Expansion Chamber Assembly and a Method of Manufacturing the Same

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/510,707, filed on May 24, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to an expansion chamber assembly for a firearm.

Firing a bullet from a firearm creates a loud noise. The firearm silencers known in the art have various baffles and intermediate spacers that attempt to decrease the noise level created by the firearm when firing a bullet. These silencers are heavy, use lots of different types of parts and/or are difficult to assemble thereby making them expensive to manufacture and quite costly for ultimate consumers. In addition, many prior art silencers do not significantly reduce muzzle flash and/or recoil generated by the firearm when firing the bullet. Therefore, a need exists for a way to reduce noise levels, flash and/or recoil when firing a firearm.

In the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of every implementation nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not drawn to scale.

In the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of every implementation nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not drawn to scale.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to clearly describe various specific embodiments disclosed herein. One skilled in the art, however, will understand that the presently claimed invention may be practiced without all of the specific details discussed below. In other instances, well known features have not been described so as not to obscure the invention.

Referring to, an expansion chamber assemblyis shown according to some embodiments presently disclosed. According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblycomprises an outer tube, an inner tube, a front cap, and a rear cap. According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblyis coupled with an exit end of a barrel(shown in) from a firearm. Although the barrelis shown as a rifle barrel, it is to be understood that the expansion chamber assemblycan be coupled with a rifle barrel or a handgun barrel. It is to be further understood that the expansion chamber assemblyis removably coupled with the barrelor the expansion chamber assemblyintegral with with the barrel. According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblyis welded with the exit end of the barrel. According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblymay be pinned with the exit end of the barrel.

According to some embodiments, the outer tubecomprises a first diameter and the inner tubecomprises a second diameter, wherein the first diameter is larger than the second diameter. According to some embodiments, the outer tubehas a diameter sufficient to accommodate the inner tube. According to some embodiments, the outer tubeand the inner tubeare hollow cylinders wherein the outer tubehas a diameter sufficient to accommodate the inner tube.

According to some embodiments, the inner tubeis retained inside the outer tubewith the front capand the rear capas shown in. According to some embodiments, the front capand/or the rear capare coupled with the outer tube. According to some embodiments, the front capand/or the rear capare removably coupled with the outer tube. According to some embodiments, the front capand/or the rear capare welded with the outer tube. According to some embodiments, the front capand/or the rear capare coupled with the outer tubeby one or more fasteners. According to some embodiments, the fastenersare a pin, a screw, a set screw, a full dog point set screw, or a dogleg set screw.

According to some embodiments, the front capcomprises a through aperture(as shown in) and an outer thread(as shown in). According to some embodiments, the rear capcomprises a through aperture(as shown in) and an outer thread(as shown in). According to some embodiments, the outer tubecomprises a front endand a rear end(shown in). The front endmay comprise an inner screw threads(shown in cutaway) configured to accommodate and/or engage the outer threadof the front cap. The rear endmay comprise an inner screw threads(shown in cutaway) configured to accommodate and/or engage the outer threadof the rear cap. According to some embodiments, the inner tubeis retained inside the outer tubeby screwing the front capin the front endand screwing the rear capin the rear end. According to some embodiments, the inner tubeis sandwiched inside the outer tubebetween the front capand the rear cap.

According to some embodiments, the front capcomprises a through aperture(as shown in) with an inner thread (not shown). According to some embodiments, the rear capcomprises a through aperture(as shown in) with an inner thread (not shown). According to some embodiments, the outer tubecomprises a front endand a rear end(shown in). The front endmay comprise an outer screw threads (not shown) configured to accommodate and/or engage the inner thread of the front cap. The rear endmay comprise an outer screw threads (not shown) configured to accommodate and/or engage the inner thread of the rear cap. According to some embodiments, the inner tubeis sandwiched inside the outer tubebetween the front capand the rear cap.

According to some embodiments, at least a portion of the through apertureof the rear capcomprises an inner thread(shown in) configured to accommodate and/or engage at least a portion of an outer thread(shown in) on the exit end of the barrel. According to some embodiments, the entire through apertureof the rear capcomprises an inner thread(shown in) configured to accommodate at least a portion of an outer thread(shown in) on the exit end of the barrel.

According to some embodiments, a bullet, fired from a firearm, travels through the firearm's barrel, through the aperture, through the inner tube, and through the apertureof the expansion chamber assembly. Similar to the bullet, the expanding gasses formed by the firing of the bullet also travel through the firearm's barreland into the expansion chamber assemblyas shown by arrowin-

According to some embodiments, at least a portion of the expanding gasses exit with the bullet through the apertureof the front capof the expansion chamber assembly. According to some embodiments, the inner tubecomprises one or more through aperturesto allow at least another portion of the expanding gasses to enter the outer tubeas shown by the arrowin. According to some embodiments, the through aperturesare round, rectangular, oval, circular or any other geometric shape.

According to some embodiments, the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tubemay exit the expansion chamber assemblythrough one or more exit through apertures (not shown) in the outer tube. According to some embodiments, the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tubemay exit the expansion chamber assemblythrough one or more exit through aperturesin the rear capas shown by arrowin. According to some embodiments, the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tubemay exit the expansion chamber assemblythrough one or more exit apertures (not shown) in the front cap. According to some embodiments, one or more exit through aperturesare in communication with the space between the outer tubeand the inner tube.

According to some embodiments, the inner screw threadsextend into the outer tube(as shown in) and are positioned to interact with the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tube. According to some embodiments, the inner screw threadsextend into the outer tube(as shown in) and are positioned to interact with the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tube. According to some embodiments, the inner screw threadsand the inner screw threadare the same inner screw threadthat spans the entire length of the outer tube(as shown in) and positioned to interact with the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tube. According to some embodiments, the inner screw threads, the inner screw threadsand/or the inner screw threadsare positioned to interact with the expanding gasses located between the outer tubeand the inner tubeand configured to minimize the sound generated by the bullet fired from the firearm.

According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblyreduces recoil of the firearm by allowing a portion of the expanding gasses to exit through the apertureslocated in the rear cap. According to some embodiments, the expansion chamber assemblyreduces recoil of the firearm by allowing a portion of the expanding gases to exit the expansion chamber assemblyin a direction opposite a direction of travel of the bullet being fired from the firearm.

According to some embodiments, the through aperturesare 0.125 inches in diameter. According to some embodiments, the through aperturesare round, rectangular, oval, circular or any other geometric shape. According to some embodiments, the rear capcomprises eight (8) through apertures. According to some embodiments, the rear cap comprises eight (8) through aperturesevenly spaced around the perimeter of the rear cap. According to some embodiments, the through aperturesare evenly spaced around the perimeter of the rear cap.

According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the expansion chamber assembly is configured to decelerate and cool at least a portion of the expanding gasses thereby reducing the noise and/or flash created when the bullet is fired from the firearm.

According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the expansion chamber assembly comprises one or more sound absorbing materials(as shown in) configured to further reduce the noise created when the bullet is fired from the firearm. The sound absorbing materialsmay be hollow cylinders wherein the outer tubehas a diameter sufficient to accommodate the sound absorbing materialsand the inner tube(as shown in). The sound absorbing materialsmay be hollow cylinders with a diameter sufficient to accommodate the inner tube(as shown in).

According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the absorbing materialscomprises a round cross section as shown in. According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the sound absorbing materialscomprises a star shaped cross section as shown in. According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the sound absorbing materialsis a flat, rectangular piece of material that can be rolled into a cylinder. According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the sound absorbing materialsis a flat, rectangular piece of material that can be rolled around the inner tube.

According to some embodiments presently disclosed, the sound absorbing materialscomprises muffler packing material, oil filter packing material, fiberglass material, steel mesh material, steel wool material, foam material, and/or any other type of sound reducing materials.

Referring to, a toolmay be used to couple the rear capwith the outer tubeand/or to couple the expansion chamber assemblywith the barrel. Referring to, the toolcomprises two or more protrusionspositioned and shaped to mate with two or more through apertures. The rear capmay be coupled with the outer tubeby inserting the two or more protrusionsinto the aperturesand rotating the rear capabout the outer tubeso as to engage the inner screw threadswith the outer threadof the rear cap. The rear capmay be coupled with the barrelby inserting the two or more protrusionsinto the apertures and rotating the rear capabout the barrelso as to engage the inner screw threads of the rear capwith the barrel's outer thread. According to some embodiments, the toolcomprises a substantially semi-circular portionto accommodate the barrel. According to some embodiments, the toolcomprises a handleto allow a user to operate the tool.

Referring to, a toolmay be used to couple the front capwith the outer tube. Referring to, the toolcomprises two or more protrusionspositioned and shaped to mate with two or more apertures(shown in) in the front cap. The front capmay be coupled with the outer tubeby inserting the two or more protrusionsinto the aperturesand rotating the front capabout the outer tubeso as to engage the inner screw threadswith the outer threadof the front cap. According to some embodiments, the toolcomprises a handleto allow a user to operate the tool.

According to some embodiments, the threads described above are continuous. According to some embodiments, the one or more threads described above are V-Thread, Square Thread, Buttress Thread, Reverse Buttress Thread or a combination of two or more of these threads.

While several illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. Such variations and alternative embodiments are contemplated, and can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The term “plurality” includes two or more referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains.