TREA

Anti-fouling connector for electronically detonated munitions

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Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 5074215
  • Patent Number
    5,074,215
  • Date Filed
    Monday, July 9, 1990
    34 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 24, 1991
    32 years ago
Information
Abstract
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for clearing the uling black powder residues deposited on the electrical connectors of electrically detonated munitions. A female connector is provided with a recurved lanced outer spring clip which automatically scrapes off the residue on an insulator and contact surfaces of a male bipolar connector plug when the two connectors are rotated with respect to each other.
Description
Claims
  • 1. An anti-fouling connector for electrically detonated munitions containing black powder as an explosive which comprises:
  • housing means for holding said anti-fouling connector on said munitions;
  • wire connecting lug means, operatively disposed externally on said housing means, for electrically igniting said black powder;
  • male bipolar connector plug means for supplying electrical current to said lug means; and
  • female lanced spring clip means, operatively disposed in said housing means, for automatically cleaning residue from said male plug means when said plug means is inserted in said spring clip means and rotated therein, thereby preventing fouling residue build-up.
  • 2. An anti-fouling connector as recited in claim 1 wherein said housing means includes:
  • an external disc-shaped insulator operatively disposed intermediate said wire connecting lug means;
  • a cup-shaped flanged housing member for externally supporting said wire lug mean and said disc-shaped insulator; and
  • rivet means for electrically and mechanically connecting said wire connecting lug means to said housing means and to said spring clip means.
  • 3. An anti-fouling connector as recited in claim 2 wherein said female lanced spring clip means includes:
  • an outer cup-shaped monostructural spring clip member axially operatively positioned in said flanged housing having cantilevered tips spherically recurved to facilitate insertion of said male plug means therein, and lanced to produce inwardly protruding scraper structure, said recurved tips having extended lanced cylindrical-shaped sections contiguous therewith, and of sufficient length to clean said bipolar plug means of residue;
  • an inner spring clip monostructure nested axially within said outer spring clip and mounted at right angles to said outer spring clip;
  • a second insulator member operatively disposed intermediate said inner and outer spring clips members for electrically insulating one from another.
  • 4. An anti-fouling method for electrically detonated munitions comprising the steps of:
  • mounting a female spring clip connector on said munition;
  • providing two nested spring clip monostructures of unequal lengths mounted at right angles to one another and electrically insulated from each other;
  • recurving the tips of an outer spring clip to facilitate insertion of said munition on to a male bipolar connector;
  • lancing said recurved tips to produce sharp scraper structure on the inside; and
  • rotating the male plug with respect to the female spring clips to scrape the fouling residue from an insulating spacer of said male plug and its electrical contact surfaces, thereby insuring successful functioning.
GOVERNMENTAL INTEREST

The invention described herein may be manufactured, used and licensed by or for the Governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon. The present invention relates to connectors used with black powder munitions which are electrically detonated. The problem with the present state of the art electrical connectors used for detonating munitions containing black powder as an explosive has been the fouling of the connector by a residue from the black powder which leaves a hard electrically conductive deposit on an insulator section of the male plug portion of the connector. Previous means for dealing with this problem consisted of using a bristle type wire brush with or without cleaning fluids to clean the contaminated insulator. The effectiveness of this cleaning technique has been controversial, because of the number of misfires that still persisted after the connectors had bene so called cleaned. The present invention is superior to prior art devices because the female portion of the connector has been constructed with lance-like protruding sharp scrapers thereon which automatically clear away the shorting residue from the male connector when the male portion of the connector is rotated within the female portion of the connector. It has been noticed that automatic cleaning by rotation of the male and female parts of the connector prevents fouling build-up, thus drastically reducing the number of misfires, improving the safety of the ordnance handling crew, and increasing the efficiency of the munition testing operation. The present invention relates to an anti-fouling female connector which has operatively disposed thereon lance-like projections positioned on the inner surfaces of a portion of an outer female connector. The female connector is comprised of two nested spring clip monostructures of unequal length which are mounted at right angles to each other and electrically insulated from one another. The outer spring clip female connector member tips have been recurved to facilitate insertion of the munition on the male connector. An object of the present invention is to provide an anti-fouling connector for electrically detonated munitions which use black powder as an explosive. Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-fouling connector which automatically removes an electrically conductive residue from the insulator section of a male connector member. Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-fouling connector for use on electrically detonated black powder explosives wherein the female outer spring clip connector tips have been recurved and provided with lance elements to facilitate insertion of the male connector and to simultaneously scrape electrically conductive residue from the insulator of the male connector when the male and female sections are rotated with respect to each other. A further object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector for use in detonating black powder munitions which automatically cleans itself at each use and thereby prevents fouling residue build-ups. For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following descriptions taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

US Referenced Citations (1)
Number Name Date Kind
2789467 Rosenthal Apr 1957