Ordnance fuze time delay mechanism

Claim 1

In a fuze having a body and a detonator assembly the improvement therein being a fuze delay mechanism comprising a first housing in operative relationship with said detonator assembly, a propellant having a predetermined burning rate located within said first housing, a second housing located adjacent said first housing, a primer having a predetermined burning-rate located within said second housing, means operatively connected to said primer for initiating an ignition of said primer, said second housing containing an aperture therein adjacent said first housing, means located between said aperture and said first housing for separating said first housing and said second housing, said separating means capable of being ruptured at a predetermined time after the ignition of said primer and said first housing having a shear disc on the end opposite said separating means, said shear disc being capable of shearing when acted upon by a predetermined pressure build-up within said housings, whereby the ignition of said primer causes a subsequent ignition of said propellant thereby increasing the pressure within said housings to said predetermined level and said increase in pressure causes the shearing of said shear disc and subsequent detonation of said detonator assembly at a predetermined time delay after the initial ignition of said primer takes place.