&


Europäisches Patentamt
(19) European Patent Office

Office européen des brevets (11) EP 0 985 128 B1

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

(45) Date of publication and mention (51) Int Cl.:

of the grant of the patent: F42B 5/03 (2006.01)
08.11.2006 Bulletin 2006/45
(86) International application number:
(21) Application number: 98922532.1 PCT/AU1998/000415

(22) Date of filing: 02.06.1998 (87) International publication number:

WO 1998/055819 (10.12.1998 Gazette 1998/49)

(54) FIREARMS
FEUERWAFFEN
ARMES A FEU

(84) Designated Contracting States: (72) Inventor: O’Dwyer, James Michael

AT BE DE FR GB IT SE Sinnamon Park Old 4073 (AU)

(30) Priority: 03.06.1997 AU PO715897 (74) Representative: Kemp, Paul Geoffrey

Brookes Batchellor
(43) Date of publication of application: 102-108 Clerkenwell Road
15.03.2000 Bulletin 2000/11 London EC1M 5SA (GB)

(73) Proprietor: Metal Storm Limited (56) References cited:

Brisbane, QLD 4000 (AU) WO-A-94/20809 WO-A-97/04281
US-A- 3 854 231
EP 0 985 128 B1

Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give
notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in
a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art.
99(1) European Patent Convention).

Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR)

 1 EP 0 985 128 B1
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The invention relates to firearms.
[0002] This invention has particular, but not exclusive,
application to a handguns including shotgun type fire-
arms which utilise barrels such as the barrels described
in my earlier International Patent Applications Nos.
PCT/AU94/00124 (WO9420809) and PCT/AU96/00459
(WO9704281, basis for claims 1 and 14 of the applica-
tion).
[0003] Such barrels each have a plurality of projectiles
stacked axially within the barrel together with discrete
selectively ignitable propellant charges for propelling the
projectiles sequentially through the muzzle of the barrel
and the sealing engagement between projectiles and
barrel being such as to prevent rearward travel of the
ignited propellant charge to trailing propellant charges.
These barrels will be referred to hereinafter as of the type
described.
BACKGROUND ART
[0004] This invention aims to alleviate perceived short-
comings in conventional weapons such as shotguns
which fire a collection of round pellet like shot randomly
oriented in the cartridge, which when fired exit from a
relatively large bore barrel in a random orientation and
at a relatively slow muzzle velocity.
[0005] The shot immediately disperses to cover a rel-
atively large target zone. This effect is useful but the ef-
fective range of the shot is very short. Shotguns also
require reloading between shots and this reduces their
effectiveness.
[0006] Handguns such as pistols also have significant
limitations for many reasons including the limited number
of shots which may be contained in the weapon and the
relatively slow rate of fire available. However they are
very portable and concealable and this makes them very
useful.
[0007] US3854231 discloses a barrel assembly which
is a prior art for this application.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly the present invention provides a
barrel assembly according to claim 1 and a method of
igniting the propellant charges in such a barrel assembly
according to claim 14.
[0009] The barrel assembly may be in the form a re-
placeable cartridge to be loaded into a firearm. The barrel
assembly may provide only a part of each of the barrels
of the firearm.
[0010] The barrels may be parallel or may splay slightly
to achieve a desired firing pattern.
[0011] Each barrel could have its own electronic igni-
tion means. Preferably however the barrels are clustered
2
about one or more ignition passages extending substan-
tially parallel to the barrels and communicating therewith
through longitudinally spaced arrays of transverse bleed
passages whereby selectively initiate ignition of primers
5 in the or each ignition passage spreads through the re-
spective aligned one of the longitudinal array of trans-
verse bleed passages and causes ignition of the respec-
tive propellant charges communicating therewith.
[0012] The barrels may also be clustered about one or
10 more bypass passages extending substantially parallel
to the barrels and communicating therewith through a
valved port communicating with longitudinally spaced ar-
rays of transverse bleed passages whereby in the event
of an accidental ignition of a primer in a trailing round,
15 the valved port will open to enable the ignited propellant
charges to bleed to atmosphere through the bypass pas-
sage.
[0013] Alternatively, individual barrels may be provid-
ed with valved ports enabling each to discharge to a by-
20 pass passage in the event of a hang fire or the like acci-
dental ignition of a trailing propellant charge. Suitably the
valved port is in the form of a plugged port in which the
plug will be dislodged at a preselected pressure above
the normal operating pressures within the barrels.
25 [0014] The handgun may be in the form of a shotgun
and have a large number of small bore primer free barrels
clustered about the or each ignition passage, but prefer-
ably a central ignition passage. The ignition passage may
constitute a main barrel provided with primer initiation
30 means for selective initiation of the propellant charges
therein. The main barrel is suitably the centre barrel and
may have a larger bore than the others if desired.
[0015] For example, a cluster of approximately sixty-
four 2mm barrels could be provided. This provides a shot-
35 gun in which all the simultaneously fired projectiles are
individually barrelled. The projectiles would be in the or-
der of 2mm diameter and 5mm in length. If the leading
primer in the main barrel is ignited, then all sixty-four pro-
jectiles in the leading layer will be fired.
40 [0016] The barrels may be rifled and the projectiles
may be loaded therein in cartridges. Alternatively the bar-
rel may be provided as a disposable barrel containing
the projectiles and propellant charges stacked therein.
[0017] The cartridges could align with a single large
45 open barrel of the shotgun but preferably the barrels of
the cartridge align with correspondingly arranged small
bore barrels in the shotgun. For this purpose the cartridge
is provided with locating means for locating it in operative
alignment with the shotgun barrels and most preferably
50 the cartridge has a square section housing for operative
location with any of its rectangular side faces entered
through the loading\ejection port. This port could be a
side, top or underside port.
[0018] Any number of groups of sixty-four pellets/pro-
55 jectiles may be fired at any electronically available rate.
This provides on the one hand, a low degree of lethality
in the case where say a single group of pellets is fired,
or an exceedingly high degree of lethality if a number of
2
 3 EP 0 985 128 B1
groups are fired in rapid succession. The weapon may
be operated as a shotgun machine-gun.
[0019] The primer initiation is suitably electronically
controlled and may be electrical, chemical, laser, me-
chanical or any other available means as is appropriate.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] In order that this invention may be more readily
understood and put into practical effect, reference will
now be made to the accompanying drawings which illus-
trate typical embodiments of the invention, wherein:-
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate typical shotguns;
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a shotgun
cartridge for the shotguns illustrated in Figs. 1 and
2; FIG. 4 is an end view of the cartridge illustrated in
Fig. 2;
FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrate loading of a pistol;
FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate loading of a second type
of pistol ;
FIG. 7 illustrate the removal of electronic control
means for disarming the pistols;
FIG. 8 illustrates one form of cartridge which may be
used with the handgun of Fig 6, and
FIG. 9 illustrates a further form of clustered barrel
assembly.
[0021] The shotguns 9 and 10 illustrated in Figs. 1 and
2 are similar to the Smith & Wesson AS and the Rem-
ington 870 twelve gauge shotguns respectively and have
similar loading and unloading features.
[0022] However in each case, the feed/ejection port
11 has been lengthened to accept a barrel cluster forming
a multi-barrel cartridge 12 as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4
which contains sixty (60) primer free 2mm, bore barrels
13 arranged symmetrically about a central main barrel
14 forming an ignition passage, with nine longitudinally
spaced layers of streamlined directional projectiles 15
and associated propellant charges 16 therein.
[0023] The main barrel 14 is provided with electrical
connections controlled from electronic control means lo-
cated in the butt of the shotgun and activated by the trig-
ger 18 in conventional manner. The electrical connec-
tions are controlled for selective ignition of the primers
19 in the respective propellant charges 16 and an array
of bleed ports 20 is provided to place the corresponding
propellant charges 16 in the barrels 13 in communication
with the respective propellant charges in main barrel 14.
[0024] Upon ignition of the leading propellant charge
16 in the main barrel 14, the explosion front will spread
through the bleed ports 20 and ignite all the propellant
charges in the corresponding layer.
[0025] The barrels 13 are clustered in a circular con-
figuration about the main barrel 14 and are supported in
a square sectioned housing 21 which may be introduced
into the port 11 feed end 22 first in any desired rotational
attitude. The square housing 21 is used to positively lo-
4
cate the cartridge in the shotgun body 23 in alignment
with the correspondingly clustered barrel assembly 24
extending from the body 23.
[0026] In operation of the shotgun illustrated in Fig. 9,
5 when its controls are set to fire single arrays of projectiles
15 at a time, the bolt may be locked for manual cocking,
in which case the recoil is negated. However if three or
more layers of projectiles 15 are to be fired substantially
simultaneously, such as to empty the Operative car-
10 tridge, the bolt may be unlocked to enable the recoil ac-
tion to automatically cock the weapon for its next firing,
including ejection of the fired cartridge.
[0027] The shotgun illustrated in Fig. 2 utilises a pump
action for reloading cartridges in conventional manner.
15 The projectiles 15 are suitably formed with a reverse
wedging sealing arrangement as described in my co-
pending International application WO98/55824 filed 1
June, 1998 or they may utilise a forward wedging ar-
rangement as described in my earlier filed International
20 patent applications set out above.
[0028] Figs. 5, 6 and 7 herewith illustrate two pistols
which do not form part of the present invention. The il-
lustrated pistols include a four barrel pistol 40 in which
the barrel assembly 41 is removable from the hand grip
25 assembly 42 and a two barrel pistol 50 in which the barrel
assembly 51 breaks from the hand grip assembly 52 for
reloading.
[0029] Referring firstly to the four barrel pistol 40, it will
be seen that the barrel assembly 41 which comprises
30 four integrated barrels clustered together and provided
with an integral mounting 43 which enables the barrels
to be clipped into a cradle assembly 44 which extends
above and forwardly of the hand grip 42.
[0030] Suitable latching means 45 are provided for
35 maintaining the barrel assembly in its operative position
in the cradle assembly 44. The process of removal of the
barrel assembly 41 is illustrated sequentially in the draw-
ings. In the first step illustrated in Fig. 5B, the barrel as-
sembly 51 is withdrawn longitudinally from the end cap
40 47 which contains concentrically arranged electrical con-
tacts 48 which mate with corresponding contacts in the
end of the barrel assembly 41 to provide electrical ignition
control of the propellant charges therein.
[0031] Because the barrel assembly 41 can be readily
45 detached and attached to the cradle assembly 44, this
pistol assembly 40 offers the advantage that a user may
carry alternate style barrel assemblies for firing different
types of projectiles or for rapid reloading should one bar-
rel assembly be emptied or required to be changed in use.
50 [0032] All barrels need not contain the same projec-
tiles. One or more could for example contain a shotgun
barrel as described above if desired while the others may
contain banks of single projectiles with the same or dif-
ferent propellant charges. Selection switches would be
55 provided to enable a user to fire selected or all barrels.
Alternatively they could be mounted about a main pas-
sage with bleed passages for simultaneous ignition of all
rounds in each respective layer of projectiles.
3
 5 EP 0 985 128 B1
[0033] The barrel assemblies 41 can be of a disposa-
ble form or they may be adapted to receive reload car-
tridges which are inserted into the rear of the respective
barrels. Suitable release claws or the like are also sup-
ported on the upstanding butt portion 46, which is integral
with the hand grip 42, catch the cartridges upon release
of the barrel to effect partial withdrawal of spent or par-
tially spent cartridges and thus facilitate their removal for
replacement.
[0034] If desired the barrel assembly 41 may be sup-
ported on a slide and associated with recoil or damping
means to minimise the reaction upon firing. This recoil
would be particularly useful in an instance where a user
required to file a number of projectiles simultaneously or
in quick succession. That is operation of the pistol 40 in
normal manner would provide the normal controllable re-
action.
[0035] However if the rapid fire facilities available to a
user of handguns are utilised, the reaction, without damp-
ing may render the handgun uncontrollable. Thus a recoil
mechanism for handguns programmed with a rapid fire
facility, such as is illustrated in Fig. 8, would be most
desirable.
[0036] The two barrel pistol 50 illustrated in Fig. 7 has
the barrel assembly 51 arranged for pivotal movement
at the front end of the cradle 53 so that the barrel may
be broken for reloading with cartridges. The pistol 50 re-
ceives double tap cartridges 54 of the type described in
my International Patent Application No.
PCT/AU96/00459. This is particularly significant in rela-
tion to handguns in that the cartridges loaded into each
of the barrels may be of different configuration and be
operable so that an operator may selectively fire rounds
from either barrel such as rounds which have a low le-
thality or rounds which have a high lethality.
[0037] In both pistols 40 and 50 actuation is by means
of a trigger which is in effect an electronic switch. This
switch could be sensitive to displacement and/or pres-
sure to enable trained personnel to operate the weapon
for selective firing of single or multiple rounds and of dif-
ferent types.
[0038] The pistol assembly 50 has a control insert 55
which fits into a complementary recess in the pistol grip
52, or grip 42 of pistol 40, and which contains the elec-
tronic firing controls, memory for storing recorded data
and other required electronics, including diagnostics.
The plug-in insert 55 includes a multipin connector at its
inner end which engages with a complementary connec-
tor when the insert is pushed into the grip 52 to the fully
home position. At the base of the insert 55, a further mul-
tipin connector 57 is provided to enable the electronics
therein to be accessed to enables programming of the
electronics and display of stored data for desired func-
tions and results on a screen. Concentrically arranged
contacts 58 are provided for barrel control.
[0039] The insert 55 enables a user to secure the pistol
against unauthorised use. If desired further security
measures may be taken as is describe in one of my co-
6
pending International Patent Applications.
[0040] Fig. 8 illustrates a collapsible stack 60 formed
of shock absorbing material 61 and disposed at the rear
end of an electronically fired round 63. The stack 60 has
5 sections 62 which collapse progressively upon firing the
projectiles in the round. In this manner, recoil damping
can be built into a fixed barrel weapon which uses re-
placeable cartridge assemblies. Furthermore, an opera-
tor may use rounds with or without the damping means.
10 [0041] The barrel assembly 70 illustrated in Fig. 9 has
barrels 71 clustered about a central bypass passage 72
provided with at least one bleed port 73 associated with
the propellant charge 74 of each trailing projectile 75.
The ports 73 are provided with plugs as illustrated at 76,
15 which are discharged from the ports 73 when a prede-
termined pressure is exceeded locally in the barrels 71
so as to bleed the excess pressure to atmosphere
through the bypass passage 72.
[0042] If desired more than one port, as illustrated at
20 77, may be utilised to provide a greater port bleed area
for extreme high pressures.
[0043] It will of course be realised that the above has
been given only by way of illustrative example of the in-
vention and that all such modifications and variations
25 thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art
are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of
the invention as is defined in the appended claims.
30 Claims
1. A barrel assembly comprising:
a barrel cluster, comprising a plurality of primer
35 free barrels (13) each including a longitudinal
arrangement of aerodynamically shaped direc-
tional projectiles (15) and interposed propellant
charges (16) whereby the barrel cluster has lon-
gitudinally spaced layers of the projectiles (15)
40 and interposed layers of propellant charges
(16),
the primer free barrels (13) cluster around one
ignition passage(14) extending substantially
parallel to the primer free barrels (13) and com-
45 municating with each primer free barrel (13) and,
the ignition passage (14) including a plurality of
ignition means arranged longitudinally in said ig-
nition passage (14),
each ignition means including a primer (19), and
50 each primer (19) communicates one each with
one corresponding layer of propellant charges
whereby each ignition means is adapted by said
communication to ignite all the propellant charg-
es (16) in a selected corresponding one of the
55 layers of said propellant charges (16).
2. A barrel assembly according to claim 1 forming a
replaceable cartridge (12) for loading into a firearm.
4
 7 EP 0 985 128 B1
3. A barrel assembly according to claim 2 which pro-
vides only a part of each of the barrels of the firearm.
4. A barrel assembly as claimed in one of claims 1 to
3 wherein said ignition passage (14) communicates
with each of the primer free barrels (13) in a respec-
tive barrel cluster through longitudinally spaced ar-
rays of transverse bleed passages (20) .
5. A barrel assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the
ignition passage (14) contains means to selectively
and sequentially ignite the primers.
6. A barrel assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
ignition passage comprises a main barrel (14) pro-
vided with primer initiation means for selective initi-
ation of the propellant charges (16) therein.
7. A barrel assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein the
main barrel (14) comprises a central barrel which
has a larger barrel bore than the other primer free
barrels (13).
8. A barrel assembly as claimed in any one of claims
1 to 7, wherein the barrels (71) are clustered about
one or more bypass passages (72) extending sub-
stantially parallel to the barrels (71) and communi-
cating therewith through respective pressure sensi-
tive bypass means.
9. A barrel assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein the
pressure sensitive bypass means comprises a
valved port (73) in the wall of the bypass passage
(72) for communicating with longitudinally spaced ar-
rays of transverse bleed passages associated with
each propellant space.
10. A barrel assembly according to claim 9, wherein the
valve is provided by a plug (76) within the ports which
are discharged from the ports (73) when a predeter-
mined pressure is exceeded in the barrels (71).
11. A barrel assembly as claimed in any one of the pre-
ceding claims wherein said projectiles (15) are
formed with reverse wedge sealing means.
12. A barrel assembly according to any one of the pre-
ceding claims in combination with a firearm.
13. A barrel assembly according to claim 12 wherein the
firearm is a handgun.
14. A method of igniting the propellant charges (16) in a
barrel assembly according to any one of claims 1 to
13 characterised by the step of:
selectively igniting a only one of the primers (19)
whereby each propellant charge in only one of
8
the layers of propellant charges (16) is simulta-
neously ignited in order to effect the simultane-
ous selective discharge of a single layer of the
aerodynamically shaped directional projectiles
5 (15).
15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the ignition
of the primer (19) is communicated to each of the
propellant charges in a respective layer through a
10 corresponding array of bleed passages.
16. A method according to claim 15 comprising the step
of sequentially igniting several primers (19) spaced
longitudinally in the ignition passage to sequentially
15 ignite several layers of propellant charges (16) and
so to sequentially discharge several layers of the pro-
jectiles (15) in rapid succession.
17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the over-
20 pressure produced by ignition of a layer of the pro-
pellant charges causes a valved port (73) to open
so that the overpressure is relieved through a bypass
passage which communicates with the valved port.
25
Patentansprüche
1. Rohrbaugruppe, aufweisend:
30 ein Rohrbündel, umfassend mehrere zündhüt-
chenfreie Rohre (13), von denen jedes in Längs-
richtung angeordnete aerodynamisch geformte,
gerichtete Projektile (15) mit dazwischenliegen-
den Treibmittelladungen (16) enthält, wobei das
35 Rohrbündel in Längsrichtung voneinander be-
abstandete Lagen von Projektilen (15) mit da-
zwischenliegenden Lagen von Treibmittella-
dungen (16) aufweist,
40 wobei die zündhütchenfreien Rohre (13) um einen
Zündkanal (14) angeordnet sind, der sich im wesent-
lichen parallel zu den zündhütchenfreien Rohren
(13) erstreckt und mit jedem der zündhütchenfreien
Rohre (13) in Verbindung steht,
45 wobei der Zündkanal (14) mehrere Zündmittel ent-
hält, die in Längsrichtung in dem Zündkanal (14) an-
geordnet sind,
wobei jedes der Zündmittel ein Zündhütchen (19)
aufweist und jedes der Zündhütchen (19) mit jeweils
50 einer Lage Treibmittelladung in Verbindung steht, so
dass jedes der Zündmittel durch diese Verbindung
alle Treibmittelladungen (16) in der entsprechenden
ausgewählten Lage Treibmittelladungen (16) zün-
den kann.
55
2. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 1,
welche eine austauschbare Patrone (12) zum Laden
in eine Feuerwaffe bildet.
5
 9 EP 0 985 128 B1
3. Rohrbäugruppe nach Anspruch 2.
die nur einen Teil der Rohre der Feuerwaffe bereit-
stellt.
4. Rohrbaugruppe nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 3,
wobei der Zündkanal (14) über in Längsrichtung von-
einander beabstandete, quer angeordnete Entlüf-
tungskanäle (20) mit jedem der zündhütchenfreien
Rohre (13) im entsprechenden Rohrbündel in Ver-
bindung steht.
5. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 4,
wobei der Zündkanal (14) Mittel zum selektiven auf-
einanderfolgenden Zünden der Zündhütchen ent-
hält.
6. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 5,
bei der der Zündkanal ein Hauptrohr (14) ist, das mit
Zündhütchen-Zündmitteln zum selektiven Zünden
der darin enthaltenen Treibmittelladungen (16) ver-
sehen ist.
7. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 6,
bei der das Hauptrohr (14) ein mittiges Rohr ist, das
eine größere Bohrung hat als die anderen zündhüt-
chenfreien Rohre (13).
8. Rohrbaugruppe nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 7.
bei der die Rohre (71) um einen oder mehrere Aus-
weichkanäle (72) angeordnet sind, die sich im we-
sentlichen parallel zu den Rohren (71) erstrecken
und über die jeweiligen Druckübertragungsaus-
weichmittel damit in Verbindung stehen.
9. Rohrbaugruppe, nach Anspruch 8,
bei der die Druckübertragungsausweichmittel in der
Wandung des Ausweichkanals (72) eine mit Ventil
versehene Öffnung (73) aufweisen, um eine Verbin-
dung mit den in Längsrichtung voneinander beab-
standeten, quer angeordneten Entlüftungskanälen,
die jedem Treibrnittelraum zugeordnet sind, herzu-
stellen.
10. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 9,
bei der das Ventil mit einem Stopfen (76) in den Öff-
nungen versehen ist, der aus den Öffnungen (73)
getrieben wird, wenn ein vorgegebener Druck in den
Rohren (71) überschritten wird.
11. Rohrbaugruppe nach einem der vorhergehenden
Ansprüche,
bei der die Projektile (15) mit Umkehrkeildichtmitteln
versehen sind.
12. Rohrbaugruppe nach einem der vorhergehenden
Ansprüche
in Kombination mit einer Feuerwaffe.
10
13. Rohrbaugruppe nach Anspruch 12,
wobei die Feuerwaffe eine Handfeuerwaffe ist.
14. Verfahren zum Zünden der Treibmittelladungen (16)
5 in einer Rohrbaugruppe nach einem der Ansprüche
1 bis 13, gekennzeichnet durch folgenden Schritt:
selektives Zünden nur eines der Zündhütchen
(19), wodurch jede Treibrnittelladung in nur ei-
10 ner der Lagen von Treibmittelladungen (16)
gleichzeitig gezündet wird, um das gleichzeitige
selektive Abschießen einer einzelnen Lage ae-
rodynamisch geformter gerichteter Projektile
(15) zu bewirken.
15
15. Verfahren nach Anspruch 14,
bei dem die Zündung des Zündhütchens (19) über
eine entsprechende Anordnung von Entlüftungska-
nälen an jede der Treibmittelladungen der jeweiligen
20 Lage weitergegeben wird.
16. Verfahren nach Anspruch 15,
aufweisend den Schritt des aufeinanderfolgenden
Zündens mehrerer Zündhütchen (19), die im Zünd-
25 kanal in Längsrichtung voneinander beabstandet
sind, um nacheinander mehrere Lagen von Treib-
mittelladungen (16) zu zünden und damit nachein-
ander mehrere Lagen von Projektilen (15) in rascher
Folge abzuschießen.
30
17. Verfahren nach Anspruch 16,
bei dem der durch die Zündung einer Lage Treibmit-
telladungen erzeugte Überdruck das Öffnen einer
mit Ventil versehenen Öffnung (73) bewirkt, so dass
35 der Überdruck über einen Ausweichkanal, der mit
der mit Ventil versehenen Öffnung in Verbindung
steht, normalisiert wird.
40 Revendications
1. Assemblage de canons comprenant :
un ensemble de canons comprenant une plura-
45 lité de canons sans amorces (13), chacun com-
prenant un arrangement longitudinal de projec-
tiles directionnels de forme aérodynamique (15)
et des charges de gaz propulseur interposées
(16), moyennant quoi l’ensemble de canons
50 comprend des couches espacées longitudina-
lement de projectiles (15) et des couches inter-
posées de charges de gaz propulseur (16),
les canons sans amorces (13) sont regroupés
autour d’un passage d’allumage (14) qui s’étend
55 de manière substantiellement parallèle aux ca-
nons sans amorces (13) et qui communique
avec chaque canon sans amorces (13) et,
le passage d’allumage (14) comprenant une plu-
6
 11 EP 0 985 128 B1
ralité de moyens d’allumage disposés longitudi-
nalement dans ledit passage d’allumage (14),
chaque moyen d’allumage comprenant une amorce
(19) et chaque amorce (19) communique avec une
couche correspondante de charges de gaz propul-
seur moyennant quoi chaque moyen d’allumage est
conçu, grâce à ladite communication, pour allumer
toutes les charges de gaz propulseur (16) dans une
des couches desdites charges de gaz propulseur
(16).
2. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 1, for-
mant une cartouche remplaçable 12 pouvant être
chargée dans une arme à feu.
3. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 2, qui
met à disposition seulement une partie de chacun
des canons de l’arme à feu.
4. Assemblage de canons selon l’une des revendica-
tions 1 à 3, dans lequel ledit passage d’allumage
(14) communique avec chacun des canons sans
amorces (13) dans un ensemble de canons corres-
pondant par l’intermédiaire de rangées, espacées
longitudinalement, de passages de purge transver-
saux (20).
5. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 4
dans lequel le passage d’allumage (14) contient des
moyens permettant d’allumer sélectivement et sé-
quentiellement les amorces.
6. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 5,
dans lequel le passage d’allumage comprend un ca-
non principal (14) muni d’un moyen d’allumage
d’amorce pour l’allumage sélectif des charges de
gaz propulseur (16) qui s’y trouvent.
7. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 6,
dans lequel le canon principal (14) comprend un ca-
non central qui présente un alésage de canon supé-
rieur à celui des autres canons sans amorces (13).
8. Assemblage de canons selon l’une des revendica-
tions 1 à 7, dans lequel les canons (71) sont regrou-
pés autour d’un ou plusieurs passages de dérivation
(72) qui s’étendent de manière substantiellement pa-
rallèle aux canons (71) et qui communiquent avec
ceux-ci par l’intermédiaire de moyens de dérivation
sensibles à la pression correspondants.
9. Assemblage selon la revendication 8 dans lequel le
moyen de dérivation sensible à la pression com-
prend un orifice muni d’une soupape (73) dans la
paroi du passage de dérivation (72) pour communi-
quer avec des rangées, espacées longitudinale-
ment, de passages de purge transversaux associés
12
à chaque espace de gaz propulseur.
10. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 9
dans lequel la soupape est munie de chevilles (76)
5 à l’intérieur des orifices, qui sont expulsées hors des
orifices (73) lorsqu’une pression prédéterminée est
dépassée dans les canons (71).
11. Assemblage de canons selon l’une des revendica-
10 tions précédentes dans lequel lesdits projectiles (15)
sont munis de moyens d’étanchéité présentant la
forme de clavettes inversées.
12. Assemblage de canons selon l’une des revendica-
15 tions précédentes en combinaison avec une arme à
feu.
13. Assemblage de canons selon la revendication 12
dans lequel l’arme à feu est une arme de poing.
20
14. Procédé d’allumage des charges de gaz propulseur
(16) dans un assemblage de canons selon l’une des
revendications 1 à 13, caractérisé par l’étape
suivante :
25
allumage sélectif d’une seule des amorces (19),
moyennant quoi chaque charge de gaz propul-
seur dans une seule couche de charges de gaz
propulseur (16) est simultanément allumée afin
30 d’effectuer l’expulsion simultanée sélective
d’une seule couche de projectiles directionnels
de forme aérodynamique (15).
15. Procédé selon la revendication 14 dans lequel l’al-
35 lumage de l’amorce (19) est communiqué à chacune
des charges de gaz propulseur dans une couche
correspondante par l’intermédiaire d’une rangée
correspondante de passages de purge.
40 16. Procédé selon la revendication 15, comprenant l’éta-
pe d’allumage séquentiel de plusieurs amorces (19)
espacées longitudinalement dans le passage d’allu-
mage afin d’allumer séquentiellement plusieurs cou-
ches de charges de gaz propulseur (16) et afin d’ex-
45 pulser séquentiellement plusieurs couches de pro-
jectiles (15) en succession rapide.
17. Procédé selon la revendication 16 dans lequel la sur-
pression produite par l’allumage d’une couche de
50 charges de gaz propulseur provoque l’ouverture
d’un orifice muni d’une soupape (73) de façon à ce
que la surpression soit évacuée à travers un passa-
ge de dérivation qui communique avec l’orifice muni
d’une soupape.
55
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