Recoil Controller Countermass Impact Surface Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recoil control mechanisms for projectile launchers are complex, costly, heavy, and prone to issues such as wear, misalignment, and reduced projectile power due to friction and differential expansion, making them inefficient and difficult to maintain.
Innovation Solution
A simpler recoil control mechanism using a single piece of shaped material where a countermass impacts surfaces to alter the distribution of recoil momentum over time, reducing peak recoil and improving durability and maintenance through successive impacts and frictional contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex recoil control mechanisms with multiple moving parts are used, then recoil control performance is improved, but device complexity, weight, and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential function of recoil control from complex mechanical mechanisms and implements it through a simple shaped charge device that uses controlled explosive decomposition to generate counter-recoil impulse, eliminating the need for complex moving parts while maintaining effective recoil control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical recoil control systems with a chemical-explosive based system where shaped charge decomposition generates gas pressure to propel a counter-mass, substituting mechanical complexity with a controlled chemical reaction that achieves the same recoil mitigation function
2Reliability
If traditional recoil control mechanisms with multiple components are used, then recoil distribution is improved, but ease of manufacture and maintenance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple functions (recoil control, timing mechanism, and propellant system) into a single integrated shaped charge device, eliminating the need for separate manufacturing and assembly of multiple components while maintaining effective recoil distribution through the unified device design
Solution Approach 2:
The shaped charge device is designed as a disposable or easily replaceable unit that consumes the propellant charge to generate recoil control effect, eliminating the need for complex maintenance of durable mechanical parts and simplifying both manufacture and field replacement
3Reliability
If countermass is allowed to travel rearward and leave the launcher, then recoil cancellation is improved, but safety hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent redirects the counter-mass trajectory from a straight rearward path into a curved or angled trajectory using guided channels or deflecting surfaces, allowing the counter-mass to travel in a different spatial dimension that avoids direct rearward ejection while maintaining recoil cancellation effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary structures such as guide channels, deflecting plates, or containment housings that mediate between the counter-mass and the external environment, allowing the counter-mass to be redirected or contained during its travel path and preventing it from becoming a direct safety hazard while preserving its recoil cancellation function
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 lightweight, robust, and cost-effective recoil control system that reduces wear and misalignment issues, maintains projectile power, and simplifies maintenance by using a single piece of material with designed surfaces for momentum transfer.
Implementation Method 1
A method for improving the performance of countermass-based mechanisms for recoil control in projectile launchers includes causing the countermass to impact shaped charge device surfaces
Implementation Method 2
successive impacts and frictional contact
Data Source
AI summary
A recoil controller is disclosed whose body 1 incorporates a strategically designed inner surface or surfaces 2. A moving countermass 6 impacts one or more times against one or more inner surfaces 2. During this process momentum is transferred from the countermass 6, to the inner surfaces 2, and then to the body 1 of the recoil controller, and then to anything to which it is attached or against which it is braced. The distributions, over time, of the momenta resulting from this transfer of momentum will depend on various factors including the composition, geometry and placement of the inner surfaces 2. A given recoil controller is designed such that the distributions, over time, of the momenta resulting from its use, are preferable to the distributions, over time, of the original momenta. The countermass 6′ shown in FIG. 1 is the countermass 6 shown after one impact.