Pre-stressed cartridge case

A pre-stressed cartridge case for containing high explosive for detonation in a weapon comprising:

• a generally cylindrical liner having a hollow tube-shaped portion open at a first end and joined to a base portion at a second end thereof, said base portion being oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical liner and serving to substantially close said second end;
• and
• a plurality of windings extending about the cylindrical liner in side-by-side relationship to form at least one layer of windings, said windings being formed of a continuous filamentary member successively wound about the liner under a tension maintained during the winding process sufficient to pre-stress the liner in compression;
• wherein the material of the cylindrical liner is metal;
• and further including
• a metal reinforcing band positioned in tightly fitting relationship inside the tubular portion adjacent the base portion.

A pre-stressed cartridge case for containing high explosive for detonation in a weapon comprising:

• a generally cylindrical liner having a hollow tube-shaped portion open at a first end and joined to a base portion at a second end thereof, said base portion being oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical liner and serving to substantially close said second end;
• a plurality of windings extending about the cylindrical liner in side-by-side relationship to form at least one layer of windings, said windings being formed of a continuous filamentary member successively wound about the liner under a tension maintained during the winding process sufficient to pre-stress the liner in compression;
• and further comprising
• a reinforcing cup mounted adjacent the base portion and extending substantially across the tube-shaped portion, said cup having a raised lip which extends longitudinally from the base portion;
• wherein the cylindrical liner comprises an additional plurality of windings extending circumferentially in side-by-side relationship to form at least one layer of windings, the windings of said additional plurality being formed of said continuous filamentary member such that the entire cartridge case except for said cup is made of continuously wound, composite fiber material.

A pre-stressed cartridge case for containing high explosive for detonation in a weapon comprising:

• a generally cylindrical liner having a hollow tube-shaped portion open at a first end and joined to a base portion at a second end thereof, said base portion being oriented transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical liner and serving to substantially close said second end;
• and
• a plurality of windings extending about the cylindrical liner in side-by-side relationship to form at least one layer of windings, said windings being formed of a continuous filamentary member successively wound about the liner under a tension maintained during the winding process sufficient to pre-stress the liner in compression;
• wherein the cylindrical liner is formed with a portion of reduced diameter about which the windings are wrapped;
• and
• wherein the portion of reduced diameter is adjacent the first end of the tube-shaped portion and wherein the remainder of the tubular portion and at least an adjacent segment of the base portion are formed with an increased outer diameter to develop a thicker wall section for the remainder of the tubular portion.

A pre-stressed case for containing high explosive for detonation in a weapon comprising:

• a cylindrical metal casing including a hollow tube-shaped portion integrally formed with a base portion, said base portion closing one end of the tube-shaped portion except for a primer bore along the longitudinal axis thereof;
• and
• a plurality of filamentary windings wrapped about the casing and being arranged in layers;
• wherein said windings are wrapped under tension sufficient to pre-stress the casing in compression;
• and
• wherein the windings of all layers are oriented circumferentially about the cylindrical casing;
• said plurality being three layers of windings with the innermost layer being wound with the greatest tension and the outermost layer being wound with the least tension.