Subsonic ammunition casing

• US 9,395,165 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2015
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Make-Up Art Cosmetics Incorporated (The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Make-Up Art Cosmetics Incorporated (The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.)
• Inventors: Maljkovic, Nikica, Gibbons, Joe Paul Jr., Bosarge, John Francis Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bergin, James S
• Application Number:
  US14/876,480
• Publication Number:
  US 20160025464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 287 Days
• Field of Search: 102/464, 102/465, 102/466, 102/467, 102/469, 102/470, 102/447
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 33/10 Reconditioning used cartridge cases F42B33/004 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 5/26 Cartridge cases F42B5/18 takes precedence ; manufacturing of cartridge cases B21K21/04
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 5/30 of plastics , i.e. the cartridge-case tube is of plastics
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 5/307 formed by assembling several elements
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 5/34 with provision for varying the length

Abstract

A subsonic ammunition cartridge casing having an engineered internal volume designed to allow for the introduction of precisely the amount of propellant necessary at precisely the desired location to reproducibly produce the desired projectile velocity and internal pressure is provided. The subsonic shell casing has an engineered internal propellant cavity built into the internal body of the casing itself that does not necessarily depend on the introduction of a separate volume reducing device such as tubing, filler, foam filler and the like. This ensures the integrity of the case, does not result in anything being expelled through the muzzle of the weapon other than the projectile, does not have any burning or combusting components, allows for very precise control of the internal volume and thus chamber pressure, and is economical to produce.

Claims

1. A method of reusing a subsonic ammunition article comprising:

providing a casing defining a generally cylindrical hollow body having a metallic cap at a first end thereof and a caselet at a second end thereof, the caselet having a proximal end defining a body region and a distal end defining a neck region, wherein the cap is interconnected with the proximal end of said caselet such that the casing at least partially encloses an internal cavity, and wherein the outer diameter of the caselet narrows from a first diameter at the body region to a second diameter at the neck region, the article having at least one propellant chamber disposed within the internal cavity of the casing, the propellant chamber having an open internal volume that is at least 20% reduced in comparison to the open internal volume of a standard casing of identical caliber, the casing further having a propellant disposed and confined within said propellant chamber and a primer disposed at the first end of said casing in combustible communication with said propellant, wherein the caselet and the propellant chamber at least partially comprise a polymeric material, and wherein the ratio of the minimum thickness of the wall of the body region of the caselet to the average wall thickness of the neck region of the ammunition casing is greater than 3;

firing the ammunition article; and

discarding the fired polymeric caselet, retaining the fired metallic cap and attaching a new polymeric caselet to the existing metallic cap.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cap and casing are threadingly interconnected.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the headspace of the ammunition article is adjusted by rotating the threads clockwise and/or counterclockwise until a desired headspace distance is reached.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said polymeric material additionally comprises at least one additive selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, lubricants, molding agents, fillers, thermo-oxidative stabilizers, flame-retardants, coloring agents, compatibilizers, impact modifiers, release agents, reinforcing fibers.

5. The method according to claim 1, additionally comprising one or more projectiles fitted in the second end.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the projectile is secured to the casing by an interconnection selected from the group consisting of mechanical interference, adhesive, ultrasonic welding, the combination of molding in place and adhesive, and hot crimping after the act of molding.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polyphenylsulfone, polycarbonate, and polyamide.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric material comprises a translucent or transparent polymer.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the polymeric material comprises a polymeric material possessing a glass transition temperature of less than 250°

C.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the space defined between the outer wall of the caselet and the wall of the propellant chamber is formed of a solid material.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the space defined between the outer wall of the caselet and the wall of the propellant chamber includes one of either voids or ribs.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the propellant chamber comprises multiple separate internal volumes each in combustible communication with the primer.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the propellant chamber has a radial cross-section selected from the group consisting of circular, ovoid, octagonal, hexagonal, triangular, and square.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the radial cross-section of the propellant chamber is irregular along its longitudinal length.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the radial size of the propellant chamber tapers along its longitudinal direction.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the propellant chamber is formed of a separate restrictor body disposed within the internal cavity of the casing, and wherein the caselet and restrictor body are formed from one of either different polymeric materials or the same polymeric material.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the propellant chamber and caselet are formed of a single integral caselet body, and wherein the single integral caselet body is manufactured from two or more polymeric materials in one of either a blend mixture or distinct layers.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the cap and the single integral caselet body are joined using one of either a snap fit or threads.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the propellant chamber, caselet and cap are of a single integral casing body, and where the single integral casing body is manufactured from two or more polymeric materials in one of either a blend mixture or distinct layers.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein a metallic component is used to separate the primer from the other components of the case.