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Digital remote pyrotactic firing mechanism

  • US 5,767,437 A
  • Filed: 03/20/1997
  • Issued: 06/16/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1997
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A digital remote pyrotactic firing unit for the specific selection and remote ignition of a pyrotactic device, comprising:

  • a selective control circuit for the specific selection of a determinable output channel and the controlled generation of a signal corresponding to the determinable output channel, including a power supply for supplying a source of electrical energy, a plurality of up/down counting switches, each counting switch connected to the power supply and manually operated to provide an up/down counting sequence, a plurality of nand gate arrays, each nand gate array connected to an up/down counting switch, and a first and second decade counter, each decade counter connected to a nand gate array and to a visual display unit and providing a binary code decimal output signal, the first decade counter providing an output to the display unit representing a tens unit and the second decade counter providing output to the display unit representing the ones unit wherein an output channel is selected corresponding to the representation on the visual display unit and binary code decimal output signal;

    a remote ignition circuit connected to the selective control circuit and the pyrotactic device for the generation of an ignition signal corresponding to the determinable output channel of the selective control circuit, including a plurality of ones unit decoders, each ones unit decoder connected to the second decade counter and receiving the binary code decimal signal forming the ones unit signal from the decade counter and providing an output corresponding to the binary code decimal signal, a tens unit decoder, the tens unit decoder connected to the first binary counter and receiving the binary code decimal signal from the first binary counter representing the tens unit signal and providing an output corresponding to the binary code decimal signal, and an ignition signal for providing an ignition signal to the pyrotactic device upon energization of the selected ones unit decoder; and

    an enabling firing circuit connected to the selective control circuit and the ignition circuit for the generation of a controlled firing signal to the ignition circuit, including a plurality of invertors, each invertor connected to an output of the tens unit decoder, a plurality of and gates, each and gate connected to the output of an invertor, a plurality of transistors, each transistor connected to an and gate and to a ones unit decoder for selectively energizing the ones unit decoder, a firing switch, the firing switch for controllably energizing the and gate wherein the ones unit decoder is energized corresponding to the output channel of the selective control circuit, a safe-fire mode testing circuit to check the continuity of the circuit through a specific output channel, a switch for controllably connecting the pyrotactic device to the power supply, and an operational apparatus connected between the power supply and the pyrotactic device for limiting current flow to the pyrotactic device.

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