"Equipment for target shooting without using live targets"

DESCRIPTION

Conventional live target shooting linked to the hunting season is very limiting to a passion and sport, which must be practiced all year. The use of birds of various types and consequently with different flight characteristics has been and continues to be prohibited in an increasing way for various and different, although obvious, reasons.

Shooting at targets - such as clay pigeon shooting - launched from the ground does not satisfy the need to imitate a live target. It has been compensated for with launched objects of particular shapes and with set movements - such as rotation - of the launched object, to cause deviations in trajectory. However, all measures adopted to date have not been able to imitate the characteristics of the flight trajectories of live birds, and consequently it has not been possible to obtain anything that equals shooting at a target constituted by of a live bird.

Present invention solves the problem with modern technologies, to fully satisfy the needs of shooting enthusiasts.

In substance, the equipment in question - for target shooting at a moving target-object, in particular to substitute a live target - comprises: on the one hand target-objects individually equipped with steering means controllable and operable from the ground or in any case remotely; and on the other hand control means and means to transmit commands to receivers positioned on board the target-objects; with this each target can be steered remotely - from the ground, from an airborne vehicle or other vehicle - to modify the trajectory in three-dimensional space in which a single object is able to move.

Therefore, the present invention obtains the purpose of setting - by launching target-objects from the ground or from any vehicle, including airborne vehicles - suitable trajectories of said objects, which can be trajectories typical of the hunting paths of land animals or birds, even with different flight characteristics, to imitate the flight of specific and different birds. This solves the aforesaid problem, which has found no solution to date (and therefore illegal shooting of pigeons or other live birds is practiced).

In a possible solution the target-objects - launched according to a

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specific trajectory - can be equipped with their own propelling means, able to receive command messages in flight to obtain a prolonged path imitating the flight of a specific bird. Moreover, the target-objects can also only be controlled by directional rudder means, the motion being set upon launching. The control means - on the ground or also on board airborne vehicles - can be activated individually by a skilled operator to control the trajectory of the flying target in order to imitate, or not, a typical trajectory of a specific bird or of other hunting paths. Alternatively, said control means can comprise a computer, suitable to determine commands for maneuvers according to specific stored programs. The equipment can comprise a plurality of specific programs, each preset to imitate one trajectory out of a plurality of possible stored trajectories for imitation of the flight trajectories of specific birds or of other hunting paths.

The equipment can even comprise several groups of programs, the programs of each group being relative to possible hunting paths or flight trajectories typical of a specific bird, to be chosen extemporaneously.

Several launching stations to be chosen extemporaneously for launching can be provided; commands for in-flight steering can be emitted by a single control unit. The invention will be better understood by following the description and accompanying drawing, which shows a possible and non-limiting demonstrative diagram of the finding.

In the drawing the numeral 1 schematizes a control unit to which several launching stations 3, 5, 7, are connected, each suitable to launch one target- object in at least one launching direction, or in one or other of several launching directions.

The launching stations can be on the ground and/or on airborne vehicles and/or on fencing or the like.

The numeral 9 indicates target-objects, the same or different, to be chosen by the operator to be launched in the direction or in one of the possible directions from the same station 3, 5 or 7.

Each target-object 9 can be provided with means suitable to cause a variation in trajectory through commands received from the station 3, 5 or 7, or even received from the control unit 1.

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Several targets can be launched simultaneously, or almost simultaneously, from different launching stations.

To cause a variation in trajectory, the commands received by the target- object can be suitable to modify steering members - such as fins, rudders or the like - or to modify, activate or deactivate possible propelling means of said target-object. To make this choice the costs of individual target-objects, which are susceptible to destruction, must also be taken into account.

In any case, by choosing suitable command programs, or also according to the skill and wishes of an operator, multiple variations in trajectory can be obtained, resembling the unpredictable variations in trajectory typical of birds or also of land animals.

It is understood that the drawing only shows an example provided purely as a practical demonstration of the finding, which can vary in forms and arrangements without however departing from the scope of the concept on which said finding is based.