Electromagnetic launcher with spiral guideway
AssigneeHoneywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, LLC
InventorsSeth Hartman, Erik Timpson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electromagnetic launcher with a curved or spiral-shaped, open-ended guideway and conductors for launching a projectile. The projectile, movably retained on or within the guideway, is accelerated along the guideway using electromagnetic forces until it reaches an end of the guideway, then the projectile is launched in a desired direction. The direction of the launch of the projectile is determined by orienting the guideway in the desired direction using an actuator.
Claims20
An electromagnetic launcher for accelerating a projectile, the electromagnetic launcher comprising:
- a guideway defining a path for accelerating the projectile, the guideway having an increasing radius and a slope so that the guideway forms a funnel-like shape;
- a plurality of conductive coils supported by the guideway and configured to receive electric current so that the electric current induces a magnetic field along the guideway for accelerating the projectile;
- and
- a controller configured to sense a position of the projectile along the guideway and activate a portion of the plurality of conductive coils proximate to the position of the projectile.
A method of launching a projectile, the method comprising the steps of:
- loading the projectile through an entrance in a funnel-shaped guideway having a spiral path with an increasing radius and a slope;
- sensing a location of the projectile along the spiral path;
- and
- automatically activating coils of the guideway that are in proximity to the location of the projectile so that an electromagnetic force is induced thereby accelerating the projectile along the spiral path until the projectile exits the guideway through a launch site.
An electromagnetic launcher for accelerating a projectile comprising:
- a funnel-shaped, spiral guideway defining a path for accelerating the projectile, the guideway having—
- an entrance located on the guideway where the radius is at a minimum length, and
- a launch site located on the guideway where the radius is at a maximum length;
- a plurality of conductive coils configured to receive electric current so that the electric current induces a magnetic field along the guideway for accelerating the projectile;
- a bus for supplying power to the conductive coils;
- a plurality of contacts configured to connect a portion of the plurality of conductive coils to the bus;
- a multiplexor in communication with the plurality of contacts;
- and
- a controller configured to sense a position of the projectile along the guideway and selectively activate the conductive coils that are proximate to the position of the projectile via the multiplexor so that the projectile is accelerated from the entrance of the guideway to the launch site of the guideway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.