Electrothermal firing device and cartouche for use in such devices

Abstract

An electrothermal firing device (1) including a tube containing a charge chamber (4') in which a first electrode (9) is disposed at the end of the charge chamber (4') adjacent the breechblock (2) and a second electrode (10) is disposed at the end of the charge chamber adjacent the projectile (6). To permit the first electrode (9) adjacent the breechblock to be arranged in the charge chamber without expensive supports, in contrast to such prior art devices, this first electrode (9) is configured as the grounded electrode and the second electrode (10) is configured as the high voltage electrode. Preferably, the two electrodes (9, 10) are arranged in an exchangeable cartouche (18) so that conventional charge chambers employing corresponding loading devices can be retrofitted in a simple manner for use with electrothermal firing devices (1).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.