Propulsion System Membrane Bending for Fragment-Free Cartridge Ammunition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cartridge ammunition propulsion systems produce fragments that can interfere with weapon function and safety, necessitating a fragment-free solution.
Innovation Solution
A high-pressure chamber is centrally sealed by a metal membrane that bends and deflects under pressure, creating a controlled overflow gap between the high-pressure and low-pressure chambers, preventing radial fragment formation and allowing propellant gas to flow without tearing, thus ensuring reliable opening at a defined pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a rupture disc or membrane with predetermined breaking point is used to open the high-pressure chamber, then the chamber opens reliably at a defined pressure, but fragments or particles are formed that can interfere with weapon function
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible membrane as a sealing element in the high-pressure chamber. This membrane is designed to deform elastically under pressure rather than fracture, allowing the chamber to open reliably at a defined pressure while preventing fragment formation. The membrane's flexibility enables it to bend and deflect controlledly, transforming the harmful fragmentation problem into a beneficial controlled deformation mechanism.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a piston is compressed to expose overflow bores, then no fragments are produced, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the membrane sealing function from the piston mechanism, allowing the membrane to perform the opening function independently. By removing the piston's role in exposing overflow bores and replacing it with a membrane that opens through controlled deformation, the design eliminates fragment formation while simplifying the overall mechanism. The membrane directly seals and opens the chamber without requiring complex piston movements.
3Stress or pressure
If a membrane with predetermined breaking point is used, then opening pressure is controlled, but radial fragments are formed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the membrane's physical parameters by using a material and geometry designed for elastic deformation rather than fracture. The membrane's thickness, material properties, and structural configuration are optimized to ensure it bends and deflects under pressure rather than breaking. This parameter optimization allows controlled opening pressure while preventing radial fragment formation, transforming the membrane from a fragile sealing element into a pressure-controlled deformation element.
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 solution provides a fragment-free propulsion system that ensures reliable operation and safety by preventing the formation of radial fragments, allowing for controlled gas flow and efficient projectile acceleration while maintaining simple manufacturing and installation processes.
Implementation Method 1
the gas pressure from the propellant powder bends the membrane up and is able to flow out through this gap
Implementation Method 2
the membrane is bent or deflected... does not tear to connect the high-pressure chamber and the low-pressure chamber to one another when pressure is built up
Data Source
AI summary
A fragment-free propulsion of a cartridge-type ammunition, including a propellant casing and a high-pressure chamber, wherein the high-pressure chamber accommodates a propellant powder and, in the bottom region, a primer, having at least one overflow bore. To avoid fragments, a membrane, which separates the high-pressure chamber and a low-pressure chamber from one another and which does not tear to connect the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber when pressure is built up but instead is bent, is embedded in the high-pressure chamber. For this purpose, the high-pressure chamber additionally has a cap, the membrane, and a body. The membrane is embedded in the body and is secured by the cap. In addition, the membrane covers a gap that is formed by an outer diameter of the cap and an inner diameter of the body, and into which the membrane is bent when pressure is built up.