Fuse device for a mortar shell

A mortar shell comprising:

• an impeller mounted to be rotated by an air flow generated in response to movement of the mortar shell upon being launched;
• a safety arm movable between a safety position and an arming position;
• a coil torsion spring having a fixed end and a movable end;
• a spring-stressing mechanism having a drive input end connected to the impeller and a drive output end connected to the movable end of the spring for storing energy in the spring in response to rotation of the impeller;
• a safety arm moving mechanism connected between the spring and the safety arm to move the safety arm to its arming position in response to a release of energy from the spring;
• a firing pin;
• and
• an impact weight carrying a detonation charged and being arranged to be released for movement toward the firing pin when the safety arm is moved from its safety position to its arming position.

A fuse device for a mortar shell comprising:

• an outer casing;
• a firing pin disposed within the outer casing;
• an impact weight carrying a detonation charge and arranged within the outer casing to impact against the firing pin in response to a launched mortar shell impacting against a target;
• a housing disposed in the casing for rotation;
• a safety arm mounted on the housing and arranged in a safety position for preventing the impact weight from moving into impacting relationship with the firing pin, the safety arm being moveable to a release position in response to rotation of the housing permitting such movement of the impact weight;
• an arming shaft arranged for movement between a first position preventing rotation of the housing, and a second position releasing the housing for rotation;
• a shaft-moving mechanism actuable for moving the arming shaft from the first position to the second position;
• actuating mechanism for actuating the shaft-moving mechanism comprising:
• an impeller mounted on the casing to be rotated by an air flow generated in response to travel of the mortar shell toward the target,
• a rotation transmission mechanism for transmitting rotation of the impeller to the shaft-moving mechanism for actuating the shaft-moving mechanism,
• a safety pin arrrangement for preventing the rotation transmission mechanism from actuating the shaft-moving mechanism until the mortar shell has been launched and for enabling the rotation transmission mechanism to actuate the shaft-moving mechanism in response to launching of the mortar shell, and
• a spring arranged to store energy in response to the transmission of rotation from the impeller to the shaft-moving mechanism, and for releasing the stored energy to rotate the housing in response to a releasing of the housing for rotation.