US760046A - Percussion-fuse. - Google Patents

Description

N0 MODEL.

H. WILSON'& A. H. CHA

PATENTED MAY 17,v 2904. SE.

' PERCUSSION FUSE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1903,

Wane/wee UNITED STATES Patented May 1'7, 1904.

HARnY-WiLsoN AND ARTHUR H. CHASE, OF WASHINGTON DISTRICT-i ooLUMBm, ASSlGNORS To UNITED STATES ORDNANCE COMPANY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA, A CORPORATION or VIRGINIAII PERCUSSlON-FUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 760,046, dated m 17, 1904.

Application filed July 30. 1903. Serial No. 167,58d. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that W8,HARRY WILSON and AR- THUR H. CHASE, citizens of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Percussion-Fuses for Explosive Projectiles, of which the following is a full, complete, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to that class of fuses in which the percussion element is released only by centrifugal force, such as is due to the rotation of the projectile in flight when fired from a rifled gun.

The object of our invention is to provide a fuse which (when assembled in an explosivechargcd projectile) may be safely subjected to the various shocks and accidents liable from transportation and handling and yet which is sufiiciently sensitive (when fired in an explosive-charged projectile from a rifled gun) to insure the bursting of the projectile upon sudden retardation of its forward movement, whether such retardation is very marked, such as is the result of direct impact against an object. normal to the line of fire, or very slight, such as might result from the lateral slap or graze of the projectile against water or other objects.

We provide an improved, strong, and substantial centrifugal safety-guard which prevents the firing-pin from moving forward at all times except when the projectile is being rotated with, great rapidity, such as is impart- 35-ed to a banded projectile when fired from a rifled gun.

It has been observed that a projectile when iired from a modern gun upon striking the Watcr and ricochetting is appreciably deflected from its proper course and ordinarily misses its target entirely. .In our fuse the ball acting upon'the cone'of the firing-pinlires the primer and explodes the projectile whether the projectilestrikes laterally or point first. Of the numerous resulting fragments many arclikelytostrikethe target, causing damage.

To prevent, the forward .movement ofthe firing-pin during the flight of the projectile,

(commonly called creeping,) at which time the centrifugal safety-guard does not) retard such forward movement, we provide a'f split ring normally in tension against the wallet the fusc-body and held within a groove in'the] firing-pin. This ring is just .s trohgfenoiighfl to prevent creeping and is not fsnflicientlyl l strong to retard the firing-pin when thepr jectile strikes after being fired.

f To delay bursting the projectile l lnhll it'ha's penetrated the target, we'p'rovidee supplef mental magazine the mouth of which is 'sfe'ale l :"6 by a disk. This magazine contains aslow'ex plosive which gradually exerts s'uiiicient'presk sure to blow out the disk and explode the main I magazine of the fuse. Figure 1 is a section of the base of a projectile, showing a longitudinal diametrical "sec'-; tion of the various parts ofou'r fuse in v normal or safety positions. Fig'i 21s a trans verse section through a (t of 1. "Fig. 31s a transverse section of the centrifugal safety xi guard G, showing same in its norn1al'or -safety*--' position. i Fig. 4 is a similar-view ofthe guard Gr, showing the positions the partsassume diir ing flight of the projectile.' --Figs. 5' and Garesimilar to Figs. 3 and 4, respel" .-tivel-y=, show ing a modified construction of: the guard G P (see Fig. 1) represents a portion of a projectile fitted with-our inventionm I i A is the fuse-body, having.the-powder-miiigazine B, the igniting-chargesbeing.retained; therein by a wad C.

D is a plug secured to the body, having "a stem 1), carrying the cap-E, and perforated.-,

at D to permit the passage of. the fiame-froiu the cap E to the supplemental magazine D which contains a slow explosive and whichis separated from the magazineB by thc disk B. I F is a tiring-pin grooved at F',--hav ing a striking-point F. It. is normally retained ntheposition shown inrllig. .Lby the, -centri ugal safety-guarda-G, 5. 1 H is a split .ring normally in .-tension1against the :wallof' the; fuse bodyand held, the groove ,F', of the. firing-pin K is a weight, prefenably spherical, shown, loosely supported in the base of thefuse v the stem D of the plug is tively,

the fus ebody will permit.

by the conical seatsiA in the fuse-body and F in the firing-pin.

.The centrifugal safety-guard G is shown more in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. two cu'rved arms G G recessed at front and rear to form flan es G and loosely joined to' gether by the ho t G which has a nut G5. Springs G, under the head and nut,respec abut against the bottoms of the cavities G. hese springs keep the arms G and Ginormally closed, as shown in Fig. 3, and inthis position the inner surfaces G of the arms form an aperture, tgrough which passes G is a finger loosely pivoted at Gr in the arm G, normally lying in a slot G in the arm G. In this position the aperture between the inner surfaces G of the flanges G is smaller than the diameter of the firing-pin F. During rotation in the flight of the projectile; however, centrifugal force is set up in the arms G"Gr and they fly apart as far as the'walls of In this position (shown in Fig. 4) the outer surfaces of the arms form a cylindrical surface, as to the inner surfaces G of the flanges G and the diameter between the surfaces G is sufficiently great to permit the entrance of the firingplnF.

When the centrifugal 'safetyguard G assumes its armed position, Fig. 4:, the. finger G flies from the slot G and engages the springs G when the centrifugal force ceases pin G, which straddles the slot Gr of the arm G holding the centrifugal guard G in its armed position against the pressure of the to do so.

A modified construction of the centrifugal safety-guard G is exhibited in Figs. 5 and 6. In this formthe bolt G", nut G and springs G. are replaced by the U-shaped spring L, which has inwardly-projecting nibs L L at its ends. This spring snaps into the grooves G in the arms G G, and the nibs L L entor the. recesses G 'in the arms G (1%, normally holding the. arms in their closed or safety position.

We disclaim as our joint invention, so far as same may contain patentable subject-matter, the following: The combination of afusebody, a primer, means mounted in the fusebody to explode the primer, a spherical plunger movably mounted in the fuse-body independent of the primer-exploding means, and

centrifugally-released securing means normally holding the primer-exploding means and plunger in inactive position.

We have described our invention so that one skilled in the art may make it; but we do not limit our invention to these details of construction, which may obviously be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim t I I 1. In a pefcussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its It comprises rear \v'alha firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, a plunger supported by and retained between the conical recesses in said casing and firing-pin, an igniting-cap and a safety-guard lying loosely in the casing between the firing-pin and cap.

2. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, safetyguard lying loosely in the casing between the firing-pin and'cap and an inertia-operated plunger supported by and retained between the conical recesses in said casing and firingpin; whereby said plunger acts forwardly on said firing-pin upon either forward or lateral impact. Y

3. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an ignitingcap,a safetyguard lying loosely in the casing between the firing-pin and cap and a spherical weight loosely supported by and retained between the .conical recesses in the casing and firing-pin; said weight being thus adapted to act forwardly on said firing-pin upon either forward or lateral shock.

4. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a plunger supported by and retained between the conical recesses in the casing and firing-pin and a separable safety-guard loosely interposed between the firing-pin and cap, means for normally holding said guard together to prevent the firing-pin from engaging with the cap and permitting said guard to open under the influence of centrifugal force to release the firing-pin.

5. I In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a separable safety guard loosely interposed between the firing-pin and cap, means for normally holding said guard together to prevent the iiring-pin from engaging with the cap and permitting said guard to open under the influence of centrifugal force to release the firing-pin and an inertia-operated plunger supported by and retained between the conical recess in said casing and firing-pin; whereby said plunger acts forwardly on said firing-pin upon either forward or lateral shock.

6. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a separable safety-guard loosely interposed between the liring-pin and cap, means for normally holding said guard together to prevent the firing-pin from engaging with the cap and permitting said guard to open under the inlIO a casing, a firing-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard lying .loosely in the casing between the firing-pin and cap; said guard comprising separable arms, a yielding COHDE-CtIOU secured to and carried by sald arms normally holding them together and permitting said arms to open under the influence of centrifugal force against the action of said yielding connection.

8. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of acasing, a firing-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard lying loosely in the casing between the firing-pin "and cap; said guard comprising separable arms, spring-actuated means secured to and carried by the arms normally pressing them fit o'getllcr and permitting them to open under the influence of centrifugal force against the action of said spring-actuated means.

9. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing, a f ring-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard comprising separate members lying loosely between the firing-pin and cap normally holding the firing-pin from engagement with the cap, ayielding connection secured to and carried by the members of said safety-guard normally holding them together and adapted to be overcome by centrifugal force to permit said members to open and release the firing-pin.

10. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing, a firing-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard comprising separate members lying loosely in the casing between the firing-pin and cap normally holding the firing-pin from engagement with the cap, a yielding connection between the members of the safety-guard normally holding them together and adapted to be overcome'by centrifugal force to permit said members to open and release the firing-pin and 'centrifugally-actuated means carried by the members to prevent their return to normal position when centrifugal force ceases.

1 1. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a' casing, a firing-pin movably mounted in the casing, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard lying loosely in the casing between the firing- -pin and cap; said guard comprising a bifurcated collar, a yieldlng connection between the segmental members of said collar normally holding them together and permitting said members to open under the influence of centrifugal force against the action of said yielding connection.

12. *In a fuse; the combination of a fusebody, a primer, means mounted in the fusebody to explode the primer, a plunger movably mounted in the fuse-body independent of the primer-exploding means, and securing means lying loosely in the casing normally holding said primer-exploding means toprevent the primer from being exploded, said securing means comprising two curved arms normally held together by a yielding connection therebetween and adapted to open under the influence of centrifugal force to release the tiring-pin when the gun has been discharged.

13. In a percussion-fuse; the combination of a casing provided with a conical recess in its rear wall, a firing-pin provided with a conical recess in its rear face, an igniting-cap, a safety-guard loosely interposed between said firing-pin and cap and an inertiaoperated weight retained between the conical recesses in the casing and firing-pin respectively.

14. In combination with a projectile, a fuse therefor adapted to be inserted centrally of the base of the projectile, comprising a tubu- -lar casing, a loosely-mounted plunger in the casing, means mounted in the casing adapted to explode a primer, and asafety device loosely mounted in the. casing for normally holding 1 said means to prevent the primer from being exploded, and which when the gun is discharged is unlocked being released entirely by centrifugal force as the projectile is in flight, the plunger moving forward and striking the firing means when the projectile strikes.

15. The combination with a projectile, of a fuse, comprising a casing, a firing-pin, means loosely mounted in the casing engaged by the firing-pin to hold the firing-pin from engagement with the fulminating-cap and when the projectile is in flight to be moved by centrifugal force to release the firing-pin. and means mounted in the casing adapted to strike the firing-pin after the projectile has been impeded in its flight. i

16. In a fuse, the combination of a fusebody, a primer, means mounted in the fusebody to explode the primer, a plunger movably mounted in the fuse-body independent of the primer-exploding means, and securing means loosely mounted in the fuse-body normally holding said primer-exploding means to prevent the primer from being exploded, said securing means being adapted to be released by centrifugal force after the gun has been discharged.

17. The combination of a fuse-body,a primer supported therein, a firing pin movably mounted in the fuse-body in operative relation to the primer, a hammer also movably mounted in the fuse-body independent of and in operative relation to the firing-pin, and centrifugally-released securing means loosely supported therein, a firing pin movably holding the firing pin in its inactive position.

19. In a fuse for projectiles, the combines tion of a tubular fuse body or casing adapted to be secured centrally inv a projectile, a ham-' mer'loosely mounted in the casing, a primer secured in the casing, a firing-pin movably mounted in the casing independently of the hammer and in opeietive relation to the .primer, and centrifugally-released securing 1'5 means loosely mounted in the casing norinlilly holdingthe firing+pi12rand hammer in intuitive position. I I l In testimony whereof we have signed our names tothis' specification in the resence of 2 witnesses.

HARRY WILSON;- ARTHUR H. CHASE two subscribing I Witnesses:

HENRY 1T, BRIGHT, A. Y. LEECH, Jr.

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