US2563494A - Contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a main spring driven dynamoelectrical igniting device - Google Patents

Description

1951 K SCHAFFLER GLOSSL 2,563,494

CONTACTING DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE IGNITING CIRCUIT OF MAINSPRING-DRIVEN, DYNAMO-ELECTRICAL IGNITING DEVICES Filed NOV. 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ii l M KLZH 9 4G1 (9 5b A 7 I 11a l; 11b

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M4464! ow /7m #10511 Aug. 7, 1951 K. SCHAFFLER eLbssL 2,563,494

CONTACTING DEVICE FOR C ONTROLLING THE IGNITING CIRCUIT OF MAINSPRING-DRIVEN, DYNAMO-ELECTRICAL IGNITING DEVICES Filed Nov. 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 7, 1951 CONTACTING DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE IGNITING CIRCUIT OF A MAIN- DRIVEN, D

IGNITIN G DEVICE Konrad Schafller-Gliissl, Vienna, Austria Application November 15, 1949, Serial No.

YNAMOELECTRICAL In Austria November 18, 1948 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device, in particular, of a detonator for mines.

It is the object of this invention to provide a contacting device which is capable of producing igniting pulses of very short duration.

According to the invention a resilient wiping contact is fixedly connected to a contact carrier, which is driven at high speed by drive means consisting of means for coupling the contact carrier to the mainspring of the igniting device, which spring is released in the usual manner. This wiping contact cooperates with non-rotatable, rigid with the said countercontacts the wiping contact closes the igniting circuit for the passage of a pulse, the beginning and duration of which depend on the location and longitudinal dimension of the countercontacts and on the speed of rotation of the wiping contact. Preferably the wiping contact is fixed on an element which is driven by way of impact-by the mainspring of the igniting device during the final phase of its unwinding operation, the non-rotatable countercontacts being provided in the orbit of said element.

E. g., the wiping contact may be located in a freely rotatable control disc, which is adapted to be engaged for joint rotation by a rotating control member driven directly by the mainspring the generator of the igniting backlash being provided for member and control disc.

applicable to advantage in any mainspring-driven igniting device which is provided with a so-called end contacting device, and particularly in such igniting devices which are provided, for another function, with two control elements which are driven by the mainspring and can be coupled with each other over a substantial backlash, said control elements being used for operating the wiping contact. Such igniting devices are described in my U. S. Patent No. 1,788,892. In the igniting device describedin that patent two controlling members are provided, one of which is connected on the one hand to the winding up mechanism by a unilaterally acting coupling, e. g., a ratchet device, and on the other hand to one end of the driving spring, said member controlling a pawl or the like for locking and releasing the armature driving gear, whereas the second controlling member is displaced by the first member only in the end portion or its stroke in order to unlock the usual releasing 2 bolt for the purpose of enabling the driving spring to be released and preferably also to actuate the contact device of the igniting circuit to be actuated for firing the mines.

In that known igniting device, however, the second controlling member operates, differently from the subject of the present invention, an instantaneous switching device provided with a separate switching spring, by which the switching speed aimed at cannot be achieved.

The drawing shows the contacting device according to the invention, as applied by way of example to the known igniting device mentioned hereinbefore, of which- Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically in an overall perspective view only those elements which are necessary for understanding the invention, as Well as a wiring diagram,

Figs. 2 to 6 show structural details of the loose control disc and of the contacting device operated by it,

Fig. 2 showing a contact disc,

Fig. 3 showing a top view of the loose control disc which carries the wiper spring,

Fig. 4 being a side view of the movable control wheels and contact carrying discs, arranged one above another,

Fig. 5 showing a top view, and Fig. 6 a plan view of the loose control wheel.

According to Fig. l, the drive wheel I, which is in mesh with the pinion 2 of the igniting dynamo H and with a Winding-up wheel (not shown), is connected with a ratchet wheel 3, with which engages, as conventional the locking-and-releasing pawl (not shown either). The drive wheel I is, moveover, coupled with a control wheel 4, but only in sense of rotation, e. g., by means of a ratchet toothing and a pawl. A second control disc 5 runs freely on a sleeve 4a of the control wheel 4, which sleeve surrounds the shaft la of the drive wheel I. This control member 5 has a concentric guide slot 5a, which extends over about three fourths of its circumference and in which an engaging pin 4b of the control wheel 4 is guided. Hence, the control member 5 can be coupled in either sense of rotation with the control wheel 4, over a backlash which corresponds to the length of the slot 5a. The inside end of the mainspring 6 is fixed to the free end of the control wheel sleeve 4a, whereas the other end is fixed to the stationary spring case. A stationary insulating disc 1 is mounted over the loose control disc 5 and carries on its circumference two contact laminations 8 insulated from each other and,

plan view of the stationary arranged behind said contact laminations in the clockwise sense, a short-circuiting lamination 9, which is insulated from the contact laminations 8 and the width of which corresponds to the distance between the outside edges of the laminations 8.

These contacts 8 and 9 are swept over by a wiper spring H), which is connected for rotation with the loose control disc 5. The conductors for the current between the compound-excited direct-current igniting dynamo H and the two terminals l2 and I3 for the ignition line to the seriesccnnected fuses run on the one end from the collecting brush I la through the series-excitation winding l5 and the terminal l2 to the short-circuiting lamination 9, on the other hand from the second brush 5 lb to the lower contact lamination 8 and from the upper lamination 8 to the terminal l3. Hence, when the wiper spring H3 runs in the direction of the arrow on to the contacts 8, the igniting circuit is closed at the latter andniaintained closed until the wiper spring in has reached the shorti-circuiting lamination ill, thus short-circuiting the two poles whereby the ignition line becomes without current.

Figs. 2 to 4 show by way of example in a preferred embodiment the practical design and arrangement of the contacting device according to the invention, which in Fig. 1 has been shown only diagrammatically. A cam 50 (Figs. 3 and l), having the shape of a ring sector, is provided on the loose control disc 5 and, protruding over the bottom face of Said disc, extends over about one fourth of the disc circumference. The cam 50 is guided in an annular groove of the control wheel 4, which groove is interrupted by an engaging piece. A coupling pin Ed is inserted, diametrically opposite the sector 50, on the top side of the control discB, to which also a. spring ring 5c, having radial spring lugs 5 which are bent ofi at an angle, is riveted. An insulating wheel lila rests on the lugs 5f of the spring ring 5e and is detachably coupled for rotation with the couplingv pin Bel-of the loose control disc 5 by means of a bush lilb. Said insulating disc [8a has on its top side a wiper spring 190, which is staggered by 90 deg. against the bush lfib. A stationary contacting disc I, made from insulating material (Fig. 2, top) is fixed over the disc Illa. The two contact laminations 8 and the short-circuiting lamination 9, which con ist oi ring sectors and co-operate with thewiper spring I e- 2. m, n Fi .3) ,are att hed to the underside of he staionary disc in such a mann r hat together they extend over about one fourth of the wh l Ina in its circumferential direction. The solderinc loss it of the contacts 8, 9 are led out to the top edge of the d sc I (Fig. 2, top). The two discs We and l ar pre e to eth r by the action of he spring ugs f, whereby a met r ng la, fixed to the circumference of the disc I, on its underside, serves as a seating. Being made of thicker mat rial. his ring protrudes. beyond the nt s 9 so that a contact. chamber is formed which is completely closed off from the outside.

The d vi e de cr bed with reference to Fi 1 oper tes as follows: The full t n ion of the main.- pring 6 s reached after approximately one and hreei ur hs of a ntercloc wise turn of the rive Wheel .In this ope a ion the c n rol disc connected with the drive wheel I by .a unilatrally cting oou linacarries along, by means of its coupling pin 4b, the loose control disc 5 only fter having periormed three fourths of a turn, that s, ester having gone through the backlash provided by the slot 5a. The locking and releas ing pawl engaging with the ratchet toothing 3 of the drive wheel I can be lifted by means of the conventional releasing pin only when a cam 5b provided on the loose control disc 5 has lifted a checking lever which prevents the turning of the releasing pin. This is the case after one turn of the loose control Wheel 5 or one and three fourths of a turn of the drive wheel I. Said releasing means are not shown in the drawings because their structure and operational relationship is known from my U. S. patent mentioned hereinbeiore, and because they do not constitute a feature of this invention.

After the locking pawl has been released, the unwinding mainspring 6 drives the igniting machine ll over the control disc t and the drive wheel I, which are now rotating in the clockwise sense, and the pinion 2. During that operation the pin 41) of the control disc l first idles along the slot 5a., and impinges on the opposite end of said slot at very high speed after three fourths of a turn (this moment is shown in Fig. 1), so that the control disc 5, which carries the wiping contact it and the mass of which is much smaller than the rotating masses of the parts :3, 3, l, 2 andof the armature of the dynamo l l, is thrown off in the sense of rotation indicatedthe contact spring is wiping at top speed consecutively over the contacts 8 and 9. After the mainspring 6 has relaxed, all movable parts are again in the position shown in Fig. l. The wiper spring Ill, which closes the igniting circuit at the two contact ring segments 8 and interrupts itat the ring segment 9 by short-circuiting the igniting machine, wiping at extremely high speed over the short ring sectors ii of the stationary insulating disc I (the sectors are shown approximately in natural size in Fig. l), the resulting ignition current has a duration of less than four thousands of a second. When the ignition current has a strength of ap proximately 1.2 amp, all fuses it which are con nested in series in the loop id for the ignition current are safely fired. The use of wiping con tacts, their arrangement in a space which is closed on all sides and in which they are protected against any improper treatment, and the fact that the contacting is effected by a part of the igniting device which is running quickly and sub'-' jeot only to the influence of the mainspring, en-

sure the permanently safe operation of the device.

What I claim is: 1. A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a maipspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device, which comprises a control element which is adapted to be driven exclusively by the mainspring at unreduced speed, and coupled with a drive wheel for the generator of the igniting device, "a freely rotatable control disc which is coupled for joint rotation with saidcontrol element, means providing for a substantial backlash between said control element and said control disc, a coupling pin and a spring ring having radial lugs bent oil" at an angle on the top face of the freely rotatable control disc, a sleeve con-' stituting an extension of said control element, said sleeve enclosing the shaft of the drive wheel for the generator of the igniting device and being connected with the free end of the mainspring, a rotatable insulating disc detachably coupled for joint rotation with said rotatable control disc, a-

non rotatable insulating disc which 'is coaxial with said rotatable insulating disc, said rotatable control disc and said insulating discs being passed over said sleeve, a bushing on the rotatable insu-= lating disc for receiving the coupling pin, a resilient wiping contact mounted on said rotatable insulating disc, a pair of contact laminations, ill.- sulated from each other, and a short-circuiting lamination insulated from said contact laminations, said contact and short=circuiting laminations extending on said non-rotatable insulating disc in diil'er'ent parts of the orbit of said wiping contact.

2; A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device, which comprises a control element which is adapted to be driven exclusively by the mainspring at unreduced speed, and con pled with a drive wheel for the generator of the igniting device, a freely rotatable control disc which is coupled for joint rotation with said control element, means providing for a substantial backlash between said control element and said control disc, a coupling pin and a spring having radial spring lugs bent oil at an angle on the top face of the freely rotatable control disc, a sleeve constituting an extension of said control element, said sleeve enclosing the shaft of the drive wheel for the generator of the igniting device and being connected with the free end of the mainspring, a rotatable insulating disc detachably coupled for joint rotation with said rotatable control disc, a non-rotatable insulating disc which is coaxial with said rotatable insulating disc, said rotatable control disc and said insulating discs being passed over said sleeve, a bushing on the rotatable insulating disc for receiving the coupling pin, a resilient wiping contact mounted on said rotatable insulating disc, 3, pair of contact laminations, insulated from each other, and a short-circuiting lamination insulated from said contact laminations, said contact and short-circuiting laminations extending on said non-rotatable insulating disc in different parts of the orbit of said wiping contact, and having the shape of annular sectors} and an annular flange at the circumference of the non-rotatable insulating disc, said flange protruding beyond the contact and short-circuiting laminations, the spring lugs of the loose control disc urging the insulating discs together so that the rotatable insulating disc is in full sliding engagement with the flange of the non-rotatable insulating disc, so as to form a totally enclosed contact chamber.

3. A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device, which comprises a rotatable contact carrier, a resilient wiping contact fixedly connected with said contact carrier, drive means for said contact carrier, said drive means constituting a part of the igniting device and consisting of means for coupling the contact carrier to the mainspring, and non-rotatable countercontacts extending in a part of the orbit of said wiping contact, the wiping contact being adapted to make contact with the countercontacts to close the igniting circuit for the passage of an electric pulse, the beginning and duration of which depend on the location and longitudinal dimension of the countercontacts and on the speed of rotation of the wiping contact.

4. A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device, which comprises a freely rotatable contact carrier, a resilient wiping contact fixedly connected with said contact carrier, drive means for said contact carrier, said drive means constituting a part of the igniting device and being directly coupled to the mainspring, means providing for a substantial backlash bethe final phase of the unwinding operation of the mainspring an impact in its'sense of rotation on the contact carrier, and non-rotatable countercontacts extending in .a part of the orbit of said pend on the location and longitudinal dimension of the countercontacts and on the speed of rotation of the wiping contact.

5. A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamo-electrical igniting device having a generator drive speed of rotation of the wiping contact.

6. A contacting device for controlling the igniting circuit of a mainspring-driven, dynamotatable control disc, the drive means being adapted to exercise during the final phase of the unwinding operation of the mainspring an impact in its sense of rotation on the freely rotatable control disc, a non-rotatable insulating disc which is coaxial with said rotatable insulating disc, and countercontacts consisting of a ed to make contact first with the contact laminations and subsequently with the short-circuiting lamination, whereby the igniting circuit is first closed for the passage of an electric pulse, the beginning and duration of which depend on the location and longitudinal dimension of the

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