Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ARMORED VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY A COMBAT VEHICLE
The invention relates to an armored vehicle, especially a combat
vehicle.
Gun carriage mountings are conventionally undertaken in frames that
are welded into the vehicle housing of armored vehicles, and are
subsequently mechanically finished with the overall vehicle housing for
producing the tolerances that are required for the pivot bearing. This
has been shown to be a drawback in that with modern armored
vehicles, increasingly used for the housing structures are metal plates
having thin wall thicknesses, and the ballistic protection is produced by
auxiliary armoring. To minimize the manufacturing costs, it is
attempted to dispense with the mechanical finishing of the finally
welded vehicle housing, and to weld in tolerated components in a
correctly mounted manner. On the other hand, the pivot bearings of
gun carriages require very closely tolerated frames, the realization of
the welding of which requires a considerable expenditure for equipment
and production.
It is an object of the invention to embody an armored vehicle,
especially a combat vehicle, in such a way that on the one hand closely
tolerated
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installation conditions can be ensured for the pivot bearing, and on the
other hand, the frame for receiving the gun carriage can be produced
very economically and without the conventional mechanical finishing of
the overall vehicle.
An aspect of the invention comprises an armoured vehicle having a vehicle
housing disposed on a carriage, wherein an upper side of said vehicle
housing has a roof plate in which is disposed an opening, said vehicle
comprising: a frame that surrounds said opening and in which is adapted to
be mounted, via a pivot bearing, the gun carriage of a weapon, wherein
said frame comprises two parts that are concentrically disposed within one
another and are secured to one another, namely a non-mechanically
finished outer part that has coarse tolerances and is welded to said vehicle
housing, and a mechanically finished inner part that has close tolerances
and is positively connected with said outer part, and wherein said pivot
bearing for said gun carriage is disposed on said inner part.
The basic concept of the invention consists in the separation of the
frame construction into a coarsely tolerated, non-mechanically finished
outer part that is welded onto the housing structure, and a closely
tolerated, mechanically finished inner part. In so doing, the positive
connection of inner part and outer part can be carried out by means of
a sealing process with a suitable sealing compound or filler, whereby
the inner part can be brought into a correct mounting position via a
simple device.
In the following, an embodiment of the invention is described in greater
detail with the aid of the accompanying drawing. The drawings show:
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Fig. 1 an isometric illustration of a combat vehicle that is
otherwise not illustrated;
Fig. 1 A a detailed portion from Fig. 1 taken along the line I-1
Fig. 2 an illustration analogous to Fig. 1 showing the roof plate
of Fig. 1 with the outer part of the frame placed thereon;
Fig. 2A a detailed portion of Fig. 2 taken along the line II-II;
Fig. 3 an illustration analogous to Fig. 2 showing the roof plate
with the outer portion of the frame and inserted
interlocking elements;
Fig. 3A a detailed portion of Fig. 3 taken along the line III-III;
Fig. 4 an isometric illustration of the inner part for the outer part
of Figs. 2 and 3 of the frame;
Fig. 4A a detailed portion of Fig. 4 taken along the line IV-IV;
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Fig. 5 an enlarged partial cross-section taken along the line V-V
in Fig. 5A showing the frame with the inner part inserted
into the outer part;
Fig. 5A a reduced view onto the frame of Fig. 5;
Fig. 6 an enlarged partial section taken along the line VI-VI in
Fig. 6A showing the frame of Fig. 5;
Fig. 6A a reduced view onto the frame of Fig. 6;
Fig. 7 an isometric illustration of the frame of Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 1 shows the roof plate 1 of a combat vehicle, the remainder of
which is not illustrated; the roof plate is provided with an opening 1.1
that is to be surrounded by a frame for receiving the pivot bearing of a
gun carriage. In the illustrated embodiment, the opening 1.1 has a
polygonal configuration; however, a round opening can also be
arranged at this location.
As explained in the following, the frame, which is to surround the
opening 1.1, is built up of two components that are concentrically
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disposed in one another and are secured to one another, namely a
non-mechanically finished outer part 2 that has coarse tolerances and
is connected by welding to the roof plate 1 of the vehicle housing, and
a mechanically finished inner part 3 that has close tolerances and is
positively connected with the outer part 2; the non-illustrated pivot
bearing of the gun carriage is disposed on the inner part.
Fig. 2 initially illustrates the outer part 2 that is fixedly connected with
the roof plate 1. It is constructed as a closed collar that is embodied as
a bending construction or of abutting plates that are fixedly
interconnected by welding. In the illustrated embodiment, the collar
comprises collar plates 2.1 that are disposed perpendicular to the roof
plate 1. However, the collar plates can also be disposed at an angle to
the roof plate. As can be seen in Fig. 1, the collar plates 2.1 are
disposed in a polygonal manner. In principle, it would also be possible
to construct a collar having a circular contour, although as will be
described subsequently, the polygonal configuration of the collar has
advantages with regard to manufacture, structure and protection.
Inserted on the inner side of the collar that is constructed from the
collar plates 2.1, at a prescribed distance from the roof plate 1, is a
collar ring having a polygonal outer circumference that is adapted to
the inner circumference of the collar; the collar ring is composed of
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individual base plates 2.1 that are welded to one another, and is
disposed in such a way that its upper side forms a plateau. The
plateau can also comprise a single piece or can be composed of two
halves.
The inner circumference of the collar ring that is composed of the base
plates 2.2 has a circular configuration, and the collar ring is welded into
the collar.
An inner part is now to be inserted into the outer part 2 and to be
positively anchored there. In order to enable such a positive
anchoring, interlocking elements 2.3 are inserted into the outer part 2,
as can be seen in Figs. 3 and 3A. For this purpose, the collar that is
composed of the collar plates 2.1 is provided in the corner regions of
the abutting collar plates with slots that extend parallel to the roof plate
and into which the interlocking elements 2.3 are inserted. In this
connection, the polygonal shape of the collar has proven itself in that
the interlocking elements 2.3 are supported in the slots due to the
collar plates 2.1 that extend at an angle to one another. The
interlocking elements 2.3 are inserted after the inner part 3 is inserted
into the outer part 2. The inner part 3 illustrated in Fig. 4 has a
cylindrical ring 3.1, the diameter of which is smaller than the smallest
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diameter of the collar, and on the underside of which is welded on an
annular bearing plate 3.2, while on the other side an annular plate 3.3
is welded on. In the illustrated embodiment, both the top plate 3.3 as
well as the bearing plate 3.2 have a polygonal outer periphery and a
circular inner periphery. The minimum outer diameter of the top plate
corresponds at least to the minimum outer diameter of the collar, while
the maximum outer diameter of the bearing plate 3.2 is smaller than
the minimum inner diameter of the collar yet greater than the inner
diameter of the collar ring composed of the base plates 2.2.
The inner part 3 is now introduced into the outer part 2, the interlocking
elements are inserted into the slots in the corner regions of the collar
plates 2.1, and the interior space of the frame, in the region between
outer part 2 and inner part 3, is, after appropriate sealing by means of
seals 6.1 and 6.2, filled with a filler 7. In this connection, one seal 6.1
is disposed at the upper annular gap between the top plate 3.3 and the
upper edge of the collar plates 2.1, and the other seal 6.2 is disposed
between the upper side of the collar ring, which is composed of the
base plates 2.2, and the underside of the bearing plate 3.2. In so
doing, the inner part 3 is positively and fixedly anchored in the outer
part 2, as can be seen in Figs. 5 and 6. In this connection, the top
plate 3.3 projects beyond the upper side of the outer part 2. Prior to
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introduction of the inner part 3 into the outer part 2, the inner part 3 can
be machined or finished to have the close tolerances that are required
for receiving the pivot bearing.
Special protection modules, as armor protection, can be disposed on
the frame that is produced in this manner, as can be seen in Figs. 5
and 6. In the illustrated embodiment, such protection modules are
rectangular plates 4 that are disposed on the outside of the collar
plates 2.1 of the outer part 2. Here also the polygonal configuration of
the collar is advantageous since the protection modules can be
embodied as planar and squared-off plates.
When the collar plates 2.1 are disposed in a perpendicular manner, it is
expedient, in order to protect against radar detection, to cover the
frame in the installed state by a hood or shroud, as illustrated in Figs.
5-7. The outer shape of the hood or shroud 5, which is placed upon
the frame from above, is adapted to the polygonal periphery of the
collar, whereby however the outer walls of the shroud 5 that are
disposed opposite the collar plates 2.1 extend at an angle to the roof
plate 1. With regard to the selection of material and its shape, the
shroud 5 is optimized relative to radar signature, and ventilation slots
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Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
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GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24
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can be provided between the shroud 5 and the roof plate 1, as well as
in the upper portion of the shroud, as can be seen in Figs. 5 and 6.
$~?
