Two-stage holdback devices and means for operating them

Claim 2

A tubular container and missile combination including a twostage holdback device connecting the missile to its container, said container including a saddle overlying a hole in its side opening into its interior, said missile having a socket in its side in registry with said opening when the missile is properly positioned within the container, said device comprising a member rotatably mounted in said saddle, a member rotatably mounted in said socket, one member having a groove dividing an end thereof, the other member including a tongue in said groove, and shear means connecting said tongue to a wall of said groove to oppose shear forces lengthwise of said groove that are of a relatively small order, said members being arranged to have a normal position with the tongue and groove transversely of the container and missile to provide means to resist shear forces lengthwise of the container that are of a relatively large order.

Claim 3

The container-missile combination of claim 1 and means connected to the saddle mounted member to rotate said members through 90* thus to expose the shear means to lengthwise shear forces.

Claim 4

The container-missile combination of claim 1 in which the members have operative positions in which the tongue-and-groove connection between them is exposed between the container and the missile, each member is movable into an inoperative position substantially free of such exposure when the shear means is broken, and spring means for each member yieldably urging it into its inoperative position.

Claim 5

The container-missile combination of claim 1 in which the saddle includes a part slidably and rotatably supporting the saddle-mounted member, the saddle-mounted member has a flange, and a spring confined between the flange and the part yieldably urging the saddle-mounted member away from the missile-mounted member.

Claim 6

The container-missile combination of claim 1 in which the missile-mounted member includes a flange, the missile includes a part within the socket slidably confining the missile-mounted member, and a spring confined between the flange and the part yieldably urging the missile-mounted member towards the bottom of the socket.

Claim 7

The container-missile combination of claim 1 in which the saddle has an opening and a part within the opening slidably and rotatably receives and supports the saddle-mounted member, the saddle-mounted member has a flange, and a spring confined between the flange and the part yieldably urges the saddle-mounted member away from the missile-mounted member, the missile-mounted member includes a flange, the missile includes a part dimensioned to pass through the saddle opening and threaded into the socket and slidably confining the missile-mounted member, a spring confined between the threaded part and the flange of the missile-mounted member yieldably urges the missile-mounted member towards the bottom of the socket, the threaded part includes a pin disposed towards the bottom of the socket and the flange includes a pin projecting for driving engagement with the pin of the threaded part thereby to enable the connected parts to be installed through the saddle opening when the missile is correctly positioned within the container.

Claim 8

The container-missile combiNation of claim 2 in which the rotating means includes a handle pivotally connected to the saddle and a connection with the member mounted in the saddle operative to rotate the parts when the handle is pivoted to a predetermined extent.

Claim 9

The container-missile combination of claim 7 in which the saddle-mounted member has a vertically extending channel and the handle has a crank entrant of the channel.

Claim 10

The container-missile combination of claim 7 in which the saddle-mounted member has a pair of diametrically opposed, vertically extending channels, and the handle includes cranks, one for each channel and entrant thereof, the cranks being offset by 180*.

Claim 11

The container-missile combination of claim 2 in which the rotating means includes cam means provided with an actuator member movable at right angles to the container axis.

Claim 12

The container-missile combination of claim 10 in which the cam means also includes a pair of ring members concentric with the actuator member, each ring member having diametrically opposed, inclined slots, the actuator member has a pin extending through the slots, the slots of each ring member being of the same hand but opposite to that of the other ring member, one member of the cam means being held against rotation and one member of the cam means being connected to the saddle-mounted member to be held against rotation.