ES2908991T3 - Gun tube for a submarine - Google Patents

Abstract

Weapon tube (10) for a submarine with an ejection device, wherein the ejection device comprises at least one first working cylinder (20) and at least one first pressure accumulator (30), wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) is arranged, wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) has at least one first working cylinder side (22), wherein the first working cylinder side (22) is gas-filled, wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) comprises at least one second working cylinder side (24), wherein the second working cylinder side (24) is filled with a liquid, in wherein the at least one pressure accumulator (30) comprises at least one first side of the pressure accumulator (32), wherein the first side of the pressure accumulator (32) is filled with gas, wherein the at least one first accumulator (30) comprises at least one second side of the pressure accumulator (34), where the second The first side of the pressure accumulator (34) is filled with a liquid, wherein the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator (34) and the at least one second side of the working cylinder (24) are connected to each other via of at least one first connection (40), wherein the first connection (40) comprises a first valve (42), wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) comprises a working piston (50), where the working piston (50) separates the at least one first working cylinder side (22) and the at least one second working cylinder side (24), wherein the working piston (50) is connected to a device coupling device (60), wherein the coupling device (60) is configured to eject a weapon (80) from the weapon tube (10).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Gun tube for a submarine

The invention relates to a gun tube for a submarine, with an ejection device having a compact design and the possibility of silently ejecting a gun.

Gun tubes are used on military ships to house and eject objects. A gun tube is understood to be a tube with a round cross-section to a first approximation. Typical weapons tubes are, for example, torpedo tubes or ejection devices for decoys or sonar devices. According to the invention, the objects include weapons such as torpedoes, missiles, mines and decoys, but also stowage containers. Stowage containers within the meaning of the present invention are stowage containers such as those used in submarines for ejection through torpedo tubes. These stowage containers are used to transport equipment, for example for divers, and to eject it from a submarine, especially also underwater, in case of operational use.

A weapon in the sense of the invention is in particular a torpedo, a missile, a decoy or a mine. These types of weapons are usually carried by warships, such as corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers or submarines. These weapons are usually ejected through a gun tube, where other types of ejection are also common.

For the purposes of the invention, it is understood that the interior of a submarine is the pressure body, so that the exterior is the environment of the submarine. In this way, an inner part is to be understood close to the pressure body, an outer part is to be understood remote from the pressure body and arranged towards the environment.

A submarine wand tube differs from other gun tubes in that the gun tube connects the interior, inside the pressure body, with the surroundings, outside the pressure body. In order to be able to reload a gun tube of a submarine, the gun tube must be configured in such a way that it then forms part of the pressure body and can thus fully withstand the ambient pressure. On the other hand, a gun tube must be brought to ambient pressure to eject the gun. This means that the interior of the gun tube must now be pressure-tight with respect to the interior of the submarine. This fundamentally distinguishes gun tubes for submarines from gun tubes for surface ships, land vehicles or aircraft, since, for example, all passages in the gun tube must also be designed with corresponding airtightness. the pressure. Also, the space available on a submarine is often very small, as unnecessary space creates additional buoyancy and thus leads to a significant increase in the size of other components of the submarine, especially ballast devices.

There are a large number of different weapon tubes, especially in the technique used to eject a weapon. A gun is usually expelled by means of compressed air. This allows a weapon, for example a torpedo, to be ejected comparatively quickly and easily. This also allows for high acceleration, necessary to accelerate a comparatively heavy torpedo up to its ejection speed in the short length of the gun tube. The disadvantage is that this procedure is comparatively noisy. When launching a torpedo, this can be accepted in the normal combat situation, since the ejected torpedo already reveals the position of the launch due to the comparatively high speed of the propeller.

Also, there are gun barrels that do not have an active gun ejection system. From these gun tubes the gun escapes, ie the gun comes out of the gun tube on its own and with its own force. For example, a torpedo can slip down a gun tube.

However, there are also situations where silent ejection is advantageous or a weapon must be ejected from a gun tube, for which a conventional ejection system cannot be used. For example, mines cannot be ejected from a gun tube, which is designed exclusively for self-launching torpedoes, since mines are usually not self-propelled.

From DE 102015 202 553 A1 a device for carrying and storing a weapon with a push chain is known. However, this device is only for reloading a weapon tube and cannot be used to eject a weapon.

Document ES 102015205203 A1 discloses a weapon ejection device that can be inserted into a weapon tube and that has at least one first push chain. However, an appropriate weapons ejection device must be removed from the weapon tube for reloading and stored inside a submarine when not in use.

EP 0151 980 A2 discloses an ejection device with a piston-water-cylinder unit, the actuation of which takes place via a hydraulic actuating cylinder arrangement.

From DE 10 2014 217 747 A1 a submarine with an ejection tube and an ejection device with a working cylinder is known.

DE 102016201 101 B4 discloses a weapon ejection device with a water piston cylinder for a pressurized water ejection.

From DE 3720401 A1 a transport device in a torpedo tube with a piston-cylinder unit and a Bowden cable is known.

From US 3631 760 A a catapult for launching a torpedo is known.

From EP 0295600 A2 a transport device in a torpedo tube of a submarine is known. The object of the invention is to provide a weapon tube which, together with the ejection device, saves a great deal of space and allows a weapon to be ejected quietly and quickly.

This task is solved by a gun barrel with the features stated in claim 1. Advantageous further developments result from the dependent claims, the following description and the drawings.

The gun barrel according to the invention for a submarine with an ejection device comprises at least one first working cylinder and at least one first pressure accumulator. The at least one first working cylinder is arranged inside the gun barrel. The at least one first working cylinder has at least one first working cylinder side. The first side of the working cylinder is filled with gas, eg air, nitrogen, helium, argon or a mixture thereof, preferably nitrogen. The at least one first working cylinder has at least one second working cylinder side. The second side of the working cylinder is filled with a liquid. For example, water or oil, especially mineral oil or silicone oil, can be used as the liquid. Liquids have a low compressibility, so a change in pressure produces only a very small change in volume. It is advantageous to have a low viscosity of the liquid to allow rapid ejection. A non-aqueous liquid is advantageous to prevent corrosion. The at least one pressure accumulator has at least a first pressure accumulator side. The first side of the pressure accumulator is filled with gas, eg air, nitrogen, helium, argon or a mixture thereof, preferably nitrogen. Particularly preferably, the gas on the first side of the pressure accumulator and on the first side of the working cylinder are identical. The at least one first pressure accumulator has at least one second pressure accumulator side. The second side of the pressure accumulator is filled with a liquid. The at least one second side of the pressure accumulator and the at least one second side of the working cylinder are connected to each other via at least one first connection, where the first connection comprises a first valve. The at least one first working cylinder comprises a working piston, wherein the working piston separates the at least one first side of the working cylinder and the at least one second side of the working cylinder. The power plunger is connected to a coupling device, the coupling device being configured to eject a weapon from the weapon barrel.

In addition to this, the ejection device according to the invention results in silent ejection of the weapon. A common problem with the mechanical ejection of the weapon is usually the stop of the working plunger at the end of the working cylinder, which produces a loud noise and makes the submarine locatable. However, during ejection, the gas on the first side of the working cylinder is compressed. Due to the rapid ejection, it is a first approximation of the adiabatic compression of an ideal gas, where the pressure changes as a function of the remaining volume of the first side of the working cylinder.

In this way, the pressure builds up very slowly at first. Shortly before reaching the end of the working cylinder, the volume of the first side of the working cylinder becomes very small and the pressure increases very rapidly. In this way, shortly before reaching the stop, braking is reached until stopping without the working piston reaching the stop. Therefore, no noise is produced.

The system is driven by the pressurized gas on the first side of the pressure accumulator. At the end of ejection, the first side of the pressure accumulator and the first side of the working cylinder have the same pressure.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the at least one first pressure accumulator is arranged inside the gun barrel. This embodiment is advantageous, because all relevant components are arranged in the gun barrel. If, in particular, the pressure accumulator were located outside the gun tube, as is customary today, a comparatively large passage would have to lead into the gun tube.

However, since the gun tube is also part of the pressure body, large steps are problematic. However, the smaller the pitch, the greater the pressure losses and the lower the maximum achievable ejection velocity of the weapon. A pressure accumulator outside the gun tube is also not necessary. Especially also in comparison to ejection of the weapon with water (by introducing water into the weapon tube behind the weapon), only a small volume is required in the pressure accumulator, since only the volume in the working cylinder needs to be filled with the pressurized liquid.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the volume of the at least one pressure accumulator is 1.5 to four times greater than the volume of the working cylinder. If the volume is about 1.5 times larger, the pressure in the first zone of the pressure accumulator is reduced to about 20% to a first approximation; if the volume is about 4 times larger, the pressure is reduced to about 70% of the initial pressure. This adjusts the energy used by the compressed gas for ejection.

In another embodiment of the invention, the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator and the at least one second side of the working cylinder are connected to each other via a second connection, the second connection comprising means for actively conveying the liquid. Through the second connection, the liquid can be pumped back again after the ejection of a weapon. This also increases the pressure on the first side of the pressure accumulator again, since liquid is transported to the second side of the pressure accumulator, which therefore has to occupy more space again and thus the first side of the pressure accumulator is thus reduced in terms of space. The active transport means are preferably arranged outside the gun tube. Since time is not particularly critical here, the diameter of the second connection can be kept small so that it is only necessary to provide very small passages through the gun tube in order to arrange the active transport means outside.

In another embodiment of the invention, the working piston is connected to a piston rod. The stem has a first reversing pulley at the end opposite the working piston, where a first traction device reverses around the first reversing pulley. The first traction device is connected to a coupling device. This causes the gun to be ejected at twice the speed of the working plunger.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the at least one first working cylinder and the at least one first pressure accumulator are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the gun barrel.

In another embodiment of the invention, the first connection has a first minimum cross section, where the first minimum cross section has at least 50% of the cross section of the working cylinder.

In another embodiment of the invention, the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator and the at least one second side of the working cylinder are interconnected through a third connection, the third connection comprising means for regulating the flow . While the first connection is intended to allow rapid ejection, for example to eject a torpedo at maximum speed, the third connection is used to eject objects at low speed, for example mines or dunnage containers. The third connection may have a small cross section. In this way, the third connection can be located inside or outside the gun tube.

In another embodiment of the invention, the first side of the pressure accumulator comprises at least one first compression spring. The first compression spring can be designed as a single, one-piece compression spring. The first compression spring can also be designed in several parts, in which case the partial springs are preferably arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the pressure accumulator. Two or more compression springs can also be arranged one inside the other.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the first side of the pressure accumulator in the ready-for-use state has a pressure of from 150 bar to 1,000 bar, preferably from 200 bar to 600 bar, particularly preferably from 250 bar to 400 bars. In the ready-to-use state, the first side of the working cylinder has a pressure of from 1 bar to 10 bar, preferably from 1 bar to 5 bar, particularly preferably from 2 bar to 4 bar.

In the following, the gun barrel according to the invention is explained in more detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings.

Figure 1 View of a weapon tube according to the invention

Figure 2 Ejection device ready for use

Figure 3 Ejection device at the end of the ejection process

In Fig. 1, a gun tube 10 according to the invention is shown with a working cylinder 20, which runs in the longitudinal direction of the gun tube 10, and a pressure accumulator 30, which runs in the longitudinal direction. of the gun tube 10. The working cylinder 20 and the pressure accumulator 30 are connected to each other via a first connection 40. In addition to this, the working cylinder 20 and the pressure accumulator 30 are connected to each other via of a second connection 90 and a third connection 120, wherein the second connection 90 and the third connection 120 extend partially outside the gun barrel 10 and are therefore not fully visible. Fig. 2 shows the ejection device in the state ready for ejection (basic state). Gun tube 10 has been omitted for simplicity. The perspective has also been simplified, since the weapon 80 is arranged above the working cylinder 20 and the pressure cylinder 30, ie rotated by 90°, for reasons of space. In reality, the weapon 80 also has a significantly larger diameter compared to the working cylinder 20 and the pressure accumulator 30, as can be seen to some extent in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3, the ejection device is shown at the end of the ejection process (distended state), immediately before the weapon 80 leaves the weapon tube 10.

In the basic state, the first side of the pressure accumulator 32 occupies a comparatively small part of the pressure accumulator 30 and is under high pressure; in the relaxed state, the volume of the first side of the pressure accumulator 32 is correspondingly higher and the pressure is lower. Consequently, the second side of the pressure accumulator 34 is larger in the basic state and smaller in the relaxed state. The liquid has circulated between these states through the first connection 40 and the first valve 42 to the second side of the working cylinder 24. Since liquids are not very compressible, the sum of the volumes of the second side of the working cylinder 24 and on the second side of the accumulator pressure 34 is constant to a first approximation. Consequently, the first side of the working cylinder 22 (not visible in Fig. 2) occupies most of the volume of the working cylinder 20, and the gas pressure in the first side of the working cylinder 22 is correspondingly low. In the relaxed state, the gas pressure on the first side of the working cylinder 22 is correspondingly higher and is in equilibrium with the gas pressure on the first side of the pressure accumulator 32. The flow of liquid from the second side of the accumulator 34 to the second side of the working cylinder 24 causes the working piston 50 to move to the left, in the case shown. The piston rod 52 also moves with the working piston 50. At the end of the piston rod 52, a first deflection pulley 100 is arranged, on which a first traction device 110 runs. The first traction device accelerates at In this connection, the coupling device 60, which in turn accelerates the weapon 80. The weapon 80 thus covers a double section of the working piston 50. In order for the coupling device to easily return to the initial position, the ejection device it has a second deflection pulley 102, so when the working plunger 50 moves backwards, the coupling device 60 also moves backwards at the same time.

To return the ejection device from the distended state back to the basic state, the device comprises a second connection 90 having an active transport means 92, for example a pump. In the example shown, the active transport means 92 are arranged outside the gun tube 10. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that only a very small passage through the pressure body of the gun tube 10 is necessary for this. In order to be able to eject mines as well, for example, the ejection device has a third connection 120. To specifically regulate the ejection speed, the third connection has means for regulating the flow 122. The means for regulating the flow 122, like the active transport means 92, in the example shown, they are arranged outside the gun tube 10.

Compression springs 130 are disposed within the first side of pressure accumulator 32. In the case shown, four individual compression springs 130 are separated by three plungers, the plungers being gas permeable in the example shown. In order to fill the first side of the pressure accumulator 32 with gas, the ejection device has a gas supply.

To open the first valve 42, the ejection device may comprise an activation device 140. Reference symbols

10 Gun Tube

20 work cylinder

22 First side of working cylinder

24 Second side of working cylinder

30 pressure accumulator

32 First pressure accumulator side

34 Second pressure accumulator side

40 first connection

42 First valve

50 working plunger

52 piston rod

60 coupling device

Weapon

second connection

Active means of transport First deflection pulley Second deflection pulley First traction device Third connection

Means to regulate the flow Compression spring Activation device Gas supply

Claims (10)

1. - Weapon tube (10) for a submarine with an ejection device, wherein the ejection device comprises at least one first working cylinder (20) and at least one first pressure accumulator (30), wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) is arranged, wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) has at least one first working cylinder side (22), wherein the first working cylinder side ( 22) is filled with gas, wherein the at least one first working cylinder (20) comprises at least one second working cylinder side (24), wherein the second working cylinder side (24) is filled with a liquid, wherein the at least one pressure accumulator (30) comprises at least one first side of the pressure accumulator (32), wherein the first side of the pressure accumulator (32) is filled with gas, wherein the at least a first pressure accumulator (30) comprises at least a second side of the pressure accumulator (34), wherein the second side of the pressure accumulator (34) is filled with a liquid, wherein the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator (34) and the at least one second side of the working cylinder (24) are connected to each other through of at least one first connection (40), where the first connection (40) comprises a first valve (42), where the at least one first working cylinder (20) comprises a working piston (50), where the working piston (50) separates the at least one first working cylinder side (22) and the at least one second working cylinder side (24), wherein the working piston (50) is connected to a device coupling device (60), wherein the coupling device (60) is configured to eject a weapon (80) from the weapon tube (10). 2. - Weapon tube (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one first pressure accumulator (30) is arranged inside the weapon tube (10). 3. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the volume of the at least one pressure accumulator (30) is 1.5 to four times greater than the volume of the working cylinder (20). 4. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator (34) and the at least one second side of the working cylinder (24) are connected to each other at through a second connection (90), the second connection (90) having a means for the active transport (92) of the liquid, the means for the active transport (92) preferably being disposed outside the gun tube (10). 5. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the working piston (50) is connected to a piston rod (52), the piston rod (52) having a first deflection pulley ( 100) at the end opposite the working piston (50), a first traction device (110) being inverted around the first deflection pulley (100), the first traction device (110) being connected to a coupling device (60). 6. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one first working cylinder (20) and the at least one first pressure accumulator (30) are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the tube weapon (10). 7. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first connection (40) has a first minimum cross section, the first minimum cross section being at least 50% of the cross section of the working cylinder (twenty). 8. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one second side of the pressure accumulator (34) and the at least one second side of the working cylinder (24) are interconnected through a third connection (120), the third connection (120) comprising means for regulating the flow (122). 9. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first side of the pressure accumulator (32) comprises at least one first compression spring (130). 10. - Weapon tube (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first side of the pressure accumulator (32) in the ready-for-use state has a pressure of 150 bar to 1,000 bar, preferably 200 bar to 600 bar, particularly preferably from 250 bar to 400 bar, wherein the first side of the working cylinder (22) in the ready-for-use state has a pressure of from 1 bar to 10 bar, preferably from 1 bar to 5 bar, particularly preferably 2 bar to 4 bar.