Patent Publication Number: US-2003226554-A1

Title: Fire retardant guidance systems with fire extinguishing ammunition

Description:
PRIORITY  
     [0001] This application claims priority to, and incorporates by reference in its entirety, the United States Provisional Patent Application entitled Fire Retardant Guidance Gun, having a serial No. 60/316,214, filed Aug. 31, 2001. 
    
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] The present invention relates generally to fire rifle and fire ammunition, and more specifically it relates to a fire retardant guidance gun for an easier and safer method of fighting uncontrolled fires. The invention allows a firefighter to position a safe distance away from a fire, yet target a shot of ammunition that explodes upon impact and releases fire extinguishing foam.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] It can be appreciated that there are rifles and ammunition that have been in existence for some time. Typical use of a rifle is for lethal force in a time of siege, or for hunting game. However, another usage of a rifle is the recreational use of simulated war games where the rifle does not have lethal muzzle velocity, nor is the ammunition lethal when in the form of a commonly known “paint ball” (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,001,880, 5,254,379, et.al.).  
       [0004] In either stated usage, the intention has not been to make war on a fire that is out of control and consuming forests or structure(s). Yet, this application of a rifle has not been attempted in part because the ammunition has not been made adequate to the task of retarding the advance of a fire, or extinguishing a fire. Considerations for adequacy of the ammunition include having a sufficient amount of fire retardant/extinguishant for each round of ammunition fired into a targeted area, ammunition shells being biodegradable, as it is not reasonable to believe that they can be collected up from a fire ravaged area, and ammunition that can be stored and dropped without breaking, yet break open on impact to release on a desired target fire retardant/extinguishant.  
       [0005] Furthermore, although rifles have been adapted to the projecting of small paint balls, without the paint balls breaking upon launch out of the bore of a rifle, nonetheless no attempts have been made to adapt a rifle to have characteristics of being light weight, yet sufficiently powered to fire a large projectile (ammunition round) containing fire retardant/extinguishant without overpowering the projectile thereby compromising the projectile upon launch out of the rifle bore.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006] The general purpose of the present invention, which is described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new fire retardant/exstinguishant guidance gun that has many of the advantages of rifle directed ammunition that is designed to fight Class A fires. Slight adaptations can be made to the ammunition such that the ammunition can be safely and effectively be used on Class B and Class C fires, however for brevity which is not intended to be construed as limiting, this disclosure will confine the discussion to Class A firefighting.  
       [0007] A rifle directed ammunition used to extinguish a fire, or to retard the advancement of a fire, provides a new level of safety for firefighters, by allowing a further distance to exist between the fire and the firefighter. The ammunition is durable enough to be dropped, yet explode upon impact with the intended target.  
       [0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a fire retardant/exstinguishant guidance gun for an easier and safer method of fighting forest and structure fires by propelling fire fighting materials from a safe distance from a fire. The rifle is also lightweight in its design and materials, as one of its intended uses is to be carried potentially long distances in remote areas for fighting uncontrolled fires.  
       [0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a specialized, pre-made ammunition that alleviates any direct contact by a user of the chemicals used in the ammunition. Such ammunition explodes upon impact, spreading water-based foam onto an intended target such as the base of a flame, tree trunk, or an area designated as a fire break. This same ammunition can be stored safely, and dropped accidentally without breaking or exploding. The ammunition is approximately the size of a typical tennis ball, allowing for ease of storage and handling.  
       [0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide environmentally-friendly materials used in the fighting of a fire. This reduces the impact of cleaning up after a fire is extinguished in outdoor remote areas.  
       [0011] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.  
       [0012] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction nor to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.  
       [0013] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0014]FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating several elements of a preferred embodiment of a single shot rifle designed to fire off rounds of fire retardant/extinguishant.  
     [0015]FIG. 2 is a schematic of an alternative embodiment single shot rifle using fluid mechanics for ammunition propulsion exclusively.  
     [0016]FIG. 3 is a representation of preferred embodiment of a satchel designed to hold fire retardant/extinguishant rounds of ammunition, and hold magazines of rounds of fire retardant/extinguishant.  
     [0017]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a round of ammunition.  
     [0018]FIG. 5 is a schematic of an alternative embodiment single shot rifle.  
     [0019]FIG. 6 is a front view illustration of the rifle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION  
     [0020] A preferred embodiment of a rifle used for battling forest, brush, dwelling and generally Class A fires is shown in FIG. 1. The rifle is designed to allow a firefighter, and particularly “Hot Shot” crews, to fight a fire at a safe distance from a Class A fire. This safe distance is ideally approximately ten meters.  
     [0021] The user first pumps the thrust spring  20  back into a “loaded” position. This pumping action is caused by the user pulling back a pump handle  24  which is connected to a small hydraulic master/slave cylinder  22  configuration such that it assists in moving the thrust spring  20  back into position without the full effort normally required to compress a heavy thrust spring  20 . It is desired to use a spring  20  for thrust of the ammunition  400 , as a spring decompresses with sufficient force to launch the ammunition  400  a safe distance, and does this with a less forceful initial effort than other methods of propulsion. This lessens the initial impact to the ammunition  400 , minimizing the opportunity for the ammunition  400  to break upon initial thrust.  
     [0022] At this point, the chamber  30  is now opened to allow a single round of ammunition FIG. 4: 400  to be placed into the chamber  30 . The user loads a round of ammunition  400  into a chamber  30  against the catapult seat  34 . The chamber is then enclosed with a sliding action (not shown for reasons of simplicity) such that the chamber  30  is closed. It is desired to have the chamber  30  closed, to protect the ammunition and working parts of the rifle from dirt and other contaminants, and also to keep the ammunition from going in any other direction except through the barrel  60 . Additionally, a closed chamber  30  prevents accidental injury to the user, by keeping fingers or personal ornamentation out of the firing mechanism of the rifle.  
     [0023] The rifle is then raised to the user&#39;s shoulder, holding the pistol grip  40  with one hand, placing the butt stock  10  to the shoulder in a similar manner as one would shoot a traditional rifle. A target of the intended area for the fire retardant is lined up with the rear sight  75  and the front sight  70 . Placement of the pistol grip  40  is such that the rifle can be fired one handed if desired.  
     [0024] The trigger  50  is depressed in order to release the ammunition  400  at the intended target. As the ammunition travels down the barrel  60 , it develops a forward spin on the ammunition. The recoil of the ammunition leaving the barrel  60  is dampened somewhat by the suppressor/compensator  65  by forcing the air blast, created by the exiting ammunition  400 , to go off in several directions. Compensation is almost an essential item for smaller build users, however minimization of recoil from firing the rifle can be a matter of preference amongst users. Theoretically, there is no appreciable consequence to accuracy of the rifle whether the suppressor/compensator  65  is attached.  
     [0025] A major advantage of utilizing a hydraulically assisted thrust spring mechanism is that there are no expendables that a user would have to carry, if for example, the rifle were powered by a compressed gas cylinder. However, there may be situations were the disadvantage of using compressed gases is minimized. For these situations, an alternative embodiment exists as shown in FIG. 2. A compressed gas cylinder  220  and simpler action  230  replaces the spring  20 , hydraulics  22 , and launch mechanics  32 ,  34  of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1. The ammunition FIG. 4: 400  comes in direct contact with the expended compressed gases through a port  240 . Given that there is a certain amount of compressability to a gas, the initial release of high pressure gases used for propulsion is somewhat gentle and therefore minimizes potential for damage of the ammunition  400  prior to impact with the intended target.  
     [0026] Still another embodiment of a firefighting rifle is shown in FIG. 5. Instead of a single shot rifle, an alternative embodiment can have a magazine  580  attached, such that more than one round of ammunition  400  can be stored. In this embodiment, a compressed gas cylinder  220  is contained between the stock bars  520 , and utilizing a similar launch mechanism as shown in FIG. 2, except that the compressed gas is released into a prechamber, with the gas being ignited to create the impulse needed to launch the ammunition  400  out of the rifle, similarly to the purpose of gun powder in a shotgun shell. The action and chamber  30  of the rifle operates similarly to a traditional rifle that has a magazine clip containing several rounds of ammunition, with a fresh round of ammunition semi-automatically being uploaded into the chamber upon firing of a previous round of ammunition  400 .  
     [0027] A front view of this alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 6, though the sighting system  75 ,  70  and the barrel  60  are essentially the same for all embodiments. The inside diameter  61  of the barrel  60  is sized to allow low friction passage of the ammunition  400  quickly through the barrel  60 . Special machining is done to the bottom inside surface  63  of the barrel  60  to induce a forward spin of the ammunition  400  as it travels through the barrel  60 . The forward spin is encouraged to improve the accuracy of a shot by reducing if not eliminating any side rotation such as that experienced by a golfer&#39;s hook or slice. A rifle can be “sighted” (corrected) for excessive but consistent drop in a shot, but correcting for a hook or slice is much more difficult. The composition of the barrel  60  is preferably composed of a high impact plastic contributing overall to a lightweight design rifle.  
     [0028] The barrel is composed of a high impact plastic in order to greatly reduce the amount of weight of the rifle. While the rifle can be used by urban firefighting crews to limit the spread of fires, the rifle is also intended to be used by firefighting crews in remote areas where a fire may be raging out of control. Firefighting in remote areas entails carrying all of the tools used for firefighting to the fire which can potentially be great distances. It is under these circumstances that the rifle&#39;s lightweight design, not exceeding three kilograms, can best be appreciated. The sighting system is also composed of plastic to further reduce weight, and also minimize the chance of the sighting system getting bent out of position.  
     [0029] Ammunition  400  is stored in a special satchel  300  as illustrated in FIG. 3. The satchel  300  is designed to hold either individual rounds of ammunition  400 , or magazines of ammunition  580 , or both within the same satchel  300  should the need arise. An adjustable sling  320  is attached to the satchel  300  to allow the user to hold up to  20  rounds of ammunition  400 . A flap  310  is integrated into the construction of the satchel  300 , to minimize UV light exposure to the ammunition  400 . The flap  310  covers the opening of the satchel  300  and is secured in place to a strip of Velcro™ on a side of the satchel  300 .  
     [0030] The cross-section of the preferred ammunition  400  is shown in FIG. 4. A round of ammunition  400  is constructed of concentric spheres. The contents of the inner sphere  440  is a mixture of water and a surfactant. This mixture  440  makes an effective foam to retard or extinguish a fire, though usually this embodiment is more to retard the spread of a fire that is out of control. Foam has been proven to be an effective means of fighting a fire by smothering the fire of oxygen, and reducing heat. Furthermore, when used as a retardant, an advancing fire is deprived of fuel.  
     [0031] The outer sphere contains a stronger pH acid  420  in powder form used to react with the slightly basic water/surfactant  440  to create foaming bubbles when the contents of the inner sphere  440  come in contact with the contents of the outer sphere  420 . The outer shell  410  of the round of ammunition  400  is designed to withstand an impact caused by dropping the round  400  from a distance of approximately two meters at sea level, yet break on impact caused by propulsion from a rifle at a distance of approximately ten meters. This feature provides a level of safety, as the user does not come in direct contact with chemicals, as is the case with some firefighting foam application methods.  
     [0032] Both the outer shell  410  and the inner shell  430  are composed of a material that decomposes in the presence of UV light, something very desirable of a round of ammunition  400  that can be used against a forest fire. The shells would be left and require cleaning up if they did not decompose on their own.  
     [0033] Ideally and preferably, a round of ammunition  400  is the approximate size of a typical tennis ball (˜6-8 cm diameter), and will cover from one/half to one square meter of area, depending upon the amount of spray created by the foaming action of the reacting chemicals  440 ,  420  and the impact of the round  400  against the intended target.  
     [0034] Alternatively, a round that is closer to a typical softball in size (˜11-13 cm diameter) is better launched from a cross bow type of device as opposed to the preferred embodiment of using a rifle to launch a round of ammunition  400 . A rifle made larger to accommodate such a large round of ammunition would become too heavy and unwieldy for Hot Shot crew members to hike for potentially long distances in order to fight a forest fire. The mass of a larger round  400  is such that it can be best controlled and launched from a device that utilizes a sling shot type method of propulsion.  
     [0035] The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirits and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.