Operation: When the round is fired, acceleration in the gun barrel
causes the fingers of the crown breaker to open up, allowing the electrolyte
vial to break against the bot-tom of the breaker. Centrifugal force
distributes the electrolyte throughout the energizer, activating it in 0.2
to 0.3 second. Centrifugal force also opens the handling safety switch,
which previously had been shorting out the firing condenser. |
The firing
condenser begins to accumulate a charge through its high-resistance
elec-trical delay, and electrical energy is fed to the electric mechanism in
the V.T. element. Centrifugal force causes the small globule of mercury in
the mercury switch to move through a porous membrane into the lower chamber,
thereby removing the electric short circuit across the primer leads. This
requires from 0.2 to 0.9 seconds, depending on the fuze and the rate of
rotation of the projectile. When the firing condenser has accumula-ted
enough electrical energy to allow firing of the electric primer, 0.6 to 1.0
second, the fuze is fully armed. |
Upon approach
to a target under proper conditions, the reflected electromagnetic sig-nal
from the target causes the V.T. element to discharge the firing condenser
through the electric primer. The blast from the primer functions the
auxiliary detonating fuze, which, in turn, initiates the detonation of the
projectile. |
The V.T. Fuzes
Mk 53, Mk 47, and Mk 59 are equipped with two mercury switches in-stead of
the single switch incorporated in the Mk 45 and Mk 58. This feature is
provided to insure additional safety; in all other respects, these five
fuzes are mechanically iden-tical. |
The
differences in these fuzes lie in dimensions and contour of the head, thread
sizes, and electrical characteristics (for slower spin, less set-back,
etc.). |
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