US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

The United States of America

Michael T Tari

Louis J Adimari

Frank Diorio

The invention relates to a fuze for a submunition grenade which will selfstruct electrically in the event that the mechanical primary inertial functioning mode fails to operate upon striking an intended target.

Self-destruct fuze for improved conventional munitions

An inertial-type all-way fuze for explosive projectiles comprises: a cup-ped housing having an axial bore at its forward end and a detonator mounted in a spin-armed slide movable into alignment with the bore; a firing member having a shaft slidable in the bore, a firing pin adapted to initiate the detonator and an intermediate radial actuating flange; and an annular inertial actuator member having a rearwardly-facing internal, conical surface at its rear end engaging the forward edge of the flange, in the armed condition of the fuze, and an external annular surface at its forward end adjacent to an internal cylindrical surface on the housing, whereby, on graze impact with a target at substantially any angle, the actuator member pivots about a fulcrum formed by the two annular surfaces, and the conical surface cams the flange rearwardly to initiate the detonator. The firing member shaft extends forwardly beyond the housing for direct impact actuation of the fuze. A weak spring biases the firing pin away from the detonator. A spin-removed clip retains the firing pin in safe condition prior to launch.

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Newton, NJ, United States of America

Michael T Tari