US1172498A - Grenade. - Google Patents

Description

E. H. STILL.

GRENADL.,

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27.1915.

"Patented Feb. 22,1916.

l nte, """"`II ERNEST HENRY STILL, 0F LONDON, ENG-LAND.

GRENADE.

Specification of `Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, i916.

Application filed March 27, 1915. Serial No. 17,373.

To @ZZ whom z' may concern:

Be it known that'l, ERNEST HENRY STILL, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Hatton Garden, in the city of London, Englanch have invented Imof premature explosion due to the grenade being dropped or other cause.

in a hand grenade according to, this invention the striker 1s normally held 1noper- `ative by ...leans which by the action of throwing the grenades are caused to free the striker previous to the grenadebeing released from the hand.

rIhe accompanying drawing illustrates in longitudinal section such a hand grenade.

In the arrangementaccording to the iigure, the body l of the grenade, containing the chargev (not shown) and the detonator, has in line with the detonator tube 2 a tubular shank '3 containing at its inner part a has reference to hand gre-- time fuse 4. provided with the usual percus.-

sion cap 5 or priming and at its outer part a striker 6 which is pressed forward by a spring 7 y and extends through a plug 8 in the end of the shank and is there connected to a sleeve 9 that passes over `the outer portionv of the shank and is formed as av hand grip.

In the example the shank is in two parts,

the inner partu containing the'time fuse 4 being screwed into the enlarged head of the detonator tube 2 and the outer part, containing the striker 6, fitting on to the inner part and being fixed thereto by screws 10 .as shown. The striker 6 and connected hand grip sleeve 9 are held so that the nose of the striker is clear of the cap or priming 5 by a p spring or springs ll which engages or engage withthe inner end of the hand grip, or with the inner end of the striker, or with both, and is or are prevented from spring- Y ing out of engagement therewith by the hand grip or the striker or both.

Conveniently the retaining springs l1 may be in the form of suitably shaped leaf springs as shown and be attached by the screws l0 to the outside of the shank at its inner part. their outer ends tending to spring outward into the positions shown in dotted lines; each spring is formed with `an outwardly projecting portion 11a against which the inner end of the hand grip sleeve E) abujts and beyond said projecting portion with a part that is overlapped as shown bythe said sleeve and that has an inwardly turned end 11b that entends thrpugh a hole l2 in the shank wall and engages the front of ythe p1ston-like head of the' striker. Theerward or-inner end portion of the sleeve is enlarged where it overlaps the springs. The arrangement is such that on the hand grip sleeve 9-being seized and the grenade thereby swung in the act of throwing it, the force exerted by the body 1 will draw the shank forward in relation to the hand grip sleeve 9 and striker 6 against the action of the spring '7 the retaining spring or springs 1.1 will then automatically assume the. dotted position and disengage the hand grip sleeve and striker and, as soon as the hand grenade is released from the hand of the thrower, the striker lwill be forced forward byfits spring- Y against the cap or priming 5 which will ignite the time fuse.

A safety pin 13 may be passed transversely through holes in the hand grip sleeve and the shank between the cap and the striker so as to prevent accidental release ofI -owing to inertia. will act on va detonator upon impact of the grenade. may be employed. The striker between which and the detonator is interposed a light spring, may then be formed with a groove into which the ends l1b of the retaining springs ll project while heldby the sleeve 9.l which overlaps them; in this arrangement the striker is not connected to the forwardly spring-pressed hand-grip sleeve 9.

A grenade of the pendent on the act of throwing for release of the. striker is comparativelysafe to handle and its edective action is not liable to be affected by wind conditions as is the case with grenades in which release of the striker is effected during flight by vanes or the like.

What I claim is l. A hand grenade comprising a charge kind vdescribed being de;

container, a striker movable in relationl 2. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a tubular shank connected thereto, a striker Within such shank, a hand grip sleeve and obstructing means controlled thereby, such means being adaptedto prevent movement of the striker While the hand grip sleeve is in one position and to release the striker when such hand grip sleeve occupies another positionto which it moves automatically in the act of throwing the grenade.

3. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a tubular shank connected thereto, a striker within such shank adapted to move toward the charge container, a movable hand grip sleeve surrounding said shank and to which the striker is connected so as to move therewith, and obstructing means adapted to prevent movement of the striker toward the charge container while the hand grip sleeve is in one position and until after the said sleeve has occupied another position to which it moves automatically in the act of throwing the grenade.

4. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a tubular shank connected thereto, a striker within such shank, a spring urging the striker toward the charge container, means adapted to obstruct the striker and a hand grip sleeve having a portion adapted to normally overlap the striker Vobstructing means, the said hand grip sleeve being adapted to recede to release the obstructing means previous to the grenade being released from the hand.

A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a tubular shank pierced intermediate of its length and connected thereto, a striker within such shank, a movable hand grip sleeve surrounding said shank and to which the striker is connected, ay spring urging the striker toward the charge container and springs connected to the exterior of the tubular shank and having extremities protruding through the piercings in such shank, so as to engage thestriker, the said.

springs being normally held in engagement by the hand grip sleeve a portion whereof is adapted to -overlap the springs and recedes to liberate the springs previous to the grenade being released from the hand.

6. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a striker movable in relation thereto, a hand grip sleeve to which the striker is connected, means urging the striker and sleeve toward the charge container and spring means adapted to be overlapped by a portion of the sleeve so that such means is normally held in a position to serve as an abutment to resist movement of the sleeve and striker toward the charge container and from which position such spring means moves automatically upon relative recession of the sleeve in the act of throwing the grenade, thereby permitting a subsequent unobstructed advance of the sleeve and striker.

7. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a striker movable in relation thereto, a guide for such striker, a spring controlling movement of the striker, a hand grip sleeve movable in relation to the grenade and means adapted to be overlapped by a portion of the sleeve so that such means is normally held in a position obstructing the striker the said overlapping portion automatically releasing the obstructing means in the act of throwing the grenade.

S. A hand grenade comprising a charge container, a tubular shank pierced intermediate of its length and connected thereto, a striker within such shank, a movable hand grip sleeve surrounding said shank and to which the striker is connected, a spring urging the striker toward the charge con tainer and springs connected to the exterior of the tubular shank, such springs having extremities protruding through the piercings in the said shank so as to enter the path of the striker and also having shoulders' 'leaving portions adapted to be overlapped by a portion of the hand grip sleeve.

9. In a hand grenade, the combination with a charge container, of a tubular and pierced shank forming an extension of the freely exposed to permit them to be held by hand while the overlapping sleeve device is being moved into engagement therewith.

Signed at London, England, this 19th day of lVIarch, 1915. 4

ERNEST HENRY STILL. lVitnesses H. D. JAMESON, A. NUTTING.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the .Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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