US3358604A

US3358604A - Non-gyrating projectile fuse

Info

Publication number: US3358604A
Application number: US518889A
Authority: US
Inventors: Combourieux Andre
Original assignee: Industrial-Holding-Establishment
Current assignee: Industrial-Holding-Establishment
Priority date: 1965-01-08
Filing date: 1966-01-05
Publication date: 1967-12-19
Anticipated expiration: 1984-12-19
Also published as: CH409709A; US3367267A; NL6516267A; ES321757A1; FR1462840A; FI43548B; BE674761A; IL24921A; GB1126932A; DE1264298B

Description

Dec. 19, 1967 Filed Jan. 5, 1966 A. COMBOURIEUX NON-GYRATING PROJECTILE FUSE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 19, 1967 A. COMBOURIEUX 3,358,604

NON'GYRATING PROJECTILE FUSE Filed Jan. 5, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. COMBOURIEUX NON-GYRATING PROJECTILE FUSE Dec. 19, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 5, 1966 Dec. 19, 1967 A. COMBOURIEUX 3,358,604

NON'GYRATING PROJECTILE FUSE Filed Jan. 5, 1966 5 SheetsSheet 4 Dec. 19, 1967 A. COMBOURIEUX NON-GYRATING PROJECTILE FUSE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 5, 1966 w un A V |I United States Patent 3,358,604 NON-GYRAIING PROJECIILE FUSE Andr Combonrieux, Geneva, Switzerland, assignor to Industrial Holding Establishment, Vaduz, Liechtenstein Filed Jan. 5, 1966, Ser. No. 518,889 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Jan. 8, 1965, 278/65 1 Claim. (Cl. 10276) ABSTRACT OF TIIE DISCLOSRE An impact projectile fuse having a body and a cover for the body. A trajectory safety means comprises a rack and an escapernent cooperating With such rack. The movement of the rack is controlled by the escapement. A first locking means is provided for a rocker arm to prevent operation of the rocker arm before firing and also the movement of a 'hammer bolt. A second locking means is provided for the hammer bolt controlled by the. rack to release the hammer after a predetermined movement of the rack. The first locking means comprises a rod movable axially in the body of the fuse and which is accessible by merely removing the fuse cover so that such rod may be brought back to a security position after a trial operation. The escapement is of a reversible type and the body of the fuse is provided With a radial orifice in order to permit acting on the rack from the outside to bring it back to position after an operational trial.

The present invention concerns a non-gyrating pro jectile fuse, of the type operating upon impact and comprising, on the one hand, trajectory safety means inclnding a rocker-mm actuated by a spring and regulating the speed of radial movement of a rack, through the agency of an escapement, and on the other hand, first locking means to prevent, on the One hand the operation of the rocker-arm before firing, and on the other hand the movement of a hammer bolt, as well as additional locking means for the hammer bolt, driven by the rack, so as completely to release the hammer only after a certain movement of this rack.

This fuse is characterized in that the first locking means are formed by a rod movable axially in the body of the fuse and accessible at the same time as the hammer bolt by dismounting at most the cover of the fuse to permit of bringing this rod and this bolt back to the initial position after the operation trial, in that the escapement is of the reversible type, and in that an orifice is provided radially in the body, opposite to the rack, to permit of acting on the latter from the outside in order to bring it -back to the initial position after the operation trial, the second locking means being provided to return to the pre trial initial position, through the influence of gravity, when One brings the fuse into a certain well defined position, after the hammer bolt has itself been brought back to the initial position.

The accompanyng drawing shows, by way of example, one embodiment of the fuse according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a view in axial section along 1*1 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 is a view in cross section along 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view in cross section along 33 of FIG. 1 showing the members in the safety position.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the members in the so-called instantaneous position.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the members in a so-called lag position.

FIG. 6 is a view in partial section along 66 of FIG. 7, on a larger scale, showing the rocker-arm and escapement device.

FIG. 7 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a view in partial section of a detail already visible in FIG. 1 and showing the members in the safety position, before firing.

FIG. 9 is a view in cross section along 99 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8, but showing the members in the operating position which they occupy after the firing of the shot.

FIG. 11 is a view in cross section along 1111 of FIG. 10.

The fuse shown comprises a body 1 on which is rotatably mounted a cover 2 itself provided with a cap 3. An insulating joint 4 is provided between the body 1 and the cover 2. The axial immobilization of the cover relative to the body is efiected due to a slit elastic ring 5 disposed in two complementary grooves made the One at 6 in the body 1 and the other opposite at 7 in the cover 2. This elastic ring is normally contracted so as to be disposed completely in the groove 6. A pointed screw 8 disposed in a corresponding threaded hole of the cover 2 is provided to separate One front the other the two ends of said ring When the screw 8 is screwed home in its hole. The separation of the ends of the ring has for eifect to expand the latter and to bring it into the position shown in FIG. 1 (to the right) Where it is seen that said ring is partly engaged in the two circular grooves 6 and 7, which prevents any relative axial movement of 1 and 2 while leaving the cover free to rotate relative to the body.

When the cover is in the position shown in FIG. 1 which corresponds to FIG. 3, the members are in a socalled safety position in which the hammer 9 is held stationary by a hammer bolt 10. Simultaneously, a solid wall of a primer-holder barre] 11 is opposite the hammer. On the other hand, in this safety position, a primer-holder rack 12 ensures the breaking, as Will be seen later on, of the pyrotechnical chain by which firing is effected.

In the safety position, a radial hole 13 made in the body 1 is opposite a solid portion of the cover 2. In this hole are disposed two

halls

14, 15, the first completely engaged and the second only partly. The ball 15 is partly engaged in a notch 16 of a rod 17 parallel to the shaft of the fuse. This rod is provided to slide in a tube 18 made in the frame 19 of a safety device which Will be described later on. The lower end of this rod 17, which is hollow, is engaged in a socket 20 itself disposed in a housing of the body l. A compression spring 21 is disposed inside the socket 20 and acts upwardly in FIG. 1, on the rod 17. long as the

halls

14 and 15 are in the position shown in FIG. 1, the rod 17 is immobilized. In this safety position, the rod 17 immobilizes the hammer bolt 10, that is to say prevents it from rotating about its pivoting spindle 22 (FIG. 2).

The following means are further provided in order to immobilize the hammer bolt 10. A ball 23 is partly engaged in a housing 24 of the lower face of the bolt 10 and partly in a hole 25 parallel to the axis of the fuse and made in the upper part 26 of the frame 19. This

frame

19, 26 is in two pieces for mounting reasons. This hall is held in the position shown in FIG. 1 by a rod 27 disposed in the hole 26 to slide therein. The lower end of this rod abats against the prime-holder rack 12 when the members are in the position according to FIG. 1.

When it is desired to arm the fuse to bring it either in the instantaneous position shown in FIG. 4, or in the lag position visible in FIGS. 2 and 5, one turns the cover 2 in the desired direction relative to the body 1. One Will describe what happens in each of these cases.

If one turns the cover 2 so as to bring the members in the position according to FIG. 4, that is to say up to the moment when the pointer I figuring on the cover occupies the position which was that of the pointer S when one was in the safety position (FIG. 3), a driving dog 28 stationary relative to the cover 2 is partly engaged in a slot 29 made in the prime-bolder barrel 11. Upon relative rotation of the cover relative to the body, this dog 28 obliges the barrel to rotate about tis own axis by cansing it to pass from the position visible in FIG. 3 to that shown in FIG. 4. As a result, the priming 30 has placed itself in the axis of the fuse. This priming is provided for instantaneous firing upon impact. The other priming 31 of the barrel 11 occupies, in the instantaneous position, the place shown in FIG. 4.

In order to pass from the safety position to the lag position, one turns the cover so as to bring the pointer R into the position which the pointer S occupies in the safety position. In the lag position, the members are dis posed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. The rotation of the cover in the opposite direction tothat previously described causes, through the agency of the dog 28, the rotation of the barrel 11 in such a way that it is the priming 31 which, this time, places itself in the axis of the fuse (FIG. This priming ditfers from the priming 30 by its nature, in order to ensure slower firing than in the case of the instantaneous.

The bringing into the correct instantaneous or lag position, that is to say the correct angle et rotation et the cover relative to the body, is ensured by the following means: a lug 32 is fixed in the body 1 and is opposite a countersinking 33 made in the cover 2. In the safety position, this lug is between the two ends of the milling whereas in the instantaneous position it abuts against one of these ends and in the lag position, against the other end. Thus, the selection of one of the two operating positions, lag or instantaneous, may be carried out Without eye help. When the members of the fuse are either in the instantaneous position, or in the lag position, the projectile may be fired.

This is what takes place at the moment et firing: the bringing of the cover 2 into one of the positions, instantaneous or lag, has for result to bring opposite the hole 13 a countersinking 34 of suflicient depth to permit the

halls

14, 15 to move so as to take up the position according to FIG. l0, where the ball 15 is completely free from the notch 16. The rod 17 is thus no longer immobilized by these halls.

At the moment of firing, through inertia, the rod 17 passes from the position according to FIG. 8 to the position of FIG. 10, by compressing its spring 21. As soon as this position has been reached, a leaf spring 35 fixed in a manner not shown on a part of the frame o-f the mech anism slackens and passes from the position according to FIG. 8 to that according to FIG. 10, where its free end places itself opposite the upper end of the rod 17. From this moment, this spring 35 prevents the rod 17 from re acting to the action of the spring 21. This rod is thus immobilized in the lower position.

In this lower position, another notch 36 of the rod 17 is opposite a rockerarm 37 mounted to pivot about a hollow spindle 38 coaxial with the fuse. Before the firing of the shot, that is to say as long as the rod 17 was in the upper position, this rod blocked the rocker-arma and prevented it to oscillate. Now that it is in the lower position, it no longer opposes this oscillation. This rockerarm thus oscillates under the action of a driving spring 39, due to the following means: this spring 39 is disposed in a threaded plug 48 screwed in a radial hole of the body 1 placed opposite the primer-holder rack 12. At 41 is seen the priming carried by 12 and at 42 the escapement cooperating with a toothed wheel 43 integral with a pinion 44 itself gearing with another toothed wheel 45; this latter is integral with another pinion 46 which, itself, gears with the teeth 47 of the primer-holder rack 12. One will understand that under the action of the compression spring 39, as soon as the rocker-mm can oscillate, the gear train described begins t0 rotate and the escapement 42 to function, which has for result to cause the rack 12 to advance step by step. This movement of the rack 12 in the frame 19 continues until this rack abuts against a part of the body of the fuse, as shown in FIG.

11. At the end of the racks travel, the priming 41 of the latter is in the axis of the fuse and from thence on the diterent elements of the

pyrotechnical chain

30 or 31, 41 and a relay 53 of a detonator 54 (FIG. 10) are in alignment and firing may take place. In fact, before arriving at the end of the racks travel, the rear end 48 of the latter has passed in front of the lower end of the rod 27, so that this rod is no longer blocked in the position according to FIG. 1. Under the action of a torsion spring not shown, acting on the hammer bolt 10, this bolt begins to rotate, thus forcing the ball 23 and the rod 27 downwards since nothing any longer holds back this rod. As soon as the hammer bolt has released the hammer, the latter is able to bring about the ring at the moment'when the projectile meets an obstacle. The operation of the hammer may take place in two ways: either by percussion of the central part 49 of the cap 3 which crashes bringing about the driving back of the hammer downwardly in FIG. 1, or simply by inertia, if the projectile bits an obstacle in a skimming way and in this latter case, at the moment of braking or stopping of the projectile, through inertia, the primer-holder barrel 11 is projected forwards and the

priming

30 or 31 which is in the axial position strikes the point of the hammer. One secs at 50 the spring which normally maintains the hammer in the position of rest.

It is seen that the fuse shown comprises trajectory safety means including a rocker-ana, spring-actuated and regulating the speed of radial movement of a primerholder rack, this adjustment being effected through the agency of an escapement. These trajectory safety means further comprise first locking means (rod 17 to prevent on the one hand the operation of the rocker-arm before firing and on the other hand the movement of the hammer bolt. Additional locking means shown by the rod 27 and the ball 23 are provided so as completely to release the hammer only after a certain movement of the rack.

It is to be noted that the first locking means are constituted in this example in a very advantageous manner by a single element 17 provided to slide axially in the body of the fuse. One thus replaces by a single member a complicatcd assembly of members which is to be found in certain existing fuses. Of course, means not shown and easy to imagine are provided to prevent accidental rotation of the rod 17 about its own axis.

It should be noted that the rod 17 is accessible at the same time as the hammer bolt 10 simply by removing the cover 2. This removal is easy since it is sufficient to unscrew slightly the pointed screw 8 for the elastie ring 5 to take up the withdrawn position and free the cover. Thus, it is possible, after the operation trial, to return the rod 17 and the bolt 10 to the initial position. By operaton trial, is meant, as is well known, a mechanical trial permitting of verifying all the functions of the fuse except, of course, the firing. This firing may be prevented very simply by providing for the trial a primer-holder barrel equipped with an inert priming, barrel which is replaced after the trial. Other methods of procedure are known.

Moreover, there is provided in the body 1 a radial threaded hole 51, in a position diametrally opposite to the spring 39. A threaded plug 52 normally closes this hole. After the operation trial, when the rack 12 has reached the end of its travel (FIG. 1l), it is easy to return this rack to the initial position. In fact, it is sufficient to unscrew the plug 52 and to push back the rack 12 by means of a rod inserted in the hole 5l, until this rack is at the end of its travel. This withdrawal movement of the rack is possible since the escapement is chosen from the reversible type. When the rack is thus brought back to the initial position according to FIG. 1, While maintaining it in this position, one operates on the rod 17 by means of another rod of the same diameter to bring about the withdrawal of the holding spring 35 and then the return into the upper position of the rod 17 under the action of the spring 21. This donc, the escapement mechanism and the rack are immobilized in the initial position. Of course, one has been careful to begin by bringing by hand the hammer bolt to the locking position thon to reverse the fuse, point downwards, which has for result to bring back through gravity the rod 27 and the ball 23 to the working position according to FIG. 1. Thus, the lower end of this rod allows free passage for the rack 12 in its withdrawal movement.

The contre] being efiected and the members being brought back to the initial position, one again positions the cover and one screws home the pointed screw 8, then one repositions the plug 52. The

members

8 and 52 may then definitely be immobilzed by a centre punch blow or by hammering in order to prevent acts of sabotage.

What I claim is:

A non-gyrating impact projectile fuse comprising a body, a cover for said body, a trajectory safety means comprising a rack, an escapement cooperating with said rack, a rocker-mm, a spring cooperating with said rockerarm for regulating the speed of radial movement of said rack controlled by said escapement, a hammer, a hammer boit, a first locking means for said rocker-mm to prevent the operation of said rocker-mm before firing and the movement of said hammer bolt, a second locking means for said hammer boit controlled by said rack to release completely said hammer after a predetermined movement of said rack, said first locking means comprising a rod movable axially in said body, said rod and said hammer bolt being accessible by dismounting said cover to bring said rod and bolt back to the initial position after an operation trial, said escapement being of the reversible type, said body having a radial orifice opposite said rack t0 permit acting on said rack from the exterior to return it to initial position after an operation trial, said second locking means returning to pretrial initial position by gravity When said hammer bolt has been brought back to initial position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,154,579 9/1915 Faber 10282 2,664,822 1/1954 Hale 10274 2,821,925 2/1958 Varaud 10284 2,967,483 1/1961 Junghans et al 10283 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examiner.

G. H. GLANZMAN, Assistant Examiner.