US3750574A

US3750574A - Illuminating round having dual range capability

Info

Publication number: US3750574A
Application number: US00230539A
Authority: US
Inventors: C Lohkamp
Original assignee: US Department of Navy
Current assignee: US Department of Navy
Priority date: 1972-02-28
Filing date: 1972-02-28
Publication date: 1973-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 1990-08-07

Abstract

An illuminating round having propulsion means and a flare composition, and means for deploying a parachute upon ignition of the flare composition. The forward end of the round is configured for low drag and means are provided for attaching an auxiliary part which provides for high drag during propulsion of the round.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Lohkamp Aug. 7, 1973 1 lLLUMlNATlNG ROUND HAVING DUAL 3,485,460 12/1969 Mertens 244/31 RANGE CAPABILITY 3,431,852 3/1969 Fow1er.................. 102/32 1,754,986 4/1930 Dri Jr. et a]. 102/32 Inventor: Carl p, Bloomfield, 1,941,590 1/1934 W155. 102/344 Assignee: The United states of America as 3,105,438 10/1963 Aberg 102/344 represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC. Primary Examiner-Robert F. Stahl [22] Filed, Feb 28 1972 Attorney-R. S. Sciascia, H. H. Losche and Paul S.

Collignon [21] Appl. No.: 230,539

[57] ABSTRACT [52] Cl 437 An illuminating round having propulsion means and a 51 I t Cl 13/38 flare composition, and means for deploying a parai 34 34 6 chute upon ignition of the flare composition. The for- 1 o 3 49 2 ward end of the round is configured for low drag and means are provided for attaching an auxiliary part 5 Reerences Cited which provides for high drag during propulsion of the round. UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,442,528 6/1948 Beattie 102/34.4 X 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures ILLUMINATING ROUND HAVING DUAL RANGE CAPABILITY STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end view of the aft end of a round; FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG.

The invention described herein may be manufacl;

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an illuminating round which can be fired from a hand-held weapon, such as a grenade launcher, and more particularly to an illuminating round having dual range capability provided by a low drag and a high drag configuration.

Various devices are provided on projectiles and missiles to control either their range or rate of descent. While parachutes are most frequently used to retard descent of falling objects, rotor and speed brakes are also used as retarding devices. An example of a speed brake is shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,047,259, entitled Speed Brake Retarding Mechanism For An Air- Dropped Store," which issued July 31, 1962, to George J. Tatnall and Albert F. Scarcelli. In this patented device, a ballistic-shaped cylindrical store is used and the speed brake is comprised of a plurality of blades which are individually pivoted about pins disposed near the outer circumference of the store. Spring means are provided for opening the blades, and a flexible screen is attached to the blades for increasing drag.

An example of a rotor device is shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,057,589, entitled, Aerial Device Having Rotor For Retarding Descent, which issued Oct. 9, 1962, to Derek J. Nutkins and Clifford B. Packard. In this rotor device, a plurality of blades are connected to the rear portion ofa cylindrical body. The blades are pivotal so they can assume either a collapsed or an operative position, and, when in the operative position, the blades extend outwardly from the body at pitch angles suitable to cause autorotation for retarding descent of the body.

In addition to retarding apparatus for free-falling objects, various devices have been provided on groundlaunched missiles for adjusting range. In U. S. Pat. No. 3,343,767, entitled Device For Adjusting The Range Of A Missile, which issued Sept. 26, 1967, an aerodynamic brake is attached to a missile to control range. Hinged panels are mounted around the rocket, and these panels can be positioned at various angles to provide different degrees of resistance as the missile is propelled in flight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an illuminating round which can be launched from a hand-held weapon, such as a grenade launcher. A firing pin in the launcher detonates a primer which, in turn, ignites a propellant to propel the round. The burning of the propellant ignites a delay element which, in turn, ignites an illuminating composition. The ignition of the illuminating composition causes a parachute to deploy and the burning composition is parachuted to the ground. The round has two possible aerodynamic drag configura tions, that is, high drag and low drag. The forward nose of the round is streamlined to provide for low drag and a disk is attachable to the forward end to provide a high drag configuration.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the forward end of a round showing a high drag disk and low drag nose configuration; and

FIG. 4 is an end view of a round showing a high drag disk.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, an illuminating round 11 is shown having a primer case 12 and a motor case 13. Primer case 12 has a primer 14 positioned therein and primer case 12 and motor case 13 are removably attached together, as by crimping. Motor case 13 is closed at its aft end by a nozzle plate 15 having a plurality of nozzles 16 therein, and the forward end of motor case 13 is closed by a low drag nose tube 17. A closure plate 18 is provided in motor case 13 and a propelling charge 19, such as black powder, is provided between closure plate 18 and nozzle plate 15. Igniter pellets 21 are provided in the center of propelling charge 19 and detonation of primer l4 ignites pellets 21 which, in turn, ignites propelling charge 19.

A pyrotechnic holder 22 is threadedly attached to closure plate 18 and contains pyrotechnic delay elements 23 and a flash charge 24. A quantity of illuminating composition 25 is provided in inner container 26 which has an outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of motor case 13, so that inner container 26 can be ejected. The forward end of container 26 is closed by plate 27 which has a swivel ring 28 attached thereto. A quantity of ignition mix 29 is provided on i1- luminating composition 25 adjacent flash charge 24 to facilitate ignition of composition 25.

Illuminating flare composition 2.5 is comprised of a fuel, such as magnesium, an oxidizing agent such as sodium nitrate and a binder system comprised of a liquid epoxy resin of the bisphenol A Epichlorohydrin type containing cresyl glycidyl ether and a liquid epoxy resin of the Polyglycol-Epichlorohydrin type. By way of example, composition 25 might be comprised of between 56 and 60 percent, by weight, of magnesium, between 35 and 40 percent, by weight, of sodium nitrate, between 2 and 7.5 percent, by weight, of liquid epoxy resin of the bisphenol A Epichlorohydrin type containing cresyl glycidyl ether,-between 0.9 and 3.5 percent, by weight, of liquid epoxy resin of the Polyglycol- Epichlorohydrin type, and between 0.4 and 1.5 percent, by weight, of an aliphatic polyamine hardener. The liquid epoxies and hardener can be obtained from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich. The liquid epoxy resin of the bisphenol A Epichlorohydrin type containing cresyl glycidyl ether is marketed by The Dow Chemical Company under the trademark D.E.R. 321 and is a liquid epoxy resin having an epoxide equivalent weight value of between 182-192 and a viscosity of between 500-700 cps at 25C. The liquid epoxy resin of the Polyglycol-Epiclhlorohydrin type is marketed by The Dow Chemical Company under the trademark D. E. R. 732 and is a liquid epoxy resin having an epoxide equivalent weight value of between 305 and 335 and a viscosity of between 55 cps at 25C. The hardener is an aliphatic polyamine and is marketed by The Dow Chemical Company under the name Experimental Hardener QX-3482.l. The hardener has an amine hydrogen equivalent of about 29 and is similar in characteristics to diethylene triamine and triethylene tetramine.

A parachute 31 is packed inside nose tube 17 and the shroud lines of parachute 31 are connected to swivel ring 28. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing, the forward edge of nose tube 17, which is cylindrical in shape, is provided with a radiused corner 32 which provides low drag as motor case 13 is propelled through the air. A threaded stud 33 is provided on the forward end of nose tube 17 and is used to attach blunt nose disk 34 thereto. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing, disk 34 has a leading edge with sharp corners and is provided with a tapped hole 35 that is engageable with stud 33. A pair of notches 36 is provided on the forward end of disk 34 to accommodate a spanner wrench for tightening disk 34 to nose tube 17.

OPERATION In operation, prior to loading illuminating round 11 into a grenade launcher, a choice must be made on using either a low drag or high drag nose configuration. By way of example, when disk 34 is threadedly attached to low drag nose tube 17, parachute 31 deploys at a range of about 600 yards and, without disk 34 in place, parachute 31 deploys at a range of about 800 yards.

The firing pin of a grenade launcher strikes, and detonates, primer 14 which ignites igniter pellets 21 which, in 'tum ignites propelling charge 19. The gases emitted from the burning of propelling charge 19 exit through nozzles 16 and propel motor case 13 through the air. Primer case 12 remains in the launcher barrel and is ejected before another round is fired. The burning propelling charge 19 ignites delay elements 23, and elements 23 burn for 5 or 6 seconds and then ignite illuminating composition 25. The gases created by the burning of composition 25 causes inner container 26 to separate, which also causes nose tube 17 to be ejected, whereupon parachute 31 is deployed. Parachute 31 retards the descent of inner container 26 and the burning of composition 25 illuminates the ground below.

I claim:

1. An illuminating round comprising,

a motor case,

a nozzle plate closing an aft end of said motor case,

an inner case in said motor case positioned forward of said propelling charge, said inner case extendingbeyond the forward end of said motor case and having a radiused leading edge providing reduced wind resistance during flight,

a quantity of illuminating composition and a parachute within said inner case, said parachute being deployed upon ignition of said illuminating composition,

a propelling charge in said motor case positioned between said nozzle plate and said quantity of illuminating composition,

a primer for igniting said propelling charge,

a pyrotechnic delay element for igniting said illuminating composition after said propelling charge is ignited, and

a cylindrical disk having a leading edge with a sharp corner removably attached to the forward end of said inner case for providing high drag during flight of said illuminating round.

Claims

1. An illuminating round comprising, a motor case, a nozzle plate closing an aft end of said motor case, an inner case in said motor case positioned forward of said propelling charge, said inner case extending beyond the forward end of said motor case and having a radiused leading edge providing reduced wind resistance during flight, a quantity of illuminating composition and a parachute within said inner case, said parachute being deployed upon ignition of said illuminating composition, a propelling charge in said motor case positioned between said nozzle plate and said quantity of illuminating composition, a primer for igniting said propelling charge, a pyrotechnic delay element for igniting said illuminating composition after said propelling charge is ignited, and a cylindrical disk having a leading edge with a sharp corner removably attached to the forward end of said inner case for providing high drag during flight of said illuminating round.