GB2043846A - Movable Target - Google Patents

Abstract

A target display is mounted on a carriage (4) which is propelled along a longitudinally extending beam (2) by means of a motor driven wire and pulley system. The target can be moved from an observable position to an unobservable position and vice versa by rotating the beam and hence the carriage itself by means of an electro-hydraulic drive unit (11) located at the end of the beam. In one embodiment the beam is constructed from a plurality of beam sections longitudinally connected to form a continuous track of any desired length. The beam is supported by longitudinally spaced pedestals which connect adjacent beam sections and provide a bearing for rotation of the beam. The pedestals are constructed to ensure that the carriage may run along the beam and the beam can be rotated without the carriage fouling the pedestals. The raising and lowering of the target and movement along the beam may conveniently be controlled by short wave radio and the apparatus may be powered by a standard 12v car battery. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Target Apparatus The present invention relates to target apparatus, particularly for use in troop training.

Target apparatus in which the target itself is movable from an unobservable to an observable position has been used to give greater realism to target training situations and this realism is enhanced by making the target movable also across a target area. By a combination of these two modes of operation a target can for example be made to appear to the trainee and move and then disappear and, with continuing movement out of sight of the trainee, to reappear at a different position. The element of movement and of surprise is thus built in to the training situation.

Geographically mobile targets have heretofore consisted of targets which can be raised and lowered and which are mounted on trollies driven along on rails. In order that only the target should show on the ground it is necessary with these prior art targets to provide the railway for the trollies in a trench which is deep enough to hide the trolley and its target when in the lowered position. On a signal from a command position the target may be raised and if desired the trolley moved, to provide thereby a moving target.

Apparatus of this kind is described in UK Patent No 1,367,752 and it will be readily appreciated that this system of target apparatus is not only elaborate in itself but furthermore requires extensive and relatively expensive preparation of the training ground in order to provide the hidden track on which the trollies may run. Because of the elaborate preparation of the ground required the target paths tend to become fixed and much of the usefulness of movable targets is thereby lost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a movable target apparatus which is relatively simple in construction, which requires only minimal ground preparation before use and which is readily portable and re-arrangeable to provide different target "runs".

Accordingly the present invention provides a target apparatus for training which comprises: a longitudinally extending beam, means for supporting said beam clear of the ground, a carriage adapted to run along said beam; means for propelling said carriage along the beam in response to signals communicated to said apparatus and a target display means carried by said carriage. Preferably the target display means extends laterally of said beam and the apparatus further includes means for rotating the beam so as to bring the target display means into a horizontal or vertical position as desired in response to further signals communicated to the apparatus or in accordance with a preprogrammed sequence of instructions initiated by a single initial signal.

Communication to the apparatus of the invention will conveniently be by means of a radio transmitter, preferably short-wave, an aerial and receiver equipment being provided on a suitable part of the apparatus, preferably as far distant from the actual target as possible. Alternatively communication may be by electrical signal conducted along land lines to the apparatus, but as this method reduces the inherently high mobility of the apparatus it is less preferred. As indicated above the apparatus may also include programming means such that it can be preprogrammed to carry out a desired sequence of operations after receipt of a single initiary signal without any further outside (remote) control.In any event it is convenient, whatever the form of control, for the beam to be provided at each end with limit switches so that the means for propelling the carriage (eg. a driving motor) is switched off when the carriage has traversed the length of the beam. Time delay circuits may also be incorporated in control circuitry for the carriage propelling means so that after a desired interval the propelling means will be switched on again to draw the carriage back to the other end of the beam. This as will be appreciated represents a very simple form of pre-programming of the target apparatus and may in particular be appropriate to the control of a basic apparatus in which the target display means is always in the observable (upright) position.This type of apparatus may commonly be located behind a doorway or window so that the figure displayed thereon appears to run back and forth across the opening. In "open field" situations more complex operations, including raising and lowering of the target are normally required and for these situations remote control or more sophisticated programming facilities will be necessary. The design and incorporation of such facilities are well understood by those skiiled in the design of target apparatus as they are commonly used in conjunction with heretofore conventional target equipment and it will not therefore be necessary to consider this aspect of the apparatus in any greater detail herein.

The means for supporting the beam conveniently comprise a member extending laterally of the beam on which feet may be mounted. Where there is a carriage driving motor mounted at one end of the beam, the casing for the motor may conveniently act as one of the supports for the beam, unless the beam has to be rotated in which case a separate support is required, which may again be a laterally extending member on which feet may be mounted. These members must of course be so constructed as to allow rotation of the beam if this is required.To accommodate stable placing of the beam on rough or uneven ground it will be preferred generally to arrange that the support member has vertically extendable feet, and it will be appreciated that by making provision of this kind it will be possible to set up the apparatus of this invention without any great amount of preparation of the ground beforehand other than the removal of any large obstructions such as rocks, trees, shrubs and the like, which may be at the desired site.

The means for supporting the beam clear of the ground may comprise a plurality of longitudinally spaced pedestal assemblies.

Conveniently the beam is constructed from a plurality of beam sections, connections between each pair of longitudinally successive beam sections being provided by a respective pedestal assembly.

When appropriate each pedestal assembly may provide a bearing for rotation of the beam about its longitudinal axis.

The bearing for the beam may conveniently comprise a connecting element rotatable in the pedestal assembly, the connecting element being shaped to receive the adjacent ends of longitudinally successive beam sections so that the beam sections are constrained to rotate with the connecting element.

In order to make transportation of the target apparatus easier the support member or members may be made detachable therefrom. For the same reason the beam itself is preferably of tubular construction and, for lightness and because of its open-air use, the beam is most desirably made of light steel suitably protected or of a strong, light, durable alloy e.g. aluminium alloy. The carriage is likewise preferably of lightweight construction and is arranged to run on the beam by any suitable bearing means such as with wheels or using roller or ball bearing arrangements.Where the beam is to be rotatable such that the carriage should be able to run along it when in either of two attitudes, it has been found to be most convenient to use a beam having one or more flat sides, particularly a beam of rectangular or square section and to have a carriage which is provided with one or more bearing members adapted to run along the beam surface and to prevent rotation of the carriage around the longitudinal axis of the beam. In the case of a rectangular or square-section beam the carriage preferably has four sides and carries bearings at each longitudinal end of each side of the carriage.

These bearings are most suitably roller bearings which are arranged to bear against the four faces of the beam and thus to keep the carriage aligned with the beam. Alternatively the bearings may be wheels which are adapted to bear against the edges of the beam. In this way whatever the orientation of the beam the carriage can be ensured of smooth travel along the beam. The roller bearings or wheels are preferably of a material such as nylon which allows quiet and smooth travel of the carriage. Alternatively the bearings may be of steel coated with a material such as rubber.

Beams of other section, eg. of Section, may of course be used, in conjunction with carriages having different arrangements of bearings or wheels as appropriate and the specific design of such details will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The design of the beam and carriage, in particular in regard to their robustness will be dependent upon the manner of mounting the motor, and, where the target is to be raised and lowered, upon the manner of mounting the means for effecting this. Although both of these pieces of equipment may be mounted on the carriage this is not convenient because a stronger and heavier carriage and beam would then be needed. It is for this reason that it is preferred to effect raising and lowering of the target by rotating the whole combination of beam, carriage and target display means, since in this case the means for raising and lowering the target is mounted off the beam as a separate unit, preferably being connected to the latter by a detachable coupling so that the rotating means or actuator unit can be transported separately from the beam etc.It also allows the target raise/lower actuator unit to be physically distanced from the target somewhat thereby increasing the security of the mechanism.

Because of this it is often also convenient to include in the target raise/lower actuator unit other sensitive items of equipment eg. a radio receiver, control equipment and a power source for the whole apparatus if it is intended to be self contained. Where the target raise/lower actuator comprises a means for rotating the beam of the apparatus of this invention it conveniently consists of an electro-hydraulic drive unit, the stroke of the hydraulic piston of which is transmitted via a lever which is rotatable with the beam. The lever is preferably coupled to the beam via a universal joint to allow for unevenness in the ground on which the unit and beam etc. are placed.

The target raise/lower actuator may be so arranged that when the target is struck, the actuator will operate so as to lower the target out of sight of the marksman, thus giving an immediate visual indication of the hit. This is conveniently done by arranging that when the target is hit the shock causes a spring-loaded microswitch to open a contact and break a circuit controlling the target raise/lower actuator. The circuit is arranged in such a manner that on being broken the actuator operates to lower the target out of sight.

As indicated the power source for the target apparatus may be self-contained in which case a standard car battery may be used. Alternatively power cables may be laid to the vicinity of a site for setting up target apparatuses and each apparatus may be provided with a length of cable at the end of which is a suitable connector so that the apparatus can just be "plugged-in" to the onsite power supply.

As to the carriage propulsion means, this can be a motor which is also mounted off the beam and carriage system altogether but as this would require the use of complicated drive connections to accommodate random positioning of the motor relative to the rest of the equipment it is preferred to mount the motor actually on the beam. This is particularly so in the case where the beam is designed to be rotated and in this instance it gives a much simpler arrangement of the carriage drive system if the motor can be affixed so as to rotate with the beam. Where the beam does not rotate the motor housing conveniently forms a support for the apparatus on the ground.

The manner of driving the carriage back and forth along the beam is preferably as follows. A pulley wheel is mounted on the motor drive shaft adjacent one end of the beam and a freelyrotatable pulley wheel fixed at the other end of the beam. Several turns of a suitable flexible tension member such as wire or rope material are wound around the driving pulley wheel, one of these turns extending around the other pulley.

This turn is attached to the carriage, so that as the motor turns the driven pulley the carriage is drawn along the beam. By having several turns of wire or rope around the driving pulley this latter will act as a capstan and so can be turned in either direction to pull the carriage along the beam correspondingly in either direction.

Although the wire or rope (preferably a heavy duty cord material) may be continuous, it is preferably an open length and is attached at its respective ends to the two ends of the carriage via tensioning springs which assist in maintaining the correct tension in the drive cord. Thus if for example the cord becomes wet and stretches the springs will contract so as to maintain the correct tension on the cord and prevent the cord from slipping around the driving pulley.

The motor driving the driving pulley may be fitted with a gearbox to allow the carriage to be driven along the beam at different speeds if this is desired. Normally however a fixed reduction gearing will be adequate.

The carriage carries a target display means for mounting thereon a target. Targets conventionally consist of a board (commonly of wood eg.

plywood) carrying a representation of a soldier or of a piece of equipment such as a tank.

Alternatively the board may be shaped to the appropriate outline. The target display means consists of any suitable device for mounting such a target and is conveniently a U-shaped channel into which the bottom edge of the target can be slotted together with equipment, such as bolts or clamps for holding the target in the channel. By having such means of attachment of the target to the carriage it is possible to change the target board easily eg. in the event of damage thereto or because of changed requirements.

In order that the apparatus of this invention might be more fully apprehended, two embodiments thereof will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a first embodiment of target apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a view in plan of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a view in sectional elevation of a second embodiment of target apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 5 is an end view of the apparatus of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a view in sectional elevation of a pedestal assembly according to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 4 and 5.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, a target apparatus with running man facility according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 1. The apparatus comprises a beam 2 carrying a motor and gearbox unit 3 at one end and forming a carriageway for a mobile carriage 4.

The carriage 4 carries a target support 5 into which a target board 6 may be fitted.

The beam carries at one end a free running pulley 7 while at the other end of the beam where the motor is attached, the motor drive shaft carries a capstan pulley 8. Several turns of a heavy duty cord 9 are passed around pulley 8 and one turn extends along the beam and around pulley 7, open ends of this turn being attached to ends of carriage 4 through tensioning springs 10, 10', secured to the carriage frame.

At the end of the beam adjacent the motor is situated an electro-hydraulic mechanism 1 , for rotating the beam and target about the longitudinal axis of the beam. The mechanism (or target raise/lower actuator) is connected to the beam through a universal joint 12, and acts as a support for the beam at that end. At the other end of the beam is another support 13, which includes a bearing to allow rotation of the beam about its longitudinal axis.

Referring to Figure 2 of the drawings, adjacent the ends of the beam are shown limit switches 14, 14' which make contact with respective extensions 15, 1 5' on the carriage at the extremes of travel of the carriage along the beam, and cause the motor to be reversed so as to cause the carriage to change direction. The beam also carries positive stops 18, 18' at each end to prevent over-run of the carriage which might occur particularly when the beam is on a slope.

The construction of carriage 4 is best appreciated from Figure 3 and comprises four lengths of angle strip 4a-4d arranged with their apices at the corners of a square. These strips are formed with holes in which stub axles on four roller bearings 1 6a-1 6d are rotatably retained.

These roller bearings bear against the four sides of hollow beam 2. Bridging two of the angle strips are two plates 5 forming part of the support system for target board 6. The plates each carry supports for a longitudinally-extending block 1 7 in which the board 6 may be clamped. The carriage 4 may carry a lamp in order to illuminate board 6 for night time target practice.

A battery to drive the apparatus together with a radio receiver and aerial if used, and control circuitry may be situated with the target raise/lower actuator in unit 11. Cables for power and instructions to the motor unit (and to an illumination lamp if fitted) are omitted from the drawings for the sake of clarity.

As shown in figures 4 to 6 of the drawings a second embodiment of target apparatus according to the invention includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced pedestal assemblies 1 9.

Each pedestal assembly comprises an upright pedestal 20 having a base 24 and an arm 21 extending upwardly at an angle of 450 to the horizontal from the upper end of the pedestal.

Located at the upper end of the arm is a bearing 22 into which is rotatably received a cylindrical shaft 23 extending longitudinally on either side of the pedestal 20.

Fixed to the shaft on either side of the pedestal are two sleeves 25 of square external cross section, each sleeve 25 having an axial bore 26 therein within which an end of the shaft 23 is received. Holes 31 through the diameter of the shaft and sleeve provide a means for securing the sleeve to the shaft eg by pins (not shown).

A tubular beam comprises a plurality of beam sections 27 each of similar square cross section.

The end of a beam section 27 is fitted snugly over the end of each sleeve 25 so that the beam sections 27 meet at 28 to form a continuous track. Each beam section 27 has a recessed portion at each of its ends, as shown at 29, to facilitate clearance of the beam from the pedestal 20 and arm 21 as explained hereinafter. The edges 30 of the sleeve 25 are bevelled easily to receive the beam section 27.

A carriage shown generally at 40 includes pairs of bevelled wheels 32 provided with rubber tyres 50 which engage the beam around opposite edges of its square cross section so as to straddle two opposite edges of the beam. Each pair of wheels 32 are journalled on the shaft of a bolt 38 and firm contact between the bevelled wheels 32 and the sides of the beam is facilitated by tightening a nut 33 on each bolt 38 against a spacer 34. Thrust bearings 35 are provided to assist smooth running of the wheels.

The nuts 33 also each secure a U-shaped bracket 36 on which is located a plate 37 to act as a support for a target board (not shown).

In use the carriage 40 can be propelled (by means not shown) longitudinally along the beam 27 with the bevelled wheels 32 bearing against the sides of the beam. The beam may be rotated (by means not shown), the shaft 23 of each pedestal assembly 1 9 rotating about its longitudinal axis in the bearing 22. A track of any desired length can be built up from a series of beams sections each joined and supported at their ends by pedestal assemblies 1 9. The angle of the arm 21 and the recessed portion 29 at the ends of each beam section ensure that the whole track and with it the carriage 40 may be rotated through 900 without the carriage fouling the pedestal 20 or the arm 21 as it runs along the length of the track. The target display may thus be rotated from an unobservable to an observable position, and vice versa, at any point alorg the length of the track, without the need for any motor to be mounted on the carriage for this purpose.

Claims (26)

Claims

1. Target apparatus for training comprising a longitudinally extending beam, means for supporting said beam clear of the ground, a carriage adapted to run along said beam, means for propelling said carriage along the beam in response to signals communicated to said apparatus, and a target display means carried by said carriage.

2. Target apparatus according to claim 1 in which there is provided target control means by which the target display means may be rendered observable or unobservable.

3. Target apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the target display means extends laterally of the beam and the target control means comprises a means by which the beam may be rotated about its longitudinal axis, the carriage being so mounted thereon that it is constrained to rotate with the beam.

4. Target apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the beam has one or more flat sides with which the carriage engages to constrain the carriage to rotate with the beam.

5. Target apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the means for supporting the beam clear of the ground comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced pedestal assemblies.

6. Target apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the beam is constructed from a plurality of beam sections, connections between each pair of longitudinally successive beam sections being provided by a respective pedestal assembly.

7. Target apparatus according to claims 5 or 6 when dependent on claim 3 or claim 4 wherein each pedestal assembly provides a bearing for rotation of the beam about its longitudinal axis.

8. Target apparatus according to claims 6 and 7 wherein the bearing for the beam comprises a connecting element rotatable in the pedestal assembly, the connecting element being shaped to receive the adjacent ends of longitudinally successive beam sections, so that the beam sections are constrained to rotate with the connecting element.

9. Target apparatus according either to claims 6 and 7 or to claim 8 in which adjacent end portions of the beam sections are recessed to facilitate clearance between the beam and the pedestal assembly when the beam is rotated about its longitudinal axis.

10. Target apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 9 wherein the target control means comprises a motor.

11. Target apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the motor is an electro-hydraulic unit.

12. Target apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11 wherein the motor acts as a beam support.

13. Target apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 12 wherein the motor is connected to the beam through a universal coupling.

14. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim wherein the carriage includes one or more carriage bearing members which engage the beam, said bearing members being in the form of rollers or wheels.

1 5. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim in which the means for propelling the carriage comprises at least two pulleys mounted at locations spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the beam, a flexible tension member passing around the pulleys and connected to the carriage and driving means whereby the flexible tension member may be drawn around the pulleys.

16. Target apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the flexible tension member includes one or more tensioning springs.

1 7. Target apparatus according to claim 15 or claim 16 in which the driving means for the flexible tension member is an electric motor.

1 8. Target apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 17 in which there is provided a hit detection means by which the target control means may be actuated whenever the target is hit.

1 9. Target apparatus according to claim 18 wherein the hit detection means is a spring loaded microswitch.

20. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim in which the means for supporting the beam comprises a support member extending laterally of the beam and one or more feet which may depend from the said support member.

21. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim in which the beam is of an aluminium alloy or of steel.

22. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim wherein the target display means comprises a board received in a U-shaped channel and means for restraining the removal of the target from the channel.

23. Target apparatus according to any one preceding claim wherein the carriage propulsion means may be actuated by means of a short wave radio transmitter.

24. Target apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 23 wherein the target control means may be actuated by means of a short wave radio transmitter.

25. Target apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

26. Target apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.