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EP-4273494-B1 - A FIREARM BARREL HAVING AT LEAST ONE BARREL GAS PORT AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

EP4273494B1EP 4273494 B1EP4273494 B1EP 4273494B1EP-4273494-B1

Inventors

  • GEISSELE, WILLIAM
  • ROBINSON, FRANK
  • DUHAIME, Dave

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20230404

Claims (12)

  1. A barrel (16) for a rifle (10) configured to fire a bullet from a cartridge, comprising: an inner surface (104) comprising rifling (161, 162), the inner surface defining a bore (17) configured to guide the bullet as the bullet is propelled through the bore by pressurized gas; and a barrel gas port (110) having a gas port depth extending between a port entrance (111) defined by the inner surface (104) of the barrel and a port exit, wherein the barrel gas port is configured to fluidically communicate with the bore (17) and an action (22) of the rifle (10); wherein the port entrance (111) defines a length dimension (111a) defined parallel to a longitudinal axis of the barrel and a width dimension defined perpendicular to the length dimension; and wherein the length dimension of the port entrance (111) is greater than the width dimension of the port entrance (111), a center point (111c) of the length dimension (111a) of the port entrance (111) is located closer to a muzzle end of the barrel (16) than the center point (113c) of a second length dimension (113a) of the barrel gas port (110) defined parallel to the longitudinal axis and taken at a location between the port entrance (111) and a port exit (112) and vertically offset in the depth direction from the port entrance (111), the port entrance (111) being symmetrical about the center point (111c) of the length dimension (111a), wherein the barrel gas port defines a flow region (122) defining a constant cross-sectional area for at least a portion of a length of the barrel gas port and a transition region (121) defined between the port entrance (111) and the flow region (122), characterized in that the transition region (121) comprises a larger surface area within the barrel gas port on a muzzle side of the barrel gas port than on an action side of the barrel gas port.
  2. The barrel of claim 1, wherein the length dimension of the port entrance is greater than the second length dimension of the barrel gas port defined parallel to the longitudinal axis between the port entrance and the port exit.
  3. The barrel of claim 1 or 2, wherein the barrel gas port comprises a transition region (121) having a transition region length defined at the port entrance such that the length dimension of the port entrance is defined in part by the transition region length, wherein the transition region length is two times to three times greater than the second length dimension.
  4. The barrel of any preceding claims, wherein the transition region defines a surface angle (180) at a location between the port entrance and the flow region, and wherein the surface angle is between an angle of the bore and an angle of a wall surface of the barrel gas port in the flow region.
  5. The barrel of any of any preceding claims, wherein a transition region muzzle-side wall surface (141) of the transition region (121) comprises a complex curvature defined by a first radius of curvature defined in a first plane and a second radius of curvature defined in a second plane.
  6. The barrel of any preceding claim, wherein the barrel gas port (110) extends through the barrel (16) between the port entrance (111) defined in the bore (17) and the port exit (112) defined by an outer surface (102) of the barrel.
  7. The barrel of any preceding claim, wherein the barrel comprises a plurality of barrel gas ports, including the barrel gas port, in fluid communication with the bore.
  8. The barrel of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of barrel gas ports comprises a respective port entrance defined by the inner surface, wherein each of the respective port entrances defines a respective length dimension and a respective width dimension, wherein the respective length dimension of each of the respective port entrances is greater than the respective width dimension of each respective port entrance.
  9. The barrel of any preceding claim, wherein the rifling defines one or more rifling elements (161, 162) along the inner surface.
  10. The barrel of claim 9, wherein the one or more rifling elements comprises a rifling land (162) and a rifling groove (161) defined along the inner surface (104) of the barrel (16), and wherein the port entrance (111) of the barrel gas port (110) is defined on one of the rifling land, the rifling groove, and partially on both the rifling land and the rifling groove.
  11. The barrel of any preceding claim, wherein the gas port depth is defined in a direction at least substantially perpendicular to a bore length of the bore such that the barrel gas port is at least substantially perpendicular to the bore of the barrel.
  12. A rifle (10) comprising the barrel of any preceding claim.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate to assemblies for gas-actuated firearms in which propellant gas generated by the discharge of the firearm is used to actuate an internal mechanism that automatically reloads the firearm, and firearms that include such assemblies. BACKGROUND Industrial and commercial applications may use firearms having gas systems that facilitate the discharge of a projectile from a barrel of the firearm upon firing. In particular, a barrel of a firearm may use a barrel gas port defined within the barrel to fluidically connect the bore of the firearm with the gas system in order to enable operation of the firearm. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has solved problems relating to barrel gas ports by developing solutions embodied in the present disclosure, which are described in detail below. US 10 274 273 B1 discloses a gas operated firearm barrel having a gas port angled through the wall thereof at an angle from adjacent the barrel muzzle rearward to the barrel bore to thereby allow the shortening of the barrel while maintaining the distance of the gas port bore opening from the barrel muzzle. US2016161200 A describes a gas operated firearm having an inclined gas port of constant cross-section. BRIEF SUMMARY The invention is defined by the appended independent claims. Some optional features are defined by the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional, schematic side view of an exemplary firearm equipped with a barrel and gas block assembly as described herein.FIG. 2 is a magnified view of the area designated "A" in FIG. 1.FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of an exemplary barrel of the firearm shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with a gas block mounted thereon;FIG. 4A is a side view of an exemplary barrel with a gas block mounted thereon according to various embodiments described herein;FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional side view of the exemplary barrel with a gas block mounted thereon shown in FIG 4A;FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate various cross-sectional views of exemplary barrels having a barrel gas port according to various embodiments described herein;FIG. 5G is a front perspective view of an exemplary barrel having a barrel gas port according to various embodiments described herein;FIG. 5H is a cross-section view of the barrel of FIG. 5G taken along section line "5H-5H";FIG. 5I is a detail view of the cross-section of FIG. 5H shown in detail circle "5I";FIG. 5J is a front perspective view of an exemplary barrel having a barrel gas port according to various embodiments described herein;FIG. 5K is a cross-section view of the barrel of FIG. 5J taken along section line "5K-5K";FIG. 5L is a detail view of the cross-section of FIG. 5K shown in detail circle "SL";FIG. 6 illustrates a partial top view of an exemplary barrel having a barrel gas port according to various embodiments described herein; andFIG. 7A illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary barrel comprising an inner surface having rifling according to an example embodiment described herein;FIG. 7B is a cross-section view of the barrel of FIG. 7A taken along section line "D-D";FIG. 8A illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary barrel comprising an inner surface having rifling according to an example embodiment described herein;FIG. 8B is a cross-section view of the barrel of FIG. 8A taken along section line "E-E";FIG. 9A illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary barrel comprising an inner surface having rifling according to an example embodiment described herein; andFIG. 9B is a cross-section view of the barrel of FIG. 9A taken along section line "F-F"; andFIGS. 10A-10B illustrate various cross-sectional views of an exemplary barrel having a barrel gas port showing various tool paths according to various embodiments described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure more fully describes various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that some, but not all embodiments are shown and described herein. Indeed, the embodiments may take many different forms, and accordingly this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of one or more aspects are described herein and illustrated in the accompanying figures, the disclosed assemblies, systems, and methods may be implemented using any number of techniques. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along w