Retention clips for safety mechanisms of illumination flares and safety mechanisms
AssigneeOrbital ATK, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Thompson, Steven M. Robbins, Michael Geslin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Retention clips for safety mechanisms of illumination flares include an abutment surface configured for abutment of an end of a rigid sleeve coupled to an igniter initiation cable and one or more protrusions configured to extend at least partially over a lateral side surface of the rigid sleeve when the rigid sleeve is retained by the clip. Safety mechanisms, illumination flares, and methods for igniting illumination flares involve such retention clips.
Claims20
A retention clip for a safety mechanism of an illumination flare comprising:
- an abutment surface configured for abutment of an end of a rigid sleeve coupled to an igniter initiation cable;
- a central recess comprising an inner recess and an outer recess, the inner recess being recessed farther from a top surface of the retention clip than the outer recess, wherein the abutment surface at least partially defines an outer end of the inner recess proximate the outer recess;
- and
- one or more protrusions configured to extend at least partially over a lateral side surface of the rigid sleeve when the rigid sleeve is retained by the retention clip,
- wherein the one or more protrusions are configured to, upon a sufficient force on the igniter initiation cable, alter in structural integrity sufficiently to enable the rigid sleeve to move laterally such that the end of the rigid sleeve moves out of abutment with the abutment surface of the retention clip.
A safety mechanism for an illumination flare, the safety mechanism comprising:
- a rigid sleeve coupled to an igniter initiation cable and to a slider of the illumination flare, the rigid sleeve comprising an outer longitudinal end surface and a lateral side surface;
- and
- a retention clip coupled to an igniter cap of the illumination flare, the retention clip comprising:
- an abutment surface against which the outer longitudinal end surface of the rigid sleeve abuts in an initial position;
- and
- one or more protrusions extending at least partially over the lateral side surface of the rigid sleeve when the rigid sleeve is retained by the retention clip,
- wherein the one or more protrusions are configured to, upon a sufficient force on the igniter initiation cable, alter in structural integrity sufficiently to enable the rigid sleeve to move laterally such that the end of the rigid sleeve moves out of abutment with the abutment surface of the retention clip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.