Arrangement for protecting the crew of a military vehicle from mine explosion consequences

• US 6,779,431 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2002
• Issued: 08/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Company KG (Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG)
• Original Assignee: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Company KG (Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG)
• Inventors: Hönlinger, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Carone, Michael J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chambers, Troy
• Application Number:
  US10/116,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20020145308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: 89/360.8, 296/193.07, 296/204
• US Class Current: 296/193.07
• CPC Class Codes: F41H 7/042 Floors or base plates for increased land mine protection

Abstract

An arrangement is provided to protect the occupants of a military vehicle in the event of a percussive-type impact on a surface of the vehicle, such as a mine explosion below the vehicle. The arrangement includes a foot floor supported at a spacing from a respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin which is intermediate the foot floor and the travel surface on which the vehicle is traveling. No structures connect the foot floor and the interior surface of the cabin to one another with a rigidity sufficient to transmit to the foot floor more than a negligible amount of the energy of a deflection of the interior of the cabin in the event that a percussive-type event such as amine explosion causes the interior cabin surface to deflect.

Claims

1. An arrangement to protect the occupants of a military vehicle in the event of a percussive-type impact on a surface of the vehicle, the vehicle including a cabin having an interior surface and the interior surface of the cabin being subject to deflection in the event of a percussive-type event, the arrangement comprising:

a foot floor being selectively alternatively disposable between at least one position which is an operating position at which the foot floor is supported at a damage mitigation spacing, from a respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin which is intermediate the foot floor and the travel surface on which the vehicle is traveling and at which no structures connect the foot floor and the interior surface of the cabin to one another with a rigidity sufficient to transmit to the foot floor more than a negligible amount of the energy of a deflection of the interior surface of the cabin in the event of a percussive-type event, and a rest position at which the foot floor is closer to the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin than in its operating position, the foot floor being selectively movable, at a time prior to the occurrence of a percussive-type event, between its operating position and its rest position in a sequence of movement such that the foot floor moves successively from its operating position into its rest position and then returns to its operating position, whereupon the foot floor is available, upon ultimately returning to its operating position at the end of such sequence of movement, for supporting the feet of a vehicle occupant.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, and further comprising at least one support member having a compressible fluid therein, the support member being disposed between and in contact with the foot floor and the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin, the volume of the compressible fluid in the support member being a selected one of a volume that is variable to thereby vary the spacing of the foot floor and the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin from one another and a volume that is invariable.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the foot floor comprises a flexible material and further comprising at least one support member for supporting the foot floor on the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin, the support member having a compressible fluid therein and being disposed between the foot floor and the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin and in contact with substantially the entirety of the foot floor.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the foot floor comprises a relatively stiff, self-supporting material and further comprising at least one support member for supporting the foot floor on the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin, the support member having a compressible fluid therein and being disposed between the foot floor and the respective portion of the interior surface of the cabin and in contact with only less than the entirety of the foot floor.

5. An arrangement according to claim 2, and further comprising substantially non-rigid connecting elements, extending between and connected to the foot floor and the interior surface of the cabin.

6. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the substantially non-rigid connecting elements extending between and connected to the foot floor and the interior surface of the cabin are straps.

7. An arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the substantially non-rigid connecting elements extending between and connected to the foot floor and the interior surface of the cabin are bands.

8. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a floor pan and the respective portion of the interior surface of the vehicle is a vehicle inner floor that is disposed intermediately between the floor pan and the foot floor such that the vehicle inner floor is at a respective fixed spacing from the floor pan and at the damage mitigation spacing from the foot floor, wherein, during movement of the foot floor between its operating position and its rest position, the damage mitigation spacing between the foot floor and the respective portion of the interior surface of the vehicle varies while the fixed spacing between the floor pan and the respective portion of the interior surface of the vehicle does not vary.