US1330425A - Hand-grenade - Google Patents

Description

A..G. BERGMAN.

n HAND GRENADE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. I3.'19I6.

'Patented Feb.10,192o;

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By Attorneys,

` STAT-Es A PATENT Ormea AXEL e. EERGMAN, OE NEW YORK, N; Y., AssIGNoRvro ORDNANCE ENeINEERINe` cORPORA'rIoN, 'OE NEW YORK, N.' Y., AcORrORAmION OE NEW JERSEY. t

HAND-GRENADE,

Specification of Letters ,Patent Patented Feb. 10, 1920.

'l To all whom t may concern.'

Be it knownthat I, AXEL G. BERGMAN, a subject vof the King of Sweden, residingl in the borough of Manhattan, city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Handy Grrenades,l of which the following is a specilcation. l

This invention relates to hand grenades or similar devices, end aims to provide certain lmprovements therem.

',The lnvention 1 s particularly directed t`o that type of grenade which is intended'to ex lode on impact with-theground `or other obJect at 4which it may be directed. ,In this .y type of grenade it hasbeen heretofore proosed to provide a firing pin which is'held lack by a .pivoted member the-lower'end of which engages apin, andthe upper endof which is provided with a wei ht, so that when the impact loccurs the weig t will move 'n by inertia to tilt the member and thereby diately surrounding the.

dlsengage its lower end from the firing pin.

In the use of such devices, however, acclden-tal dropping of the enade results in astances, Yhas proved fatal to those enade. It has frequently happened' that that thegrenade has accidentally-struck'a the grenade. .40

. unless art'of the trench, or'in some other manner as received -suicient shock to explode it. According to the present invention I provide a construction in which all danger of .accidental explosion is jpractically climinated. '1 To thls end I'provide a safet de-v vice whichcan only operate in the ig t ofi If the grenade is not in Hight it is'practically impossible for it to explode it is ileliberately--` and intentionally l exploded by the operator'.

i According to the preferred form of the invention I provide a member which is preferablv housed in the grenade and which 1s ejected therefrom during the act of throwing,` such member being adapted-to act by atmospheric pressure to release the detent, which permits the firing mechanism to act Iupon impact. Such a device, whichI have denominated a parachute, is preferably made in conventional' para-chute form and i best comprises a square or octagon of cloth attached tothe detentV by thereof,

i l uring theact ofv 'throwing the thrower has been shot down, or

cords orl lother iexible members .permittin the-cloth to be- Acome extended or distende by atmospheric Figure 1 isvan exterior View of a grenade 6. Acontaining the inventionz.

Fig.` 2 is va 'longitudinal axial section Referrlng' to the drawings let indicatel l the grenade as a whole which, in the instance t Y shown, comprises a bomb portio'n vBl and handle portion C. These may conveniently consist of two tubular Casin connected togetherby screwthreads or 1n any suitable way. The casing B has a chamber D within 1f it which contains the explosive charge, and depending within thisy casing is a cylinder E containing at its bottom aring 'charge-F with an appropriate firing cap. A firin 5in Gr is usually provided, which is urged 75 ownwardly by a spring H. The firing pin. extends through the casmg'B into the casing C and is `there provided with an arm I which engages with a similar arm' J fixed to a weight K which is pivoted to rock uni- 8C v ersally on the cross piece'L which is formed' with .a socketfreceiving point M of the weight. The broader. features ofthis construction have been heretofore proposed. It will be observed that the spring H places a 8| tension on the firing -pin which .is xed to the-Weight at a point so near itspivot that it requires -a considerable jar or impact to distur'bl the connection. When .the grenadeI strikes the ground orother object sothat I it is forcibly arrested in its di ht, the inertia of the weight causesit to-ti t, thus disengaging the arms I andJ and permitting-the firing pin to explode the cap and ignitethe charge.

In this type of grenade there hasl been dangerofa premature explosion due to the posslbilitythat the grenade in -theact of throwing will hit some hard objectas the' side of the trench or that the soldier lwill be li 'shot during the act of throwing, thus causing him to drop the grenade, and "I .have heretofore proposed some .types of safety device to prevent this action.l

According to the present invention I pro- I vide a construction which practically -elimlnates all danger of premature explosion'by introducing a meansto prevent the rin'g u locks the firing mechanism permitting it lthereafterto explode on impact;

In the. construction shown as an 4illustration the detent is in the form of a' split `pin N which enters a recess in the to of v,the weight K and preferably has a `fliictional engagement therewith. `This detent is shown as carriedv on a disk O, fittingy fairly snugly into the cylinder C and .resting on top of the weight. So long as the parts are in this position the weight cannot tilt. Attached to the plate O is a parachute P, the

` attachment preferably being by .a flexible member such as' the cord Q. Assuming that the parachute is out of the grenade, atmospheric pressure will cause it to inflate so-that .it is retarded whereupon thevplate O and pin N will be drawn from Athe grenade.

It is desirable if not necessary that an ejecting means be provided for throwing the parachute from the grenade, and' in the construction shown this is simpl. attained the provision of a spring y resting against the plate O and preferably'having arranged above it a celluloid or ot ier light disk S, the function of which is to prevent the .material of the parachute and the connectin cords from becoming entangled with t e spring. I have Afound in practice that a parachute of approximately ten inches in diameter constructed of light silk is admirable in ,itsy operation and occupies such a small" compass that it can be easily stored in the top of a grenade which is as small as that indicated in the drawing.

The casing B isrovided at its top with a yclosure such as which is shown as fitting loosely to the casing, and to maintain the cover in place against the ejective action of the spring R a catch U is provided which has an upper portion U yfitted over the to -of the cover, and a depending portion 2 which is apertured to fit loosely over a pin U3. About midway of the length of the catch the latter is perforated to fit over a pin U4 and again to t over a pin/ U5 nearthe bottom of the catch. The catch is normally retained in place' by a collar V which surrounds the lower lpart of the casing C and which carries a thumb pie-Ce W .engaging the lower end of the catch. When j this thumb piece is in place the' catch is parevented from movement. 'When the thumb piece is actuated to the right or left the catch is released 'and it is permitted to spring off the grenadethrough its own action or through the assistance of the spring R. Usually the collar V is drilled at one' side to receive a cotter pin X which passes .2. Ina

into themetal of the grenade and normally prevents'the accidental movement of the sleeveand hence the thumb p iece W.

' When the grenadevis asembled and loaded in the lfactory the pin X is .inserted and `remains in position until the grenades are delivered .at thetrench, when theV pins may be removed. In this condition the grenade is still safe against accidental discharge. If in handling the grenades prior to flight the sleeve V should be accidentally rotated to' vcause the lthumb piece to release the catch U, the latterwould be thrown 0H, thus vreleasing the cover T, and permitting an ejectment of the parachute. But even in these circumstances the grenade still has an almost perfect .factor of safety since the mere ejectment of the parachute is not sufficient to remove the in N. 'It requires a deliberate and intentional pull on the connecting cord or else the-pressure of atmosphere in flight to remove this pin. However, the mere removal of the pin is not suicient to cause an explosion since Vafter the removal an impact or shock is necessary to release thering pin.

It will -thus be seen that I have' secured an almost perfect factor of safety in devices of this type..

In operation vthe' user grasps the handle portion of the Igrenade and either before or catch flies olf together with `the cover and the parachute is ejected.. Within a short distance from the operator suicient atmospheric pressure is developed to withdraw the ring pin, whereupon the enade is in condition to explode upon reaching its mark.

A noticeable feature of the invention is that the parachute device apparently does not disturb the laim nor decrease the throw of the grenade. If any action of this kind takes place it is so slight 'as not to be observable in actual ractice.

While I have s own and described one form of the invention it will be understood that' I do not wish to be limited thereto since various changes may be made 'therein witho ut departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

1. In a grenade or the like,'a firing mechanism, means for actuating said firing mechanism on impact or shock, a weight operated detent for said means, an atmos herically operable device for releasing said detent,

and means for controlling the operation of said device.

enadeor the like the combination lof a ring mechanism, a weight operated detent forV locking said firing mechanism, a parachute device connected with said detent, a spring beneath said parachute device adapted to eject the latter, a retaining means for the parachute, and hand-controlled means for releasing said retaining means when the grenade is thrown.

,3, In a grenade or the like, the combination of firing mechanism, a weight for operating it on shock or impact, a disk above lsaid weight engaging the latter and preventing its effective movement, a parachute l above said disk and connected with the vlatter by a flexible kmember, and means for retaining said parachute in inoperative condition until the grenade is thrown.

` 4. In a grenade or the like the combination of a firing mechanism, a weight adapted to operate said mechanism upon impact, a disk above sald weight engaging the latter vand preventing its eii'ective movements, a spring above said disk, Va parachute above said spring, and means for retaining said parachute in inoperative condition until the `grenade is thrown.

5. In a grenade or the like the combinal tion with a firing mechanism, of a detent last mentioned lock and acting to move the latter when the grenade is thrown to permit operation of the detent upon impact.

6. In a grenade or the like the combination with a firing mechanism, of a weight operated detent for locking the firing mechanism, a second lock-which normally coperates with the detent to prevent movement thereof, and an atmospherically operable device connected with the last mentioned lock and acting to release the latter when the grenade is thrown, to permit movement of the detent upon impact.

7. In a grenade or the like, the combination with a vvcasing and a firing mechanism, of a lock which in normal position prevents operation of the firing mechanism, and is movable out of the casing to permit opera'` tion of the firing mechanism upon impact, and a device which 1s discharged from the casing by atmospheric action and is directly connected to said lock and acting to carry the latter with it out of the casing when the grenade is thrown and before impact.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. A

AXEL G. BERGMAN.

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