Electromagnetic projectile accelerator

Claim 1

Electromagnetic projectile accelerator comprising: means for rigidly mounting stationary coreless electromagnetic coils spaced apart along a row, the spaces therebetween being sealed with tightly fitted electrically and magnetically nonconductive rigid spacer-rings, said coils and rings together forming an acceleration tube having exterior and interior wall surfaces, the exterior wall surface being surrounded with a ferromagnetic material, the interior wall surface consists of an electrically and magnetically nonconductive material on which wall surface a plurality of electrically conductive plates are mounted so as to be spaced apart along the interior of said tube, said plates being electrically connected and electrically isolated from each other and electrically poled opposite to each other, said stationary coils being electrically connected and energized such that the stationary coils face each other with opposing magnetic poles; free floating projectile means disposed within said acceleration tube comprising a magnetically and preferably electrically nonconductive projectile body, a plurality of electromagnetic coil means rigidly mounted in a spaced apart manner within said projectile, said electromagnetic coils including cores therein whereby said electromagnetic coils are electrically connected to conductors mounted on upper and lower exterior surfaces of the projectile body whereby electric current is conducted from at least one of said electrically positive poled plates through the respective conductor thus energizing the electrically connected electromagnetic coil within the projectile thereby leaving via arcing from the other conductor into at least one of the electrically negative poled plates, whereby consecutive alternating switching due to the forward motion of the projectile through the electric field of the alternatingly electrically poled plates a continuous acceleration of the projectile within the preferably evacuated acceleration tube is performed.