WO2007066324A1 - Non-lethal projectile - Google Patents

A non-lethal cartridge comprising a cartridge case (102) with a primer (104) and a propellant (106) agent, and a projectile (108) comprising a plurality of beads made of a hard material articulated to one another and being embedded within a resilient body.

NON-LETHAL PROJECTILE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to small arms ammunition and more particularly the invention is concerned with non-lethal ammunition and a projectile therefore.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Non-lethal kinetic energy projectiles, often referred to as "rubber projectiles" or "plastic projectiles" are used by military and law enforcement forces for crowd control where it is required to incapacitate an individual however with reducing the likelihood of serious injury.

It is thus known to provide rounds of ammunition in which the typical metal projectile/bullet is replaced by a projectile made of a soft material, e.g. plastic or rubber, often coating a hard core element, e.g. a steely ball, etc. However, such types of non- lethal rounds may still cause serious injury.

Several types of non-lethal rounds of ammunition are known. For example, GB Patent Application No. 2192258 discloses a non-lethal cartridge for a fire arm and a projectile of soft malleable material, e.g. synthetic polyisoprene of controllable plasticity, contained within a sleeve of light semi-rigid plastics. A flexible plastics film is located over the end of the core and retained within the sleeve by the core. The sleeve and film disintegrate on target impact.

US Patent No. 6,041,712 discloses a non lethal weapon cartridge comprising a projectile and a means for propelling the projectile through a weapon barrel. Ammunition of this type can be employed by soldiers during operations-other-than-war, such as riot control during humanitarian missions, or by law enforcement personnel when a lethal response is not warranted. The projectile comprises a full-bore projectile body fitted with a compliant nose. The projectile is designed to be spin-stabilized such that it will fly, and impact, nose first, while describing a ballistic trajectory. The projectile is intended to be launched from a rifled weapon tube. The rifling imparts the spin necessary to achieve dynamic stability. The propulsion system utilizes a modern smokeless propellant in combination with a high-low technique to produce consistent interior ballistics.

US Patent No. 3,714,896 discloses an incapacitating or disabling projectile and method of forming such, including a longitudinally thick-based plastic cup having a forward open cavity with a soft resilient nose therein, and a weight slug secured in radially symmetrical relation within the cup cavity and at substantially the longitudinal center of mass of the cup and nose. The soft resilient nose mass is injected into the plastic cup and a forwardly extending mold cavity, and cured or otherwise set in situ in the plastic cup. The projectile is launched from a cartridge employing a charge of ignitable propellant powder for propulsion.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-lethal cartridge for a light weapon and a projectile therefore. It is a further object of the invention to provide ammunition which is integrated with a disposable barrel for use in conjunction with a pistol. The projectile subject of the present invention is substantially less lethal than conventional rounds and is cheap and easy to manufacture, yet maintains a good stopping ability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a substantially non-lethal cartridge and a projectile therefore.

The present invention is thus directed to a non-lethal cartridge comprising a cartridge case with a primer and a propellant agent, and a projectile comprising a plurality of beads made of a hard material articulated to one another and being embedded within a resilient body.

The primer and projectile may be an integrated unit i.e. as a blank ammunition (e.g. of the type used with power tools), or a primer fitted to the cartridge case with a propellant agent added. In the former case the blank ammunition may be fitted a-priori to the cartridge case or fitted thereto by the user and may be selected from several such cartridges having different thrust force. According to a different alternative, a blank ammunition is used with an additional portion of propellant agent in the cartridge case in order to increase the effective range.

After firing the cartridge the beads remain attached to the cord, within the resilient body, and the resilient body of the projectile deforms (somewhat squashes) upon striking target and increases its surface area, substantially reducing the likelihood of severely injuring an individual. This arrangement ensures, one the one hand, reasonable aerodynamics of the projectile and, on the other hand, only upon encountering a target, the projectile deforms to increase its surface area.

The beads may be made of hard plastic material of metal, e.g. lead, wherein the beads may be fixed to the cord by different arrangements such as integrally molding the beads over the cord, stringing the beads and knotting the cord or fixing the beads by deforming them (e.g. shrinking or pressing) over the cord. The cord articulating the beads made of a pliable or flexible material such as rope, plastic, fabric, etc.

Alternatively, the beads and cord may be a bead chain type arrangement, i.e. a plurality of spherical beads articulated to one another by a link, where the link is integrated with one of the beads or separate.

The resilient body is made of a soft material such as silicone rubber and at times may be impregnated by a hardening agent or a tactic additive such as a coloring agent, a stunning agent, irritating agent (e.g. salt), etc.

According to some particular embodiments of the cartridge, one or more of the following features may be fund:

• The beads may be stringed on a cord or linked to one another.

• intermediate the propellant agent and the projectile there is at least one partition wall;

• the partition wall may be rupturable or be disposed upon firing the cartridge;

• in front of the projectile there may be a sealing member sealing a front end of the cartridge;

• a front end of the cartridge is sealed by the projectile;

• the primer is a rim-fire type primer; - A -

• the cartridge is a disposable barrel and wherein the cartridge case comprises a locking portion for fixedly arresting to a handgun;

• the locking portion is a peripheral groove or rib at least partially circumferencing the cartridge case and adapted for locking arresting by a corresponding nesting and locking mechanism fitted in the firearm;

• the cartridge case is made of a plastic material;

• The projectile may be spherical or have improved aerodynamic shape, e.g. nosed. Furthermore, the projectile may project or not, from a front end of the cartridge casing;

• The projectile may be formed with ballistic fins for increasing the trajectory and retaining a ballistic course.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a non- lethal projectile for a cartridge, the projectile comprising a plurality of beads made of a hard material and stringed on a cord, said beads and cord being embedded within a resilient material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, several embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the cartridge subject of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the cartridge seen in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 A is an enlargement of the projectile at an initial stage;

Fig. 3B is a portion of a chain of beads according to one embodiment;

Fig. 3C is a portion of a chain of beads according to another embodiment;

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of the projectile upon hitting a target;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a cartridge according to another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of a cartridge according to still another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinally sectioned isometric view of a cartridge according to still another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 8 is a longitudinally sectioned isometric view of a cartridge according to still another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Attention is first directed to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings illustrating a cartridge in accordance with the present invention generally designated 10 comprising a cylindrical cartridge case 12 fitted at its rear end with a primer 14 extending into the interior of the casing holding an amount of propellant material 16, e.g. black gun powder. At a fore end of the cartridge 10 there is a spherical projectile designated 20 fixedly and sealingly retained, e.g. by pressure of the fore end of the cartridge case 12 and/or by an adhering sealing agent 24. The propelling agent 16 is partitioned from the projectile 20 by a partitioning plate 28, e.g. made of cardboard, plastic material, etc.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the cartridge 10 is also a disposable barrel suited for use with a barrel-less firearm wherein the disposable cartridge is fixedly received by the firearm and upon firing the cartridge, it may be disposed of. For that purpose, the cartridge case 12 is sufficiently strong to bear pressure and loads developing as a result of ignition of the primer 14 and explosion of the black powder 16. The casing 12 may be made of metal or hard plastic material and comprises at a rear end thereof a grooved locking portion 17 for fixedly arresting to a handgun (not shown). However, other arresting and locking arrangements are possible too.

With further reference to Fig. 3 A, the projectile 20 comprises a plurality of beads 32 made of hard material, e.g. metal such as lead, or plastic material, said beads being stringed on a cord 36 made of flexible or pliable material such as string, plastic, etc., wherein the beads are affixed on said cord and will not detach therefrom. The beads and cord are embedded within a resilient material 38, e.g. silicon rubber and the like, which imparts the projectile its spherical shape. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the resilient material may be reinforced by some fibrious material (not shown) or, it may be impregnated with different materials such as coloring agents so as to identify a target at which the round has been shot, a stunning material so as to temporarily stun an individual at which the round has been fired. In Fig. 3B there is illustrated a portion of a chain of beads according to one embodiment of the invention, generally designated 33, wherein a plurality of beads 34 are integrally molded Over a cord 35. Fig. 3 C illustrates a portion of a chain of beads according to a different embodiment, generally designated 40, of the invention, in the form of a so called bead chain comprising a plurality of beads 41 coupled to one another by lings 43.

Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of the projectile upon hitting a target, surface 39 in the present example, illustrating how the beads 32 remain attached to cord 36, with smashing the resilient projectile 20 so that the effective surface encountering the target is of substantially increased surface area as compared to a touch point of a sphere, thereby substantially reducing or eliminating the likelihood of causing severe injury to an individual.

This arrangement has the advantage of retaining the general kinetic energy of the projectile and retaining its ballistic shape and trajectory (since the cartridge maintains its original shape during its flight), however with avoiding the danger of fragments scattering, thus retaining a uniform body. Since the beads do not scatter and since they uniformly impact the target, the effective striking area is increased and kinetic energy imparted over the target is higher, though with reduced danger of sever injury (namely, risk of penetration).

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated an embodiment of the invention similar to the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, however differing in that the projectile 42 is nosed and thus has improved aerodynamic features and is gripped within the casing 12' at a larger surface area.

The embodiment of Fig. 6 illustrates a cartridge generally designated 50 which is a round of ammunition to be loaded in a barrel and formed at its rear end with a peripheral groove 52 for an extracting tooth, as known in the art. The projectile 54 is fully received within the casing 56 with a partitioning disk 58 extending between the propelling agent 60 and a sealing disk 64 sealingly retaining the projectile 54 within the casing 56.

The embodiment of Fig. 7 discloses still another modification of a cartridge according to the present invention, generally designated 70 and comprising a casing 72 serving as a disposable barrel, though being suited also for loading to a barrel of a suited weapon. The casing 72 has a thickened rear portion formed with a circumferential groove 76 serving as a locking portion for fixedly arresting to a handgun (not shown), and accommodating a rim-fire primer 78. A projectile 80, similar to the embodiment disclosed in the previous embodiments, is received within the casing 72. The projectile 80 comprises a plurality of beads 83 made of hard material and are stringed on a cord 84 made of flexible or pliable material, wherein the beads and cord are embedded within a resilient material 85. The projectile 80 is partitioned from the primer 78 by a flash protector disc 87, e.g. made of cardboard or plastic, and rear protector disc 88, made of a resilient material, e.g. sponge or foamed material. A front protector disc 90, also made of a soft/resilient material (e.g. sponge) is fitted in front of the projectile 80, such that he projectile is positioned between the rear and the front protector discs. A sealing disc 92 comprising two lateral projections 93 is received within a seating groove 94 formed at a fore end sealingly closes a front end of the casing 72.

The primer and projectile may be an integrated unit i.e. as a blank ammunition (e.g. of the type used with power tools) as seen for example in Fig. 7, or a primer fitted to the cartridge case with a propellant agent added as illustrated for example in Fig. 2. In the former case the blank ammunition may be fitted a-priori to the cartridge case or fitted thereto by the user and may be selected from several such cartridges having different thrust force. According to a different alternative, a blank ammunition is used with an additional portion of propellant agent in the cartridge case in order to increase the effective range, as illustrated for example in Figs. 5 and 6.

Fig. 8 of the drawings illustrates still another embodiment of the invention directed to a cartridge, generally designated 100, and comprising a casing 102 (either serving as a disposable barrel, or as a loadable cartridge). The casing 102 accommodates a rim-fire primer 104 at its rear end extending into a camber accommodating a propellant agent 106 (e.g. black gun powder). A projectile 108, similar to the embodiments disclosed in the previous embodiments, is received within the casing 102 and is attached via a support bed 109, to a tail 110 fitted with several trajectory stabilizing fins 112. The projectile with its tail are partitioned from the propellant agent 106 by of cardboard or plastic disc 114. A front sealing disc 116 is fitted at a fore end of the cartridge. Whilst several embodiments have been described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, the artisan will appreciate that many variations are possible, which do not depart from the general scope of the invention, mutatis mutandis.

CLAIMS:

1. A non-lethal cartridge comprising a cartridge case with a primer and a propellant agent, and a projectile comprising a plurality of beads made of a hard material articulated to one another and being embedded within a resilient body.

2. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the beads are stringed on a cord.

3. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the cord is pliable or flexible.

4. ^" A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the beads are linked to one another by links in the form of a bead chain.

5. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the resilient body is made of silicone rubber.

6. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein intermediate the propellant agent and the projectile there is a partition wall.

7. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the partition wall is rupturable.

8. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein in front of the projectile there is a sealing member sealing a front end of the cartridge.

9. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a front end of the cartridge is sealed by the projectile.

10. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is a disposable barrel and wherein the cartridge case comprises a locking portion for fixedly arresting to a handgun.

11. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the primer is a rim-fire type primer.

12. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 10, wherein the locking portion is a peripheral groove or rib at least partially circumferencing the cartridge case.

13. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 10, wherein the cartridge case is made of aplastic material.

14. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the beads are fixed over the cord.

15. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 14, wherein the beads are molded over the cord.

16. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 14, wherein the beads are compressed over the cord.

17. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the projectile is fitted with stabilizing fins.

18. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the projectile is spherical.

19. A non-lethal cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the projectile is nosed.

20. A non-lethal projectile for a cartridge, the projectile comprising a plurality of beads made of a hard material and stringed on a cord, said beads and cord being embedded within a resilient material.

21. A non-lethal projectile according to claim 20, wherein the cord is pliable or flexible.

22. A non-lethal projectile according to claim 20, wherein the resilient body is made of silicone rubber.

23. A non-lethal projectile according to claim 20, wherein the resilient body serves also to seal a front end of the cartridge.