US3318033A

US3318033A - Grenade launching arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3318033A
Application number: US491309A
Authority: US
Inventors: Irwin R Barr
Original assignee: AAI Corp
Current assignee: Textron Systems Corp
Priority date: 1965-09-29
Filing date: 1965-09-29
Publication date: 1967-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 1984-05-09

Description

y 1967 R" BARR 3,31%,Q33

GRENADE LAUNCHING ARRANGEMENT Filed Sept. 29, 1965 2 Sheets-$heet 1 lRl/V/A/ R BAR/P INVENTOR May 9, 1967 R. BARR 9 13 GRENADE LAUNCHING ARRANGEMENT Filed Sept. 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 5' 7 HI H '7 5. 5' N m '1 2 y I 1,; uni: 7 I l [will hill r1, I f I I! {1 w my:

I/PW/Al R. BAR/F INVENTOR States atent Patented May 9, 1%67 3,318,033 LAUNQHHNG llrwin R. Barr, Lutherville, Md, assignor to AAl Corpo= ration, Cocheysville, Md, a corporation of Maryland Filed Sept. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 491,399 ill Cl. 42-41) This invention relates to grenade launchers, and more particularly to an adapter arrangement for enabling the firing of relatively large diameter grenades from a standard single barrel shotgun, such as a riot type shotgun.

In the standard riot type shotgun there is employed a conventional trigger firing mechanism, firing chamber and barrel, the gun being adapted to accept gas-generating blank or other desired shotgun shells. The present invention is adapted for launching a grenade with the aid of such a shotgun while employing a blank gas-generating cartridge. As the barrel of such shotguns, as well as other conventional shotguns, is not itself suitable for launching of a rifled grenade with a grenade release handle, it is highly desirable to provide an arrangement which will enable the launching of such grenades when such are desired to be used, while still enabling the riot shotgun to be used in its normal fashion by a simple change.

It is accordingly an object and feature of this invention to provide a grenade adapter which will enable the launching of relatively large diameter grenades having external rifiing thereon and a release handle.

It is still a further feature of this invention to provide a grenade launching system which will enable the grenade to be launched with spin imparted thereto for accuracy, While also self-releasing the grenade handle as a function of the launching, the grenade firing mechanism being thereby actuated to initiate a firing sequence which will result in subsequent delayed firing of the grenade charge at some point distant from the launching zone.

Still other objects, features and attendant advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description of one preferred embodiment constructed in accordance with the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded view of a shotgun, adapter and grenade according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a partial longitudinal section view of the front end of the barrel of the gun, with the grenade adapter secured in place,

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section vieW taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal section view of the front end of the gun barrel and the grenade adapter, and showing a grenade in place preparatory to launching, the grenade being broken away in part for clarity of illustration,

FIGURE 5 is a View of the gun, adapter and grenade assembly, illustrating the grenade shortly after launching.

Referring now in detail to the figures of the drawing, in FIGURE 1 there is shown in exploded view a grenade adapter 11 which is adapted to fit over the muzzle end of the barrel 43 of a standard riot shotgun ill having a conventional firing mechanism, firing chamber and barrel. The grenade adapter is constructed to enable the launching of a grenade 51 having a rifled band 53 at one end thereof and a release handle 55 at the other end and extending along one side of the grenade body.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the grenade adapter it includes a closed base end it? which terminates in a split-clamp 15 adapted to fit over the muzzle end of barrel 43, being clamped in place by an adjustment screw 21 extending through a pair of spaced apertured wings 19a, 1% at the slotted upper side of the split clamp. Preferably, the

aperture of one wing 19b is threaded, and the other aperture unthreaded to enable facile tightening of the adjustment screw 21 without necessitating the employment of a securing nut, although a securing nut or other tightening means may of course be employed if so desired. It will be appreciated that the slot formed between the two upstanding wings 19a, 1% will readily accommodate the sight bead which conventionally is located at the muzzle end of the barrel.

The adapter ll is seated in place over the barrel 43, with the end of the barrel abutting against a shoulder stop 17 at the inner end of the clamp 15.

A central bore 23 is formed in the base 13 of the adapter, this bore being preferably of the same size as the bore of the barrel 43, and being coaxial therewith. The base 13 forms an end cover 25 over the bore 23, the end cover having side ports 27 formed therein for transmission of the propellant from the gun barrel 43 into the launching, or expansion, chamber formed Within the adapter ll. The end cover 25 and side ports 27 are effective to meter a desired gas flow to a reduced pressure in the expansion chamber eiiectively formed by the space between the base end of the barrel 31, base 13, and the adjacent end of the grenade, thereby effecting launching without burstin or rupturing the end of the grenade, and particularly without causing pre-rupture of the discharge opening of the grenade, since the discharge opening is located in the illustrated and preferred embodiment at the pressure application end of the grenade during launching.

The grenade adapter ll includes a barrel 31 which may be integral with the base 13 if so desired, although in the preferred and illustrated embodiment the barrel is formed to include a separate tube which is secured at its rear end to the base 13 through the medium of securing screws 33. The bore of the barrel Ell is rified over a longitudinal portion of its inner extent as indicated at 35 in order to accommodate the pre-grooved rifle band formed at the base of the grenade 51, while the outer extent 3'7 of-the bore of the barrel 31 is smooth-walled and recessed beneath the land surface 35:: of the rifling 35 in order to accommodate the release handle which extends along one side of the grenade 51 preparatory to actuation of the grenade, it being appreciated that the diameter of this smooth-walled extent 37 of the barrel must also be of sufficient size to accommodate the outer land surface 53a of the rified band 53 on the base end of the grenade being launched.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 the invention is particularly useful in firing a grenade having, as mentioned above, a pregrooved annular rified band 53 at one end, and a release handle 55 which extends from an anchor lip formed on the opposite end and along one lateral side thereof. For most advantageous results the grenade may also include a striker 59 which is retained in ready position by the handle 55, preparatory to firing, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. The striker 5% is adapted to move about its pivot mounting pin under the influence of a spring 61' to strike a primer 65 upon release of the handle 55. The handle 55 is normally held in locked position through the medium of a safety retainer pin 63 which may be pulled to release the handle. However, as will be seen in FIGURE 3, the smooth-walled bore extent of the barrel 31 will prevent the grenade from being actuated until the grenade leaves the barrel 31 upon launching, as the handle 55 is retained in its side locking position by contact with the smooth-walled bore extent 3? of the barrel in the pre-launching position.

The grenade 51 includes a time delay fuze 67 adjacent the primer es, and a propellant charge 69 disposed at the inner end of the time delay fuze. The entire primer, time delay fuze and propellant charge assembly is housed in a suitable closed well or chamber 73 formed in the body of the grenade 51. Well 73 has a blowout disc 71 formed at its bottom end adjacent the propellant charge 69, enabling the propellant gases formed by firing of the propellant charge 69 to be ejected into a chamber enclosed by the grenade canister wall and an internal movable piston 75 which is adapted to thereupon move toward the opposite end of the grenade canister and thereupon rupture blowout disc 79 and eject the particle, liquid or gaseous material 77 which is contained in the chamber on the opposite side of the piston 75. In order to strengthen the blowout disc 7% against rupture during the launching of the grenade, by the propellant gases from the gun 4 1, a suitable annular shouldered cover 81 may be mounted over the recessed blowout disc 70, as for instance by a friction fit or by pressure'sensitive tape (not shown). It will be appreciated that while the annular shoulder formed on the cover 81 will aid in preventing rupture from external forces, the relatively light fit of this cover over the blowout disc 79 will not materially impede the ease of blowout of the disc upon actuation of the piston 75.

In operation, the operator will insert a grenade with the rifled band 53 extending into the helically grooved rifled bore extent 35 of barrel 31 to a seated position with the cover 81 resting on the end cover 25 of base 13, and with the grenade handle 55 extending within and contained by the smooth-walled bore extent 37, as shown in FIGURE 3. The operator will thereupon pull the safety retainer pin 63, and the handle 55 will then be retained solely by the smoothlywalled bore extent 37. The gun and adapter assembly is then aimed in the desired direction, and upon firing of the gun 41 the propellant gases from the firing chamber will pass through the gun barrel 43, adapter bore 23 and side ports 27 into engagement with the rear end of the grenade 55 to thereupon eifect launching of the grenade from the barrel 31. The trifling 35' of the barrel 31 will in conjunction with the pre-grooved rifled band 53 effect a desired stabilizing spin to the grenade, and upon the grenade moving forward in the barrel 31 to the point where the handle S is no longer retained by the smooth-walled bore extent 37 the handle will thereupon be released and be ejected under the influence of the striker 59' and spring 61. The striker 59 will thereupon contact and fire the primer 65 to initiate the combustion of the time delay fuze 67 and subsequent ignition of the propellant charge 69 to generate the gases for rupture of the blowout disc 71 and movement of the piston 75. Piston 75 effects compressive action on the charge of material 77 and consequent rupture of the blowout disc 79 and ejection of the cover 81, enabling and thereafter eflecting ejection of the charge of material 77 into the atmosphere at a desired remote zone after the grenade leaves the launcher.

While the invention has been described as applied to a :single preferred embodiment it will be apparent that vari- 'ous modifications and improvements may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, in some instances where a relatively low helical angle may be employed in the rifled portion of the barrel 31 such that a complete rotation of the grenade is not effected before the handle 55 leaves the barrel it is possible to employ a smooth-walled bore extent 37 which will not be completely annular but will only be suificient in angular width to accommodate the necessary angular movement of the handle 55, and in such instances the remaining portion of the bore out to the end of the barrel may be rifled. However, for purposes of ease of manufacture and machining, as well as easing of tolerance requirements,'the presently illustrated embodiment is much preferred. It will accordingly be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the particular illustrative embodiment, but only by the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A grenade launcher barrel thereon of smaller be launched, comprising:

a barrel extension having a barrel portion adapted to receive a grenade, and a clamp portion,

said barrel portion having a bore therein with a first helically rifled extent and a second smooth bore extent of larger diameter than the inner land area of said rifled extent,

said smooth bore extent being at and extending inwardly from the open discharge end of said bore and of a length adapted to accommodate a protruding side handle on a grenade,

said clamp portion having a longitudinal bore therein for communication between the bore of said barrel portion of said barrel extension and the bore of said gun barrel.

2. A grenade launcher adapter according to claim 1,

said barrel portion of said extension having a side ported cover disposed at the input end of its bore, and

the side ports of said cover being in communication with said longitudinal clamp bore and said barrel portion bore.

3. A grenade launcher adapter according to claim 1 wherein said second smooth bore extent has a diameter at least as iarge as the diameter of the groove depth diameter of said rifled extent.

4. A grenade launcher adapter according to claim 1,

said clamp portion having a second bore concentric with and larger than said first mentioned longitudinal bore, the wall forming said second larger bore being adapted to fit over and abut the end of a gun barrel.

5. A grenade launcher according to claim 4,

said clamp portion forming a longitudinally split clamp having a pair of laterally extending interfacing spaced wings for clamping adjustment of said clamp portion to a barrel,

said wings each having a hole therein for receiving an adjustment screw, one of said holes being threaded and the other hole being smooth, and

an adjustment screw threadedly engaging said threaded hole.

6. A genade launcher adapter for a gun having a barrel thereon of smaller diameter than a grenade to be launched, comprising:

said barrel portion having a bore therein with a helically rifled extent along a substantial portion of the length of said bore,

said bore having a longitudinally extending smoothwalled recessed portion spaced further from the axis of said bore than the land surfaces of said rifled extent to receive a laterally protruding grenade handle when a grenade is loaded therein,

said smooth-walled recessed portion extending rearwardly from the open end of said bore of said barrel portion.

7. A launcher for a grenade having a laterally protruding handle comprising:

a gun having a grenade holding and launching section with a grenadereceiving bore therein,

said grenade holding and launching section bore includ ing a helically rifled extent,

and said bore having a longitudinally extending smoothwalled recessed portion adjacent said rifled extent and spaced further from the axis of said bore than the land surfaces of said rifled extent to receive a laterally protruding grenade handle when a grenade is loaded therein, said smooth-walled recessed portion extending rearwardly from the open end of said bore of said barrel portion.

adapter for a gun having a diameter than a grenade to 8. A launcher for a grenade according to claim 7,

said smooth-walled recessed portion extending through the full annular extent of said bore.

9. The arrangement according to claim 7 further comprising:

a grenade having an explosive charge, charge-igniting device, and a release handle for enabling operation of said charge-igniting device, said release handle protruding laterally along a longitudinal extent of said grenade, and a rifled band extending about a portion of the body of said grenade at a position longitudinally spaced from said handle,

said grenade release handle fitting into said smoothwalled recessed portion of said barrel arrangement bore in a position preventing release of said handle and charge-igniting device, and

said rifled band fitting into said helically rifled extent.

16. The arrangement according to claim 9, said chargeigniting device including a combustible time delay unit for igniting said charge, a percussion primer for igniting said combustible time delay unit, and a spring biased striker adapted to move said release handle to release position after movement of said handle beyond the open end of said bore and to eflect impact firing of said percussion primer thereupon, whereby said explosive charge will thereafter be ignited by said time delay unit at a predetermined time after launching of said grenade.

No references cited.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A GRENADE LAUNCHER ADAPTER FOR A GUN HAVING A BARREL THEREON OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN A GRENADE TO BE LAUNCHED, COMPRISING: A BARREL EXTENSION HAVING A BARREL PORTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A GRENADE, AND A CLAMP PORTION, SAID BARREL PORTION HAVING A BORE THEREIN WITH A FIRST HELICALLY RIFLED EXTENT AND A SECOND SMOOTH BORE EXTENT OF LARGER DIAMETER THAN THE INNER LAND AREA OF SAID RIFLED EXTENT, SAID SMOOTH BORE EXTENT BEING AT AND EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE OPEN DISCHARGE END OF SAID BORE AND OF A LENGTH ADAPTED TO ACCOMMODATE A PROTRUDING SIDE HANDLE ON A GRENADE, SAID CLAMP PORTION HAVING A LONGITUDINAL BORE THEREIN FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE BORE OF SAID BARREL PORTION OF SAID BARREL EXTENSION AND THE BORE OF SAID GUN BARREL.