Marine mine fire control mechanism
First Claim
1. In a mine of the type to be disposed within a body of water adjacent the path of travel of a vessel comprising a source of power, a detonator, detector means for generating an electrical pulse in response to a disturbance in the terrestrial magnetic field adjacent to the mine, an actuation control means electrically connected to said detector means for receiving said generated electrical pulse, said actuation control including a normally open switch and a ship counter, said ship counter including a settable rotatable dial means having a plurality of successive positions, one position being a firing position for closing said normally open switch, said dial means being initially manually set, motor means for sequentially and interan rotating said dial means from one of the successive positions to the next succeeding position after being energized by said electrical pulse until said dial means reaches the firing position, delay means connected to said motor means for preventing a second actuation of said motor means in less than a five minute interval after the first actuation said delay means further comprising means for selectively changing the delay period which immediately precedes firing, a firing circuit comprising said source of power, said detonator and said normally open switch whereby when said dial means rotates to the firing position and closes the normally open switch the firing circuit is energized to fire the mine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A control system for a magentic submarine mine adapted to be fired automaally upon the approach of a vessel and in which the possibility of premature detonation of the mine by a minesweeper is substantially reduced. For example, some of the magnetic mines being laid in a particular mine field may be set so that after several actuations by a minesweeper a few of the mines will be exploded, the remaining mine field requiring a larger number of signals before detonation. By varying the number of signals before a mine is detonated the particular mine field after being swept is still considered lethal because many of the mines are left in the armed condition and others awaiting to be armed by subsequent minesweeping or the passage of vessels, as the case may be.
5 Citations
10 Claims
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1. In a mine of the type to be disposed within a body of water adjacent the path of travel of a vessel comprising a source of power, a detonator, detector means for generating an electrical pulse in response to a disturbance in the terrestrial magnetic field adjacent to the mine, an actuation control means electrically connected to said detector means for receiving said generated electrical pulse, said actuation control including a normally open switch and a ship counter, said ship counter including a settable rotatable dial means having a plurality of successive positions, one position being a firing position for closing said normally open switch, said dial means being initially manually set, motor means for sequentially and interan rotating said dial means from one of the successive positions to the next succeeding position after being energized by said electrical pulse until said dial means reaches the firing position, delay means connected to said motor means for preventing a second actuation of said motor means in less than a five minute interval after the first actuation said delay means further comprising means for selectively changing the delay period which immediately precedes firing, a firing circuit comprising said source of power, said detonator and said normally open switch whereby when said dial means rotates to the firing position and closes the normally open switch the firing circuit is energized to fire the mine.
- 2. A system for selectively controlling the firing of a mine comprising a detonator, a firing circuit, said firing circuit including a source of electrical power, a pair of normally open electrical contacts and said detonator all being electrically connected in series, a detector for sensing a change in the magnetic field adjacent said mine and generating an electrical signal in respose to said change, actuation control means including an initiator means, a ship counter means, delay means and cam means, said ship counter means having a rotatable manually settable dial means which has a plurality of successive positions, one position being a firing position at which position said normally open contacts are closed, said ship counter means further comprising motor means connected to said dial means and to said initiator means for sequentially and intermittently rotating said dial means from one of the successive positions to the next succeeding position upon being actuated by said initiator means until said dial means reaches the firing position, said delay means being connected to said motor means to prevent actuation thereof until a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the immediately preceding actuation has occurred, said delay means further comprising means for selectively varying the delay period which immediately precedes the firing position, said cam means being connected to said normally open contacts and to said motor means to close said normally open contacts in said firing circuit when said dial means is rotated to the firing position.
Specification