JPH0520680B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Claim 1: A ballistic bullet capturing device comprising: a granular material that absorbs the kinetic energy of the bullet; and a device supporting the granular material, the device comprising at least one granular material that is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane substantially parallel to the path of the bullet. a support device having a support surface; a first drive device for placing the support device in motion to move the granular material supported by the support device in a particular direction; and from the support device. a storage device for containing a mixture of granular material and bullets that is separated; a second drive device for transporting the mixture contained in the storage device to a separation area; a delivery device for returning particulate material separated from the mixture to the support device to replenish the amount of particulate material lost by being accommodated in the storage device; a collection device for collecting separated bullets from said mixture.

Description The present invention relates to a ballistic bullet capture device with an impact material regeneration and/or recovery device, which is suitable for use in shooting with small arms or other types of weapons, in particular in indoor shooting ranges or shooting ranges. Suitable for shooting at. In particular, the present invention
Concerning a ballistic bullet capture device for small arms capable of firing a high kinetic energy projectile, the projectile capture device is preferably non-flammable and allows for a gentle impact by the projectile and the dissipation of said kinetic energy in a completely safe manner. A particulate material device is provided as a moderating structure to allow the particulate material to be recovered and the fired projectile to be removed.

As is well known, a number of different structures have been employed to date for ballistic projectile capture devices, creating significant practical drawbacks and contamination problems.

Less complex constructions realized to date consisting of bullet catchers made, for example, from walls or piles of wood, piles of pneumatic tires, piles of sand, embankments, etc., are expensive and require careful maintenance;
Presenting shortcomings with poor reliability from a safety point of view.

Certain types of bullet capture devices already known at present consist essentially of a metal impact surface which, by virtue of a suitable geometry, has no possibility of bullet reflection, and the bullet and its respective fragments are trapped in a deceleration chamber or kinetic energy. It goes to the dissipation chamber and is finally collected there. In these types of devices, the bullet impacting the metal generates a lot of debris, dust, and lead vapor.

The most serious and dangerous unresolved shortcomings of metal-type bullet catchers are the dust and lead generated during the strong, partially inelastic impact between the high kinetic energy bullet and the inclined metal plate that shatters the bullet. The disadvantages of vapor formation are abundantly clear.

Moreover, although metal-type projectile catchers do not present unsolvable recoil problems, they do have deficiencies with respect to personnel safety, at least at certain distances.

Another serious drawback is the problem of handling lead vapors, since their direct dispersion into the environment would certainly cause incalculable damage. On the other hand, the treatment of the toxic vapors by filtration or similar equipment is not recommended due to the very high equipment costs and investments, such as the need for skilled personnel in the use of the required specialized equipment. I can't.

Another type of bullet capture device currently in use is the non-metallic type (i.e., using cross pieces of wood, pneumatic tires, sand, etc.), which has a series of exhibits shortcomings. Indeed, the projectile catcher is not very reliable for personnel, moreover, it becomes easily saturated by lead and fragments, and furthermore, the structure is exposed to crosspieces, pneumatic tires, Even if it is made of rubber slabs or any other materials conventionally used, its maintenance is inconvenient, as is the periodic replacement of the entire impact structure.

In particular, sand embankments, in addition to lead saturation, also create a dense dust cloud of quartzite dust that darkens the edges of the shooting range.

Earthen embankments are only suitable for outdoor shooting ranges, which are increasingly being replaced by indoor shooting ranges for various reasons.

Therefore, there is no need to provide equipment for passing through smoke or dust clouds, so that the drawbacks of these processes as well as the formation of dust and lead vapors can be eliminated as a result of its structural and functional properties. It is abundantly clear that there is a need for an inventive ballistic projectile capture device. Moreover, maintenance problems are simultaneously eliminated by the use of self-regenerating impactors with fired bullets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a ballistic bullet capture device suitable for firing with small arms as well as other types of weapons, in particular on indoor firing ranges or shooting ranges, said bullet capture device having the shape of a pile. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ballistic bullet capturing device including a bullet impact structure made of granular material and a regenerating and/or recovering device for the granular material.

A ballistic bullet capture device according to the present invention includes a granular material that absorbs the kinetic energy of a bullet, and a device that supports the granular material, the device comprising at least one support surface that is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane substantially parallel to the path of the bullet. a first drive device that places the support device in motion to move the granular material supported by the support device in a particular direction; and a granular material moving away from the support device. a second drive device configured to transport the mixture contained in the storage device to a separation area; a separating device for separating particulate material from said mixture; a delivery device for returning particulate material separated from said mixture to said support device to replenish the amount of particulate material lost by being accommodated in said receiving device; and a collection device for collecting the separated bullets.

The invention is disclosed below with respect to some specific embodiments thereof and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows a vertical longitudinal section through a first embodiment of a bullet catcher according to the invention; 2 is a lateral cross-sectional view of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a vertical longitudinal cross-section of a second embodiment of the bullet capture device according to the invention; and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in the direction S of FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the regeneration device of the bullet catcher of FIG. 3; FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of the bullet catcher according to the invention; FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a fourth embodiment of the bullet catcher according to the invention; FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the impact surface of the bullet catcher of FIG. 7; 9 is a perspective view of the group of FIG. 8; FIG. 10 is a fifth section of the bullet capture device according to the invention; FIG.
11 shows the schematic functional arrangement of the units of the regeneration device of the bullet catcher according to FIG. 10; FIG. 12 shows the sixth embodiment of the bullet catcher according to the invention; FIG.
An embodiment is shown, and FIG. 13 shows a seventh embodiment of the bullet catching device according to the present invention.
An example is shown, and FIG. 14 shows the eighth example of the bullet catching device according to the present invention.
An embodiment is shown, and FIG. 15 shows a ninth embodiment of the bullet catching device according to the present invention.
An example is shown.

1, 3 and 6 show a floor 1 and a ceiling 2 covering a shooting range and targets 3. FIG.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference numeral 4 is:
2 shows a deposition of granular material forming an impact structure and restricted on the rear side by a wall 5; The deposit 4 rests at its bottom on a support gate 6 which conveys the granular material, which gate moves the granular material in the direction indicated by the arrow, ie in the opposite direction from which the bullet comes. Slide.

Once fired, the bullet will reach the target in about 1/10 of a second,
It then reaches the surface 7 of the decelerating mass of granular material and loses its kinetic energy by friction with the granular material until it reaches a stop at a predetermined distance from the surface 7 which eliminates any possibility of repulsion. .

Based on tests carried out by the Applicant, said safety guarantees that a volley of shots can be fired at the bullet capture device even from a distance of 2-3 meters by any type of firearm officially approved for shooting ranges. Guaranteed even if

This feature is ensured, even in the case of a volley, in that as soon as a bullet passes through a pile of granular material, the latter closes under the action of gravity before the arrival of another bullet.

When a firing test is initiated, all regenerator components are activated and kept in operation by the simple actuation of a push button (not shown).

Reference numeral 7 designates the surface of the deposit 4 of particulate material, which surface is subjected to the bombardment.

The granular material falls from the support gate 6 onto the conveyor belt 8 together with the bullets driven into it;
A conveyor belt 8 conveys the granular material together with the bullet to a separation area 9.

A blower 11 is provided upstream of the region and is connected to the region via a conduit 10 to separate particulate material from the bullets by the action of air supplied to the region 9 via the conduit 10.

The granular material is fed onto the stack 4 via the conduit 12, while the bullet is delivered to the collector 13 by gravity.
fall inside.

The air stream acting as a carrier for the granular material through the conduit 12 is passed in a suitable manner at a point 14 if necessary and then sent again via the conduit 15 to the blower 11, thus providing an additional supply of air. A closed cycle is realized that does not require

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, it can be seen that the particulate material in the form of a pile 4 rests on a support gate 16 which slides in a direction that corresponds to the direction in which the bullet comes.

The gate 16 allows particulate material and fired bullets to fall into the conduit 17. The fall is controlled by a control flapper 18 provided immediately downstream of the gate 16.
Adjusted by. The blower 19 is connected to the conduit 1
7 and serves to force the mixed mass of granular material and fired bullets to a region 20 where the bullets are collected by gravity into a box 21, while The particulate material is transferred to conduit 22
is pressed to the top of the pile 4 by the air flowing through it.

In this case too, the air is passed at 23 once separated from the particulate material and then sent again to the blower 19 via conduit 24 .

In FIG. 5, the hinge of the metering flapper 18 is indicated at 25, while 26 indicates the particulate material passage section.

In the embodiment shown in FIG.
rests on a supporting conveyor belt 27 inclined at an angle α equal to or approximately equal to the sliding angle α' of the material forming it.

The conveyor belt 27 moves in a direction opposite to the direction in which the bullets come. Therefore, the movement of the pile 4 consisting of a mixture of granular material and fired bullets
This is achieved without sliding movements within the mass itself.

The granular material recovery and reuse equipment is shown in Figures 1 to 5.
It is exactly the same as that disclosed in the embodiments shown up to the figures.

Another embodiment of a ballistic bullet capture device according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, in which two conveyor belts 28, 29
are used for supporting conveyor devices, in which the mass can be supported by its sliding angle, horizontally,
That is, it is moved at right angles to the main axis of the firing range, while the reclamation device is as shown in the previously described embodiments.

In this case, the loading and unloading of the granular material is carried out transversely to the pile 4, unlike in the previous embodiments, where loading operations are carried out from the top and unloading from the bottom, or vice versa. direction, ie at points 30 and 31 in FIG. 7, respectively.

Reference numerals 32 and 33 indicate deceleration units for moving the belts 28 and 29, respectively. belt 28,
It is clear that instead of 29 two metal sliding gates may be provided.

In FIG. 10, a floor 1 and a ceiling 2 are shown, both of which are realized by high-strength reinforced concrete and a wear-resistant steel lining, and together with the side walls form a shooting range.

The target for target practice is indicated by 3, while the area 34 enclosed within the dotted line indicates the area where 90% of the bullet trajectories are reasonably likely to occur.

The deposit 36 of granular material is collected on the rear side by a ballistic steel plate 37 and supported on the bottom side by a sloped wall 38 lined with steel plates and on which an electric vibration device 40 is attached.

A safety gate 39 made of ballistic steel is attached to the wall 38.
It is located above the

A passageway 41 is shown at the bottom of the channel formed by the wall 38 and extends transversely to the shooting range (see also FIG. 11), with a removal opening 42 extending along the passageway. The openings are provided in four in FIG. 11, and the delivery pump 4 is
Combined with 4.

A tube 45 starts from the pump 44 and feeds the bullet-mixed granular material into a separator 46 that collects the bullets, which are then transferred to a cartridge 47.
extracted by.

Conduit 48 originates from separator 46 and feeds particulate material into delivery chamber 49 . The prefilter 50 blocks out fine particles that are probably present as suspended matter due to turbulence and allows only dust carried by the carrier fluid to pass through.

Conduit 51 directs fluid and particulates to filter 52
The dust settles to the bottom of the filter. The evaporated air is transferred from the chamber 53 to the pipe 5.
4 and reaches passage 41 through the tube. The air is sucked in again through the removal opening 42, saturated with fines, and circulated.

It is clear from the examples described above that the entire ballistic bullet capture device, including the particulate material and the particulate material carrier fluid, does not interact with the environment within the shooting range and does not generate contaminated waste to the environment within the shooting range. be.

Reference numeral 55 designates a collection carriage for powder of granular material.

In FIG. 12, a steel plate 56 is shown that slopes approximately at right angles to the line of slope of the exposed surface 35;
It has a vibrating device 57 coupled thereto and is located within the pile of particulate material 36 . The granular material, together with the bullet contained therein, passes through the plate 56 and the vibrating device 5.
7 into a passageway 58, both the particulate material and the bullet are removed from said passageway for separation, and the material is then passed through a device similar to that previously disclosed. and then put back into circulation.

FIG. 13 shows a vibratory conveyor arrangement realized by a conveyor belt 59 conveying both the granular material and the bullets to a passage 60 provided below, while FIG. 15 shows that the conveyor belt 64 conveys both the granular material and The conveyance of both bullets into the passage 65 provided at the top is shown, and the replenishment material is guided below the material pile 36, unlike in the previous case.

FIG. 14 shows a steel plate 61 in a position generally parallel to the exposed surface 35 of the stack 36 and a channel 63 for passing particulate material.
A vibrating device 6 provided under the plate so as to convey the plate to
Finally, another vibration system is shown comprising: 2 and 2.

The results of several firing tests conducted by the applicant are reported for illustrative purposes.

Test Material to be tested: heavy polyethylene bag shaped
20mm foam rubber Weapon: Light automatic rifle "FAL" 7.62 gauge NATO with SM19.30g bullet Firing distance: 40m Direction of bullet: Perpendicular to the material to be tested Shooter's position: On the ground in the yard Results: First 5 ~6 bullets stopped after penetrating approximately 1.30 m to 1.50 m of material thickness without appreciable deformation.

Tests The tests were carried out at a distance of 15 meters with the same material, the same weapon, the same bullet direction and the same position of the shooter.

Results: The results obtained were similar to those obtained in the tests, the only difference being a larger average penetration of about 10 cm to 20 cm.

Test This test was conducted with the same material, same weapon, same bullet direction and same position of the shooter as in the previous test, but the firing distance was 10 m and two tracer rounds were used as well. .

Results: No measurable greater penetration occurred and no results were observed that could be attributed to retention of the two tracer bullets within the material.

Although the invention has been disclosed in terms of several specific embodiments thereof, it is understood that modifications and variations can be introduced therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. I want to be understood.