US1369701A - Explosive missile - Google Patents

Description

a. T. NEWTON.

EXPLOSIVE MISSILE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I2, 1918.

1,369,701.. Patented Feb. 22,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor:

Jm MA R. T. NEWTON.

.JEXPLOSIVE MISSILE APPLICATION man FEB 12. 1918.

1,369,701 Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor:

MW a. A 213 8.

Be it known that I, .RICHARi) uni-res is s Brennan NEWTON, on NEW 203 1:, 'N. Y., ASSIGNQR :ro Amvrs rnopuc'rs COMPANY,

or NEw'YoRK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK.

. EXPLOSIVE MISSILE.

To all whom it may concern p I v T. NEWTON, a citizen of. the 'United States of America, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, havefinvented certain new and useful, Improvements .in Explosive Missiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to exploslvemissiles and generally to explosive missiles whether they be of the [hand-thrown oiacharge projected type. Although I haveshown the invention in the accompanying drawings as aprojectlle of the type commonly known as 1 :jeetile.

grenades, which maybe thrown by hand or fired from a gunand are generally of relatively small size, the features to, which, my invention relates areapplicable to projectiles of any type and are perhaps applicable more particularly to projectiles of the larger gun sizes, such as are commonly knownas shells.

nism maybe either of the percussion typeor of the time fusetype, or both may be combined in a single projectile, and my in vention is applicable to all three types. Preferably, the guard is so. constructed that on itsrelease of the firing mechanism, the guard moves to a position in which it. acts as a vane forv directing the flight ofthe prostr-uctedthat they impart to the projectile, during its flight,an axial rotation .similar to, that Ordinarilyimparted to a projectile by the rifling of the barrel throughiwhich it ifs'discharged. ,A- further feature of the invention is to provide a combined guard and guide vane in whi h the features specifiedare embodied, which, at the same time, is of simple andcheap construction, readily applied to, the projectile, and "at.all times efiicient for its several purposes. In theaccompanying drawings,

Figure 1 isa side-elevation of a pro ectile of the percussiongrenade'type, to which my invention islapplied in one f om;

Fig. 2 is a plan'thereof;

Fig. 3, is alongitudinal section through;

Specification of Iietjters Patent. Application filed February 12,;1818, Serial n ziaesa The particular feature to which .my invention relates ,is a guard which renders the projectile relatively safe during han- The vanes are preferably --so .con-

Fig. 4 is a partial side elevation 9f *the. guard vanes provided. with lateral flanges inclined to the axis of the projectile and designed to impart to the latter, axial rotation during flight;

1 Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section througha "projectile of the grenade type, not only showlnga guard of further modified COD eaten fr Leame.

struction, but a mod-ified grenade construe tion in whlch the-explosive charge may be time fuse fired either by a percussion member or a Fig. 6 is a sectionon line 6 -r6,"Fig.- 5

indicating the position assumed thereby when the vane is locked in trailingposition;

Fig. 8. is a verticalisection through a portion of a guard of. modified vane construction;

Fig, 9 is a section on the line 9-9, Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a horizontal section through the vanes showing their relative location when in trailing position; and l5 Fig-11 is a side elevation of a vane provided with spiral ribs for imparting axial rotation to the projectile 1 'Qrdinar'ily, a projectile of the type to which the present invention relates must be handled. very carefully prior to, and even Fig. 7 is a side elevationof the vane arm,

at the moment of firing, in order to, prevent explosion of the charge therein through acfires the fuse and the grenade explodes pre maturely. In otherj grenades, the striker is held against accidentaldisplacement by pins which arewi-thdrawn' bypthe rotation of a wind vane during the flight of the grenade;v Unless the vanes act, the grenade strikes harmlessly and maybe returned by the enemy. By the present construction I have provided not only, an efiicient and relatively safe guard against premature explosion of the missile, but I have also utilized'thisguard to form a guide which holds the missile head on during its flight and preferably imparts thereto an axial rotation "substantially equivalent to that normally imparted to a projectile by the rifling of the gun barrel through which it is fired.

A ignites the detonator 25, 'thus firing the charge 26 which fills the body of the casing.

The firing pin 22 is normally held against movement by the fragilecross pin 27, which is readily broken upon impact against the firing pin head 28;

Obviously, the firing pin must be guarded against accidental-impact during the handling of the grenade prior to its discharge.

For this purpose, I have pivoted to the ca s ing at 29 and 30 a pair of arms 31, 32,

, the free ends of which comprise Webs 33-34,

approaching each other and overlapping to receive a locking cross pin 35 of any suitable type. I have here shown it as. a cotter pin, the eye end of which is enlarged to permit its ready withdrawal. The wings 3334 are notched out at 236-37 to receive the margins of the firing pinhead 28, thus holding the latter against accidental dis placement into engagement with the detonating cap '24. Flange's3839 are prefer- 'ablyformed' on the webs 3334. and extend.

at right angles to the plane of the latter in order to notonly further protect the cap 28 against accidental blows, but alsoto assist- .in'. swinging the. arms 3132 from their guard position to their trailing position,'in which they act as guide vanes during the flight of the missile. This movement of the flanges 38 is caused by the pressure exerted upon the flanges by the'air as the missile speeds therethrough. The air column e11- tering between the flanges .38, impinges upon the mp3? and tends to force the flanges -3839 apart, thus throwing the arms 3132 around 'on their loose pivots 29-30 to their trailing position. It is obvious that the firing'pin is 'now' exposed, so that on impact against its head 37, the fragile retaining pin 21 1s broken and the firing pin driven in against the detonating cap 24.

111 Fig. 4'Ihave indicated a construction of the flanges 3839 'in which. they are "angled to the'direction of travel, so that they ii'npa'rt'to the, missile an axial rotation dur-' ing its flight. This tends to insure preci- 'sion' "of direction in manner well under- 'stoorl'in'the art. Q I

If 'l'es'ired; means may be provided for holding the arms 3l'32 1n trailing position.

Thus, I have indicated in dotted lines, Fig.

1, a snap cat ch arrangement operating by centrifugal force. This device comprises a hook member 40 pivoted-at 41 to the arm 31 and of such length that when both arms are within the projectile casing.

is notched at 57 'to engage .the firing pin :ed.in I construction.

swung back to trailing position, the hook 40 will swing into engagement with the eye 42 carried by the arm 32. Both arms are preferably made of channel section, folded to shape from sheetmetal, so that the hook 40 may readily be accommodated in the "interspace between the wings 33 of the arm 31. In order to steady the arms andre'lieve the'pins 2930 from strain, channels 4344 are formed in the shell 20 to receive the arms 3132,-and these channels are continued on the opposite sides of the pivots 2930 by the channels45-46, which form steadying guideways for the arms in their trailing position. p I, In Fig. 5 I have shown the projectile with a head 47 screwed into one endand carrying not only-a percussion pin 48 to e06 erate with the firin cap 49, but alsoa iiise 50 adapted to be ignited by the cap .51 on impact thereagainst by the firing needle 52, under the action of its spring'53. The fuse 50 or cap 49 (or both) serves to'ignite the detonator 54 which fires the entire charge In order to 90 safeguard the grenade against premature explosion, I utilize, in this modification, but a single guard arm 55, the web 56 of which head 58, and also notched at 59 to engage 9 5 the lug 60 extending from the head of the needle'52 and overlying the inclined upper edge of thefingers 61, through which passes the-locking pin 62. on the removal of the locking cotter pin 62, the arm 55 is free to swing around to such position that the web 56 takes a, trailin position in a manner similar to that ind cated in Fig. 3. In the present case, the web 56 is sufliciently extended to perform the functions ofvboth webs of the two levers indicated in the pre- In the present case also, the arm 55 is bell-cranked and is centrally pivoted 'ona, pin 63 on the casing. As the web 56 moves to the'left during the flight offthe projectile, it frees not only the head'58 of the firing p1n148, but also the lug 60 0f the needle pin 52. The latter is immediatelydriven by its spring 53 against the cap 51, thus exploding the latter and igniting the fuse 50,- which may, of course,

be timed as, desired. Should the missile reach its objective before the fuse is consumed, it'islfiregl by the percussion pin 48 If the percussion pin is not operated onimpact, or if the fuse burns out before the missile strikes,then the detonator charge 54 I is ignited by the fuse and'the grenade thus exploded.

I In order to lock the'wing piece56 in its 125, trailing position, its pivot pine?) is given a T' form, and the pivoting eye'for the arm 55 is extended on one side in the form of a slot .64, so that when'the' arm swings around to the position indicated-in Fig. 7, the shank imanner as heretofore. swung around to tralhng position, the webs of the ll-pin 63automatically entersxthe slot 6a and thus holds the' arm 55 rigidly in position in Figs. construction of the webs of the guard arms.

:These. webs 65.66 are now curved into semi-cylindrical form and provided with form oppositely faced, troughss'haped vanes which are equally effective in guiding the missile on its flight. Y

In Fig. 11 I have shown'the web as cylindrical element 72 carried by a single arm 73 and provided with circumferential spiral fins 74, (of which only two are inclicated on the drawing) which impart a'twir ing motion to the projectile as it flies. In

i this construction, I have shown the arms 7 3 firing means.

sirable.

as provided with a flange 74s engaging .the head 7 5 of the firing pin. This head is per forated at 76 to receive the cotter pin 77 which is drawn out of its locking position when the projectile is about to be fired. The flange 7 8 on the wing piece 74 is pierced to receive the locking pin. r

l have shown the arms 31-3.2'provided with fins or vanes, which not only form a guard for the firing means, but also move to guiding position on their release of the It is clear, however, that either function may be utilized by itself.

Thus if merel Y a uard and not a uide is desired, the arms may be pivoted to the cas-' ing or" the grenade in an open bearing such that on swinging backward from guard position,the arms would drop oil. Contrarie wise, if-a guide and not a guard'is wanted,

the vanes may be fixedly attached to the grenade in guiding position.

The grenade may be thrown by hand, or it may be fired from a gun. In order to adapt it the usual practice in the latter respect, the rear end of the grenade is provided with a threaded boss 7 9 on which'the cartridge holder 80 is screwed. has'a series of holes 81 in its wall, through which the casing of the shell 82 is blown .wheuth latter is fired, so that both the holder and cartridge are carried by the grenade during its flight. On the other hand, the construction of the missile is such that it may be inserted bodily in the breech of a gun, preferably ofsmooth bore, and be projected by a special cartridge or shell. In larger sizes, this would be especially de- It will be noted, in this connection, that the arms 31-32 lie withinthe greatest overall transverse diameter of the projectile, and furthermore. that at the point of greatest diameter, a packing ring 83 is formed by v litfiSlilg oi the shell and 9 I have shown a modified I from what I claim The latter 7 interrupting the lo'ngitudinal seams which, with the-circumferential seams, divide the into shrapnel segments.

Various othermodifications and developmeals of the device will readily occur to" those skilled in the art which do not depart as my lnvention.

. I claim 1. An explosive projectile having at its head end firing means, and guard means therefor normally protecting sald firmg means but moving from protecting to trailing position at the rear of the projectile durin the flight of the projectile.

an explosive projectile having at its head end firing mechanism and guide means normally engaging said firing mechanism to hold it against actuation during the initiation of the missiles flight, but moving into operative guiding position at the rear of the projectile after said flight has been initiated.

3. An explosive projectile having firing mechanism at its head end, and guide means normally engaging said mechanism to holdit against actuation, but moving rearward thereof into guide position after the flight of the projectile is initiated. i 1

4t; An explosive projectile having at its head end a percussion member and guide means normally. holding said member against actuation but automatically releasing the same and moving to guide position at the rear of the projectile during the flight of the missile.

5. A missile having at its head end means for exploding the same, in combination with guide means normally guarding said'explosive means against operation, but automatically releasing said explosive means and moving to guiding position at the rear-of the'projectile during the flight of the missile. 6. :A missile having a detonating charge, a percussion member at the head of the missile for firing the detonator, and guide means normally holding said percussion memberagainst actuation, but automatically releasing the same and moving to guiding position at the rear of the projectile during the flight of the missile.

. 7. .An explosive missile having impact firing means at its head end, means engaging said firing means to normally prevent the operation thereof but operatively displaced during the flight of the projectile from guard position under the influence of wind pressure thereon, together with detachable means carried by the projectile for holding said guard means normally in operative flight of the projectile under the influence of wind pressure thereon, and removable means for normally holding said guard on removal freeing said guard means to permeans in operative position. i mit the latter to be operatively displaced out 10 9. An explosive missile having impact firof guard position under the influence of ing means, guard means engaging said fir wind pressure thereon during the flight of ing means to prevent accidental or prema- .the projectile.

. ture operation thereof, and removable means In testimony whereof I have signed my the guard means in operative position, but

normally carried by the projectile to hold name to this specificatlon.

RICHARD T. NEWTON.

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