Patent ID: 8250987
Filing Date: 2012-08-28
Classification: F42B

Abstract:
1. A frangible kinetic energy ammunition round that comprises: a plurality of separate equal or engineered mass disks which are mounted between a base and a nose disk, said base having a solid cap thereon and a cylindrical cavity therein beyond the location of said solid cap, and all said disks and said nose disk having a central hole there through of diameter equal to said cylindrical cavity, said base and said nose disk having mass equal to that of a disk, and; each said disks and said base respectively having several equidistantly placed springs included on the back sides thereof, and several like recessed holes that are on the front side thereof and also on the front side of said nose disk, to receive said springs of a preceding adjacent disk, the depth of such recessed holes resulting in all the springs being in a state of compression in an assembled round, and; each said disks and said base respectively having several equidistant rectangular tabs included on the back sides thereof, which are sized to fit into several matching equidistant slots found on the front side of each adjacent disk, and also on the front side of the nose disk, which mate to provide adequate torque transfer surfaces between the stack of disks, base, and nose disk during spin up in the launching of the round, and wherein said base has a slip band obturator thereon enables the assembled round to spin upon firing through a rifled barrel, and a plurality of wires of shape memory alloy material, said wires attached on the inside of the base cylindrical cavity and elongating through the central hole of each disk and the central hole of said nose disk, whereupon the wires are bent over at the distal side of said nose disk, and which wires hold together the assembled round in spring and disk compressed state, and; whereupon heating of the bent wires in flight due to air drag after a predetermined amount of heating causes the wires to change shape and lose hold of the round, causing the disks to be released under spring decompression.