GB2275236A

GB2275236A - Vehicle, eg armoured vehicle, requiring separate drivers for forward and reverse travel

Info

Publication number: GB2275236A
Application number: GB9402794A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Wohlfarth
Original assignee: Daimler Benz AG; Mercedes Benz AG
Current assignee: Daimler Benz AG
Priority date: 1993-02-17
Filing date: 1994-02-14
Publication date: 1994-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 2014-02-14
Also published as: FR2701683B1; DE4304839A1; FR2701683A1; GB9402794D0; NL9400145A; DE4304839C2; GB2275236B

Description

2275236 Steering system of-a non-railborne motor vehicle The invention

relates to a steering system of a nonrailborne motor vehicle, having an arbitrarily actuable first handling device, for example a steering wheel, which is arranged on an input of an input gear whose output is connected to a setting unit for actuating control elements, for example the steerable wheels of the motor vehicle, and having a further handling device provided for special operating phases, which further handling device carries a transmitter which is effectively connected to a receiver which can be arbitrarily connected to an input of this gear.

Such a steering system is the subject matter of DE 37 42 012 Al. In accordance with this publication, the vehicle is normally steered by means of a steering wheel. For special cases, the vehicle steering can also take place by means of a control column which, on the one hand. can control the vehicle speed or actuate the brakes of the vehicle by means of a tension cable or the like and, on the other hand, actuates an electrical transmitter which in turn controls an electric motor, which can be connected to the shaft of the steering wheel, and therefore controls the steering system of the vehicle.

In this connection, it is known art from DE 40 25 697 Al to arrange an overrunning clutch between the shaft of the steering wheel and the electric motor drive-connected to it where control is by means of the control column or the like in order, without further measures, to ensure that the said electric motor does not also have to be moved on actuation of the steering wheel.

In special vehicles for civil or military purposes, for example in the case of armoured scout vehicles or vehicles for employment in catastrophes, it is often neither possible nor desirable for the driver to control the vehicle from his normal driving position when reversing. Although, in such vehicles, it is fundamentally possible to provide an additional reverse driver who is optimally placed for 2 driving in reverse and who does so when necessary, there is often only a little space available in such vehicles. it follows that it is not readily possible to accommodate a separate reverse driver because the available space must be kept free for other members of the crew who have to undertake special functions, for example the aiming of a fire- extinguishing gun. An aggravating factor is that these further members of the crew often have to occupy a different place within the vehicle when carrying out the functions entrusted to them because, for example, a rotary turret for a gun or the fire-extinguishing cannon accommodating these further members of the crew has to be rotated f or the particular employment.

The present invention seeks, therefore, to create a steering system especially suitable for such special vehicles and with small constructional requirements.

According to the present invention there is provided a steering system of a non-railborne motor vehicle, having an arbitrarily actuable first handling device, which is arranged on an input of an input gear whose output is connected to a setting unit for actuating control elements, and having a further handling device provided for special operating phases, which further handling device drives a transmitter effectively connected to a receiver arranged on the input gear and is adapted to be arbitrarily connected to an input of this gear, wherein in the case of vehicles-with a plurality of crew members seated in the forward or the reverse direction in a different manner during an operation - a said further handling device with associated transmitter is arranged for each of these crew members and the control of reversing is made possible for the crew member most favourably placed for it in each case and wherein control elements which are normally operated by the said crew members for appliances independent of the steering system are adapted to be at least partially converted to a control function for reversing.

The invention is based on the general idea of permitting 3 the vehicle to be controlled or steered by as many crew members of a special vehicle as possible so that reversing is possible without delay when required. Control or steering of the vehicle by many or all of the crew members can be made possible by using transmitter/receiver systems, of the type described at the beginning, and with small constructional requirements.

There is a particularly large degree of freedom, namely with respect to the arrangement of the further handling devices for the other crew members, because use can be made of practically any transmitter/receiver systems, whether they are mechanical, electrical or fluidic. It is then additionally advantageous that the receiver on the input gear of the first handling device only needs to be capable of generating comparatively small forces, approximately such as are generated by the person actuating the first handling device. This is because all the servomotors and the like associated with the first handling device and controlled by it are readily effective even if the control takes place by means of the further handling devices.

Because of the normally available design flexibility of transmitter/receiver systems, a further handling device and its associated transmitter can be adjusted from outside an accommodation region or working region of an operator between an operational position and a non-operational position. This takes account of the fact that the operator provided for the further handling device usually has to carry out other tasks which could be hindered by a further handling device which remains continuously in the operational position.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:- Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic longitudinal section of the front region of an armoured wheeled vehicle, Fig. 2 shows a plan view onto an armoured vehicle with gun turret, 4 Fig. 3 shows a view of an input gear and of a receiver which can be connected to it.

In Fig. 1, a 'seat 2 for the driver is arranged in the front region of a wheeled armoured vehicle 1. In a manner similar to conventional motor vehicles, the driver 3 can control the direction of travel of the vehicle 1 by means of a steering wheel 4.

The steering wheel 4 is arranged on an input shaft of an input gear 5 which is connected via an output shaft 6 to a steering head 7 of a rack hydraulic steering cylinder which, via a steering rod (not shown), adjusts the steered wheels of the vehicle 1 in a manner analogous to the steering deflection of the steering wheel 4.

The seat 2 can be adjusted in height in such a way that the driver 3 can, on the one hand, look in the forward direction of the vehicle 1 via viewing means 8 (periscope) in the lowered position shown of the seat 2. In a raised position (not shown) of the seat 2, the driver 3 can, after the opening of a hatch 9, look out with his head outside the vehicle.

However, the driver 3 generally has only a limited view backwards via the driving mirror or the like so that reverse travel controlled by the driver 3 at high speeds or over fairly large distances are extremely dangerous.

For this reason, such vehicles are controlled by a second driver (reverse driver) when reversing.

The function of the reverse driver can be undertaken by the vehicle crew in the gun turret 10, as shown in Fig. 2.

If the gun turret 10, with the gun, is aligned forwards in the straightahead position, i.e. in the so-called 12 otclock position, the gun-ainer 11 can operate as reverse driver by turning his seat backwards and operating a further steering wheel 12 arranged there. This steering wheel actuates a transmitter 13 which is, in turn, in effective connection with a receiver 14 which can be recognized in Fig. 1. This receiver can be connected to a corresponding input of the input gear 5 or can be disconnected from this input, in a manner presented further below. In the connected position, it is the receiver 14, instead of the driver 3, which actuates the vehicle steering via the input drive 5 to correspond with the adjustment of the steering wheel 12 on the transmitter 13.

If the gun turret 10 should be adjusted by 180 from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the 6 otclock position directed backwards, the commander 15 can take over the function of the reverse driver because the handling device unit 16, which is normally used for directing the gun, is switched over to Hdriving function" and controls a further transmitter 17 which can likewise be brought into effective connection with the receiver 14.

The transmitter 13 or the transmitter 17 and the receiver 14 can be effectively connected to one another in a fundamentally arbitrary manner, for example mechanically by wires, cables or the like. Instead of the latter, fluidic, in particular hydraulic, or electrical connections, are also possible.

Fig. 3 shows, as an example, an arrangement of the input drive 5. The latter has an input shaft 18, one of whose ends is connected to the steering wheel 4 (not shown but c.f. Fig. 1) and to whose other end the receiver 14 can be connected. The input shaft is positively connected by means of gearwheels, which are not visible, to the output shaft 19 to which, in turn, the shaft 6 visible in Fig. 1 is connected in an articulated manner.

A coupling 20, which can be configured in the manner of a claw coupling, is arranged between the receiver 14 and the end of the input shaf t 18 f acing towards it. For this purpose, a bush 21 with teeth on its end surface is arranged on the right-hand end (as shown in Fig. 3) of the input shaft 18 so that it rotates with it. This bush 21 interacts with a corresponding pinion 22, which has teeth on its end surface and which is arranged so that it rotates with an axially adjustable output shaft 23 of the receiver 14. if 6 the shaft 23 is brought into its position displaced towards the right, as shown in Fig. 3 above the centre line of the shaft 23, the coupling 20 is open. If the shaft 23 is displaced towards the left, as is represented below the centre line of the shaft 23, the teeth of the bush 21 and the pinion 22 are brought into engagement, i.e. the coupling 20 is closed. otherwise, the shaft 23 is positively connected to the output wheel 24 of the receiver 14 so that it cannot rotate but can be displaced axially, this output wheel 24 being driven or controlled (in a manner not shown) by one of the transmitters 13 or 17.

The axial displacement of the output shaft 23 for opening and closing the coupling 20 can take place by means of a setting element (not shown) which can, for example, be configured as a lever, as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or as a magnet.

If necessary, the reverse driver can also remain outside the vehicle if the transmitter 13 associated with the steering device for the reverse driver can interact by radio or via a flexible cable or the like with the receiver 14.

7

Claims

1. A steering system of a non-railborne motor vehicle, having an arbitrarily actuable f irst handling device, which is arranged on an input of an input gear whose output is connected to a setting unit for actuating control elements, and having a further handling device provided for special operating phases, which further handling device drives a transmitter effectively connected to a receiver arranged on the input gear and is adapted to be arbitrarily connected to an input of this gear, wherein in the case of vehicles with a plurality of crew members seated in the forward or the reverse direction - in a different manner during an operation - a said further handling device with associated transmitter is arranged for each of these crew members and the control of reversing is made possible for the crew member most favourably placed for it in each case and wherein control elements which are normally operated by the said crew members for appliances independent of the steering system are adapted to be at least partially converted to a control function for reversing.

2. A steering system according to Claim 1, wherein the further handling device and the associated transmitter are adapted to be adjusted from outside an accommodation region or working region of a crew member between an operational position and a non-operational position.

3. A steering system according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmitter is adapted to interact from outside a vehicle with the receiver associated with the vehicle steering.

4. A steering system according to claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein the first handling device comprises a steering wheel, and the control elements comprise steerable wheels.