SE2250905A1 - A bullet trap and a bullet trap installation - Google Patents

Abstract

A bullet trap (10), comprising a rear side wall (22), a frame (12), and an arrangement of a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats (14) mounted in the frame (12) in front of the rear side wall (22), wherein the slats (14) are tilted an angle α downwards with reference to a normal to the arrangement of slats (14), wherein the angle α is in the interval of 22° to 76°; wherein each slat (14) will cover a section of a higher placed slat (14) from a direction in parallel with the normal to the arrangement of slats (14); and wherein a collecting funnel (20) is arranged below the arrangement of slats (14), wherein the collecting funnel (20) has a top opening (26) located below the slats (14) for receiving bullets and residuals of bullets, and a lower opening (28) where bullets and residuals of bullets are discharged.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to bullet traps. More particularly, the pre- sent invention relates to a bullet trap that retains a substantial portion of a bullet trapped by the bullet trap, and a bullet trap installation comprising at least two bullet trap modules.

BACKGROUND Bullet traps perse are well-known and have been used for many years. Typically, such traps are used by firearm manufacturers, by training facilities for military or po- lice personnel, and by recreational target shooting facilities. Bullet traps are of widely varying configurations, from wood boards to sand-filled traps, to complex decelera- tion chambers.

Existing mechanical bullet traps have not proved fully adequate at solving a prob- lem of safely minimizing lead contamination to the environment with an economical, easily maintained device. For example, deflecting plate/deceleration chamber de- signs have employed large quantities of expensive high strength steel necessitated by the high bullet impact angles employed in the designs. ln addition, the construc- tion of deceleration chambers normally is complex and therefore expensive to build. Known deceleration chambers also suffer from the fact that their designs make in- spection and replacement of parts difficult or impossible. Moreover, many of the known bullet traps fail to provide any means for preventing the release of lead parti- cles and dust into the atmosphere because they cause a substantial breakdown of bullets fired into them.

From the above it is understood that there is room for improvements and the in- vention aims to solve or at least mitigate the above and other problems.

SUMMARY The invention is defined by the appended independent claims. Additional features and advantages of the concepts disclosed herein are set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the described technologies. The features and advantages of the concepts may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations partic- ularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the described technologies will become more fully apparent from the following description and ap- pended claims or may be learned by the practice of the disclosed concepts as set forth herein. ln various embodiments, the disclosed bullet trap comprises an arrangement with a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats or plates mounted in a frame ar- ranged in a housing. Each slat is rotated approximately 45° downwardly from a nor- mal to the arrangement of slats and each slat will cover a section of a higher placed slat. As a result, bullets directed to the bullet trap will hit a first slat, and be deflected downwardly towards a funnel. A substantial part of the kinetic energy of the bullet will be absorbed when the bullet hits the slat and during further deflections. The re- mains of the bullet will then fall along a rear wall of the housing and into a container at the bottom of the housing. Normally, the arrangement of slats is perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

Several frames can be mounted side by side to provide a bullet trap of different widths. When several frames are mounted side by side only frames at each end will be provided with a side wall. ln various embodiments, different connection pieces can be used between the frames to provide a bullet trap arrangement with a non- planar form, such as a U-form. ln various embodiments, the disclosed bullet trap comprises also a collecting fun- nel and a bottom part in which bullets and residual of bullets will be collected. ln various embodiments, the slats are mounted in slots of vertically extending panels. The slots are inclined, and the slats are inserted in the slots. The slats can easily be removed and exchanged byjust pulling the slat out of the slots and insert- ing a new one. ln a first aspect there is disclosed a bullet trap, comprising a rear side wall, a frame, and an arrangement of a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats mounted in the frame in front of the rear side wall, wherein the slats are tilted an angle or down- wards with reference to a normal to the arrangement of slats, wherein the angle or is in the interval of 22° to 76°; wherein each slat will cover a section of a higher placed slat from a direction in parallel with the normal to the arrangement of slats; and wherein a collecting funnel is arranged below the arrangement of slats, wherein the collecting funnel has a top opening located below the slats for receiving bullets and residuals of bullets, and a lower opening where bullets and residuals of bullets are discharged. ln a further aspect there is disclosed a bullet trap installation, comprising at least two bullet traps as defined above, wherein the frames of adjacent bullet traps are in- terconnected, the bullet trap installation comprising a cover plate arranged to cover end sections of adjacent arrangements of deflecting slats.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ln order to best describe the manner in which the above-described embodiments are implemented, as well as define other advantages and features of the disclosure, a more particular description is provided below and is illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting in scope, the ex- amples will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a bullet trap, Fig. 2 is a schematic front view of the bullet trap shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view from line A-A in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an upright panel used in the bullet trap of Fig. 1 to Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of an installation with two bullet traps, Fig. 6 is a schematic front view of the bullet trap installation shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a cover plate used in the bullet trap in- stallation of Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a top view of the cover plate shown in Fig. 7 with received deflecting slats, Fig. 9 is a schematic top view of a deflecting slat as mounted in an inclined posi- tion, and Fig. 10 is a schematic perspective view of an end wall plate for covering end sec- tions of the deflecting slats.

Further, in the figures like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various embodiments of the disclosed methods and arrangements are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be under- stood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components, configurations, and steps may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. ln the description and claims the word "comprise" and variations of the word, such as "comprising" and "comprises", does not exclude other elements or steps.

Hereinafter, certain embodiments will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. lt will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the inventive con- cept. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from considera- tion of the specification and practice disclosed herein. The embodiments herein are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept, and that the claims be construed as encompassing all equivalents of the present inventive concept which are apparent to those skilled in the art to which the inventive concept pertains. lf nothing else is stated, different embodiments may be combined with each other. ln the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 3 a disclosed bullet trap 10 comprises a frame 12 and an arrangement of a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats 14. The slats 14 are loosely inserted in inclined slots 16 (c.f. Fig. 4) in upright panels 18 mounted to the frame 12. ln the embodiment shown, two upright panels 18 are pro- vided close to side sections of the frame 12. A funnel 20 with a collecting tray 30, c.f. Fig. 3, is provided below the arrangement of slats 14. A rear side wall or wall panel 22 covers the back side of the bullet trap 10. The arrangement of vertically displaced deflecting slats 14 extends vertically at a horizontal distance from the rear wall panel 22 to allow bullets and residuals of bullets to move downwards towards the funnel 20.

When mounted in the slots 16 of the upright panels 18 the slats 14 will be inclined an angle a downwardly from a normal N to the arrangement of slats. At an angle a of approximately 45° a wide shooting angle in a vertical direction can be allowed while maintaining a full function of the bullet trap. Shooting angles ß and ö as shown in Fig. 3 can both be approximately 24°. lf narrower shooting angles can be accepted, an- gle a can be larger or smaller than 45°, but still preferably within an interval of 30° to 65°. Wider shooting angles require a narrower angle a, such as in the interval of 40° to 50°.

The frame 12 is mounted on a bottom section 32 and comprises upright studs 34, a horizontally arranged lower framework 36, and a horizontally arranged top frame- work 38. The lower framework 36 has a central opening corresponding to a wide section of the funnel 20. The lower framework 36 and the top framework 38 are sup- ported by the upright studs 34. ln various embodiments, the panels 18 are supported at a lower position by the lower framework 36 and at an upper position by the top framework 38. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 4, the panels 18 can be L shaped with a lower horizontal base section 35 configured to be attached to the lower framework 36. An upper vertical section is fastened to the top framework 38. As shown in Fig. 4, the panels 18 can be provided with holes 44 for screws.

At side edges of the arrangement of deflecting slats end wall plates 39 (c.f. Fig. 5 and Fig. 10) can be provided to cover end sections of the arrangement of deflecting slats. lt should be noted that end wall plates 39 normally are provided also in single module installations, even though no wall plates 39 are shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 3, the collecting tray 30 is placed below a lower opening 28 of the funnel 20 to receive bullets and residuals from bullets entering from a top open- ing 26 of the funnel. lnside the funnel 20 there is provided an upper deflecting plate 40 and a lower deflecting plate 42. The upper deflecting plate 40 and the lower deflecting plate 42 will contribute to directing bullets and residuals towards the col- lecting tray 30. The funnel 20 and the collecting tray 30 will ensure that bullets and residuals from bullets will not exit to the environment. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, a curtain or map 43 can be arranged in front of the deflecting slats 14. The curtain 43 will further prevent bullets and residuals from bullets from escaping from the bul- let trap after hitting the deflecting slats 14.

The bullet trap 10 is configured to be attached as a module to more bullet trap modules 10 of the same design. ln Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, two identical bullet trap modules 10 have been joined to form a two-section bullet trap installation 52. Further bullet trap modules 10 can be attached as modules at both sides to provide a bullet trap installation of any desired width. By using separate joint pieces between modules, it is possible to provide bullet trap installations of different shapes, for instance a U- shape or an installation with a curved form. As shown in Fig. 5, lower front panels 46, upper front panels 48 are attached to the frame 12 of each module. A side panel 50 is attached to the frame 12 at end modules to enclose an inner space 60 of the bullet trap 10. The side panels 50 form side walls. Some or all of these panels can be ex- cluded in applications where the complete bullet trap is placed in an outer housing, such as a container, with an opening in front of the area covered by deflecting slats 14 and cover plates 54. They can be excludes also if the bullet trap is used in sites where butts are arranged to receive bullets.

When two bullet trap sections 10 have been connected there is a vertical open space 70 between side edges of a first arrangement of deflecting slats 14 that have been inserted in the slots 16 of the upright panels 18 of a first bullet trap module 10 and a second arrangement of deflecting slats 14 that have been inserted in the slots 16 of the upright panels 18 of a second bullet trap module 10 (c.f. Fig. 5). ln the bul- let trap installation 52, there is provided a cover plate 54, an example of which is shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, to cover the vertical open space. The cover plate 54 com- prises an elongated left side section 56 and an elongated right side section 58. The side sections are bent along a longer side and joined together in a sharp edge along the longer side. A plurality of inclined indents 68 are formed in both sided sections. Fig. 7 shows one deflecting slat 14 received in one inclined indent 68.

A V-shaped distance plate 62 is attached at each end of the side sections at the inside of the sharp edge. The V-shaped distance plate 62 will improve the stability of the cover plate 54. As shown in Fig. 8, the left side section 56 is somewhat longer than the right side section 58. As a result, a sharp tip 64 of the left side section 56 will point at the direction of incoming bullets when the cover plate 54 is in an operat- ing position between two bullet trap modules 10. The cover plate 54 is pushed obliquely downwards over already inserted deflecting slats 14 to a position shown in Fig. 8. Bullets hitting the cover plate 54 along arrow H will be deflected towards the arrangement of slats 14.

An example of a deflecting slat 14 is shown in Fig. 9. The deflecting slat 14 is ba- sically rectangular With two longer sides and two shorter sides. The length of the longer sides could be around 1350 mm and the length of the shorter sides could be around 240 mm. As shown in Fig. 9, two recesses 66 are formed in one longer side a short distance from both shorter sides. When a deflecting slat 14 is inserted in the slots 16 of two upright panels 18 (one shown in Fig. 9), a section of the upright pan- els 18 will be received in each one of the upright panels 18. ln this position, the de- flecting slat 14 cannot slide in a longitudinal direction. ln the embodiment shown, the deflecting slat 14 is symmetrical. As a result, a deflecting slat 14 can be turned up- side down and thus be used in two different positions. Furthermore, the deflecting slats 14 can be moved between different positions in the bullet traps, for instance if the deflecting slats are unevenly worn.

The thickness of the deflecting slat 14 depends on the material used and the in- tended use. A suitable material is abrasion-resistant steel. An example of such mate- rial is marketed under the trademark HARDOX. Using this material with hardness (HBW) of 450, the thickness can be around 8 mm. By using steel of even higher hardness, such as 650, thinner steel plates can be used.

The frame structure of the bullet trap is very convenient and allows exchange of different plates and sheets in dependance of intended use. The deflecting slats 14 very easily can be exchanged to slats of harder or softer material. This applies also to the rear wall panel 22 and the cover plate 54.

The end wall plate 39 shown in Fig. 10 basically is one half of the cover plate 54 and corresponds to the left side section 56 shown in Fig. 8. The end wall plate 39 shown in Fig. 10 will be used at the right side of the arrangement of slats 14 as shown in Fig. 5. A mirror-inverted version of an end wall plate (and corresponding to the right side section 58) will be used at the left side of the arrangement of slats 14.

The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the invention. For example, the principles herein may be applied to any bullet trap. Those skilled in the art will readily recog- nize various modifications and changes that may be made to the present invention without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and de- scribed herein, and without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (16)

1. A bullet trap (10), comprising a rear side wall (22), a frame (12), and an arrange- ment of a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats (14) mounted in the frame (12) in front of the rear side wall (22), wherein the slats (14) are tilted an angle a downwards With reference to a normal to the arrangement of slats (14), wherein the angle a is in the interval of 22° to 76°; wherein each slat (14) will cover a section of a higher placed slat (14) from a di- rection in parallel with the normal to the arrangement of slats (14); and wherein a collecting funnel (20) is arranged below the arrangement of slats (14), wherein the collecting funnel (20) has a top opening (26) located below the slats (14) for receiving bullets and residuals of bullets, and a lower opening (28) where bullets and residuals of bullets are discharged.

2. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the angle a is in the interval of 30° to 65°.

3. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the angle a is in the interval of 40° to 50°.

4. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle a is approximately 45°.

5. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the slats (14) are arranged in slots (16) of panels (18) at either side of the arrangement of slats (14).

6. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in claim 5, wherein the slats (14) are detachably arranged in slots (16) in at least two horizontally displaced upright panels (18).

7. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the frame (12) comprises upright studs (34), a lower rectangular framework (36), and an upper rectangular framework (38), wherein the collecting funnel (20) extends below the lower rectangular framework (36).

8. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upright panels (18) extend between the lower rectangular framework (36) and the upper rectangular framework (38).

9. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the upright panels (18) com- prise a lower base section (35) attached to the lower rectangular framework (36).

10. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the ar- rangement of a plurality of vertically displaced deflecting slats (14) is horizontally dis- placed from the rear wall panel (22).

11. The bullet trap (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a col- lecting tray (30) arranged below the lower opening (28) of the funnel (20).

12. A bullet trap installation (52), comprising at least two bullet traps (10) as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the frames (12) of adjacent bullet traps (10) are interconnected, the bullet trap installation (52) comprising a cover plate (54) ar- ranged to cover end sections of adjacent arrangements of deflecting slats (14).

13. The bullet trap installation (52) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cover plate (54) has a V-shaped profile and is formed with inclined recesses (68) corresponding to the shape and angle of the arrangements of deflecting slats (14).

14. The bullet trap installation (52) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cover plate (54) comprises at least one V-shaped distance plate (62) arranged at an end section of the cover plate (54).

15. The bullet trap installation (52) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cover plate (54) comprises an elongated left side section (56) and an elongated right side sec- tion (58), wherein the elongated left side section (56) and the elongated right side section (58) arejoined in a longitudinally extending sharp tip (64).

16. The bullet trap installation (52) as claimed in claim 15, wherein the longitudinally extending sharp tip (64) is formed by an edge of one of the side sections (56; 58).