Bullet trap
First Claim
1. A bullet trap for catching and deenergizing projectiles fired along a substantially horizontal path of flight into the trap from manual firearms not more powerful than a 0.44 Magnum handgun, which trap includes a first pair spaced flat plates located on opposite sides of said path of flight and a second pair of spaced flat plates arranged transverse to said first plates on opposite sides of said path of flight, with said plates defining the respective sides of a passageway having at its front end an entrance opening and at its rear end a throat through which the projectiles can pass, and a spent projectile decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber the circumferential boundary wall of which is of generally spiral configuration and the opposite end walls of which are constituted by portions of said second plates, with said passageway communicating with said chamber substantially tangentially of the latter through said throat;
- the improvement comprising that;
(a) said first plates (i) are located, respectively, above and below said path of flight and (ii) are oriented at respective angles of inclination of between 0° and
about 15°
to the horizontal; and
(b) said decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber has a substantially horizontal axis between said opposite end walls, and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber is defined by a curved extension of the lower one of said first plates, (i) an initial part of said circumferential boundary wall extending from said throat generally rearwardly of said passageway first at an inclination to the horizontal substantially the same as that of said lower first plate and then arcuately upwardly relative thereto, (ii) a middle part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said initial part generally frontwardly of said passageway first upwardly and then downwardly, and (iii) a terminal part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said middle part downwardly and generally rearwardly of said passageway into substantially coplanar relation with the upper one of said first plates and having an end edge overlying the region of said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall contiguous to said lower first plate;
whereby a projectile fired into said passageway through said entrance opening along said path of flight and coming into contact with one of said first plates is deflected thereby through a small angle into a flight path running generally along the contacted first plate but out of contact therewith and ultimately passes through said throat of said passageway and impacts against said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at a relatively low angle so as not to be shattered thereby nor to damage the same, and the projectile then circumnavigates the chamber with gradually decreasing speed while in contact with said circumferential boundary wall until the energy of the projectile has been substantially dissipated, so that the spent projectile ultimately falls from said thermal part of said circumferential boundary wall over said end edge thereof onto said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall just rearwardly of said throat of said passageway and moves through said throat back into said passageway and along said lower first plate for removal from the trap.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bullet trap, for catching a projectile fired from a firearm not more powerful than a .44 Magnum handgun, includes a passageway which has an entrance opening and a shallow exit opening or throat, bounded by upper and lower flat plates inclined to the horizontal at an angle of between 0° and about 15°, and a generally spiral-walled spent projectile energy-dissipating chamber which has a horizontal axis and communicates substantially tangentially with the passageway through the throat. The chamber wall has an initial part which is an upwardly curving extension of the lower plate and a terminal part which is located at the rear end of the upper plate, and the angle of inclination of the plates ensures that the projectile enters the chamber at a relatively low angle to the initial part of the chamber wall and moves along the latter without being shattered or damaging the wall. When the spent projectile ultimately falls off the terminal wall part onto the initial wall part, it moves back through the throat into the passageway and then to a collecting location. The trap may be provided with a liquid lubricant spray system in the chamber to enable spent projectiles, together with any lead dust that may be generated, to be engulfed and flushed along the lower plate to the collecting location.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A bullet trap for catching and deenergizing projectiles fired along a substantially horizontal path of flight into the trap from manual firearms not more powerful than a 0.44 Magnum handgun, which trap includes a first pair spaced flat plates located on opposite sides of said path of flight and a second pair of spaced flat plates arranged transverse to said first plates on opposite sides of said path of flight, with said plates defining the respective sides of a passageway having at its front end an entrance opening and at its rear end a throat through which the projectiles can pass, and a spent projectile decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber the circumferential boundary wall of which is of generally spiral configuration and the opposite end walls of which are constituted by portions of said second plates, with said passageway communicating with said chamber substantially tangentially of the latter through said throat;
- the improvement comprising that;
(a) said first plates (i) are located, respectively, above and below said path of flight and (ii) are oriented at respective angles of inclination of between 0° and
about 15°
to the horizontal; and(b) said decelerating and energy-dissipating chamber has a substantially horizontal axis between said opposite end walls, and said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber is defined by a curved extension of the lower one of said first plates, (i) an initial part of said circumferential boundary wall extending from said throat generally rearwardly of said passageway first at an inclination to the horizontal substantially the same as that of said lower first plate and then arcuately upwardly relative thereto, (ii) a middle part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said initial part generally frontwardly of said passageway first upwardly and then downwardly, and (iii) a terminal part of said circumferential boundary wall extending arcuately from said middle part downwardly and generally rearwardly of said passageway into substantially coplanar relation with the upper one of said first plates and having an end edge overlying the region of said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall contiguous to said lower first plate; whereby a projectile fired into said passageway through said entrance opening along said path of flight and coming into contact with one of said first plates is deflected thereby through a small angle into a flight path running generally along the contacted first plate but out of contact therewith and ultimately passes through said throat of said passageway and impacts against said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall of said chamber at a relatively low angle so as not to be shattered thereby nor to damage the same, and the projectile then circumnavigates the chamber with gradually decreasing speed while in contact with said circumferential boundary wall until the energy of the projectile has been substantially dissipated, so that the spent projectile ultimately falls from said thermal part of said circumferential boundary wall over said end edge thereof onto said initial part of said circumferential boundary wall just rearwardly of said throat of said passageway and moves through said throat back into said passageway and along said lower first plate for removal from the trap. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
- the improvement comprising that;
Specification