U.S. patent number 3,771,453 [Application Number 05/266,957] was granted by the patent office on 1973-11-13 for ammunition primer.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army. Invention is credited to Thomas Q. Ciccone, Wilmer White.
United States Patent |
3,771,453 |
Ciccone , et al. |
November 13, 1973 |
AMMUNITION PRIMER
Abstract
A primer for small and medium caliber ammunition which produces
a jet-like lame that extends into the propellant bed of the
munition. The primer has a primer pellet seated in a primer cup,
the pellet including a plurality of centrally apertured propellant
sheets and an igniter button of pyrotechnic mix filling the central
apertures, and an anvil secured within the cup and having a
conically shaped central portion embedded in the igniter
button.
Inventors: |
Ciccone; Thomas Q. (Cornwells
Heights, PA), White; Wilmer (Haddonfield, NJ) |
Assignee: |
The United States of America as
represented by the Secretary of the Army (Washington,
DC)
|
Family
ID: |
23016690 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/266,957 |
Filed: |
June 28, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
102/204 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42C
19/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42C
19/00 (20060101); F42C 19/10 (20060101); F42c
019/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;102/86.5,45,46,38,39,40,49.7,27 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Engle; Samuel W.
Claims
We claim:
1. A primer for small and medium caliber ammunition comprising,
a primer cup,
a primer pellet seated in said cup and including a plurality of
propellant sheets each having a central aperture therethrough in
substantial alignment with each other and an igniter button of
pyrotechnic mix filling said central apertures, and
an anvil secured within said cup and having a conically shaped
central portion embedded in said igniter button.
2. The structure in accordance with claim 1 wherein said igniter
button has a head portion overlying and contacting an adjacent
surface of one of said propellant sheets.
3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said propellant sheets are
composed of, by weight, 52.15 percent nitrocellulose; 43.0 percent
nitroglycerine; 3.0 percent diethylphthalate; 1.25 percent
potassium nitrate; and 0.6 percent ethyl centralite.
4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said igniter button is a
percussion sensitive pyrotechnic mix composed of, by weight, 37.0
percent lead styphnate; 4.0 percent tetracene; 32.0 percent barium
nitrate; 5.0 percent PETN; 15.0 percent antimony sulfide; and 7.0
percent aluminum powder.
Description
This invention relates to primers and, more particularly, to
primers for small and medium caliber ammunition.
It is an object of the invention to provide a primer that will
accomplish propellant ignition with the use of hot gases,
eliminating the need for metal powders or other hot particles to
carry heat downstream.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a primer which
is ashless and will minimize barrel erosion in associated weapons
employed to fire ammunition containing this primer.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a primer
having minimal brisance, thereby enabling reductions in cup wall
thickness and firing pin energy.
These and other objects, features and advantages will become
apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing in
which the sole FIGURE is a longitudinal sectional view of a
preferred ammunition primer embodying the principles of the
invention.
The primer, shown generally at 10, is particularly useful in small
and medium caliber ammunition arrangements. The primer is formed of
a relatively thin-walled cup member 11 in the bottom of which is
seated a primer pellet that includes a plurality of propellant
sheets 12. Each propellant sheet has a central aperture 13 of
predetermined size and location and is capable of being positioned
in uniform alignment to receive an igniter button 14 which has a
portion that fills the central openings in the propellant sheets
upon assembly. The button has a head portion that overlies and
contacts the adjacent surface area of the outer propellant sheet.
When the conically shaped anvil 15 is press-fitted into position
within the sidewalls of the cup 11, the anvil nose portion 16 is
embedded into the igniter button material 14.
Both the anvil 15 and cup 11 are formed of brass material.
Preferably, the propellant sheets which deflagrate under controlled
high pressure conditions are composed of nitrocellulose, 52.15
percent by weight; nitroglycerine, 43.0 percent; diethylphthlate,
3.0 percent; potassium nitrate, 1.25 percent; and ethyl centralite,
0.6 percent. The igniter button is preferably a percussion
sensitive pyrotechnic mix composed of lead styphenate, 37.0 percent
by weight; tetracene, 4.0 percent; barium nitrate, 32.0 percent,
PETN 5.0 percent; antimony sulfide, 15.0 percent; and aluminum
powder, 7.0 percent.
When a firing pin strikes the primer cup base and crushed the
igniter button against the anvil, the highly reactive propellant
sheet material is initiated by the igniter button to produce a
controllable high velocity jet-like flame that extends into the
propellant bed of the ammunition. The burning rate of the
propellant sheet material is controlled by the size of the vent in
the web between the primer cavity and the case chamber in the
munition employing the improved primer. Thus, a regulated high
primer burning rate can be achieved with high pressure to produce
the jet-like flame. As a result, propellant ignition can be
obtained with hot gases only, and the need for metal powders or
other hot particles to carry heat downstream is eliminated. In
effect, an ashless primer is employed which will leave a clean
barrel, especially desirable in automatic weapons, and minimize
barrel erosion. Also, the size and weight of the primer is reduced,
as well as the required firing pin energy, due to the use of
relatively thin primer cup walls made possible by the significant
reduction in brisance.
Various modifications, changes or alterations may be resorted to
without departing from the scope of the invention defined as
follows.
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