Method of stabilizing the density of gas generant pellets containing nitroguanidine
First Claim
1. A process for preparing an azide-free gas generant composition that produces gases on combustion for inflating a vehicle restraint device, said composition comprising an oxidizer and nitroguanidine, said process comprising the steps ofa. grinding the nitroguanidine to pulverize and convert the nitroguanidine from a crystalline needle structure into an amorphous crumb having insufficient structure to move appreciably during thermal cycling, and b. mixing the nitroguanidine with the oxidizer.
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Abstract
A non azide gas generant composition of nitroguanidine and an oxidizer such as phase stabilized ammonium nitrate is provided. A gas generant having nitroguanidine and phase stabilized ammonium nitrate has many desirable characteristics such as little production of ash and the production of essentially toxic free exhaust gas. When nitroguanidine is compressed into a pellet it has needle shaped crystals that bend or distort. When the gas generant pellets are subjected to thermal cycling some nitroguanidine crystals will return to their native conformation resulting in pellet growth. To eliminate this pellet growth, nitroguanidine is passed through a vibrating ball mill. The media in the vibrating ball mill pulverizes the nitroguanidine into an amorphous crumb.
25 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A process for preparing an azide-free gas generant composition that produces gases on combustion for inflating a vehicle restraint device, said composition comprising an oxidizer and nitroguanidine, said process comprising the steps of
a. grinding the nitroguanidine to pulverize and convert the nitroguanidine from a crystalline needle structure into an amorphous crumb having insufficient structure to move appreciably during thermal cycling, and b. mixing the nitroguanidine with the oxidizer.
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7. A process for preparing an azide-free gas generant composition that produces exhaust gases on combustion for inflating a vehicle restraint device, said process comprising the steps of
a. grinding nitroguanidine to convert the nitroguanidine from a crystalline needle structure into an amorphous crumb having insufficient structure to move appreciably during thermal cycling, and b. mixing the nitroguanidine with an oxidizer.
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11. A process for preparing an azide-free gas generant composition that produces exhaust gases on combustion for inflating a vehicle restraint device, said process comprising the steps of
a. grinding nitroguanidine by using a mill, wherein the mill converts the structure from a crystalline needle structure to an amorphous crumb, and b. mixing the nitroguanidine with an oxidizer.
Specification