Patents by Inventor William Marc Schmidt

William Marc Schmidt has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20030101890
    Abstract: A fuze for a munition adapted to prevent unintended arming thereof. The fuze incorporates an arming screw having a keyed portion and a centrifugal locking mechanism for preventing rotation of the arming screw unless the fuze mechanism is in a rapidly spinning condition such as that experienced when the fuze and its associated munition are deployed from an airborne rocket or artillery shell, and thus spinning at a rate of at least several thousand rpm. The centrifugal locking mechanism includes a pair of locking members which are biased by biasing elements into engagement with the keyed portion of the arming screw. This prevents the arming screw from being accidentally unscrewed from an inertia weight within the fuze, thus placing the fuze in an unintended armed condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2001
    Publication date: June 5, 2003
    Inventors: Michael F. Steele, William Marc Schmidt, Ezra Stearns Waller
  • Patent number: 6564716
    Abstract: A fuze for a munition adapted to prevent unintended arming thereof. The fuze incorporates an arming screw having a keyed portion and a centrifugal locking mechanism for preventing rotation of the arming screw unless the fuze mechanism is in a rapidly spinning condition such as that experienced when the fuze and its associated munition are deployed from an airborne rocket or artillery shell, and thus spinning at a rate of at least several thousand rpm. The centrifugal locking mechanism includes a pair of locking members which are biased by biasing elements into engagement with the keyed portion of the arming screw. This prevents the arming screw from being accidentally unscrewed from an inertia weight within the fuze, thus placing the fuze in an unintended armed condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: KDI Precision Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael F. Steele, William Marc Schmidt, Ezra Stearns Waller
  • Patent number: 6530324
    Abstract: A munition incorporating a fuze mechanism adapted to prevent momentary disarming of the mechanism once same is placed in an armed state. The fuze mechanism incorporates a fuze housing having a slide member movable slidably longitudinally between an unarmed position and an armed position. In an unarmed position, a firing pin tip of an arming screw engages a lock post disposed within an opening in the slide member to hold the slide member in the unarmed position. When the arming screw is unscrewed during airborne deployment of the munition, the firing pin tip is withdrawn from the lock post. This enables a spring to urge the slide member into a laterally extended position. As the slide member moves into its laterally extended position, the lock post drops partially out of the slide member into abutting engagement with a bottom cover of the fuze mechanism, thus preventing the slide member from moving back towards its unarmed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: KDI Precision Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael F. Steele, William Marc Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20030037691
    Abstract: A munition incorporating a fuze mechanism adapted to prevent momentary disarming of the mechanism once same is placed in an armed state. The fuze mechanism incorporates a fuze housing having a slide member movable slidably longitudinally between an unarmed position and an armed position. In an unarmed position, a firing pin tip of an arming screw engages a lock post disposed within an opening in the slide member to hold the slide member in the unarmed position. When the arming screw is unscrewed during airborne deployment of the munition, the firing pin tip is withdrawn from the lock post. This enables a spring to urge the slide member into a laterally extended position. As the slide member moves into its laterally extended position, the lock post drops partially out of the slide member into abutting engagement with a bottom cover of the fuze mechanism, thus preventing the slide member from moving back towards its unarmed position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2001
    Publication date: February 27, 2003
    Inventors: Michael F. Steele, William Marc Schmidt
  • Patent number: 6272995
    Abstract: A high precision electro-mechanical fuze mechanism for a munition such as a hand grenade. The fuze mechanism includes an electromagnetic signal generator having an armature, a permanent magnet, a coil and a magnetic impulse generator (MIG) member. The armature is preloaded during assembly through the use of a spring. Releasing an actuating lever of the grenade allows the armature to begin spinning and to dissipate the energy stored by the spring. This causes a current to be electromagnetically generated in the coil, which is transmitted to an electronic control circuit in the fuze mechanism. The electronic control circuit implements two time delays from two separate timers which each must time out before the control circuit can send an electric firing signal to an electric detonator. Movement of the armature also causes a simultaneous movement of a rotor, which moves a stab detonator into a position closely adjacent the electric detonator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Assignee: KDI Precision Products, Inc.
    Inventors: William Marc Schmidt, James Arthur Hewlett, Patrick Dwayne McGregor, Ezra Stearns Waller, Donald Robert Helton