Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This inventibn relates to charge-delivering projectiles which rup-
ture on hitting a target to release the charge carried by the projectile. Such
projectiles are used for example to control a crowd of people or a selected
individual, The charge carried by the projectile may be a nauseous sub-
stance or dye which when hitting the crowd causes the crowd to disperse,
Since such projectiles are usually directed at living targets, it is
essential that they do not cause any permanent or substantial damage to the
target. At the same time, they must be capable of easy rupture upon hitting
the target, and must be capable of being satisfactorily fired from a gun.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved charge-
delivering projectile which meets these required conditions,
According to the invention, the projectile has a hollow flexible body
for containing a charge, and the body has a rearwardly-tapering rear portion
with radially-projecting fins. The rear portion has weakened areas between
the fins which rupture when the projectile hits a target to cause the charge
to be released, The weakened areas are preferably formed by longitudinally-
extending grooves between the fins,
A sabot for the projectile includes a hollow body into which the
projectile can be inserted, The sabot body has a rearwardly-tapering rear
- 20 portion for supporting the weakened areas of the projectile during firing, The
rear sabot portion also has longitudinally-extending slots through which the
projectile fins project,
Since the weakened areas of the projectile are supported by the
sabot during firing, they can be made weaker than if they were not so
supported, and hence more easily rupturable upon hitting the target, Also,
the location of the weakened areas on a rear portion of the projectile pro-
vide better release of the projectile charge upon hitting the target, com-
pared to the known manner of providing weakened areas at the front of the
projectile in which case release of the charge may be obstructed by the
3 0 tar get its elf .
One errbodiment of the invention will now be described, by ~,vay of
example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:-
~og5~7~7
Figure 1 is a side view o~ a proj~ctile.
Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the projectile along the line2-2 of Figure 3,
Figure 3 is a front view of the projectile,
Figure 4 is a rear view of the projectile,
Figure 5 is a side view of a sabot for the projectile,
Figure 6 is a rear view of the sabot,
Figure 7 is a front view of the sabot,
Figure 8 is a sectional side view of the sabot along the line 8-8
10 of Figure 7,
Figure 9 is a side view of a pusher element, and
Figure 10 is a front view of the pusher element.
Figures 1 to 4 show a projectile 11 which is formed of a suitable
flexible material, such as neoprene, and has a hollow body formed by a
part-spherical nose portion 13 and a rearwardly-extending finned portion 13.
The rear annular edge 14 of the nose portion 12 is secured to the
front annular edge 15 of the finned portion 13 in a suitable manner. As show~,
the edge 14 of the nose portion 12 is of reduced diameter and fits within the
edge 15 of the finned portion 13. A suitable adhesive may be used to hold the
20 portions 12, 13 together. The nose portion lZ has a forward central aperture
16 which is closeable by a plug 17, the plug 17 being shaped to snap into
engagelnent with the wall of the aperture 16. Thus, the hollow pro jectile
body can be filled with a suitable nauseous substance or dye through the
aperture 1 6.
From the front annular edge 15, the finned portion 13 tapers rear-
wardly almost to a point at its rear end 18, Four equally-angularly spaced
fins 19 project radially from the tapering part of the finned portion 13, The
radially-outer edges 20 of the fins 19 are parallel to the longitudinal axis of
the body, and are aligned with the front annular edge 15 so as to form a
30 rearward continuation thereof. The rear edges 21 of the fins 19 are perpen-
dicular to the longitudinal a~is of the body 11, and are aligned with the rear
end 18 of the finned portion 13.
The rearwardly-extending finned portion 13 has four longitudinally-
extending weakening grooves 22. Each groove 22 extends rearwardly from
adjacent the front annular edge 15 almost to the r,ear end 18, and is located
between a respective pair of fins 19 so as to be equally spaced therefrom.
Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, a sabot 23 is formed as a hollow
body shaped to receive the pro jectile 11, The sabot 23 has a forward cylin-
drical portion 24 with an open front end, and an internal diameter slightly
larger than the external diameter of the projectile 11. A rear portion 25
tapers rearwardly from the front portion 24 for the major part of its length,
10 and terminates in a short end portion 26 of constant diameter. The sabot 23
has four equally-angularly spaced, longitudinally-extending slots 27 which
extend through the tapering rear portion 25 and also extend part way into the
front portion 24 and the rear end portion 26, A longitudinally-extending cut
28 extends from the front end of each slot 27 to the front edge of the forward
portion 24,
The sabot 23 also has four equi-angularly spaced fins 29 which
projec,t radially from the rear portion 25 and end portion 26, Each fin 29
extends rearwardly from the front end of the rear portion 25 to the rear end
of the end portion 26, and is located between a respective pair of slots 27
20 so as to be equally spaced therefrom. The radially-outer edges 30 of the
sabot fins 29 are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sabot 23, and are
aligned with the forward portion 24 so as to form a rearward contimlation
thereof. The rear edges 31 of the sabot fins 29 are perpendicular to the
longitudinal axis of the sabot 23 and are aligned with the rear end of the end
portion 26, A concave recess 32 is formed at the junction of the radially-
outer edge 30 and the end edge 31 of each sabot fin 29 for a purpose which
will be described later,
A pusher element 33 is formed as a disc from one side of which
projects an annular peripheral rib 34, which is shaped to engage the rear
30 end of the sabot 23 with the rib 34 seating in the recesses 32 in the sabot
fins 29,
Before firing, the projectile 11 is inserted into the sabot 23 so that
--3--
...... . ~j ,,
,~95777
the projectile fins 19 project through the slots Z7. The rear portion 13 of
the projectile 11 engages and is therefore supported during firing by the
rear portion 25 of the sabot 23. In particular, the parts of the rear projectile
portion 13 having the weakening grooves 2~ are supported by the parts of the
rear sabot portion 25 carrying the fins 29. The fins 29 in part act as struc-
tural supports to prevent bowing of the rearwardly tapering section of the
sabot during launch.
The sabot 23, with the projectile 11 therein, is inserte~l into a gun
with the pusher element 33 in engagement with the rear end of the sabot,
10 When the gun is fired, the propulsive force is transmitted througk the pusher
element 33 to the sabot 23 and projectile 11. After leaving the gun, the pusher
element 33 falls away, as also then does the sabot 23, leaving the projectile
ll to follow its intended trajectory. On hitting the target, the projectile 11
fractures along the weakening grooves 22 to release the contained charge at
the target.
The sabot 23 falls away from the projectile 11, after leav~ng the gun,
because air pressure acting on the sabot 23 causes it to separate along the
cuts 28 and slots 27 into four petal-like segments with high air drag.
The positioning of the weakening grooves 22 at the rear of the pro-
20 jectile provides two advantages. Firstly, they are supported by the sabot
23 during firing, thus reducing the risk of the projectile 11 bursting open at
this stage, This also means that the weakening grooves 22 can be constructed
to open more readily on hitting the target, because of the reduced risk of
bursting upon firing. Thus, the projectile does not have to hit the target so
hard to cause release of the contained charge, thus reducing the risk of
injury to soft targets, for example human targets.
Secolldly, the contained charge can be more satisfactorily released
at the target, since the rear portion of the projectile is less likely to be
in contact w-ith the target than the front portion, ~vith consequent less risk of
30 the target itself obstructing release of the contained charge.
Further, the projectile fins 19 are not constrained by the sahot
during firing, and therefore are not distorted by the sabot at this st1ge, t}lUS
_4-
~t~95777
avoiding the occurrence of erratic flight characterishcs which would bc
caused by any such distortion.
It will also be noted that the described projectile has an efficient
aerodynamic shape, it is body stabiiiæed and can be fired from an unrifled
gun.
