US3748954A - Rocket launcher - Google Patents

Abstract

An aircraft mounted rocket launcher has tubes rigidly fastened in only one cross sectional plane to allow for expansion and contraction of the tubes when rockets are fired. The rocket launcher may be fired either in single or ripple mode and incorporates novel safety features which practically eliminate the chance of misfire or premature firing.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Taylor et al.

1451 July 31, 1973 ROCKET LAUNCHER [7 5] Inventors: Vincent J. Taylor, China Lake; Leslie P. Robison, lnyokenn, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C.

22 Filed: Apr. 29, 1971 21 App]. 110.; 138,840

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 768,270, Oct. 17, 1968,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 89/l.807, 89/l.8l4, 89/l.8l6 [51] Int. Cl F4lf 3/04 [58] Field oi' Search... 89/1.816 -l.8l8, 1.806, 1.807 1.814; 42/40 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Wallace 42/40 6/1960 Hamilton 89/l.806 4/1958 Smoot et al 89/l.806

Primary Examiner-Samuel W. Engle Attorney-Edgar J. Brower, Roy Miller and Gerald F. Baker [57] ABSTRACT An aircraft mounted rocket launcher has tubes rigidly fastened in only one cross sectional plane to allow for expansion (and contraction of the tubes when rockets are fired. The rocket launcher may be fired either in single or ripple mode and incorporates novel safety features which practically eliminate the chance of misfire or premature firing.

4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 3 I I915 SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG.

FIG. 5

ROCKET LAUNCHER This is a Continuation of application Serial No. 768,270 filed on 17 October 1968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Previous launchers of the type described here have been fabricated with the tubes fastened rigidly in a number of places in a rigid framework. With this type of construction, however, the useable life of the launcher was short because expansion and contraction of the launcher tubes (which in some instances run as high as 3/8 inch) tended to buckle or tear the tubes loose from their mountings.

Also, in previous rocket launcher systems it has been the tendency to provide complicated or complex electrical circuitry involving capacitors, filters and the like which were thought necessary to the avoidance of radiation hazards. It has been found however, that, in some instances, malfunctioning or premature firing of the rockets have been a direct cause of the failure or malfunctioning of the electrical components in the system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a rocket launcher having a simpler wiring circuit has been devised wherein fewer components are involved and, thus, fewer soldered joints and fewer wires. The firing circuit according to the present invention is formed of fewer and less expensive components but with a greater safety record than with the former expensive complicated systems.

The rocket launcher according to the present invention has tubes attached in only one cross sectional plane so that expansion and contraction can take place on both sides of the attachment plane. The end of the tube extending rearwardly from the mounting area has been supported by but not rigidly attached to, supporting brackets or ribs depending from top and bottom longitudinal carrier plates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective view of the forward end of a rocket launcher according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the rocket launcher of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the rocket launcher with the left hand tube removed;

FIG. 4 is a front end view with a portion broken away to show a detail;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along the line 5 5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 7 7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detailed view taken along line 8 8 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of the electrical system; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of the rocket detent and contact arm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION FIG. I of the drawings shows a perspective view of the forward end of the rocket launcher It) with the rocket tubes 36, 37 fitted into tube holder 46. Tube holders I6 are rigidly attached to each other by means of bridging members 24 and 38. Also fastened to bridge member 38 is a longitudinal rib II. The tubes 36, 37 are attached to the tube holder 46 only by the rivets 45 as more clearly shown in FIG. 8. After the assembly of the parts just described, a fairing 22 is welded securely to the tube holders 46 and the bridge members 24 and 38.

A top view of the launcher, FIG. 2, shows how the longitudinal rib II is riveted to a plurality of hangars such as 40 and 23. A third hangar I3 is shown in FIG. 3. These hangars are also attached to a lower longitudinal rib llIa as shown in FIG. 3 and the assembly is completed by the addition of an outer skin (not shown) covering the tubes between tube holders 46 and the ends of ribs II and Illa.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is the arrangement of system components between the two rocket tubes. The electrical wiring is carried in two tubes 61, 63 mounted on hangars 44 by means of clips 49.. Electrical current is supplied to the rocket launcher through an umbilical connector 41 and is controlled by the setting of switch S and intervelometer 100. Current to fire the rocket is applied through a contact screw 51 on plate 32 as shown in greater detail in FIG. 7. Plate 32 is carried on an arm 50 which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 10. The arm 50 also carries a detent pawl 53a which will be more fully explained below.

Looking at the rocket launcher from the front, as illustrated in FIG. 4, it may be seen that each rocket tube has a detent operating mechanism 43 which may be manually moved from the position shown to a position approximately counterclockwise. When the detent operating mechanism is in the position shown, the detents 53a, 53b and the contact screws SI, 52 protrude respectively into rocket tubes 36,, 37. The mechanical arrangement which produces this: result will be better understood when viewing FIG. Ill) along with the later explanation of the operation of the launcher.

The cross sectional view in FIG. 5 illustrates how the identical sections 40a and 40b fit together to make up the hangar 40.

A cross section through the aft end of the rocket launcher along lines 6-- 6 of FIG. 2 reveals the rocket stop 27 which is integral with or securely fastened to the plate 26 and the assembly bollted or riveted to the rocket tube as shown in FIG. 6.

The simplified electrical diagram is shown in FIG. 9 which has on the right hand side a diagrammatical representation of the contact members 51, 52 mentioned above. A source of power is generally illustrated coming in from the lower portion of the drawing into two contacts of safety switch S. and the usual stray voltage test receptacle I8 is connected in parallel with the supply. When switch S. is in the right hand position. current is supplied to terminals A and F of intervalometer I00 and contact pointsSl, 52 will be serially energized unless selector switch S is closed for ripple launching.

OPERATION Before rockets are loaded into the tubes the detent device 43 is rotated counterclockwise to lift the detent 53a, 53b and contact members SI, 52 out of the path of the rocket. Rockets are passed stern first into the tubes and carefully positioned so that the rocket fins are properly oriented with respect to rocket stop 27. Only when the fins are properly oriented in the tube will the stop 27 allow the rocket to be completely inserted in the tube.

With the rockets in place and the circuit testing complete, the detent devices 43 are returned to FIRE position. As shown in FIG. the lifting of the detent and contact members from the rocket tubes is accomis d by, atat ns hs fla s! m mbsafi w i carry on the aft end a cylindrical portion 59. Each portion 59 having a protruding pin 60 which extends under a tab on the end of the spring 50. Spring 50 is biased to its lowermost position by its own resiliency, a forked spring 54 and two further leaf springs 55.

In FIG. 10, the near fork of spring member 54 has been left off to show the relationship of this member to pawl 53a. The forked members of spring 54 span the detent member 53a and present an abutting surface 67 to the mating surface 69 on member 53a so that, in order to rotate the member 53a clockwise, it is necessary to bow up the spring 54 against the action of springs 55. It will be appreciated that when the surface 67 on 53a escapes from the surface 69 on the spring 54 further movement will be relatively easy. The contact member 51 has not been shown in FIG. 10 for the sake of clarity but is attached to the plate 32 as shown in FIG. 7 and will be on the right hand or left hand side of member 50 depending on which rocket tube is served. When the detent operating means 43 is in the position shown in FIG. 10 the tab 56 of detent 53a and a contact member 51 will not protrude into the rocket tube 36. However, when the member 43 is rotated counterclockwise, the spring 50 is allowed to move downwardly as shown in FIG. 10 and the tab 56 and contact 51 will protrude into the rocket tube 36 as shown in FIG. 7. The detent tab 56 will then extend into a groove on the rocket and the contact member 51 will be in contact with a firing contact band on the rocket.

When current is supplied to, the rocket firing circuit and to contact 51 the rocket motor is energized and pressure is exerted tending to forcethe rocket from the tube. However, the detent tab 56 prevents the rocket from leavingthe tube until sufficient force has been built up to cause the mating surfaces on detent means 53a and spring 54 to escape against the combined tension of spring 54 and leaf springs 55. As the rocket leaves the tube, the detent 53a is then rotated thereby in a clockwise manner and lifts arm 50 and contact 51 out of the rocket tube. When the arm 50 is moved upwardly sufficiently to clear the end 60, a torsion spring 62 returns the detent arm 43 to its SAFE position.

What is claimed is:

l. A missile launcher including:

a plurality of launcher tubes; and

a framework including;

a tube holder receiving one of the ends of each of said tubes,

one or more supports spaced outboard of said tube holder, and

a longitudinal rib connecting each said tube holder and each said support;

said tubes being slidingly received in said supports and received in individual bores in said tube holders and fastened therein by a plurality of fastening means defining a single crosssectional plane.

2. The launcher according to claim 1 further including detentmeans associated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until a predetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operable lifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected with each said detent means; and including rotatable means extending externally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

3. The launcher according to claim 1 wherein said tubes are fastened in said holders by means of a plurality of rivets spaced around said holders in said crosssectional plane.

4. The launcher according to claim 3 further including detent means associated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until a predetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operable lifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected with each said detent means; and including rotatable means extending externally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

Claims (4)

1. A missile launcher including: a plurality of launcher tubes; and a framework including; a tube holder receiving one of the ends of each of said tubes, one or more supports spaced outboard of said tube holder, and a longitudinal rib connecting each said tube holder and each said support; said tubes being slidingly received in said supports and received in individual bores in said tube holders and fastened therein by a plurality of fastening means defining a single crosssectional plane.

2. The launcher according to claim 1 further including detent means associated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until a predetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operable lifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected with each said detent means; and including rotatable means extending externally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

3. The launcher according to claim 1 wherein said tubes are fastened in said holders by means of a plurality of rivets spaced around said holders in said cross-sectional plane.

4. The launcher according to claim 3 further including detent means associated with each said tube to delay launch of missiles until a predetermined thrust has been exerted on said missile; manually operable lifting means mounted within said launcher and operably connected with each said detent means; and including rotatable means extending externally of said launcher for lifting said detent means.

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