NIST Virtual Museum Banner Link to NIST Homepage Link to NIST Virtual Museum Link to NIST Library Rabinow Banner for Navigation

First Model Adjustable Arming Mechanism : Jacob Rabinow

Photograph of First Model Adjustable Arming Mechanism

First Model Adjustable Arming Mechanism
ca. 1942

Rabinow designed the arming mechanism of the proximity fuse so it would only be dangerous when fired “in anger”. Using an approach that integrated acceleration and passage of time, he arranged a sequence of weights, each with a spring allowing it to go down and release the second one. If the acceleration was still 10G, the second weight would go down, releasing the third and so on. The final weight closed the circuit and armed the fuse. Rabinow’s Adjustable Arming Device extended the safe travel of proximity fuses for bombs from 2,000 feet to as much as 30,000 feet.