Turret system for lightweight military vehicle
First Claim
1. A military land vehicle having a roof and an interior volume having at least one passenger seat, the vehicle permitting interchangeability of different weapon stations, each weapon station including a weapon mounted on a disk, the vehicle comprising:
- a platform located interiorly of an opening in the roof of the vehicle, the platform having a generally flat upper surface and an aperture therethrough, lower portions of the platform being connected to a frame for the vehicle by way of a plurality of flexible stanchions spaced about the periphery of the platform;
azimuth drive means on the upper surface of the platform for rotating the disk about 360 degrees, said azimuth drive means having at least one electric motor driving a gear assembly mounted to the upper platform surface;
means for removably attaching the disk of the desired weapon station to the gear assembly of the azimuth drive means;
elevation drive means including a ball and socket joint located in the interior of the vehicle and extending through the aperture in the platform; and
connection means for removably connecting the elevation drive means to the weapon.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A lightweight military vehicle is provided with an unmanned turret for interchangeably supporting large weapon stations. Elastomer filled stanchions connected to a turret platform serve to isolate weapon impulse forces from the vehicle frame. Driver, commander and gunner seats are located externally to the turret and provided with said doors to enable quick exiting. Both powered and manual backup drives are external to the rotating turret disk and are accessible from the gunner'"'"'s seat. The elevation drive employs a ball and socket joint connecting an upper yoke mounted to the weapon with a fixed lower portion controlling vertical movement of the yoke and thereby the elevation of the gun.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A military land vehicle having a roof and an interior volume having at least one passenger seat, the vehicle permitting interchangeability of different weapon stations, each weapon station including a weapon mounted on a disk, the vehicle comprising:
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a platform located interiorly of an opening in the roof of the vehicle, the platform having a generally flat upper surface and an aperture therethrough, lower portions of the platform being connected to a frame for the vehicle by way of a plurality of flexible stanchions spaced about the periphery of the platform; azimuth drive means on the upper surface of the platform for rotating the disk about 360 degrees, said azimuth drive means having at least one electric motor driving a gear assembly mounted to the upper platform surface; means for removably attaching the disk of the desired weapon station to the gear assembly of the azimuth drive means; elevation drive means including a ball and socket joint located in the interior of the vehicle and extending through the aperture in the platform; and connection means for removably connecting the elevation drive means to the weapon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A military vehicle comprising:
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an interior volume having at least one passenger seat; a platform connected to the vehicle by way of a plurality of flexible stanchions; a disk having a weapon mounted thereon capable of pivoting in elevation; a ring gear having an inner race and an outer race, means for connecting the inner race of the ring gear to the platform, the outer race including a plurality of radially extending teeth; means for removably connecting said disk together with its associated weapon to the outer race of said ring gear; azimuth drive means on the platform and spaced from the disk for engaging the teeth of said ring gear to rotate the disk and position the weapon in azimuth; elevation drive means in the vehicle and removably connected to said weapon for controlling elevation thereof, said elevation drive means including a ball and socket joint; and power control means having a controller accessible from the passenger seat for selectively activating the azimuth and elevation drive means to thereby automatically control the position of the weapon. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification