US3747526A - Landmine with pressure trigger - Google Patents
Landmine with pressure trigger Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US3747526A US3747526A US00175205A US3747526DA US3747526A US 3747526 A US3747526 A US 3747526A US 00175205 A US00175205 A US 00175205A US 3747526D A US3747526D A US 3747526DA US 3747526 A US3747526 A US 3747526A
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- plunger
- flyweight
- landmine
- firing pin
- movement
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F42—AMMUNITION; BLASTING
- F42C—AMMUNITION FUZES; ARMING OR SAFETY MEANS THEREFOR
- F42C7/00—Fuzes actuated by application of a predetermined mechanical force, e.g. tension, torsion, pressure
- F42C7/02—Contact fuzes, i.e. fuzes actuated by mechanical contact between a stationary ammunition, e.g. a land mine, and a moving target, e.g. a person
- F42C7/04—Contact fuzes, i.e. fuzes actuated by mechanical contact between a stationary ammunition, e.g. a land mine, and a moving target, e.g. a person actuated by applying pressure on the ammunition head
Definitions
- ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 9, 1970 Germany P 20 49 656.4 A landmine having a plunger operative, when moved, to release a firing pin to thereby :set off an explosive [52] U.S. Cl. 102/8, 102/70 charge.
- the firing pin is held by a flyweight that is [51] Int. Cl F42b 23/00 yieldably mounted to the plunger so that when the [58] Field of Search 102/8, 70, 78, 80, plunger is momentarily moved at a relatively rapid 76 speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will inhibit the rnovemekoi the flyweight, [56] References Cited thereby preventing the release of the firing pin.
- This invention relates to a landmine with a pressure trigger comprising a pressure plate that is supported by a heightwise displaceable plunger and can be depressed against spring pressure, the plunger in the depressed state releasing a srping biased firing pin.
- This object is accomplished by providing a flyweight that is mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger.
- a spring element yieldably urges the flyweight downwardly of the plunger and the firing pin is caused to bear against the flyweight.
- FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the landmine.
- FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 5 is a view of the landmine to a reduced scale taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.
- the landmine is designed for a triggering pressure of about 300 kg and comprises-a housing 1 made ofa synthetic material.
- the housing 1 has a downwardly facing opening that is closed by a bottom 2.
- a tubular guide 3 is formed in the middle of the housing 1.
- a plunger 4 is disposed in an opening in the guide 3.
- the plunger 4, which is also made of 'a synthetic material, is pressed upwardly by a compression spring 5 to a position wherein a collar 6 at the bottom of the plunger abuts a shoulder 7 formed in the lower portion of the guide 3.
- the lower end of the compression spring 5 bears against a cup-shaped screw 8 that is threaded into the guide 3.
- the force appplied by the compression spring 5 against the plunger collar 6 can be adjusted by changing the extent to which the screw 8 is threaded into the guide 3.
- a tubular spacer 9, supported by and located in the interior of the screw 8, is disposed in alignment with the plunger collar 6.
- a pressure plate 10 is supported to rest on the plunger 4 and is tightly secured to the housing 1 by the fastening member 11 held in place by tensioning bands 12.
- a plurality of pins 13, such as five, are evenly distributed along the periphery of the pressure plate 10. Each pin 13 extends inwardly of the pressure plate and enters a recess 14 of the housing 1. A screw 15 is threaded into each pin 13, the heads of the screws being supported, via washers, at the interior of the housing 1. A compression spring 16 is disposed in each recess 14 and extends between the housing 1 and the pressure plate 10.
- An axially displaceable firing pin 17 is disposed trans verse to the plunger 4.
- the front end portion of the pin 17 has a tip extending into the plunger guide 3 through a bore 18.
- the firing pin 17 is under spring tension from a compression spring 19.
- the end of the firing pin remote from the tip is provided with a constricted neck 20 that is in alignment with a blocking latch 21 of a timer 23 that is fastened in a housing chamber 22.
- the timer 23 is mounted in a ring 24 which is fastened to the housing 1 by two screws 25.
- the timer 23 is installed in a tensioned state and its spring mechanism (not shown) is released by a. rotation of of a rotatably mounted handle 26.
- An initial triggering device 27 and a primer charge 28 are disposed in alignment with the firing pin 17.
- An explosive charge 28' is located adjacent the primer charge 28.
- the side of the plunger 4 that faces the firing pin 17 has a recess 29 in which a flyweight 30 is mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger in the same direction as the movement of the plunger 4 in guide 3.
- the flyweight is made of a relatively heavy high density material such as non-rusting steel.
- the maximum stroke of the flyweight 30 with respect to the guide 3 is the same as that of the plunger 4 in the guide 3, the lower limit of this stroke being determined by the spacer 9 and the upper limit of this stroke being determined by the shoulder 7. This stroke should, preferably, be no more than 2.5 mm.
- the flyweight 30 is yieldably urged downwardly by a compression spring 31 to a limit stop 32 formed by the top of the collar 6.
- a bore 33 having a greater cross-sectional area than the largest crosssectional area of the firing pin 17, is located in the. flyweight 30 in alignment with the firing pin.
- a firing lip 34 formed on the flyweight 30, extends upwardly from the bottom wall of the bore 33 and bears against the front of the firing pin 17.
- a bore 35 located in the plunger 4, is in alignment with the bore 33.
- the bore 35 has a cross-sectional area at least equal to that of the bore 33.
- the end portion of the initial triggering device 27 which faces the firing pin 17 is located within the bore 35.
- a resilient ring 36 which may be of rubber, is fastened to the housing 1 and extends above the top of the pressure plate 10.
- the pressure required to compress the ring 36 is less than the pressure required to trigger the landmine.
- the ring 36 is compressed to such an extent as to cause the pressure plate 10 to force the plunger 4, together with the flyweight 30, downwardly against the force of the spring 5 until the lip 34 releases the firing pin 17.
- the firing pin is: thus released to be moved by the spring 19 against the initial triggering device 27 to thus detonate the landmine.
- the amount of this movement of the pressure plate by the plunger 4 is less than 2.5 mm.
- the handle 26 is first moved from its safe position by about 90 to its armed po sition. This causes a lever 38 and a pin 37 on the timer 23, which were blocked by a pin 38a in the handle 26, to be released so that the biased timer can run down in a preselected time period, e.g., 1 to 2 minutes, and then pivot the blocking latch 21 out of the neck of the firing pin 17 via a gear drive 39. Before this time has expired, the spring tensioned firing pin 17 is thus safely held so that it cannot hit the initial triggering device 27 even when the landmine hits the ground.
- a preselected time period e.g. 1 to 2 minutes
- two spring tensioned pins are so located on the ring 24 that in the safe position they releasably engage detents 41 located in the handle 26.
- the handle 26 is moved from its armed position to its safe position so that the blocking latch 21 is pivoted back into the neck 20 of the firing pin 17 and so that the spring tensioned pins 40 again engage the detents 41.
- the plunger 4 will be momentarily pushed in relatively rapidly via the pressure plate 10, against the force of the spring 5, after the spring force of the resilient ring 36 has been overcome, but the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight 30 in the housing 1 will retain the flyweight in position in the housing so that the plunger 4 will move relative to the flyweight 30 and the firing pin 17 will be held safely in its rearward position by the firing lip 34.
- the elastic ring 36 prevents the plunger 4 from being pressed into the housing 1 by the pressure plate 10 which would happen in the absence of the ring 36, so that the landmine is not detonated.
- the plunger 4 When a vehicle drives over the top of the landmine, the plunger 4 is forced downwardly againt the force of the spring 5 at a slower rate than when the landmine is dropped. In this case the flyweight 30 is forced downwardly by the spring 31 at the same rate as the plunger 4 to thus lower the firing lip 34 thereby enabling the firing pin to hit the initial triggering device 27 and detonate the landmine.
- the plunger 4 is circular in crosssection over its entire height except for the recess 29 andthat the flyweight 30 and the recess 29, when taken together with the plunger 4, are circular in crosssection.
- the opening in the guide 3 that receives the plunger 4 and the flyweight 30 is also circular in crosssection.
- thetic material by injection-molding without adversely affecting the operation of the triggering mechanism.
- the flyweight 31 is made of a high density material such as non-rusting steel while the plunger 4 and the guide 3 are preferably made of a synthetic plastic. This enables the flyweight, plunger and guide to be made relatively small to produce an improved explosive effect for the landmine without the flyweight leaving too small a mass. In addition, this enables malfunctions caused by corrosion to be eliminated.
- flyweight 30 is not prevented by its inertial resistance to movement from moving with the plunger, but is rather displaced by the spring element 31 disposed be-.
- the landmine will also not be triggered because the spring force' of the plunger spring 5 applies a greater upward force than the downward inertial force that would be applied by the plunger 4 and the flyweight 30.
- the above-described flyweight safety which was selected to be relatively small to obtain the optimum explosive effect, cannot become effective because with lower dropping heights the inertia of the flyweight 30 is such that it does not move in a direction opposite to the plunger so that the firing pin 17 would be released.
- the elastically yielding resilient ring 36 prevents the plunger 4-from moving when the landmine falls bottom-down. However, the ring 36 is compressed sufficiently to enable the plunger to move down when it is being driven over so that a perfect triggering of the landmine can occur via the pressure plate 10 and the plunger 4.
- the landmine includes the timer 23 which blocks the firing pin 17 and which runs down and releases the firing pin after its handle 26 has been rotated by This results in the further advantage that the abovedescribed landmine can now be dropped from a greater height than before although the flyweight safety assures non-triggering of the landmine, if the landmine lands bottomdown, only up to a certain dropping height which depends on the mass relationships between the plunger 4, the flyweight 30 and the mine housing 1 plus the explosive charge 28 and the other components of the triggering mechanism.
- the stroke of the plunger 4 is limited in the downward direction by the spacer 9 of thermoplastic synthetic material which is disposed below the plunger and which is supported by the abutment in the form of the screw 8 that is disposed in the mine housing 1 and is preferably displaceable, while in the upward direction the plunger movement is limited by the plunger collar 6 bearing against the shoulder 7.
- a landmine comprising, in combination: a housing; a plunger mounted in the housing for heightwise movement; a pressure plate supported by the plunger; spring means yieldably urging the plunger upwardly to a prescribed position; a flyweight mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger; a spring element, having less force than the spring means, urging the flyweight downwardly with respect to the plunger to a location that is determined by said prescribed position of the plunger; and a spring biased firing pin that bears against the flyweight when the flyweight is in said location and is arranged to be released from the flyweight when the flyweight moves downwardly of said location; whereby when the plunger is forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively slow speed the flyweight will move downwardly with the plunger to release the firing pin and when the plunger is momentarily forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively high speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will retain the flyweight in said location so that the firing pin will not be released.
- the landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: means mounting the flyweight for heightwise movement in the plunger.
- the landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement, in that side of the plunger which faces the firing pin; bores in the plunger and the flyweight having greater crosssectional areas than that of the firing pin located in alignment with the firing pin; and a firing lip in the bottom of the flyweight bore that bears against the front of the firing pin when the flyweight is in said location;
- said spring element is a compression spring disposed in the recess between the flyweight and the plunger.
- the landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and an open ing in the housing that receives the plunger for said heightwise movement; and wherein: that portion of the plunger that does not include the recess is circular in cross-section; that portion of the plunger that contains the recess, when taken together with the recess and the flyweight, is circular in cross-section; and said housing opening has a cross-section complementary to the first mentioned cross sections.
- the landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger; a guide in the housing in which the plunger is mounted for said heightwise movement; a downwardly facing shoulder on the guide; and a. collar in the plunger that abuts the shoulder to determine said prescribed position of the plunger.
- the landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and opening in the housing that receives the plunger for said height wise movement; and wherein the cross-sections of the plunger-flyweight-recess assembly and of the housing opening diminish as they progress upwardly toward the pressure plate.
- the landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a resilient ring secured to the housing and extending above the top of the pressure plate, whereby if a pressure less than a predetermined amount is applied to the top of the landmine the ring will compress without forcing the plunger downwardly an amount sufficient to release the firing pin.
- the landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a timer; a handle mounted to the timer for movement between a first position and a second position; and means so connecting the timer to the firing pin as to cause the timer to restrain the firing pin against movement when the handle is in said first position and to cause the timer to release the firing pin for movement a preselected time after the handle has been moved to said second position.
- the landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Portable Nailing Machines And Staplers (AREA)
Abstract
A landmine having a plunger operative, when moved, to release a firing pin to thereby set off an explosive charge. The firing pin is held by a flyweight that is yieldably mounted to the plunger so that when the plunger is momentarily moved at a relatively rapid speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will inhibit the movement of the flyweight, thereby preventing the release of the firing pin.
Description
United States Patent Jany 51 July 24, 1973 LANDMINE WITH PRESSURE TRIGGER 2,453,715 11/1948 Liluegren et all 102/8 3,205,817 9/1965 Madlener et all.... 102/8 [75] 30mm" Volkmghause 3 450 049 6/1969 Dare 102/80 Frondenberg(Ruhr), Germany [73] Assignee: Bauia-Werke Richard Rinker,
Mendel, Germany Przmary Examiner-Samuel W. Engle Attorney-George H. Spencer et a]. [22] Filed: Aug. 26, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 175,205
[57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 9, 1970 Germany P 20 49 656.4 A landmine having a plunger operative, when moved, to release a firing pin to thereby :set off an explosive [52] U.S. Cl. 102/8, 102/70 charge. The firing pin is held by a flyweight that is [51] Int. Cl F42b 23/00 yieldably mounted to the plunger so that when the [58] Field of Search 102/8, 70, 78, 80, plunger is momentarily moved at a relatively rapid 76 speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will inhibit the rnovemekoi the flyweight, [56] References Cited thereby preventing the release of the firing pin.
UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,682,560 8/1928 Gruber 102/8 11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 5 36 :0 36? 1*" 1 7 o, 1 2 2 3 1 1 o 5 j n r 1/ Vfi ,r 47 7:3 31 3. 1 j
1 4 V WW /i a 25 e 7 21 1 34 39 3 f MM z 22 3., 4,! i z i3 7 g 8 9 5 4o 41 mimgomz I s. 147. 526
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the invention to provide such a landmine that is so constructed that it can be dropped, for laying a mine barrier, from a relatively high height without there being a danger of accidentally detonating the landmine if it should land bottom-down with the pressure plate hitting the ground. This object is accomplished by providing a flyweight that is mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger. A spring element yieldably urges the flyweight downwardly of the plunger and the firing pin is caused to bear against the flyweight. With this construction, when the plunger is forced downwardly at a relatively slow speed, as when a truck runs over the landmine, the flyweight moves downwardly with the plunger to release the firing pin. However, when the plunger is caused to move momentarily at a relatively high speed, as when it is dropped from a truck or an airplane or helicopter, the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will prevent movement of the flyweight so that the firing pin is not released.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the landmine.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a view of the landmine to a reduced scale taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The landmine is designed for a triggering pressure of about 300 kg and comprises-a housing 1 made ofa synthetic material. The housing 1 has a downwardly facing opening that is closed by a bottom 2. A tubular guide 3 is formed in the middle of the housing 1. A plunger 4 is disposed in an opening in the guide 3. The plunger 4, which is also made of 'a synthetic material, is pressed upwardly by a compression spring 5 to a position wherein a collar 6 at the bottom of the plunger abuts a shoulder 7 formed in the lower portion of the guide 3.
The lower end of the compression spring 5 bears against a cup-shaped screw 8 that is threaded into the guide 3. The force appplied by the compression spring 5 against the plunger collar 6 can be adjusted by changing the extent to which the screw 8 is threaded into the guide 3. A tubular spacer 9, supported by and located in the interior of the screw 8, is disposed in alignment with the plunger collar 6.
A pressure plate 10 is supported to rest on the plunger 4 and is tightly secured to the housing 1 by the fastening member 11 held in place by tensioning bands 12.
A plurality of pins 13, such as five, are evenly distributed along the periphery of the pressure plate 10. Each pin 13 extends inwardly of the pressure plate and enters a recess 14 of the housing 1. A screw 15 is threaded into each pin 13, the heads of the screws being supported, via washers, at the interior of the housing 1. A compression spring 16 is disposed in each recess 14 and extends between the housing 1 and the pressure plate 10.
An axially displaceable firing pin 17 is disposed trans verse to the plunger 4. The front end portion of the pin 17 has a tip extending into the plunger guide 3 through a bore 18. The firing pin 17 is under spring tension from a compression spring 19. The end of the firing pin remote from the tip is provided with a constricted neck 20 that is in alignment with a blocking latch 21 of a timer 23 that is fastened in a housing chamber 22.
The timer 23 is mounted in a ring 24 which is fastened to the housing 1 by two screws 25. The timer 23 is installed in a tensioned state and its spring mechanism (not shown) is released by a. rotation of of a rotatably mounted handle 26.
An initial triggering device 27 and a primer charge 28 are disposed in alignment with the firing pin 17. An explosive charge 28' is located adjacent the primer charge 28.
The side of the plunger 4 that faces the firing pin 17 has a recess 29 in which a flyweight 30 is mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger in the same direction as the movement of the plunger 4 in guide 3. The flyweight is made of a relatively heavy high density material such as non-rusting steel. The maximum stroke of the flyweight 30 with respect to the guide 3 is the same as that of the plunger 4 in the guide 3, the lower limit of this stroke being determined by the spacer 9 and the upper limit of this stroke being determined by the shoulder 7. This stroke should, preferably, be no more than 2.5 mm. In addition, the flyweight 30 is yieldably urged downwardly by a compression spring 31 to a limit stop 32 formed by the top of the collar 6. The downward force applied by the spring 31 is less than the upward force exerted by the spring 5. A bore 33, having a greater cross-sectional area than the largest crosssectional area of the firing pin 17, is located in the. flyweight 30 in alignment with the firing pin. A firing lip 34, formed on the flyweight 30, extends upwardly from the bottom wall of the bore 33 and bears against the front of the firing pin 17. A bore 35, located in the plunger 4, is in alignment with the bore 33. The bore 35 has a cross-sectional area at least equal to that of the bore 33. The end portion of the initial triggering device 27 which faces the firing pin 17 is located within the bore 35.
A resilient ring 36, which may be of rubber, is fastened to the housing 1 and extends above the top of the pressure plate 10. The pressure required to compress the ring 36 is less than the pressure required to trigger the landmine. When a vehicle drives over the landmine and exerts a pressure that exceeds the predetermined triggering pressure, the ring 36 is compressed to such an extent as to cause the pressure plate 10 to force the plunger 4, together with the flyweight 30, downwardly against the force of the spring 5 until the lip 34 releases the firing pin 17. The firing pin is: thus released to be moved by the spring 19 against the initial triggering device 27 to thus detonate the landmine. The amount of this movement of the pressure plate by the plunger 4 is less than 2.5 mm.
If the landmine is to be dropped from a moving vehicle to make a mine field, the handle 26 is first moved from its safe position by about 90 to its armed po sition. This causes a lever 38 and a pin 37 on the timer 23, which were blocked by a pin 38a in the handle 26, to be released so that the biased timer can run down in a preselected time period, e.g., 1 to 2 minutes, and then pivot the blocking latch 21 out of the neck of the firing pin 17 via a gear drive 39. Before this time has expired, the spring tensioned firing pin 17 is thus safely held so that it cannot hit the initial triggering device 27 even when the landmine hits the ground.
To secure the handle 26 in the safe position, two spring tensioned pins are so located on the ring 24 that in the safe position they releasably engage detents 41 located in the handle 26.
If the landmine is to be picked up again, as for subsequent use, the handle 26 is moved from its armed position to its safe position so that the blocking latch 21 is pivoted back into the neck 20 of the firing pin 17 and so that the spring tensioned pins 40 again engage the detents 41.
A danger exits that a landmine may fall accidentally from a truck or helicopter to the ground with its pressure plate 10 facing downwardly, after the mine has been removed from a minefield, without the firing pin 17 having been held by means of the blocking latch 21 via thetimer 23. A danger also exists that a faulty timer 23 has released the firing pin 17 within fractions of a second instead of in 1 or 2 minutes and the landmine falls or is dropped onto the ground with its pressure plate 10 facing downwardly. If this should happen from a relatively high height, e.g., more than 100 cm, the plunger 4 will be momentarily pushed in relatively rapidly via the pressure plate 10, against the force of the spring 5, after the spring force of the resilient ring 36 has been overcome, but the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight 30 in the housing 1 will retain the flyweight in position in the housing so that the plunger 4 will move relative to the flyweight 30 and the firing pin 17 will be held safely in its rearward position by the firing lip 34. If an accidental fall of low height, e.g., less than 100 cm, the elastic ring 36 prevents the plunger 4 from being pressed into the housing 1 by the pressure plate 10 which would happen in the absence of the ring 36, so that the landmine is not detonated.
When a vehicle drives over the top of the landmine, the plunger 4 is forced downwardly againt the force of the spring 5 at a slower rate than when the landmine is dropped. In this case the flyweight 30 is forced downwardly by the spring 31 at the same rate as the plunger 4 to thus lower the firing lip 34 thereby enabling the firing pin to hit the initial triggering device 27 and detonate the landmine.
It is noted that the plunger 4 is circular in crosssection over its entire height except for the recess 29 andthat the flyweight 30 and the recess 29, when taken together with the plunger 4, are circular in crosssection. The opening in the guide 3 that receives the plunger 4 and the flyweight 30 is also circular in crosssection. This construction provides the advantage that the triggering mechanism in the center of the landmine can be made relatively small which enhances the explosive effect of the landmine. This construction also simplifies the manufacture of the landmine.
thetic material by injection-molding without adversely affecting the operation of the triggering mechanism.
As noted above, the flyweight 31 is made of a high density material such as non-rusting steel while the plunger 4 and the guide 3 are preferably made of a synthetic plastic. This enables the flyweight, plunger and guide to be made relatively small to produce an improved explosive effect for the landmine without the flyweight leaving too small a mass. In addition, this enables malfunctions caused by corrosion to be eliminated.
From the foregoing it can be seen that a landmine according to the invention which has been dropped from a truck, for example, and which has previously been armed will not be triggered because when the mine lands with the pressure plate 10 down, the plunger 4 can be pressed into the mine housing 1, against the spring force of the plunger spring 5, but at the same time the flyweight 30, which blocks the firing pin 17, moves relative to the plunger and in a direction opposite thereto because of its inertial resistance to movement so that the flyweight does not change its position with respect to the firing pinv and thus continues to arrest it.
The same effect occurs when the landmine is picked up for purposes of camouflage and is inadvertently dropped. If the landmine is however travelled over by a vehicle where the plunger 4 is depressed into the housing substantially slower than after a free fall, the
tween the plunger and the flyweight in the same direction with the plunger and releases the firing pin 17.
If, however, the mine, when it is dropped, falls bottom-down, the landmine will also not be triggered because the spring force' of the plunger spring 5 applies a greater upward force than the downward inertial force that would be applied by the plunger 4 and the flyweight 30.
With lesser dropping heights, e.g., less than 100 cm, the above-described flyweight safety which was selected to be relatively small to obtain the optimum explosive effect, cannot become effective because with lower dropping heights the inertia of the flyweight 30 is such that it does not move in a direction opposite to the plunger so that the firing pin 17 would be released. In order to make the mine safe also for these low dropping heights, the elastically yielding resilient ring 36 prevents the plunger 4-from moving when the landmine falls bottom-down. However, the ring 36 is compressed sufficiently to enable the plunger to move down when it is being driven over so that a perfect triggering of the landmine can occur via the pressure plate 10 and the plunger 4. To further increase the safety when dropping a landmine, the landmine includes the timer 23 which blocks the firing pin 17 and which runs down and releases the firing pin after its handle 26 has been rotated by This results in the further advantage that the abovedescribed landmine can now be dropped from a greater height than before although the flyweight safety assures non-triggering of the landmine, if the landmine lands bottomdown, only up to a certain dropping height which depends on the mass relationships between the plunger 4, the flyweight 30 and the mine housing 1 plus the explosive charge 28 and the other components of the triggering mechanism.
It is important for the faultfree functioning of the above-described flyweight safety that the stroke of the plunger 4 is limited in the downward direction by the spacer 9 of thermoplastic synthetic material which is disposed below the plunger and which is supported by the abutment in the form of the screw 8 that is disposed in the mine housing 1 and is preferably displaceable, while in the upward direction the plunger movement is limited by the plunger collar 6 bearing against the shoulder 7.
It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.
I claim:
1. A landmine comprising, in combination: a housing; a plunger mounted in the housing for heightwise movement; a pressure plate supported by the plunger; spring means yieldably urging the plunger upwardly to a prescribed position; a flyweight mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger; a spring element, having less force than the spring means, urging the flyweight downwardly with respect to the plunger to a location that is determined by said prescribed position of the plunger; and a spring biased firing pin that bears against the flyweight when the flyweight is in said location and is arranged to be released from the flyweight when the flyweight moves downwardly of said location; whereby when the plunger is forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively slow speed the flyweight will move downwardly with the plunger to release the firing pin and when the plunger is momentarily forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively high speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will retain the flyweight in said location so that the firing pin will not be released.
2. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: means mounting the flyweight for heightwise movement in the plunger.
3. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement, in that side of the plunger which faces the firing pin; bores in the plunger and the flyweight having greater crosssectional areas than that of the firing pin located in alignment with the firing pin; and a firing lip in the bottom of the flyweight bore that bears against the front of the firing pin when the flyweight is in said location;
and wherein said spring element is a compression spring disposed in the recess between the flyweight and the plunger.
4. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and an open ing in the housing that receives the plunger for said heightwise movement; and wherein: that portion of the plunger that does not include the recess is circular in cross-section; that portion of the plunger that contains the recess, when taken together with the recess and the flyweight, is circular in cross-section; and said housing opening has a cross-section complementary to the first mentioned cross sections.
5. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger; a guide in the housing in which the plunger is mounted for said heightwise movement; a downwardly facing shoulder on the guide; and a. collar in the plunger that abuts the shoulder to determine said prescribed position of the plunger.
6. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and opening in the housing that receives the plunger for said height wise movement; and wherein the cross-sections of the plunger-flyweight-recess assembly and of the housing opening diminish as they progress upwardly toward the pressure plate.
7. The landmine as defined in claim 1 wherein the flyweight consists of a heavy high density material.
8. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a resilient ring secured to the housing and extending above the top of the pressure plate, whereby if a pressure less than a predetermined amount is applied to the top of the landmine the ring will compress without forcing the plunger downwardly an amount sufficient to release the firing pin.
9. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a timer; a handle mounted to the timer for movement between a first position and a second position; and means so connecting the timer to the firing pin as to cause the timer to restrain the firing pin against movement when the handle is in said first position and to cause the timer to release the firing pin for movement a preselected time after the handle has been moved to said second position.
10. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger.
11. The landmine as defined in claim 10 wherein said spacer is made of a synthetic material.
* III
Claims (11)
1. A landmine comprising, in combination: a housing; a plunger mounted in the housing for heightwise movement; a pressure plate supported by the plunger; spring means yieldably urging the plunger upwardly to a prescribed position; a flyweight mounted for heightwise movement with respect to the plunger; a spring element, having less force than the spring means, urging the flyweight downwardly with respect to the plunger to a lOcation that is determined by said prescribed position of the plunger; and a spring biased firing pin that bears against the flyweight when the flyweight is in said location and is arranged to be released from the flyweight when the flyweight moves downwardly of said location; whereby when the plunger is forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively slow speed the flyweight will move downwardly with the plunger to release the firing pin and when the plunger is momentarily forced downwardly of said prescribed position at a relatively high speed the inertial resistance to movement of the flyweight will retain the flyweight in said location so that the firing pin will not be released.
2. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: means mounting the flyweight for heightwise movement in the plunger.
3. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement, in that side of the plunger which faces the firing pin; bores in the plunger and the flyweight having greater cross-sectional areas than that of the firing pin located in alignment with the firing pin; and a firing lip in the bottom of the flyweight bore that bears against the front of the firing pin when the flyweight is in said location; and wherein said spring element is a compression spring disposed in the recess between the flyweight and the plunger.
4. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and an opening in the housing that receives the plunger for said heightwise movement; and wherein: that portion of the plunger that does not include the recess is circular in cross-section; that portion of the plunger that contains the recess, when taken together with the recess and the flyweight, is circular in cross-section; and said housing opening has a cross-section complementary to the first mentioned cross-sections.
5. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger; a guide in the housing in which the plunger is mounted for said heightwise movement; a downwardly facing shoulder on the guide; and a collar in the plunger that abuts the shoulder to determine said prescribed position of the plunger.
6. The landmine as defined in claim 2 further comprising: a recess in the plunger, in which the flyweight is mounted for said heightwise movement; and opening in the housing that receives the plunger for said heightwise movement; and wherein the cross-sections of the plunger-flyweight-recess assembly and of the housing opening diminish as they progress upwardly toward the pressure plate.
7. The landmine as defined in claim 1 wherein the flyweight consists of a heavy high density material.
8. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a resilient ring secured to the housing and extending above the top of the pressure plate, whereby if a pressure less than a predetermined amount is applied to the top of the landmine the ring will compress without forcing the plunger downwardly an amount sufficient to release the firing pin.
9. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a timer; a handle mounted to the timer for movement between a first position and a second position; and means so connecting the timer to the firing pin as to cause the timer to restrain the firing pin against movement when the handle is in said first position and to cause the timer to release the firing pin for movement a preselected time after the handle has been moved to said second position.
10. The landmine as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a spacer, located below the plunger, for determining the limit of downward movement of the plunger.
11. The landmine as defined in claim 10 wherein said spacer is made of a synthetic material.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
DE2049656A DE2049656B2 (en) | 1970-10-09 | 1970-10-09 | Safety device for a land mine with pressure detonator for laying from a low drop height (up to approx. 10m) |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US3747526A true US3747526A (en) | 1973-07-24 |
Family
ID=5784647
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US00175205A Expired - Lifetime US3747526A (en) | 1970-10-09 | 1971-08-26 | Landmine with pressure trigger |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US3747526A (en) |
BE (1) | BE761358A (en) |
CH (1) | CH532241A (en) |
DE (1) | DE2049656B2 (en) |
DK (1) | DK128585B (en) |
FR (1) | FR2109536A5 (en) |
NL (1) | NL139820B (en) |
SE (1) | SE359641B (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6748869B1 (en) * | 1998-12-16 | 2004-06-15 | Delegation Generale Pour L'armement Batiment La Rotonde | Device for firing a primer |
USH2259H1 (en) * | 2008-11-26 | 2011-07-05 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy | Yield enhancing device and method of use |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
FR2391447A1 (en) * | 1977-05-18 | 1978-12-15 | Alsetex | Anti-tank mine with clock mechanism - has starting button forming arming delay device to move protective component for igniter |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1682560A (en) * | 1925-05-18 | 1928-08-28 | Gruber Hans | Explosive mine |
US2453715A (en) * | 1944-08-28 | 1948-11-16 | Lyle K Liljegren | Grenade mine |
US3205817A (en) * | 1961-04-27 | 1965-09-14 | Madlener Paul | Land mine |
US3450049A (en) * | 1966-09-09 | 1969-06-17 | Us Navy | Underwater delay fuze |
-
1970
- 1970-10-09 DE DE2049656A patent/DE2049656B2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1970-12-14 CH CH1849470A patent/CH532241A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1970-12-28 SE SE17545/70A patent/SE359641B/xx unknown
-
1971
- 1971-01-07 FR FR7100282A patent/FR2109536A5/fr not_active Expired
- 1971-01-08 BE BE761358A patent/BE761358A/en unknown
- 1971-01-12 NL NL717100353A patent/NL139820B/en unknown
- 1971-03-30 DK DK151871AA patent/DK128585B/en unknown
- 1971-08-26 US US00175205A patent/US3747526A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US1682560A (en) * | 1925-05-18 | 1928-08-28 | Gruber Hans | Explosive mine |
US2453715A (en) * | 1944-08-28 | 1948-11-16 | Lyle K Liljegren | Grenade mine |
US3205817A (en) * | 1961-04-27 | 1965-09-14 | Madlener Paul | Land mine |
US3450049A (en) * | 1966-09-09 | 1969-06-17 | Us Navy | Underwater delay fuze |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6748869B1 (en) * | 1998-12-16 | 2004-06-15 | Delegation Generale Pour L'armement Batiment La Rotonde | Device for firing a primer |
USH2259H1 (en) * | 2008-11-26 | 2011-07-05 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy | Yield enhancing device and method of use |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
FR2109536A5 (en) | 1972-05-26 |
NL7100353A (en) | 1972-04-11 |
DK128585B (en) | 1974-05-27 |
NL139820B (en) | 1973-09-17 |
DE2049656A1 (en) | 1972-04-13 |
BE761358A (en) | 1971-06-16 |
CH532241A (en) | 1972-12-31 |
SE359641B (en) | 1973-09-03 |
DE2049656B2 (en) | 1978-08-03 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
NO862583L (en) | TURNTABLE FOR GOODS TO BE POWERED BY A PROJECT. | |
US2999461A (en) | Impact fuze | |
US2678604A (en) | Land mine fuse | |
US2838999A (en) | Sensitive fuses | |
US3747526A (en) | Landmine with pressure trigger | |
US2514401A (en) | Land mine | |
GB1218884A (en) | Hand-grenade and land mine | |
US2712284A (en) | Delayed arming safety fuse | |
US4217828A (en) | Safety device for fuses | |
US4333401A (en) | Hand grenade | |
US3316841A (en) | Safety device for a bomb fuze | |
GB848767A (en) | Fuze for gyrating and non-gyrating projectiles | |
US2814251A (en) | Clockwork for mechanical time fuses | |
ES8204849A1 (en) | Fuse for spinning projectiles. | |
US2897760A (en) | Safety device | |
US3744424A (en) | Device for providing an indication of the distance travelled by an object under conditions of acceleration | |
US3515071A (en) | Fail-safe retardation sensing system | |
US2450407A (en) | Mine | |
US2358647A (en) | Hand grenade | |
CH630460A5 (en) | HIT TO BE SWALLELED. | |
US2604045A (en) | Missile | |
US3601060A (en) | Antidisturbance device | |
US2943573A (en) | Self destruction device | |
US3521563A (en) | Tank mines | |
US3722419A (en) | Arming device for missiles |