Mine clearing grapple and mine clearing vehicle integrating such a grapple

Abstract

This mine-clearing grapple (1) is equipped with at least one tooth or claw (16, 17), designed to grip an object, particularly a mine. This at least one tooth or claw (16, 17) is attached to a support structure (2, 3), which is equipped with reversible attachment means (10, 11) for use with a manipulator tool, particularly one mounted on a vehicle.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a grappling hook, more particularly intended to allow operators to clear mines from a surface, a field, etc., by optimizing the safety of said operators on the one hand, and corollarily by reducing the risks of damage to equipment and other complementary vehicles with which such a grappling hook may be associated. PRIOR STATE OF TECHNOLOGY

[0002] Mine clearance operations are always extremely delicate due to the risks of explosions from mines and other explosive devices (IED, an Anglo-Saxon acronym for " Improved Explosive Device (shells, submunitions, etc.) in question. When these operations are carried out manually, even if the operators wear protective suits and helmets, in the event of an explosion, their physical integrity can nevertheless be seriously compromised.

[0003] Furthermore, the mines and other explosive devices in question are traditionally buried and, in order to have access to their neutralization device, it is necessary first of all to remove the mines from the ground, and consequently, to position them properly in order to have access to these neutralization devices.

[0004] In the absence of suitable tools, the operators cobble together a pseudo-grappling hook from objects not intended for this purpose, to allow them to scrape the minefield in question, and consequently, to possibly turn over the mine or mines.

[0005] It is easy to understand that these tools are not suitable for preserving the safety of said operators.

[0006] We also know of mine-clearing devices, typically equipped with a blade, similar to bulldozers, that scrape the field until mines are unearthed. However, during such operations, the risk of explosion from these mines is significant, potentially causing substantial damage to the mine-clearing vehicle, regardless of its armor plating.

[0007] The objective of the present invention is to provide a mine-clearing grappling hook, capable of being placed in a specific location and typically on a minefield, by means of a suitable vehicle, and in particular equipped with an operational arm, and therefore sufficiently far from the vehicle itself to avoid the risk of damage to said vehicle. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] To this end, the invention relates to a mine-clearing grappling hook equipped with at least one tooth or claw, intended to pick up an object and in particular a mine.

[0009] According to the invention, this tooth or claw is attached to a support structure, provided with means for reversible attachment to a manipulator tool, in particular fixed on a mobile vehicle.

[0010] Put another way, the invention consists of equipping a grapple ensuring the primary function of digging up, or even turning over, mines, with means suitable for allowing its reversible attachment on a manipulator tool, and thus allowing to ensure a certain safety for operators and, when the manipulator tool is typically made up of an arm of determined length, typically 2 to 6 meters, to limit the risks of damage to said vehicle.

[0011] For the purposes of this invention, the term "mine" refers to mines themselves, but also to all explosive devices (IEDs, shells, submunitions, etc.).

[0012] According to a first advantageous feature of the invention, the support structure consists of at least one tube, fixed on an upper plate and whose free end is curved and receives said at least one tooth or claw of the grapple.

[0013] According to another advantageous feature of the invention, in which the grapple comprises two teeth or claws, the support structure consists of two tubes, articulated on an upper plate and whose free end is curved and receives the teeth or claws of the grapple.

[0014] In this embodiment of the invention, the upper plate has two through-holes, substantially symmetrical to each other with respect to the longitudinal axis of the grapple, and intended to cooperate with elements and in particular screws attached to the tubes in order to adjust the respective spacing of the latter with respect to the longitudinal axis, and therefore consequently the spacing of the teeth or claws.

[0015] These lights advantageously include discreetly distributed extensions to facilitate adjustment of the tooth spacing as needed at different angles relative to the longitudinal axis of the grapple.

[0016] The tubes are curved at their upstream end and the teeth or claws are themselves fixed on complementary tubes capable of sliding along the curved upstream ends of the tubes constituting the support structure of the grapple.

[0017] The curved upstream ends of the tubes forming the support structure are equipped with through holes designed to engage with pin-like components, inserted into these holes and correspondingly into holes in the tubes to which the teeth are attached. This allows for adjustment of the teeth's height relative to the grapple's upper plate.

[0018] The invention also relates to a mine-clearing vehicle comprising a manipulator arm at the end of which are articulated respectively a fork, said fork comprising a plurality of claws suitable for lifting objects and in particular mines, and situated in the same plane, separated from each other by at least one spacer, and an antagonistic tooth or claw, suitable for crossing the plane defined by said fork, said mine-clearing vehicle incorporating a grapple of the type previously described.

[0019] The grapple is equipped with reversible locking mechanisms that can be clipped into the spacers separating the claws that make up the fork. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0020] The manner in which the invention can be implemented and the resulting advantages will be more clearly shown in the following examples of implementation, given by way of illustration and not limitation, in support of the attached figures. There figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the grappling hook according to the invention. figure 2 This is a schematic exploded view of the downstream end of the grapple. figure 3 is a schematic, exploded perspective view of the upstream end of the grappling hook. figure 4 is a schematic representation, seen from above, of the grappling hook of the figure 1 There figure 5 is a schematic lateral representation of the upstream end of the grappling hook of the figure 1 . There figure 6is a schematic perspective representation of the grappling hook of the figure 1 with an angular misalignment of one of its teeth. The figure 7 is a top view of the figure 6 . There figure 8 is a schematic representation in the open position of a demining tool mounted on the demining device of the invention. figure 9 is a view analogous to the figure 8 in the closed position. Figure 10 is a schematic representation illustrating the reversible attachment of the grapple of the invention to the fork described within the figures 8 and 9 . There figure 11 is a side view of the Figure 10 . There figure 12 is a schematic perspective view of the underside of the illustration of the Figure 10 . There figure 13 is a schematic perspective representation of the grappling hook received on the device of figures 8 and 9 according to a different configuration. The figure 14 is a top view of the illustration of the figure 13 . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] We have represented in relation to the figures 1 to 7 the grappling hook (1) according to the invention, in this case equipped with two teeth or claws (16, 17).

[0022] This consists of two tubes or hook arms (2) and (3), that is to say, they have a bend allowing their upstream free end to be oriented substantially perpendicular to the rest of the tube.

[0023] Upstream refers to the direction of travel of the vehicle on the fork of which this grapple is intended to be reversibly attached, as will be described in more detail later.

[0024] These two tubes (2) and (3) are articulated (4, 5) at the level of an upper plate (6), so that their free end can adopt several orientations, as can be seen on the figures 4, 6 and 7 .

[0025] This upper plate (6) has two coplanar lateral extensions (8) and (9), at the ends of which are attached reversible fastening elements (10) and (11) for the grapple onto the fork (32) of a handling device, which will be described in more detail later. For example, these reversible fastening elements (10) and (11) are made of elastomer, i.e., materials with elastic properties, but any other reversible fastening element could be suitable.

[0026] The downstream end of the upper plate (6) is provided with a screw (12) intended to allow the attachment of a cable (13), said cable being intended to constitute the cable of a winch mounted at the front of a mine-clearing vehicle, to allow in operation, once the grapple has been detached from the fork (32) and moved away from said vehicle, to be towed.

[0027] The two free ends of the tubes (2) and (3) oriented perpendicularly with respect to the general direction of the grapple, are intended to receive by sliding tubes (14) and (15) on each of which is fixed a tooth or claw (16) and (17) of the grapple itself.

[0028] In order to allow for a plurality of possible orientations of the teeth (16, 17) on the one hand, and of scraping depth within the minefield on which the grapple is intended to operate on the other hand, the said grapple is equipped with two distinct adjustment systems.

[0029] The first is described more specifically in relation to the figures 4, 6 and 7In fact, when it is desired to spread the claws or teeth (16, 17), this is made possible primarily by the articulation of the tubes (2) and (3) on the upper plate (6), as previously mentioned. To this end, these tubes are not only articulated (4) and (5) on the upper plate (6), but also fixed to it by knurled screws (18, 19), each passing through a through-hole (20) and (21) formed at the upstream edge of the lateral extensions (8) and (9) of said upper plate (6). These through-holes (20) and (21) are oriented in an arc precisely to allow the movement of the two tubes (2) and (3) relative to their respective articulation points (4) and (5).

[0030] Ideally, these through lights (20) and (21) are equipped with discreetly distributed extensions, typically allowing, as illustrated on the figure 4, a spacing of the tubes of 10, 20 and 30° relative to the main longitudinal axis of the grapple.

[0031] In doing so, in the example described, we can have a 60° clearance between the two tubes and therefore corollarily between the two teeth (16) and (17), depending on the needs of the terrain.

[0032] Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the tines (16) and (17) are attached to tubes (14) and (15), which themselves slide along the curved ends of tubes (2) and (3). These tubes (14) and (15), as well as the curved ends of tubes (2) and (3), have through holes. These holes are designed to align with each other to allow the height of the tines (16) and (17) to be fixed according to the terrain requirements. To this end, tubes (14) and (15) are secured by means of wedges of a known type.

[0033] As explained in the introduction, this grappling hook is designed to be reversibly attached to the fork (32) of a manipulator tool (30) on a mine-clearing vehicle. Such a fork is schematically illustrated in relation to the figures 8 (in open position) and 9 (in closed position).

[0034] The fork shown corresponds to that already described in the Applicant's document EP 4 283 241. The manipulator tool (30) is intended to be mounted at the end of a manipulation arm (31), itself mounted on the said mine-clearing vehicle not shown.

[0035] The manipulator tool (30) in question is fundamentally composed of a fork (32) comprising a plurality of claws or teeth, parallel to each other, and whose base lies in a plane (33). These claws, for details of which reference should be made to the previously cited document, have between them two spacers (34) and (35), respectively, spacer (35) being, however, absent between the two central teeth or claws (36) and (37) for the reason that will follow. Indeed, this first series of teeth or claws is designed to cooperate with a single opposing claw (38) which, as can be observed on the figure 9 , is intended to pass between the claws (36) and (37) and therefore to cross the plane (33).

[0036] These various claws are articulated at the free end of the manipulation arm (31) and rotated at their respective articulation axes by cylinders or equivalent systems (briefly schematically shown on the diagrams). figures 8 and 9 ).

[0037] THE Figures 10 to 12 illustrate the reversible attachment of the invention's grapple to the fork (32). The clipping of the reversible fastening means (9) and (10) onto the spacers (35) separating the tines of the fork (32) can thus be observed. In this configuration, it can be observed that, particularly on the figure 11 The upstream end of the grapple protrudes slightly from the end of the fork (32). This clipping is made possible due to the elastic properties of the means (9) and (10).

[0038] Once the specific location has been reached using the manipulator arm (31) and the fork (32), the grapple must be detached from the fork. To do this, the opposing claw (38) is tilted and rests against the plate (7) located at the upstream end of the upper plate (6). This simple pressure detaches the grapple, and in particular the means (9) and (10), from the spacers (35). The grapple is then free from the fork (32), but remains attached to the mine-clearing vehicle by the winch cable (13), which allows traction to be applied to the grapple, thus enabling it to perform its function.

[0039] According to one variant of the invention, the grapple is not fixed under the fork (32) as illustrated in connection with the Figures 10, 11 and 12, but on said fork (32). In this hypothesis, the grapple is recovered by the fork (32), coming to slide under said grapple, and therefore without human intervention, and the downstream end (36) of the upper plate (6) is curved and comes to cooperate in particular by clipping with a corresponding organ (37), provided in the vicinity of the base of the claws constituting the fork (32).

[0040] The full benefit of the present invention is clear, as it optimizes the safety conditions of operators and preserves the integrity of the demining vehicle and its various components.

Claims

1. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) equipped with at least one tooth or claw (16, 17), designed to handle an object, and in particular a mine, characterized in that said at least one tooth or claw (16, 17) is attached to a support structure (2, 3), provided with reversible attachment means (10, 11) to a manipulator tool (30), in particular fixed to a vehicle.

2. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it is equipped with two teeth or claws (16, 17), and in that the support structure consists of two tubes (2, 3), articulated (4, 5) on an upper plate (6), and whose free end is curved and is intended to receive the teeth or claws 16, 17).

3. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper plate (6) has two through-holes (20, 21), substantially symmetrical to each other with respect to the longitudinal axis of the grapple, and intended to cooperate with organs (18, 19) and in particular screws attached to the tubes (2, 3) in order to adjust the respective spacing of the latter with respect to the longitudinal axis, and therefore consequently the spacing of the teeth (16, 17).

4. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the lights (20, 21) have discreetly distributed extensions to facilitate the adjustment of the spacing of the teeth (16, 17) as needed at different angles relative to the longitudinal axis of the grapple.

5. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the tubes (2, 3) are bent at their upstream end and in thatthe teeth or claws (16, 17) are themselves fixed on complementary tubes (14, 15) capable of sliding along the upstream curved ends of the tubes (2, 3) constituting the support structure of the grapple.

6. Mine-clearing grappling hook (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that The upstream curved ends of the tubes (2, 3) constituting the support structure are provided with through orifices suitable for cooperating with pin-type elements, inserted in said orifices and in correspondingly provided orifices in the tubes (14, 15) on which the teeth (16, 17) are fixed, so as to allow height adjustment of said teeth relative to the upper plate of the grapple.

7. Mine clearance vehicle comprising a manipulator arm (31) at the end of which are articulated on the one hand, a fork (32), said fork comprising a plurality of parallel claws positioned in the same plane (33), capable of lifting objects and in particular mines, and separated from each other by at least one spacer (35), and on the other hand an antagonistic tooth or claw (38) capable of crossing the plane (33) defined by the fork (32), said mine clearance vehicle incorporating a grapple (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. Mine-clearing vehicle according to claim 7, characterized in that the grapple (1) is reversibly attached to the fork (32), and is detached from said fork (32) by action of the antagonistic tooth or claw (38) on a pallet (7) of the upper plate (6) of the grapple (1).

Images