US2398740A - Aerial bomb - Google Patents

Description

April 16, 1946.

A. F. HALV'EY AERIAL BOM Filed May 26, 1943 Patented Apr. 16, 1946 AERIAL BOlVIB Arthur Francis Halvey, Auckland, New Zealand,

assignor to Traders Supplies Limited, Auckland, New Zealand, a company of New Zealand Application May 26, 1943, Serial No. 488,546 In New Zealand June 29, 1942 2 Claims.

This invention relates to bombs of the type carried and dropped by aircraft and has for its objects the provision of an improved form of bomb of a type which is adapted to screen night flying air craft from anti-aircraft guns and also to give protection to such aircraft by causing doubt and confusion to the anti-aircraft gunners as to the exact location of the aircraft.

It is well known in warfare to form screens of smoke, these screens being effectively used on the sea and on the land, but they are not so useful in giving to aircraft in the air a suitable measure of protection because of the very different conditions which apply in the air as compared with on the land or sea.

The present invention provides a form of screen which is intended for use at night as being most effective for use in the dark, such screen being formed of a solid matter which will remain substantially effective until it has gravitated to earth.

Broadly the invention comprises improvements in aerial bombs wherein a bomb case is provided with an explosive charge and a time fuse, the main volume of said bomb case being packed with innumerable pieces of light weight material having a reflective surface or surfaces, explosion of the explosive charge by the time fuse ejecting the pieces of reflective material from the case and spreading same over an appreciable area.

In describing the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a partially sectioned elevation of the aerial bomb, and

Figure 2 is a plan view on line A-B of Fig. l.

The invention comprises a bomb case I constructed of light weight metal, of cardboard, or of other suitable material and will be of hollow cylindrical, square or other suitable shape and will be closed at one end by a bullet shaped nose piece 2, the opposite end of the case I being provided with external fins 3 and also being closed by a suitable closing wad 4 which is secured as by a crimped edge 5 to the case I.

The nose piece 2 of the case I will have a suitable known time fuse 6 fitted thereinto behind which there is an explosive charge 'I and then a wad 8 to separate the said explosive charge I from the main volume of the case interior which will extend to the rear end of the caseat which the closing wad 4 is located.

Into the main volume of the case interior there will be a tightly packed mass of innumerable pieces 9 of a suitable light weight material which has one or both sides thereof with a reflective surface, it being preferred to use silver paper,

or thin paper such as cigarette paper silvered on one side or on both sides, this reflective surfaced material being cut into small squares or other suitable shapes so that it will fill the case, it being estimated that a stack of about four hundred of the small reflective pieces 9 will be only one inch thick when packed under suitable pressure and that a bomb case of moderate and convenient size will hold a very large number of the said reflective pieces,

To prevent the reflective pieces 9 from tending to stick together, only one side may be silvered, the pieces 9 being packed with silvered sides contacting plain sides.

In use or operation, the aircraft in the advanced position ona night air raid willcarry these bombs and at suitable time will drop same after having set the time fuse 6 to cause the explosion of the explosve charge I after a suitable interval of time.

The bomb will explode in the air, the explosion not being desired to shatter the bomb case I but to merely eject the reflective pieces 9 and to spread same.

These reflective pieces 9 on being ejected from the case I along with the closing wad 4 will form a cloud of pices covering an ever increasing area as they slowly settle to earth and due to their large number and the reflective surfaces thereof, the rays of searchlights will get reflected back to said searchlights, apart from which a large area of the air screened by the reflective pieces 9 will act as a screen for following aircraft located above same while at the same time in no way impeding the vision of the airmen in such aircraft.

The sparkling of the reflective pieces 9 at a substantially low level or altitude will give a substantially same appearance on the ground as an aircraft at high altitude and as the reflective pieces are innumerable, it will be diflicult for anti-aircraft gunners to pick out the aircraft from the innumerable sparkling points of light reflected back to the searchlights and accor ingly protection will be afforded to the night flying aircraft.

I claim:

1. Improvements in aerial bombs comprising a bomb case closed by a nose piece at one end and a closing wad at the other, a time fuse at the nose piece behind which an explosive charge is located adapted to be exploded by said time fuse, a wad separating the explosive charge from the main volume of the case interior which extends to the closing wad, innumerable pieces of light weight material in sheet form having reflective surface or surfaces packed between said separating Wad and closing Wad, and fins to the closing wad end of the case.

2'. Improvements in aerial bombs comprising a cylindrical metal case closed by a nosc'piece secured at one of its ends, a closing Wad closing the other end of the case, fins to the exterior of the case at the closed wad end of the case, a time fuse in the nose piece of the case behind which an explosive charge is located, a wad behind such explosive charge and innumerable pieces of light weight material in sheet form having a reflective surface or surfaces packed into the case in the main space between the said wad and the closing wad substantially as described.

ARTHUR FRANCIS HALVEY.

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