Inertially operated electrical initiation methods
A method for electrically initiating an inertial igniter for a munition. The method including: generating a voltage over a duration of an acceleration of the munition; directing a portion of a charge resulting from the voltage and duration to an electrical storage device on board the munition; determining by a circuit, whether the acceleration experienced by the munition is an all-fire condition based on both the voltage and duration of voltage generation and a predetermined accumulated voltage of the electrical storage device; and providing the predetermined accumulated voltage to an initiator when the all-fire condition is determined.
1. A method for electrically initiating an inertial igniter for a munition, the method comprising acts of:
generating a voltage over a duration of an acceleration of the munition;
directing a portion of a charge resulting from the voltage and duration to an electrical storage device on board the munition;
determining by a circuit, whether the acceleration experienced by the munition is an all-fire condition based on both the voltage and duration of voltage generation and a predetermined accumulated voltage of the electrical storage device; and
providing the predetermined accumulated voltage to an initiator when the all-fire condition is determined.
2. The method of claim 1 , comprising an act of measuring a resistance of the initiator without disassembly of the igniter to determine whether the initiator has received the predetermined accumulated voltage.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating act comprises setting in motion at least one of a piezoelectric element and a magnetic element responsive to the acceleration of the munition.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined accumulated voltage is provided to a plurality of initiators when the all-fire condition is determined.
5. The method of claim 4 , comprising an act of uniformly distributing the plurality of initiators in a thermal battery to ignite the thermal battery at different locations in response to the plurality of initiators being provided the predetermined accumulated voltage.
6. The method of claim 1 , comprising an act of igniting pyrotechnic material by the initiator being provided the predetermined accumulated voltage.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the voltage is generated based on at least one of linear, rotary and vibratory acceleration of the munition.
8. A method for configuring an electrical inertial igniter for a munition, the method comprising acts of:
configuring an electrical energy generating device to generate a voltage over a duration responsive to an accleration of the munition;
routing a portion of a charge resulting from the voltage and duration to an electrical storage device on board the munition;
configuring a circuit to determine whether the acceleration experienced by the munition is an all-fire condition based on both the voltage and duration of voltage generation and a predetermined accumulated voltage of the electrical storage device; and
routing the predetermined accumulated voltage to an initiator to be activated by the all-fire condition.
9. The method of claim 8 , comprising an act routing a test lead to the initiator to be externally accessible after assembly of the igniter to enable determination of an activation state of the initiator without disassembly of the igniter.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of configuring the electrical energy generating device comprises an act of configuring at least one of a piezoelectric element and a magnetic element to generate the voltage.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of routing the predetermined accumulated voltage to the initiator comprises an act of routing the predetermined accumulated voltage to a plurality of initiators.
12. The method of claim 11 , comprising an act of uniformly distributing the plurality of initiators in a thermal battery to ignite the thermal battery at different locations in response to the plurality of initiators being provided the predetermined accumulated voltage.
13. The method of claim 11 , comprising an act routing a test lead to the plurality of initiators to be externally accessible after assembly of the igniter to enable determination of an activation state of at least one of the plurality of initiators without disassembly of the igniter.
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of configuring the circuit comprises an act of configuring a plurality of circuits with each one of the plurality of circuits being configured to independently determine whether the acceleration experienced by the munition is an all-fire condition based on both the voltage and duration of voltage generation and the predetermined accumulated voltage of the electrical storage device, and wherein each one of the plurality of circuits is configured to activate a corresponding one of the plurality of initiators based on the all-fire condition.
15. The method of claim 8 , comprising an act of configuring pyrotechnic material to be ignited by the initiator.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the pyrotechnic material is a portion of a thermal battery.
17. The method of claim 8 , wherein the voltage is generated based on at least one of linear, rotary and vibratory acceleration of the munition.
18. The method of claim 8 , wherein the act of configuring the electrical energy generating device comprises an act of configuring a magnetic element and coil to generate the voltage.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the act of configuring the electrical energy generating device comprises an act of coupling a spring to the magnetic element forming a mass spring unit that is configured to vibrate responsive to the acceleration.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the act of configuring the electrical energy generating device comprises an act of providing a latching element configured to latch the magnet to precharge the spring prior to the acceleration and configured to release the magnet in response to the acceleration.