus safety of double supply, auxiliary reset in the event of long fire etc.), and to the design of the feeding device.
- The ergonomics (feeding left or right, disengaging the star), combined with the compactness and low mass of the weapon (around 110 kg), make it particularly suitable for installation on board of an aircraft.
- Its general design means that the weapon according to the invention is stripped and easy to use.

Claims (11)

1. Medium-caliber automatic weapon, with a high rate of fire, more particularly but not exclusively an automatic weapon intended to be carried on board aircraft, of the barrel type (1) receiving cartridges (57) in bands (45) by via a supply star (12) and supplying one or two tubes (8), controlled by gas (9) and electrically fired (41), characterized in that it comprises a intermittent motion star shaft (11), which is arranged in the axis of the barrel (1) and rotated by it; in that the star (12), driven in synchronism with the star shaft (11), is arranged parallel to the star shaft (11) and laterally with respect thereto; in that a stripper (13) is disposed between the star (12) and the star shaft (11) so as to separate the cartridges (57) from the links (47), in the strip of cartridges (45) exiting of the star (12), and then directing the cartridges (57) one by one towards the star shaft (11) while allowing the links (47) to be evacuated from the weapon; and in that means (14) are provided for penetrating into the successive chambers (3) of the barrel (1) the cartridges (57) carried in alignment with these chambers (3) by the star shaft (11) , as the latter rotates. 2. Automatic weapon according to claim 1, characterized in that the stripper (13) is arranged so as to drive out the cartridges (57) radially. 3. Automatic weapon according to claim 1, characterized in that the drive means provided between the star shaft (11) and the star (12) are disengageable. 4. Automatic weapon according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the drive means provided between the star shaft (11) and the star (12) comprise a first pinion (43), integral with the star shaft (11), which meshes with a second pinion (44) integral, at least during the normal operation of the weapon, of the star (12). 5. Automatic weapon according to all of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that a decouplable clutch system (52-56) is placed between the second pinion (44) and the shaft (58) of the star (12 ). 6. Automatic weapon according to claim 5, characterized in that the decouplable dog clutch system consists of teeth (56) carried by the second pinion (44) and by teeth (55) carried by a sleeve (52) integral in rotation of the shaft (58) of the star (12) and capable of sliding longitudinally on this shaft (58), a control (53, 54) being provided for sliding this sleeve (52) in order to uncoupl the star (12) and the star shaft (11) by separation of the above teeth (55, 56). 7. Automatic weapon according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the drive means provided between the star shaft (11) and the star (12) are provided with a damping device. 8. Automatic weapon according to claim 7, characterized in that the damping device comprises a torsion bar (51). 9. Automatic weapon according to all of claims 6 and 8, characterized in that the shaft (58) of the star (12) is hollow and in that the torsion bar (51) is disposed inside of this hollow shaft (58) by being interposed between the latter and the aforementioned second pinion (44). 10. Automatic weapon according to claim 9, characterized in that a drive mechanism (62, 63) with limited angular play (α) is provided between the hollow shaft (58) of the star (12) and the second pinion (44). 11. Automatic weapon according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the barrel (1) of which comprises at least seven chambers (3), characterized in that the means provided for causing the cartridges (57) to penetrate into the successive chambers ( 3) barrel (1) include:
- a fixed helical ramp (14) cooperating successively with the base of each of the cartridges (57) to combine their intermittent rotational movement on the star shaft (11) with an intermittent translational movement inside the star shaft (11) in order to ensure their transport from their insertion station in the star-shaped tree (11) to the firing station in the respective chambers (3) of the barrel (1), and
- A drawer (4) reciprocating translational movement controlled by gas (9) to provide intermittent rotation of the barrel (1).

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