Projectile lighting system

A projectile lighting system for illuminating a distant area following a time delay in a safe and reliable manner comprising, in combination:

• a hollow case formed of a cylindrical side wall with a rear end and a front end, the rear end having a circular base formed integrally with the side wall, the front end having an opening with an inwardly extending radial flange, the case being fabricated of a rigid material selected from the class of rigid materials including steel, aluminum, beryllium, plastic or other rigid synthetic materials that resist flexing;
• a hollow projectile formed of a cylindrical side wall with a rear end and a front end, the rear end having a circular base coupled to the side wall, the front end having a hemispherically shaped section extending forwardly from the side wall, the projectile being positioned within the case with the rear end of the projectile spaced from the rear end of the case to form a rearward chamber, the projectile being hollow with a circular fire wall parallel with and forwardly of the circular base of the projectile to form a forward chamber and an intermediate chamber between the forward and rearward chambers, the projectile being fabricated of a rigid material selected from the class of rigid materials including steel, aluminum, beryllium, plastic and other rigid plastics or synthetics;
• a hollow sabot formed of a cylindrical side wall with a rear end and a front end, the rear end having a circular base formed integrally with the side wall, the front end having an opening with a leading edge in contact with the radial flange, the side wall and base of the sabot having an interior in contact with the side wall and base of the projectile, the side wall of the sabot having an exterior in contact with the side wall of the case, the sabot being fabricated of a frangible material selected from the class of frangible materials including paper, cardboard and plastic;
• a firing assembly including an explosive propellant charge within the rearward chamber in contact with the base of the case and also including a firing pin extending through the base of the case in contact with the propellant charge, a plastic support within the rearward chamber to contact and support the propellant charge with an air space in the rearward chamber between the base of the sabot and the propellant charge;
• an illumination assembly in the forward chamber including apertures in the side wall of the projectile and sources of ultraviolet illumination in the apertures with electrical leads extending from the sources to and through the fire wall;
• and
• an electrical assembly including a printed circuit board and a timer with a battery and a switch with a trigger rod secured to the base of the case and extending into the intermediate chamber urging the switch into an open orientation when the projectile is in the case prior to igniting the propellant charge, the trigger rod adapted to separate from the switch upon igniting the propellant charge and movement of the projectile from the case to activate the circuit to illuminate the sources of illumination following a passage of time as determined by the timer.