Liquid propellant modular gun incorporating dual cam operation and internal water cooling

A gun of the kind in which liquid propellant is burned in a combustion chamber to fire a projectile from the gun and comprising,

• a gun barrel,
• a combustion chamber at one end of the gun barrel,
• liquid propellant injection means for injecting a liquid propellant into the combustion chamber,
• igniter means for igniting the liquid propellant in the combustion chamber,
• liquid coolant injection means for injecting a liquid coolant into the combustion chamber for internally cooling the combustion chamber structure after the firing of each round, and
• control means for controlling the timing and amount of liquid coolant injected, said liquid coolant means including a liquid coolant passageway and related ports integral with the barrel and located to inject the liquid coolant into the barrel at the forward end of the combustion chamber so that the liquid coolant is injected into the hottest part of the barrel at a point forward from the rear face of the barrel and the coolant is sprayed both forward and rearward within the barrel.

A gun of the kind in which liquid propellant is burned in a combustion chamber to fire a projectile from the gun and comprising,

• a gun barrel,
• a combustion chamber at one end of the gun barrel,
• liquid propellant injection means for injecting a liquid propellant into the combustion chamber,
• igniter means for igniting the liquid propellant in the combustion chamber,
• liquid coolant injection means for injecting a liquid coolant into the combustion chamber for internally cooling the combustion chamber structure after the firing of each round, and
• control means for controlling the timing and amount of the liquid coolant injected and wherein the control means include a rotatable control cam having an outer cam surface, a cam follower rod, biasing means maintaining one end of the cam follower rod engaged with the cam surface, said liquid propellant injection means include a propellant inlet port and a control valve, said liquid coolant injection means include a coolant inlet port and a control valve, and wherein both the propellant control valve and the coolant control valve are connected to the cam follower control rod for coordinating the propellant and coolant injection functions.

A gun of the kind in which liquid propellant is burned in a combustion chamber to fire a projectile from the gun and comprising,

• a gun barrel,
• a combustion chamber at one end of the gun barrel,
• liquid propellant injection means for injecting a liquid propellant into the combustion chamber,
• igniter means for igniting the liquid propellant in the combustion chamber,
• liquid coolant injection means for injecting a liquid coolant into the combustion chamber for internally cooling the combustion chamber structure after the firing of each round, and
• control means for controlling the timing and amount of the liquid coolant injected, and wherein the liquid propellant injection means and liquid coolant injection means are operatively associated with the control means for positioning the propellant injection means and coolant injection means in a first position in which the flow of both liquid propellant and liquid coolant into and out of the combustion chamber is blocked during firing of the gun, in a second position in which the flow of liquid propellant is permitted into the combustion chamber and the flow of liquid coolant into the combustion chamber is blocked during propellant injection prior to firing, and a third position in which the flow of liquid propellant into the combustion chamber is blocked while the flow of liquid coolant into the combustion chamber is permitted for cooling and purging of the combustion chamber.