US2496479A

US2496479A - Life belt projectile

Info

Publication number: US2496479A
Application number: US598100A
Authority: US
Inventors: William B Kochner; Lawrence T Ward
Original assignee: Knapp Monarch Co
Current assignee: Knapp Monarch Co
Priority date: 1945-06-07
Filing date: 1945-06-07
Publication date: 1950-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 1967-02-07

Description

* w. B. KOCHNER ET AL.

Feb. 7, H950 LIFEBELT PROJ ECTILE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June '7, 1945 Patented Feb. 7, 1950 umso arruinar@ PRomarmen` assrgnmentattoflnapp-Monarcli. Company, St; Iiua, M,j,a corporation. oi Delaware' Our presenti-i inven-tion .relates1to. a. proj ectilez.

that. can. betriiredzffrom a. grenade: launchers] or thelika. thefprolectile.` containing a lifebeltwhich. is automatically intlatedlby means .of bulbscontaining gas-under. highpressure. n

One objectv of, the'cinventi-on 1ste. provide.'V a. projectile that. isl soydesignedl. that itcan beuSedl in. connection. with a grenade .launcher oi the. kind that'vmay be. clamped to arieba-rrel.,

Another-object is toprlzulidesa projectile confv taining a l-ife'lbelt which is, selfiinrlatablel upon the .proj vectile. stri king ,theV Water.

Still kanother: object isto. provideha'. projectilelin. the form di aV container, irl-:Which a. collapsible life 1 belt max/@ be.A packed. with.l bulbs-ofcarbon. dioxide or the like associated therewith insuch manner that4v the. projectile upon striking., the' water operatesla-me'chanism. for releasing. the gas` from thebulbs. andpermittingit .to escape into the life belt forinating itn K VA further objectv is to L )ioVid'ell a lite belt prof-- jectilev which. canbe projected. agconsiderable distance overthe water top a man. overboard whereby itv is feasible tolproi/idelhimwith a. life belt even. though .the ship may have' proceeded v a considerabledistance beyond; his nosition. e

, Still afurther object is toprovde a; projectile having. springnvound' mechanisms for operating piercing pins. for the inating bulbs, .catches being v -:=laun cher.1 rv s v U kThe. housing it; at'its forti/'ardendihasl a` cap-v providedior. the mechanismsso thatV theyware normally heldinretraeted positions' and'may bei released: fonoperating the; piercing .ltriiqis'lirylY the noseoi thelprojectil'e strikingtlzielyv'at'e'r'L A K With. theseand other Obiectsfinoview, ojir'yi'ri;l vention. consists in the construction, arrangement and combination.. ofthe various4 part'sof. our dez-' vice; wherehythvobjects containplatedl are at' tained., as hereinaft'enmore iull-y setfforth, pointed out in our claims, and'illustrated the' accom# partying drawings', .wherein L Figure 1 is a side elevation ofj'a projectile. off the kind here under consideration showing it' mounted on a grenade launcher and ready for firing, upon. removal of.; a safety pin., therefrom. Figure 2y isi an, enlargedsectionai vievv` ointhe' linef 2-2 offligur l, this; figurebeingapproxi' mately full scale; Y A Y Figure 3 asectionalvlewon the' line. 343 of Figurez.,

Figure 4. isan. enlarged, sectional View of the rear. end of the pr'oljec itilfelshowing' it. associated Withtheerwaide'lunher j Figures aand @are sectional/.viensonth'elins 5-*4-5 and G--respectively of. Figure' 2'; l and Figura? is;a.sectionaly View on the line. le-"lf ci?" liigure` 6- showing arelease mechanism.

Gn the accompanying drawings,A We. the reference numeral ll;- to indicate a housing? formed of cardboard orY similar light material which is oapableof disintegrationby contact with' water and capable oibeing torn apart by pressure produced therein by means.. o a' lifdbelt beingr iniiatedbygaslunder highpressure. l The housingV i lunas an endA plate l2v secured thereto in anyv sui-table. manner, atubeflibeing secured togtha end plate I2. A' reinforcement at thefjoint'fbe-v tweenA theftube I4. andthe end plate l2 is shown'l at..l.5'. Y

Theftube ,ll' ,I of vsuoli size that'itioan ftoverv a grenade launcher l5 of thel kindusually provided for clampingto'ariebarrel 2B.. Tlfie'clarnpl is,.show.n at-Z'Zl and the clamp action is usually` eiectedfby a Wingnut 26. on a bolt 26; These-f E grenade launchers are designed for the purpose' of, launching grenades byV means ofltheghigh gas pressure produced'bya rifleas distinguished Vfrornr handlaunching, the grenades. and serve'admir ablyy in the presentihstance as. al means tolauncl'ithe housingh lil through the air from a ship' to` a man" overboard. A grenade launcher is usually provided With a coil spring 28 Whichrservestofric-I ti'on'all'y4 engage thet'ube hl and hold'the housing lf;l against.' accidentally falling off the grenade like,v cover' which is secured" ja screw l3'2 to a; sleeve'- 3.431 'lhesleevef '3giisslidable on` a" rodfS'E; andE hasan internal shoulder 381 between whic'lrj and.the.roda spring lll is positioned. A screw" illisthreadedintoithe rod'with its head against the .sho.u tder"38;V V'll'iis provides for. limiting the outward telescoping'of the tubeflion therod 3G and permits its inward telescoping against the" action' ofthe spring 40;

The' rod 3B" is'secured Vasby aj nut-4s to'a framef d?" with av pair of* crossi members lil' against'thef frame and the nut. The cross memlcqers'iI are? partcfapair of hubs: 482 hesehubs terminate inhousings Sffor bulbs 52 Whiclfrtslooselythere? in and which. are'adapted l to' containn gas such' as r` Ci'Ozpor thelikeunderhigh.pressure.

Screwed'intoithethubs 68r` arezsleeves 53, gaskets-j 54" being interposed'between' the two4 forI sealingA purposes. ,Eachl sleeve `53` is sealed relative toI atmosphere byja diaphragm 5l? carrying pieroin gpin 58;4 A' diaphragm retainer disc 'til backs' upthediaph'ragm' 5t. Y u

s 'Each piercingr pin'K 53 has" an operating-mechaanism. iii/hielt.Willv now be' described'. A leverA 64'9- haszelusediv is pivoted on a pin 62 and is constrained from the full line position to the dotted line position of Figure 3, by -means of a spring 64 coiled around a hub 66 supported by ears 68 extending from a plate 3. The plate is secured to the frame 43 with a spacer 45 between the two.

The lever El is adapted to be manually moved from the'dotted line position to the full line position and then latched by a latch finger 'I of a bell crank lever having arms l2 and i4. The bell crank lever is pivoted on a pin I6 carried by ears 18 extending from the frame 46 and is normally constrained to the latched position shown in Figure 3 by a spring Sil. The lower end of the lever 'i4 enters a notch 82 in the rod 36 and is located back of the inner end of the sleeve 34.

The sleeve 34 is provided with an opening 34 through which a safety locking pin 8S is normally positioned. The cap 30 has a pair of openings 88 to accommodate the pin and the pin has a wire and lead seal Si) to normally retain it in position.

Practical operation In the operation of my life belt projectile, it is placed on the grenade launcher as shown in Figure l and the seal 9i! then broken and the pin 85 removed.' The pin normally serves as a safety means to prevent accidental inflation of the life belt as by pushing the cap 30 inwardly on the tubular housing Ill.

The rie barrel 20 is aimed toward the person to receive the life belt and the riil-e fired Which builds up high pressure due to the exploding gases within the grenade launcher i8, thereby driving the tube lll oi the launcher and projecting the entire device a considerable distance or a short distancerdepending upon the aim. When the cap 30 strikes the water the concussion causes the cap to move rearwardly, thereby causing the sleeve 34 to press inwardly on the levers "i4, causing them to assume the dotted position in Figures 2, 6 and '7.

This releases the levers 6l so that they are driven by the springs 64 through a half revolution and end up at the dotted position shown in Figure 6. pins 58 into the bulbs 52 thereby releasing the gas which escapes from the bulb housing U through slots 5| into the life belt sections 53a. Two of these sections are provided so that if one fails there is still a chance for the other one to inflate,

The life belts 53a are usually made of canvas and may be wound as shown in Figure 1 to fit compactly withinthe cardboard tube I8. The water tends to disintegrate the cardboard and the inilating life belt tears it apart thereby releasing the belt which can thereupon be procured by the man overboard and he can strap it around himself.

The sleeves 53 can be removed for replacing the bulbs when adjusting the device for subsequent use after it has served its purpose. The life belt may then be associated with a new assembly of the housing I il and its attached parts l2, I4 and I 6, and the locking pin 86 is placed in position and sealed.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of our life belt projectile without departing from the real spirit and purpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equiva- This operation drives the piercing.

4 lents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubular container of disintegratable material, an inflatable life belt secured in one end of said vcontainer 'and normally collapsed and tted in said container, a compressed gas bulb secured in said end of said container and adapted to have communication with said life belt, a swingable lever mounted adjacent and adapted to pierce said bulb, latch'means for normally retaining said lever in inoperative position, a rod secured adjacent said latch means and extending longitudinally of said container, and a cap slidable on said rod, said cap being adapted to slide on said rod and release said latch means upon the projectile striking a body of Water.

A2. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubular container of disintegratable material, a plurality of inflatable life belt sections secured in one end of said container and normally collapsed and tted in said container, a compressed gas bulb for each of said belt sections securedvin said end of said container and adapted to have communication with their respective belt sections, a swingable lever mounted adjacent and adapted to pierce each of said bulbs, latch means for normally retaining said levers in inoperative position, a rod secured adjacent said latch means and extending longitudinally of said container, and a cap slidable on said rod, said cap being adapted to slide on said rod and release said latch means upon the projectile striking a body of water.

3. In a life belt projectile of the character described, a tubular container of disintegratable material, an inflatable life belt secured in one end of said container and normally collapsed and fitted in said container, a compressed gas bulb secured in said end of said container and adapted to have communication with said life belt, a swingable lever mounted adjacent and adapted to pierce said bulb, a rod secured adjacent said swingable lever and -extending longitudinally of said container, a sleeve slidable on said rod, a cap secured on said sleeve and telescoping over said container, and latch means for normally retaining said lever in inoperative position, said latch means` comprising a bell crank lever having one arm adapted to engage said swingable lever and the other arm adjacent said rod and adapted for engagementl by said sleeve, said cap being movable telescopically over said container and thereby slidingsaid sleeve on said rods aid sleeve on sliding on, said rod adapted to rock said bell crank lever and release said swingable lever.

4. In' a life beltprojectile, a housing of disini'l tegratable material, means extending from oney end of the housing for association with agrenade launcher, acollapsible life belt within said housing, mounting means on said life belt adjacent the other end of said housing, a bulb of compressed gas on said mounting means and adapted to have communication with said life belt, a piercing Apin movably mounted in said mounting means'an'd'arranged for puncturing said bulb,

means movably mounted on said mounting meansfor striking said piercing pin, latch means for retaining said striking means in inoperative position, spring means biasing said striking means to operative position, and a cap movably mounted on said mounting means'and telescopieally associated with said housing and adapted to release said latch upon the cap striking the Water.

5. In a life belt projectile, a housing of disintegratable material, means extending from one end of the housing for association with a grenade launcher, a collapsible life belt Within said housing, mounting means on said life belt adjacent the other end of said housing, a container mounted on said mounting means and extending into said life belt, said container having an opening communicating, with said life belt and being sealed to the exterior, a bulb of compressed gas in said container, a piercing pin movably mounted in said mounting means and extending into said container adjacent said bulb and adapted to puncture said bulb, means movably mounted on said mounting means for striking said piercing pin, latch means for retaining said striking means in inoperative position, spring means biasing said striking means to operative position, and a cap movably mounted on said mounting means and telescopically associated with said housing and adapted to release said latch upon the cap striking the Water.

6. In a life belt projectile of the character disclosed, a tubular container, a tube extending therefrom in which gases of explosion may expand and cause projection of the projectile to a distant point, a cap on said container and movable relative thereto, an inflatable life belt within said tubular container, a compressed gas bulb also in said container, means enclosing said bulb and communicating with said life belt, whereby on puncturing said bulb the gas therefrom ows into said life belt, movable piercing means mounted in said container adapted to puncture said bulb, a pivoted lever mounted in said container, a latch for said lever, a spring for propelling said lever about its pivot when said latch is released, and an operative connection between said cap and said latch for releasing the latch When the cap moves relative to said tubular container by impingement of the cap with a body of Water.

7. In a life belt projectile, ahousing of disintegratable material, a collapsible life belt within said housing, a bulb of compressed gas in said housing, means enclosing said bulb and communicating with said life belt, whereby on puncturing said bulb the gas therefrom flows into said life belt, means for piercing said bulb, means for actuating said piercing means, said actuating means being movable to inoperative position and f to operative position, latch means for retaining said actuating means in inoperative position, means biasing said actuating means to operative position, and a cap movably mounted on said housing, said cap having operative connection with said latch means, said cap on striking the Water being adapted to release said latch means.

WILLIAM B. KOCHNER. LAWRENCE T. WARD.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 701,329 Graham June 3, 1902 978,378 Ingaramo Dec. 13, 1910 1,235,076 Stanton July 31, 1917 1,316,296 Gathmann Sept. 16, 1919 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 481,254 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1938