WING SLOT SEAL

摘要

A low cost, lightweight frangible wing slot seal can be applied to a guidance wing slot of a folding fin aerial rocket or missile, providing a barrier against exposure of internal missile components to external contaminants, while allowing unhindered deployment of missile guidance wings simply by bursting through the seals. The simple design is nearly foolproof, and has no impact the likelihood of weapon. failure. The seal is a flexible sheet which is sufficiently thin so as not to exceed the required volume envelope of the missile. The sheet includes a burst seam, which is breached when impacted by the leading edge of a deploying wing. No additional wing deployment force is required, and after deployment the seal has minimal impact on the aerodynamic performance of the wing.

主权项

1. A frangible wing slot seal suitable for preventing penetration of contaminants through a wing slot provided in the fuselage of a folding fin aerial rocket or missile, the wing slot seal being frangible so as to permit deployment of a guidance wing through the wing slot by breaking of the guidance wing through the wing slot seal, the wing slot seal comprising:
a barrier sheet having an inner layer and an outer layer, the barrier sheet having dimensions sufficient for covering the wing slot and for overlapping a region of fuselage surrounding the wing slot, the barrier sheet having a curvature corresponding substantially to a curvature of the fuselage, at least one of the inner and outer layers being a stiff layer which is resistant to deformation; a burst seam formed in the stiff layer of the barrier sheet, the burst seam being configured so as to allow a guidance wing to separate and pass through the burst seam during deployment of the guidance wing, the burst seam being configured to close and resist penetration when a force is applied to the barrier sheet from outside of the rocket or missile; and an adhesive layer at least applicable to an inner surface of the barrier sheet, the adhesive layer being configured for adhering the barrier sheet to the region of fuselage surrounding the wing slot, the adhesive layer providing an adhesive strength which is sufficient to maintain the barrier sheet in position over the wing slot while the guidance wing breaks through the barrier sheet during deployment of the guidance wing.