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US 11,624,594 B1Granted
Device, method and system for extending range and improving tracking precision of mortar rounds
AssigneeBarron Associates, Inc.
InventorsDavid A. Neal, III, Aaron B. Olowin, William T. Gressick
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system, device and method provide a glide kit that can attach to a conventional mortar round to create a glide-enabled round. The glide-enabled round can fit within a mortar tube. When the munition exits the mortar tube, it sequentially deploys wings and canards to initiate the glide maneuver and increase the mortar range. A state estimator subsystem can be employed with a canard control subsystem to actively guide the mortar to a fixed location. The combination of the estimator and canard control subsystems improves the tracking precision of the mortar round.
Claims18
A glide kit for a mortar round, comprising:
- a wing housing securable to a tail fin assembly of a mortar round;
- a plurality of wings pivotably secured to the wing housing;
- a canard housing securable to a front portion of the mortar round;
- a plurality of canards pivotably secured to the canard housing and operable to be positioned in a canard-undeployed position and a canard-expanded position;
- at least one sensor secured within the canard housing, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a shock sensor secured within the canard housing;
- a controller secured within the canard housing, wherein the controller is operable to receive a measurement from the at least one sensor and, based on the measurement, deploy the plurality of canards into the canard-expanded position;
- a fiber rope cord maintained around each of the plurality of canards to hold the plurality of canards in the canard-undeploved position, wherein the fiber rope cord is operable to release the canards into the canard-expanded position:
- a battery secured within the canard housing;
- a heating element wire in contact with the fiber rope cord;
- and
- wherein the controller is operable to receive the measurement from the shock sensor and electrically connect the battery to the heating element wire based on the measurement from the shock sensor in order to burn through the fiber rope cord to release the canards into the canard-expanded position.
8 more elements
A canard housing for a mortar ound glide kit, comprising:
- a housing bottom member formed with a bottom member concave portion and first and second canard housing shrouds, wherein the first canard housing shroud is diametrically opposed from the second canard housing shroud, wherein the first canard housing shroud is formed with a first top slot, wherein the second canard housing shroud is formed with a second top slot, and wherein each of the first and second canard housing shrouds is formed with an outer slot for housing a first canard and a second canard, respectively;
- and
- a housing top member formed with a top member concave portion, a first flange at a first side edge and a second flange at a second side edge, wherein the first flange is adapted to be securely positioned within the first top slot and secured to the first canard housing shroud, and wherein the second flange is adapted to be securely positioned within the second top slot and secured to the second canard housing shroud.
A glide kit for a mortar round, comprising:
- a wing housing securable to a tail fin assembly of a mortar round;
- a canard housing securable to a front portion of the mortar round;
- a plurality of canards pivotably secured to the canard housing;
- a canard control subsystem operable to position each of the plurality of canards in a canard-undeployed position, a canard-expanded position and a canard-adjusted position between the canard-undeployed position and the canard-expanded position, wherein the canard control subsystem comprises a first SMA wire secured within the canard housing and around a first canard of the plurality of canards and a second SMA wire secured within the canard housing and around a second canard of the plurality of canards;
- and
- a state estimator subsystem operable to detect an adjustment-influencing condition and, based on the detected adjustment-influencing condition, instruct the canard deployment subsystem to deploy at least one of the plurality of canards into the canard-expanded position or the canard-adjusted position.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.