Compact guide device for a recoiling mass

Abstract

The invention relates to a weapon system (1) comprising a recoiling mass (2) and a cradle (3), wherein the recoiling mass comprises a weapon barrel (2a) and a breech sleeve (2b) and moves in translation during firing relative to the cradle (3) and a guide means is provided for guiding this recoil movement of the recoiling mass (2). This weapon system is characterized in that the guide means comprises at least one bar (5) secured to the cradle (3) and extending rearwards from the weapon system, said bar (5) cooperating with at least one rail borne by the breech sleeve (2b). The breech sleeve (2b) is connected to the cradle (3) by two pairs (6a, 6b) of hydraulic or pneumatic recoil brakes (7), each rail being arranged between two brakes (7) of a same pair, the body of each brake (7) being secured to the cylinder head sleeve (2b).

Description

Compact guidance device for a recoiling mass.

[0001] The invention relates to a weapon system comprising a recoiling mass and a cradle.

[0002] In a classic way, the recoiling mass of a weapon includes a weapon tube which is equipped at its rear part with a breech sleeve.

[0003] The breechblock sleeve supports the breechblock, which seals the barrel after the ammunition is inserted. The breechblock can be a wedge-type or screw-type breechblock.

[0004] The recoiling mass translates during firing relative to the cradle to allow the recoil of the weapon's tube following the firing of the ammunition.

[0005] It is therefore necessary to provide a means of guiding this recoil.

[0006] Patent EP1072857 describes an example of a guiding means which includes prismatic pads attached to the cradle and which slide in corresponding grooves carried by a sled to which the weapon tube is fixed.

[0007] Such a solution has the disadvantage of requiring the placement of a sled on the recoiling mass, which increases the overall size of the weapon system.

[0008] Furthermore, in order to reduce the effort and length of the recoil, it is necessary to give a significant mass to the recoiling mass.

[0009] US patent application 2012 / 0266747 A1 is another example of the implementation of such a sled, and describes in particular a recoil-damped weapon system comprising a recoiling mass that slides relative to a cradle. The recoiling mass includes a gun tube and a breechblock. A pair of recoil brakes, fixed to the cradle and connected to each other by flanges, is provided. The recoiling mass is guided relative to the cradle by bars fixed to the cradle and receiving rails carried by a sled fixed to the gun tube.

[0010] US patent application 5,703,318 A also describes a weapon system comprising a recoiling mass, including a breech sleeve and a barrel, and a cradle. Guidance is provided by bars carried by the breech sleeve and sliding in rails attached to the cradle. Recoil brakes and recoil springs are provided, all housed within the cradle.

[0011] The aim of the invention is to offer a weapon system in which both recoil efforts are reduced and the mass of the cradle is reduced.

[0012] The weapon system can thus be lighter with reduced stresses on the trunnions.

[0013] Thus the invention relates to a weapon system comprising a recoiling mass and a cradle, the recoiling mass comprising a weapon tube and a breech sleeve and translating during firing relative to the cradle and a guidance means being provided to ensure the guidance of this recoil movement of the recoiling mass, weapon system characterized in that the guidance means comprises at least one bar integral with the cradle and extending behind the weapon system, bar cooperating with at least one rail carried by the breech sleeve, the breech sleeve being connected to the cradle by two pairs of hydraulic or pneumatic recoil brakes, each rail being disposed between two brakes of the same pair, the body of each brake being integral with the breech sleeve.

[0014] According to a particular embodiment, the sleeve may be extended at its front part by at least two wings, the guide rail(s) extending along the wings.

[0015] Advantageously, each bar can carry a prismatic profile pad engaged in a complementary profile carried by the corresponding rail of the breech sleeve.

[0016] According to a particular embodiment, the prismatic profile of the skate may include at least two pairs of spans, each delimiting a V, the two Vs being positioned opposite each other.

[0017] In a parallel manner, the breech sleeve rail may include at least two pairs of bearing surfaces complementary to those of the pad and each defining a V, the two Vs being positioned opposite each other.

[0018] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description of a particular embodiment, a description made with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0019] shows in rear perspective a weapon system according to an embodiment of the invention, the recoiling mass being in the return-to-battery position;

[0020] shows in rear perspective this same weapon system, with the recoiling mass in the position of maximum recoil;

[0021] is a rear view of the weapon system according to this embodiment of the invention;

[0022] is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the weapon system according to this embodiment of the invention, the cross-section being made along the plane whose trace AA is located at the;

[0023] is a perspective view of the sleeve alone.

[0024] Referring to figures 1 and 2, a weapon system 1 according to one embodiment of the invention, comprises a recoiling mass 2 and a cradle 3.

[0025] This weapon system is, for example, intended to equip an armored vehicle not shown, for example a tank.

[0026] Cradle 3 is connected to the vehicle's turret by a trunnion system (not shown) allowing for elevation of the weapon system. These mountings are standard and are therefore not illustrated here.

[0027] In a similarly conventional manner, the recoiling mass 2 comprises a weapon tube 2a onto which a breech sleeve 2b is fixed. The weapon tube 2a will, for example, be of large caliber, such as a tube with a caliber greater than 105mm.

[0028] The cylinder head sleeve 2b shown is a sleeve which carries a cylinder head closure by a screw 4 engaged in an axial conical thread of the sleeve.

[0029] Screw-type cylinder heads are well known to those skilled in the art, for example from patent FR2679990, and it is not necessary to describe them in detail.

[0030] It would also be possible to provide a cylinder head sleeve carrying a wedge-shaped cylinder head of the type described for example by patents EP747651 and EP321345.

[0031] As can be seen in the figures, the cradle 3 has a socket 3a in which the weapon tube 2a slides.

[0032] The socket 3a has a flange 3b and is extended by two bars 5.

[0033] The cylinder head sleeve 2b is connected to the cradle 3 by an elastic link that incorporates recoil brakes 7 and one or more recoil springs (not shown). Hydraulic recoil brakes 7 are well known and generally consist of a piston moving within a cylinder, causing the expulsion of a fluid, most often oil. The slosh of the oil produces the braking effect. Pneumatic brakes are also known, but their braking efficiency is lower.

[0034] The recuperators' function is to return the recoiling mass 2 to the battery after its recoil. When the brake is hydraulic, the fluid expelled from the brake is carried by pipes to the recuperator where it compresses a gas whose expansion will cause the recoiling mass to return to the battery.

[0035] The weapon system 1 shown in the figures comprises two pairs 6a, 6b of recoil brakes 7, either hydraulic or pneumatic. The body of each brake 7 is secured to the breech sleeve 2b, for example by screwing or shrink-fitting, and is positioned in a complementary cylindrical housing 14 of the sleeve 2b. The rod 9 of each recoil brake is fixed by screws to the flange 3b of the cradle 3.

[0036] Each bar 5 attached to the cradle 3 extends behind the weapon system and cooperates with at least one rail 8 carried by the breech sleeve 2b. As can be seen in the figure, each rail 8 is arranged between two brakes 7 of the same pair 6a,6b.

[0037] To ensure that guidance is achieved over the entire length of the recoil, and as is particularly visible in the figure, the sleeve 2b is extended at its front part by at least two wings 10, and the guide rail(s) 8 extend along the wings.

[0038] As can be seen more particularly in figures 3 and 4, each bar 5 has at its rear end a prismatic profile pad 11 which is engaged in a complementary profile 12 () made by machining and which forms the corresponding rail 8 of the cylinder head sleeve 2b.

[0039] An external prismatic profile is understood to be a polyhedral shape having as its base two equal and parallel polygons whose corresponding sides are joined by parallelograms.

[0040] Simply put, a prismatic shape has a non-circular cross-section that remains constant along the prism. This allows sliding along the prism's axis (the straight line connecting the centroids of two equal and parallel bases) and prevents any rotation around the prism's axis. A rectangular parallelepiped is a prism (rectangular base). A skate with a cross-section that is a regular or irregular hexagon (as shown in the figures) is also a prism.

[0041] As can be clearly seen on the figure, the prismatic profile of the skate 11 includes at least two pairs 13a and 13b of bearings which each delimit a V. The two Vs thus formed are positioned opposite each other, symmetrically with respect to the plane P which is the plane of symmetry of the skates and which also contains the axis of the tube 2a of the weapon.

[0042] To receive this pad 11, the profile 12 of the rail 8 of the cylinder head sleeve 2b includes at least two pairs of bearing surfaces which are complementary to the bearing surfaces 13a and 13b of the pad 11. They also each define a V, the two Vs thus formed being positioned opposite each other.

[0043] One possible shape for the skates 11 is described in patent EP1072857, to which reference can be made for further details. It should be noted that this patent also describes an adjustment device to compensate for wear, a device that could be advantageously implemented here.

[0044] We therefore note that, with the invention, the recoiling mass 2 also includes the mass of the brake bodies 7.

[0045] This increases the overall mass of the recoiling mass 2, thereby reducing both recoil forces and recoil length. This arrangement is advantageous for integration into an armored vehicle turret and for an overall reduction in the weapon system's mass, as its cradle no longer needs to be oversized.

[0046] The recoiling mass 2 translates during firing relative to the cradle 3 by the effect of recoil.

[0047] The translational movement is guided, on the one hand, by the cooperation of a cylindrical bearing of the tube 2a of the weapon with the socket 3a of the cradle 3, and on the other hand by the sliding of the two pads 11 on the profiles 12 of the rails 8 which are integral with the sleeve 2b.

[0048] It is noted that the guidance means are particularly compact here and that it is not necessary to provide additional rails on either side of the recoiling mass.

[0049] The structure of the recoiling mass incorporates the guiding means formed by machining the profiles 12 of rails 8 on the breech sleeve 2b itself. No dedicated sled is required, as the breech sleeve 2b carries, within its very structure, some of the means enabling the guidance.

[0050] An embodiment has been described in which the bars 5 carry guides 11. It would also be possible to give the bars 5 themselves a prismatic profile that cooperates with the rails 8.

Claims

Weapon system (1) comprising a recoiling mass (2) and a cradle (3), the recoiling mass comprising a weapon tube (2a) and a breech sleeve (2b) and translating during firing relative to the cradle (3) and a guidance means being provided to ensure the guidance of this recoil movement of the recoiling mass (2), weapon system characterized in that the guidance means comprises at least one bar (5) integral with the cradle (3) and extending behind the weapon system, bar (5) cooperating with at least one rail (8) carried by the breech sleeve (2b), the breech sleeve (2b) being connected to the cradle (3) by two pairs (6a,6b) of hydraulic or pneumatic recoil brakes (7), each rail (8) being disposed between two brakes (7) of the same pair (6a,6b), the body of each brake (7) being integral with the breech sleeve (2b). Weapon system according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve (2b) is extended at its front part by at least two wings (10), the guide rail(s) (8) extending along the wings (10). Weapon system according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that each bar (5) carries a prismatic profile pad (11) engaged in a complementary profile (12) carried by the corresponding rail (8) of the breech sleeve (2b). Weapon system according to claim 3, characterized in that the prismatic profile of the skid (11) comprises at least two pairs (13a,13b) of bearings each delimiting a V, the two Vs being positioned opposite each other. Weapon system according to claim 4, characterized in that the rail (8) of the breech sleeve comprises at least two pairs of bearing surfaces complementary to those of the slide (11) and each delimiting a V, the two Vs being positioned opposite each other.

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