EP1764577B1 - Sound suppressor - Google Patents

Abstract

The suppressor has a housing (1) made of non-metallic material, with a sealed enclosure for a damping medium. An attaching device (4) is provided for attaching the suppressor to a firearm. The attaching device is arranged outside the enclosure. The enclosure accommodates a damping medium such as water or an aqueous solution.

Description

The invention relates to a silencer with a damper medium according to the wet principle for firearms, in particular pistols, with an at least substantially consisting of non-metallic material for the damper medium sealed housing.

From the US 6,374,718 B , which forms a starting point for the independent claim 1, a silencer is known, which consists of a metal tube into which the barrel of the weapon is deeply inserted. In the thrust region, thus behind the mouth of the weapon, a possibly provided with wet damper medium main expansion chamber is provided in the front region of the damper, a series of damper chambers each with a Durehtrittöffnung for the projectile and in the front region, a relief pipe can be attached with lateral gas outlet openings. It is essential that neither the silencer as a whole nor the main expansion chamber can be closed, because the opening for the barrel and the front opening always remain open, even in the stored state without a weapon.

From the GB 2 281 119 A It is known that a silencer may at least partially made of plastic, which is also disclosed in this document the possibility of a wholly made of plastic silencer. However, it has the silencer according to this document no tight enclosure.

In the US 3,677,132 A is stated as a goal to keep a silencer dry, this particular for use by fighters and the like. Use cases thought and therefore formed waterproof. In this case, a removable stubble is provided on the weapon side of the muffler, which is removed before mounting on the weapon. At the free end (mouth) of the muffler this is sealed by a very thin closure 44, which does not have to be removed before the first shot is fired from the weapon. Furthermore, this publication discloses internals in the silencer, which are arranged in the firing channel and have slots arranged in a cross shape. These fittings are fixed by spacers inside the muffler.

The AT 408 810 B is not generic and only reveals the possibility of eccentric mounting of a muffler on the weapon.

The US 4,454,798 A is also not generic, but is far from the technical field of the invention, it discloses the use of absorbent material for storing water for the gun of a tank.

The DE 100 01 374 C describes the possibility of twisting the muffler attached to the weapon around the running axis and fixing it in any desired rotational position, to make a fortification in the position in which he least affected the firing properties of the weapon. For this purpose, a mounting base is provided, which is arranged on the barrel of the weapon and has a rotatable part, on which in turn the muffler is placed. A tight enclosure of the muffler is not disclosed.

In general, mufflers for firearms, especially for pistols, have long been known and they are available in various embodiments. Almost classic is the variant in which prior to the run of the firearm, a cylinder is mounted in which various, as close as possible to the firing channel of the flying projectile internals are located, where the sound waves break and by interference or by dead running the desired damping is reached. In this case, such a pressure reduction is achieved by the individual expansions and compressions of the projectile following explosion gases, that at the mouth of the muffler, a significant reduction in the volume of the delivered shot is achieved.

Modern mufflers, so-called "dampers according to the wet principle", to which the invention particularly relates, are wetted before the delivery of a shot in its interior with a damper medium, usually water, but also oil or paraffin or similar substances. The damper medium is held on the surface or in designated pockets and chambers in larger quantities, and works as follows: The passing hot explosive gases lead to vaporization of damper medium and despite its increase in volume during evaporation, the explosion gases are cooled down so much that reduces the muzzle blast becomes. In particular, water with its high heat of vaporization is used, in its absence, it is often replaced in use by the body's own fluids of the shooter. In dry use, there is also a damping of the shot noise, but to a lesser extent.

Virtually all known silencers exist because of the mechanical and thermal stresses in their use of metallic materials, usually steel. An essential feature of a muffler is its mass. Since it is mounted at the front end of the weapon, its mass leads to a shift of the overall center of gravity of the weapon and, especially in pistols to affect the movement of the carriage and thus when ejecting the empty cartridge case and loading the next cartridge. In addition, the shooter must carry the muffler with him during use. A reduction in the mass of conventional mufflers is therefore an essential object of the invention.

If metallic parts are used, in particular for the fastening device for attachment to the weapon (usually a thread), and possibly for parts of the internals. As a result, the weight savings are not particularly impaired and yet the most heavily loaded parts - often mounting and demounting, direct contact with the explosion gases in the region of the firing channel - made of durable metal. These metal parts are preferably encased as "lost cores" in the manufacture of the housing of the plastic.

This saves mass and manages to make the muffler so light that can be dispensed with the often necessary in the art recoil amplifier. This recoil booster are silencers made of metal, as it has been considered necessary, necessary because the large inertial mass of the muffler sufficient retraction of the carriage in handguns according to the Browning principle and thus the automatic reloading of the weapon is prevented. It can therefore be used in the silencer according to the invention also the volume range normally used for the recoil increase for damping the sound.

In many countries of the world, the use and often the possession of silencers is banned for private individuals, but silencers are used in various situations by law enforcement agencies such as the police, gendarmerie, related services, and eventually the military. These users come to the obvious demands of low weight, good damping properties, the least possible impairment of the trajectory of the projectile, easy mountability and the like in addition to the fact that the mufflers are often stored for a long time, that they are often used for weeks by the shooter in the field, which is dusty and dry in many cases, and that at the site and during use often no damper medium ( Water) is available.

Thus, a muffler suitable for this task, even if it is first put into operation after a long storage period, should have muffler medium for at least ten shots, the muffler, if it was shot without being shot by it, also removed from the weapon and should continue to be stored without being damaged or leaking.

These objects are achieved according to the invention with the features of independent claim 1, wherein the muffler for the introduced during the production of damping medium tight enclosure, within the enclosure the damper medium, preferably water or an aqueous solution, is included, and the attachment device of the muffler outside the enclosure is arranged so that the tight enclosure remains tight until the firing of the first shot.

In this case, the housing may be sealed in the region of the mouth of the firing channel either by a plastic stopper or a thin, skin-like lamella formed integrally with the housing. This shutter is opened only by firing the first shot. The fastening device for mounting on the weapon is provided in the form of a poppy-like lamella on the housing outside of this seal, whereby a tight enclosure is created on or in the muffler, which remains tight even after installation until firing the first shot.

By these measures, it is achieved, of course, when using for the damper medium according to dense plastics, as they are well known in the art, that the integrity of the muffler and thus introduced into the production of the interior of the muffler in the production damper medium, preferably water, is maintained and that only at the first delivery of a shot through the muffler, the blade torn from the projectile or the stubble is ejected. By "dense" material it is understood in this specification and claims that it does not pass the used damping medium, preferably water, either in liquid or in vaporous form. This can also be achieved by a coating or impregnation of a material which is not dense in itself, it is only significant that the enclosure in its entirety is dense in the above sense.

Preferably, all components of the muffler are made of plastic. The installation of the muffler on the gun is usually on the barrel of the same, a plurality of pistols already has a corresponding thread in order to unscrew a mating thread of the muffler can. There are of course other mounting options conceivable, the inventive silencer assembly can be used advantageously in all these mounting options.

• Die Fig. 1 zeigt einen Schnitt durch ein Gehäuse,
• die Fig. 2 einen Schnitt durch ein Gehäuse mit Einbauten,
• die Fig. 3 eine Variante der Fig. 2 und
• die Fig. 4 einen Schnitt durch eine Art von Einbauten.

The internal structure of the silencer, as well as the structure of its housing, explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing:

• The Fig. 1 shows a section through a housing,
• the Fig. 2 a section through a housing with internals,
• the Fig. 3 a variant of Fig. 2 and
• the Fig. 4 a section through a kind of installations.

How out Fig. 1 it can be seen, a silencer according to the invention has a preferably integrally formed housing 1, which is closed at its mouth-side end by a stubble 2. Preferably, the other, weapon-side, end of the housing 1 is open and is, as is made Fig. 2 can be seen, closed by a special cover 3. The cover 3 consists essentially of a protruding into the housing 1, perforated pipe 18 and two end plates 19, 20, one at each end of the tube 18. The weapon-side end plate 19 is relatively solid and serves on the one hand the tight closure of the housing 1 on weapon-side end of the muffler and on the other hand its mounting on the weapon, in the illustrated embodiment on the barrel of the weapon, by means of a thread. 4

The perforated pipe 18 is arranged coaxially with the running axis 6 in the mounted state of the muffler and has an inner diameter which is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the projectile. Such arrangements are variously known in silencers and require no further explanation. It should be noted, however, that in the illustrated embodiment, the cavity between the inner shell of the housing 1 and the outer surface of the tube 18 is at least partially filled with open-cell foam 21, which is already in the production of the muffler with damping medium, preferably water, filled.

The cover 3 is preferably carried out in one piece in its entirety, as even with a small wall thickness (weight savings) creates a mechanically strong unit that can be firmly connected by appropriate fit with the housing 1, resulting in a precise installation of the muffler to cost and easy way leads.

A very special measure according to the invention is that integrally with the cover 3, a lamella 5 is formed, through which the interior of the muffler is sealed off from the environment and completes the above-mentioned enclosure 24 of the actual muffler. This blade 5 is, seen in the direction of the barrel axis 6, at some distance from the gun-side end 22 of the muffler, in the illustrated embodiment at the inner end of the thread 4, so that it is not damaged even when mounting on the weapon. It secures the muffler on the one hand against the ingress of dirt, on the other hand against the evaporation of the filled in it damper medium, preferably water. Only when releasing the first shot with mounted muffler, the lamella 5 is torn and destroyed by the projectile, a portion of the water evaporates and contributes to the sound attenuation.

The in the muffler within the housing 1 between the front wall 6 of the tubular part 3 and the end wall 7 (FIG. Fig. 1 ) of the housing 1 remaining space has in the illustrated embodiment, two different types of installations: The Fig. 2 shows the use of end walls or partitions 8 with openings for the projectile coaxial with the axis 6, with integrally formed on each end wall spacers. These spacers are designed as feet 9, so that the inner wall of the housing 1 remains largely free. There are now each of these partitions 8th Feet to feet together and in the free space outside the range of the shot channel open-cell foam 21 'is housed to increase the capacity for receiving the filled water.

The free space itself is formed asymmetrically to the axis 6 in the illustrated embodiment and is located in the mounted state on the weapon substantially below the axis 6, whereby the sighting device of the weapon remains unaffected. As a result, the auxiliary sighting device which is often necessary in the prior art becomes superfluous.

It is also essential for the quality of the silencer that thin platelets 10 of preferably thermoplastic material are clamped between each two packets of end walls thus formed, which are thus supported over the entire cross-sectional area outside the weft channel normal to the axis 6 of the intermediate walls 8. However, these plates 10 (in contrast to the intermediate walls 8) are also closed in the region of the firing channel and have only cross-shaped or star-shaped incisions, wherein the intersection of at least two incisions on or near the barrel axis 6 is located.

When firing a projectile this bends when passing through the muffler, the individual segments formed by the incisions of the platelets 10, which leads to their elastic return to a reduction of the pressure surge of nachdringenden gases. Surprisingly, these slotted membrane-like platelets 10 endure a whole series of shots, without being so badly damaged that they can no longer fulfill their task, whereby the silencer according to the invention over the intended life of at least 10 to 15 shots achieved excellent sound attenuation.

Due to the design of the muffler according to the wet principle, the thermal stresses of these platelets 10 are reduced so far that they reliably achieve the desired life. These platelets 10 are preferably made of thermoplastic or synthetic rubber.

The Fig. 3 shows a muffler analogous to that of Fig. 2 , only here instead of the intermediate walls 8 with the feet 9 spatially-diagonally constructed spacers 8 'for the platelets 10 are provided. Of course, other types and configurations of spacers are conceivable, they only have to fulfill the task of keeping the plates 10 in place and endure the thermal and mechanical stresses that occur during use and of course during storage.

This includes the stress caused by the filled damper medium, which should preferably be frost-resistant to ensure geographic and seasonal unrestricted use. There are many ways for those skilled in the knowledge of the invention to achieve this goal with water as the damper medium by anti-freeze additives that are chemically as little aggressive and non-toxic in both the liquid and gaseous state, it is only on the usual antifreeze additives for referenced water-cooled automotive engines. Of course, liquids other than water can be used, the advantages or disadvantages of these liquids (lower heat of evaporation than water, any residues in the evaporation) and their use at all but variously known in the art and their selection is not an essential aspect of Invention and will therefore not be explained further here.

It has been found that the lifetime of the segments of the platelets 10 increases with the number of directly adjacent platelets 10, even if one makes the individual of the platelets from which they are formed thinner than in the provision of only one or two of these platelets 10 Therefore, in particular in this case, a silencer according to the invention, if one has liquid, in particular water, at hand to moisten it again, can also have a much longer service life than the abovementioned 10 to 15 shots.

The mounting of the cover 3 in or on the housing 1 can be done for example by ultrasonic welding or by gluing. It is also possible to perform a mechanical assembly, for example by fixing pins that are normal to the axis 6, and to provide the necessary tightness by an O-ring or the like. It only has to be installed for the intended years of storage necessary, sufficient tightness of the connection with regard to the damper medium used be considered, but this is not a problem for those skilled in the field of seals with knowledge of the invention.

The plug 2 can be easily held in the housing 1 by frictional engagement, by the consequent elastic deformation of both the plug 2 and the end wall 7 of the housing, a sufficiently tight barrier can be achieved. The additional use of a sealant is possible; this, too, can be easily selected by the person skilled in the art knowing the invention.

As already stated, preferably all components of the muffler made of plastic, thereby saving weight. Since the use in special situations is the case for the target groups in question and the intended only for use life of the muffler brings no disadvantages, this is also because of the complete avoidance of any risk of corrosion, especially with regard to the enclosed damper medium preferred Water, a big advantage.

The materials used can be selected by those skilled in the art of plastics technology with knowledge of the requirements and invention of many, for example: Thermoplastic elastomers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyolefins, polyamides, acetal resins and may or may not be fiber-reinforced. As reinforcement, for example, glass fibers, carbon fibers or Keflarfasern in question.

The invention can be variously modified within the scope defined by the claims, but it is essential to create a tight enclosure, so long before use, preferably already in the production, the damping medium can be introduced into the muffler, and that the enclosure to is kept tight for firing the first shot.

Claims (4)

1. Silencer having a silencing medium according to the silencing principle for firearms, in particular pistols, having a housing (1) consisting at least substantially of non-metallic material, and having an attachment device (4; 11, 13) for the attachment to the firearm, wherein
   the housing has a tight enclosure (24) for the silencing medium which is introduced during production,
   the silencing medium, preferably water or an aqueous solution, is contained within the enclosure (24), and
   the attachment device (4; 11, 13) is arranged outside the enclosure (24) such that the tight enclosure remains tight until the first shot is fired.
2. Silencer according to claim 1, characterised in that, inside the housing (1), at least two platelets (10) are provided in surface contact with one another, which are substantially located in a plane normal to the running axle (6) and are each provided with at least two slits which intersect in the region of the running axle (6).
3. Silencer according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterised in that, within the enclosure (24), regions are filled with absorbent material such as open-pored foam, cotton wool, kieselguhr etc..
4. Silencer according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that regions of the inner surface of the enclosure (24) are roughened or profiled.

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