Minigun with Improved Barrel Clamp
An improved barrel clamp assembly for a multi-barreled minigun includes a barrel clamp tube having a front end, a rear end, and a plurality of longitudinal openings extending along a portion the length of the tube between the front end and the rear end. An impeller is mounted in the barrel clamp tube between the tube front end and the tube rear end. The impeller includes a plurality of impeller blades that are spaced around a periphery of the impeller and that project forward from a rear flange portion of the impeller and the impeller blades define a plurality of air channels. A barrel assembly includes the barrel clamp tube, a flash suppressor mounted to the front end of the barrel clamp tube, and a barrel clamp collar mounted to the rear end of the barrel clamp tube. The impeller is mounted to the barrel clamp tube between the flash suppressor and the barrel clamp collar.
This application is a continuation of and claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14893158, entitled “ Minigun with Improved Barrel Clamp,” which is incorporated herein by reference. This application claims priority to, and incorporates by reference the following: Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent application serial number PCT/US14/40626, filed Jun. 3, 2014, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61830553, filed Jun. 3, 2013, entitled: Minigun with Improved Barrel Clamp, which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUNDThis invention relates generally to Gatling-type miniguns. More specifically, it relates to an improved barrel clamp assembly for an electrically powered minigun.
Gatling-type miniguns have been known for many years. The Gatling-type minigun is a multi-barreled machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features Gatling-style rotating barrels with an external power source, such as an electric motor. One previous example of such a gun is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,971,515 B2, entitled “Access Door for Feeder and Delinker of a Gatling Gun,” which is incorporated herein by this reference. Long existing motivations in the design of Gatling-type miniguns have been to minimize jams, extend the operational life and improve ease of use of such guns.
Gatling-type miniguns include a barrel assembly for holding and rotating barrels. It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved barrel clamp assembly for a barrel assembly of such a minigun.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARYTo achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the invention as embodied and broadly described in this document, there is provided an improved barrel clamp assembly for a multi-barreled minigun. In some embodiments, the barrel clamp assembly includes a barrel clamp tube having a front end, a rear end, and a plurality of longitudinal openings extending along a portion the length of the tube between the front end and the rear end. An impeller is mounted in the barrel clamp tube between the tube front end and the tube rear end. In one advantageous embodiment, the impeller includes a plurality of impeller blades that are spaced around a periphery of the impeller, that project forward from a rear flange portion of the impeller and that define a plurality of air channels.
In some embodiments of a barrel assembly that utilize a barrel clamp tube according to the present invention, the barrel assembly includes a barrel clamp tube having plurality of longitudinal openings, a flash suppressor mounted to the front end of the barrel clamp tube, and a barrel clamp collar mounted to the rear end of the barrel clamp tube. An impeller is mounted to the barrel clamp tube between the flash suppressor and the barrel clamp collar.
In this configuration, the improved barrel clamp assembly provides a lightweight barrel clamp with improved performance and cooling characteristics.
The accompanying drawings and appendices, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred methods and embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A preferred embodiment of a barrel clamp assembly according to the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral 25. In the context of the specification, the terms “rear” or “rearward” mean in the direction towards the chamber end of the barrels 24, while the terms “front” or “forward” mean in the direction towards the muzzle end of the barrels 24.
As is well known to those of skill in the art, in the operation of the minigun 10, the drive motor 14 causes the barrel assembly 12 to rotate, and each barrel 24 fires sequentially in rapid succession. During such operation, the delinking feeder 16 receives the ammunition belt 101 of linked cartridges 80 (see
Still referring to
Referring to
Still referring to
Still referring to
Referring now to
As can be seen in
The flash suppressor 26 has a can-like body of one-piece construction with an open forward portion 512 and a rear panel 513 that has six barrel apertures 516 for receiving the barrels 24 and holding them parallel to the longitudinal main axis D. The flash suppressor barrel apertures 516 are axially registered with the collar barrel cutouts 506 to receive the barrels 24. The suppressor rear panel 513 also includes a center hole 518 for reducing weight. The flash suppressor 26 includes an attachment portion 528 that is adapted for attaching to the tube front end 520, such as by rivets or other suitable attachment means. Unlike some prior art barrel clamp designs, the barrel clamp assembly of 25 does not require a central support shaft because the barrel clamp tube 502 provides the required strength and stiffness without using such a central support shaft.
As can be seen in
Referring to
As shown in
In operation, the impeller 504 rotates with the barrel clamp tube 502 as the barrel assembly 12 and the barrel clamp assembly 25 rotate. Thus, when the minigun 10 is firing and the drive motor 14 is causing the barrel assembly 12 to rotate, the impeller 504 is also rotating. During this rotation, the impeller 504 moves surrounding ambient air through the tube longitudinal openings 503 and over the portion of the barrels 24 within the barrel clamp tube 502, thereby cooling the barrels 24. In addition to allowing for air flow, the longitudinal openings 503 advantageously reduce the weight of the barrel clamp tube 502.
Upon reading this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention and that such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative devices, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept.
Claims
1. An improved barrel clamp assembly for holding barrels of a multi-barrel, rotating firearm in a circumferential spaced relationship and generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of rotation, the barrel clamp assembly comprising:
- a tubular member having a peripheral wall defining an interior space aligned along the longitudinal axis, wherein the tubular member cross-section is sized for receiving a plurality of barrels and the peripheral wall includes a plurality of openings to the interior space; and
- a plurality of curved impeller blades positioned near and spaced around the periphery of the interior space and curved inwardly toward the longitudinal axis;
- wherein the impeller blades are positioned in relation to the peripheral wall openings so that, when the barrels are installed and the barrel clamp assembly is rotated about the longitudinal axis, the impeller blades will move air through the peripheral wall openings to cool the barrels.
2. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 1 wherein the impeller blades project longitudinally from a flange that projects inwardly from the tubular member peripheral wall.
3. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 1 further comprising an impeller body comprising:
- a peripheral attachment portion adapted for attaching to the peripheral wall; and
- a flange projecting inwardly from the peripheral attachment portion; and
- wherein each of the plurality of impeller blades projects longitudinally from the flange.
4. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of impeller blades includes a pair of impeller blades comprising a first impeller blade disposed in a partial overlapping relationship with a second impeller blade so that a channel is defined between the pair of impeller blades.
5. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 4 wherein the channel has an end positioned near to one of the peripheral wall openings and an opposing end positioned so that, when the barrels are installed in the barrel clamp assembly, the opposing end is near one of the barrels.
6. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 1 wherein each of the peripheral wall openings comprises an elongated vent.
7. The improved barrel clamp assembly of claim 1 wherein the number of impeller blades equals the number of barrels that can be installed in the barrel clamp assembly.
8. An impeller for use with an improved barrel clamp assembly that holds barrels of a multi-barrel, rotating firearm in a circumferential spaced relationship and generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of rotation, the impeller comprising:
- a peripheral rim configured for attaching the impeller to a tubular member of a barrel clamp;
- a base plate that projects inwardly from the peripheral rim and that defines one or more openings configured to receive barrels installed within the barrel clamp assembly so that each of the barrels will extend longitudinally through the impeller body; and
- a plurality of impeller blades disposed near and spaced about the peripheral rim;
- wherein the impeller blades are configured so that when the impeller is rotated with the barrels about the longitudinal axis, the impeller blades will move air over the barrels.
9. The impeller of claim 8 wherein each of the impeller blades is curved inwardly away from the peripheral rim.
10. The impeller of claim 8 wherein each of the impeller blades projects longitudinally from the base plate.
11. The impeller of claim 8, wherein the plurality of impeller blades includes a pair of impeller blades comprising a first impeller blade disposed in a partial overlapping relationship with a second impeller blade so that a channel is defined between the pair of impeller blades.
12. The impeller body of claim 8 wherein the one or more base plate openings comprise a center hole having a periphery with a plurality of cutouts wherein each of the cutouts is configured to receive a barrel.
13. A multi-barrel, rotating firearm comprising:
- a rotatable tube having a peripheral wall defining an interior space aligned along a longitudinal axis of rotation, wherein the peripheral wall has a plurality of openings to the interior space;
- a plurality of gun barrels mounted within the tube interior space in a circumferential spaced relationship and parallel to the rotational axis so that the gun barrels will rotate when the tube rotates, wherein at least a portion of the length of each of the barrels is disposed within the tube interior space; and
- an impeller comprising a plurality of impeller blades disposed near and spaced about the periphery of the interior space and directed inwardly;
- wherein the impeller blades are positioned in relation to the peripheral wall openings so that, when the tube and gun barrels rotate about the longitudinal axis, the impeller blades will move air through the peripheral wall openings to cool the barrels.
14. The firearm of claim 13 wherein one or more of the impeller blades is curved inwardly toward the longitudinal axis.
15. The firearm of claim 13 wherein the impeller blades project longitudinally from a flange that projects inwardly from the tube peripheral wall.
16. The firearm of claim 13 further comprising an impeller body having a peripheral attachment portion adapted for attaching to the tube peripheral wall, and a flange projecting inwardly from the peripheral attachment portion;
- wherein each of the plurality of impeller blades projects longitudinally from the flange.
17. The firearm of claim 13 wherein the plurality of impeller blades includes a pair of impeller blades comprising a first impeller blade disposed in a partial overlapping relationship with a second impeller blade so that a channel is defined between the pair of impeller blades.
18. The firearm of claim 17 wherein the channel has an end adjacent to one of the peripheral wall openings and an opposing end positioned adjacent one of the barrels.
19. The firearm of claim 13 wherein each of the peripheral wall openings comprises an elongated vent.
20. The firearm of claim 13 wherein each of the impeller blades has a longitudinal dimension that is less than the portion of the length of the barrels disposed within the tube interior space.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 13, 2017
Publication Date: Feb 22, 2018
Inventors: Thomas Rowe (Phoenix, AZ), Arthur O'Donnell (Gilbert, AZ)
Application Number: 15/783,167