U.S. patent number 3,763,786 [Application Number 04/335,083] was granted by the patent office on 1973-10-09 for military darts.
Invention is credited to Gilmour C. MacDonald.
United States Patent |
3,763,786 |
MacDonald |
October 9, 1973 |
MILITARY DARTS
Abstract
1. In an antipersonnel dart, combination comprising a magnetized
head adapted to deliver poison, the poison charge including a
magnetic material, a stabilizing tail section telescopically
carried by the said head, and a combination igniter-propellant
adapted to forceably separate the head and tail sections, at
impact.
Inventors: |
MacDonald; Gilmour C.
(Shalimar, FL) |
Family
ID: |
23310193 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/335,083 |
Filed: |
January 2, 1964 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
102/512;
102/703 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42B
12/54 (20130101); Y10S 102/703 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42B
12/54 (20060101); F42B 12/02 (20060101); F42b
011/30 () |
Field of
Search: |
;102/2,52,69,91,92 ;43/6
;273/1.06,106.5 ;167/19,46,47 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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16,210 |
|
1915 |
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GB |
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495,623 |
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Sep 1953 |
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CA |
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Primary Examiner: Stahl; Robert F.
Claims
I claim:
1. In an antipersonnel dart, combination comprising a magnetized
head adapted to deliver poison, the poison charge including a
magnetic material, a stabilizing tail section telescopically
carried by the said head, and a combination igniter-propellant
adapted to forceably separate the head and tail sections, at
impact.
2. A military dart of such small size that there are between 1,000
and 10,000 thereof to a pound, said darts, aside from an optional
destructive agent, consisting of two metal parts and a propellant
charge whereby the darts can be produced easily by fully-automated
manufacture, said metal parts being a head and a tubular
stabilizing tail, one of said metal parts comprising a cylinder
portion having a central bore, the other metal part comprising a
piston portion slidably carried telescopically in said cylinder
portion, said propellant charge being contained in a cavity defined
by the central bore of siad cylinder portion and an end of said
piston portion, said propellant charge substantially completely
filling said cavity with said end of said piston portion in contact
with said charge.
3. A military dart of such small size that there are between 1,000
and 10,000 thereof to a pound, said darts, consisting of two metal
parts, a destructive agent and a propellant charge whereby the
darts can be produced easily by fully-automated manufacture, said
metal parts being a head and a stabilizing tail, said head
consisting of a metal tube having a longitudinal bore extending
entirely therethrough formed with a smaller bore section and a
larger bore section, the smaller bore section being at the forward
end of the metal tube and of substantially smaller diameter than at
the larger bore section at the rearward end, the length of the
smaller bore section being substantially less than the length of
the larger bore section, said destructive agent filling the smaller
bore section, a propellant charge contained in the larger bore
section adjacent said smaller bore section and filling only a minor
portion of said larger bore section, said stabilizing tail
comprising a forward piston portion and a rearward tubular portion,
said piston portion being at least as long as the length of said
larger bore section, said piston portion being slidably carried
telescopically in said larger bore section with the front end of
said piston portion abutting said propellant charge.
4. A military dart as claimed in claim 3 in which the said two
metal parts are magnetized to prevent the parts from becoming
separated in flight of the military dart while permitting the two
parts to slide relative to one another to a limited extent.
5. A military dart as claimed in claim 3 in which said destructive
agent comprises an intergranular corrosive liquid metal selected
from the group consisting of mercury and gallium.
6. A military dart as claimed in claim 3 in which said destructive
agent is a non-explosive mixture comprising a lethal antipersonnel
poison.
7. A military dart of such small size that there are between 1,000
and 10,000 thereof to a pound, such darts, aside from an optional
destructive agent, consisting of two metal parts and a propellant
charge, whereby the darts can be produced easily by fully-automated
manufacture, said metal parts being a head and a tubular
stabilizing tail, one of said metal parts comprising a cylinder
portion having a central bore, the other metal part comprising a
piston portion slidably carried telescopically in said cylinder
portion, said propellant charge being contained in a cavity defined
by said central bore of said cylinder portion and an end of said
piston portion, said propellant charge substantially completely
filling said cavity with the end of said piston portion in contact
with said charge, said metal part comprising said cylinder portion
being formed of a straight section of metal tube having a uniform
longitudinal bore, and a poison-carrying sintered head fixed at one
end of said metal tube closing the longitudinal bore.
8. A military dart of such small size that there are between 1,000
and 10,000 thereof to a pound, such darts, aside from an optional
destructive agent, consisting of two metal parts and a propellant
charge, whereby the darts can be produced easily by fully-automated
manufacture, said metal parts being a head and a tubular
stabilizing tail, one of said metal parts comprising a cylinder
portion having a central bore, the other metal part comprising a
piston portion slidably carried telescopically in said cylinder
portion, said propellant charge being contained in a cavity defined
by said central bore of said cylinder portion and an end of said
piston portion, said propellant charge substantially completely
filling said cavity with the end of said piston portion in contact
with said charge, said metal part comprising said cylinder portion
consisting of a tubular metal piece having a pair of longitudinal
bores therein, one of said bores extending into the metal piece
from one end and the second longitudinal bore extending into the
metal piece from the other end, said two bores terminating short of
connection with one another, one of said bores being longer than
the other, the shorter bore constituting said cylinder portion,
said piston portion of the military dart being a sintered metal rod
of a diameter to permit it to be slidably carried telescopically in
said longitudinal shorter bore.
9. In an antipersonnel dart, the combination comprising a
magnetized head adapted to deliver an antipersonnel agent, an
antipersonnel agent including a magnetic material, a magnetized
tail section telescopically carried by said head, and a combination
igniter-propellant adapted to separate the head and tail sections
at impact, high pressure gases from the combustion of said
igniter-propellant serving to forceably eject said antipersonnel
agent from said head.
10. A military dart of such small size that there are between 1,000
and 10,000 thereof to a pound, said darts, aside from an optional
military agent, consisting of two metal parts and a propellant
charge whereby the darts can be produced easily by fully-automated
manufacture, said metal parts being a head and a tubular
stabilizing tail, said two metal parts being magnetized to prevent
the parts from becoming separated in flight of the military dart
while permitting the two parts to slide relative to one another to
a limited extent.
Description
This invention relates to military darts which will wound and
poison with biological agents, toxins, or chemical poisons or
dispense antimateriel agents.
Antipersonnel poison darts, if they rely on free-fall for the
necessary striking energy to penetrate a soldier's uniform, must be
of a suitable configuration, and are relatively heavy. Toxic
fragments of an explosive shell, for example, or an explosive
aerial dart (see U.S. Pat. No. 1,189,382) also have to be quite
heavy if they are to be effective. Very small rockets might be
another way to deliver poison to a wound, but they, as well as the
free-fall dart and the toxic explosive shell or dart fragments are
much bigger and heavier than needed to carry a lethal dose of
poison.
A principal object of this invention is to provide antipersonnel
poison darts that make the most efficient use of the chemical or
biological agent carried by the dart.
A further object is the provision of antipersonnel poison darts
that are lighter and more efficient than any comparable device
known heretofore.
Another object is the provision of extremely small and light weight
poison darts, each potentially lethal, permitting a maximum number
to be carried for a given weight load.
Still another object is the provision of new forms of antipersonnel
poison darts which will allow greater military effectiveness of
such weapons and increased aircraft coverage per sortie.
A further object is the provision of new forms of military darts
which can be effectively used to dispense liquids, such as liquid
corrosive agents, so they may be used as anti-materiel devices,
particularly for destruction or immobilization of aircraft and
missiles.
These objects are accomplished by forming an "injector" type of
dart which is a quick and efficient killer. All of the destructive
agent carried by the dart is discharged with great force, e.g.,
into a wound as it is created. In contrast, with poisons or other
agents applied merely by force of impact, only a small fraction of
the agent is effective and diffusion into a wound is slow, with
attendant delay in lethality.
To be militarily useable, devices of the type to which this
invention pertains, especially of very small size (1,000 to 10,000
to the pound), must be extremely simple. The preferred form of the
new darts consists mainly of two metal parts. Both are
screw-machine parts and the darts are ideally adapted to
fully-automated manufacture as must be the case when poisons are
used.
The new poison darts use free-fall to supply only a portion of the
energy needed to insure penetration of the poisoned tip, the
balance of the necessary energy being supplied automatically at the
moment of impact. A preferred embodiment of the new darts provides
means for injecting the poison into the wound in advance of the
dart so that the agent is macerated into the flesh as the wound is
created, thus insuring a maximum of effectiveness.
The "injector" configuration of this dart, can, in a scaled-up
version, also function effectively as an antimateriel device.
Liquid metals such as mercury and gallium can be dispensed by such
darts to cause catastrophic intergranular corrosion of
high-strength aluminum alloys. Stressed high-strength aluminum
alloys when attacked by mercury and/or gallium, can very quickly
deteriorate to a very small fraction of their original strength.
Once a dart of this type has impacted an airplane or missile skin
there is no practical way to determine the extent of the
damage.
The proposed dart employs what could be called "Javelin
Stabilization" wherein most of the weight is in the nose.
The free-fall darts can be dropped from any altitude. They can be
salvoed directly from airplanes. They do not require bomb-type
housings to be dropped to a release altitude, and hence no aneroid,
time fuse, or costly VT fuse and burster to increase the munition
cost. A further advantage is that there is no warning, as in the
case of munitions delivered by low-altitude air burst.
By virtue of the design, the new darts are not critical as regards
drop altitude. Adequate penetration is assured at all speeds above
the threshold required to actuate the igniter. Further speed
increases up to terminal velocity add somewhat to the
penetration.
The new darts use a gun-type reaction to drive the head into the
target. Hence, dispensing of poison or other agents is more or less
independent of dart velocity at impact. At impact, the propellant
is ignited, firing the tail section rearward and adding greatly to
the head velocity. If desired, the propellant pressure can be used
to inject the poison agent through a small hole in the head. The
head, in following on into the target, smears the agent into the
wound.
For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of this
invention, reference may be had to the following detailed
description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying
drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred form of the
new poison darts which have means to accelerate the head at impact,
and means to inject poison or other agents directly into the target
in advance of the head. Provision is also made for a safety device
which will prevent ignition of the propellant unless the darts have
been properly released.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an alternate
construction wherein the poison is carried in a solid, porous, head
section. This construction does not provide for injection of the
agent. The annular clearance groove between the head and tail
sections may be employed for a safing mechanism.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of still another
configuration wherein the hollow tail of one dart slides over and
protects the head of the dart packed ahead of it until the darts
are dispensed. A porous head to carry the agent is shown, but this
configuration can also employ the drilled head of FIG. 1, wherein
the poison is injected into the wound at the moment of impact.
Reference is made to FIG. 1 which depicts a preferred embodiment of
this invention. The stabilizing tail section 11, of the dart, is
slidable within the head section 12. On striking the target, the
tail 11 slides forward in the head 12, impacting the
igniter-propellant 13, which, gun-fashion, fires the tail 11
rearward at high velocity and greatly increases the effective
velocity of the head 12. High-pressure combustion gases generated
by the igniter-propellant 13 serve to inject the poison agent 14
into the target at a very high speed. Should aerodynamic drag loads
make it desirable to insure that the tail 11, a slidable fit within
the head 12, does not separate from the head, both the head and
tail sections may be magnetized as bar magnets. If the forward
portion of the tail is magnetized as the "South" pole, and the aft
or mating end of the head 12 magnetized as the "North" pole,
magnetic attraction will permit the tail 11 to move slightly
rearward under drag loads but will not permit the two components to
separate. On impact, this will result in free travel of the tail 11
before striking the igniter-propellant 13, thus insuring positive
ignition. The antipersonnel or antimateriel agent, presumably a
thixotropic gel or encapsulated, can be retained in the magnetized
head by adding iron powder or other solid filler material,
preferably a high density magnetic material such as magnetic ferric
oxide, to the poison. This may greatly assist automated loading
procedures. Iron powder compliments mercury in antimateriel darts
by facilitating catastrophic intergranular corrosion.
A second embodiment of my invention is depicted in FIG. 2, wherein
the tail section 21 of the dart is slidable within sleeve 22 which
is permanently affixed to the poison-carrying sintered head 24.
Igniter-propellant 23 is fired by the impact of tail 21 and
magnetic retention of the two separable components may be employed
as described above. the
FIG. 3 shows an alternate configuration of my invention, wherein
pre-drop carriage and handling is made safer by allowing the
protruding portion of the poison-carrying sintered head 32 to
protrude into the hollow central portion of the tail 31 of the dart
packaged immediately ahead of it. As in the other configurations,
impact of the head 32 into the igniter-propellant 33 fires the
head, gun-fashion, into the target, and the tail is propelled
violently rearward. Magnetic retention may be used.
Many composition exist which will serve as a frictional or
percussive igniter means and those skilled in such art will be able
to provide suitable igniters and propellants having benefit of the
disclosure of the new darts as supplied above. One such composition
is as follows:
Mercury Fulminate 37 parts Barium Nitrate 32 parts Antimony Sulfide
28 parts Ground Glass 5 parts Trinitrotoluol 5 parts
Since the function of the igniter is to initiate combustion of a
propellant rather than to cause detonation and fragmentation as in
a bomb or grenade, a relatively slow-burning propellant is included
as a part of the combined igniter and propellant. A useable
propellant is as follows:
Nitrocellulose (13.15%N) 76-79% Dinitrotolune 21-24% Diphenylamine
0.8-1.2%
Obviously, any suitable poison or antimateriel agent, e.g., liquid
mercury or gallium, may be used in the head portions 14, 24, or 32
of the new darts. In those instances where the purpose is to wound
rather than kill enemy personnel, the destructive agents carried by
the darts may be vesicant agents, burning agents or the like.
From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that there is herein disclosed a new and extremely lethal
antipersonnel poison dart. While specific examples have been given,
applicant claims the benefit of a full range of equivalents within
the scope of the appended claims.
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