Abstract:
The invention relates to a safety device ( 1 ) for a block of explosive material, forming a missile decoy, that is introduced into an explosive material container ( 2 ) with a sabot ( 4 ) and an ignition transmission charge ( 5 ). The safety device ( 1 ) is characterized by a prestressed tube sensor/slide ( 6 ) that is connected between the sabot ( 4 ), the ignition transmission charge ( 5 ) and the explosive material container ( 2 ) such that it can release or re-close an ignition channel ( 13 ) disposed between the ignition transmission charge ( 5 ) and the explosive material.

Description:
This is a Continuation-in-Part Application (Continuation Application) in the United States of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2009/001975 filed Mar. 18, 2009, which claims priority on German Patent Application No. DE 10 2008 017 725.3, filed Apr. 7, 2008. The entire disclosures of the above patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a safety device for a munition or warhead, which forms a decoy, for example, a missile decoy, with a novel housing design. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Explosive containers, for example, for concealment functions against missile attack, are sufficiently well known from practical use. By way of example, DE 10 2004 047 231 A1 describes an explosive block or an active agent body, as does corresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0266882 A1. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0266882 A1 is incorporated herein in its entirety for all it discloses. Containers such as these overall form a submunition for forming a decoy, for example, as described in DE 199 51 767 C2. 
     Submunitions that are composed of explosive containers such as these are known, inter alia, from DE 601 19 735 T2. 
     A method and an apparatus for decoying IR, RF and dual-mode guided missiles using these submunitions is disclosed in WO 2007/012371 A1, which corresponds to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0251353 A1. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0251353 A1 is incorporated herein in its entirety for all that it discloses. A firing device for a firing chain for submunition bodies is disclosed in DE 690 15 046 T2. 
     Containers such as these are ejected successively, and are fired individually, and require a safety device, in particular for a possible defect situation. 
     The invention is based on the object of specifying a simple safety device for a system, which simulates an apparent target. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is achieved by the features of a first embodiment, which pertains to a safety device ( 1 ) for a block of explosives that forms a decoy and is incorporated in an explosive container ( 2 ), having a discarding sabot ( 4 ) and a firing stemming charge ( 5 ), characterized by a prestressed tube sensor/slide ( 6 ), which is incorporated between the discarding sabot ( 4 ), the firing stemming charge ( 5 ) and the explosive container ( 2 ), such that it can open or reclose a firing channel ( 13 ) between the firing stemming charge ( 5 ) and the explosive. Advantageous embodiments can be found in the other described embodiments. For example, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, the first embodiment is modified so that the tube sensor ( 6 ) is physically U-shaped ( 8 ,  9 ), wherein tabs  10  are fitted to these webs ( 8 ,  9 ) in order to ensure the final position of the tube sensor ( 6 ) in the safety device ( 1 ), and a structure ( 11 ) in the form of a polygonal column with an opening ( 12 ) is incorporated between the two webs ( 8 ,  9 ). 
     The invention is based on the idea of including a simple safety device in addition to a novel equipment design of the decoy. The safety device itself comprises a so-called “tube sensor/slide” with springs, and is structurally included to interact with a discarding sabot and a firing stemming charge of the decoy. The safety device and/or parts of it and an explosive container of the decoy preferably form a physical unit. The discarding sabot and the firing stemming charge are preferably connected in an interlocking manner to the explosive container via a click-fastening system. 
     The firing stemming charge is held in its position during the reaction (in the function of the charge) by the click-fastening connection between the discarding sabot and the explosive container in the area of the safety device, and the design configuration of the discarding sabot, the result of which it need no longer be adhesively bonded in place, and, therefore, can be replaced or exchanged at any time. 
     The special feature of the safety device is the design configuration of the tube sensor, which influences the safety, function and effect of the decoy to a major extent. 
     The tube sensor is designed such that, once the firing channel to the explosive has been released, the firing chain can be interrupted again. This results in the safety advantage that, if the firing chain does not operate correctly, the explosive container emerging from the casing of the submunition can be considered as being safe to handle again once a specified waiting time has elapsed. The final closure of the firing channel furthermore assists the separation between the explosive container and the explosive, and prevents energy loss by “blowing out”, therefore contributing to the optimum effect of the explosive, and therefore of the decoy. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to one exemplary embodiment in the drawing, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a safety device with an explosive container, in the form of a view from the ejection side; 
         FIG. 2  shows the safety device shown in  FIG. 1 , in a view from the firing side; 
         FIG. 3  shows an illustration of the safety device—firing channel blocked (first position); 
         FIG. 4  shows an illustration of the safety device—firing channel open (second position); 
         FIG. 5  shows an illustration of the safety device—firing channel blocked again (third position); and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a decoy provided with a simple safety device in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show those parts of a safety device  1  that are essential for explanation, for a block of explosive (which is not illustrated in any more detail than by character reference  105  in  FIG. 6 ), which forms a decoy  100  and is incorporated in an explosive container  2 , in this case with incident-flow protection  3 . Character reference  4  denotes a discarding sabot in the figures, and character reference  5  denotes a firing stemming charge. The safety device  1  is formed by a special tube sensor/slide  6  and is prestressed in function, for example, loaded by a spring  7 . 
     The tube sensor  6  is U-shaped in order to hold the two springs  7 . Tabs  10  are fitted to the webs  8 ,  9  of the tube sensor  6  in order to ensure the final position of the tube sensor  6  in the safety device  1 . A structure  11 , in the form of a polygonal column provided with an opening  12  formed therein, is incorporated between the two webs  8 ,  9  of the tube sensor  6 . 
     Thus, when safety device  1  is assembled with the explosive container  2  that contains a block of explosives, and with the discarding sabot  4  and the firing stemming charge  5 , the assembly forms the decoy  100  provided with a simple safety device, in accordance with the present invention. As shown schematically in  FIG. 6 , when the decoy  100  is placed in the launch tube  110  of a launcher, the safety device  1  is in the first position and operates to block a firing channel between the firing stemming charge  5  and the explosive  105 . When the decoy  100  leaves the launch tube  110  of the launcher, the safety device  1  operates to move the tube sensor  6  to the second position in order to open the firing channel  13  prior to firing the explosive  105  so that the firing stemming charge  5  may operate to fire the explosive  105 . Thus, when the safety device  1  is in the first position, it operates to close the firing channel  13  prior to firing of the explosive  105  so that the stemming charge  5  cannot fire the explosive, which makes the explosive safer to handle. Once the tube sensor  6  of the safety device  1  has moved to the second position, then the firing channel  13  is open and the firing stemming charge  5  is ready to fire the explosive  105  through the firing channel  13 . 
     When the safety device  1  moves to the third position, it operates to close the firing channel  13  after the stemming charge  5  fires the explosive  105  so that the safety device  1  contributes to an optimum effect of the explosive being realized by preventing “blowing out” energy loss through the firing channel  13 . These various features of the present invention are described in more detail below. 
       FIG. 3  shows the safety device  1  in the assembly with the discarding sabot  4  and the firing stemming charge  5 . The tube sensor/slide  6  is disposed to ensure that the firing chain to the explosive  105  is interrupted during the casing passage (within the submunition, prior to when the explosive container  2  is ejected—not illustrated in any more detail) of a first unit comprising the safety device/explosive container. In other words, the first unit comprises the safety device  1  and the explosive container  2 . When the first unit is placed in the casing of the decoy  100 , and the decoy  100  is placed in the launch tube  110  of a launcher, the tube sensor  6  is placed in a first position as shown in  FIG. 3 . The firing channel  13  is blocked in  FIG. 3  due to the first position of the tube sensor  6  so that the firing stemming charge  5  cannot fire the explosive contained within the decoy. In the first position, a second portion  80  of the polygonal column structure  11  of the tube sensor  6  is aligned to block the firing channel  13 , and a base portion  65  of the sensor  6  is aligned with the external surface  50  of the casing of the explosive container  2  (See, e.g., shown flush in  FIG. 6 ). Although not shown in more detail than in  FIG. 6 , the launch tube  110  of a launcher, in which the decoy  100  is placed, maintains the tube sensor  6  in the first position while the first unit is contained in the launch tube  110 . 
     As evident from  FIGS. 3 and 4 , spring prestressing of the tube sensor  6  ensures that, when the tube sensor  6  emerges from the casing of the decoy  100  (as happens when the decoy  100  leaves the launch tube  110 ), the initial interruption in the firing chain to the explosive is removed and the firing channel  13  is released and opened because the tube sensor  6  moves from the first position to a second position. In the second position, the opening  12  formed in the polygonal column structure  11  of the tube sensor  6  is aligned with the firing channel  13 .  FIG. 4  shows the tube sensor  6  positioned in the second position to open the firing channel  13 . Thus, when the tube sensor  6  is in the second position as shown in  FIG. 4 , the firing channel  13  is open and the firing stemming charge  5  may fire the explosive  105 . Although not explicitly shown in the drawings, the tube sensor  6  moves to the second position when the first unit emerges from the launch tube  110  because the wall of the launch tube  110  is no longer in position to maintain the tube sensor  6  in the first position. 
     The shape of the tube sensor  6  and its spring prestressing allow the firing tube to be interrupted again, and the firing channel  13  is to be finally closed, when the tube sensor  6  moves on to a third position (See  FIG. 5 , also referred to as the “final position”). When the tube sensor  6  is in the third position, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the firing channel  13  is blocked by a first portion  70  of the polygonal column structure  11  located at a tip of the polygonal column structure. The tube sensor  6  moves into the third position due to the force of the springs  7 , and after the first unit has emerged from the launch tube  110  of the launcher, and after the tube sensor  6  has moved through the second position. 
     In sum, when the first unit is contained in the launch tube  110  of a launcher, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 , the sensor tube  6  is maintained in the first position by the walls of the launch tube  110 , and the firing channel  13  is blocked by a second portion  80  of the tube sensor  6  so that the firing stemming charge  5  cannot fire the explosive  105 . Then, when the first unit emerges from the launch tube of the launcher, the springs  7  force the tube sensor  6  to move to the second position in which the opening  12  of the sensor  6  is aligned with the firing channel  13  (see  FIG. 4 ) so that the firing stemming charge  5  may fire the explosive contained in the explosive container  2  of the first unit. After the firing stemming charge  5  has fired the explosive  105  in the explosive container  2 , the springs  7  continue to move the tube sensor  6  into the third position (see  FIG. 5 ), in which a first portion  70  of the tube sensor  6  blocks the firing channel  13  in order to prevent “blowing out” energy loss through the firing channel  13 . As evident from  FIGS. 3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6 , the opening  12  formed in the polygonal column structure  11  of the tube sensor  6  is disposed between the first portion  70  (i.e., tip portion) and the second portion  80  of the polygonal column structure  11 . 
     In the event that the firing stemming charge  5  malfunctions, and/or in the event that the explosive  105  fails to detonate after the firing stemming charge  5  is fired, the fact that the tube sensor/slide  6  moves into the final or third position provides another safety advantage. By reclosing the firing channel  13 , the tube sensor/slide  6  of the safety device  1  makes the undetonated explosive  105  safer to handle. 
     Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the safety device  1  initially blocks the firing channel  13  when the tube sensor  6  is in the first position. The tube sensor  6  is maintained in the first position by the walls of the launch tube  110 , in which the decoy  100  has been placed. When the decoy  100  leaves the launch tube  110 , the tube sensor  6  “senses” that the constraining force of the wall  110  is no longer present, and the springs  7  move the tube sensor  6  to the second position, and then on to the third position. By adjusting the spring force (or spring path), the time it takes for the tube sensor  6  to reach the second position, and then the third position, after the decoy  100  has left the launch tube  110  can be adjusted. In this way, the time it takes for the firing channel  13  to open and then reclose again can be determined. This construction leads to the result that the explosive container  2  is only an illuminated target during a particular activation time or distance. Furthermore, this construction makes it possible to equalize tolerance deviations of the explosive substances. 
     The incident-flow protection  3  in the form of an incident-flow protective cap additionally provides a protective, supporting, guidance and positioning function for the block of explosive  105 , which is packed in protective film (not illustrated in any more detail, because this is known). The cap  3 , which is preferably provided with a sealing and/or an adhesive compound, is plugged on the ejection side onto two or more edge profiles  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17  of the explosive container  2 . 
     The cap  3 , furthermore, preferably has positioning spikes  18 . These ensure that the block of explosive  105  is centered in the cap  3  and is held in its optimum position for operation. 
     While the present invention has been described with respect to an embodiment wherein the block  105  of explosives is incorporated in an explosive container  2  that is launched from a launch tube  110  so that the tube sensor  6  is pushed towards the outside due to the power of the springs  7 , the invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, in the case wherein multiple blocks  105  of explosive are enclosed in a sheath, from which the blocks  105  are expelled, the tube sensor  6  may be arranged so that it is pushed to the outside by the force of spring power. In this way, if several blocks  105  of explosive are spent via an ammunition, and then expelled, the tube sensor  6  still moves towards the outside to enable firing of the explosive blocks  105  through the firing channel  13 . 
     In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the explosive block  105  is directly integrated into the magazine of a weapon so that the magazine functions as the launch tube. In this case, the explosive container  2  is disposed in a casing, which acts to constrain the tube sensor  6  in the first position until the explosive container  2  emerges from the casing thus permitting the tube sensor  6  to move to the second position and then to the third position. In this alternate embodiment of the invention, the walls  110  shown in  FIG. 6  correspond to walls of the casing instead of to the walls of the launcher.