Ares, Inc.

Joseph L Siech

Steven R Underwood

An externally powered automatic gun or cannon system includes a gun with a pivoting chamber, a shell supply and a shell indexer and a shell rammer for feeding shells from the supply into the gun chamber for firing. Fluid pressure actuators are connected for operating the gun chamber, shell indexer and shell rammer and sensors are provided for sensing extreme operating positions thereof. Timing means are responsive to the sensors for determining lengths of operating times. Electronic control means, responsive to the sensors and timing means, control, on a step-by-step basis, operation of the actuators and firing apparatus according to a pre-established sequence of operational steps causing the automatic loading and firing of the automatic gun. Proceeding from one step of the sequence to the next step is conditioned on preselected ones of the gun working parts monitored by the sensors being in positions required by a pre-established position schedule and their operating times being within limits allowed by a pre-established timing schedule. Also included are automatic manfunction indicating means and failure prediction means, the latter predicting the number of shells yet to be fired before an out-of-limit condition occurs.

Growing community of inventors

Oregon, OH, United States of America

Joseph L Siech