US1927746A - Mechanical time fuse - Google Patents

Description

Sept'.` 19, 1933.'

H. JUNGHANS 1,927,746

MECHANICAL TIME lFUSE Filed July 30.V 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 19, 1933 H. JUNGHANS MECHANICAL TIME FUSE Filed July 50, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented sept. 19, 1933 1,927,746 MECHANICALTIME FUSE Helmut Junghans, Schramberg, Germany,

signor to Societa onima Arturo Junghans Fabrica DOrologeria, Venice, Italy Applition July ao, 1931, serial No. 554,102, and in Germany August 15, 1930 2Claims.

The present invention relates to mechanical time fuses and more particularly to the igniting or' detonating mechanism thereof.

As compared with the igniting mechanism 5 hitherto designed or suggested in connection with time fuses and wherein ignition is effected by means of a spring or spring-controlled striker which must b e kept in stressed condition during storage, the chief object of the present invention is to dispense with such springs, in order to thereby overcome certain disadvantages and objections concomitant with said springs. Accordingly, in my improved time fuse, ignition takes place merely by the action of centrifugal force and without the use of a spring-controlled striker, preferably a percussion cap or primer as usually provided in the fuse, being caused to strike upon a stationary detonating pin after the expiration of the time interval for which the fuse has been set.

Apart from the constructional simplicity of time fuses made in accordance with the present invention the main advantage of the latter, however, resides in the fact that spring-controlled striking bolts are entirely dispensed with and the disadvantages inherent in and vespecially due to the permanently tensioned condition of the springs during storage andtransportation resulting in loss of strength or even'fracture, are

entirely avoided.

In a fuse constructed in accordance with the present invention the detonating cap is accommodated in a radially movable slide which is locked normally or while in condition of rest,

duringstorage and transportation, and adapted to be unlocked by means of a recoiling or iiyngback bolt and to be released bythe agency ofthe setting disk for the ignitingpurpose. In order to prevent the projectile from explosion within thebarrel of the ordnance, I provide a supplemental safety device in the form of a cam adapted to project into the path of the slide and to be rotated by the work of the fuse so as to 5 clear the said path of the slide, a certain time after the projectile has left the ordnance.

The unlocking and releasing of the slide by means of the flying-back or recoiling bolt and the setting disk is accomplished or initiated by a pawl mounted on a pivot so as to be capable of turning thereabout and adapted to catch into a recess or dwell provided in the slide, the said pawl being preferably connected with the flyingback or recoiling bolt by means of intermediate members whereof one is disengaged from the recoiling bolt upon firing of the shot, and adapted to engage, due to centrifugal action, in a recess of the setting disk so as to thereby cause the pawl to disengage from the dwell of the slide.

I will now proceed to describe my invention more in detail in connection with the embodiment thereof, illustrated on the accompanying drawings, it being intended andunderstood that the invention is illustrated by but not limited to the embodiment thereof so illustrated and described.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and showing, for purposes of exempliiication, a preferred form and manner in which the invention may be embodied, but without limiting the claims to such illustrative instance:

Figure 1 is a sectional view illustrating a part including the clock-work, of the regulating drive mechanism which is adapted at the same time to actuate the means for preventing premature detonation within the barrel of the ordnance; Figure 2 is a similar sectional view showing the igniting device viewed from the timing disk; Figure 3 is a view in 'top plan of the setting disk; Figure 4 is a view in section taken on the line IV-IV in Figures 1 and 2, showing in plan view, both the drive mechanism and the disengaging device; and Figure 5 is a View in top plan of the lowermost or innermost plate on which the igniting device is mounted.

In the preferred embodiment shown the detonating cap f is accommodated in a slide g adapted to move radially with relation to the axis of the projectile and provided with a lateral recess, catch or dwell for a pawl h to engage therein, the back of the pawl being adapted to iit in arecess of the shaft i. Keyed to the latter is a short lever i1 of conventional con struction adapted to permanently engage or rest 9 ona shaft k as usual in fuses of the type to which my invention belongs. The upper or outer end of the shaft k is equipped with a dropping lever kl, as usual, -and a locking pin k2 adapted to engage and lie in contact with the 100 dying-back or recoiling bolt l, so that, normally or during storage and Itransportation, the said dropping or setting lever k1 will not be in contact with the setting disk m and, therefore, -will not be capable of dropping into the peripheral 105 recess m1 of the latter, see Figure 3.

The clock-Work further is adapted, by means of suitable transmission members, to rotate a shaft o integrally formed or otherwise rigidly connected with a cam o1 adapted to protrude 110 in the path of the, slide g and remain therein during a certain predetermined interval of time after the firing of the shot, so that the slide will be locked and cannot move until or before the said interval of time has elapsed. For the rotation of the cam is calculated or controlled in such manner that upon ring and simultaneous operation or starting of the clock work, the cam does not and cannot move out of the path of the slide before or until the projectile has left the ordnance and is far od lthe muzzle thereof. A small at spring p serves as a means for retaining the slide carrying the detonation cap f immovable in normal position during transportation.

The operation of the improved arrangement is as follows:-

Upon ring, the recoiling bolt 1 will ily back (or downwards in Figure 2) due to inertia so as to release the pin la and thereby permit the lever k1 to engage the periphery of the setting disk m due to the centrifugal action of a counter-weight attached to the one arm of the lever. As the clock work now is running the bent end or nose o'f the other armof the lever k1 willdroplinto the peripheral recess m1 ofthe setting disk m after the expiration of the time for which the disk has been set, and consequently the shaft Ic will be turned for an angle sumcient to allow the lever i1 to move and engage .in a recess provided in the shaft Ic, mainly due to centrifugal action.

The shaft, moving in the direction of the arrow, shown in Figure 5, releases the pawl h which in turn disengages from the dwell of the slide g, so Athat the latter will y outwards due to centrifugal action and the stationary pin or needle n will strike upon the fulminate at the bottom of the cap f. This, however, cannot occur except when the shaft o has been turned in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 5, through an angle sulcient to move the cam o1 out of the path of the slide. The pinion keyed to the shaft o, see Figure 4, and meshing,

with the toothed wheel of the next following shaft of the gearing, is in the form of a toothed segment.V only and as soon as the last tooth of this pinion or segment disengages from the said toothed wheel. which cannot occur except when the projectile has left the ordnance and is a considerable distance awayl from the muzzle thereof, as will be readily understood from the description of the operation, the cam ol will Fri.

tion prior to the described rotation of the shaft' o and cam o1, the edge of the front or outer end of the slide g will abut against the cam o1, so that the slide cannot ily outwards, thereby preventing the detonating cap from being struck by the needle n.

Moreover, safety against premature bursting of the proiectilewithin the barrel of the ordnance is further warranted by the fact that in case of such accidents the shaft o will be braked by the frictional contact between the slide g andthe cam ol to such a degree that the entire mechanism will be stopped and inoperative. The fuse will be blind in such a case.

I have herein described and shown one preferred and practical embodiment of my present improvements, but it will be apparent that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in other alternative forms and changes in the arrangement, commotion and combination of the several parts shown and described. For instance I would have it understood that while in the embodiment described and illustrated the primer or detonating cap is moved to strike upon a stationary pin or needle, the parts may be arranged suchwise that a movable striking bolt or pin will be caused to strike vand penetrate into a primer or detonating cap, when the projectile is red oil, without thereby departing from the spirit of the invention. Y

What I claim is:

1. A mechanical time fuse for projectiles wherein ignition is eiected solely by centrifugal action, comprising a movable body having a detonating member, and adapted to be moved under centrifugal action after the expiration of the time interval for which the fuse has been set, said movable body being shaped to forma radially displaceable slide, means normally locking said slide during storage and transportation, a recoil bolt and a setting disk adapted to unlock and release said slide upon ring, after the expiration of the said set time interval, and means 1 for preventing premature ignition after ring the projectile, whilethe projectile is stillwithin the barrel of the gun, said means comprising a cam -projecting normally into the path of the said slide, and mechanism to move the same. to release the slide completely, prior to the time that the same is released by the setting disc, but subsequent to the instant at which the projectile leaves thebarrel of the gun.

2. A mechanical time fuse for projectiles wherein ignition is effected solely by centrifugal action, comprising a movable body having a detonating member, and adapted to be moved under centrifugal action after the expiration of the time interval for which the fuse/has been set,

said movable body being shaped to form a radially displaceable slide, means normally locking said slide duringstorage and transportation, a recoil bolt and a setting disk adapted to unlockA and release said slide upon ring, after the expiration of the said set time interval, a' pawl, means intermediate between and connecting the pawl and the recoil bolt, to engage and lock the said slide, one of said intermediate means being arranged to be released from the recoil bolt upon 135 ring, and arranged to subsequently engage the periphery of the setting disk due solely to centrifugal action, said disk having a recess in its margin, whereby the said means will nally engage in said recess and thereby cause the pawl to becomedisengaged from the slide.

HELMUT JUNGHANS.

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