Smoke Munition Buoyancy Aid for Water Impact
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing smoke grenades fired from ships sink upon impact, causing the smoke-generating active substance to get wet and fail to ignite effectively, leading to incomplete fogging of the surroundings, which is complex and risky for the crew.
Innovation Solution
A smoke grenade design featuring a pyrotechnic delay system that activates a buoyancy aid before water impact, preventing sinking and ensuring the smoke-generating active mass can fully convert into fog, using an inflatable swimming aid and telescopic tube device to maintain buoyancy until the fog is fully generated.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If smoke grenades are fired from ships, then the smoke-generating agent can be deployed, but the warhead sinks upon impact with water causing the agent to get wet and fail to ignite
Solution Approach 1:
A buoyancy aid is integrated into the warhead that automatically activates upon water impact to prevent sinking before the smoke-generating agent has fully decomposed. This preliminary buoyancy activation ensures the warhead remains on or near the water surface throughout the decomposition process, preventing water ingress and ensuring reliable ignition and complete fog generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The buoyancy aid acts as an intermediary element between the warhead and water, mediating the interaction by providing upward buoyant force that counteracts the downward gravitational force on the warhead. This intermediary mechanism prevents direct harmful contact between water and the smoke-generating agent, ensuring the agent remains dry and ignitable.
2Reliability
If manual deployment of floating smoke grenades is used, then the grenades can float on water, but the deployment is costly and dangerous for the crew
Solution Approach 1:
The smoke grenade system is designed to be self-sufficient by integrating an automatic buoyancy activation mechanism that triggers upon water impact. The warhead automatically deploys its buoyancy aid without requiring manual intervention, making the system self-service capable. This eliminates the need for crew members to manually deploy floating smoke grenades, thereby removing the associated safety risks and operational complexity while maintaining reliable floatation.
3Reliability
If the container volume is increased to provide buoyancy, then the grenade can float on water, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buoyancy aid is nested within the warhead structure, with the buoyancy material positioned inside or around the smoke-generating agent container. This nested configuration allows the buoyancy function to be integrated into the existing warhead design without requiring a separate external floatation device, thereby providing reliable buoyancy while minimizing increases in overall device complexity and maintaining a compact form factor.
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
Enables quick, safe, and precise deployment of smoke grenades, ensuring complete conversion of the active mass into fog, effectively protecting the ship's surroundings by preventing water ingress and maintaining buoyancy until the fog is dispersed.
Implementation Method 1
A gas-generating mixture is arranged within the warhead to inflate the buoyancy aid
Implementation Method 2
When inflated, it prevents the warhead from sinking
Implementation Method 3
An ignition device for igniting an ejection charge of the warhead
Implementation Method 4
a first pyrotechnic delay element acting on an igniter of the warhead
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a smoke munition (1) or smoke grenade which can be fired from a launcher, for example a grenade launcher, and has at least one submunition (3) for producing smoke (18) as a protection for ships. To achieve the effect that the submunition (3) of the smoke grenade (1) can be delivered quickly and safely for the ship's crew and the active compound (30) thereof can be converted completely into smoke (18) even after hitting the water, the invention proposes providing the submunition (3) with a floating aid (14), which can be deployed before the submunition (3) hits the water and prevents the submunition (3) from sinking and prevents the active compound (3) that produces the smoke (18) from becoming wet.