llnited States Patent 1 Dubno et al.

[451 Feb. 11, 1975 1 HAND GRENADE WITH SAFETY MECHANISM [76] Inventors: Richard C. Dubno; Abraham M.

Dubno, both of 9 Gaylord Dr., both of Brooklyn, NY.

[22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 437,330

[52} US. Cl. 102/64 [51] Int. Cl. F42b 27/02 [58] Field of Search 102/64, 65, 81.6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,421,762 6/1947 Short 102/64 2,422,548 6/1947 Hebard l02/81.6 3,119,334 l/l964 Beermann 102/81.6

FORE1GN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 103,009 1/1917 Great Britain 102/64 Primary ExaminerVerlin R. Pendegrass Attorney,tAgent, 0r Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [5 7 ABSTRACT A hand grenade of the type in which the withdrawal of the pin releases a lever designed to actuate a fuse or other firing-timing means upon its release has a safety mechanism whereby a partial rotation of the pin is required to enable it to be withdrawn and indicating means is provided to enable the user to determine instantaneously the position of the pin. The safety mechanism is not only capable of preventing undesired detonation, but provides more assurance to the user in the handlines of the weapon.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures l HAND GRENADE WITH SAFETY MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hand grenade the type requiring withdrawal of a safety pin and release of a lever prior to initiation of a firing sequence and, more particularly, to a system for ensuring greater safety in such an arrangement.

2. Background of the Invention Hand grenades or like explosive devices, adapted to be thrown manually by the user or to be cast by a firing mechanism for some distance, generally comprise a casing for an explosive, a detonator mounted in this casing, a firing mechanism for operating the detonator after a predetermined interval enabling the device to be projected into the region at which the explosion is intended to occur, and safety means for preventing or inhibiting premature detonation of the explosive.

Typical hand grenades of this type are described in US. Pat. No. 2,941,471 and the patents therein cited.

Surprisingly, while there have been significant changes in the nature of the explosive, the types of detonators and firing pin mechanisms and the construction of the casing, there has been no significant change in the overall construction of an explosive grenade for at least 50 years and probably more.

Such hand grenades comprise a lever which is pivotally mounted on the casing and is operatively connected to the firing mechanism while being spring biased into an outer position. A pin, e.g., a somewhat bent cotter pin having a ring attached thereto, is inserted through a hole in the lever to retain it in an inner position against the spring force normally tending to bias the lever outwardly. When the grenade is to be used, it is held in the hand of the thrower who prevents the lever from swinging outwardly, withdraw the pin by grasping the ring and drawing the shank of the pin out of the hole, and then casts the grenade, permitting the lever to swing outwardly and initiate, the firing sequence.

This system has numerous disadvantages. Firstly, it is a common practice for personnel carrying grenades of this type to hang them from a belt or a garment using the safety-pin ring. While the shank of the pin is generally held under considerable frictional pressure, it is not positively retained by the lever mechanism and hence the grenade may be dislodged and the pin withdrawn by accident, causing injury to the careless user. Furthermore, in the general handling of the grenades, the pin may fall out and cause premature explosion. In any event there is considerable danger involved in presentday designs of the safety mechanism of such grenades.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved hand grenade whereby the aforementioned disadvantages are obviated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety mechanism for a hand grenade which will prevent inadvertent release of the firing lever. Still another object of the invention is to provide a safer hand grenade which can be used and handled with greater assurance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the present invention, in a hand grenade of the type described, i.e., comprising a fragmentable casing having an explosive charge therein, a detonator, and a lever-operated firing mechanism for triggering the detonator, which comprises a safety pin for retaining the lever of this mechanism in its inner position, means being provided between the safety pin and the casing to enable lateral withdrawal of the shank of this only after partial rotation of the pin through a predetermined angle. According to the invention, means is provided for indicating an armed state of the device in which the safety pin is in an angular position corresponding to its withdrawal position. The unarmed state of the device corresponds to a position in which the pin cannot be linearly withdrawn but must first be rotated through a partial revolution. According to the invention, in the unarmed or safe state of the device, the pin has its ring-receiving bore lying transverse to the axis of the grenade so that the grenade can be suspended from this pin without danger of release. The user is thus able to handle the weapon with more self-assurance, objectively greater security and less fear than heretofore.

The safety mechanism, according to the invention, may be of any type enabling linear withdrawal upon partial rotation and may use bayonet, detent, cam, pinand-slot or screwthread principles as desired. The indexing means may include colored indicia, windows or the like which are effective to indicate the armed or unarmed state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a hand grenade embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detail view of a portion of a hand grenade using a bayonet-type safety device;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the parts thereof in another position.

FIG. 4 is a side-elevational view of the latter system;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partly broken away showing still another embodiment of the invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 there has been shown a hand grenade which may be of the type described in US. Pat. Nos. 1,307,684, 1,375,440, 2,203,640 and 2,562,928, which comprises a casing 10 of the fragmentation type receiving an explosive charge, a detonator and a firing train which may be released by a lever 11. In accordance with conventional principles, the lever 11 is pivoted at 12 to the housing 13 of the firing train and is adapted to swing outwardly (arrow A) when released by the user after a safety pin 14 having a ring 20 is withdrawn. As is customarily the case, once the pin 14 is grasped by its ring 20, the pin may be withdrawn perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 and the lever 11 released to initiate a timing sequence which eventually fires the detonator to explode the grenade.

According to the present invention, however, the pin 14 cannot be released from the grenade in the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1 but must be rotated through, say into the dot-dash position to enable withdrawal of the pin and hence arming of the grenade.

In FIG. 2 the safety mechanism is shown in somewhat more detail. The wall 16 of lever 11, which has a hole 17 through which the pin 14 is inserted, is provided with a radial slot behind which a surface 18 is disposed having a characteristic coloration, e.g., green, which shows through the slot 15 to indicate a safe grenade. The pin 14 has a projection 19 which is of, say, red or another contrasting coloration but which is normally concealed behind the wall 16 in accordance with conventional bayonet principles. When the pin 14 is to be released, the ring 20 is gripped and the pin 14 rotated counterclockwise (see FIG. 3) until the projection 19 lies in the window 15 and a red coloration can be seen therein. In this position, the pin may remain for some time and the red coloration appearing in the window 15 will indicate that the grenade is active or armed and that only a tuck on the pin is necessary to release It.

In FIG. 5, there is shown another configuration which differs from the basic bayonet structure from FIGS. 2 4 and wherein a partial ramp or thread 21 is provided on the pin 22 which has a ring 23 and is receivable in a hole 24 of a lever similar to the lever shown at 11. A mating ledge 25 cooperates with the ramp 21 to prevent the pin from being withdrawn unless it is rotated as previously described.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the invention in which a noncircular shank of the pin is inserted into a noncircular opening 31 in the wall 32 of the lever and is then rotated through 90 to lock the system against inadvertent release of the pin. The pin may here be withdrawn only after it has been rotated through 90.

We claim:

1. In a hand grenade having a casing receiving an explosive charge and mechanism actuated by a lever pivotally mounted on said casing for detonating said charge, the improvement which comprises in combination a cotter pin releasably receivable in said lever for retaining same against displacement until withdrawal of said pin, a ring swingably received in one end of said pin for withdrawal thereof, and means enabling axial withdrawal of said pin only upon a partial rotation thereof, said means including an outward projection on said pin adjacent said ring and a wall of said lever. said projector being engageable behind said wall.

2. The improvement defined in claim 1, further comprising cooperating indicating means on said lever and said pin for indicating when said pin is in angular position enabling its linear withdrawal to release said lever.

3. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said means includes a bayonet arrangement connecting said pin to said lever.

4. The improvement defined in claim 3 wherein said bayonet arrangement includes a projection on said pin and a slot formed in said lever and clearing said projection in one angular position of said pin relative to said lever.

5. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said means includes a cooperating thread arrangement on said pin and said lever.

6. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said means includes a noncircular portion on said pin and a noncircular opening formed in said lever and receiving said pin.