Ballistic projectile velocity measurement apparatus

A measurement and calculation apparatus for measuring a velocity of a ballistic projectile along a predetermined trajectory, the apparatus comprising:

• a base having a front end, a rear end, and a base length extending from the front end to the rear end;
• a front gate extending from the front end of the base and a rear gate extending from the rear end of the base, each of the front and rear gates including:
• a gate stand having a left leg with a proximal end and a distal end, a right leg with a proximal end and a distal end, and a joint where the proximal ends of the left and right legs meet;
• an arm having a body that extends a distance between the distal ends of the left and right legs;
• a laser housed within the joint of the gate stand, the laser being configured to emit laser light toward the arcuate arm and between the left and right legs of the gate stand;
• at least one diffuser positioned between the laser and the arm, the at least one diffuser being configured to diffuse the laser light emitting from the laser over a diffusion angle to create a wall of light;
• a sensor array comprising a plurality of laser light sensors housed within the arm and configured to receive beams of diffused laser light emitted from the laser through the at least one diffuser, the sensor array being configured to register perturbances in the wall of light caused by a ballistic projectile;
• a chronograph processor configured to (a) receive a signal from the front gate when a perturbance in the wall of light of the front gate is registered and a signal from the rear gate when a perturbance in the wall of light of the rear gate is registered;
• and (b) calculate a velocity of the ballistic projectile based the signals received from the front and rear gates and the base length;
• and
• wherein the at least one diffuser includes an arcuate diffuser housed within the joint of the gate stand and a diffuser screen housed within the arm.

A measurement and calculation apparatus for measuring a velocity of a ballistic projectile along a predetermined trajectory, the apparatus comprising:

• a base having a front end, a rear end, and a base length extending from the front end to the rear end;
• a front gate extending from the front end of the base and a rear gate extending from the rear end of the base, each of the front and rear gates including:
• a gate stand having a left leg with a proximal end and a distal end, a right leg with a proximal end and a distal end, and a joint where the proximal ends of the left and right legs meet;
• an arm having a body that extends a distance between the distal ends of the left and right legs;
• a laser housed within the joint of the gate stand, the laser being configured to emit laser light toward the arcuate arm and between the left and right legs of the gate stand;
• at least one diffuser positioned between the laser and the arm, the at least one diffuser being configured to diffuse the laser light emitting from the laser over a diffusion angle to create a wall of light;
• a sensor array comprising a plurality of laser light sensors housed within the arm and configured to receive beams of diffused laser light emitted from the laser through the at least one diffuser, the sensor array being configured to register perturbances in the wall of light caused by a ballistic projectile;
• a chronograph processor configured to (a) receive a signal from the front gate when a perturbance in the wall of light of the front gate is registered and a signal from the rear gate when a perturbance in the wall of light of the rear gate is registered;
• and (b) calculate a velocity of the ballistic projectile based the signals received from the front and rear gates and the base length;
• and
• wherein the base comprises a base bar having a center hinge, a front section extending from the center hinge to the front end, and a rear section extending from the center hinge to the rear end, the center hinge being configured to orient the front section and the rear section in a collinear relationship when the apparatus is in an operating configuration and to allow one of the front section and the rear section to rotate about the center hinge when moving the apparatus from the operating configuration to a collapsed configuration.