GB906181A - Improvements in or relating to detonators or igniters - Google Patents

Abstract

906,181. Ammunition fuzes. ELECTRIC & MUSICAL INDUSTRIES Ltd. Dec. 2, 1958 [Dec. 19, 1957], No. 39580/57. Class 9 (1). An electric igniter or detonator, which may be used in proximity fuzes, comprises an electrically-conductive cylinder containing an igniting or detonating charge surrounding a conductor-rod 2, which projects from one end of the igniter and contacts a spring-finger 4 integral with a clip 3 surrounding the cylinder 1. The clip 3 and finger 4 form a short-circuit between the cylinder 1 and rod 2. The igniter is placed in a recess 6 formed in a housing 5, which is made in two parts of insulating material secured together by a rivet 18. A flash passage 7 leads from the recess 6. When the igniter and its housing is assembled with a contact maker comprising an insulating element 8 with a recess 9 in one face, the conductor 2 enters a socket 13 in an axial bore of a cylindrical boss 10 projecting into the recess 9. Socket member 13 is connected to a terminal 14 and the boss 10 is surrounded by a conducting sleeve 11 from which extends a lug 12 forming a second terminal, the terminals 12, 14 being connected to the free ends of electric leads, which are normally shortcircuited until the fuze is armed. As the rod 2 enters the socket 13, the finger 4 is pushed out of contact with the rod by the boss 10, thus breaking the short-circuit, and ultimately presses against the sleeve 11 to establish electrical connection between the terminal 12 and the clip 3. Housing 5 and the contact-maker may be spaced apart in the projectile and only move together when acted on by acceleration forces.