EP1067353B1 - Firing device for ordnance by percussion of a fuse - Google Patents

Description

The technical field of the present invention is that of firing devices for artillery by percussion of the bolts.

Firing devices for artillery comprise, in known manner, a striker subjected to the action of a spring. This spring being compressed, it forces the striker in an armed rear position during any the use of the weapon, that is to say as long as the fire is not triggered. When the striker is released, the spring projects it on the primer of the pinch to ensure firing. We understand with such a device, it is imperative to provide striker release means and means for bring this striker back into position and ensure blocking. Reference may be made to US Pat. No. 2,245,621 who describes a firing pin of this kind where this one is placed in an armed position when closing the cylinder head. It is not desirable to use such system because it is likely to lead to fire, which can be very dangerous for the servants of the weapon.

DE147526 discloses a firing device for an artillery with a striker subject to the action of a spring. A stop of a latch allows back the striker by binding his spring, when rotation of a cocking lever. This last fact pivot a second lever around an axis that has a pawl cooperating with the latch. At the end of rotation of the cocking lever, the pawl disengages from the latch that releases the striker.

This concept allows the firing pin spring to be bandaged only at the moment of firing, which avoids the aforementioned drawbacks. Nevertheless in this concept, the rotation maneuver of the cocking lever requires a large clearance volume under the setting device fire.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new concept of maneuvering a striker no constant tensioning of a spring coupled to this striker and reduced size.

• le passage du percuteur d'une position de repos à une position d'armement dans laquelle un moyen de projection du percuteur est armé,
• le passage du percuteur de la position d'armement à une position de mise à feu dans laquelle il se trouve poussé par le moyen de projection sur une étoupille,
• le retour du percuteur à la position de repos, les moyens d'actionnement assurant un maintien du percuteur dans cette position de repos,

   dispositif de mise à feu caractérisé en ce que les moyens d'actionnement comprennent :

• un levier relié au percuteur et articulé par rapport au support,
• un cliquet pivotant apte à libérer le levier,
• un moyen de projection agissant sur le levier et solidaire du support,
• des moyens d'entraínement agissant sur le cliquet et provoquant par son intermédiaire la rotation du levier et par suite l'armement du percuteur, puis la libération de ce levier,

   et en ce que le moyen d'entraínement en rotation du levier est constitué par une tringle de commande mobile en translation par rapport au support, ladite tringle étant munie d'encoches coopérant avec le cliquet d'une part et d'un talon coopérant avec le levier d'autre part.The subject of the invention is therefore a firing device for artillery by percussion of bolts with the aid of a striker movable in translation relative to a support, the striker being driven in translation by actuating means ensuring successively:

• the passage of the striker from a rest position to an arming position in which a projection means of the firing pin is armed,
• the passage of the firing pin from the cocking position to a firing position in which it is pushed by the projection means on a pin,
• the return of the striker to the rest position, the actuating means ensuring a holding of the striker in this rest position,

firing device characterized in that the actuating means comprise:

• a lever connected to the striker and hinged relative to the support,
• a pivoting ratchet capable of releasing the lever,
• projection means acting on the lever and secured to the support,
• actuating means acting on the pawl and causing through it the rotation of the lever and therefore the arming of the firing pin, and then the release of this lever,

and in that the means for rotating the lever is constituted by a control rod movable in translation relative to the support, said rod being provided with notches cooperating with the pawl on the one hand and a heel cooperating with the lever on the other hand.

Advantageously, a first notch presents a cylindrical profile, in which the ratchet starts its rotation, followed by a second notch in which clears the ratchet to allow rotation of the lever around its axis.

The second notch has a depth corresponding to the firing stroke of the firing pin.

Advantageously the heel is located beyond the second notch to cooperate with a ramp arranged on the lever to return it to the initial position.

The rod is returned to the initial position by a spring and is driven in translation to using a hydraulic cylinder.

The projection means of the lever consists of a arm whose end is supported on the lever and the other rigidly attached to a torsion bar, the other end of the arm and the bar being fixed to the support.

The lever has an end attached to the firing pin and the other attached to an axis of rotation with respect to support, the ratchet being rotatably mounted relative to this lever at a point between its two ends.

The torsion bar is initially put in prestressing.

The lever can be realized in the form of a plate with days to reduce its moment of inertia.

Advantageously, the pawl is coupled to the lever by via a spring.

According to a particular embodiment, the striker has a first groove perpendicular to the axis of the striker in which the end of the lever is engaged and a pawn opening into it, to maintain the lever in this groove.

The firing pin is equipped with means allowing its extraction comprising at least two notches on its face back to allow grip, and a second groove parallel to the axis of the firing pin communicating with the first groove, the lever traversing the second groove after erasing the pin and rotating the striker.

A first result of the device according to the invention resides in that the striker is always in rest position even when the breech of the weapon is closed.

Another result is that the firing pin is not held by stop means preventing the relaxation of a spring.

Another advantage is the ability to adjust the prestressing of the torsion bar.

Another advantage is the compactness of the device Firing.

• la figure 1 est une coupe longitudinale partielle de la partie arrière d'une arme passant par le percuteur,
• la figure 2 représente une vue de dessous de la figure 1,
• la figure 3 montre une phase de fonctionnement,
• la figure 4 montre une autre phase de fonctionnement,
• la figure 5 est une coupe AA de la figure 2,
• la figure 6 est une vue extérieure du percuteur,
• la figure 7 est une coupe transversale BB de la figure 6.

Other characteristics, details and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the additional description given below of embodiments given by way of illustration in relation to drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal section of the rear part of a weapon passing through the striker,
• FIG. 2 represents a view from below of FIG. 1,
• FIG. 3 shows a phase of operation,
• FIG. 4 shows another phase of operation,
• FIG. 5 is a section AA of FIG. 2,
• FIG. 6 is an external view of the striker,
• Figure 7 is a cross section BB of Figure 6.

In Figure 1, there is shown a partial section of the weapon at the striker striker in the longitudinal direction. In this figure, we find the support 1 corresponding to the rear part of the weapon (no represented) on which the different elements necessary for the understanding of the invention are represented. For firing, the weapon is equipped with a striker 2 slidably mounted in a housing 3 secured of support 1. Of course, a set of pins (no shown) is disposed opposite the tip of this firing pin and these loops are initiated as and when percussion during the translation of the striker.

According to the invention, the striker 2 is coupled to actuating means consisting mainly of a lever 4, a ratchet 9, a projection means presenting in the form of an arm 11 and a bar of torsion 18 and training means presented under the shape of a movable rod 12. The lever 4 is articulated in a clevis 5 secured to the support 1. On the FIG. 1 shows the hinge axis 6 allowing the lever 4 to execute its rotational motion in the plane of the figure. Lever 4 has a number 7 days to lighten it to reduce its moment of inertia with respect to its axis of rotation 6 and decrease thus the response time of the percussion. The lever 4 is provided with a face 8 on which a ratchet 9, mounted rotation relative to this lever about an axis 10, is maintained in constant support (in the direction of the arrow) via a non-return spring represent.

The arm 11 is engaged in one of the days, the day 7a for example, to drive lever 4 as it will be explained below.

The rod 12 disposed substantially parallel to the lever 4 is slidably mounted in a fixed yoke 13 to the support 1 and is coupled to a spring 14 whose role is to bring it back to its original position as schematically in Figure 1. The rod 12 is provided a first notch 15 cylindrical, a second notch 16 and a heel 17. The ratchet 9 is susceptible to occupy the first and second notches like this will be explained later when a movement of traction is exerted on the rod 12.

In FIG. 1, it can be seen that the striker 2 is slightly protruding from support 1 next a distance d1, but it is of course enough away from the primer of the chuck in the rest position.

In Figure 2, there is shown in bottom view the support 1, striker 2, lever 4 and rod 12 hitched to its spring 14. The arm 11 is linked mechanically at the end of a torsion bar 18 arranged in a housing 19 made in the support 1. The other end of the torsion bar 18 is fixed rigidly in the housing 19, for example using of a plate 20. We arrange the assembly so that the bar 18 is subject to a slight twist of prestressing.

The percussion is performed in the following manner.

From the initial rest phase represented in Figure 1, a pull is exerted on the rod 12 for example using a non-hydraulic cylinder represented, to reach the operating phase illustrated in Figure 3. In this position intermediate, the ratchet 9 has traveled through the notch 15 and is close to the notch 16. The rod 12 pushes the ratchet and causes a rotation of the lever 4 and consequently the retraction of the firing pin 2 relative to the support 1 following the distance d2. During this phase, the striker is displaced by a distance d2 relative to the support 1 and the torsion of the bar 18 is increased.

Figure 4 illustrates a final phase of operation in which the ratchet 9 is engaged in the notch 16 as a result of a translation addition of the rod 12. The ratchet 9 being escaped abruptly into notch 16, the bar of twist 18 can then relax and project strongly the striker 2 under the action of the arm 11 towards the primer of the starter to initiate him. In the figure, we see the projection d3 very important of the striker with respect to support 1 which is sufficient to provoke the initiation the pin placed opposite.

The rearming is done as follows.

Striker 2 is returned to the initial position, that is to say in the rest position represented on the Figure 1, under the action of the spring 14. Indeed, the spring 14 is compressed when the rod 12 is drawn by the hydraulic cylinder. During his movement of relaxation, the spring 14 brings the rod 12 in the direction opposite of the arrow F and the heel 17 of the rod runs a ramp 21 fitted on the lever 4 as shown in FIG. 4. This lever 4 is pushed back and the ratchet 9 is disengaged from the notch 16 by pivoting around its axis 10 through the position intermediate shown in Figure 3 and comes occupy the initial position shown in Figure 1 returning to the notch 15. At the end of this movement, the pawl 9 rests on the face 8 of the lever 4.

A new cycle can then start again.

In FIG. 5, the arm 11 is shown actuating the lever 4. It can be seen that the arm 11 is housed in a housing 22 practiced in the support 1. A end of the arm 11 is integral with the torsion bar 18 and the other end is engaged in the day 7a of the lever 4.

In FIG. 6, a section is shown longitudinal striker 2 which presents a first groove 23 perpendicular to the axis of the firing pin, a second groove 24 parallel to the axis of the firing pin and a connection 25 of these two grooves. In operation, the lever 4 is positioned in the first groove 23 and its deflection is limited by a pawn 26 opening in the first groove 23 (see Figure 7). This pawn is placed in a housing 27 of the striker and is located pushed by a spring 28 blocked by a screwed cap 29 in the dwelling 27. Of course, the dwelling 27 and the 26 are each provided with a shoulder allowing fix the final position of the pawn. On the other hand, the striker 2 can be removed from its housing in case exchange or to neutralize it. To this end, the Striker 2 is provided on its rear face with two notches 30 (Figure 6) in which one comes to position a tool that makes it possible to turn the firing pin of a quarter of turn. The rotation of the striker 2 makes the pawn move back 26 against the elastic thrust of the spring 28 and the lever 4 can then go from the first groove 23 to the second groove 24. The striker can be next extracted from his home. To replace the striker proceeds in the opposite way.

Claims (13)

1. An artillery firing device for striking a detonator with a strike pin (2) mounted for translation relative to a support (1), the strike pin (2) being translatable by actuation means (4, 9, 11, 12, 18) for sequentially:

   moving the strike pin from a rest position to an armed position in which a strike-pin propelling device is armed,

   moving the strike pin from an armed position into a firing position in which it is forced by the propelling device against a detonator; and

   returning the strike pin to its rest position, the actuation means retaining the strike-pin there, firing device wherein the actuation means comprises:

   a lever (4) connected to the strike pin (2) and pivotable relative to the support (1),

   a pivotable pawl (9) for releasing the lever (4),

   a propelling device (11, 18) affixed to support (1) for driving the lever,

   drive means (12) acting on the pawl (9) and through the pawl for rotating the lever (4), arming the strike pin (2), and then releasing the lever (4),

   and wherein the drive means in rotation of the lever comprises a movable command rod (12) translatable relative to said support (1), said rod having recesses (15, 16) therein which cooperate with the pawl (9) on the one hand and on the other hand with a heel (17) cooperating with the lever (4).
2. The firing device of claim 1, wherein a first recess (15) has a cylindrical profile in which the pawl (9) begins its rotation, followed by a second recess (16) in which the pawl (9) is received to permit the lever (4) to rotate about its shaft (6).
3. The firing device of claim 2, wherein the second recess (16) is of a depth which corresponds to the percussion course of the strike pin.
4. The firing device of claim 3, wherein the heel (17) is situated beyond the second recess (16) for cooperating with a slope (21) on the lever (4) for returning the lever to an initial position.
5. The firing device of any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the rod (12) is taken back to its initial position by a return spring.
6. The firing device of any of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the rod (12) is driven in translation by an hydraulic jack.
7. The firing mechanism of any of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the lever propelling means is constituted of an arm (11) of which one end is affixed on the lever (4) and the other end is affixed to a rotating bar (18), the other end of the arm and of the bar being affixed to the support (1).
8. The firing device of any of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the lever (4) has one end affixed to the strike pin (2) and another end affixed to a shaft (6) of rotation regarding this lever (4) on a point located between its two ends.
9. The firing device of claim 7, wherein the rotation bar (18) is initially prestressed.
10. The firing device of any of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the lever (4) is embodied as a plate having apertures (7) that enables reducing its inertial momentum.
11. The firing device of any of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the pawl (9) is coupled to the lever (4) through a spring.
12. The firing device of any of the preceding claims, wherein the strike pin (2) comprises a first groove (23) perpendicular to the axis of the strike pin in which the end of the lever (4) is engaged and a piece (26) opened into it, to maintain the lever in this groove.
13. Firing device of claim 12, wherein the strike pin (2) is provided with means allowing it to be extracted comprising at least two recesses (30) on its rear face to allow its prehension, and a second groove (24) parallel to the axis of the strike pin communicating with the first groove (23), the lever (4) running through the second groove (24) after the piece having disappeared (26) and the strike pin having rotated.

Images