Patent Application
20110259226
1. Field of the Invention
The technical scope of the invention is that of devices enabling a projectile to be primed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Classically, these devices (often called “fuses”) incorporate a safety and arming device that ensures the de-aligning of the pyrotechnic ignition train as well as an electrically initiated detonator that is activated by an electronic firing module.
These devices are well known to those skilled in the art. Reference may be made, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,327 that describes such a device.
The electronic firing module enables different operating modes to be managed for the device, for example: a timer mode (with the timing being programmed before firing), an impact mode, a delayed impact mode, etc.
The timer module incorporates one or several electronic cards as well as a power source. The detonator is more often integral with a fuse-holder flap carried by the safety and arming device. This is linked to the electronic module by conductors or flexible conductive strips.
Integrating this pyrotechnic component into a projectile is an operation that is difficult and that presents certain pyrotechnic risks.
Furthermore, the design of a new projectile requires the study and design of a complete fuse incorporating the safety and arming device and the electronic module. These two devices are, in fact, more often than not, closely interlinked and it is impossible to modify one without also modifying the other. Such modifications are particularly complex in the field of medium caliber projectiles (calibers of less than 75 mm) since their components are reduced in size and available space is also limited.
The aim of the invention is to propose an architecture in which integration into a projectile is simplified since the safety and arming device is separate from the electronic module and from the pyrotechnic device triggered by this module.
Thus, the invention relates to a priming device for a projectile that incorporates a safety and arming device as well as an electrically initiated detonator that is activated by an electronic firing module, priming device wherein it incorporates a second detonator integral with a rotor or flap of the safety and arming device, the second detonator being activated by a mobile firing pin, such firing pin being arranged opposite a first detonator so as to be projected by the gases resulting from the ignition of the latter.
According to a particular embodiment, the firing pin is integral with a spacer plate fixed with respect to a body of the projectile, the plate incorporating an embrittlement groove surrounding the firing pin.
The embrittlement groove may delimit a cup integral with the firing pin, such cup delimiting a cavity in which the first detonator is positioned.
According to another embodiment, the embrittlement groove may delimit a small median plate incorporating a face lying opposite the first detonator.
The device may, in this case, incorporate a washer integral with the body of the projectile, such washer against which the plate will be pressed and which will incorporate a median part against which the median plate will be pressed.
The washer may incorporate drill holes to enable a plastic coating material for the electronic firing module to be cast.
The drill holes may be made in a circular groove in the washer, such groove intended to receive part of the plastic coating material.
The first detonator and the firing pin will, advantageously, be arranged along the projectile's axis.
The first detonator may be connected to an electronic card of the firing module.
The electronic card may carry a cap at least partially surrounding the first detonator, such cap ensuring an electrical contact between the card and the first detonator.
The invention will become more apparent from the following description of a particular embodiment, such description made with reference to the appended drawings, in which;
With reference to
This device incorporates a safety and arming device 3 as well as a first detonator 5, electrically initiated, and activated by an electronic firing module 4.
The safety and arming device 3 is a device comprising a rotor 6 having a second detonator 7 of the type initiated by percussion. This device is incorporated into a casing 9a, 9b housed in a bore hole 20 in the body 2 of the projectile.
This device is described by patent FR2689972 (as well as by patent FR2533686) to which reference may be made for further details.
As described in this patent, the rotor 6 comprises an unbalance mass and is arranged in a cage 8 mounted able to pivot with respect to the casing 9a, 9b of the safety and arming device. The pivoting is made on trunnions formed on the front and rear ends of the cage 8 and housed in matching bore holes in parts 9a and 9b of the casing.
The rotor 6 is immobilized in its safety position as shown in
The rotor 6 is also immobilized by a lock 12 in the form of a cylindrical bushing held pressed against a flattened surface 13 of the rotor by a spring washer 14.
The bushing 12 incorporates an axial drill hole which provides a passage for the tip of a firing pin 15.
This structure is identical to that described in FR2689972 and thus requires no further description here.
In accordance with the invention, the firing pin 15 is not a classical firing pin moved by a self-destruct spring or by the simple inertia of the impact on a target.
On the contrary, the firing pin 15 here is fixed with respect to the projectile body 2 (and to the priming device).
The firing pin 15 is integral with a cylindrical cup 17 which is integral with a spacer plate 18.
The cup 17 further delimits a cavity 17a intended to receive the electrical detonator 5.
Card 21b arranged opposite the cup 17 carries the first detonator 5 housed within the cavity 17a of the cup. The first detonator 5 is connected to the card 21b by its axial contact by means of a deformable pin connector on the card.
The device functions as follows:
When the projectile is fired, the axial acceleration due to the firing leads the bushing 12 to pass through the washer 14. It therefore no longer blocks the rotor 6. The washer 14 is designed to prevent the subsequent return of the bushing towards the rotor and thus incorporates tongues (not visible in the Figures but which are described by patent FR2689972).
The rotation of the projectile further causes the spiral spring 11, which had ensured the muzzle safety for the projectile, to unwind. After the time required to unwind the spiral spring 11, the radial pins 10 have been ejected from the rotor 6 which thereafter (because of its unbalance mass) has been able to adopt its armed position with the second detonator 7 aligned along the projectile axis 16 and ready to be initiated by the firing pin 15. It is this arrangement which is shown in
As can be seen, the invention enables the conservation of a safety and arming device that has already been defined for one projectile family and, by associating an electronic module and an electric detonator, it allows the definition of a projectile priming device giving modes of operation over a trajectory (firing after a programmed time).
An advanced priming device may thus be obtained for a reduced development cost, and it is possible for the use of a given safety and arming device to be made standard for a whole family of projectiles of different calibers and with electronics of different structures.
Here a priming device has been described whose safety and arming device implements the solutions described in patent FR2689972. It is naturally possible for a priming device to be defined according to the invention that implements a safety and arming device of a different design. This device merely needs to comprise a percussive detonator that is integral with a rotor or flap, the firing pin of said detonator being positioned opposite the electric detonator so as to be able to be projected by the gases resulting from the initiation of the latter.
This embodiment differs from the previous one in the shape of the spacer plate 18.
This plate 18 carrying the firing pin 15 is shown in greater detail in
The embrittlement groove 18a delimits a cylindrical median plate 18b on the plate 18 whereon the base 15a of the firing pin is crimped. A rear face 18c of the plate is arranged opposite the first detonator 5 (
Note in
A counter-sink 25 surrounds the axial hole 24 and caps the first detonator 5. The washer 23 is shown from the front in
Furthermore, each drill hole 27 is extended by a conical flared part 27a on the side of the washer opposite the circular groove 28.
The drill holes 27 are intended to enable a plastic material 29 to be cast in order to coat the electronic firing module 4 onto which the first detonator 5 is fixed. Such a coating is classical in the field of ammunition safety devices. It enables the electronic components to be protected by absorbing part of the shocks to which they are subjected.
We note that, thanks to the first countersink 25, the coating 29 spares the front face of the first detonator 5.
The groove 28 receives the overflow of plastic coating material after the filling operation.
Thus, the washer 23 is partly encrusted in the coating material 29.
Because of the mounting of the plate 18 pinched between the washer 23 and the bottom 9b of the casing of the safety and arming device, the plate 18 is integral with the projectile body 2.
The washer 23 does not hinder the functioning of the first detonator 5 which is analogous to that described previously. The pressure of the gases generated by the first detonator 5 will cause the groove 18a delimiting the median plate 18b to shear and the firing pin 15 to be projected towards the second detonator 7 through the bushing 12.
The washer 23 is intended to provide an axial support for the median plate 18b. Such a support enables the inertial forces exerted in direction Fi during firing to be contained. Any shearing of the groove 18a further to firing is thus prevented without this being prevented further to the initiation of the first detonator 5. Such an arrangement improves the device's reliability and enables grooves 18a to be made that are relatively fragile.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.01799 | Apr 2010 | FR | national |
