GB2189580A - Arrangement for a power supply unit on a transportable gun - Google Patents

Abstract

On a transportable gun having a wheeled transport position and a lowered combat position the power supply unit 2 is mounted on the end of the gun below the gun barrels by means of hoisting and lowering gear in such a way that it can be raised into a transport position in which there is adequate ground clearance and lowered into a combat position in which it is outside the swivelling range of the gun barrels. Four swivel arms 12, 13 form a parallelogram, the arms being hinged at 15 on the gun carriage 1 and at 16 on the unit 2. The arms can be raised and lowered by hydraulic cylinders 17 hinged to the carriage and to the arms, the cylinders being operated by a hand pump (38) or an accumulator 39. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Arrangement for a power supply unit on a transportable gun This invention relates to an arrangement for a power supply unit on a transportable gun that is on wheels when in the transport position and is lowered to the ground for the combat position.

A power supply unit exhibits a petrol or diesel engine and a generator for producing current and takes up a relatively large amount of space. On the one hand, while the gun is being transported this unit needs to be far enough from the ground for it not to bump the ground on uneven terrain, e.g. on embankments, and on the other hand in the combat position said unit must not reduce the freedom of movement of the gun barrels.

In known transportable guns of this type either one or the other of these two requirements is not met.

The object to be achieved by the present invention consists in so arranging the power supply unit on the transportable gun that both requirements are met, i.e. during transport there should be adequate ground clearance to prevent the power supply unit from being damaged even when the terrain is irregular, and in the combat position the power supply unit should be outside the swivelling range of the transportable gun's barrels.

In accordance with the invention this object is achieved because the power supply unit is attached by means of hoisting and lowering gear berow the gun barrels at the end of the gun and can be raised and rowered, being hoisted in the transport position and lowered in the combat position.

At the same time this hoisting and lowering gear acts as a mounting for the power supply unit. With its help the power supply unit can be locked in two positions. In the upper position, i.e. the transport position, the required ground crearance during transport is ensured.

In the lower position, i.e. the firing position or combat position, the gun barrels are ensured the same unimpeded swivelling range as before. The lifting and lowering movement is preferably carried out using hydrauric cylinders supplied either from a hand pump or from an accumulator.

Two embodiments of the power supply unit according to the invention for a transportable gun are described in detail below with the aid of the accompanying drawing, where: Fig. 1 is a side view of the whole gun in the combat or firing position; Fig. 2 is a side view of the gun of Fig.

in the transport position; Fig. 3 is a side view of the hoisting and lowering gear for the power supply on the gun shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with an accumulator; Fig. 4 is a view from the rear of the hoisting and lower gear represented in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a hand pump assembly in a second embodiment.

In Figs. 1 and 2 a power supply unit 2 is located at the rear extremity of a carriage 1.

Four wheels 3 have been folded down for the combat or firing position and the carriage 1 stands on feet 4, which can be raised and lowered hydraulically in conventional manner.

The power supply unit 2 contains a petrol or diesel engine and a generator for producing current. These units are not, however, represented in the drawing. On the carriage 1 is situated a gun 5 with two barrels 6. The carriage 1 can be attached to a vehicle using a drawbar 7. On both sides of the gun 5 are arranged ammunition containers 8. The weapon 5 swivels about an elevation axis 9. In Fig. 1 the gun barrels 6 are horizontal and can be tilted from this position downwards by some 5 to 10 and upwards by about 85 When they are tilted downwards the gun barrels 6 must not collide with the power supply unit 2. When the gun 5 is in the combat position the power supply unit 2 should therefore allow itself to be lowered as far as possible without hitting the ground 10 on which the carriage 1 is standing with its three feet 4.It is therefore necessary to attach the power supply unit 2 to the carriage 1 via hoisting and lowering gear 11. This hoisting and lowering gear will now be outlined more closely with the aid of Fig. 3 and 4.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the hoisting and lowering gear 11 exhibits four swivel arms 12, 13. The two upper swivel arms 13 are rigidly connected via a shaft 14. One end of the four swivel arms 12 and 13 is hinged at the carriage 1 to pivot on axles 15. The other end of the four swivel arms 12 and 13 is hinged at the power supply unit 2 via trunnions 16. In Fig. 3 swivel arms 12 and 13 form a parallelogram which ensures that when the power supply unit 2 is raised and lowered it is now swivelled at the same time, but only its vertical position altered. In addition a hydraulic cylinder 1 7 hinged at the carriage 1 to pivot on an axle 18 is used to raise and lower the power supply unit 2. In this cylinder 17 there is a piston 19, the top end of which is hinged on an axle 20 approximately in the centre of the top swivel arm 13.The piston 19 can be pushed up in the cylinder 17 with hydraulic fluid, causing the swivel arm 13 to swivel on the axle 1 5 out of its lower position-shown by unbroken lines-into its upper position shown by broken lines-and raising the power supply unit. The hydraulic fluid is supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 17 via a line 21.

To protect the power supply unit 2 in its highest and lowest positions from moving accidentally a pivoted lever 22 swivels on the carriage 1 on an axle 23. When said pivoted lever 22 is in the position shown in Fig. 3, its stop 24 prevents accidental displacement of the power supply unit 2 from its lowerst position, the shaft 14 (Fig. 4) hitting this stop 24.

Furthermore, when the pivoted lever 22 is in the position shown in Fig. 3 its second stop 25 prevents the power supply unit 2 from being accidentally shifted from its highest position, the same shaft 14 (Fig. 4) hitting said second stop 25 (Fig. 3). The pivoted lever 22 can be secured in the indicated position by a locking bolt 26. This locking bolt 26 can be pushed through a drill hole in the swivel arm 22 and through a drill hole in a bracket 27 mounted on the carriage 1 in order to prevent the swivel arm 22 from accidentally swivelling about its swivel axis 23. In Fig. 3 and 4 the swivel arm 22 is rigidly connected by screws 29 to a second pivoted lever 28, pivoted lever 28 being somewhat longer than pivoted lever 22 and exhibiting a handle 30 at its top end.A leaf spring 31, one end screwed to the pivoted lever 22 and the other protruding between two pins 32 of the bracket 27, tries to swivel pivoted lever 22 into the position shown.

In addition a further safeguard is provided to prevent a breakdown when r as outlined r the power supply unit 2 is locked in its lowest position by the stop 24 of pivoted lever 22.

The axle 23 of the pivoted lever 22 is displaceably mounted in a slot 33 in the bracket 27. Likewise the above mentioned locking bolt 26 is dispiaceably mounted in a slot 34.

These two slots 33 and 34 thus permit pivoted lever 22 to be shifted in accordance with the length of said two slots 33 and 34, as can be seen in Fig. 3. When pivoted lever 22 is shifted in this way lower stop 24 of pivoted lever 22 moves out of range of the path of the shaft 14, allowing the power supply unit 2 to be raised. However, it should only be possible to thus shift the pivoted lever 22 if a certain force on the power supply unit 2 is exceeded. To this end a pin 26 is displaceably seated in a sleeve 35 mounted on the bracket 27. Said pin 36 projects into the above mentioned slot 33 and rests on the axle 23. The sleeve 35 is sealed by a thinrwalled cover 37.The top of the pin 36 rests on said thin-walled cover 37, making it possible to displace the pin 36 only if the pin 36 punctures the cover 37. if therefore for any reason a force is exerted on the power supply unit when it is locked in its lowest position, the shaft 14 of the hoisting and lowering gear 11 is pushed against the stop 25 of pivoted lever 22. Since the locking bolt 26 stops the pivoted lever 22 from being swivelled at all, the latter will shift with its axle 23 in the slot 33. This, though, also causes pin 36 to shift and at the same time the thinwalled cover 37 is punctured. Pivoted lever 22 is now swivelled out from the path of the shaft 14, and the power supply unit 2 can be raised without hindrance.

To hoist the power supply unit 2 either a hand pump unit 38 as in Fig. 5 or an accumulator 39 as in Fig. 3 is necessary. The accumulator 39 comprises a rigid container 40, in which there is a flexible container 41. The flexible container 41 is filled with gas and the rigid container 40 is filled with hydraulic fluid.

In addition the rigid container is linked to the hydraulic cylinder 17 via the line 21. The gas in the flexible container 41 is compressible, which allows the volume of the flexible container to be varied and the rigid container 40 to be filled with more or less hydraulic fluid.

Thus more or less fluid can be compressed via the line 21 into the rigid container 40 by the piston 19 in the cylinder 17.

In place of the accumulator 39, the hand pump assembly 38 shown in Fig. 5 may be used. This assembly exhibits a hand-operated three-way cock 43. Using this three-way cock 43 the cylinder 17 can be connected via the line 21 either to a fluid container 44 or to a hand pump 45. If the fluid pressure produced by the hand pump 45 exceeds a certain level, fluid flows via a relief valve 46 into the container 44. In addition three more relief valves 47 are provided to prevent fluid from flowing back into the pump 45, from flowing back out of the pump 45 into the container 44 and from flowing out of relief valve 46.

It should be noted that the pressure in the flexible container 41 changes. The smaller the volume, the greater the pressure, e.g. in Fig.

3 the pressure p rises from the value P = 103 bar to the value P = o u 121 bar, which means that when the power supply unit 2 is at its highest position the pressure prevailing in container 41 is less than at its lowest position. On the other hand, the effective lever lengths at swivel arms 12 and 13 also change. As can be seen from Fig. 3, with the power supply unit 2 at its highest position the effective leverage is Ls/L1 and at its lowest position this effective leverage decreaes to the value L4/L2, where L3/L1 = 203/118 = 1.71 and L4/L2-213/106 = 2.01 and where L, and L2 mean the distance of the swivel axis 1 5 from the axis of the cylinder 17 in any one position and L3 and L4 mean the horizontal distance between axis 15 and pins 16 in any one position.

Thus when the power supply unit is lowered hydraulic pressure rises and on the other hand the effective leverage is reduced. By this means it is ensured that the power required to raise and lower the power supply unit remains roughly constant. The forces may, for instance, be brought into phase so that a large force is needed to lower the power supply unit 2, while when it is freed the unit assumes its highest position by itself.

The hydraulic cylinders 17 can be replaced by springs which facilitate manual raising and lowering of the power supply unit 2.

Claims (8)

1. An arrangement for a power supply unit on a transportable gun that is on wheels in the transport position and is lowered to the ground for the combat position, characterised in that the power supply unit is attached by hoisting and lowering gear to the end of the gun, below the gun barrels in such a way that it can be raised and lowered, is raised in the transport position and lowered in the combat position.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the hoisting and lowering gear exhibits parallel arms hinged at one end on the carriage of the gun and at the other end on the power supply unit, having ancillary units for raising and lowering the power supply unit, one part of the hydraulic cylinders being hinged at the carriage and the other part of the hydraulic cylinders hinged on said arms.

3. The arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that as an ancillary unit a hydraulic cylinder is connected to a hand pump to raise the power supply unit by operating the hand pump.

4. The arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that as an ancillary unit a hydraulic cylinder is connected to an accumulator which is charged when the power supply unit is lowered and is discharged when the power supply unit is raised.

5. The arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that the power supply unit is locked by a swivelling locking lever both in its lowest and in its highest end position, having a spring which tries to swivel the locking lever into its locking position.

6. The arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that the transmission ratio of the lever arms between the swivel axis and the axis on which the hydraulic cylinder acts, on the one hand, and between the swivel axis and the axis of articulation of the power supply , on the other, are in phase with the spring characteristic of the accumulator to produce an approximately constant force to raise or lower the power supply unit.

7. The arrangement according to claim 2, characterised in that as an ancillary member a spring is arranged which facilitates manual raising and lowering of the power supply unit.

8. An arrangement for a power supply unit on a transportable gun substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.