Projectile tracer
AssigneePhysical Optics Corporation
InventorsKang-Bin Chua, Ranjit Pradhan, Jerald A. Cole, Gibum Kim, Joseph Rustick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Tracer ammunition is disclosed and includes a projectile having a body; a chamber in the body having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of the chamber being open; an aperture at a rear end of the body providing an opening to the open end of the chamber; and a tracer material disposed within the chamber, wherein the tracer material is configured to combust when ignited and emit optical energy through the aperture as a result of the combustion process. The tracer material may be configured to include a rear-facing surface having a concave contour to aid in directivity of light output from the tracer material.
Claims33
A tracer ammunition, comprising:
- a projectile having a body;
- a chamber in the body having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of the chamber being open;
- an aperture at a rear end of the body providing an opening to the open end of the chamber;
- and
- a tracer material disposed within the chamber, wherein the tracer material is configured to combust when ignited and emit optical energy through the aperture as a result of the combustion process.
A process for preparing material for tracer ammunition, comprising the operations of:
- receiving first particles of exothermic material of a first average size at a first ultrasonic processing station that includes an ultrasonic transducer;
- applying ultrasonic energy to the particles by the first ultrasonic processing station to break down the received particles of exothermic material into reduced-size particles of a second average size that is smaller than the first average size;
- transferring the reduced-size particles into one or more successive ultrasonic processing station, wherein each of the e or more successive ultrasonic processing stations applies ultrasonic energy to particles it receives to further reduce the average size of its received particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.