Additive-Manufactured Sidearm With Segmented Electronic Ignition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sidearms do not lend themselves to additive manufacturing due to issues with moving components like slides and springs, and designs with stacked projectiles and propellants suffer from low velocity, mechanical unreliability, and safety hazards such as chain reactions and cook-offs.
Innovation Solution
An additive manufacturing enhanced sidearm (AMES) with a 3D printed ejectable barrel assembly featuring ceramic-coated chambers, electronic ignition, and a recoil plate assembly, incorporating a battery-powered microprocessor for controlled firing and safety features like a galvanometer and holographic reflex sight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If stacked projectiles and propellants are used in the barrel, then the weapon can be manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, but the projectile velocity becomes low and lethality is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The barrel is divided into multiple chambers, each containing a single projectile and propellant charge. This segmentation allows each chamber to be optimized for conventional high-velocity firing while the overall barrel assembly can be manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques. The segmented design eliminates the velocity problems of stacked projectiles while maintaining manufacturing advantages.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical state and arrangement of propellants and projectiles from stacked configurations to individual chambered loads. Each chamber contains properly proportioned propellant and projectile, with parameters optimized for high velocity. The electronic ignition system also changes the activation parameter from mechanical to electrical, enabling precise control while maintaining high velocity performance.
2Ease of manufacture
If stacked projectiles with multiple primers are used, then additive manufacturing is enabled, but mechanical and electrical unreliability issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The barrel is segmented into separate chambers, each with its own primer and ignition system. This isolation prevents chain reactions and eliminates the unreliability of multiple stacked primers. Each chamber operates independently with a single reliable primer, while the overall system benefits from additive manufacturing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces mechanical ignition systems with electronic ignition. Each chamber is equipped with an electronic primer that can be reliably activated by electrical signals from the microprocessor. This substitution eliminates the mechanical unreliability of conventional stacked primer systems while maintaining the additive manufacturing advantage.
3Ease of manufacture
If stacked projectiles are used in the barrel, then the weapon structure is simplified for additive manufacturing, but safety hazards such as chain reactions and cook-offs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The barrel is divided into separate, isolated chambers that prevent chain reactions. Each chamber contains its own projectile, propellant, and ignition system, physically separated from other chambers. This segmentation eliminates the safety hazards of stacked projectiles while maintaining the manufacturing advantages of additive manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces ceramic coatings as an intermediary material between the metal barrel and the propellant charges. These ceramic layers provide thermal insulation that prevents cook-offs from parasitic heat conduction, while allowing the overall structure to be manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques.
4Reliability
If conventional sidearm designs are used, then moving components like slides and springs can be employed, but the designs do not lend themselves to additive manufacturing
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes traditional moving components like slides and springs from the sidearm design. By eliminating these complex mechanical parts, the weapon can be manufactured entirely using additive manufacturing techniques. The recoil management system is redesigned to work with the 3D-printed structure without requiring conventional moving parts.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces mechanical recoil management systems with a recoil plate assembly that is integrated into the 3D-printed frame. This substitution eliminates the need for complex mechanical components while maintaining reliability, allowing the entire weapon to be manufactured using additive manufacturing processes.
5Reliability
If electronic ignition systems are added to stacked projectiles, then reliability is improved somewhat, but velocity issues and other problems remain unresolved
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines electronic ignition with segmented chambers, where each chamber contains a single projectile optimized for high velocity. The electronic ignition system provides reliable activation while the segmented chamber design ensures proper propellant-to-projectile ratios, resolving the velocity problems that plagued previous stacked projectile systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical arrangement from stacked projectiles to individual chambered loads with optimized parameters. Each chamber contains propellant and projectile in proper proportions, with electronic ignition providing reliable and consistent activation. This parameter optimization resolves both the reliability and velocity issues simultaneously.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The AMES achieves high projectile velocity, reduces recoil, and enhances safety by preventing chain reactions and cook-offs, while allowing for modular caliber changes and reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
The chamber portion that holds the rounds is coated with a ceramic or ceramic-like material to prevent heat conduction
Implementation Method 2
a recoil plate assembly to absorb the recoil transferred during firing from the barrel assembly
Data Source
AI summary
An additive manufactured enhanced sidearm comprising an ejectable barrel group assembly having two barrels, each with a chamber, in an under and over configuration thereby forming a top and bottom, and preloaded with keyed rounds having a series wherein each of said projectiles is keyed via a keyway in a chamber in said barrel, each of said projectiles in said barrel group are keyed having 0 to 4 keyways formed in the side of the projectile said projectiles having a propellant and primer means disposed behind said projectile in said chamber, a series of electrical contacts disposed within said chambers in communication with said primer means, a rail disposed at the bottom of the barrels with a locking notch means, a battery disposed with said ejectable barrel group, a grip assembly in communication with said ejectable barrel group assembly said grip assembly comprising a hand grip, a pc board disposed within said hand grip, a trigger group disposed upon said pc board, a high voltage generator circuit disposed on said pc board, at least one recoil plate assembly disposed upon said pc board, at least one microprocessor disposed upon said pc board, and a removable safety block that interferes with the batter to pc board connection.