US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Robert Tani

Gregory C Burke

John Hirlinger

Christopher Csernica

An ammunition cartridge for a gun is optically initiated by a mechanism wholly within the cartridge case itself. The case has as optical primer initiation means producing light fluence to ignite an optical sensitive mix, which ignited optical sensitive mix may in turn ignite into a flashtube, and which ignited flashtube may in turn ignite a bed of propellant in said cartridge. The optical primer initiation means may be an LED, a laser diode, a VCSEL, or some other light emitting device in general. The cartridge optically initiated primer package is so sized and made electrically and mechanically seamlessly physically compatible with current ammunition cartridges such that these new cartridges are completely interchangeable. If the cartridge primer initiation means is of a percussion type, the cartridge is adapted to include an in-line piezoelectric crystal so that electrical power will be generated when the cartridge assembly is struck by a firing pin during percussion type operations; the power is then used to initiate the light emitting device.

Growing community of inventors

Roxbury, NJ, United States of America

Robert Tani