Rheinmetall Industrie Aktiengesellschaft

Rheinmetall Gmbh

Rheinmetall Industrie Gmbh

Manfred Lubben

Stefan Thiesen

Dieter Jungbluth

Wolfram Witt

Walter Simon

Gunter Frye

Helmut Ortmann

Rainer Bohm

A propellant charge igniter for cartridge ammunition, includes an ignition tube; and a transfer charge disposed within the ignition tube, wherein the ignition tube is composed of a jacket tube having defined therein a plurality of ignition openings; and a protective tube which is positioned within the jacket tube so that the outside wall of the protective tube rests flush against the inside wall of the jacket tube and covers the plurality of ignition openings, which is thin-walled and has a wall thickness ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.8 mm, which is arranged to effectively protect the transfer charge against adverse external environmental influences including humidity, and which is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of glass, oxide ceramic material, glass ceramic material, metal or metal alloy, and plastic. This arrangement provides a reliable sealing of the transfer charge against external environmental influences over a long time period, e.g., at least 10 years, even if handled roughly.

Propellant charge igniter

A propellant igniter assembly includes a housing having ignition channels for the passage of an ignition flame through the housing; an igniter part accommodated in the housing; and a booster part accommodated in the housing and frontally adjoining the igniter part. The booster part has a booster charge which includes a first partial booster charge adjoining the igniter part and composed of a readily ignitable substance and a second partial booster charge adjoining the first partial booster charge and being separated thereby from the igniter part. The second partial booster charge entirely obturates all the ignition channels. The second partial booster charge has a burning behavior and a mechanical stability such that the ignition channels remain obturated for a short duration even after ignition of the second partial booster charge, whereby a firing impact is first retained in the booster part and is subsequently abruptly released in a concentrated form through the ignition channels.

Propellant igniter assembly having a multi-zone booster charge

An igniting system for a projectile propellant includes a combustible support tube having an outer surface and an inner surface; a plurality of throughgoing apertures provided in the support tube; a free igniting channel coaxially surrounded by the support tube; and an ignition transfer charge formed of a pyrotechnical hard foam layer having a thickness between 1 and 3 mm and being carried on the outer surface of the support tube. The hard foam layer is composed of a large-pore inner layer and two opposite surface layers which are of densely closed structure and between which the inner layer is sandwiched.

Propellant igniting system and method of making the same

A protective surface coating for ammunition having no cartridge casing and ammunition having a combustible cartridge casing. A body of highly porous nitrocellulose is permeated from the outside with a polymer carried by a solvent to form a binder for the body. A layer of metal platelets containing airpockets is bound to the body with a binding polymer. The metal platelets are covered with an outer coating of a rapidly curing resin. The protective coating is used to prevent the penetration of moisture into the porous cartridge casing or into the powder mass itself and to provide improved stability to heat and flames.

Growing community of inventors

Celle, Germany

Manfred Lubben