Pneumatic fuze for safing and arming missiles

A pneumatic point detonating fuze for safing and arming a projectile which comprises:

• a cup-shaped rear body housing having a partially closed rear end, a front open end, a plurality of progressively sized axially aligned rear body housing counterbores extending from said closed rear end toward said front open end, and a plurality of longitudinally positioned lead explosive bores, said lead bores communicating with said rear body counterbores and exiting from said rear end;
• a plurality of lead explosive charges longitudinally positioned in the lead bores of said rear body housing;
• a booster explosive means fixedly attached to said partially closed end of said rear body housing;
• an ogival front body housing having a rear end section fixedly positioned concentric with and adjacent to said front open end of said rear body housing, a tapered forward section, an axial piston counterbore located in said rear end section having a plurality of annular notched partition grooves therein, an axial guide counterbore communicating with said piston counterbore, an axial nose counterbore located in said tapered forward section and communicating with said guide counterbore, and a plurality of high and low pressure channels pneumatically connecting said nose counterbore with said piston counterbore;
• body cover means for fixedly holding said front body housing attached to said rear body housing;
• torsionally biased rotary arming means for holding said fuze in a "safe" unarmed condition when said fuze has not been subjected to a proper launch environment, and for placing said fuze in an "armed" condition when said fuze has received a proper launch environment;
• biased setback generator-detent-delay means, positioned in said rear body housing counterbores, for providing electrical energy to said arming means, for preventing said arming means from rotating when said fuze in said "safe" condition, and for controllably delaying the redetenting of said arming means for a first interval of time after said fuze has been subjected to said launch environment;
• pneumatic piston detent means, slidably positioned in the piston counterbore of said front body housing, for detenting said rotary arming means until said projectile has obtained a proper velocity and for permitting said rotary arming means to rotate and place said fuze in said armed condition when said projectile has seen said proper velocity;
• and
• venturi nozzle sensing means for detecting said projectile air velocity and for directing high and low pressure air through said high and low pressure channels into said piston counterbore, wherein the difference in pressure across said piston detent means causes forward translation of said piston detent means and the release of said torsionally biased rotary arming means;
• and
• a plurality of piezoelectric graze and impact sensors, operatively positioned in the nose end of said nozzle sensing means, are electrically connected to a triggering circuit energized by said generator-detent-delay means when said fuze is in said armed condition, said graze and impact sensors activating said triggering circuit and causing said fuze to detonate upon impact with a target.