ROCKET CATAPULT WITH MECHANICALLY ACTUATED IGNITION OF ROCKET MOTOR

摘要

1536200 A rocket catapult TALLEY INDYSTRIES OF ARIZONA Inc 2 March 1976 [5 March 1975] 08328/76 Heading F3C An ejector seat or crew-containing capsule is propelled by a rocket catapult comprising a catapult tube 11 (Fig. 2) and a telescoping rocket motor tube 10 enclosing a solid propellant 30 which is ignited by an igniter 38 mounted within the motor tube 10 and actuated mechanically by a cable 32 attached to the catapult. In operation, gas supplied to an inlet 26 at the base of the catapult tube 11 shears a holding pin 27 to force a firing pin 28 against a primer cap 24 that ignites a propellant 23. The produced gas pushes the cap support 21 downwards against a spring 22, to release tang lock fingers 14a from abutment against holding shoulders 19. The gas pressure on a plate 14 then pushes the plate and motor tube 10, held to the plate by plugs 15, upwards until plate 14 abuts against catapult tube shoulders 29. The motor tube 10 continues moving due to inertia, and shears the studs 15 at 17 from the plate 14. Cable 32, comprising stranded stainless steel having a nylon coating, is thereby tensioned, as its lower end 33 is held in the plate 14 or to the catapult tube 11. The upper end includes a metal sear 34 (Fig. 4) normally engaging a slot and aperture 45 of a firing pin 43, which is pulled by the tensioned cable 32 and sear 34 against a spring 44. As the sear clears the bottom of the igniter housing 40, it falls away over a camming surface 46, and the firing pin 43 returns to strike a primer cap 41 to ignite the particulate igniter material 35. The latter ignites the rocket propellant 30 via apertures in a plate 37, with the propellant exhausting through, and the sear and cable dropping away through, an exhaust nozzle 31 (Fig. 2). The ejector seat &c. is carried away by a lug 12. In alternative embodiments, the cable 32 breaks to allow ignition, and may pass through a booster tube to prevent contact with the propellant 30.