Countermeasure Flares

Abstract

A flare including: a casing; and a grain assembly, at least a portion of which is slidably disposed in the casing in a longitudinal direction, the grain assembly including: a burster component used to ignite the flare pyrotechnic; and a flare component having a plurality of sections arranged circumferentially around the burster component such that ignition of the flare component further disperses the plurality of sections in a radial direction after the grain assembly is ejected from the casing in the longitudinal direction.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A flare comprising:
 a grain assembly slidably disposed in a casing in a longitudinal direction, the grain assembly including a grain component having at least one combustible material and at least one reactive material positioned relative to the combustible material and configured to ignite combustion of the at least one combustible material;   wherein the grain component includes a plurality of through holes which pierce the grain component in a direction offset from the longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         2 . The flare of  claim 1 , further comprising the casing for slidably holding the grain assembly and a shell structure for holding the grain component. 
     
     
         3 . The flare of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of though holes are disposed for a portion of a length of the grain component in the longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         4 . A flare comprising:
 a grain assembly slidably disposed in a casing in a longitudinal direction, the grain assembly comprising:
 a shell structure; and 
 a grain component at least partially disposed in the shell structure, the grain component including at least one combustible material and at least one reactive material positioned relative to the combustible material and configured to ignite combustion of the at least one combustible material; 
   wherein the shell structure is a mesh.   
     
     
         5 . The flare of  claim 4 , further comprising the casing for holding the grain assembly. 
     
     
         6 . A flare comprising:
 a casing; and   a grain assembly, at least a portion of which is slidably disposed in the casing in a longitudinal direction, the grain assembly comprising:
 a burster component used to ignite the flare pyrotechnic; and 
 a flare component having a plurality of sections arranged circumferentially around the burster component such that ignition of the flare component further disperses the plurality of sections in a radial direction after the grain assembly is ejected from the casing in the longitudinal direction. 
   
     
     
         7 . The flare of  claim 6 , wherein the grain assembly further comprises a shell to contain the flare component. 
     
     
         8 . The flare of  claim 6 , wherein the shell is cylindrical. 
     
     
         9 . The flare of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 an impulse charge device positioned at an aft end of the casing; and   a piston positioned between at least a portion of the one or more nozzle and the impulse charge device such that pressurized gasses generated by initiation of the impulse charge device act on the piston, which in turn ejects the grain assembly from a forward end of the casing.   
     
     
         10 . The flare of  claim 6 , further comprising an end cap positioned at the forward end of the casing to seal the grain assembly inside the casing. 
     
     
         11 . The flare of  claim 6 , wherein the burster component comprises:
 two or more sections in a longitudinal direction;   inert elements separating adjacent ones of the two of more sections; and   delay means disposed in the inert elements for sequentially igniting each of the two or more sections after a predetermined time delay.   
     
     
         12 . The flare of  claim 11 , further comprising inert dividers positioned within the flare component corresponding to the inert elements. 
     
     
         13 . The flare of  claim 11 , wherein the delay means is a delay fuze. 
     
     
         14 . The flare of  claim 6 , where the flare component comprises fore and aft sections, the fore section having the burster component and the plurality of sections, the aft section having a delay means. 
     
     
         15 . The flare of  claim 14 , wherein the delay means is a delay fuze. 
     
     
         16 . The flare of  claim 14 , further comprising an inert member dividing the fore and aft sections. 
     
     
         17 . The flare of  claim 6 , wherein the burster component has a dimension in the longitudinal direction less than a dimension in the longitudinal direction of the flare component. 
     
     
         18 . The flare of  claim 6 , wherein the flare component comprises a pyrotechnic. 
     
     
         19 . The flare of  claim 7 , wherein the shell structure is fabricated from a flexible material and having holes to allow flare component to be dispersed in the radial distance at relatively high velocity through the holes after burning. 
     
     
         20 . A method for ejecting a grain assembly from a casing of a flare, the method comprising:
 igniting a combustible material in the casing to eject the grain assembly along a longitudinal direction of the casing; and   dispersing at least a portion of a flare component of the grain assembly in a radial direction after the ejection.