Modular External Autoloader for Tank Turret Weight Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic loading systems for large-caliber guns in armored vehicles require significant space and are costly, with complex mechanisms that complicate integration and maintenance, especially when aiming to reduce the weight and armor plating of vehicles while ensuring reliable ammunition feeding.
Innovation Solution
A compact autoloader design that integrates a magazine housing and loading device externally to the turret, allowing for modular replacement and reduced weight, with a mechanical interface for ammunition selection and feeding, and an electronic system housed in the turret for control, enabling efficient and rapid reloading without compromising crew safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an automatic loading system is integrated inside the turret with complex mechanisms for ammunition feeding, then reliable ammunition feeding is achieved, but the vehicle weight and armor plating requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the magazine and loading device from the turret interior and positions them externally on the vehicle hull. This separation removes the heavy armor plating requirement from the turret while maintaining ammunition feeding functionality, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The loading system is segmented into modular components: the magazine, the loading device, and the turret are separated into distinct units. This allows the magazine and loading device to be independently positioned externally, reducing the weight burden on the turret while maintaining system reliability.
2Weight of moving object
If a compact autoloader is positioned externally to the turret, then vehicle weight and volume are reduced, but the complexity of integration and maintenance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The loading device is designed with universal mounting capabilities that allow it to be integrated with different turret types and vehicle platforms. This multi-functionality reduces integration complexity despite external positioning, as the same loading device can adapt to various configurations without requiring custom integration for each application.
3Ease of repair
If the magazine and loading device are integrated as a modular external unit, then rapid replacement and re-tooling become possible, but the mechanical interface complexity for ammunition selection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The magazine is pre-configured with ammunition in specific arrangements that correspond to different weapon systems and mission requirements. This preliminary preparation allows for rapid replacement of entire magazine units without requiring complex reconfiguration of mechanical interfaces, as the ammunition is already positioned for immediate use.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple magazine units can be pre-loaded with different ammunition types and configurations, creating ready-to-use copies. This allows rapid replacement by simply swapping pre-prepared magazine units rather than reconfiguring mechanical interfaces, reducing the practical complexity despite the potential for varied ammunition selections.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle, in particular a tank, having a turret, on which a gun having a large-calibre gun barrel is secured, and comprising an auto-loader positioned behind the turret, via which auto-loader ammunition can be automatically supplied to the gun barrel. In order to achieve simplified automatic loading of the gun barrel with ammunition, the auto-loader is replaceably secured on the outside of the turret as a separate, modular unit. A magazine located in the auto-loader for receiving the ammunition can also be designed as an interchangeable magazine that can be replaced. An electronic system of the auto-loader is housed in the vehicle, specifically in the turret. The selection of ammunition in the auto-loader and the conveying out of the auto-loader are carried out via at least one mechanical interface, e.g. a power take-off, between the turret and the auto-loader.