US20250137761A1

US20250137761A1 - Firearm sound suppression device

Info

Publication number: US20250137761A1
Application number: US18/384,504
Authority: US
Inventors: Scott Bell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2023-10-27
Filing date: 2023-10-27
Publication date: 2025-05-01

Abstract

A firearm sound suppression system may include, but is not limited to: a tubular body portion defining an entry aperture and an exit aperture; one or more baffles disposed inside the tubular body portion at locations along the length of the tubular body portion, the one or more baffles including: a central aperture, wherein the entry aperture, the one or more baffles, and the exit aperture are co-aligned to form a bore through the firearm sound suppression device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of suppressing the blast created when a firearm discharges, thereby reducing the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report by modulating the speed and pressure of the ejecta gas released from the muzzle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous advantages of the disclosure may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 4 shows a front view of a baffle of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a baffle of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 6 shows front views of baffles of a firearm sound suppression device in various relative rotational states;

FIG. 7 shows front views of baffle through-channels of a firearm sound suppression device in various relative rotational states;

FIG. 8A shows side views of baffle through-channels of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 8B shows top views of baffle through-channels of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 9 shows an enlarged view of porous structures forming baffles of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 10 shows an enlarged view of porous structures forming baffles of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 11 shows an enlarged view of porous structures forming baffles of a firearm sound suppression device;

FIG. 12 shows an enlarged view of porous structures forming baffles of a firearm sound suppression device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure has been particularly shown and described with respect to certain embodiments and specific features thereof. The embodiments set forth herein are taken to be illustrative rather than limiting. It should be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the subject matter disclosed, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Referring generally to FIGS. 1 through 12 , examples generally directed to a firearm sound suppression device 100 are presented.
Referring to FIGS. 1-3 , a firearm sound suppression device 100 is shown. The firearm sound suppression device 100 may be generally cylindrical in shape having a first end 101 and a second end 102. The first end 101 may define an entry aperture 103 configured to be affixed to a muzzle 104 of a firearm 105. For example, the entry aperture 103 may define a threaded interior surface 106 configured to engage a threaded exterior surface 107 of the muzzle 104. A firearm projectile 108 may enter the firearm sound suppression device 100 from the muzzle 104 via entry aperture 103. The second end 102 may define an exit aperture 109. The firearm projectile 108 may exit the firearm sound suppression device 100 via the exit aperture 109. The second end 102 may define one or more pressure release ports 110 configured to allow for a release of pressure internal to the firearm sound suppression device 100 associated with the firing of the firearm projectile 108.
An exterior surface 111 of a tubular body portion 112 of the firearm sound suppression device 100 may include one or more heat radiating surfaces 113 (e.g., fins, channels, and the like) configured to provide increased surface area to facilitate cooling of the firearm sound suppression device 100 during operation. In another embodiment, and as further described below, the tubular body portion 112 of the firearm sound suppression device 100 (and in some cases, the entirety of the firearm sound suppression device 100) may be constructed from a porous material having a plurality of pores forming a system of channels from an interior of the firearm sound suppression device 100 through the tubular body portion 112.
Referring to FIG. 3 , a cross-sectional view of the firearm sound suppression device 100 is shown. The firearm sound suppression device 100 may include one or more baffles 114 disposed at periodic positions along the length of the tubular body portion 112 of the firearm sound suppression device 100. The baffles 114 may including one or more surface and/or internal structures configured to redirect and/or dissipate the expanding ejecta gas resulting from firing of the firearm projectile 108. Each of the baffles 114 may include a co-aligned central aperture 115 through their centers so as to define a bore 116 configured to allow entry and exit of a firearm projectile 108.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5 , each of the baffles 114 may have a first surface 117 oriented generally towards the entry aperture 103 and a second surface 118 oriented generally towards the exit aperture 109. A shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 . The first surface 117 may be a multi-faceted surface including multiple ridges 119 and valleys 120 defining a plurality of uniform pyramidal subunits 121. In one example, one or more ridges 119A may extend radially from the central aperture 115 and be angled at least partially towards the entry aperture 103 before terminating in an adjacent face 122. The adjacent face 122 may angle away from the entry aperture 103 before terminating in an interior surface 123 of the tubular body portion 112 of the firearm sound suppression device 100. While described above with respect to a configuration providing a plurality of 3-sided pyramidal subunits 121, the system of ridges 119 and valleys 120 may be extensible to other regular or irregular pyramidal subunits 121 having alternate configurations (e.g., 4-sided, 5-sided . . . n-sided) without departing from the scope of the present disclosures.
The pyramidal subunits 121 may each occupy a circular sector of a baffle 114. The pyramidal subunits 121 may uniformly distributed about the central aperture 115. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , each baffle 114 may have eight (8) uniform pyramidal subunits 121 each occupying a 45° circular sector disposed radially around the central aperture 115.
While shown in FIG. 3 as each of baffles 114A-F having a generally common rotational orientation (e.g., as along axis A-A shown in FIG. 4 ), in another example, the baffles 114 may be progressively rotated to further redirect and/or dissipate the expanding ejecta gas. As shown in FIG. 3 , a firearm sound suppression device 100 may include six (6) baffles 114. To ensure that none of the baffles 114 has the same rotational orientation as another, thereby reducing the chances of any pattern forming in the ejecta gas and reducing the sound suppression characteristics, each baffle 114 may be rotated relative to the prior baffle 114 by an amount equal to a proportional distribution of the size of the circular sector divided by the number of baffles 114. As shown in FIG. 6 , in an example where there are eight (8) pyramidal subunits 121 in each baffle 114, each occupying a 45° circular sector, and there are six (6) baffles 114, each baffle 114 may be rotated relative to the prior baffle 114 by 7.5° (i.e., 45° divided by six (6) baffles 114) relative to the prior baffle 114 such that the respective rotational orientations of baffles 114A-F are at: 0°, 7.5°, 15°, 22.5°, 30°, and 37.5°.
Further, additional rotational orientations are contemplated such that no baffle 114 has the same rotational orientation as another baffle 114 such as back-and-forth (e.g., 0°, 15°, 7.5°, 30°, 22.5°, and 37.5°), or exponential progression (e.g., 0.71°, 1.43°, 2.86°, 5.71°, 11.4°, and 22.9°). Still further, one or more baffles 114 may have a corresponding rotational orientation (e.g., 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 75° and 90° where the 0°, 45°, and 90° rotations are the same; 0°, 22.5°, 45°, 67.5°, 90°, 112.5° where the 22.5°, 67.5° and 112.5° as well as the 0°, 45°, and 90° rotations are the same).
Referring to FIG. 7 , the baffles 114 of the firearm sound suppression device 100 may further include one or more through-channels 124 (e.g., arcuate through-channels having openings disposed circumferentially around the central aperture 115) between an opening in the first surface 117 of a baffle 114 and an opening in the second surface 118 of the baffle 114 which may provide additional pathways for ejecta gas through the baffles 114 thereby further disrupting/dissipating the flow of that ejecta gas. In one example, each baffle 114 may contain four through-channels 124 uniformly distributed about the central aperture 115. Each through-channel 124 may have 2 to 3 side branches internal to the baffles 114.
Similar to the varying rotational configurations of baffles 114 as described above, the through-channels 124 may have additional asymmetric patterning where the through-channel 124 openings are rotated back and forth to maximize sound dampening. As shown in FIG. 6 , in one example, the through-channels 124 of the first baffle 114A are set at a first rotational state at 0°. The through-channels 124 of the second baffle 114B may be rotated 22.5° counterclockwise relative to the first baffle 114A. The through-channels 124 of the third baffle 114C may be rotated 45° clockwise relative to the second baffle 114B (i.e., to −22.5° relative to the first baffle 114). The through-channels 124D of the fourth baffle 114D may be rotated 67.5° counterclockwise relative to the third baffle 114C (i.e., to 45° relative to the first baffle 114A). The through-channels 124E of the fifth baffle 114E may be rotated 45° clockwise relative to the fourth baffle 114D (i.e., back to the initial state at 0° relative to the first baffle 114A). This pattern may repeat for any additional number of baffles 114.
In one example, the through-channel 124 opening in the first surface 117 of a baffle 114 may be align with the through-channel 124 opening in the second surface 118 of the baffle 114. In another example, the through-channel 124 opening in the first surface 117 of a baffle 114 may be offset (e.g., offset radially and/or circumferentially) relative to the through-channel 124 opening in the second surface 118 of the baffle 114 such that the position of the through-channel 124 translates as it moves through the baffle 114.
Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, in another example, the openings for the through-channels 124 on the second surface 118 of a given baffle 114 may be in line with the openings for the through-channels 124 on the first surface 117 of the next baffle 114. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, with respect to through-channel 124A1 of baffle 114A of FIG. 7 , as through-channel 124A1 progress through the body of the baffle 114A, its pathway may translate between the locations shown with respect to baffle 114A on the front side to the locations corresponding to the rotated state shown with respect to baffle 114B on the back side. This is further illustrated in FIGS. 8A (side view) and 8B (top view) where the uppermost through-channel 124A1 of baffle 114A is shown translating slightly down and to the left as it passes through baffle 114A such that, on the rear side, it aligns with a corresponding through-channel 124B1 of baffle 114B. Similarly, through-channel 124B1 is shown translating straight across and more back to the right as it passes through baffle 114B such that, on the rear side, it aligns with a corresponding through-channel 124C1 of baffle 114C.
Additionally, as noted above, one or more structures of the firearm sound suppression device 100 (e.g., the baffles 114, tubular body portion 112, and the like) may have a porous construction. For example, various 3D printing, additive or subtractive manufacturing processes have been developed for production of porous products in numerous industries, including, for example, medical applications. As one example, the S.I. Bone® company has developed a series of titanium-based implant products marketed under the iFuse 3D™ brand (See, e.g., https://sibone.com/providers/solutions/ifuse/ifuse-3d; MacBarb R, Lindsey D, Woods S, Lalor P, Gundanna M, Yerby S. Fortifying the Bone-Implant Interface Part 2: An In Vivo Evaluation of 3D-Printed and TPS-Coated Triangular Implants. Int J Spine Surg. 2017; 11 (3):116-128.) which are manufactured via 3D printing/additive manufacturing to include porous structures. As another example, the DePuy Synthes company has developed a series of titanium-based implant products marketed under the CONDUIT™ Interbody Platform brand (See, e.g., https://www.jnjmedtech.com/en-US/product/conduit-interbody-platform-eit-cellular-titanium) which are manufactured via 3D printing/additive manufacturing to include porous structures.
As yet another example, the Medtronic® company has developed a series of titanium-based implant products marketed under the Titan™ brand (See, e.g., https://www.medtronic.com/us-en/healthcare-professionals/therapies-procedures/spinal-orthopaedic/interbody-science/interbody-technology/titan-endoskeleton.html) which are manufactured via subtractive manufacturing processes to include porous/textured implant structures.
In one specific example, the various components of the firearm sound suppression device 100 may be constructed from 3D printable corrosion resistant nickel chromium alloys such as Inconel-type alloys (e.g., Iconel 718).
Any of such processes or those providing similar porous structures may be employed in the manufacture the firearm sound suppression device 100. Such processes/materials may allow for the creation of components having structures defining pores of from 50-400 microns up to 1 millimeter in size. FIGS. 9-12 depict various configurations of the porous structures contemplated by the present disclosures. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the porous structures may an apparent random distribution. Alternately, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , the porous structures may have an at least partially regular or repeating pattern of elements.
Further, such 3D printing/additive/subtractive manufacturing processes may enable the creation of monolithic baffle 114 and/or tubular body portion 112 structures having the specifically configured pores and internal through-channels 124 as described above. In some examples the baffles 114 may be fabricated independently from and be insertable into the tubular body portion 112 so as to enable replacement of worn or damaged baffles 114. In other examples, the entirety of the firearm sound suppression device 100 may have a single-piece construction.
One skilled in the art will recognize that the herein described components (e.g., operations), devices, objects, and the discussion accompanying them are used as examples for the sake of conceptual clarity and that various configuration modifications are contemplated. Consequently, as used herein, the specific exemplars set forth and the accompanying discussion are intended to be representative of their more general classes. In general, use of any specific exemplar is intended to be representative of its class, and the non-inclusion of specific components (e.g., operations), devices, and objects should not be taken as limiting.
The previous description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention as provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. As used herein, directional terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” “upper,” “upward,” “lower,” “down,” and “downward” are intended to provide relative positions for purposes of description, and are not intended to designate an absolute frame of reference. Various modifications to the described embodiments will be apparent to those with skill in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments shown and described, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features herein disclosed.
With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations are not expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.
It is further contemplated that each of the embodiments of the method described above may include any other step(s) of any other method(s) described herein. In addition, each of the embodiments of the method described above may be performed by any of the systems described herein.
The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “connected,” or “coupled,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “couplable,” to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.
Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” and the like). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, and the like” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, and the like). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, and the like” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, and the like). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components without departing from the disclosed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form described is merely explanatory, and it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A firearm sound suppression device comprising:

a tubular body portion defining an entry aperture and an exit aperture;

one or more baffles disposed inside the tubular body portion at locations along the length of the tubular body portion, the one or more baffles including:

a central aperture;

one or more pyramidal subunits disposed on a first surface of the one or more baffles oriented at least partially towards the entry aperture;

wherein the entry aperture, the one or more baffles, and the exit aperture are co-aligned to form a bore through the firearm sound suppression device.

2. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 1, wherein the one or more baffles include:

a plurality of pyramidal subunits each disposed in a circular sector of the first surface of the one or more baffles.

3. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 2, wherein the plurality of pyramidal subunits each disposed in a circular sector of the first surface of the one or more baffles includes:

a plurality of pyramidal subunits each disposed in a circular sector in a uniform distribution about the central aperture.

4. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 1, wherein the one or more baffles include:

a plurality of baffles each having a uniform set of pyramidal subunits disposed on their respective first surfaces oriented at least partially towards the entry aperture.

5. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 4, wherein the uniform set of pyramidal subunits of each baffle of the plurality of baffles has a common rotational orientation.

6. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 4, wherein the uniform set of pyramidal subunits of each baffle of the plurality of baffles has a distinct rotational orientation.

7. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 6, wherein the uniform set of pyramidal subunits of each baffle is rotated relative to a prior baffle by an amount equal to a proportional distribution of a size of a circular sector defining a pyramidal subunits divided by a number of baffles.

8. A firearm sound suppression device comprising:

a tubular body portion defining an entry aperture and an exit aperture;

a central aperture; and

one or more through-channels disposed between a first surface of the one or more baffles oriented at least partially towards the entry aperture and a second surface of the one or more baffles oriented at least partially towards the exit aperture.

9. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 8, wherein the one or more through-channels include:

a through-channel opening in the first surface; and

a through-channel opening in the second surface that is aligned with the through-channel opening in the first surface.

10. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 8, wherein the one or more through-channels include:

a through-channel opening in the first surface; and

a through-channel opening in the second surface that is offset from the through-channel opening in the first surface.

11. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 8, wherein the one or more through-channels include:

a plurality of uniformly distributed through-channels.

12. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of uniformly distributed through-channels of each baffle of the plurality of baffles has a common rotational orientation.

13. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of uniformly distributed through-channels of each baffle of the plurality of baffles has a distinct rotational orientation.

14. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 13, wherein a through-channel opening on a second surface of a first baffle is aligned with a through-channel opening on a first surface of a second baffle.

15. A firearm sound suppression device comprising:

a tubular body portion defining an entry aperture and an exit aperture;

a central aperture,

wherein the entry aperture, the one or more baffles, and the exit aperture are co-aligned to form a bore through the firearm sound suppression device, and

wherein the one or more baffles have a porous construction.

16. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 15, wherein the one or more baffles having a porous construction include:

one or more baffles having a porous construction defining a plurality of pores of from about 50 microns to about 1 millimeter.

17. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 15, the one or more baffles are constructed via at least one of 3D printing, additive manufacturing or subtractive manufacturing.

18. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 17, the one or more baffles are at least partially constructed from at least one of a titanium-based material or a nickel-chromium alloy

19. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 18, the one or more baffles are constructed at least one Inconel-type alloy.

20. The firearm sound suppression device of claim 17, wherein the a tubular body portion and the one or more baffles have a single-piece construction.