Integrally Suppressed Barrel With Removable Baffle Sleeve

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing firearms with integral silencers are often bulky and cumbersome, affecting the balance, aiming, and appearance of rifles, and typically require complex disassembly for maintenance, leading to fouling and carbon buildup.

Innovation Solution

An integrally suppressed barrel design featuring a rear barrel portion with a permanently affixed tubular sleeve containing vertically oblong sound suppression baffles, allowing for easy removal and maintenance, while maintaining the firearm's slim profile and meeting ATF length requirements through a barrel adapter.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If sound suppression baffles are permanently affixed within an integral barrel assembly, then muzzle noise reduction is improved, but device complexity and difficulty of maintenance increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of repair

Solution Approach 1:

The baffle assembly is segmented from the barrel assembly, allowing the baffles to be independently removable while the barrel remains intact. The sleeve containing the baffles can be detached as a separate unit for maintenance without affecting the barrel structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A removable sleeve acts as an intermediary component between the barrel and the sound suppression baffles. This sleeve can be easily detached to allow baffle removal and reattachment, providing a maintenance interface without requiring barrel disassembly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a barrel adapter is added to meet ATF length requirements, then regulatory compliance is improved, but device complexity and overall length increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLength of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The barrel adapter is nested within the existing barrel assembly structure, integrating the length-extending function into the overall design without adding external protrusions. The adapter fits within the barrel's internal geometry to achieve compliance while maintaining a compact profile.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If vertically oblong baffles with lower expansion chambers are used, then sound suppression performance is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The baffle geometry parameters are standardized with consistent vertical oblong dimensions and uniform lower expansion chamber configurations. This standardization simplifies manufacturing while achieving the required sound suppression performance through optimized gas expansion geometry.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

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 design effectively reduces muzzle noise, simplifies baffle removal and maintenance, and maintains the firearm's balance and appearance by integrating sound suppression components within the barrel, ensuring compliance with regulatory length requirements.

Implementation Method 1

The baffles have a vertically oblong configuration each including an upper gas expansion chamber aligned with the barrel bore of the rear barrel portion and a lower gas expansion chamber which extends below the barrel's normal cross section and centerline of the bore to provide additional volume for gas expansion

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectGas expansion:

Data Source

PatentUS9835400B2Integrally suppressed barrel for firearm

Publication Date: 2017.12.05

AI summary

An integrally suppressed barrel in one embodiment includes a rear barrel portion defining an axial projectile bore and forwardly extending sleeve affixed to thereto. The sleeve includes vertically stacked tubular upper and lower longitudinal chambers holding a complementary configured horizontal stack of sound suppression baffles. The chambers are in fluid communication via a waist, which may be smaller in width than the chambers. A rod extending from a front end cap on the sleeve to and threadably the rear barrel secures the baffles inside the sleeve. The stack of baffles is removable from the sleeve as a self-supporting unit in one embodiment. The baffles may include upper and lower chambers which are in fluid communication to provide additional volume for gas expansion and sound suppression. The upper chambers include an asymmetrically shaped flow cone configured to direct gas from the upper to lower chambers.