GB2309946A

GB2309946A - Vehicle with seats on rails sliding through rear hatch.

Info

Publication number: GB2309946A
Application number: GB9701277A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frank Abels
Original assignee: FAC GmbH; Rheinmetall Industrie AG
Current assignee: FAC GmbH; Rheinmetall Industrie AG
Priority date: 1996-02-06
Filing date: 1997-01-22
Publication date: 1997-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 2017-01-22
Also published as: FR2744523B1; FR2744523A1; GB2309946B; GB9701277D0; DE19604193C1

Description

1 1 TITLE 2309946 Fighting Vehicle with a Crew Compartment This invention

relates to a fighting or combat vehicle having a compartment for personnel such as marksmen or crew with a lockable hatch at the rear of the vehicle.

In known vehicles of this kind, for example see DE 1428 756, or conventional personnel carrier vehicles or armoured personnel carriers, the crew of 6 to 9 generally sit transversally to the direction of travel and either back to back or facing one another. This position for the crew is very space-consuming because, when they are facing one another for example, a great deal of space is left between their bodies which can hardly be utilised for other purposes. Tests with vehicles of this type have shown that the unused space involved in such positions for the occupants has an unfavourable effect on the overall volume of the vehicle. These methods of positioning the crew have the further disadvantage that the process of embarking or leaving the vehicle is time-consuming and inconvenient, owing to the requirement for a central passage and the fact that the hatch is usually small and only designed for the passage of one person.

In contrast to the above an object of this'linvention is to provide a combat vehicle with a crew compartment and which 41653.spe CJ 2 is space-saving and enables rapid and easy entry and exit.

According to this invention there is provided a vehicle with a crew compartment having a hatch at the rear of the vehicle, the vehicle containing a rail system which can be moved at least partly out of the hatch opening and on which seats for the crew are positioned in succession and of which some seats, at least, can be moved into and out of the hatch for entry and exit of the personnel into and from the vehicle.

This invention is an advantageous means of ensuring io that the crew no longer have to be accommodated facing one another or back to back but can sit one behind another. The unused space between the members of the crew can thus be noticeably reduced, because each one can extend his legs forward past the seat of the next man, the compartment thus being constructed to a far smaller over-all length than in conventional systems. In a preferred arrangement of the invention, the members of the crew have seats slidable on a continuous rail into or out of the vehicle. This rail, together with part of the rear wall of the compartment, can be moved back out of the vehicle far enough to provide room for at least one crew member's seat outside the rear part. This makes it possible for a crew member to leave the vehicle very easily by swinging the legs out to the side. As a further advantage it is possible for a crew member, after leaving the vehicle, to raise the seat manually or mechanically, for example using a 0 3 suitable device at the end of the rail, so that the next member, by pushing the seat into the exit position, is likewise able to depart rapidly. The entire personnel are thus enabled to move quickly and easily towards the rear, to leave the vehicle and lock their respective seats in the positions into which they have been tilted upwards.

The process of entering the vehicle takes place in the reverse order, the members of the crew releasing a seat one by one, sitting down on their seats and pushing themselves io forwards, until they are all back inside the vehicle. The rail is then drawn inwards together with the rear wall, so that the part of this latter which is locked to the end of the rail once again closes the hatch.

It is possible for the space between the extended hatch- shaped rear wall and the actual rear part of the vehicle to be protected by plates, preferably armour plating, in such a way as to form, in conjunction with the rail, a form of drawer. The right and left sides of this drawer may have side flaps through which, when necessary, the crew may enter or leave the vehicle after pushing the rail out. This ensures not only that the crew will remain protected against weather conditions and exposure to enemy action when the drawer has been opened but also that during pauses the drawer can be utilised to provide the occupants with larger and more convenient accommodation. With the drawer extended, for example, the 0 4 seats can be locked in different positions on the rails, thus giving greater freedom of movement for the legs of the individual members of the crew and enabling them to stretch out when resting.

0-5 When a rail system is provided inside a combat vehicle the personnel are positioned in succession in one row. In the event of further rail units, parallel to one another, the members of the crew may be positioned in succession in two or three rows in the personnel compartments, each such row containing jo a separate drawer.

The movable seating system on the extensible rail assembly according to this invention reduces the space required for the personnel by about 40% compared with conventional systems for the accommodation of the crew, thus enabling smaller and lighter vehicles to be built.

With the seats arranged on two or more rails, for example and with the facilities for securing the seats individually thereon, each member of the crew is able to be positioned according to size at the most suitable distance from the member immediately in front. As a reference value for the construction of the vehicle, therefore, a space-saving average body size is sufficient.

As a further advantage the possibility of moving the seat supporting rails out to the rear ensures that when the vehicle is 2-5 at a standstill a greater amount of convenient and safe 0 personnel space is provided. Particularly during intervals, therefore, the crew have more space for rest and comfort than in conventional types of vehicle.

The possibility of moving rail-borne seats out to the rear on rollers, for example enables the vehicle to be entered or vacated by an easy, rapid and convenient operation of twisting the body sideways.

This invention will be further explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment as example and illustrated in the io drawings, wherein:Figures 1 to 4 show a fighting vehicle in longitudinal section in each case, the separate figures illustrating different positions for the extensible rail system and the movable seat system, and Figure 5 shows a combat vehicle in longitudinal section, with the extensible rail being protected on all sides by armouring.

As shown in all the drawings the armoured personnel carrier 1 has a crew compartment 2, seat rails 3, roller-borne seats 4 for the crew members 7, a rail driving system 5 and a hatch 6 provided at the rear of the vehicle. The armoured personnel carrier is constructed in a known manner as a tracked vehicle with a gun 11 mounted thereon--- but not forming part of the invention.

C 6 Figures 1 to 3 show the combat vehicle 1 with a rail system 3 and 5 which can be moved out to the rear through the opening 6.2 of the hatch 6 and on which seats 4 for the crew are mounted in succession. The seats are movable out of the vehicle to enable members of the crew 7 to enter and leave. The rail system consists of at least one continuous rail system 3 positively interlocked, for axial movement, with the drive 5, which is integral with the vehicle. The drive 5 may consist, for example, of a hydraulically operated piston-and-cylinder jo assembly of which the movable piston rod 5.1 when extended, secures the rail system 3 in the position in which it has been pushed back into the vehicle. The piston and cylinder unit is suitably positioned parallel to the rail, underneath or to the side of the latter, the cylinder being affixed to the vehicle frame and the front end of the extended piston 5.1 being connected to the front end of the rail system 3, so that this drive system enables the rail to be pushed out of and into the vehicle.

The rear end of the rail system 3 is rigidly connected to the hatch 6, as a result of which the hatch opening 6.2 (Figure 2) on the vehicle 1 is automatically opened in the direction shown by the arrow 13 when the rail 3 is moved out and is closed on the completion of the insertion process.

Figure 2 shows the extended position of the rail system 3, the hatch. opening 6.2 at the rear of the vehicle having been 2.5 automatically opened by the hatch 6 caused to accompany the C) 7 movement of the rail.

The individual drawings show that the seats 4 situated on the rail 1 are equipped on both sides with rollers 4.1 or with slide blocks, the latter not being shown, and that the rail system 3 itself contains known guide devices such as longitudinal grooves, serving to accommodate and move the rollers 4.1 or blocks. Each seat 4 is provided with a brake lock, not shown in the drawing, so that the said seat 4 can be secured at any desired point on the rail system 3. This brake may consist, for jo example of a brake lever pivotable on a sliding carriage 4.2 of the seat 4 and equipped with a toothed segment, likewise not shown, which for securing purposes engages a toothed rack (not shown) integral with the vehicle and parallel to the rail system 3.

After the release of this seat brake the occupant 7, by using the strength of his body or else a motor device, not shown, can push his seat 4 to the right along the rail system 3 as far as the hatch 6. From the latter position the occupant can leave his seat and thus the vehicle by turning towards the 20 right or left.

Figure 4 shows that the seats 4 can be tilted up at the rear end of the rail system 3, the rear rollers 4.1 or sliding blocks being supported on the inside 6.1 of the hatch 6 connected to the rail system 3. This provides'more space for 25 the exit of the next occupant 7. The subsequent seats are 0 8 likewise tilted up after the crew have left the vehicle and, being capable of occupying a stacked position, only require a moderate amount of space.

Figure 5 shows, in a further embodiment of the invention, where guard plates 8, preferably armoured, are provided on both sides and at the top and possibly at the bottom of the rail system 3, preferably over the length of the zone 12 moved out of the vehicle, the side walls of the plates having additional flaps 9 for the entry and exit of the crew. The flaps 9 may be io attached to the guard plates by top hinges 10, for example so that they can be tilted upwards without difficulty for the purpose of entering or leaving the vehicle. With these guard plates 8 the rail system forms a drawer which can be inserted into and extracted from the vehicle, with the possibility of providing the combat vehicle 1 with a number of such drawers parallel to one another in a manner not shown in the drawing.

The rail system 3 in question can consist of one single or two individual rails. In both cases the sliding carriage 4.2 of the seats has securing means, not shown, to prevent the rail -)o concerned from being removed in the vertical direction.

According to the way in which the rail system 3 is positioned in the vehicle 1 or the way in which the seats or their securing devices are arranged, the rail system 3 may be of simple construction consisting, for example, of ordinary commercial tubular, angular, T-shaped or U-shaped sections.

0 9 The examples described in the foregoing show that the exit from the vehicle by seven crew members 7, for example, is effected rapidly and safely by simply rolling back the seats. Their entry into the vehicle takes place in the reverse order.

o After all the members of the crew have resumed their seats, the hatch 6 is retracted by the rail system 3 and closed.

0

Claims

1. A vehicle with a crew compartment having a hatch at the rear of the vehicle, the vehicle containing a rail system which can be moved at least partly out of the hatch opening and on which seats for the crew are positioned in succession and of which some seats, at least, can be moved into and out of the hatch for entry and exit of the personnel into and from the vehicle.

2. A vehicle in accordance with Claim 1, wherein the rail system comprises at least one continuous rail positively interlocked, for axial displacement, with a drive means connected with the vehicle.

3. A vehicle in accordance with Claim 1 or 2, wherein the crew seats are provided on each side with rollers or slides, the rail system including guide devices to accommodate the rollers or slides.

4. A vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the rear end of the rail system is rigidly connected to the hatch whereby the hatch opening on the vehicle is automatically opened when the rail system is moved out of the a vehicle and is closed on completion of a retraction process.

0 11

5. A combat vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the crew seats can be titled upwards when at the rear end of the rail system, the rear rollers (4. 1) or slides being supported on the hatch connected with the rail system.

6. A vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein each crew seat has a brake or lock by which the seat is secured in position at any desired point along the rail system.

7. A combat vehicle in accordance with Claim 6, wherein the brake consists of a brake lever which is pivotable on a slide carriage of the seat (4) and which, for locking purposes, engages a toothed rack integral with the vehicle and parallel with the rail system.

8. A vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein protection plates, preferably of an armoured type, are provided forming side walls which include flaps for the entry and exit of the crew, the plates forming side walls provided on both sides and above and possibly below the rail system and extending at least along the zone moved out of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 8, i wherein a number of parallel and adjacent rail systems are 1,1 12 provided in the crew compartment which can be moved separately out of or into the vehicle in the manner of drawers.

10. A vehicle in accordance with any one of Claims 1 to 9, o5 wherein the rail system comprises a single rail or two parallel rails spaced apart, a sliding carriage of a seat having securing devices to prevent vertical lifting from the rail or rails.

11. A vehicle constructed and arranged as herein described jo and exemplified or as shown in the drawings.

12. A vehicle in accordance with any preceding claim for combat or fighting and for transport of a plurality of personnel, the vehicle being armoured, track-laying and armed, and self propelled.