US20030037691A1 - Fuze mechanism for a munition - Google Patents
Fuze mechanism for a munition Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20030037691A1 US20030037691A1 US09/880,478 US88047801A US2003037691A1 US 20030037691 A1 US20030037691 A1 US 20030037691A1 US 88047801 A US88047801 A US 88047801A US 2003037691 A1 US2003037691 A1 US 2003037691A1
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- Prior art keywords
- arming
- fuze
- slide member
- screw
- firing pin
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- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 title abstract description 49
- 238000010304 firing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 37
- 230000033001 locomotion Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 15
- 238000005474 detonation Methods 0.000 claims description 5
- 230000000977 initiatory effect Effects 0.000 description 4
- 239000002360 explosive Substances 0.000 description 3
- 239000004570 mortar (masonry) Substances 0.000 description 3
- 235000015842 Hesperis Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 235000012633 Iberis amara Nutrition 0.000 description 2
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005484 gravity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229910001369 Brass Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910000831 Steel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000010951 brass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 231100001261 hazardous Toxicity 0.000 description 1
- 230000003116 impacting effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000010355 oscillation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009527 percussion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009987 spinning Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010959 steel Substances 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F42—AMMUNITION; BLASTING
- F42C—AMMUNITION FUZES; ARMING OR SAFETY MEANS THEREFOR
- F42C15/00—Arming-means in fuzes; Safety means for preventing premature detonation of fuzes or charges
- F42C15/18—Arming-means in fuzes; Safety means for preventing premature detonation of fuzes or charges wherein a carrier for an element of the pyrotechnic or explosive train is moved
- F42C15/184—Arming-means in fuzes; Safety means for preventing premature detonation of fuzes or charges wherein a carrier for an element of the pyrotechnic or explosive train is moved using a slidable carrier
Definitions
- This invention relates to munitions, and more particularly to a fuze for a munitions such as a grenades adapted to be deployed from mortars, artillery and rockets, and more specifically to a fuze mechanism having a construction adapted to ensure detonation once the mechanism is armed.
- FIGS. 1 and 2 A typical arming mechanism for such a grenade is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
- This arming mechanism of the fuze 10 includes a fuze housing 11 having an arming screw 12 .
- the fuze housing 11 is secured to a grenade 32 .
- the arming screw 12 has a threaded portion 14 , which is engaged with a threaded opening 16 a in an inertia weight 16 .
- the firing pin tip 18 of the arming screw 12 rests within a bore 20 formed within a slide member 22 .
- the slide member 22 is biased by a biasing spring 24 to the right in the direction of the drawing of FIG. 1.
- the firing pin tip 18 of the arming screw 12 located inside the bore 20 of the slide member 22 holds the slide member 22 in the unarmed and safe position shown in FIG. 1.
- the firing pin tip 18 is not able to engage a stab detonator 26 disposed in a recess 26 a at the left end of the slide member 22 shown in FIG. 1, until the arming action of unthreading the arming screw threads 14 and the weight threads 16 a occurs.
- a drag ribbon 30 secured to the arming screw 12 unfurls and begins to vibrate and rotate.
- These drag induced dynamic movements of the drag ribbon 30 unthread the arming screw threads 14 from the weight threads 16 a such that the firing pin tip 18 is withdrawn from the bore 20 in the slide member 22 .
- the said movements are illustrated in FIG. 3.
- the slide member 22 is urged to the right by the biasing force of the biasing spring 24 , as also shown in the drawing of FIG. 3. This motion aligns the stab detonator 26 with the firing pin tip 18 of the arming screw 12 .
- the unfurled drag ribbon 30 also orients the grenade 32 during the grenade 32 descent phase of the deployed cargo flight.
- the drag ribbon 30 lifts upward on the grenade 32 causing the grenade base 32 a to be aimed at the surface of the ground 36 or target.
- the inertial motions of the combination of the weight 16 and the arming screw 12 cause the arming screw 12 firing pin tip 18 to be driven into the stab detonator 26 , thereby initiating the stab detonator 26 and functioning the grenade 32 .
- the grenade 32 may impact the ground surface 36 in a plurality of attitudes. It has been recently discovered that for a discrete population of the family of impacts, that the arming and firing mechanism is subject to failure.
- the fault mechanism and envelope can be characterized in the drawings of FIGS. 3 and 4.
- the fuze 10 can be momentarily disarmed. More specifically, if the grenade body 32 lands at an angle defined by “ ⁇ ”, as indicated in FIG.
- an upper surface 32 b of the grenade 32 moves in one direction, in this example to the right (indicated by arrow 27 ) as the grenade 32 rotates about the contact point between the grenade base 32 a and the ground surface 36 , while the slide member 22 moves in the opposite direction or to the left as also shown in the illustration of FIG. 4.
- This phenomena is a function of the spatial positioning between the ground 36 or target contact point, the grenade 32 center of gravity position at impact and the ability of the slide member 22 to move linearly relative to the fuze housing 11 and the top surface 32 b of the grenade 32 .
- the vertical plane for the specified performance fault illustrated in FIG. 4 thus lies between near zero degrees and ⁇ degrees, where ⁇ is the angle between the base 32 a of the grenade 32 and a flat ground surface 36 which is perpendicular to the earth's gravity vector as represented by the line 40 shown in FIG. 4.
- ⁇ is the angle between the highest point on the grenade upper surface 32 b when the grenade 32 is oriented at some angle ⁇ , from the ground surface 36 or target, and the longitudinal axis 34 of the slide member 22 , and more specifically where the slide member 22 , once deployed, is directed upward and away from the grenade base 32 a impact point on the ground surface 36 or target surface.
- the top surface 32 b of the grenade 32 and the bottom surface 22 a of the slide member 22 move in opposite directions. More specifically, in the drawing of FIG. 4, the top surface 32 b of the grenade body 32 moves to the right while the slide 22 momentarily overcomes the biasing force of the biasing spring 24 and moves to the left.
- the relative motion between the top surface 32 b of the grenade 32 and the slide member 22 causes the stab detonator 26 to be momentarily moved out of axial alignment with the firing pin 18 as the firing pin 18 is carried down toward the slide member 22 by the inertia of the arming screw 12 and weight 14 .
- This momentary misalignment of the stab detonator 26 with the firing pin tip 18 of the arming screw 12 prevents the firing pin tip 18 from striking the stab detonator 26 or causes the firing pin tip 18 to strike the stab detonator 26 outside of its percussion sensitivity envelope, thus preventing initiation of the stab detonator 26 and detonation of the grenade 32 .
- a fuze mechanism for a munition in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention.
- the fuze mechanism incorporates a fuze housing having an arming screw including a firing pin disposed therein. The firing pin engages within a bore in a slide member when the fuze is in an unarmed state.
- the firing pin is moved out of engagement with the slide member during deployment of a munition as the arming screw is unthreaded from an internal component of the fuze mechanism. Once this occurs a biasing member urges the slide member laterally outwardly of the housing. Once the slide member moves to a fully extended position, a lock post carried in a bore formed in the slide member is partially released from the bore. In the partially released position, the lock post abuts an internal surface within the fuze housing to prevent the slide member from being urged momentarily out of the armed position should the munition contact a ground surface or target at an angle which would otherwise result in momentary disarming of the fuze mechanism.
- the lock post does not add significantly to the cost of the fuze mechanism nor does it significantly complicate the construction or assembly of the mechanism. Instead, the lock post ensures that, once armed, the fuze mechanism remains armed regardless of the orientation at which the munition associated with the fuze mechanism strikes the ground surface or target.
- FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view of a prior art fuze mechanism secured to a grenade body
- FIG. 2 is a cross sectional end view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 1 taken in accordance with section line 2 - 2 in FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 1 illustrating the mechanism in an armed state
- FIG. 4 is a side view of the fuze mechanism and grenade of FIG. 1 impacting a ground surface at an angle ⁇ which causes momentary disarming of the previously armed fuze mechanism;
- FIG. 5 is a top view of the fuze mechanism and its grenade body landing at an angle non-parallel to a ground surface illustrating the error envelope, represented by ⁇ , within which unintended, momentary disarming of the fuze mechanism may occur should the grenade strike the ground surface or a target within the angles defined by +/ ⁇ ;
- FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of a fuze mechanism in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the fuze mechanism in an unarmed state;
- FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 6 in accordance with directional line 7 - 7 in FIG. 6;
- FIG. 8 is a side cross sectional view showing the fuze mechanism of FIG. 6 in an armed condition
- FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 8 in the armed state.
- FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the lock post.
- a munition 100 incorporating a fuze mechanism 102 is illustrated.
- the fuze mechanism 102 is secured to a grenade body or other explosive implement 104 .
- the fuze mechanism 102 is similar to the fuze mechanism 10 of FIG. 1 in that the mechanism 102 also includes a fuze housing 106 within which is disposed an arming screw 108 and an inertia weight 110 .
- the arming screw 108 includes a threaded portion 112 which is engaged in a threaded opening 114 in the weight 110 .
- a drag ribbon 111 is secured to an upper end of the arming screw 108 .
- the arming screw 108 includes a firing pin tip portion 116 which is aligned with a bore 118 c in a lock post 118 when the fuze mechanism 102 is in its unarmed or safe state.
- the lock post 118 resides within an opening or a bore 120 formed in a slide member 122 .
- a biasing member 124 (shown in phantom) resides within a cavity or recess 126 in the slide member 122 .
- the slide member 122 also includes a recess 128 which houses a stab detonator 130 .
- the slide is mounted for longitudinal movement along between a housing 106 and a bottom cover 132 .
- a tab 134 formed from the bottom cover 132 forms a surface against which one end of the biasing spring 124 abuts.
- the bottom cover 132 includes a slot 135 formed longitudinally in line with the axis of movement of the slide member 122 .
- the slot 135 is wider than the width of the lock post 118 such that the lock post 118 is able to drop into the slot 135 when the slide member 122 is moved from the safe or stowed position to an armed position.
- the lock post 118 is shown in greater detail.
- the lock post includes a base portion 118 a, a neck portion 118 b and a bore 118 c within which the firing pin tip 116 of the arming screw 108 engages when the slide member 122 is in its unarmed or safe position.
- the lock post 118 may be formed from any structurally suitable material such as steel, brass or aluminum.
- the drag ribbon 111 encounters vibratory and spinning motions as the munition 100 falls toward the ground or a target.
- This dynamic drag ribbon 111 movement unscrews the threaded portion 112 of the arming screw 108 from the weight 110 , thus causing the entire firing pin tip 116 to be withdrawn from the lock post 118 .
- the biasing spring 124 immediately urges the slide member 122 to the right in the drawing of FIG. 8.
- the lock post 118 drops into the slot 135 in the bottom cover 132 .
- the stab detonator 130 is now aligned with the longitudinal axis of the firing pin tip 116 of the arming screw 108 .
- the engagement of the lock post 118 within the slot 135 is shown in FIG. 9.
- a bottom edge 118 d of the lock post 118 abuts an edge 132 a of the bottom cover 132 to prevent the slide member 122 from again moving towards the left in the drawing of FIG. 8, thus preventing the stab detonator 130 from moving momentarily out of longitudinal alignment with the firing pin tip 116 of the arming screw 108 .
- the slide member 122 is moved into its armed position shown in FIG. 8, it will remain in this position regardless of the orientation with which the munition 100 impacts a ground surface or target.
- the fuze mechanism 102 of the present invention thus eliminates the hazardous condition of armed but undetonated munitions being left on a ground surface by maintaining arming screw 108 firing pin tip 116 to stab detonator 130 alignment during the explosive initiation event occurring during the grenade 100 and ground surface or target impact. Importantly, the fuze mechanism 102 accomplishes this without significantly increasing the complexity and cost of the fuze mechanism, and without increasing the envelope of the fuze mechanism.
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Abstract
Description
- 1. Technical Field
- This invention relates to munitions, and more particularly to a fuze for a munitions such as a grenades adapted to be deployed from mortars, artillery and rockets, and more specifically to a fuze mechanism having a construction adapted to ensure detonation once the mechanism is armed.
- 2. Discussion
- Fuze mechanisms are used in a variety of military applications in connection with grenades deployed from mortars, artillery and rockets. A typical arming mechanism for such a grenade is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This arming mechanism of the
fuze 10 includes a fuze housing 11 having anarming screw 12. The fuze housing 11 is secured to agrenade 32. Thearming screw 12 has a threadedportion 14, which is engaged with a threadedopening 16 a in aninertia weight 16. When in the unarmed state shown in FIG. 1, thefiring pin tip 18 of thearming screw 12 rests within abore 20 formed within aslide member 22. Theslide member 22 is biased by a biasingspring 24 to the right in the direction of the drawing of FIG. 1. In the unarmed state, thefiring pin tip 18 of thearming screw 12 located inside thebore 20 of theslide member 22 holds theslide member 22 in the unarmed and safe position shown in FIG. 1. Thus, thefiring pin tip 18 is not able to engage astab detonator 26 disposed in arecess 26 a at the left end of theslide member 22 shown in FIG. 1, until the arming action of unthreading thearming screw threads 14 and theweight threads 16 a occurs. - When the grenade is deployed, such as through a mortar shell, an artillery shell or a rocket payload, as the grenade falls to Earth, a
drag ribbon 30 secured to thearming screw 12 unfurls and begins to vibrate and rotate. These drag induced dynamic movements of thedrag ribbon 30 unthread thearming screw threads 14 from theweight threads 16 a such that thefiring pin tip 18 is withdrawn from thebore 20 in theslide member 22. The said movements are illustrated in FIG. 3. Upon release, theslide member 22 is urged to the right by the biasing force of thebiasing spring 24, as also shown in the drawing of FIG. 3. This motion aligns thestab detonator 26 with thefiring pin tip 18 of thearming screw 12. In addition to initiating the arming mechanism, theunfurled drag ribbon 30 also orients thegrenade 32 during thegrenade 32 descent phase of the deployed cargo flight. During deployed flight, thedrag ribbon 30, lifts upward on thegrenade 32 causing thegrenade base 32 a to be aimed at the surface of theground 36 or target. When thebase 32 a of thegrenade 32 strikes theground surface 36 with theslide member 22 in the deployed and armed position, the inertial motions of the combination of theweight 16 and thearming screw 12 cause thearming screw 12firing pin tip 18 to be driven into thestab detonator 26, thereby initiating thestab detonator 26 and functioning thegrenade 32. - Owing to in flight oscillations of the
drag ribbon 30 and thegrenade 32 combined with irregularities in theground surface 36, thegrenade 32 may impact theground surface 36 in a plurality of attitudes. It has been recently discovered that for a discrete population of the family of impacts, that the arming and firing mechanism is subject to failure. The fault mechanism and envelope can be characterized in the drawings of FIGS. 3 and 4. When thegrenade base 32 a of thegrenade 32 contacts theground surface 36 or target at small angles, as shown in FIG. 4, thefuze 10 can be momentarily disarmed. More specifically, if thegrenade body 32 lands at an angle defined by “α”, as indicated in FIG. 4, anupper surface 32 b of thegrenade 32 moves in one direction, in this example to the right (indicated by arrow 27) as thegrenade 32 rotates about the contact point between thegrenade base 32 a and theground surface 36, while theslide member 22 moves in the opposite direction or to the left as also shown in the illustration of FIG. 4. - This phenomena is a function of the spatial positioning between the
ground 36 or target contact point, thegrenade 32 center of gravity position at impact and the ability of theslide member 22 to move linearly relative to the fuze housing 11 and thetop surface 32 b of thegrenade 32. The vertical plane for the specified performance fault illustrated in FIG. 4 thus lies between near zero degrees and α degrees, where α is the angle between thebase 32 a of thegrenade 32 and aflat ground surface 36 which is perpendicular to the earth's gravity vector as represented by theline 40 shown in FIG. 4. The fault envelope in the horizontal plane, as shown in FIG. 5, is zero degrees +/− “β” degrees, where β is the angle between the highest point on the grenadeupper surface 32 b when thegrenade 32 is oriented at some angle α, from theground surface 36 or target, and thelongitudinal axis 34 of theslide member 22, and more specifically where theslide member 22, once deployed, is directed upward and away from thegrenade base 32 a impact point on theground surface 36 or target surface. - When the
grenade base 32 a strikes theground 36 or target surface at an angle α and theslide member 22 is positioned within the angle β on either side of thelongitudinal axis 34, as defined in FIG. 5, thetop surface 32 b of thegrenade 32 and the bottom surface 22 a of theslide member 22 move in opposite directions. More specifically, in the drawing of FIG. 4, thetop surface 32 b of thegrenade body 32 moves to the right while theslide 22 momentarily overcomes the biasing force of the biasingspring 24 and moves to the left. The relative motion between thetop surface 32 b of thegrenade 32 and theslide member 22 causes thestab detonator 26 to be momentarily moved out of axial alignment with thefiring pin 18 as thefiring pin 18 is carried down toward theslide member 22 by the inertia of thearming screw 12 andweight 14. This momentary misalignment of thestab detonator 26 with thefiring pin tip 18 of thearming screw 12 prevents thefiring pin tip 18 from striking thestab detonator 26 or causes thefiring pin tip 18 to strike thestab detonator 26 outside of its percussion sensitivity envelope, thus preventing initiation of thestab detonator 26 and detonation of thegrenade 32. Finally, after dissipation of the relative velocities between the bottom of the slide member 22 a and the top surface of thegrenade 32 b which had arisen from the instantaneous contact of thegrenade 32 with the target orground surface 36, the biasing force of the biasingspring 24 again causes theslide member 22 to be urged into its fully extended position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this position thefuze 10 remains in an armed state, thus leaving thegrenade 32 in a highly dangerous condition whereexternal grenade 32 contact or vibration can cause the armedfiring pin tip 18 to contact and initiate thestab detonator 26, thereby involuntarily functioning thegrenade 32. - It is known, that in tactical maneuvers, large numbers of munitions incorporating a
fuze mechanism 10 of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 are not detonated upon impact with aground surface 36 or target due to the orientation at which thegrenade 32 impacts theground surface 36 or target. It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an arming mechanism for a munition, such as agrenade 32, which is not susceptible to spurious anomalies caused by the orientation at which the munition impacts aground surface 36 or target when deployed. - It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an arming mechanism for a munition that incorporates a means to maintain the fuze mechanism in an armed state once the mechanism assumes an armed condition, regardless of the orientation or attitude of its associated
grenade 32 when thegrenade 32 impacts aground surface 36 or target. - The above and other objects are provided by a fuze mechanism for a munition in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention. In one preferred embodiment the fuze mechanism incorporates a fuze housing having an arming screw including a firing pin disposed therein. The firing pin engages within a bore in a slide member when the fuze is in an unarmed state.
- The firing pin is moved out of engagement with the slide member during deployment of a munition as the arming screw is unthreaded from an internal component of the fuze mechanism. Once this occurs a biasing member urges the slide member laterally outwardly of the housing. Once the slide member moves to a fully extended position, a lock post carried in a bore formed in the slide member is partially released from the bore. In the partially released position, the lock post abuts an internal surface within the fuze housing to prevent the slide member from being urged momentarily out of the armed position should the munition contact a ground surface or target at an angle which would otherwise result in momentary disarming of the fuze mechanism.
- The lock post does not add significantly to the cost of the fuze mechanism nor does it significantly complicate the construction or assembly of the mechanism. Instead, the lock post ensures that, once armed, the fuze mechanism remains armed regardless of the orientation at which the munition associated with the fuze mechanism strikes the ground surface or target.
- Explosive Ordnance Personnel require deployed and armed fuzes to be rendered safe for handling and disposal. The unique design of the lock post allows for its manual defeat by inverting the fuze and grenade, and then over-riding the slide member biasing spring to the extent required to release the lock post, thus allowing the lock post to return to its original position in the slide member bore. With the lock post stowed in the slide member, the slide member can be returned to its safe position within the housing by compressing the biasing spring. The slide member may be secured in the safe position by re-threading the arming screw and weight, thus inserting the firing pin tip of the arming screw into the bore in the locking post to impede motion of the slide member in the deployed
- The various advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art by reading the following specification and subjoined claims and by referencing the following drawings in which:
- FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view of a prior art fuze mechanism secured to a grenade body;
- FIG. 2 is a cross sectional end view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 1 taken in accordance with section line2-2 in FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a partial side cross-sectional view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 1 illustrating the mechanism in an armed state;
- FIG. 4 is a side view of the fuze mechanism and grenade of FIG. 1 impacting a ground surface at an angle α which causes momentary disarming of the previously armed fuze mechanism;
- FIG. 5 is a top view of the fuze mechanism and its grenade body landing at an angle non-parallel to a ground surface illustrating the error envelope, represented by β, within which unintended, momentary disarming of the fuze mechanism may occur should the grenade strike the ground surface or a target within the angles defined by +/−β;
- FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of a fuze mechanism in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the fuze mechanism in an unarmed state;
- FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 6 in accordance with directional line7-7 in FIG. 6;
- FIG. 8 is a side cross sectional view showing the fuze mechanism of FIG. 6 in an armed condition;
- FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the fuze mechanism of FIG. 8 in the armed state; and
- FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the lock post.
- Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a
munition 100 incorporating afuze mechanism 102 is illustrated. Thefuze mechanism 102 is secured to a grenade body or other explosive implement 104. Thefuze mechanism 102 is similar to thefuze mechanism 10 of FIG. 1 in that themechanism 102 also includes afuze housing 106 within which is disposed an armingscrew 108 and aninertia weight 110. The armingscrew 108 includes a threadedportion 112 which is engaged in a threadedopening 114 in theweight 110. A drag ribbon 111 is secured to an upper end of the armingscrew 108. - The arming
screw 108 includes a firingpin tip portion 116 which is aligned with abore 118 c in alock post 118 when thefuze mechanism 102 is in its unarmed or safe state. Thelock post 118 resides within an opening or abore 120 formed in aslide member 122. A biasing member 124 (shown in phantom) resides within a cavity orrecess 126 in theslide member 122. Theslide member 122 also includes arecess 128 which houses astab detonator 130. The slide is mounted for longitudinal movement along between ahousing 106 and abottom cover 132. Atab 134 formed from thebottom cover 132 forms a surface against which one end of the biasingspring 124 abuts. - With specific reference to FIG. 7, the
bottom cover 132 includes aslot 135 formed longitudinally in line with the axis of movement of theslide member 122. Theslot 135 is wider than the width of thelock post 118 such that thelock post 118 is able to drop into theslot 135 when theslide member 122 is moved from the safe or stowed position to an armed position. - Referring to FIG. 10, the
lock post 118 is shown in greater detail. The lock post includes abase portion 118 a, a neck portion 118 b and abore 118 c within which thefiring pin tip 116 of the armingscrew 108 engages when theslide member 122 is in its unarmed or safe position. Thelock post 118 may be formed from any structurally suitable material such as steel, brass or aluminum. - Referring now to FIG. 8, during deployment of the
munition 100, the drag ribbon 111 encounters vibratory and spinning motions as themunition 100 falls toward the ground or a target. This dynamic drag ribbon 111 movement unscrews the threadedportion 112 of the armingscrew 108 from theweight 110, thus causing the entirefiring pin tip 116 to be withdrawn from thelock post 118. As soon as this occurs, the biasingspring 124 immediately urges theslide member 122 to the right in the drawing of FIG. 8. As theslide member 122 reaches its rightmost fully extended position shown in FIG. 8, thelock post 118 drops into theslot 135 in thebottom cover 132. In this position thestab detonator 130 is now aligned with the longitudinal axis of thefiring pin tip 116 of the armingscrew 108. The engagement of thelock post 118 within theslot 135 is shown in FIG. 9. - As can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, a
bottom edge 118 d of thelock post 118 abuts an edge 132 a of thebottom cover 132 to prevent theslide member 122 from again moving towards the left in the drawing of FIG. 8, thus preventing thestab detonator 130 from moving momentarily out of longitudinal alignment with thefiring pin tip 116 of the armingscrew 108. Thus, once theslide member 122 is moved into its armed position shown in FIG. 8, it will remain in this position regardless of the orientation with which themunition 100 impacts a ground surface or target. - The
fuze mechanism 102 of the present invention thus eliminates the hazardous condition of armed but undetonated munitions being left on a ground surface by maintaining armingscrew 108firing pin tip 116 to stabdetonator 130 alignment during the explosive initiation event occurring during thegrenade 100 and ground surface or target impact. Importantly, thefuze mechanism 102 accomplishes this without significantly increasing the complexity and cost of the fuze mechanism, and without increasing the envelope of the fuze mechanism. - Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification and following claims.
Claims (10)
Priority Applications (1)
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US09/880,478 US6530324B1 (en) | 2001-06-13 | 2001-06-13 | Fuze mechanism for a munition |
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US09/880,478 US6530324B1 (en) | 2001-06-13 | 2001-06-13 | Fuze mechanism for a munition |
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US20030037691A1 true US20030037691A1 (en) | 2003-02-27 |
US6530324B1 US6530324B1 (en) | 2003-03-11 |
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US09/880,478 Expired - Fee Related US6530324B1 (en) | 2001-06-13 | 2001-06-13 | Fuze mechanism for a munition |
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US7798064B1 (en) | 2007-04-26 | 2010-09-21 | Dse, Inc. | Command and arm fuze assembly having small piston actuator |
US11193744B2 (en) * | 2017-01-08 | 2021-12-07 | Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. | Safety device |
CN114705090A (en) * | 2022-04-26 | 2022-07-05 | 贵州航天风华精密设备有限公司 | Bullet detonator device |
CN114923381A (en) * | 2022-05-23 | 2022-08-19 | 中国人民解放军63856部队 | Test method for testing action reliability of grenade fuse |
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US6968785B2 (en) * | 2003-09-22 | 2005-11-29 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Locking and stabilizing device for grenades |
WO2012080998A1 (en) * | 2010-12-12 | 2012-06-21 | Israel Military Industries Ltd. | Grenade mechanism |
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US3913483A (en) * | 1972-08-11 | 1975-10-21 | Us Army | Grenade with fuze |
US3926122A (en) * | 1972-08-11 | 1975-12-16 | Us Army | Grenade with fuze (U) |
US3998164A (en) * | 1975-12-15 | 1976-12-21 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Self-destruct delay fuze |
US4253375A (en) * | 1979-08-14 | 1981-03-03 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Loading head |
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US4455940A (en) * | 1982-06-28 | 1984-06-26 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Random time delay fuze |
US4632033A (en) * | 1984-06-11 | 1986-12-30 | The State Of Israel, Ministry Of Defence, Israel Military Industries | Detonator for rifle grenades or the like |
US4662278A (en) * | 1985-03-18 | 1987-05-05 | Lillios William N | Fuse assembly |
USH136H (en) * | 1985-10-23 | 1986-10-07 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Electrically detonated grenade |
ES8706945A1 (en) * | 1986-04-08 | 1987-07-01 | Instalaza Sa | Fuze for an explosive shell |
US4982663A (en) * | 1986-05-16 | 1991-01-08 | Aai Corporation | Safe-and-arm arrangement and projectile arrangement therewith |
US4852496A (en) * | 1988-11-25 | 1989-08-01 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Charging and detonation device for submunition |
FR2672673B1 (en) * | 1991-02-11 | 1993-04-16 | Giat Ind Sa | PRIMING DEVICE FOR A SUB-PROJECTILE. |
US5686692A (en) | 1996-09-30 | 1997-11-11 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy | Single fuse follow-through grenade |
US5932834A (en) * | 1997-04-24 | 1999-08-03 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Auto-destruct fuze |
US6082267A (en) | 1997-10-03 | 2000-07-04 | Bulova Technologies, L.L.C. | Electronic, out-of-line safety fuze for munitions such as hand grenades |
US6272995B1 (en) | 1999-09-14 | 2001-08-14 | Kdi Precision Products, Inc. | High precision fuze for a munition |
US6336407B1 (en) * | 2000-02-10 | 2002-01-08 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Pyrotechnic slide assembly |
US6302025B1 (en) | 2000-04-17 | 2001-10-16 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Self destruct fuze with improved slide assembly |
-
2001
- 2001-06-13 US US09/880,478 patent/US6530324B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US7798064B1 (en) | 2007-04-26 | 2010-09-21 | Dse, Inc. | Command and arm fuze assembly having small piston actuator |
US11193744B2 (en) * | 2017-01-08 | 2021-12-07 | Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. | Safety device |
CN114705090A (en) * | 2022-04-26 | 2022-07-05 | 贵州航天风华精密设备有限公司 | Bullet detonator device |
CN114923381A (en) * | 2022-05-23 | 2022-08-19 | 中国人民解放军63856部队 | Test method for testing action reliability of grenade fuse |
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