A noise suppressor for a firearm

Abstract

The present invention relates to a noise suppressor for a firearm, the noise suppressor is monolithic and comprises a casing and a number of baffles arranged within said interior of the casing to divide said interior into a number of chambers, each of said baffles comprising a projectile opening positioned and dimensioned to allow said projectile to go through in its way from the entry opening and to the exit opening. A shield is provided enclosing at least a part of the casing, said shield comprising one or more coherent structures having a plurality of through going openings and being connected to an outer surface of the casing by one or more connecting members extending between an inner surface of the shield and an outer surface of the casing thereby providing a distance between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing.

1 . A noise suppressor for a firearm, wherein the noise suppressor is monolithic and comprises:
 a casing having an interior, said casing having an entry opening at a first end of the casing for entry of a projectile and an exit opening at a second end of the casing for exit of said projectile;   a number of baffles arranged within said interior of the casing to divide said interior into a number of chambers, each of said baffles comprising a projectile opening positioned and dimensioned to allow said projectile to go through in its way from the entry opening and to the exit opening;   a shield enclosing at least a part of the casing, said shield comprising one or more coherent structures having a plurality of through going openings and being connected to an outer surface of the casing by one or more connecting members extending between an inner surface of the shield and an outer surface of the casing thereby providing a distance between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing, wherein a total cross sectional area of the one or more connecting members evaluated at the outer surface of the casing is less than 10% of the total area of the outer surface of the casing enclosed by the shield.   
     
     
         2 - 26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the total area of the through going openings occupy at least 50% of the total area of the shield. 
     
     
         28 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein said distance between the inner surface of the shield and the outer surface of the casing is larger than 0.5 mm. 
     
     
         29 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein said shield has a substantial uniform thickness, said thickness being larger than 0.5 mm. 
     
     
         30 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the through going openings are uniformly arranged in the shield. 
     
     
         31 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the shape of the through going openings is rectangular, circular, square, rhombus, parallelogram, elliptical, triangular, kite, trapezoid, pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal. 
     
     
         32 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the shield comprises a plurality of protrusions extending from an inner surface of the shield towards an outer surface of the casing leaving a clearance between a distal end of each of said protrusions and the inner outer surface of the casing, or the casing comprises a plurality of protrusions extending from the outer surface of the casing towards the inner surface of the shield leaving a clearance between a distal end of each of said protrusion and the inner surface of the shield, wherein said distal end is opposite to a proximal end from which the protrusions extend either from said inner surface of the shield or from said outer surface of the casing. 
     
     
         33 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 32 , wherein said protrusions taper in the direction towards the casing when extending from the inner surface of the shield towards the casing or taper in the direction towards the shield when extending from the casing towards the shield. 
     
     
         34 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the shield is connected by the connecting members to the outer surface of the casing. 
     
     
         35 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the shield is connected by a plurality of connecting members to the outer surface of the casing and, wherein said plurality of connecting members are distributed between the first end and the second end. 
     
     
         36 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , further comprising a tubular section extending, in an longitudinal direction of the suppressor, a distance inwardly from the first end so as to define a cavity configured for receiving an end of a barrel of a firearm with the entry opening positioned at the internal end of the tubular section. 
     
     
         37 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 36 , further comprising a thread provided at the first end said thread being configured to co-operate with a thread provided at the end of a barrel of a firearm so as to arrange the noise suppressor on the barrel by a screwing action. 
     
     
         38 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 37 , wherein said thread is provided at the internal end of the tubular section. 
     
     
         39 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 36 , further comprising a plurality of radial support struts extending with a radial component between the tubular section and an interior surface of the casing. 
     
     
         40 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 36 , further comprising a plurality of longitudinal support struts extending with a longitudinal component in the longitudinal direction between a first baffle and the tubular section, wherein said first baffle closest to the entry opening. 
     
     
         41 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , further comprising longitudinal support struts extending between a first baffle and an adjacent second baffle, said first baffle being the one closest to the entry opening 
     
     
         42 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the volume of the chambers is decreases from chamber to chamber in a direction from the first end to the second end. 
     
     
         43 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the cross sectional areas of projectile openings increase in the direction from the first end to the second end. 
     
     
         44 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein one or more baffles are curved and are rotationally symmetric around a longitudinal axis of the noise suppressor, wherein the generatrix of a cross sectional view of a baffle proceed from the projectile opening of the baffle towards the inner wall of the casing in a concave shape with the cavity of the concave shape facing the first end. 
     
     
         45 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein one or more baffles are configured to allow fluid to pass through the surface of the baffles. 
     
     
         46 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the outer shape of the casing and the shield are tapered towards first end and the second end and are cylindrically shaped in between the taperings, or are substantially ellipsoid in shape. 
     
     
         47 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the shield comprises an outwardly facing labelling section having an area configured to display visually identifiable information. 
     
     
         48 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the noise suppressor comprises one or more electronic elements embedded in the noise suppressor, said electronic elements comprising a data collecting element configured to collect data pertaining to the operation of the noise suppressor during use, a clock device logging the time a shot is fired, a counting device counting the total number of shots either during a re-set and/or the total number of shots fired since first-time use of the suppressor, an accelerometer determining the amount of vertical displacement of the suppressor when a shot is fired, typically determined when a projectile passes through the suppressor, a camera at the exit opening of the suppressor and having a field of view including an expected target position for the projectile, a battery or capacitor and a transmission element, configured to transmit collected data to a receiver. 
     
     
         49 . The suppressor according to  claim 1  further comprising a linear generator configured to be powered by gas pressure build-up and/or recoil motion. 
     
     
         50 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the noise suppressor comprises titanium or a fibre reinforced composite. 
     
     
         51 . The noise suppressor according to  claim 1 , wherein the noise suppressor is manufactured by 3D-printing.