Missile fin deployment device
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorJerome G. Duchesneau
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A missile (10) and concepts for deploying the fins (14) thereof from a stored to a deployed position are disclosed. One device described has three main portions including: A first end portion (32) housing an initiator (22) that powers the device and a locking mechanism (26) that holds the fin at its stored and its locked position; a central portion (34) housing a driven piston (24) that rotates a positively connected fin (14) from the stored to the deployed position; and, a second end portion (36) housing a damping system that controls the rate of deployment of the fins.
Claims17
An actuator for the deployment of a fin from a stored to a deployed position characterized by:
- a piston connected to said fin for deploying said fin from said stored to said deployed position, a damping means to which said piston is driven to control a rate of travel of said piston, and means for locking said piston and said fin thereby in said stored and in said deployed position, said means comprising
- first and second circumferential grooves disposed in space relation in a surface of said piston, a plurality of circumferentially spaced regularly flexible finger cooperating with said grooves to lock said piston in said stored and deployed positions, and means for fixing said fingers within said grooves and said stored and deployed positions, said means being responsive to pressure.
An actuator for the deployment of a fin from a stored to a deployed position characterized by:
- a piston connected to said fin for deploying said fin from said stored to said deployed position;
- and
- a damping means into which said piston is driven to control a rate of travel of said piston, said damping means comprising
- a fluid filled cylinder for receiving said piston, a fluid reservoir, and variable valving means communicating with said cylinder and said reservoir for slowing a rate of fluid flow therebetween as said piston deploys said fin and is received by said cylinder, said variable valving means characterized by
- a movable sleeve disposed within and closely cooperating with a bore within said cylinder, said sleeve having a closed end disposed within said bore and an open end extending outside said bore, spaced inner and outer circumferential channels disposed within a surface of said bore contiguous to said sleeve, said inner channel communicating with said reservoir and said outer channel communicating with said cylinder, and circumferential groove within an outer surface of said sleeve contiguous to said bore and arranged between said channels to allow fluid communications between said channels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.