US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Stephan Kosonocky

Sylvan H Israels

John J Dineen

Lloyd D Post

William J Holley

An explosive hand grenade comprises a hollow spherical shell having a sin opening surrounded by a tubular hub, a tubular housing threaded into the hub and extending into the shell, a barrier plate with an eccentric hole closing the inner end of the housing, booster cup attached to the housing and extending beyond the plate to form a booster charge cavity, a rotatable mandrel in the housing, next to the barrier plate, having an eccentric passage therethrough out of alignment with the barrier plate hole in a first position, a bushing fixed in the housing, next to the mandrel, having a passage aligned with the mandrel passage, a unitary combustible delay cord extending through both passages and preventing rotation of the mandrel, an igniter and a striker therefor for igniting the end of the cord remote from the barrier plate, manually-releasable means for initially preventing rotation of the mandrel and operation of the striker until the grenade is thrown, and a torsion spring for rotating the mandrel, after the cord has burned to the junction of the two passages, from the first position to a second position aligned with the barrier plate hole, to initiate the booster charge.

Delay fuze for explosive charge

A hand grenade is provided with a fuze comprising: a firing means, means luding two centrifugally-operated elements movably carried by the grenade housing for arming the firing means, means including an inertia member rotatable relative to the housing and a torsion spring between the inertia member and the housing for spinning the housing to operate the arming elements, and manually-held safety means for preventing arming until the grenade is thrown. Two disclosed embodiments have different arming and firing means with substantially the same spinning means.

Hand grenade fuze with self-induced spin for arming

A fuze device to self-destruct a spinning projectile when the primary fuz system, such as mechanical time fuze or point detonating fuze, fails to function. The fuze utilizes separate locking devices which are each responsive to acceleration environments that a projectile experiences in a normal launch and flight. A setback pin, double resiliently mounted detents, spin detent, armed indicator, shutter, rotor, plunger, plunger lock and sac assembly containing silicone grease pressed on by blades of the rotor combine in a mechanically complementary design which insures that this self-destruct fuze may not be assembled armed in a projectile but will fire a projectile in which it is assembled in response to terminal deceleration of the projectile.

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Whippany, NJ, United States of America

Stephan Kosonocky