1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rail gun that discharges rounds at very high velocities by using electromagnetic fields to accelerate the rounds.
2. Background of the Prior Art
A typical firearm works by inserting a shell having a casing and a round into the gun""s firing chamber and causing a hammer to impact on the casing with a high force. The impact causes gun powder held within the casing to explode. The exploding and expanding gases, being able to escape through the open end of the firing chamber, accelerate the round through the firing chamber and out the exit port of the chamber. This system proves effective in operation but is not without its drawbacks.
The acceleration factor in determining the exit velocity of the round is primarily a factor of the force imposed on the round by the exploding gases. As there are practical limits to the forces than can be achieved by the expanding gases, so too are there limits to the exit velocities achievable by the rounds. This results in a limitation in the distance that can be traveled by a round and the force that the round can impart upon impact. In order to increase the force exerted by the round, for instance to be able to penetrate a bullet resistant vest, the size of the round must be increased. While a a bigger round has greater stopping power relative to a smaller round, the bigger round carries its own drawbacks. A bigger round weighs more, as does the casing holding the round and the gun powder held within the casing. This can prove quite burdensome to a soldier who must carry several magazines of ammunition or to a fighter jet that has a threshold weight capacity that must be rationed between rounds, bombs, missiles, and fuel. Additionally, a larger round requires a larger gun from which to be fired, further increasing the weight of the overall system.
If a given round can be discharged at a greater velocity, the force exerted by the round is also increased. Based on the fundamental principle of force, wherein the force of an object is equal to xc2xd. W.V2 wherein W is the weight of the object and V is the velocity of the object, doubling the velocity of a round quadruples the force of the round and also increases the distance that the round can travel before being stopped by the frictional resistance imposed by air. Increasing the velocity tenfold, increases the force of the round one hundred fold. Accordingly, increasing the velocity of the fired round decreases the size of the round needed, as well as the size of the firing weapon used, in order to achieve a desired level of force impacted by the round on a subject target.
In order to overcome the limits imposed by gas-based firing systems, other round acceleration systems have been proposed. One type of firing system that has received wide attention is an electromagnetic-based firing system. Such a system relies on the use of electromagnets that act upon the round, which is made from a magnetically sensitive material, in order to accelerate the round using magnetic forces created by the electromagnets. As such systems rely on the use of magnetic fields to perform the acceleration, exit velocities of the rounds can be made to surpass the corresponding gun powder-based systems. However, the current electromagnetic-based firearms, are either too complex in design and construction, making such firearms expensive to manufacture and relatively easy to fail when subjected to the rigors of the environment in which the firearms serve, or the firearms rely on a large amount of electrical energy in order use, requiring the user to carry a large and bulky battery negating any weight savings achieved by using a smaller round.
Therefore, there exist a need in the art for an electromagnetic-based firearm system that uses magnetic forces to accelerate a round through and out a barrel of a firearm and that overcomes the above-stated problems associated with prior art devices. Such a firearm system must be of relatively simple design and construction and must be relatively easy to use and not be prone to failure in the field even if handled in rough manner. The firearm system must be electrically stingy so as not to require a large amount of electricity to use so that a user is not required to maintain a large and bulky battery or other electrical source.
The rail gun system of the present invention addresses the aforementioned needs in the art. The rail gun system uses magnetic forces to accelerate a magnetically sensitive round, which round is case less, through and out a barrel of a firearm at a high velocity relative to a corresponding gunpowder-based firearm. The rail gun system is of relatively simple design and construction and is relatively easy to use. The rail gun system is not readily prone to failure in the field even during rough maneuvers. The rail gun system is electrically stingy in that it does not require a large amount of electricity to use relieving the user from having to maintain a large and bulky battery or other electrical source to power the rail gun system.
The rail gun system of the present invention is comprised of a body member and a firing chamber, having an inlet port and a discharge port, the firing chamber being attached to the body member. A pair of generally coextensive rails extends along a length of the firing chamber and are attached to the firing chamber in spaced-apart fashion. A plurality of wires, which may be made from copper or other appropriate conducting material, are provided and each wire passes through a respective one of the rails. At least one toroid magnet encompasses a first portion of the outer periphery of the rails while a solenoid magnet encompasses a second portion of the outer periphery of the rails, the solenoid magnet being disposed between the toroid magnet and the discharge port. An electrical source is electrically coupled to the wires, the toroid magnet and the solenoid magnet. A trigger is attached to the body member for selectively establishing electrical communication between the source of electricity and the wires, the toroid magnet and the solenoid magnet. The electrical source comprises a battery such as a lithium ion battery, which is rechargeable. The rails, the toroid magnet, and the solenoid magnet are each made from a permanent magnet, advantageously a rare earth permanent magnet such as NdFeB or SmCo. A caseless round is fired from the firing chamber such that the round is placed into the inlet port and is accelerated by the rails, the toroid magnet and the solenoid magnet and is thereafter discharged through the discharge port. The round is made from an appropriate magnetically sensitive material such as aluminum and can have C-4 explosive disposed within the round. A loading mechanism is provided for loading a round into the firing chamber through the inlet port whenever the round within the firing chamber is discharged. The loading mechanism can be configured to discontinue electrical communication between the electrical source and the rails, the toroid magnet and the solenoid magnet as the loading mechanism loads the round into the firing chamber, requiring articulation of the trigger to reestablish the electrical communication. A sight scope can be attached to the body member.