There are three other methods in use to arm the fuze. They are =inertia
of a sleeve=; =centrifugal force= and =powder pellet system=, that is,
combustion of a grain of powder holding the sliding block from the
anvil by means of an arm resting against the unburned powder grain.
These are more sensitive than the type described.
=In the first system=, a sleeve fitting around the plunger carrying
the cap slides to the rear by inertia when the projectile starts and
two clips engage in notches on the plunger body making the sleeve and
plunger thereafter move as one body, they are thus held together by
a plunger spring which before arming held the plunger away from the
anvil. The safety spring held the sleeve and plunger away from the
anvil and after arming prevents forward creeping by the plunger and
sleeve now locked together. Upon striking, the plunger and sleeve move
forward as one body and the cap strikes the anvil.
=In centrifugal systems= the primer plunger is kept safely away from
the anvil by a lock which is kept in place by springs. When the
rotational velocity reaches a certain point the force of the springs
is overcome by the centrifugal force and the locks are thrown aside or
opened and the plunger is free to move forward on impact.
=In the powder pellet system= (the one largely used by the Germans)
there is a well or channel filled with compressed powder, this is set
off by a fulminate cap which is fired by inertia, a small plunger-anvil
striking the cap. When the powder is consumed it leaves a channel
into which an arm attached to the sliding block carrying the igniting
fulminate for the charge may slide, thus permitting the block to slide
forward to the anvil fixed in the forward part of the cavity. It is
held from creeping forward after the compressed powder is burned by a
safety spring, thus insuring sufficiently hard an impact to set off the
cap.
Heretofore in our service the fulminating cap has been fixed and the
plunger carried the anvil or as we call it the firing pin. Such is now
the system in our base detonating fuzes, and in our combination fuze.
The new point detonating fuzes are patterned after the French and are
practically French fuzes.
Fuzes Classification.
Fuses are classified as:
(a) Percussion if it acts on impact, producing a low order of explosion.
(b) Time when it acts in the air at a certain point of the trajectory.
(c) Combination if it is able to act in the air or upon impact.
(d) Detonating when it contains a fulminate which will bring about
detonation upon impact.
The detonator may be separate or incorporated in the fuse. For the
75-mm gun and the 155-mm howitzer it forms a part of the fuze.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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