The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 02, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 23, 1999
Joseph E. Tepera, Lindsay, TX (US);
James A. Henderson, Duncanville, TX (US);
Raytheon Company, Lexington, MA (US);
Abstract
An obturator is provided for a projectile launched from a gun barrel. The projectile has a mid-body annular groove that includes a shaped surface. The obturator includes an annular ring having an inner surface in contact with the shaped surface of the annular groove of the projectile. The annular ring further includes an outer surface. When the projectile is in the gun barrel, the outer surface of the annular ring contacts an inner surface of a bore of the gun barrel. The radial distance between the inner surface and the outer surface of the annular ring substantially equals or exceeds the radial distance between the shaped surface of the annular groove and the inner surface of the bore of the gun barrel at at least one point when the projectile is positioned in the barrel. This feature restricts a flow of charge gases from an aft end of the projectile to a forward end of the projectile when the projectile is launched from the gun barrel.