The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 05, 2001
Michael F. Steele, Cincinnati, OH (US);
William Marc Schmidt, Batavia, OH (US);
Ezra Stearns Waller, Sharonville, OH (US);
KDI Precision Products, Inc., Cincinnati, OH (US);
Abstract
A fuze for a munition adapted to prevent unintended arming thereof. The fuze incorporates an arming screw having a keyed portion and a centrifugal locking mechanism for preventing rotation of the arming screw unless the fuze mechanism is in a rapidly spinning condition such as that experienced when the fuze and its associated munition are deployed from an airborne rocket or artillery shell, and thus spinning at a rate of at least several thousand rpm. The centrifugal locking mechanism includes a pair of locking members which are biased by biasing elements into engagement with the keyed portion of the arming screw. This prevents the arming screw from being accidentally unscrewed from an inertia weight within the fuze, thus placing the fuze in an unintended armed condition. However, when the munition is deployed from an airborne rocket or artillery shell, and thus reaches a spinning rate of several thousand rpm or higher, the centrifugal force acting on the locking members forces them out of engagement with the keyed portion. This allows the arming screw to unscrew from the inertia weight and arm the fuze.