US2421266A

US2421266A - Fuse for ordnance projectiles or bombs

Info

Publication number: US2421266A
Application number: US237729A
Authority: US
Inventors: Honger Guido
Original assignee: Mefina SA
Current assignee: Mefina SA
Priority date: 1937-11-06
Filing date: 1938-10-29
Publication date: 1947-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 1964-05-27
Also published as: FR844999A; GB510065A; NL49507C; BE430758A; DE675717C; CH199509A

Description

May 27, 1947. G. HONGER 2,421,266

FUSE FOR ORDNANCE PROJECTILES OR BOMBS Filed Oct. 29, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

May 27, 1947. HQNGER 2,421,266

FUSE FOR ORDNANCE PROJECTILES OR BOMBS Filed Oct. 29, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 INVENT R Guluo HBNGER May 27, 1947. G. HUNGER 2,421,266

FUSE FOR ORDNANCE PROJECTILES OR'BOMBS Filed Oct. 29, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTYS.

y l947- 'e. HDNGER 2,421,266

FUSE FOR ORDNANCE PRQJECTILES OR BOMBS Filed Oct. 29, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Gumo HA/GER.

ATTYS.

Patented May 27, 1947 UNHTED STATES FUSE FOR ORDNANCE PROJECTILES R BOMBS Application October 29, 1938, Serial No. 237,729

- In Switzerland November 6, 1937 9 Claims.

The invention relates to safety devices incorporated in the fuses of ordnance projectiles and bombs for the purpose of preventing premature ignition.

Such safety devices may broadly be divided into two groups, one for preventing ignition during transport and handling and the other for preventing premature ignition in the barrel of the gun or during a portion of the projectiles flight.

A common device is to use a bolt which is by inertia or centrifugal force, due to the flight of the projectile, removed from a position in which it restrains the exploder system from functioning. Devices of this type must be specially designed for each type of fuse for which they are intended, and the careful and extensive tests required for each design render this a very expensive matter.

For rendering the exploder system incapable of action during a predetermined portion of the flight of the projectile it is common practice to use an escapement that is, a. clockwork mechanism including an escapement device controlling the turning of its gears, which comes into operation when the shot is fired or the bomb is released so that after a predetermined period a lock which renders the exploder system inoperative is put out of action. The devices whereby such escapements are released are frequently sensitive to shocks such as may occur during the handling of the projectile, and an accidental shock may then start the escapement, generally without this being perceived. The safety device is accordingly either put wholly out of action, so that the projectile is in what is called the armed state, or the armed state will, owing to the partial operation of the escapement, be established earlier than expected after the firing of the gun. In either case a serious accident is liable to occur. In the case of some escapements the cumulative effect of a series of small shocks may render the safety device inoperative.

In the safety device of my invention two methods of insuring safety are combined, and the device is one which can be incorporated in a fuse of any type. The device is so constituted that for putting it out of action, so that the exploder system can function, it is necessary that two forces should come into operation, namely acceleration due to firing the projectile and a second, force which may be centrifugal force due to the spin of the projectile or the force of a spring released by the discharge of the projectile.

The centrifugal force, or the spring referred to, removes from the path of a detonating member of the fuse a locking membe which in the safety position lies in that path, and the movement of the said locking member is controlled by a reversible escapement or clockwork mechanism. Movement of the locking member itself from the safety position is, however, normally prevented by a spring loaded bolt, which does not release the lockin member till it has by the acceleration of the projectile been removed from its normal position. This bolt, and that part of the locking member which it engages, are so constituted that if a blow or shock causes relative movement of the locking member and bolt, so that the locking member is moved some way towards the off position, the return of the bolt to its normal position causes the locking member to be pushed back or rotated back to the safety position, the escapement being at the same time restored to its original condition.

Two embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in Figs. 1 to 4 and Figs. 5 to 8 respectively.

Fig. 1 is an axial section showing the safety device and the relevant parts of the exploder system, the safety device being in operation.

Fig. 2 is a section of the line II-II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 1, but on a smaller scale, showing the safety device somewhat removed from its operative position, but still capable of returning automatically to that position.

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3, showing the safety device fully removed from its operative to its inoperative position.

Figs. 5 to 8 are views similar to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, showing the second embodiment referred to, Fig. 6 being a, section on the line VIVI of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of Fig. 1 through the escapement mechanism taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Referrin first to Figs. 1 to 4, the striker I0 is normally restrained from moving towards the detonating pellet H by a rack it. The teeth IZa of the rack engage one of the wheels lZ'b of the gear train of an escapement or clockwork mechanism l3 holding the rack in the position shown in Fig. 1. The holder it of the pellet It is likewise prevented by the rack from moving towards the striker Iii.

The spin of the projectile when it has been fired causes the rack to slide radially outwards, as indicated in.Figs. 3 and 4, with a movement retarded by the escapement, but such radial outward movement cannot take place till a bolt formed by a tongue on an annular weight l5 has by inertia been removed from the path of the rack, against the action of a coiled spring I6.

When the tongue has been fully withdrawn from the path of the rack the weight [5 is automatically retained in its retracted position by the expansion of a compressed split elastic ring ll. After the weight is displaced to its retracted position its upper edge is below the lower edge of the compressed ring I! so that the latter will expand to a blocking position as shown in Fig. 4. The fuse is then in the condition called armed, the exploder system being free to come into action at the proper time.

In the course of handling the projectile the same may receive an accidental blow or shock which causes movement of the weight 5 5 against the action of the spring I6, and also causes an outward impulse to be given to the rack [2. A blow in the direction from the top right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner of Fig. 1 might, for example, do this. This may cause the weight, with its tongue, to be retracted to the position shown in Fig, 3, and as the rack has an inclined face 13 abutting against an inclined face IQ of the tongue the rack may move a short distance outwards, as shown in Fig. 3, but this outward movement will, owing to the action of the escapement, be much slower than the movement of the weight, so that when the impulse which has moved the weight is spent the spring I6 will push the weight back before the rack has moved across the path of the tongue. The action of the tongue surface i9 against the rack surface l8 .then forces the rack back to the safety position, the escapement spring being by this means rewound. Consequently the effect of a series of shocks will not be cumulative in respect of releasing the escapement, and there is no substantial risk of the safety device being ineffective when the projectile is fired.

It will be understood that in the case of a projectile which is to be fired from a gun which imparts no spin the rack may be actuated by a spring, no centrifugal force being available for its actuation. The escapement then serves to check the relaxation of the spring, instead of to check the winding of a spring.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 5 to 8 the function of the rack described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4 is performed by the time wheel 20, of the reversible escapement, and movement thereof is, in the safety position, prevented by a tongue on an annular weight 2! guided in the plate 22. The inclined surface E9 of this tongue operates to impart rotational movement to the time wheel when the weight is restored to the safety position after being displaced by an accidental shock, instead of impar-ting radial movement, as does the tongue described with reference to Figs, 1 to 5.

The parts H], H, l3, l6 and H shown in Figs. 5 to 8 are equivalent to, and operate in the same way, as the parts bearing the same reference numerals in Figs. 1 to 5.

It will be understood that the safety device of my invention can be applied to fuses of all kinds used in connection with ordnance projectiles and bombs, that is to say percussion fuses, graze or check action fuses, time fuses, combined percussion and time fuses and so on.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

-1. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a movable lockin member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member, and a spring loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said locking member and said bolt having coacting cam surfaces with a mechanical advantage in favor of the bolt whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring.

2. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a radially movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member, and a spring loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, .said locking member and said bolt having coacting cam surfaces with a mechanical advantage in favor of the bolt whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring.

3. The combination, with .a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a rotatable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the rotation of said looking member, and a spring loaded bolt which nor mally prevents movement of said locking .member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said locking member and said bolt having 'coacting cam surfaces with a mechanical advantage in favor of the bolt whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring,

4. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said locking member and said bolt having coacting cam surfaces with a mechanical advantage in favor of the bolt whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring, a, cylindrical support, said bolt comprising a tubular member axially .slidable on said cylindrical support, said support having an an- .nular recess therein, and a compressed expansible ring in said recess, said ring being retained in the recess by the tubular member, and being releasable when said bolt is in its retracted position, and serving to block movement of the bolt from its retracted position.

5. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, and a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the lockin position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said bolt having a wedgelike portion engaging the locking member for blocking movement of the locking member and for imparting movement to the latter upon displacement of the wedge-like portion relative to said locking member whereby said locking member is restored. to the locking position by said bolt when said bo1t,'after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring.

6. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a radially movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, and a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the efiect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said bolt having a wedge-like portion engaging the locking member for blocking movement of the locking member and for imparting movement to the latter upon displacement of the wedge-like portion relative to said locking member whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring.

'7. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a rotatable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the rotation of said looking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, and a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, said bolt having a wedge-like portion engaging the locking member for blocking movement of the locking member and for imparting movement to the latter upon displacement of the wedge-like portion relative to said locking member whereby said locking member is restored to the locking position by said bolt when said bolt, after partial retraction, is restored to normal position by its spring.

8. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, and a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertia when the fuse is in flight, a cylindrical support, said bolt comprising a tubular member axially slidable on said cylindrical support beneath the looking member, a tongue carried. by said bolt and projecting up in the path of release movement of the locking member, said tongue having a surface cooperating with the locking member for transmitting movement of the bolt under the action of its spring to movement of the locking member to its locking position 9. The combination, with a projectile fuse having a movable detonator member, of a movable locking member adapted to prevent actuation of said detonator member, a reversible horological escapement controlling the movement of said locking member to release the detonator member at a predetermined time after firing the projectile, a spring-loaded bolt which normally prevents movement of said locking member from the locking position and is retracted against the action of its spring by the effect of inertiawhen the fuse is in flight, a cylindrical support, said bolt comprising a tubular member axially slidable on said cylindrical support beneath the locking member, a tongue carried by said bolt and projecting up in the path of release movement of the locking member, said tongue having a surface cooperating with the locking member for transmitting movement of the bolt under the action of its spring to movement of the locking member to its locking position and means operable upon complete retraction of the bolt for retaining it in its retracted position.

GUIDO HCSNGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,182,488 Janney May 9, 1916 1,726,325 Varaud Aug. 27, 1919 2,116,820 Birkigt May 10, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 125,401 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1919