GB1221790A - Parachute - Google Patents

Abstract

1,221,790. Ejecting pilot parachutes. IRVING AIR CHUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN Ltd. 12 July, 1968 [17 July, 1967], No. 32838/67. Heading B7G. [Also in Division F3] A parachute system comprises a combination of a pouch shaped parachute pack 11, a principal parachute contained by pack 11, and an auxiliary parachute 13 contained by a casing 15 ejectable by an explosive charge. The casing 15 is mounted within a mortar barrel 36, the barrel being mounted on a base 20 pivotally connected at 37 to a block 21 which is bolted to the pack frame at 39. The barrel is restrained from pivotal motion by a releasable clip. Explosive charges 18 are placed in holes within the base 20, each charge having adjacent it a firing pin 26 slidably mounted in block 21 operable by a spring loaded striker 25. The charges may be detonated into the mortar barrel by removal of a retaining pin 23 from a slot 29 within the striker 25, after removal of a safety pin passing through the striker at 33 and attached to a knob 34. When the mortar barrel is pivoted about pivot 37 a shaped face 42 of an ejector plate 41 comes into contact with block 21 so that the ejector plate acts on the rims of charges 18 and ejects them from the base 20. The rip cord handle 32 of the pack is connected by a cord 30 to the retaining pin 23, and a strop 19 connects the rigging of the auxiliary parachute to the apex of the principal parachute so that when the rip cord handle is pulled the auxiliary parachute is fired from the mortar and deploys to pull the principal parachute by its apex from the opened pack 11. The pack is worn on a parachutist's chest, the mortar firing forwards and upwards at approximately 45 degrees, so that when the system is used as a reserve parachute, the rigging of the main parachute and the reserve parachute do not entangle. The casing 15, which detaches from the auxiliary parachute when the latter deploys, descends slowly to the ground with its own parachute.