System and method for active control of recoil mechanism

A recoil mechanism for a weapon, comprising:

• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to control the movement of the shuttle valve to thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• wherein the shuttle valve control includes a third chamber and a portion of the shuttle valve is slidably disposed in the third chamber, and wherein the portion of the shuttle valve disposed in the third chamber includes a magnetic material and the generated magnetic field exerts a magnetic force on the portion of the shuttle valve.

A recoil mechanism for a weapon, comprising:

• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to control the movement of the shuttle valve to thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• wherein the shuttle valve includes a central opening configured to receive a shaft of the piston.

A recoil mechanism for a weapon, comprising:

• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to control the movement of the shuttle valve to thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• wherein the shuttle valve defines a fourth chamber within the housing and wherein the shuttle valve includes a series of openings connecting the first chamber with the fourth chamber.

A recoil mechanism for a weapon, comprising:

• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to control the movement of the shuttle valve to thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• wherein a second piston is slidably disposed within the second chamber, the second piston separating the hydraulic fluid from a gas.

A recoil mechanism for a weapon, comprising:

• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a control means for generating a magnetic field to control the movement of the shuttle valve in response to an applied current to thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• wherein the control means includes a third chamber containing a rheological fluid and a portion of the shuttle valve is slidably disposed in the third chamber.

A weapon, comprising:

• a support carriage;
• a barrel assembly slidably disposed on the support carriage;
• a sensor operable to sense at least one operating condition of the weapon;
• and
• a recoil device disposed between the support carriage and the barrel assembly, the recoil device including:
• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to govern the movement of the shuttle valve and thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a controller operable to apply a current to the shuttle valve control based on the at least one sensed operating condition of the weapon.

A weapon, comprising:

• a support carriage;
• a barrel assembly slidably disposed on the support carriage;
• and
• a recoil device disposed between the support carriage and the barrel assembly, the recoil device including:
• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to govern the movement of the shuttle valve and thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers, wherein the shuttle valve control includes a third chamber and a portion of the shuttle valve is slidably disposed within the third chamber.

A weapon, comprising:

• a support carriage;
• a barrel assembly slidably disposed on the support carriage;
• and
• a recoil device disposed between the support carriage and the barrel assembly, the recoil device including:
• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• and
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to govern the movement of the shuttle valve and thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers,
• wherein the shuttle valve defines a fourth chamber within the housing and wherein the shuttle valve includes a series of openings connecting the first chamber with the fourth chamber.

A weapon, comprising:

• a support carriage;
• a barrel assembly slidably disposed on the support carriage;
• and
• a recoil device disposed between the support carriage and the barrel assembly, the recoil device including:
• a housing containing a hydraulic fluid and having an inner wall defining a first chamber and a second chamber within the housing, the inner wall having at least one orifice connecting the first and second chambers;
• a piston slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing;
• a shuttle valve slidably disposed within the first chamber of the housing and having at least one orifice configured to align with the at least one orifice in the inner wall of the housing to define a fluid passageway between the first and second chambers;
• a shuttle valve control operable to generate a magnetic field in response to an applied current to govern the movement of the shuttle valve and thereby control the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers,
• wherein a second piston is slidably disposed within the second chamber, the second piston separating the hydraulic fluid from a gas.

A method of absorbing a recoil momentum generated by a weapon, comprising:

• applying a recoil momentum to a piston disposed in a first chamber of a housing;
• throttling fluid pressurized by the momentum of the piston through a fluid passageway connecting the first chamber of the housing with a second chamber in the housing to exert a fluid force against the motion of the piston;
• sensing an operating condition of the weapon;
• and
• generating a magnetic field to control the motion of a shuttle valve based on the sensed operating condition, the motion of the shuttle valve varying the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers to provide control over the magnitude of the fluid force exerted on the piston, wherein the magnetic field changes an effective viscosity of a rheological fluid to control the movement of the shuttle valve.

A method of absorbing a recoil momentum generated by a weapon, comprising:

• applying a recoil momentum to a piston disposed in a first chamber of a housing;
• throttling fluid pressurized by the momentum of the piston through a fluid passageway connecting the first chamber of the housing with a second chamber in the housing to exert a fluid force against the motion of the piston;
• sensing an operating condition of the weapon;
• and
• generating a magnetic field to control the motion of a shuttle valve based on the sensed operating condition, the motion of the shuttle valve varying the size of the fluid passageway between the first and second chambers to provide control over the magnitude of the fluid force exerted on the piston;
• wherein a graph of the fluid force as a function of time has a predetermined profile.