Lightweight weapon stabilizing system

A gun system having a firing cycle and a moment of static weight, firing of said gun system producing recoil forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment and an instantaneous destabilizing moment, said gun system comprising:

• a recoiling cannon assembly having a tube axis, a center of mass, an initial prefiring position, and an initial prefiring orientation;
• a cradle portion relatively fixed during the firing cycle for elevating said cannon assembly;
• a carriage portion supporting said cradle portion, said carriage portion being fixed in ground contact when said gun system is fired and said carriage portion and said cradle portion remaining substantially relatively fixed with respect to each other during the firing cycle of said gun system;
• mounting means for movably mounting said cannon assembly with respect to said cradle portion for travel along a two-stage curvilinear path, at least a portion of said first stage having a curved configuration for producing an upward force and vertical acceleration component to said center of mass of said recoiling cannon assembly during said first stage, said upward force causing a reaction resulting in forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment, and said second stage having a configuration different from that of said first stage for causing controlled vertical deceleration of said cannon assembly during recoil;
• pivoting, sliding interface means positioned on said cradle portion for slidably receiving said cannon assembly, said cannon assembly rotating about said interface means when said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage;
• recoil braking means for applying a relatively high retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said curved configuration portion of said first stage of said curvilinear path and for applying a relatively low retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage of said curvilinear path, said relatively high and low retarding forces having magnitudes which are matched to said configurations of said first and second stages, respectivley, of said curvilinear path, whereby the instantaneous destabilizing moment of the recoil forces is overcome by the instantaneous stabilizing moment of the forces resulting from the reaction to the upward force of said recoiling cannon assembly in said curved configuration portion of said first stage and the moment of static weight of said gun system;
• and
• return means for returning said cannon assembly to its initial prefiring position at the end of recoil.

A gun system having a firing cycle and a moment of static weight, firing of said gun system producing recoil forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment and an instantaneous destabilizing moment, said gun system comprising:

• a recoiling cannon assembly having a tube axis, a center of mass, an initial prefiring position, and an initial prefiring orientation;
• a cradle portion relatively fixed during the firing cycle for elevating said cannon assembly;
• a carriage portion supporting said cradle portion, said carriage portion being fixed in ground contact when said gun system is fired and said carriage portion and said cradle portion remaining substantially relatively fixed with respect to each other during the firing cycle of said gun system;
• mounting means for movably mounting said cannon assembly with respect to said cradle portion for travel along a two-stage curvilinear path, at least a portion of said first stage having a curved configuration for producing an upward force and vertical acceleration component to said center of mass of said recoiling cannon assembly during said first stage, said upward force causing a reaction resulting in forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment, said second stage having a configuration different from that of said first stage for causing controlled vertical deceleration of said cannon assembly during recoil, and said second stage of said curvilinear path is curved in the opposite direction to that of said curved configuration portion of said first stage of said curvilinear path;
• recoil braking means for applying a relatively high retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said curved configuration portion of said first stage of said curvilinear path and for applying a relatively low retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage of said curvilinear path, said relatively high and low retarding forces having magnitudes which are matched to said configurations of said first and second stages, respectivley, of said curvilinear path, whereby the instantaneous destabilizing moment of the recoil forces is overcome by the instantaneous stabilizing moment of the forces resulting from the reaction to the upward force of said recoiling cannon assembly in said curved configuration portion of said first stage and the moment of static weight of said gun system;
• and
• return means for returning said cannon assembly to its initial prefiring position at the end of recoil.

A gun system comprising:

• a recoiling cannon assembly having a center of mass, an initial prefiring position, and an initial prefiring orientation;
• a cradle portion relatively fixed during firing for elevating said cannon assembly;
• a carriage portion supporting said cradle portion, said carriage portion remaining fixed in ground contact when said gun system is fired and said carriage portion and said cradle potion being substantially relatively fixed with respect to each other during the firing cycle of said gun system;
• campath means and cam follower means associated with said campath means for movably mounting said cannon assembly on said cradle portion for travel along said campath means, said campath means defining a two-stage curvilinear recoil path, said first stage having a curved configuration portion to produce an upward force and vertical acceleration component to said center of mass of said recoiling cannon assembly during said first stage, said upward force causing a reaction resulting in forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment and an instantaneous destabilizing moment, and said second stage having a configuration different from that of said first stage for causing controlled vertical deceleration of said cannon assembly during recoil;
• recoil braking means for applying a relatively high retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said first stage of said curvilinear path and for applying a relatively low retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage of said curvilinear path, said relatively high and low retarding forces having magnitudes which are matched to said configurations of said first and second stages, respectivley, of said curvilinear path, whereby the instantaneous destabilizing moment of the recoil forces is overcome by the instantaneous stabilizing moment of the forces resulting from the reaction to the upward force of said recoiling cannon assembly in said curved configuration portion of said first stage and the moment of static weight of said gun system;
• and
• storage means for storing a portion of the recoil energy of said cannon portion and returning said cannon portion to its initial prefiring position, using the stored recoil energy.

A gun system comprising:

• a recoiling cannon assembly having a center of mass, an initial prefiring position, and an initial prefiring orientation;
• a cradle portion relatively fixed during firing for elevating said cannon assembly;
• a carriage portion supporting said cradle portion, said carriage portion remaining fixed in ground contact when said gun system is fired and said carriage portion and said cradle potion being substantially relatively fixed with respect to each other during the firing cycle of said gun system;
• campath means and cam follower means associated with said campath means for movably mounting said cannon assembly on said cradle portion for travel along said campath means, said campath means defining a two-stage curvilinear recoil path, said first stage having a curved configuration portion to produce an upward force and vertical acceleration component to said center of mass of said recoiling cannon assembly during said first stage, said upward force causing a reaction resulting in forces having an instantaneous stabilizing moment and an instantaneous destabilizing moment, and said second stage having a configuration different from that of said first stage for causing controlled vertical deceleration of said cannon assembly during recoil;
• pivoting, sliding interface means positioned on said cradle portion for slidably receiving said cannon assembly, said cannon assembly rotating about said interface means when said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage;
• recoil braking means for applying a relatively high retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said first stage of said curvilinear path and for applying a relatively low retarding force to said cannon assembly while said cannon assembly is travelling along said second stage of said curvilinear path, said relatively high and low retarding forces having magnitudes which are matched to said configurations of said first and second stages, respectivley, of said curvilinear path, whereby the instantaneous destabilizing moment of the recoil forces is overcome by the instantaneous stabilizing moment of the forces resulting from the reaction to the upward force of said recoiling cannon assembly in said curved configuration portion of said first stage and the moment of static weight of said gun system;
• and
• storage means for storing a portion of the recoil energy of said cannon portion and returning said cannon portion to its initial prefiring position, using the stored recoil energy.

A method for stabilizing a gun system upon firing, the gun system comprising a recoiling cannon assembly having a center of mass, an initial prefiring position, and an initial prefiring orientation, a cradle portion relatively fixed during the firing cycle for elevating the cannon assembly, a carriage portion supporting the cradle portion, the carriage portion being fixed in ground contact when the gun system is fired and said carriage portion and said cradle portion remaining substantially relatively fixed with respect to each other during the firing cycle of said gun system, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a path having first and second stages for displacing the cannon assembly during recoil;
• producing an upward force and vertical acceleration component to the center of mass of the recoiling cannon assembly as it recoils by displacing the cannon assembly along the first stage of the path;
• following said producing step, vertically decelerating the cannon assembly in a controlled fashion by displacing the cannon assembly along the second stage of the path;
• and
• applying a relatively high retarding force to the cannon assembly while the cannon assembly is travelling along the first stage of the path and a relatively low retarding force to the cannon assembly while the cannon assembly is travelling along the second stage of the path, to predictably and controllably decelerate the cannon assembly during said producing and decelerating steps, the relatively high and low retarding forces having magnitudes which are matched to the configurations of the first and second stages, respectively, of the path.