US3820816A - Anchoring system for a structure carried by a vehicle supporting heavy bodies - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle which is intended to carry heavy movable bodies such as a radar turret or missile launching ramps, should be anchored to the ground so that a precise horizontality of the bodies is obtained. Although the vehicle itself is provided with an anchoring device, the stability and horizontality required are accomplished to a higher degree by providing the vehicle with a particular rigid structure having its own anchoring system independent of that of the vehicle. This structure consists of an assembly of members substantially in the form of a cube having substantially vertical edges. The upper face of this cube is adapted to support on four points the heavy movable body. The particular anchoring system of the structure consists of three supporting members in the form of the hydraulic type jacks. Two of these jacks are fixed to two adjacent vertical edges of the cube and the third one to the vertical face opposite these vertical edges. Furthermore a better rigidity is obtained by extending the structure to the external dimensions of the vehicle and reinforcing the lateral panels of the structure. The anchoring jacks are provided with locking jaws for holding them stationary at any point of their travel.

Description

[ June 28, 1974 United States Patent Neuers [57 ABSTRACT A vehicle which is intended to carry heavy movable ANCHORING SYSTEM FOR A STRUCTURE CARRIED BY A VEHICLE SUPPORTING HEAVY BODIES Inventor: Lucien Neuers, Paris, France bodies such as a radar turret or missile launching ramps, should be anchored to the ground so that a [731 Assignee: Thomson-CSF, Paris, France precise horizontality of the bodies is obtained. Al-

22 Filed: June 9,1972

21 Appl. No.: 261,321

though the vehicle itself is provided with an anchoring device, the stability and horizontality required are accomplished to a higher degree by providing the vehicle with a particular rigid structure having its own anl l Foreign Application Priority Data choring system independent of that of the vehicle.

June 11, 1971 71-21333 This structure consists of an assembly of members substantially in the form of a cube having substantially vertical edges. The upper face of this cube is adapted to support on four points the heavy movable body. The particular anchoring system of the structure consists of three supporting members in the form of the hydraulic type jacks. Two of these jacks are fixed References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS to two adjacent vertical edges of the cube and the third one to the vertical face opposite these vertical edges.

1,851,148 Barnes................................ $329,105 Furthermore a better rigidity is obtained by extending 356ml 1 the structure to the external dimensions of the vehicle and reinforcing the lateral panels of the structure. The anchoring jacks are provided with locking jaws 248/ 188.2 X I FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Switzerland...)....

for holding them stationary at any point of their travel.

" 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Primary Examiner-William H. Schultz Attorney, Agent, or FirmEdwin E. Greigg PATENTED JUH 2 8 I974 SHEET 2 BF 4 ANCHORING SYSTEM FOR A STRUCTURE CARRIED BY A VEHICLE SUPPORTING HEAVY BODIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a system for anchoring to the ground and levelling for vehicles equipped with units requiring high platform stability with a precise horizontality and vehicles provided with sucha systern.

Vehicles equipped with special units such as hoisting or boring apparatus, are provided as it is known,'with anchoring jacks with impart thereto the stability required for their operation. However, they take a relatively long time to place in position and the platform horizontality achieved thereby is of the order of a degree at best.

Thev units equipping the vehicles according to the invention are much more exacting as concerns both the time required for bringing into action and the precision of the horizontality of the platform which supports them. It indeed concerns units capable of being teleaimed such as radar antennas which receive or emit aiming instructions in the form of angles located with respect to the vehicle itself. It thus is to be understood that it is necessary for the vehicle to have an attitude which is as near as possible to the horizontal and above all to maintain this attitude with a precision higher than the precision required for aiming or laying. The precision of platform horizontality to be maintained is of the order of a twentieth of a degree, irrespective of the tilting torques applied to the vehicle by the moving mass in the course of aiming.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide an anchoring system which maybe put rapidly in a'supporting position so as to afford a precise horizontality and ensure very high platform rigidity and stability.

The units capable of being aimed or laid are mounted on turrets or carriages movable about at least two orthogonal axes which are usually vertical and horizontal. They are, for example, radar antennas and launching ramps for missiles controlled by radars. In the case of launching ramps, the launching accelerations are great and produce considerable tilting forces on the bases of the turrets which deform the very structure of the vehicle and thus result in aiming errors.

The turrets are conventionally mounted on bases connected to the platform at four fixed points. The platform constituted by the vehicle itself bears on the ground at three fixed points determined by the jacks in the supporting position. The number of three fixed points is imposed by the need to achieve a precise adjustment of the horizontality of the platform and this requires solving the problem of a connection which is as rigid as possible between the three support points of the platform and the four fixing points of the turret without overloading the vehicle by a structure having a prohibitive weight. Further, in order to allow easy access to the devices placed inside the vehicle it is important to avoid any obstructive framework between the jacks.

According to one feature of the invention, this rigid structure is approximately a cube having vertical edges with the turret being fixed to the four upper corners,

two jacks being fixed along two vertical edges at at least two points in the vicinity of the tops and the third jack being fixed along the opposite vertical face at at least two points in the vicinity of the upper and lower edges of this face, the vertical faces perpendicular to the face to which the third jack is connected being provided with a reinforcement acting against deformations.

The rapid adjustment of the horizontality requires that the jacks be hydraulic and controlled individually. Further, their locking system must be such that it is operative for all the positions of the jacks.

According to another feature of the invention, the jacks are hydraulic and providedwith clamping jaws which exert a force through a block on a smooth portion of the sliding part so as to ensure a locking in all positions of the jacks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further features will be apparent in the course of the ensuing description of one embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified diagrammatic perspective view of a rigid structure for supporting the turret;

FIG. 2 is a diagram "in plan of another preferred em bodiment of a structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the structure of FIG. 2 as viewed from the front part of the vehicle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the structure of FIG. 2 as viewed from the rear part of the vehicle, and

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a stabilising jack and its control.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to explain the embodiment of the structure and to examine the means for avoiding its deformation there has been shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 the connection of a three point fixation (the jacks) to a four point fixation (the four comers of the base of the turret). I I

FIG. 1 shows a cube comprising 12 side members. The upper quadrilateral ABCD has four gussets l welded to the side members. The gussets 1 receive the four fixing points of the base of'the turret. Two jacks 2 and 3 are fixed along the edges AE and DH and bear against the ground by their respective shoes. The third jack 4 is fixed midway along the side BCFG at at least two points, namely an upper point and a lower point.

It can be seen that if the turret exerts on this structure a torque whose axis is represented by the horizontal arrow, it will have a tendency to twist and to assume a shape indicated by the dotted line. The lateral sides ABEF and CDGH will deform whereas the side BCFG will remain substantially undeformed but will have turned on itself at BC'FG and the jack 4 will be correspondingly inclined. The shoes of the jacks are fixed to the ground and the inclination of the jack 4 will apply a bending force on the jacks 2 and 3 and tend to cause them to remain parallel therewith. The platform for fixing the turret A B C D is thus deformed, warped, and is liable to damage the aiming devices and, in addition, an aiming error is created.

In order to avoid these drawbacks the lateral sides A B E F and C D G H, which have a tendency to deform in the form of a parallelogram, are provided with reinforcing means such as metal sheets stiffened by crossble and the upper side no longer has a tendency to warp. However, with the exception of the reinforced lateral sides no reinforcing element obstructs the other sides, in particlular the side A D E H between the jacks.

The dimension of the upper side is adaptedto that of the base of the turret but it is advantageous to arrange that the jacks be located as far apart as possible so as to afford a support polygon which is as large as possible compatible which the dimensions of the vehicle.

For these purposes, the lateral jacks 2 and 3 are fixed to extensions of the side members AD and EH. The face ABEF .and CDGH are lined with parallel sides. FIG. 2 shows in projection the upper side of the structure. There can be seen the side ABCD with the fixing gussets of the base of the turret. An identical structure is located below the latter. The edge AD (and the edge HE which is vertically below) is extended to the edge of vehicle at Al and DJ. The lateral jacks 2 and 3 are fixed to these extensions in the upper part (hidden in the figure). Likewise, the side member BC (and the corresponding lower side member) is extended at BK and CL to the edge of thevehicle. As opposed to the foregoing structure the vertical sides corresponding to the upper edges AB and CD are not reinforced but the vertical sides corresponding to the edges IK and JL are.

By these means, the structure in the form of a cube, the upper side ABCD of which is seen, is rendered rigid in a manner still more effective than in the foregoing arrangement where it was the sides AB and CD which were reinforced, since for a given torque applied by the turret to the structure, on one hand, the effect on the side J L and [K the most remote from the centre will be less than on' thesides AB and CD and, on the other hand, for a given deformation of the reinforced sides,

the deformation of the base of the turret will be the smaller as these sides are more remote, that is to say, it will be less for a deformation of the sides IK and JL than for the same deformation of the sides AB and CD.

It can be seen that this structure is more rigid than that described previously and that for a given rigidity, the gauge of the materials employed may be smaller and consequently the assembly may be lightened.

The jack 4 is fixed to a side MN, which is transverse to the extension of the side members AB and CD and the corresponding lower side member without it being necessary specially to stiffen by cross-pieces the vertical sides corresponding to the edges BC or MN.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the center structure of the vehicle from the front (FIG. 3) and from the rear (FIG. 4) in which are seen the components diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 and 2.

There are fourupper side members 5,6,7 and 8 at the intersection of which are fixed gussets l on which bears the base of the turret (not shown). Two side members 9 and 10 are fixed to the ends of the side members 7 and 8 and constitude the outer edge of the vehicle. The longitudinal side members 5 and 6 are extended rearwardly beyond the transverse side member 7 to a point in vertical alignment with the rear wheels of the vehicle where they are interconnected by a transverse side member 11. An assembly of side members having the same relative dispositions is placed below their corresponding upper members to which they are connected by vertical side members. The side members 5 and 6 and their lower corresponding side members are extended forwardly where they are connected to the front set of wheels (not shown) and to a support for the rear set of wheels (not shown) of a vehicle.

The lateral jacks 2 and 3 are respectively fixed to the side members 8 and 9, on one hand, and 8 and 10, on the other, and to the corresponding lower side members. The axial jack 4 is fixed to the middle of the transverse side member or strut 11 and-to a support 12 for the rear wheel axle of the vehicle. The corss-pieces l3 and 14 reinforce the outer sides constituted by metal The general arrangement of this structure affords maximum rigidity for minimum weight. Further, in 7 order to gain still further inweight and volume, the side members are inthe form of hollow girders and they are employed either for the passage of cables or for the circulation of air conditioning air. Further, not that no framework is located between the jacks inside the vehicle and that in particular'access between the two front jacks is completely free.

The jacks are of the hydraulic double-acting type having a small face and a large face arranged in such manner that supply of fluid to the large face corresponds to the outer position in which the vehicle is raised (small face very small relative to the large face). They are locked in position in the absence of pressure. FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic sectional view of a jack and its control. It comprises a slide 17 defining two chambers one of which, 19, has a large face and the other 20 a small face separated by a piston and its rod 18 which is fixed to thestructure of the chassis 21. The jack is provided with a shoe 22 adapted to bear against and anchor in the ground. Two clamping jaws 23 and 24 bear against a smooth portion of the moving part constituted by the slide 17. It must be understood that a higher number of clamping jaws may be positioned between the jaws 23 and 24 in order to increase the locking of the jack if necessary. These jaws are held in bearing relation to the smooth part of the slide 17 by an arrangement of resiliently yieldable washers diagrammatically represented by a spring 26 which bears against the piston 25 of the jaws. The locking jaws are integral with the structure 21 of the vehicle.

The locking jaws prevent the jacks from moving out or in. They enhance the rigidityof the assembly since.

there is no longer any lateral play in the locked position.

The at rest position of the jaws is the locking position. They are unlocked by the supply of pressure so that when the units carried by the vehicle are in permanent operation it is unnecessary to employ fluid-under pressure. They bear against asmooth portion of the sliding part, that is to say, the latter can be locked in all positions and not only in a certain number of predetermined positions; the precision of the horizontality is therefore improved.

To control the jacks, the small-face chambers 20 are permanently connected to the source 27 of fluid at high pressure. This source also supplies the valve 28 for actuating the jack and the valve 29 for actuating the jaws. The large-face chamber 19 of the jack and the cylinders of the jaws are respectively connected to the valves 28 and 29. The diagram in FIG. 5 shows that the centre part of the the vehicle stationary and the engine running so as tov put the fluid under pressure, the jacks are unlocked by actuating the valve 29. The latter may either be provided for each jack or be common to all three. The jacks being unlocked by compression of the resiliently yieldable devices 26 bearing against the slide 17, they are controlled individually by the operator by means of the valves 28 pertaining thereto. A level placed to one side of the valves enables the operator to act on the jack valves in such manner as to reach the horizontal position rapidly. With the level transverse to the axis of the vehicle, the lateral (front) jacks are adjusted and with the level'placed longitudinally, the rear jack is then extended so as to complete the adjustement of the horizontality. As soon as the jacks have been adjusted, they are locked by withdrawing the pressure'by means of the valve or valves 29.

There has just been described a new type of a special vehicle which is equipped with units requiring high platform stability and a rapid positioning and whose structure although particularly rigid, leaves the interior free for accomodating electronic equipment around which it is still possible to move and which can be stabilized with a period of time of the order of 1 minute.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown which was given solely by way of example.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for anchoring a rigid and stable structure carried by a vehicle to ground, said structure being adapted to support heavy bodies which are'movable about two substantially orthogonal axes and which may exert forces on said structure as a result of high torque, accelerations and decelerations, said structure comprising, in combination: side members disposed so as to constitute substantially a cube, said cube having a substantially horizontal face for supporting said heavy body fixed by four points thereon; horizontal extensions extending outwardly from edges of said cube; supplemental side members positioned parallel to respective ones of the first said side members of said cube, and exterior thereto thereby .providing a complete rigid structure dimensioned so as to match with dimensions of said vehicle; and at least three anchoring means in the form of jacks, fixed to said supplemental side members of said complete rigid structure, two of said jacks being fixed to two vertical edges of said complete rigid structure, the third jack being fixed along the middle of a vertical supplemental side member opposed to those edges of said complete rigid structure to which said two jacks are fixed, an d all of said jacks being positioned at respective horizontal distances from all of said four points. v

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle has a front part with a driver station and a rear part with a rear axle support, the said two of said jacks being laterally located in the front part of said vehicle and said third jack of said jacks being fixed to a rear supplemental side member of said complete rigid structure,

are hydraulic jacks.

Claims (6)

1. A system for anchoring a rigid and stable structure carried by a vehicle to ground, said structure being adapted to support heavy bodies which are movable about two substantially orthogonal axes and which may exert forces on said structure as a result of high torque, accelerations and decelerations, said structure comprising, in combination: side members disposed so as to constitute substantially a cube, said cube having a substantially horizontal face for supporting said heavy body fixed by four points thereon; horizontal extensions extending outwardly from edges of said cube; supplemental side members positioned parallel to respective ones of the first said side members of said cube, and exterior thereto thereby providing a complete rigid structure dimensioned so as to match with dimensions of said vehicle; and at least three anchoring means in the form of jacks, fixed to said supplemental side members of said complete rigid structure, two of said jacks being fixed to two vertical edges of said complete rigid structure, the third jack being fixed along the middle of a vertical supplemental side member opposed to those edges of said complete rigid structure to which said two jacks are fixed, and all of said jacks being positioned at respective horizontal distances from all of said four points.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vehicle has a front part with a driver station and a rear part with a rear axle support, the said two of said jacks being laterally located in the front part of said vehicle and said third jack of said jacks being fixed to a rear supplemental side member of said complete rigid structure, this particular supplemental side member being further connected to said rear axle support.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein substantially all space between said laterally located jacks is substantially free thereby permitting easy access to said driver station.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said jacks are hydraulic jacks.

5. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said jacks are hydraulic jacks.

6. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said jacks are hydraulic jacks.

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