GB2198820A

GB2198820A - Gun systems

Info

Publication number: GB2198820A
Application number: GB08627892A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anthony Charles Buxton; David Christoper Parsons
Original assignee: Royal Ordnance PLC
Current assignee: BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions Ltd
Priority date: 1985-11-21
Filing date: 1986-11-21
Publication date: 1988-06-22
Also published as: GB2198819B; IT1211736B; AU6571186A; NL8615014A; GB8627890D0; BE108T1; IT8748323A0; FR2620213B1; GB2198819A; GB8627892D0; SE8703582L; IT8748325A0; IT1211734B; DE3644907A1; FR2620213A1; DE3644906A1; NL8615011A; SE8703582D0; NO864611L; FR2620212A1

Abstract

A gun system comprises means for varying and setting the angle of elevation of the gun relative to its supporting structure, means for supporting the rear end of the gun and means for varying and setting the height of the rear end of the gun relative to the supporting structure. The gun 41 is mounted in a cradle 43 and has its elevation varied by means of two pairs of elevating arms 45, 47 the arms 45 being attached to the cradle 43 near its rear end and fixed in length while the arms 47 are attached to the cradle near its front end and are variable in length. The angle of elevation of the gun 41 is varied by varying the length of the arms 47 and, as this angle is varied, rotation of the arms 45 causes the rear end of the cradle to rotate upward giving the desired clearance from the ground G. <IMAGE>

Description

r- GUN SYSTEMS r, 21-988/-0 The present invention relates to gun systems

especially towable howitzer systems.

The artillery gun'system known as the British Light Gun L118 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Light Gunn) is a widely known artillery gun system manufactured and sold by the present applicant company. The structure of this system comprises a,gun carried in a cradle on a carriage support comP'rising.a saddle mounted on a short pintle, the gun being balanced about the pintle by.a trail arrangement comprising tubular legs projecting to the ground behind the gun. The pintle is fixed on a platform to which the trail legs are also attached, the platform being supported on axles carrying wheels which allow the system to be towed when necessary.

The Light Gun has a very convenient lightweight construction which allows the system to be towed by a land vehicle or transported by helicopter.

However, it is desirable for use in certain applications to provide a novel gun system construction which offers further savings in weight, relative to the size of gun, compared with known systems constructions such as that of the Light Gun.

According to the present invention a gun system comprises a gun mounted on a supporting structure, means for varyIng and setting the angle of elevation of the gun relative to the supporting structurer means for supporting the rear end of the gun and means for varying and setting the height of the rear end of the gun relative to the supporting structure comprising at least one pivotal arm connected at one end to a point on the supporting structu re and connected at the other end to the rear of the gun.

1 Desirably, the height of the rear end of the gun may be raised by the said means as the angle of elevation is increased although the height need not be raised for angles of elevation less than a pre-determined minimum, e.g. 30 0 relative to the horizontal plane.

The angle of elevation and the height of the rear end of the gun may be changed independently, although preferably they may be changed together in a single operation by a common mechanism.

The means for varying and setting the angle of the gun elevation may comprise elevating arms which may be extensible in length, settable at the required length and connected between the supporting structure and the gun or its carriage by bearings allowing the arms and hence the gun to rotate. The arms may comprise a screw threaded rod engaged inside an internally screw threaded sheath.

The means for varying and setting the angle of the gun elevation may include an elevating jack connected at one end to the supporting structure and at the other to a position along the length of one of the elevating arms, preferably at the end remote from the support structure.

In one example, the rear end of the gun may be supported and elevated by pivotal arms, which may be fixed in length, attached to the supporting structure and rotatable by bearings at their ends.

In this example the pivotal arms may be pivotally connected to a carriage comprising a cradle assembly near its rear end and pivotally mounted at the other end to the rear of the gun.

The means for rotating the pivotal arm about the pivotal connection may comprise an elevating jack connected at one end to the supporting structure and at the other end to a position along the length of the pivotal arm, preferable at the end remote from the support structure.

5J k cl f' The supporting structure may comprise a base, which may be rotatable, and a trail arrangementp e.g. trail legs, to balance the gun about the base.

The gun in the System according to the present invention may be mounted at a low height relative to the ground especially at low angles of gun elevation. This improves stability of the gun by reducing the destabilising moment which reaches a maximum upon firing of the gun; this moment. which tends to tip the gun forward, is proportional to the height of the gun above the ground.

The improved stability allows components of the system to be lighter in weight than those used in known systems because stability is not so dependent upon the weight of the components as -it is in known systems. However, the stability of the gun is not a serious problem at higher gun elevation angles (relative to the ground) and we have taken advantage of this feature. By allowing the rear end of the gun to be raised at angles of gun elevation greater than 0 about 30 we are able to provide the beneficial result of an adequate 99earance of the ground to permit recoil as well as access by the operating crew to fire the gun. Thus, the gun system according to the present invention can have a unique combination of lightness, gun stability and adequate accessibility for operation As an example of the use of lightweight components, the supporting structure may, in the system according to the present invention, comprise at least a portion made of a lightweight composite material, e.g. comprising a fibre reinforced plastic,s material.

In the example of the present invention described above the pivotal arms may be locked at higher gun elevation angles, e.g. greater than 30 0, by means of elevating jacks, but at lower gun elevation angles, this example of the invention may be adapted to allow the pivotal arms to rotate upward upon recoil of the gun, as described in copending application of the same date. This vertical motion further improves stability of the gun by producing a force counteracting the destabilising weight of the gun.

Where the trail legs comprise at least a portion made of a composite material this portion of the legs may be formed of any known high strength composite material. For example it may comprise any known reinforcing fibres e.g. selected from one or more of carbon, glass, aramid, metal, polyamide or polyolefin fibres set in a polymeric matrix material which may be a curable, e.g. thermosetting, plastics material or thermoplastic material as is well known to those skilled in the composites art.

The reinforcing fibres may be woven or unwoven and their direction may be selected to give directional strength matched to the loads to be applied.

Fibre reinforced plastics layers may be formed into a known laminate structure together with other layers, e.g. other fibre reinforced plastics with different reinforcing fibres or with fibres orientated differently, non-reinforced plastics or metal layers e.g. of aluminium or titanium.

The trail legs, if comprising a portion formed from any of the above composite materials, are preferably tubular of approximately square, rectangular, circular or any other convenient cross-section. The area enclosed by the tubular shape in cross-section may taper along the length of the leg. The legs may be straight or curved in overall shape.

S1 t The recoil forces produced upon firing the gun may be damped by a known buffer connected between the cradle and gun and the gun may be reset by a known recuperator. The gun system may include known balancing gear and known traversing gear.

The gun system according to the present invention may be a lightweight towable howitzer of large bore. e.g. 155mm. Towing may be possible by wheels stowable during operational use of the system. The system may also be provided with attachments for air lifting, e.g. by helicoptert which is possible from the low weight obtained by the novel construction.

An Embodiment of the present invention will now be described by-way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an alternative novel gun system.

In Figure 1 a gun 44 carried in a cradle 43 is elevated by a pair of elevating arms 45 (one only shown in Figure 2) and a pair of elevating arms 47 (one only shown in Figure 2). The arms 45, 47 are attached by bearings 49, 51 respectively to the cradle 43 and by bearings 53, 55 respectively to a rotatable platform 57 on a base 59. Trail legs 61 (one only shown in Figure 1) balance the gun 41 about the base 59. The legs 61 have spades 63 to anchor them to the ground. The base 59 may also be anchored in the ground.

The arms 45 attached to the cradle 43 near its rear end are fixed in length whilst the arms 47 attached to the cradle 43 near its front end are variable in length by a gearbox 65. The bearings 49, 51 allow the arms 45 to rotate relative to the platform 57 and the bearings 53F 55 allow the arms 47 to,rotate relative to the platform 57.

---o - The angle of elevation of the gun 41 and the cradle 43 is thus varied by varying the length of the arms 47 and, as this angle is varied, rotation of the arms 45 causes the rear end of the cradle 43 and of the gun 41 to rotate upward giving the desired clearance from the ground G. This position is indicated by the broken lines labelled E in Figure 1. The arms 45 may be locked to hold the cradle 43 and gun 41 in this position by a known locking mechanism (not shown in Figure 1).

The arms 45 may be rotated about beaming 53 by means of elevating jacks (not shown) pivotally connected at one end to the platform 57 by means of a bearings located between the bearings 53 and 55, and pivotally connected at the other end to the end of the arms 45 remote from the platform 57, at bearing 49. The elevating jacks could include the locking mechanism.

As in conventional gun systems the trail legs 10 may be anchored in the ground by spades 14 and the base 6 may also be provided with similar anchoring means (not shown) for added stability.

The trail legs 61 may be made of a lightweight composite material, e.g. a mixed glass/carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin formed in a hollow, e.g. approximately box-shaped structure (in cross-section).

The gun system may have known components (not shown) such as equilibrating gear for balancing the system when the angle of elevation of the gun (41) is increases, wheels hinged into a stowable position, a muzzle brake for reducing recoil forces and a buffer/recuperator system between the gun (1) and the cradle (43) which damps recoil forces and resets the gun (1) into the firing position after recoil.

c I- 9 At low angles of elevation of the gun 41, e.g. below 30 0 relative to the ground G, the gun 41 and cradle 43 may be allowed to rotate upward upon recoil as described in copending application of even date, thus assisting stabilisation of these components. Control springs or -recuperators (not shown) may be connected between the arms 45,, 47 and the platform 57 to return the gun 41 and the cradle 43 to their original elevation angle.

Claims

Claims:

0 0 - 1. A gun system comprising a gun mounted on a supporting structure, means for varying and setting the angle of elevation of the gun relative to the supporting structure, means for supporting the rear end of the gun and means for varying and setting the height of the rear end of the gun relative to the supporting structure comprising at least one pivotal arm connected at one end to a point on the supporting structure and connected at the other end to the rear of the gun.
2. A gun system as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the angle of elevation and the height of the rear end of the gun may be changed together in a single operation by a common mechanism.
3. A gun system as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the means for varying and setting the angle of the gun elevation comprises elevating arms which may be extensible in length, settable at the required length and connected between the supporting structure and the gun or its carriage by bearings allowing the arms and hence the gun to rotate.
4. A gun system as claimed in claim 3 and wherein the said arms comprise a screw threaded rod engaged inside an internally screw threaded sheath.
5.

A gun system as claimed in claim 3 in which the means for varying and setting the angle of the gun elevation includes an elevating jack connected at one end to the supporting structure and at the other to a position along the length of one of the elevating arms.

1 i J
6. A gun system as claimed in claim 5 in which the 1 elevating jack is pivotally connected at one end to the supporting structure and pivotally connected at the other to the end of an elevating arm remote from the support structure.
A gun system as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivotal arm is fixed in length and pivotally mounted at one end to the supporting structure and pivotally mounted at the other end to the rear of the gun.
8. A gun system as claimed in claim 1 in which the pivotal arm has a pivotal connection at one end to the support structure, and having means for rotating the pivotal arm about the pivotal connection comprising an elevating jack connected at one end to the supporting structure and at the other end to a position along the length of the pivotal arm.
9. A gun system as claimed in claim 8 in which the said other end of the elevating jack is connected to the end of the pivotal arm remote from the support structure.
10. A gun system as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the supporting structure comprises a base, which is rotatable, and a trail arrangement, to balance the gun about the base.
11. A gun system as claimed in claim.1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Published 1988 at The Patent Office, State House, 56,11 High Holborn, London WCIR 4TP. Purther copies may be obtained from The Patent Office, Sales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Oray, Kent. Con. 1/87.