Weather modification automatic cartridge dispenser

A weather modification cartridge dispenser for automatically igniting and spensing pyrotechnic weather modification rounds wherein the dispenser is basically a motor driven automatic spring powered gun.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a cartridge dispenser for automatically igniting 
and dispensing pyrotechnic weather modification round. The rounds are 
dispensed from an aircraft at rates up to one per second. 
Ordinarly, pyrotechnic rounds are carried aboard an aircraft into or over a 
cloud formation and dispensed into the clouds to cause precipitation from 
the cloud. 
2. Description of the Prior Art. 
Previously, pyrotechnic rounds where dispensed from external racks aboard 
aircraft which carried 52 rounds. Alternate methods of dispensing 
pyrotechnics, are to fire individual pyrotechnic rounds from pistols or 
burn flares on supports attached externally of the aircraft. However, a 
current requirement is for the aircraft to be capable of dispensing 4,000 
rounds from a single aircraft. There are no known prior art dispensors 
available which will handle the large number of required rounds. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention comprises a cartridge dispenser which automatically ignites 
and dispenses pyrotechnic weather modification rounds. The rounds are 
dispensed from an aircraft at rates up to one per second. The complete 
system consists of three main components. They are the dispenser, the 
magazine and the barrel complete with firing pin. Only the barrel is 
permanently secured to the aircraft. The dispenser mechanism is removably 
mounted to the aircraft and the magazines are loaded into the dispenser 
and depleted during flight.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBOIDMENT 
The dispenser is basically a motor driven automatic spring powered gun 
which is capable of firing rates of from 20 to 100 rounds per minute. With 
respect to FIG. 1, a motor 10 is secured to a base plate 11. The base 
plate 11 also supports a vertical support 12 which carries an upper 
support 13 and lower support 14. 
Carried by the upper and lower supports 13 and 14 respectively is a 
cylinder like member 15 which is slotted as at 16. Carried within the 
cylinder 15 is a crosshead 17, nylon crosshead bushing 18 and a cocking 
arm 19. 
Connected to the motor 10 is a crank 20 which in turn is connected to the 
crosshead 17 by means of a rod and bearing assembly 21. Also connected to 
the motor 10 is a magazine advance cam 22 which in turn is connected to a 
magazine advance dog 23 by means of suitable pins. 
Also connected to the base plate 11, is a magazine track 24 and directly 
above the magazine track is a magazine detent 26 which holds a magazine in 
postion when the magazine is attached to the track. 
Upper support 13 and lower support 14 also carry a barrel 28 in which a 
nylon ejector rod 30 recipicates. The ejector rod is notched at its upper 
end to cooperate with a sear 44 which is shown in FIG. 2. Surrounding 
barrel 28, is a shock absorber spring 32. 
Also shown in FIG. 1, is a spring member 34 which terminates in a loop that 
projects into the ejection tube to prevent rounds from falling through the 
tube due to air pressure differential inside and outside the aircraft. 
FIG. 2 shows more details of the dispenser wherein a magazine and barrel 
support 36 is shown attached to the base plate 11. Attached to the 
magazine and barrel support 36 is detent spring 38 and detent spring 
adjust 39. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the cocking arm 19 bears on spring bar 40. The cocking 
arm 19 is connected to the crosshead 17. Also connected to the spring bar 
40, are ejection springs 41. The ejection springs 41 are connected between 
the base plate 11 and the spring bar 40 to cause the ejector rod to move 
downwardly when the ejector rod is triggered. 
Also shown in FIG. 2, is trip rod 42 which is connected at its upper end to 
sear 44 which in turn pivots about pivot 45. 
FIG. 3 shows the remaining details of the dispenser wherein crosshead 
cylinder 15 is shown supported by the upper and lower support members 13 
and 14 respectively. Also shown, is a slot 47 in the barrel 28 in which 
the spring bar 40 reciprocates. 
Cam follower 48 rides on the magazine advance cam 22. Also connected to the 
magazine advance cam, is trigger 49 which in turn is connected to base 
plate 11 through trigger spring 50. 
FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate details of the magazine adapted for use with the 
dispenser. FIG. 4 is 9 plan view of the magazine partly cut away to show 
rounds 52 in position in bins, one of which is indicated at 53. Each of 
the bins is adapted to hold 19 rounds, each round being 5 inches long and 
1/2 inch in diameter. The individual rounds are fed sequentially into the 
barrel of the dispenser by means of a spring loaded pressure plate 54. The 
pressure plate is loaded by a spring 55 shown in FIG. 5. A magazine 
advance dog 56 forms a portion of the pressure plate 54. 
Also shown in FIG. 4, is retainer 57 which covers the bins 53. The retainer 
57 is adapted to engage the magazine and barrel support 36 at the right 
side thereof with respect to FIG. 2 when the magazine is loaded onto the 
dispenser. 
The magazine is held in place on the magazine track 24 by means of guides 
58, shown in FIG. 5. 
The dispenser barrel and firing pin are shown in FIG. 6 wherein barrel 60 
is mounted at one end to the aircraft floor 61 by means of a dispenser 
mounting plate 62. The other end of the barrel protrudes through the 
aircraft fuselage and has a link 64 adjacent that end which carries firing 
pin 65. Firing pin 65 is held in firing position by means of a resilient 
spring 66. 
Operation. 
Rotational motion of the motor output shaft from motor 10 is converted to 
translational motion in the crosshead 17. Cocking arm 19 attached to the 
crosshead acts on the spring bar 40 to elevate the ejector rod 30 to 
cocked position. The ejector rod 30 is elevated as the crank rotates from 
its lower to upper position (180.degree. rotation). Elevation of the 
spring bar 40 results in loading of the ejection springs 41. 
As the ejector rod is elevated to its upper most position, the sear 44 is 
forced into the retracted position by cam action between the ejector rod 
30 and sear 44. The sear acts through the trip rod 42 to lower the trigger 
49 which compresses the trigger spring 50. 
When the ejector rod 30 nears it upper most travel, the trigger spring 
expands, elevating the trigger 49, which elevates the trip rod 42, which 
rotates the sear 44 about the pivot point 45 into the ejector rod detent. 
As the crank then rotates from its upper most to lower most position, the 
crosshead 17 and cocking arm 19 translate to their lowest position. The 
ejector rod 30 is maintained in the upper most position by the sear 44. 
As the crank nears its lowest position, the cam follower 48 engages the 
trigger 49 thereby depressing it. Depressing the trigger removes the sear 
from the ejector rod detent through the action of the trip rod 42. As sear 
44 clears the detent, the ejector rod 30 is accelarated downward by action 
of the ejection springs 41 through the spring bar 40. 
As the ejector rod 30 nears its lowest position, the spring bar 40 contacts 
the shock absorber 30 which brings the spring bar and ejector rod to rest 
in the final 0.5 inch of travel. Further rotation of the crank releases 
the trigger 49, allowing the sear 44 to return to the detent position. 
This completes the cocking and ejection cycle of the dispenser. This cycle 
is repeated with each rotation of the crank. Each time the ejector rod 30 
is drawn up, a round is forced into the chamber below the ejector rod. The 
round is expelled at 30 to 50 feet per second by the falling ejector rod. 
Also included in the dispenser, is a mechanism for automatically advancing 
the magazine. As the crank 20 rotates from its lower to its upper most 
position, the cam follower 48 contacts the magazine advance cam 22 causing 
it to rotate about its support shaft. The magazine advance cam 22 is 
connected to the magazine advance dog 23 through a shaft which is free to 
rotate. The magazine advance cam 22 is designed such that it rotates the 
advance dog at constant positive acceleration during the first half of its 
travel and constant negative acceleration during the second half. Thus, 
the advance dog 23 goes smoothly from rest to maximum rotational velocity 
at the midpoint then slows to a stop at its extreme travel. Dog 23 is 
returned to the starting position in a similar fashion by the cam 22. This 
cycle is repeated with each rotation (360.degree.) of the crank 20. 
The magazine consits of 16 spring loaded bins each containg 19 rounds. The 
rounds are 5 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter. The rounds are 
sequencially fed from each magazine bin, such as at 53, into the 
dispenser. When one bin is depleted, the magazine is automatically 
advanced to the next bin. 
Each magazine bin, such as at 53, contains a spring 55 which acts upon the 
pressure plate 54 which in turn forces the rounds from the bin. The rounds 
are held in place within the bin by means of the moveable retainer 57 
which closes the lower end of the magazine. Each pressure plate is equiped 
with a magazine advance dog 56. 
The magazine is loaded by inverting it and depressing the pressure plate 54 
by means of the advance dog 56. The bin is then filled with rounds and the 
retainer is engaged so that the filled bin is covered. This procedure is 
repeated until all bins are full. One precaution is that the round must be 
loaded in the magazine, primer end down. Correct loading may be verified 
by viewing the rounds through the advance dog slots after loading. The two 
ends of the rounds are made such that they are of different colors and one 
round in backwards will stand out. The advance dog slot in the side of 
each bin is placed to one side such that the primers are not exposed. 
In operation, the magazine is slid into the dispenser track 24 until the 
first bin is over the dispenser breech. The retainer 57 is held by the 
magazine and barrel support 12 such that the bin over the breech is 
automatically uncovered. The magazine detent 26 holds the magazine in 
place. 
When the dispenser ejector rod 30 is elevated, a round is forced from the 
magazine into the breech of the barrel 28. When the ejector rod is 
released, the round is expelled at 30 to 50 feet per second. This sequence 
is repeated until all 19 rounds are expended from a bin. 
As the last round of a bin is chambered, the advance dog on the magazine 
falls in line with the advance dog on the dispenser. Rotation of the 
dispenser crank actuates the magazine advance cam 22 thereby rotating the 
dispenser advance dog 23 which advances the magazine to the next bin. This 
sequence is repeated until all rounds are expended from the magazine. The 
magazine is then removed and replaced by a full one. 
Now with respect to FIG. 6, the barrel assembly guides the round from the 
dispenser through the external skin 63 of the aircraft and onto the firing 
pin 65. Ignition occurs as the round strikes the firing pin 65. The firing 
pin 65 is pivoted and spring loaded by spring 66 such that when struck by 
a round it rotates out of the way, allowing the round to pass. A foot 68 
on the firing pin imparts a spin to the round about the transverse axis. 
The spin is required to stabilize the round in a tumbling mode while 
falling. This will insure a uniform decent rate for all rounds dispensed. 
The firing pin is returned to the ready position by return spring 66. The 
mass of the firing pin is adjusted to provide sufficient kinetic energy to 
fire the round primer. 
The present system provides a means of dispensing a large number of 
pyrotechnic items from an aircraft. The expelling force is a spring 
thereby eliminating the need for an explosive expelling charge. Thus, 
there is no extraneous material left over after a round is expelled such 
as cartridge cases or link belts. 
In addition, the barrel is not fouled by an expelling charge and no 
explosives or pyrotechnics are ignited inside the aircraft. Also, the 
magazines may be reloaded in the field without special equipment and 
elimination of a cartridge case and expelling charge greatly reduces the 
cost of the round. 
The dispenser is applicable to other airborne requirements where numerous 
small items are to be dispensed, such as for instance, chaff rounds.