MEMS fuze assembly
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsGerald Laib, David Olson, Daniel Jean, John Hendershot, Lawrence Fan, Michael Beggans, Ezra Chen
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Abstract
A MEMS fuze having a moveable slider with a microdetonator at an end for positioning adjacent an initiator. A setback activated lock and a spin activated lock prevent movement of the slider until respective axial and centrifugal acceleration levels have been achieved. Once these acceleration levels are achieved, the slider is moved by a V-beam shaped actuator arrangement to position the microdetonator relative to a secondary lead to start an explosive train in a munitions round.
Claims9
A MEMS fuze assembly for use in a munitions round, comprising:
- a moveable slider;
- a microdetonator being carried by said moveable slider for positioning relative to a secondary lead for igniting said secondary lead when in an armed position;
- a setback activated lock comprising a setback locking arm in an interlocking relationship with said moveable slider and said setback locking arm being maintained in position by said setback activated lock for preventing movement of said moveable slider;
- a spin activated lock comprising a spin locking arm in interlocking relationship with said moveable slider where said spin locking arm is maintained in position by said spin activated lock to prevent movement of said moveable slider;
- and
- a thermoelectric actuator being coupled to said moveable slider for moving said moveable slider,
- wherein said setback activated lock is operable to allow disengagement of said setback locking arm from said moveable slider when said munitions round has attained a certain axial acceleration,
- wherein said spin activated lock is operable to allow disengagement of said spin locking arm from said moveable slider when said munitions round has attained a certain centrifugal acceleration, and
- wherein said setback locking arm and said spin locking arm are disengaged from said moveable slider so that said moveable slider is operable to move said microdetonator into said armed position to ignite said secondary lead.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.