U.S. patent number 3,888,181 [Application Number 03/839,264] was granted by the patent office on 1975-06-10 for munition control system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army. Invention is credited to Edward F. Kups.
United States Patent |
3,888,181 |
Kups |
June 10, 1975 |
Munition control system
Abstract
1. A munition safing, arming and firing system comprising means
for transting a code consisting of pulses of differing frequencies,
means for receiving said code, means for segregating the received
pulses according to frequency, a stepping relay having a plurality
of contact decks each of which corresponds to one of the
frequencies contained in said code and one additional contact deck,
each of said contact decks having an associated wiper arm, said
wiper arms being ganged for conjoint movement, means connected to
said segregating means for applying ground potential to only one of
the wiper arms of said plurality of contact decks, in response to a
pulse of the corresponding frequency means interconnecting the
contacts of said plurality of contact decks in correspondence with
a preselected code, switch means for advancing said wiper arms one
contact position in response to each pulse received by said
receiving means, code check means connected to said interconnecting
means for free-running said stepping switch back to its initial
position after a predetermined time delay in response to a pulse
which deviates from said preselected code, time delay means
connected to said code check means for free-running said stepping
relay back to its initial position after a predetermined time
independently of the receipt of an incorrect pulse, arming circuit
means connected to a predetermined contact of said additional
contact deck, firing circuit means connected to a contact
succeeding said predetermined contact and to said code check means
so that upon the receipt of a correct series of pulses followed by
an incorrect pulse the firing circuit will be activated through
said code check means.
Inventors: |
Kups; Edward F. (Los Angeles,
CA) |
Assignee: |
The United States of America as
represented by the Secretary of the Army (Washington,
DC)
|
Family
ID: |
25279275 |
Appl.
No.: |
03/839,264 |
Filed: |
September 10, 1959 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
102/206;
340/7.49; 340/13.29; 340/12.17; 102/221; 361/175; 361/183 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42C
13/042 (20130101); G08C 19/28 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42C
13/00 (20060101); G08C 19/16 (20060101); F42C
13/04 (20060101); G08C 19/28 (20060101); F42c
011/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;102/70.2
;317/140,138,138.1 ;340/164,171 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Borchelt; Benjamin A.
Assistant Examiner: Jordan; C. T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Edelberg; Nathan Gibson; Robert P.
Elbaum; Saul
Government Interests
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or
for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to
me of any royalty thereon.
Claims
I claim as my invention:
1. A munition safing, arming and firing system comprising means for
transmitting a code consisting of pulses of differing frequencies,
means for receiving said code, means for segregating the received
pulses according to frequency, a stepping relay having a plurality
of contact decks each of which corresponds to one of the
frequencies contained in said code and one additional contact deck,
each of said contact decks having an associated wiper arm, said
wiper arms being ganged for conjoint movement, means connected to
said segregating means for applying ground potential to only one of
the wiper arms of said plurality of contact decks in response to a
pulse of the corresponding frequency, means interconnecting the
contacts of said plurality of contact decks in correspondence with
a preselected code, switch means for advancing said wiper arms one
contact position in response to each pulse received by said
receiving means, code check means connected to said interconnecting
means for free-running said stepping switch back to its initial
position after a predetermined time delay in response to a pulse
which deviates from said preselected code, time delay means
connected to said code check means for free-running said stepping
relay back to its initial position after a predetermined time
independently of the receipt of an incorrect pulse, arming circuit
means connected to a predetermined contact of said additional
contact deck, firing circuit means connected to a contact
succeeding said predetermined contact and to said code check means
so that upon the receipt of a correct series of pulses followed by
an incorrect pulse the firing circuit will be activated through
said code check means.
2. The device of claim 1 in which there is additionally provided
code reversing means for causing said code check means to respond
to a correct rather than an incorrect pulse and switch means
responsive to the deliberate stopping of said wiper arms at a
predetermined contact for a preselected length of time for
activating said code reversing means.
Description
This invention relates to improved means for arming, firing and
safing (that is, disabling) a munition by means of a radiofrequency
signal radiated to a munition control circuit from a master station
located at a distance from the munition.
In the arming, firing and safing of a munition at a distance by
means of a transmitted radiofrequency signal, it is necessary to
code the transmitted radiofrequency signal in such a way that the
enemy cannot duplicate the signal and thereby cause premature
operation of the munition. Also, it is necessary to prevent the
enemy from sending a few simple codes to cause reject (error code)
relays to operate continuously. Continuous operation of these
relays would reduce the life of the battery power supply and make
the unit inoperative. Accordingly it is the broad object of this
invention to provide improved means for arming, firing and safing a
munition at a distance so that the munition can neither be
prematurely detonated, nor can its power supply be run down by an
enemy.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved munition
control circuit operated at a distance by a transmitted
radiofrequency signal which, in addition to having the features of
the above object, also incorporates fail-safe features to prevent
accidental firing or arming of the munition in the event of failure
of some component in the electrical control circuit of the
munition.
A further object of this invention is to provide improved means for
safing the munition at a distance by means of a properly chosen
radiofrequency safing signal which disconnects anti-disturbance
devices and other active components in order to make the munition
safe to handle.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a munition
control circuit which incorporates means for radiating a signal to
the master station after the munition has been made safe, thereby
making it possible to determine whether the transmitted safing
signal has achieved its purpose.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a munition
control circuit having all of the above features which in addition
is relatively simple, compact and inexpensive.
In a typical embodiment of the invention, the above objects are
accomplished by means of a specially designed electrical control
circuit for the munition which permits arming, firing and safing
only in response to specially chosen coded signals which amplitude
modulate a radiofrequency carrier of predetermined frequency,
transmitted from a master station. A coded signal consists of a
plurality of pulses, each of which comprises high or low frequency
energy, and separated by a time interval of no signal. These pulses
of high and low frequency energy modulate the carrier in a
predetermined sequence, such as low, high, low, low, high, low,
high, etc., for example. The munition control circuit is designed
to arm, fire or safe the munition only in response to the receipt
of the proper predetermined sequences of pulses. It is to be noted
that by requiring a proper sequence of say 25 pulses, over 30
million combinations are possible, only a few of these being used
to operate the munition. By employing a stepping relay with a
plurality of decks in combination with associated relays and other
circuit components, the desired code sequences are recognized from
these 30 million combinations and caused to arm, fire or detonate
the munition in an amazingly simple manner.
The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects,
uses, and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the
following description and from the accompanying drawing, in
which:
The drawing is a schematic and block diagram of a munition control
system in accordance with the invention. In describing and
explaining the operation of this invention in the clearest manner
so that its inventive features may be clearly revealed, no attempt
will be made to describe in detail the structural features of the
circuit components of the interconnections therebetween. The
circuit components employed are of well known types and readily
providable by those skilled in the art, and the interconnections
therebetween are clearly shown in the drawing, the invention
residing chiefly in the combination of circuit components and the
cooperation therebetween. Instead, the circuit components and their
functions in the circuit will be summarized briefly, and this will
be followed by a detailed description of the various operations and
functions provided by the invention which is believed to be
entirely sufficient to enable one skilled in the art to make and
use the invention.
In the drawing, a master station 10 has a radiofrequency oscillator
11 of predetermined frequency to which is connected an A-M
modulator 13 adapted to modulate the oscillator 11 with a coded
signal fed to the input of the modulator 13. The oscillator 11
feeds an antenna 8 which transmits the coded radiofrequency energy
to an antenna 14 connected to an A-M receiver 12. The master
station 10 is located at a first location while the remaining
circuitry shown in the drawing makes up the munition control
circuit which is placed with the munition at a second location at a
distance from the first location. The master station 10 also
includes a receiver 17 connected to the antenna 8 and an indicator
24 connected to the output of the receiver 17 to indicate the
receipt of a safing signal transmitted from the munition control
circuit.
The coded radiofrequency signal from the master station transmitter
10 consists of a radiofrequency signal amplitude modulated by a
sequence of pulses, the pulses comprising energy of at least two
different frequencies. In the preferred form of the invention now
to be described, the coded pulses from the master station consist
of a sequence of pulses of high and low frequency energy as
illustrated, feeding the A-M modulator 13 of the master station 10
in the drawing. The terms "high" and "low" are intended to
designate pulses of energy having widely different frequencies so
as to be easily distinguishable.
The A-M receiver 12 is tuned to the predetermined carrier frequency
transmitted from the master station 10, and is adapted to detect
the coded signal modulating the carrier and consisting of high and
low frequency pulses of energy. These detected pulses of energy are
fed to the low pass filter 16 and the high pass filter 18. The low
pass filter 16 passes only the low frequency pulses of energy,
while the high pass filter 18 passes only the high frequency pulses
of energy. A low tone relay 25 has two normally open contacts 23
and 27 and a coil 21 connected to the output of the low pass filter
16. Similarly, a high tone relay 35 has two normally open contacts
33 and 37 and a coil 31 connected to the output of the high pass
filter 18. In response to each pulse of low frequency energy,
therefore, the low tone relay 25 is energized closing its contacts
23 and 27 for the duration of the pulse, while in response to each
pulse of high frequency energy the high tone relay 35 is energized
closing its contacts 33 and 37 for the duration of the pulse.
The heart of the munition control circuit consists of a stepping
relay 55 having a coil 51, a normally closed interruption contact
52, a "home" contact 53 which is closed except when the relay 55 is
in its home position, and three independent decks 56, 57 and 58,
each having 25 contacts and a movable arm 66, 67 and 68,
respectively. The movable arms 66, 67 and 68 of decks 56, 57 and
58, respectively, step synchronously from contact to contact in
response to the application of pulses to the coil 51, the stepping
relay advancing one step after each pulse of energy is received.
The interconnections between the contacts of the decks 56 and 57
determine the coded sequence of high and low pulses of energy which
will arm, fire or safe the munition, whatever the case may be,
while the contacts of the deck 58 interconnect various other
components.
Also provided in the embodiment of the drawing are a code reversing
relay 45, a code check relay 85, three time delay relays 75, 105
and 135, a firing relay 115, a safing relay 125, and a relay 95.
The code reversing relay 45 has a coil 41, two single-pole
double-throw contacts 46 and 47, a normally closed contact 48 and a
normally open contact 49. The code reversing relay 45 is used to
reverse the code provided by the contacts of decks 56 and 57 of the
stepping relay 55 in connection with the safing operation of the
circuit. The code check relay 85 has a coil 81, three single-pole
double-throw contacts 86, 87 and 88, and a normally open contact
89. The code check relay comes into operation when a wrong sequence
of pulses is applied to the stepping relay 55. The time delay relay
75 provides a delay of 3 minutes, has a coil 71 and a normally
closed contact 72, and is utilized in connection with the operation
of the code check relay 85. The time delay relay 105 provides a
delay of 1 minute, has a coil 101 and a contact 106, and operates
in cooperation with the code check relay 85 and the relay 95 which
has a coil 91 and a normally closed contact 96. The time delay
relay 135 provides a delay of 3 seconds, has a coil 131 and a
normally open contact 136, and operates with the code reversing
relay 45 in connection with the safing operation provided by the
munition control circuit. The firing relay 115 has a coil 111 and
two normally open contacts 116 and 117, and operates with the code
reversing relay 45 in connection with the safing operation provided
by the munition control circuit. The safing relay 125 has a coil
121, a normally open contact 126 and a single-pole double-throw
contact 127, and operates in connection with the safing operation
of the munition.
Further shown in the drawing is a firing circuit 150 adapted to
fire a detonator 170 when a suitable pulse is applied to the firing
circuit 150. In addition, an anti-disturbance device 160 is
provided to fire the detonator 170 in the event that the munition
is disturbed, such as by handling in an attempt to disarm the
munition by the enemy. Anti-disturbance devices are usually in the
form of a switch which closes momentarily to fire the detonator 170
if the munition is subjected to a disturbance. A transmitter 180 is
connected to the antenna 14 and is adapted to radiate a
predetermined signal to the master station 10 when the munition has
been made safe.
The operation of the munition control system shown in the drawing
will now be described in detail. The master station 10 transmits a
radiofrequency signal of predetermined frequency, amplitude
modulated by a coded signal preferably consisting of high and low
frequency pulses of energy, as described previously. These pulses
are detected by the A-M receiver 12 tuned to the predetermined
carrier frequency and then fed to the low pass and high pass
filters 16 and 18. A pulse of low frequency energy closes the
contacts 23 and 27 of the low tone relay 25 for the duration of the
pulse, while a pulse of high frequency energy closes the contacts
33 and 37 of the high tone relay 35 for the duration of the pulse.
The coil 51 of the stepping relay 55 has a first end connected to a
grounded power source represented by the battery 240, and a second
end connected to the commonly connected moving arm elements 23a and
33a of the contacts 23 and 33 of the relays 25 and 35,
respectively. The commonly connected fixed elements 23b and 33b of
the contacts 23 and 33, respectively, are connected to circuit
ground through the unenergized contact 86 of the code check relay
85. Thus, when either of the relays 25 and 35 are energized by its
respective low or high frequency pulse of energy, the coil 51 is
energized for the duration of the pulse, thereby causing the
stepping relay 55 to advance one step when the coil 51 is no longer
energized.
The code reversing relay 45 is initially unenergized so that the
movable arms 66 and 67 of the stepping relay decks 56 and 57,
respectively, are effectively connected to the movable arm elements
27a and 37a of the contacts 27 and 37 of the relays 25 and 35,
respectively, the fixed elements 27b and 37b being connected to
circuit ground. It can thus be seen, therefore, that with the code
reversing relay 45 unenergized, a pulse of low frequency energy
which energizes the relay 25 places a ground on the movable arm 66
of the deck 56, while a pulse of high frequency energy which
energizes the relay 35 places a ground on the movable arm 67 of the
deck 57.
The contacts 1-25 of each of the decks 56 and 57 of the stepping
relay 55 shown in the drawing are set up, for illustrative
purposes, for the following coded sequence of pulses:
(1) low, (2) low, (3) low, (4) low, (5) high, (6) high, (7)-(11)
low, (12)-(16) high, (17) low, (18) high, (19) low, (20) high,
(21)-(25) low. The terms low and high refer to pulses of low
frequency energy and pulses of high frequency energy,
respectively.
To now illustrate how the stepping relay 55 acts to provide
operation only in response to the receipt of the proper sequence of
high and low pulses of energy as given above, it will first be
assumed that with the stepping switch in its home position as shown
in the drawing, the following wrong code sequence is received: (1)
low (correct), (2) low (correct), (3) high (wrong), (4) high
(wrong), and (5) to (25) (correct). The receipt of the first pulse
(1), which is low, thus places a ground on the movable arm 66 and
the contact 1 of the deck 56. After the pulse is completed, the
de-energization of the coil 51, which became energized when the
contact 23 closed along with contact 27, causes each of the arms
66, 67 and 68 of the stepping relay 55 to advance one step to
contact 2 of their respective decks 56, 57 and 58. The receipt of
the second pulse (2), which is also low, places a ground on the
movable arm 66 and the contact 2 of the deck 56, and after the
pulse is completed, causes the arms 66, 67 and 68 to advance to
contact 3 of their respective decks 56, 57 and 58.
The third pulse (3), which is high and wrong, places a ground on
the movable arm 67 and the contact 3 of the deck 57. The pulse is
wrong because it causes a ground to be placed on the lead 59. The
grounding of the lead 59 is how the stepping relay 55 recognizes
that the code sequence is wrong, as will now be explained. It can
be seen that for each step of the stepping relay 55, either the
contact of the deck 56 is connected to the lead 59 and the other
one is left unconnected, or vice versa. For the proper code
sequence the pulses will so energize the relays 25 or 35 that as
the stepping relay 55 advances, the lead 59 is never grounded by
the movable arm 66 or 67; or stated another way, for the proper
code sequence, the arm 66 or 67 which is grounded at each step is
the one whose respective contact is left unconnected. This proper
code sequence permits the stepping relay 55 to continue to advance
in order to provide the desired operation. But when the lead 59 is
grounded because of a wrong pulse, as is the case for the third
pulse (3) of the assumed wrong code as described above, the coil 81
of the code check relay 85 becomes energized, since one of its ends
is connected to a grounded power source represented by the battery
210 and its other end is connected to the lead 59.
When the code check relay 85 is energized by the placing of a
ground on lead 59 as the result of a wrong pulse, the following
functions are performed: (a) the moving arm element 86a of contact
86 moves to the fixed element 86b to keep the lead 59 grounded
through the normally closed contact 72 of the time relay 75,
thereby keeping the relay 85 closed regardless of whether or not
the lead 59 is grounded by a movable arm 66 or 67; because the
stepping relay is of the type which advances only after the
energization pulse to coil 51 is removed, ample time is available
to permit the contact 86 of the relay 85 to operate; (b) the
movement of the moving arm element 86a from the fixed element 86c
prevents further incoming pulses of energy from energizing the coil
51 of the stepping relay by removing the ground from the common
fixed elements 23b and 33b of relays 25 and 35, respectively; (c)
the moving arm element 87a of the contact 87 disconnects from the
fixed element 87c, which is connected to the movable arm 68 of the
deck 58 and which performs the arming, firing and safing functions,
as will hereinafter be described; (d) the movement of the grounded
moving arm element 87a to the fixed element 87b places a ground on
the normally closed interrupter contact 52 of the stepping relay
55, causing the stepping relay to "free-run" itself to its home
position (no. 1), where the home contact 53 (which is in series
with the interrupter contact 52 and remains closed except in the
home position) opens to terminate this free-running action; (e) the
movement of the grounded moving arm element 88a of the contact 88
to the fixed element 88b energizes the coil 71 of the 3-minute time
delay relay 75, since one end of the coil 71 is connected to the
grounded battery 210 and the other end is connected to the fixed
element 88b; (f) the movement of the grounded moving contact
element 88a away from the fixed element 88c breaks the ground
circuit to the coil 41 code reversing relay 45 so that if the relay
45 had been energized, it would be unlatched by the operation of
the contact 88; the operation of the code reversing relay 45 is
fully described in connection with the description of the safing
function of the circuit; (g) the closing of the normally open
contact 89 closes the input lead 153 to the firing circuit 150 with
which it is in series.
From the above description, it can be seen that as soon as a wrong
pulse is received, the code check relay 85 energizes, disabling the
arming, firing and safing functions and causing the stepping relay
55 to free-run to its home (no. 1) position. The continued
energization of the code check relay 85 maintains the circuit
inoperative until the three-minute time delay relay 75 operates,
opening the normally closed contact 72, thereby deenergizing the
coil 81. The provision of the time delay relay 75 is useful to
prevent the enemy from continuously operating the above-described
error-check system in the event they knew the predetermined carrier
frequency of the master station 10 so as to reduce the life of the
batteries or damage the mechanism by constant starting and
resetting operations. A 3-minute time delay, such as provided by
the relay 75, permits the enemy to cycle the equipment only 20
times an hour.
If a noise burst were to pass through the receiver 12 with the
relay 55 in its home (no. 1) position, as might happen during an
electrical storm, and were to operate the correct relay 25 or 35,
the stepping relay 55 would advance to contact 2 and might remain
there indefinitely without the sender at the master station 10
being aware of it. Or, the master station 10 might start to
transmit a code signal and fail to send the remainder of the
sequence due to some difficulty, causing the stepping switch to
remain at some intermediate contact. To prevent such possibilities,
the one-minute time delay relay 105 and the relay 95 are provided
with their coils 101 and 91 connected in parallel through the
normally closed contact 106 of the time delay relay 105, each coil
thereby having one end connected to the grounded battery 220 and
the other end connected to the contact 2 of the deck 58 of the
stepping relay 55. Thus, if the stepping relay 55 remains at or
passes the contact 2, the relays 105 and 95 will both be energized,
the normally closed contact 96 of the relay 95 keeping the coils
101 and 91 energized, even when the stepping relay 55 advances past
the contact 2. After one minute, the time delay relay 105 operates,
causing the normally open contact 107 to apply a ground to the lead
59, thereby energizing the code check relay 85 and causing the
stepping switch to free-run to the home position (no. 1), as
previously described. Also, when the time delay relay 105 operates,
the normally closed contact 106 opens, de-energizing the coil 91 of
relay 95, which opens the contact 96, thereby also de-energizing
the time delay coil 101. The time that the contact 107 is closed so
as to ground the lead 59 should obviously be made long enough to
permit the code check relay 85 to become energized. It is evident,
therefore, that if the stepping relay 55 unintentionally leaves the
home position, the action of the relays 95, 105 and 85 will again
return the stepping relay to the home position after 1 minute, and
the circuit will be ready to receive a code sequence 3 minutes
later when the 3-minute time delay relay 75 operates to open the
relay 85. This action is also used to prepare the circuit to
receive the firing code sequence after it has been armed, as will
hereinafter be described.
If it is now desired to arm the munition, 19 pulses of high and low
frequency energy having the correct code sequence, as given
previously, are transmitted to the munition control circuit from
the master station 10, advancing the stepping relay 55 to contact
20, thereby causing the movable arm 68 of deck 58, which is
connected to ground through the contact 87 of relay 85, to apply a
ground to the munition arming circuit 190. The munition arming
circuit 190 is adapted so that the application of this ground
thereto activates the circuit 190, causing it to arm the munition,
in accordance with well known arming techniques. The 19 correct
pulses are sent in about 40 seconds so that about 20 seconds later,
the action of the relays 95, 105 and 85 causes the stepping relay
55 to free-run back to its home (no. 1) position.
When the time delay relay 75 opens about three minutes later, the
circuit is ready to receive the coded sequence which will fire the
munition. The sequence, which the master station 10 now transmits
in order to fire the munition, consists of a sequence of 21 correct
pulses of high and low frequency energy as given above, and then
one deliberate wrong pulse of high frequency energy as the
twenty-second pulse of the sequence. The 21 correct pulses advance
the stepping relay 55 to contact 22, causing the movable arm 68 of
the deck 58 to ground one end of the coil 111 of the firing relay
115 whose other end is connected to the grounded battery 250
through the normally closed contact 48 of the relay 45. The firing
relay 115 thus becomes energized and the contact 116 thereof
latches the relay 115 in the energized position, while the contact
117 thereof applies the voltage of the grounded battery 200 to one
of the elements of the contact 89 of the code check relay 85. When
the code check relay 85 is energized by the incorrect twenty-second
pulse, therefore, the closing of contact 89 applies the voltage of
the battery 200 to the firing circuit 150, thereupon causing the
firing circuit 150 to apply a pulse to activate the detonator 170
and detonate the munition. The total time taken for the stepping
relay 55 to advance to the contact 23 is obviously made less than 1
minute, otherwise the action of the 1-minute time delay relay 105
and the relays 95 and 85 would return the stepping relay 55 to the
home position before firing occurred. From the description of the
firing operation, it will be understood that a fail-safe situation
is achieved because both a correct code and at least one error code
is necessary to activate the firing circuit 150.
In the event that it is desired to place the munition in a safe
condition so that it can be handled without the anti-disturbance
device 160 activating the detonator 170, the master station 10
transmits a sequence of 14 correct pulses of high and low frequency
energy, thereby advancing the stepping relay 55 from its home (no.
1) position to the contact 15, causing the movable arm 68 of deck
58 to ground one end of the coil 131 of the 3-second time delay
relay 135 whose other end is connected to the grounded battery 200.
Three seconds after the stepping relay 55 advances to contact 15,
therefore, the normally open contact 136 of the time delay relay
135 closes, grounding one end of the coil 41 of the code reversing
relay 45 whose other end is connected to the grounded battery 220.
The code reversing relay 45 thus becomes energized and latches
itself in the energized position by means of the contact 49 which
provides a ground through the contact 88 of the code check relay
85. Thus, if an error in transmission should occur, or an error be
introduced by a noise burst, the energization of the code check
relay 85 would unlatch the code reversing relay 45 so as to permit
the circuit to return to its initial conditions. The 3-second time
delay relay 135 is necessary, because in the arming and firing
sequences described the stepping relay 55 must pass the contact 15
without operating the relay 135 or the code reversing relay 45.
Since in normal operation the arming and firing sequences are
transmitted at a rate of about one pulse every 0.2 second, the
3-second time delay relay 135 will not operate to energize the code
reversing relay 45 unless the stepping relay 55 is deliberately
stopped for at least 3 seconds at the contact 15.
When the 3-second time delay relay 135 operates, causing the code
reversing relay 45 to also become energized, contacts 46 and 47
operate to reverse the code provided by the stepping relay 55; it
can be seen that this is accomplished by the contact 46 switching
the movable arm 66 of the deck 56 from the output of the low tone
relay 25 to the output of the high tone relay 35, and the contact
47 switching the movable arm of the deck 57 from the output of the
high tone relay 35 to the output of the low tone relay 25. Also,
the opening of the normally closed contact 48 by energization of
the code reversing relay 45 causes the end 111a of coil 111 of the
relay 115 to be disconnected from the grounded battery 250, thereby
disabling the firing relay 115.
In transmitting the safing code sequence, the stepping relay is
held at the contact 15 for about 5 seconds to permit the 3-second
time delay relay to operate, the remainder of the safing code is
now transmitted consisting of 10 pulses of high and low frequency
energy to advance the stepping relay 55 from the contact 15 to the
last contact 25. Because the code provided by the stepping relay 55
has been reversed by the code reversing relay 45, these 10 pulses,
corresponding to pulses (15) to (24) of the correct sequence of
pulses previously given, must be wrong in order to advance the
stepping relay to the last contact 25. At contact 25, the grounded
movable arm 68 of deck 58 grounds one end of the coil 121 of the
safing relay 125 whose other end is connected to the grounded
battery 250, thereby energizing the safing relay 125, the contact
126 permanently latching the safing relay 125 in an energized
condition. The contact 127 of the safing relay 125 disables the
anti-disturbance device by disconnecting the power source
represented by the grounded battery 200 from the input of the
device 160. Also, the contact 127 connects the battery 200 to
activate the transmitter 180, causing it to radiate a predetermined
signal to the master station 10, where it is received by the
receiver 17 and appears on the indicator 24 to inform the sender
that the munition has been made safe. If this predetermined signal
is not received, the sender must try a second time, or more, to
safe the device.
It can be seen that the safing operation of the circuit is such
that because the stepping relay 55 is required to stop at the
contact 15 for a predetermined time (3 seconds) to disable the
firing circuit and reverse the code provided by the relay 55, any
chance of accidentally firing the munition during the safing
operation is eliminated. For example, if the stepping relay 55 had
stopped at the contact 15 and then the master station 10 continued
to send a proper firing code sequence by error, or because of some
difficulty every pulse after the contact 15 is reached is in error,
the stepping relay would be returned to its "home" position by
action of the code check relay 85.
From the above description of a munition control circuit in
accordance with the invention, it will be evident to those skilled
in the art that the coding principle of this invention provided by
the stepping relay 55 and the associated components is very
flexible and easily permits changing or adding more codes. With the
addition of a third tone relay to the relays 25 and 35 and another
deck provided on the relay 55, for example, the number of possible
combinations can be greatly increased. In the present stepping
relay using two decks 56 and 57 each having 25 contacts to supply
the code over thirty-three million combinations are available,
while by using another tone relay and another deck, over eight
hundred billion combinations would be available.
It should be noted that the above-described munition control
circuit can be made amazingly simple and compact in view of the
many, many possible combinations and variations of codes that are
made available. It should also be noted that, in the standby
condition, the circuit consumes no power from the batteries, and if
so desired the batteries could be combined into a single power
supply by suitable choice of operating voltages for the various
components.
It will be understood, therefore, that the illustrative embodiment
described is only exemplary and that various modifications can be
made in construction and arrangement within the scope of the
invention as defined in the appended claims.
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