US1298377A

US1298377A - Bomb.

Info

Publication number: US1298377A
Application number: US17927717A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas Keppel North
Original assignee: Vickers Ltd
Current assignee: Vickers Ltd
Priority date: 1917-07-07
Filing date: 1917-07-07
Publication date: 1919-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1936-03-25

Description

T. K. NORTH. BOMB.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7.1917.

1,293,377. Patena Mar. 25,1919.

I 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

T'. K. NORTH.

BOMB.

APPucATloN FILED JULY 7.1917 4 www?,

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Patented Mar. 25,

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THOMAS KEPPEL NORTH, F WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO VICKERS LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

BOMB.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. `?5, 1919.

Application filed I uly 7. 1917. Serial No. 179.277

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that -I, THOMAS KEPPEL NORTH, a subject of the King of Great Britwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bombs which are primarily` intended to be dropped from aircraft upon ships and submarines.

-According to the invention. the bomb is provided at its nose with a displaceable member or pellet which is so constructed and arranged with.'l respect to impact ring mechanism and time tiring mechanism that when the bomb strikes a hard body on or below the surface of the water such as a ship or a submarine the said pellet will be moved downward by its inertia and will actuate the impact firing mechanism or when the bomb strikes the surface of the water without .coming/ into contact with a hard body the said pellet will be moved ilpward by the water and will actuate the time firing mechanism.- The aforesaid time firing mechanism is of the fuse type and may be .of such a character that it can be adjusted to give diii'erent periods of time between the ignition of the time fuse and the explosion l of the bomb and can, when desired, be set to a safe position in whichevent the time fuse cannot be ignited.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will nowbe described more fully with reference to the 'accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a bomb embodying both the impact firing' mechanism 'and the time firing mechanism, part of the bomb having been broken away.

Figs. la and l are'frag'mental sectional .views oi the impact ring mechanism and the time firing mechanism, respectivelyfn an enlarged scale. -f'j Figs. Q, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are sections taken on the lines 2-2, 8-8, 4-4,5-5`and Gv-G, respectively, of Fig. l; 'thescgments and detents hereinafter referred to being omitted from Fig. 6,-and for the sake of clearness being shown in Fig; l. 'in the same plane y whereas they are disposed in planes at right angles -to one another as will be apparent from Fig. 6. y

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show details. of the time f' firing mechanism.

a denotes the aforesaid pellet (shown inl the form of a piston) which is disposed at a lower level than the lower end of the bomb body A and carries an inwardly Xtending sleeve Z2 which together with the lpelletris- Y capable o f longitudinal movement ,within a surrounding casing A. The sleeve b surrounds a casing c which contains the primer 6 charge and is in the example shown provided with detonators d and e for ring the said charge. Near its inner eiid the sleeve b bears against laterally arranged segments f or other suitably shaped mem-bers which 7 project through holes or apertures@ (Fig. 6) formed in a fixed cylindrical part h to 4which the said'casing cis connected, the inf ner ends of the said segments 'being chamfered or pointed to engage with correspond-- 7 ing recesses in a spring controlled strikerz' forming part of the impact tiring 'mechanism. When the piston a and sleeve I move downward by their inertia, on impact of the bomb withv a solid body the sleeve o8 moves clear of the said segments f by pusl ing them inwardly; the striker z' is` thusliberated and by the action of its spring j forces the segments 7" outward and impels the 5r ing pin 7c against the de tonator u? thus iring 53 the charge iii the casing c and eX loding the bomb. rlhe sleeve b vis normally held in the positionshown in Figs. and list and the striker Vlocked in the safety condition by suitable detents or pins Z having conical or pointed outer ends protruding through openings in the fixed cylindrical part h and engaging in conically shaped recesses m Figs. l, lll and 6) in the inner wall of the sleeve. The inner ends of the detents bear against a. plug n secured to the lower end of aY hollow spindle p whose upper end .carries vanes q which revolve during the descent of the-v bomb through the air, the air being deflected vftov'lard. them by blades fr mounted on ythe 1 "body of the bomb independently 'of the spinidle p and serving to keep the bomb' point boss u"('Fig. 4t) carrying the blades 1' is's'eg cured by meansof screws fu, the said sleeve t being secured tothe cap .s by lmeans of Screws w (Fig. 5). The aforesaid plug 'nl'l is Jformed with a screw threaded hole engaging with a correspondingly' screw threaded prolongation 7c (Fig. la) of the firing pin 7c. lVhen the vanes Q are revolved during the descent of the bomb, the said plug n becomes unscrewed from the prolongation 7c and at the same time rises outof the path of the detents Z which are thus rendered free to move inward when the sleeve b is displaced as aforesaid. The vanes Q and the spindle p are normally locked by a removable pin (Figs. l and 4) which passes through the boss u and sleeve t of the delector blades 1', and through the aforesaid spindle p. The pin w is shown formed with a ring head y for tae reception of a lanyard by which the pin is Withdrawn during the launching of the bomb.

The piston a may carry a needle a forming part of the time firing; mechanism u hich needle can be set into a position opposite any one of a number of percussion caps 6 (Figs. 1, lb and 8) which are slown carried by a plate c on which rests a plate d provided with a groove e which may be of the form lindicated in Fig. 7 for tle reception of a time fuse f. The needle u. can also be set into a position in which it vdoes not lie opposite a percussion cap ZJ and in this condition the time firing mechanism is in the safe position. The needle w is preferably carried upon a pivoted plate g at some distance from the axis of movement thereof. The said plate may be actuated to set the needle into any of its aforesaid positions, by a iinger piece L (Figs. 1, 1b and 9) arranged on the lower surface 'cf the piston a and connected to the'plate g .iy a spindle c" passing through the piston, t 1e said iinger piece .being formed at one end thereof as a pointer which can thus be set into any one of the positions indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 9 to bring the needle aopposite any one of the percussion capsl according to the length of time that is to ensue before the detonator e is exploded by the time fuse after the bomb strikes the surface of the Water.

The piston a and its sleeve b are of substantially lower sectional density than the remainder of the bomb, tl at is to say the weight of the piston and sleeve per unit of surface area of the pisto 1 is less than the weight of the remainder of the bomb per unit of its cross-sectional area at the largest diameter, so that when t 1e bomb strikes the water the piston a and sleeve Z2 will be displaced upward relatively to the bomb by thelwater as aforesaid. As shown, the pis' ton a is adapted to be guided during its upward and downward. movement by means of longitudinal screw pins y" whichconnect the plates c, d together :1nd project at their free ends into corres Aoo iding recesses c in the piston to permit of the movement.

If it is desired to render the bomb hereinbefore described capable of exploding by impact when it strikes the water a cap Z (Figs. 1 and 1") is provided which can be slipped over the end of a nose piece m surrounding the piston a as lshown by dotted v ative and the explosion of the bomb willv occur only by the inertia.' of the aforesaid pellet, upon impact of the cap with the sur'- i'ace of the water or a hard body such as a ship floating thereon. The use of the said 'cap also insures that the bomb will be eX- ploded by the impact firing mechanism, if the bomb is dropped upon mud, soft or marshy ground, sand or other substance which mightA not be of a suiiiciently solid nature to cause the pellet to move downward by its inertia without the cap.

l/Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United VStates is 1. In a bomb, the combination of impact firing mechanism, time tiring mechanlsm, and a displaceable member adapted to be moved downward by its inertia to actuate the impact lining mechanism or to be moved upward by contact to actuate the time firing mechanism.

2. In a bomb, the combination of impact iring mechanism, time ring mechanism, a displaceable member adapted to be moved downward by its inertia to 'actuate the impactfiring mechanism or to be moved upward by contact to actuate the time firing mechanism, a device for locking said member in a safety condition, and means for releasing said locking device during the descent of the bomb through the air.

3. 1n a bomb, the combination of impact iii-ing mechanism, time firing mechanism, a displaceable member adapted to be'moved downward by its inertia to actuate the impact firing mechanism or to be moved up- Lesse?? Q mechanism, a striker forming part of said impact firing mechanism, means for retaining said striker in a retracted or cocked condition, and a safety device for preventing the release ofsaid retaining means prior' to the descent of the bomb through the air,

5. In a bomb, the combination of impact firing mechanism, time tiring mechanism, a displaceable member adapted to be moved downward lb y its inertia to actuate the im- 'pactiiring mechanism or to be moved upward by contact to actuate the time firing mechanism, a spindle extending longitudinally into the striker of said impact firing mechanism, displaceable detents carried by the striker and normally retained in engagement with the displaceable member by said spindle, vanes on said spindle for causing it to revolve during; the descent of` lthe bomb' through the air and means whereby its revolution removes it from its detent retaining position.

(S, in a bomb, the combination of impact .tiring mechanism, time firing mechanism, a displaceable member adapted to be moved downward by its inertia to actuate the impact firing mechanism or to be moved npward by contact to'actuatethe time firing mechanism, a spindle extendingr longitudinally into the striker of said impact firing mechanism and having; screw threads, a screw threaded portion on said Striker for engaging with the screw threads on said spindle, displaceable detents carried by the striker and normally retained in engagement with the displaceable member by said spindle, and vaneson said spindle for caus. ing it to revolvednring the descent of the bomb through the air and disengage the screw threads on said spindle from the screw threaded portion of said striker to remove Said spindle from its detent retaining position.

7. In a bomb, the combination of impact firing mechanism, time iiring mechanism, a displaceable tubular piston-like member, a device for locking said member in a safety condition, means for releasing said locking device during the descent of the bomb through the air, and means for releasing the striker of the impact firing mechanism during downward movement of the piston-like member without preventing upward movement of said pistondike member.

8. In a bomb, the combination of impact f firing` mechanism, time iring'mechanism, a displaceable tubular pistondilre member, a

casing containing the primer charge and,

surrounded bythe tubular portion of said member, and detonators at the opposite ends of said easing one of which is adapted to be lired by the impact firing mechanism and the other by the 'time firing mechanism according to the direction in which said displaceable member moves.

9. In a bomb, the combination of impact firing mechanism, time firing mechanism, a displaeeable member adapted to, be moved downward by its inertia to actuate the impact firing mechanism or to be moved upward by contact to actuate the time firing mechanism, an open nose piece on said bomb, and a cap for closin saidv i piece.

In testimony whereof i aiir. my ,v gnature.

THOMAS KEPPEL NORTH.