VEHICULE BLINDE, NOTAMMENT VEHICULE DE COMBAT

ARMORED VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY A COMBAT VEHICLE

Abrégé français

L'invention concerne un véhicule blindé, notamment un véhicule de combat, comportant une caisse montée sur un mécanisme de roulement, qui comporte sur sa face supérieure, une plaque de toit (1) dans laquelle est pratiquée une ouverture (1,1) entourée d'un châssis et dans laquelle est monté l'affût d'une arme, par l'intermédiaire d'un coussinet de pivotement. Le châssis se compose de deux parties disposées de manière concentrique l'une dans l'autre et fixées l'une à l'autre, à savoir une partie extérieure (2) à tolérances larges, non réusinée mécaniquement et solidarisée avec la caisse du véhicule par soudage et une partie intérieure (3) à tolérances étroites, réusinée mécaniquement et solidarisée par liaison de forme avec la partie extérieure et sur laquelle est disposé le coussinet de pivotement. Cette configuration permet de réduire considérablement la complexité et les frais de production, étant donné qu'il n'est pas nécessaire de réusiner la caisse du véhicule dans son ensemble, mais uniquement la partie intérieure (2) du rebord.

Abrégé anglais

The invention relates to an armoured vehicle, especially a combat vehicle
comprising a vehicle
housing which is mounted on a running carriage and has a roof plate (1) on its
upper side, in
which an opening (1.1) is surrounded by a frame, the gun carriage of a weapon
being mounted
on a pivot bearing in said opening. Said frame consists of two parts which are
fixed to each other
and concentrically arranged inside each other, namely a non mechanically
finished outer part (2),
with wide tolerances, which is connected to the vehicle housing by means of
welding, and a
mechanically finished inner part (3), with narrow tolerances, which is
positively engaged with
the outer part. The pivot bearing of the gun carriage is arranged on said
inner part. The
production means can be sharply reduced by means of the inventive embodiment,
as only the
inner part (3) of the collar must be finished, as opposed to the entire
vehicle housing.

Revendications

CLAIMS:
1. 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.
2. The armored vehicle according to claim 1, wherein
said outer part of said frame is provided with a collar
embodied as a closed ring, wherein said collar is composed
of polygonally disposed collar plates that abut one another,
are interconnected, and are disposed at a predetermined
angle to said roof plate, wherein a collar ring having a
polygonal outer periphery is disposed on an inner side of
said collar at a prescribed distance from said roof plate,
and wherein an upper side of said collar ring forms a
plateau.
3. The armored vehicle according to claim 2, wherein
said collar plates are disposed perpendicular to said roof
plate.
9

4. The armored vehicle according to claim 2, wherein
said collar plates are disposed at an inclined arrangement
to said roof plate.
5. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
2 to 4, wherein said collar ring is composed of individual
base plates that are welded together.
6. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
2 to 5, wherein said collar plates are interconnected by
welding, and wherein said collar ring is welded into said
collar.
7. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
2 to 6, wherein said collar ring has a circular inner
periphery.
8. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
1 to 7, wherein said outer part is provided with a collar,
wherein said inner part of said frame is provided with a
cylindrical ring having a diameter smaller than the smallest
diameter of said collar and on an underside of which is
disposed an annular bearing plate and on an upper side of
which is disposed an annular top plate, and wherein a
minimum outer diameter of said top plate corresponds at
least to a minimum outer diameter of said collar while a
maximum outer diameter of said bearing plate is less than a
minimum inner diameter of said collar yet greater than an
inner diameter of a collar ring that is disposed on an inner
side of said collar.
9. The armored vehicle according to claim 8, wherein
said top plate and said bearing plate are welded to said
cylindrical ring.

10. The armored vehicle according to claim 8 or 9,
wherein at least one of said top plate and said bearing
plate have a polygonal outer periphery and a circular inner
periphery.
11. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
8 to 10, wherein in a state of said inner part where it is
inserted into said outer part, sealing material is disposed
between an upper side of said collar ring and an underside
of said bearing plate.
12. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
8 to 11, wherein slots are disposed in said collar that
extend parallel to said roof plate, and wherein in a state
of said inner part where it is inserted into said outer
part, interlocking elements are inserted into said slots and
extend beyond said bearing plate of said inner part.
13. The armored vehicle according to claim 12, wherein
with a collar that is provided with polygonally disposed
collar plates, said slots are disposed in corner regions of
abutting ones of said collar plates.
14. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
1 to 13, wherein in a mounted state of said frame, an inner
space of said frame is filled with a filler in a region
between said outer part and said inner part.
15. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
1 to 14, wherein protective modules are mounted or adapted
to be mounted on an outer side of said collar.
16. The armored vehicle according to any one of claims
1 to 15, wherein a shroud covers said frame in a mounted
state thereof, wherein said shroud has an outer shape that
11

is adapted to a polygonal periphery of said collar, and
wherein outer walls of said shroud that are opposite said
collar plates extend at an angle to said roof plate.
17. The armored vehicle according to claim 16, wherein
said shroud, with regard to a selection of a material and
shape thereof, is embodied in a manner that is optimized
relative to a radar signature.
18. The armored vehicle according to claim 16 or 17,
wherein ventilation slots are provided between said shroud
and said roof plate as well as in an upper portion of said
shroud.
12

Description

CA 02481073 2007-11-29
23623-51
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
1

CA 02481073 2007-11-29
23623-51
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:
2

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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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Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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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Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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
5 of 13
Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

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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
6 of 13
Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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
7 of 13
Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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
8 of 13
Literal trnsl of PCT/DE03/01037 filed 28 March 2003 / Rudolf Zurek / Krauss-
Maffei Wegmann
GmbH & Co. KG / 02-12-24

CA 02481073 2004-10-01
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.
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Dessin représentatif