US 5,394,803 AGranted

Joint construction between military rocket motor and warhead and releasable by melting of fusible eutectic wedging ring for operating flexible locking fingers

AssigneeBel Electronics, Inc.

InventorRaymond W. Mort

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

The joint construction comprises a coupling ring slidably received in a motor tube connected to the front end of the military rocket motor. The coupling ring is formed with longitudinal slots alternating with flexible fingers having locking projections engageable with a locking channel and an adjacent locking flange within the tube. An adapter ring is connected to the warhead by first screw threads and is adapted to be connected to the coupling ring by second screw threads including external threads on the adapter ring and internal threads in the coupling ring. The adapter ring has a reduced tapered end portion for receiving a wedging tapered expansion ring made of a eutectic metal alloy having a low melting point. As the second screw threads are engaged, the expansion ring flexes the fingers outwardly by a wedging action and causes the projections to interlock with the channel and the flange. If the joint construction is exposed to the heat of a fire or the like, the expansion ring melts and allows the fingers to spring inwardly whereby the projections are unlocked from the channel and the flange, so that the warhead is disconnected from the rocket motor before it is heated sufficiently to ignite the propellant charge therein.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A joint construction for use between a military rocket motor and a warhead adapted to be propelled by said motor, said joint construction comprising

a generally cylindrical motor tube component having a connection to the front end of said rocket motor,
a generally cylindrical casing component on the rear end of said warhead,
a generally tubular adapter ring having means thereon for securing said adapter ring to said casing component,
said adapter ring having a reduced rear portion,
a generally cylindrical coupling ring for receiving said reduced rear portion of said adapter ring,
said coupling ring having a rear portion formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced, generally longitudinal slots dividing said rear portion into a plurality of radially flexible fingers,
said fingers having respective rear end portions with radial projections thereon,
said motor tube component having a tubular front portion for receiving said fingers of said coupling ring,
said tubular front portion having an internal annular flange therein for interlocking with said radial projections on said fingers,
a fusible expansion ring for reception between the inner sides of said fingers and the outside of said reduced rear portion of said adapter ring,
said expansion ring as well as said fingers and said reduced rear portion of said adapter ring being configured to produce a wedging action between said expansion ring and said fingers,
and interengageable screw thread means on said adapter ring and said coupling ring for assembling said rings while producing rearward force between said reduced rear portion of said adapter ring and said expansion ring so that movement of said expansion ring into its fully assembled position between said adapter ring and said fingers causes radially outward flexing movement of said fingers whereby said projections thereon interlock with said internal flange to afford a secure connection between said coupling ring and said motor tube component,
said fusible expansion ring being made of a substantially eutectic metal alloy having a low melting point whereby the application of heat to said joint construction by a fire or the like will melt said expansion ring so that said fingers will spring inwardly out of interlocking engagement with said internal flange, thereby disengaging said motor tube component from said coupling ring.

10 more elements

A joint construction for use between a military rocket motor and a warhead adapted to be propelled by said motor, said joint construction comprising

first and second generally cylindrical tubular components,
one of said components being adapted to be secured to said rocket motor while the other of said components is adapted to be secured to said warhead,
a generally cylindrical coupling ring adapted to be connected between said first and second tubular components,
said coupling ring having a first end portion receivable within said first tubular component and formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots dividing said first end portion into a plurality of circumferentially spaced radially flexible fingers,
interengageable screw thread means on said coupling ring and said second tubular component for securely assembling said coupling ring and said second tubular component,
said fingers having respective locking elements thereon,
said first tubular component having an internal locking formation opposite said fingers and adapted to interlock with said locking elements thereon,
said second tubular component having a reduced end portion adapted to be received within said coupling ring,
and a fusible wedging expansion ring receivable around said reduced end portion of said second tubular component and within said coupling ring opposite said flexible fingers for flexing said fingers outwardly and thereby moving said locking elements into secure interlocking relation with said locking formation when said second tubular component and said coupling ring are fully assembled by fully engaging said interengageable screw thread means,
said wedging expansion ring and said reduced end portion of said second tubular component as well as said flexible fingers being configured to produce a wedging action for flexing said fingers,
said fusible expansion ring being made of a metallic material having a low melting point and being adapted to be melted by the heat of a fire or the like to provide for inward spring return movement of said fingers and thereby to release the interlocking connection between said locking elements and said locking formation whereby said coupling ring is disconnected from said first tubular component.

8 more elements

A joint construction for use between a military rocket motor and a warhead adapted to be propelled by said motor, said joint construction comprising

first and second generally cylindrical tubular components,
one of said components being adapted to be secured to said rocket motor while the other of said components is adapted to be secured to said warhead,
a generally cylindrical coupling ring adapted to be connected between said first and second tubular components,
said coupling ring having a plurality of circumferentially spaced fingers receivable within said first tubular component and movable outwardly therein while being resiliently biased inwardly,
interengageable screw thread means on said coupling ring and said second tubular component for securely assembling said coupling ring and said second tubular component,
said fingers having respective locking elements thereon,
said first tubular component having internal annular locking means opposite said fingers and adapted to interlock with said locking elements thereon,
said second tubular component having a reduced end portion adapted to be received within said coupling ring,
and a fusible wedging expansion ring receivable around said reduced end portion of said second tubular component and within said coupling ring opposite said fingers for moving said fingers outwardly and thereby moving said locking elements into secure interlocking engagement with said locking means when said second tubular component and said coupling ring are fully assembled by fully engaging said interengageable screw thread means,
said wedging expansion ring and said fingers as well as said reduced end portion of said second tubular component being configured to produce a wedging action for moving said fingers outwardly and thereby producing interlocking engagement between said locking elements and said locking means,
said fusible expansion ring being made of a metallic material having a low melting point and being adapted to be melted by the heat of a fire or the like to provide for inward return movement of said fingers to release the interlocking connection between said locking elements and said locking means whereby said coupling ring is disconnected from said first tubular component.

8 more elements

A joint construction for use between a military rocket motor and a warhead adapted to be propelled by said motor, said joint construction comprising

first and second generally cylindrical tubular components,
one of said components being adapted to be secured to said rocket motor while the other of said components is adapted to be secured to said warhead,
a generally cylindrical coupling ring adapted to be connected between said first and second tubular components,
said coupling ring having a first end portion engageable with said first tubular component in a telescopic relationship therewith and formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinal slots dividing said first end portion into a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexible fingers,
interengageable screw thread means on said coupling ring and said second tubular component for securely assembling said coupling ring and said second tubular component,
said fingers having respective locking elements thereon,
said first tubular component having annular locking means opposite said fingers and adapted to interlock with said locking elements thereon,
said second tubular component having an end portion adapted to be assembled with said coupling ring in a telescopic relationship,
and a fusible wedging ring receivable between said second tubular component and said coupling ring opposite said flexible fingers for flexing said fingers and thereby moving said locking elements into secure interlocking relation with said annular locking means when said second tubular component and said coupling ring are fully assembled by fully engaging said interengageable screw thread means,
said wedging ring and said end portion of said second tubular component as well as said flexible fingers being configured to produce a wedging action for flexing said fingers,
said fusible ring being made of a metallic material having a low melting point and being adapted to be melted by the heat of a fire or the like to provide for spring return movement of said fingers and thereby to release the interlocking connection between said locking elements and said annular locking means whereby said coupling ring is disconnected from said first tubular component to disconnect said warhead from said rocket motor.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.