Vindicator Weapon

Technical Description of a Non-Lethal Machine-gun.

June 15th, 1987

Developed by Robert L. Fullerton

INTRODUCTION:

The purpose of this technical description is to provide an explanation of the workings of the "Non-Lethal" machine gun, developed by Robert L. Fullerton.

The reader is referred to illustration one, as well as the engineering and component drawings.    Also included are the technical descriptions and illustrations of the "Non-Lethal" ammunition.

Objective:

The functional design objective for the "Non-Lethal" machine gun is to provide law enforcement with an efficient, single handed means of personnel or crowd control, one or a group of persons, without causing lethal injuries to confrontation individual(s).

The lethal ammunition, while delivering sufficient "shock" to the target (oppositional personnel) rendering the target unable to move due to devastating "nerve shock" trauma.    The ammunition will dissipate all energy at the initial target impact, without penetrating the target (human body), sheet rock wall, or glass panes; thereby eliminating the concern of the shooter that the round fired that it is controllable and will not, unlike ammunition currently utilized today, penetrate many obstacles prior to projectile energy dissipation.

The design problem emanates from the following criteria:

  1.     The police officer, faced with one or more potentially violent advisories, must be able to control all aspects of a "situation", both physical and psychological, for both himself and the opposition he is attempting to control without and factors that would bring about additional risk, potential risk, severe injury, or death of the opposition or, more importantly, innocent persons; either by ricochet, the projectiles wall penetration, or by the splintering of a projectile obstacles encountered by the energy dissipation of the striking round when a round is ultimately fired.
  2.     The officer must have a means of generating a "rapid fire" while controlling the situation and the weapon.     Rapid fire weapons (machine guns) now in service are highly inaccurate after the third dispensed round (primarily due to projectile torsional twist forces, recoil "kickback" from expanding gas release reaction) that causes the weapons muzzle "nose" to climb drastically and rotate slightly.
  3.     The police officer requires a means of using a rapid fire weapon preferably with one hand, freeing the other hand for secondary actions; such as opening doors, lifting minor obstructions, etc.    This rapid fire weapon must eliminate, or reduce, the fatigue factor for the officer.
  4.     The "Vindicator" weapon must be operable with one hand only; other than the inevitable required reloading operation; when the weapons ammunition is spent.
  5.     Materials utilized in the construction of the "Vindicator" weapon must be rugged and compatible with varying battle arena environments.
  6.     The "Vindicator" weapon must be designed in a modular system to allow the changes from non-lethal ammunition to scatter ammunition utilizing quick and simple implementation motions.
  7.     The weight of the "Vindicator" weapon must be light to reduce operator (officer) motion fatigue.

Dimension and Weight:

The "Vindicator" weapon will be approximately 12 to 14 inches in length, approximately 6 inches in height and 3 inches in width.     The "Vindicator" weapon will weight less that three pounds (unloaded).

Operation:

(NOTE:    Drawings were not included (even though called out) here, because of the sensitivity and classification of the device.)

The ammunition, adhesively bonded together in a straight lined "ammo clip"; utilizes an adhesive of plastic that is designed to "break away" during the load sequence of the firing operation.     (SEE: Figure 1)    This line of adhesively bonded rounds becomes a "clip" that is inserted into the vindicator weapon by the operator; much like the conventional magazine "cartridges" that are similarly inserted into a conventional type automatic weapon.     (SEE Figure 2)

(NOTE:    Even though the Figures are listed within the description, Drawings are not included in this document because of sensitive nature and classification of the device.)

The breach lock secures a single cartridge round, separates that round from the other rounds, (SEE: Figure 3), lowers the round into the "chamber" of the barrel, which then the round drops below the barrel.     (SEE: figure 4)    The barrel is "rifled" with lands and grooves (much like conventional rifle barrels). [SEE: figure 5]    The barrel receives the round and secures that round by the base, or "button".     (SEE: this unique design in figure 6)    The round slides into the internal socket shaped barrel. (SEE: figure 6)    The chamber (breach) of the barrel is chamfered from a round internal shape (SEE: Figure 7) to that of the cylindrical internal shape, so as to provide a smooth transition for the round during loading.     (SEE: figure 8, 9, & 10)

The barrel is rotated by means of an electric (rechargeable) motor which receives its energy from a liquid battery cell pack. (SEE: figure 11)    This rotary motor provides the torque necessary to turn the round for alignment to the chamber. (SEE: figure 12)

Counter torque rotation of the "Vindicator" is provided by the "forearm hook" which rests horizontal and perpendicular to the user/officer/operator ulna and radial forearm bone structure; this counteracts the torque and lifting factors of the round exiting the barrel - providing a more accurate weapon round implementation with less effort upon the operator/officer.

Activation of the "Vindicator" is provided by pulling the "trigger" type switch which controls a rheostat varied electrical circuit.     (SEE: figure 14, 15, & 16)

The top of the " Vindicator " is hinged to allow for insertion/removal of the cartridge "clip".   This feature allows for easier maintenance, modular changeovers, and cleaning.     (SEE: figure 17 & 18)

Materials:

It is envisioned that the "Vindicator" will be fabricated out of the following materials:

    Handle/fore-grip/forearm hook - - - - - - Engineered plastic

    Barrel/breach block/bolt guides - - - - - -Stainless Steel

    Motor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Copper, Steel

    Trigger mechanism/Backing arm - - - - - - Stainless Steel

    Battery pack - - - - - - - - - - - - liquid gel battery pack*

    *(Manufacturer unknown).