EP0092324A2 - Canon avec moyens de contrôle de la direction du tube - Google Patents

Canon avec moyens de contrôle de la direction du tube Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0092324A2
EP0092324A2 EP83301710A EP83301710A EP0092324A2 EP 0092324 A2 EP0092324 A2 EP 0092324A2 EP 83301710 A EP83301710 A EP 83301710A EP 83301710 A EP83301710 A EP 83301710A EP 0092324 A2 EP0092324 A2 EP 0092324A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
muzzle
optical
gun
image
barrel
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP83301710A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0092324A3 (fr
Inventor
Reginald Godfrey Wheeler
James Sherlock
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
BAE Systems Electronics Ltd
Original Assignee
Marconi Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Marconi Co Ltd filed Critical Marconi Co Ltd
Publication of EP0092324A2 publication Critical patent/EP0092324A2/fr
Publication of EP0092324A3 publication Critical patent/EP0092324A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F41—WEAPONS
    • F41G—WEAPON SIGHTS; AIMING
    • F41G3/00—Aiming or laying means
    • F41G3/32—Devices for testing or checking
    • F41G3/323—Devices for testing or checking for checking the angle between the muzzle axis of the gun and a reference axis, e.g. the axis of the associated sighting device
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F41—WEAPONS
    • F41G—WEAPON SIGHTS; AIMING
    • F41G3/00—Aiming or laying means
    • F41G3/12—Aiming or laying means with means for compensating for muzzle velocity or powder temperature with means for compensating for gun vibrations

Definitions

  • This invention relates to guns and is particularly applicable to guns having a relatively long and massive barrel such as a battle tank.
  • the direction of travel of a shell fired by a gun depends on the boreline direction of the barrel in the region of the muzzle, and even very small boreline errors can give rise to significant aiming errors at long range. It has been found that even when relatively sophisticated optical aiming sights are used to lay the gun on a target significant aiming errors can remain. These errors are at least in part due to uncertainties in the direction of the boreline of the muzzle, and they can stem from the presence of temperature gradients across the diameter of the barrel which can cause the barrel to bend slightly and from mechanical slackness in the supports which locate the barrel. It has been proposed elsewhere to compensate for these errors by aligning the aiming mark of an optical sight with a reference image obtained via a reflector mounted on the muzzle of the gun, so that movement of the muzzle caused by distortion of the barrel can be detected.
  • a gun includes a barrel mounted so as to be rotatable in elevation; an optical imaging sensor located in the vicinity of an optical aiming sight and arranged so that the muzzle of the barrel is within its field of view for all possible operational angles of elevation of the barrel, whereby it receives an image of the muzzle; and means operative to detect departures of said image from a predetermined expected position related to the nominal angle of elevation of the barrel.
  • a barrel is also movable in traverse (sometimes termed training) and such a movement may cause the image of the muzzle to shift slightly relative to the optical sensor - the amount of such shift depends on the particular geometry used to mount the barrel and the sensor.
  • the position of the image of the muzzle is also compared with its expected position in traverse to detect departures therefrom. Since the muzzle is itself viewed by the optical sensor, the location of the optical sensor is no longer critical with respect to the elevation axis of the barrel, as would be the case if a reflector were used to return a narrow beam of light in the manner of our co-pending patent application published under number 2069105A.
  • part of the optical system of the optical aiming sight is used to receive the image of the muzzle as, in general, the position of the barrel in elevation and traverse is similar to the axis of the optical aiming sight - the elevation of the barrel is varied somewhat above 'that of the optical sight depending on the range of the target which is to be engaged.
  • an optical aiming sight which is positioned to one side of the axis of the barrel and is provided with an adjustable sight mirror (sometimes termed a periscope mirror) whose angle is altered to adjust the viewing angle of elevation of the optical sight.
  • This mirror can also be conveniently used to collect the image of the muzzle, and since the muzzle is laterally off-set from the axis of the optical aiming sight, the two images, i.e. the image of the target and the image of the muzzle, can be easily separated within the aiming sight itself.
  • the optical sensor comprises an optical detector having a two dimensional image receiving surface which is used to identify the position of the muzzle.
  • the muzzle position will be accurately determined using only very simple signal processing. For example, in daylight the muzzle will appear as a very dark shape against a bright sky background. If the image detector is sufficiently sensitive, it may be possible to observe the muzzle by a similar technique even in conditions of twilight or partial darkness. However, it is preferred to position a passive light source at the muzzle so as to facilitate detection of its position during darkness.
  • the passive light source may be of a chemical nature so that its not adversely affected by the vibration and shock experienced by the muzzle when the gun is fired.
  • the degree of error can be quite significant and can arise from several sources. If the barrel is subject to uneven heating or cooling, thermal stress within it can cause a degree of bending which alters the boreline direction of the barrel in the region of the muzzle. Furthermore, it is customary to mount a barrel within acradle so that it can slide backwards within the cradle when the g un is fired so as to enable the recoil force to be absorbed. Mechanical slackness within the cradle can impart uncertainty to the boreline direction of the barrel, as can mechanical wear occurring within the trunnion bearings which supports the cradle and enable its angle of elevation to be altered.
  • a barrel 1 is slidably mounted within a cradle 2 which in turn is mounted on trunnion bearings 3 so that the barrel 1 is rotatable in elevation relative to the body of a tank (not shown) on which it is mounted.
  • An optical aiming sight 4 is mounted along side'the barrel and is positioned so that a distant target 4 can be viewed via a periscope mirror 6 which is rotatable in elevation about an axis 7.
  • a gunner acquires the target 5 i conventional manner by centering an image of the target within the cross wires of his eyepiece 8.
  • the barrel of the gun and the optical sight are both mounted on a rotatable turret so that they move together in traverse although the sight can be moved relative to the traverse axis and elevati axis to a certain extent.
  • the barrel 1 therefore points in the same general traverse direction as the optical sight, but it is off-set in elevation therefrom by an angle which is related to the range of the target. If the tank is not standing on level ground, or if a strong cross wind is blowing, the optical sight will also be effected somewhat fi the traverse angle of the barrel.
  • the boresight direction 9 of the barrel is somewhat above the 1: of sight 10 of the optical sight, but is unlikely to differ therefrom by a very large angle.
  • the position of the aiming mark in the eyepiece 8 assumes that the boreline direction of the muzzle 11 is correct, but in practice, the position of the muzzle can alter relative to the body of the tank due to mechanical wear within the cradle and the trunnion bearings as previously mentioned. Even very minor positional errors at the muzzle 11 can alter the boresight direction of the barrel and significantly reduce the probability of successfully striking a target.
  • the actual position of the muzzle 11 is viewed by an optical detector 20 via optical path 21.
  • the same periscope mirror 6 is used, since in general the angular position of the muzzle will not deviate significantly from that of the target 5.
  • the position of the muzzle is laterally off-set from the optical path 10 by the distance x and thus the optical detector 20 can be readily accommodated along side the optical sight 4.
  • the use of the deflection prism 22 and the lens 23 allow the detector 20 to be located at any convenient position adjacent to that of the optical aiming sight 4.
  • the optical detector 20 can take any convenient form, but in view of the hostile environment in which it is situated, it is preferable to use a two dimensional solid state optical sensor, which is scanned in a raster pattern in a manner which is similar to that of a television camera arrangement.
  • the optical detector 20 the actual position of the muzzle 11 can be compared with stored data relating to its proper position for each angle of elevation and traverse. If any discrepancy is found, a compensating signal can be applied to the optical sight 8, so as to produce a small shift of the aiming position.
  • the optical detector 20 receives an image of the kind illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 3.
  • This Figure represents a light background 30, consisting of relatively bright sky and a dark mass 31 representing the bulk of the barrel 1.
  • the curved interface region 32 between light and dark represents the position of the muzzle 11 itself.
  • two windows 33 and 34 are electrically inserted into the scanning raster of the optical detector and the positions of the windows are chosen so that the line 32 should pass exactly mid-way through both of the windows. Any departure from the mid position generates an error signal which is indicative of the nature and sense of the positional error. Compensation is then applied to the aiming mark in the optical sight, and as the optical sight tracks the changing position of the aiming mark the error is progressively eliminated.
  • the output of the optical detector 20 of Figure 2 is in the form of a video signal consisting of sequential line scans in the manner of a conventional television raster. This signal is received at terminal 40 and portions of it corresponding to the two line scans A and B in which the windows 33 and 34 appear are gated out by a gate circuit 41.
  • the portions of the video signal to be gated out are determined by the contents of a data store 42, which is accessed in dependence on the nominal elevation and traverse angles of the barrel 1. These angles are obtained from suitable angular position sensors 43 and 54.
  • the data store 42 thus sets a window generator 44, which generates a window signal corresponding to the duration and position of the two windows 33 and 34.
  • both windows 33 and 34 are of identical durations so that a common window generator 44 can be used, but this need not necessarily be the.case.
  • the data store 42 controls the gate circuit 41 so as to select appropriate video lines corresponding to the vertical positions of the two windows 33 and 34, the line signal corresponding to the vertical position of window 33 being termed line A and the other video line being termed line B.
  • These two video lines are passed via respective amplifiers and limiters 45 and 46 and applied to three dual input logic gates 47, 48 and 49.
  • the inverse of video line B is applied to the logic gate 49.
  • Each of the three logic gates receives an enable signal from the window generator 44 so that an output logic signal is generated accordingly.
  • the outputs of the three logic gates are subtracted at the two further logic gates 50 and 51, so as to produce the two output signals indicated adjacent to the two output terminals 52 and 53.
  • the signal received at terminal 52 is indicative of any Y axis positional error i.e. elevation error
  • the signal produced at terminal 53 is indicative of X axis error, i.e. traverse error.
  • Figure 5A showing the corresponding waveforms which result when the muzzle 11 is correctly positioned
  • Figure 5B illustrating the waveforms which result when the traverse position of the result is correct, but is low in elevation
  • Figure 6A illustrates the waveforms for the case in which the elevation position of the muzzle is correct, but the traverse is displaced to the left
  • Figure 6B illustrates a composite error in which the muzzle is both too high and displaced to the right.
  • the polarity of the Y axis signal indicates the sense of the error, and has the zero value whenno error is present.
  • the X axis signal produces a pair of pulses which are symmetrically balanced when there is no traverse error. The effect of a traverse error is to unbalance the symmetry so that from the relative durations of the pair of pulses, the sense of the error can be readily determined.
  • the two control signals X and Y are applied to the eyepiece 8 in a conventional manner so as to shift the position of the aiming mark which are viewed by a gunner.
  • control signals may be fed via a simple decoder so as to convert them to the form in which they can be accepted by the eyepiece 8, but the exact nature of the decoder will, of course, depend on the kind of eyepiece used, and the mechanism by means of which the aiming mark is moved.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aiming, Guidance, Guns With A Light Source, Armor, Camouflage, And Targets (AREA)
  • Length Measuring Devices By Optical Means (AREA)
EP83301710A 1982-04-17 1983-03-28 Canon avec moyens de contrôle de la direction du tube Withdrawn EP0092324A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8211194 1982-04-17
GB08211194A GB2119069B (en) 1982-04-17 1982-04-17 Improvements in or relating to guns

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0092324A2 true EP0092324A2 (fr) 1983-10-26
EP0092324A3 EP0092324A3 (fr) 1985-07-31

Family

ID=10529758

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP83301710A Withdrawn EP0092324A3 (fr) 1982-04-17 1983-03-28 Canon avec moyens de contrôle de la direction du tube

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0092324A3 (fr)
GB (1) GB2119069B (fr)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0188062A2 (fr) * 1984-11-19 1986-07-23 The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Aide d'alignement pour système de référence de bouche d'un canon
EP0577017A1 (fr) * 1992-06-27 1994-01-05 DST Deutsche System-Technik GmbH Dispositif pour tester le comportement dynamique de canons
WO2004055466A1 (fr) * 2002-12-17 2004-07-01 Saab Ab Methode et dispositif d'alignement d'un viseur sur le fut d'un canon
EP1510775A1 (fr) * 2003-08-28 2005-03-02 Saab Ab Méthode et dispositif d'alignement d'un canon
CN104613817A (zh) * 2015-02-12 2015-05-13 贵州景浩科技有限公司 瞄准器的亮度调节系统和瞄准器
RU2695141C2 (ru) * 2018-10-22 2019-07-22 Алексей Владимирович Зубарь Способ автоматической выверки нулевых линий прицеливания оптико-электронных каналов прицелов бронетанкового вооружения
RU198702U1 (ru) * 2019-12-13 2020-07-23 Акционерное общество "Центральный научно-исследовательский институт "Буревестник" Датчик изгиба ствола
US11060816B2 (en) 2017-12-20 2021-07-13 Sig Sauer, Inc. Digital turret ballistic aiming system

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3684383A (en) * 1969-04-22 1972-08-15 Bofors Ab Device for particularly continuous checking and/or indication of curvatures arising in gun barrels
US4020739A (en) * 1976-07-16 1977-05-03 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Fire control system
GB2069105A (en) * 1980-02-09 1981-08-19 Marconi Co Ltd Guns

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3684383A (en) * 1969-04-22 1972-08-15 Bofors Ab Device for particularly continuous checking and/or indication of curvatures arising in gun barrels
US4020739A (en) * 1976-07-16 1977-05-03 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Fire control system
GB2069105A (en) * 1980-02-09 1981-08-19 Marconi Co Ltd Guns

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0188062A2 (fr) * 1984-11-19 1986-07-23 The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Aide d'alignement pour système de référence de bouche d'un canon
EP0188062A3 (en) * 1984-11-19 1988-01-20 The Secretary Of State For Defence In Her Britannic Majesty's Government Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Alignment aid for gun muzzle reference system
EP0577017A1 (fr) * 1992-06-27 1994-01-05 DST Deutsche System-Technik GmbH Dispositif pour tester le comportement dynamique de canons
WO2004055466A1 (fr) * 2002-12-17 2004-07-01 Saab Ab Methode et dispositif d'alignement d'un viseur sur le fut d'un canon
EP1510775A1 (fr) * 2003-08-28 2005-03-02 Saab Ab Méthode et dispositif d'alignement d'un canon
CN104613817A (zh) * 2015-02-12 2015-05-13 贵州景浩科技有限公司 瞄准器的亮度调节系统和瞄准器
US11060816B2 (en) 2017-12-20 2021-07-13 Sig Sauer, Inc. Digital turret ballistic aiming system
RU2695141C2 (ru) * 2018-10-22 2019-07-22 Алексей Владимирович Зубарь Способ автоматической выверки нулевых линий прицеливания оптико-электронных каналов прицелов бронетанкового вооружения
RU198702U1 (ru) * 2019-12-13 2020-07-23 Акционерное общество "Центральный научно-исследовательский институт "Буревестник" Датчик изгиба ствола

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2119069A (en) 1983-11-09
GB2119069B (en) 1985-10-16
EP0092324A3 (fr) 1985-07-31

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Inventor name: SHERLOCK, JAMES

Inventor name: WHEELER, REGINALD GODFREY