US2118062A

US2118062A - Bore-safe fuse

Info

Publication number: US2118062A
Application number: US164915A
Authority: US
Inventors: David L Woodberry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-09-21
Filing date: 1937-09-21
Publication date: 1938-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 1955-05-24

Description

May 24, 193s.

D. L. WOODBERRY BoRE SAFE FUSE Filed sept. 21, 1937 INVENTOR.

.Dev/'af 1l. Woodberry' -WMQ M I ATTORNEY.

ias

Patented May 24, 1938 BORE-SAFE FUSE David L. Woodberl'y, Perryman, Md. Application September 21, 1937, Serial No. 164,915

.s claims.

' (Granted under theact o! March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) .The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates in general to actuating mechanisms and moreparticularly has reference to an all-ways, bore-safe fuse.

Previous to this time in fuses of this character,

. it has been customary to positively lock a tiring pin out of contact with an aligned primer and auxiliary booster charge, the primer and auxiliary booster charge being aligned at all times. A fuse of this character is not bore-safe, and does not l permit its assembly to a shell'to make a complete round until ready to i'lre, andthen extreme care in handling and iirlng should be exercised. It will be apparent that a fuse of this character tends to complicate handling and storage in that the fuse has to be stored and shipped separate from the shell and bursting charge proper.

An object of this invention is to provide an allways, bore-safe fuse having a ring pin positively locked out of contact with an aligned detonator before ejection from the muzzle of the piece from which it may be red.

Another object of this invention is to provide an all-ways, bore-safe fuse having a detonator carrier adapted to interrupt the explosive train and containing a detonator therein out of alignment with the said explosive train adapted 30 to be released for alignment therewith on tiring` and to align after ejection from the muzzle of the piece from which it may be fired.

Still another object of kthis invention is to provide an all-ways, bore-safe fuse having a detonator carrier normally out of alignment with the explosive train prior to ejection from the muzzle of the piece from which it may be red, adapted to be aligned therewith and locked in place after 40 being ejected from the muzzle of the piece from i which it may be iired.

A further object of this invention is to provide an all-ways, bore-safe fuse having a U-shaped safety fork, one leg of which is adapted to lock 5 the firing pin out of contact with the detonator aligned therewith and the other leg is adapted to hold the detonator carrier ih a position to interrupt the explosive train and hold the detonator contained therein out of alignment therewith 50 previous to firing from the piece.

It will thus be apparent that the objects of this invention are in generalhto provide an al1-ways, bore-safe fuse having a slidable detonator carrier and a ring pin having a common arming 55 feature adapted to become armed after ejection from a weapon, and the ring pin to set oii`.the explosive train upon impact with the ground regardless of the angle the fuse strikes the ground.

With these and other objects in view which may be incident to my improvements, the invention consistsvin the parts and combinations to be hereinafter set forth andclaimed, with the understanding that the several necessary elements comprising my invention may be varied in construction, proportions and arrangement, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. i

In order to make my invention more clearly understood, I have shown in the'accompanying drawing means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting the improvements in their useful applications to the particular constructions, which for the purpose of explanation, have been made the subject of illustration.

In the drawing forming a part of this application: l

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fuse fully loaded before assembling to a shell.

Figure 2 is a, sectional view of the fuse taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fuse assembled to a shell being ejected from the muzzle of a piece.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of-the fuse and shell in flight after ejection from the muzzle of the Weapon.

Referring more particularly by numerals to the drawing in which the same and similar elements are designated by like symbols of reference throughout, and more particularly to Figure 1, there is shown an integral fuse body I formed at the top with a truncated head portion 2 and at the bottom with a downward projecting neck 3. The mid-section of the body is provided' with a vertical bore 5 of larger diameter land a horizontal aperture 6. The bore 4 is closed at one end with a screw cap and open into one face of the fuse body at the other through a cnstricted bore while the bore 5 opens into the nose of the head at one end and is closed with another screw cap and the other end of restricted diameter communicates with the bore 4. One end of the horizontal aperture 6 communicates with the vertical bore 5 and opens into one face of the fuse head at the other.

The neck is provided with a vertical Ybore l, opening. in the bottom thereof at one end, and

communicating at the other with a smaller bore -8 opening into the horizontal bore 4, the same corresponding with and being in alignment with 55 the vertical bore l opening into the other side thereof. The neck of the fuse is provided in addition with a vertical bore 9 located between the bore 1 and the outer wall of the neck.

Ailringpin I9 is adapted totintothevertical bore l. "The top portion o f the ring pin is provided with a ball-shaped head. 'I'he ballshaped head is adapted to nt into a cone-shaped socket provided in the screw cap' Il whichcloses one end of the vertical bore 9. A sleeve I2 is also adapted to fit into the vertical bore l9,having a horizontal bore I4. The top end of the vertical bore I3 is adapted to have the ring pin I9 fitted therein, whereas the bottom end of the bore i9 is provided with a primer detonator I I. A spring I9 is adapted to fit around the firing vpin I9 between the head of the firing pin and the top of the sleeve thereby forcing the head of the firing pin into the cone-shaped socket in the screw cap II and at the same time forcing the bottom of the sleeve I2 into the cone-shaped bottom of the vertical bore 5.

Adetonator carrier `i1 having a vertical aperture formed in one end thereof and extending therethrough for carrying a detonator I9, is mounted in the horizontal bore 4. After insertion of the detonator carrier in the bore 4, the bore 4 is closed by a screw cap I9, fitted in the seat 2li forming an extension of the bore 4 and communicating with the outer portion of the fuse head 2.

The detonator carrier I1 is provided with a longitudinal groove 2| (Figure 2) on one side thereof. At right'angles to the bore 4, the fuse body is provided with a bore 22 extending into a bore 23 of enlarged diameter communicating with the outer portion of the fuse head. A screw 24 is fixed in the bore 23, having an extension 2i of constricted diameter extending through the bore 22, and fitting in the groove 2i', formed in the detonator carrier I1 to prevent rotation thereof.

The U-shaped lsafety fork 29 is adapted to fit in the bores 6 and 21 extending vfrom the bores 4 and 5. One end of the fork passes through the horizontal bore I4 of the sleeve I2 between the bottom of the firing pin I0 and the top of the primer-detonator I5, thereby locking the firing pin out of contact with the primer-detonator aligned therewith. The other end passes through the bore 21 into the bore 4 and holds the detonator carrier in the unarmed position against the action of the spring 28 until after the fuse is fired from the piece.

Movement of the U-shaped safety fork is prevented by a' set-back pellet 29, as shown in Figure 1, seated in the vertical bore 9. The pellet 29 is provided with an integral extension 30, adapted y to fit in a slot 3|` in one end of the safety fork 26. The extension 30 is held in the slct 3I by a spring 32 in the bore 9 which is seated on a screw plug 33. Movement of the pellet 29 is prevented by a safety pin 34 which passes through the body of the fuseand the pellet. The removal of the safety pin is facilitated by a pull ring 35 as shown in Figure 2, fastened thereon.

The bores 1 and 8 in the neck of the fuse are adapted to contain an auxiliary booster charge 36. vThe bore 8 is closed at the top with a thin metal cup 31, and the bore 1 is closed at the bottom with a screw cap 38 which retains the auxiliiary booster charge.

The operation of the invention will be readily understood by first having reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5.

a,11s,oes Y, L

when le a desi-d to nre a projectile having" the fuse forming the subject matter of this invention assembled therein, asshown in Figure 3, the safety pin 94 is removed, freeing the set-back pellet 29. The projectile is then inserted in the barrel of a weapon. movement of the safety fork being prevented as shown in Figure i by engagement of the extension 99 of the pellet 29 with the slot 9i therein. On firing the forcevof set-back incident to the combustion of the propellant charge is adapted to set-back the pellet 29 against the spring 92, compressing it so that the detonstor carrier and safety fork are released as shown in Figure 3. n

It wilibe apparent, with the set-backV pellet in the rearward position, the safety fork and detonator carrier are ,free to move outward under the force of the spring 29, until the safety fork comes in contact with the inside of the barrel 49 as shown in Figure 3.

After the projectile leaves the muzzle of the weapon, the spring 29 is adapted to move the detonator carrier over to the armed position' to align the detonator'll with the primer-detonator I9' and the auxiliary booster charge 99, Concomitantly with movement of the detonator carrierto the armed position, the safety fork is ejected from the body of the fuse by the action of the spring 29 and falls away into the air thereby leaving the firing pin free to function the primer-detonator Il -on impact with the target as shown in Figure 5. l

'I'he detonator carrier I1 is locked in the armed position by engagement of the extension 90 of the pellet 29 in the aperture 99 in the detonator carrier I1 as shown in Figure 4 when the shell is in flight.

Figure 4 snows the projectile in night with the fuse in the armed 'and locked position ready to function upon impact with the target.

On impact with the target the firing pin engages with and sets ofi' the primer-detonator, causing the detonation of the auxiliary booster charge and bursting charge proper in the shell.

There is accomplished by this invention an allways, bore-safe fuse for smooth bore pieces having a detonator carriernormally held in the unarmed position by a U-shaped safety fork adapted to arm. and loclrv ink the firing position while in trajectory after it is fired from the mortar.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration as it is apparent that many changes and variations maybe made therein, by those skilled in the art, without `departing from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

, 1. A safety impact fuse for shells comprising a fuse body, a primer charge, a firing pin in alignment with said primer charge, a transversely movable member carrying a detonator charge, a safe- 3. The invent-.ion as desmbed in claim 1 wherein said last-named means includes a latch for said fork released by set-back of the shell.

4. The invention as described in claim 1 wherein said last-named means comprises a. latch for said fork released by set-back of the shell, a portion of the fork then engaging the interior wall of the gun barrel.

5. A safety impact fuse for shells comprising a body, a primer charge, and a booster charge in alignment but separated from one another, a transversely movable member carrying a detonator charge, a ring pin in alignment with said primer charge, a safety fork having a part interposed between said ilring'pin and primer charge and a part holding said transversely movable member with its detonator charge out of alignment with said booster charge, set-back releasable means for retaining said fork in safe position, and means to retain said fork in safe position until the shell leaves the gun barrel.

6. A safety impact fuse for shells comprising a body, a primer charge and a booster charge in alignment but separated from one another, a member carrying a detonator charge, a firing pin in alignment with said primer charge, a safety fork having two arms, one arm normally holding the detonator charge in unarmed position and the other arm normally separating the ring pin and primer charge, a latch retaining said fork in safe position, said latch being released upon setback oi' the shell, said fork being retained in safe position by engagement thereof with .the gun barrel, and means on the detonator charge carrying member engageable by said latch to hold said detonator in armed position during flight of the shell.

DAVID L. WOODBERRY.