DEVICE FOR DRIVING MECHANICAL SAFETY SYSTEMS

Abstract

A device for driving mechanical safety systems. The device contains a housing in which at least one moving piston is arranged. The piston is connected to a first toothed rack and the first toothed rack is operatively connected to a pinion. A second toothed rack is arranged for movement in the housing. As a result, the second toothed rack is displaced in the opposite direction to the movement of the piston. The device has a locking lever and a shift dog. The shift dog is mounted on the second toothed rack and is arranged such that, on movement of the second toothed rack, the shift dog can actuate the locking lever. A locking bush secures the securing shaft to be driven. The locking bush is initially transferred to an unlocked position on movement of the toothed racks and is returned to a locked position on conclusion of the movement.

Claims

1. A device for driving mechanical safety systems, the device comprising: a housing; at least one moving piston arranged in the housing, the at least one moving piston being connected to a first toothed rack, the first toothed rack being operatively connected with a pinion; a second toothed rack arranged for movement in the housing, the second toothed rack being operatively connected to the pinion; a locking lever; and a shift dog mounted on the second toothed rack and adapted to actuate the locking lever on movement of the second toothed rack.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the housing is closed by at least one housing cover, and wherein the housing covers have hydraulic or pneumatic connections for actuating the pistons.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first toothed rack has a control cam that is in contact with a first end face of a moving bolt, wherein the moving bolt is in contact with a second end face with a switch fork that is pivotable by a rotary mount so that bolts set the shift fork in rotation.

4. The device according to claim 3, further comprising a pressure piece pressed by a spring in the direction of the shift fork, wherein pressure piece and moving bolt are arranged on different sides of the rotary mount.

5. The device according to claim 3, further comprising a locking bush movably arranged in an axis direction and adapted to be moveable by the switch fork.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein further comprising an actuator, which induces the movement of the at least one moving piston.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the actuator is remotely controllable.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second toothed rack is guided through a T-shaped groove.

9. The device according to claim 3, wherein the control cam extends such that upon movement of the at least one piston, the control cam moved with first raises the bolt from a starting position in a direction of the shift fork and at the end of the movement, transfers the bolt back to a starting position.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least two pistons are provided, which are arranged parallel to each other or in series.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is a component in a large-caliber weapon system.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein a safety system of the large caliber weapon system is activated and/or deactivated via a control shaft.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein a rotation of the control shaft is prevented by a locking bush.

14. The device according to claim 12, wherein an actuation of the locking lever causes a rotation of a control shaft.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0034] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the device according to the invention; and

[0035] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the locking mechanism in a side view

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the device according to the invention for driving mechanical safety systems. In this case, the device according to the invention acts on a securing shaft, not shown, which is inserted in a designated opening of the locking lever 12. The securing shaft to be driven is operatively connected with the opening of the locking lever 12, so that the shaft can be set in rotation by the locking lever 12.

[0037] For this purpose, the device according to the invention contains a housing 1, in which at least one moving piston 3 is accommodated. The moving piston 3 is connected to a first toothed rack 4 so that the movement of the piston 3 is transferred to the toothed rack 4.

[0038] The first toothed rack 4 in turn is connected to a pinion 8. When the piston 3 is displaced, the toothed rack 4 is set in longitudinal motion and the pinion 8 is set in rotation by the movement of the toothed rack 4.

[0039] A second toothed rack 9 is also arranged longitudinally in housing 1 and is further connected to the pinion 8, so that a rotation of the pinion 8 can set the second toothed rack 9 in motion.

[0040] Therefore, the movement of the piston 3 and thus movement of the first toothed rack 4 acts on the device in such a way that the second toothed rack 9 moves against the direction of movement of the first toothed rack 4.

[0041] A shift dog 10 is arranged on the second toothed rack 9, which can be moved together with the second toothed rack 9. The shift dog 10 is arranged in such a way that it can enter into operative connection with the locking lever 12 upon longitudinal movement and can drive the securing shaft of the mechanical safety system by means of the resulting movement of the locking lever 12.

[0042] The housing 1 is provided with at least one housing cover 2, namely in such a way that the housing covers 2 close the housing 1 and enclose the piston 3 inside the housing 1. The housing covers 2 may have hydraulic or pneumatic connections for actuating the pistons 3.

[0043] The first toothed rack 4 is equipped with a control cam 5, which can be used to lock and unlock the securing shaft of the mechanical safety system.

[0044] A corresponding locking mechanism is shown in a side view in FIG. 2. The control cam 5 is in contact with a first end face of a longitudinally moving bolt 6. With the second end face, the bolt 6 is in contact with a shift fork 7. The shift fork 7 in turn is rotatably mounted and acts as a rocker. The movement of the bolt 6 can thus cause the shift fork 7 to rotate.

[0045] The bolt 6 is arranged on one side of the rocker, which forms the shift fork 7, and on the opposite side, a pressure piece 11 is provided. The pressure piece 11 is loaded by a spring, so that the pressure piece 11 is pressed longitudinally in the direction of the shift fork 7. By this arrangement, the spring-loaded pressure piece ensures that the shift fork 7 does not lose contact with the bolt 6. In accordance with the control cam 5, the shift fork 7 is then set in rotation when the piston 3 is moved.

[0046] In the device, a locking bush 13 is also provided, which is arranged for movement in the axial direction and can be moved by the switch fork 7. The locking bush 13 is coaxially aligned to the opening of the locking lever 12. On a movement of the locking bush 13, the securing shaft of the safety system is locked. Due to the position of the locking bush 13, the securing shaft is held in its position or released for a potential rotation.

[0047] The locking bush 13 can be spring-loaded, so that the locking bush 13 is held in its locking position.

[0048] The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned features. Rather, further embodiments are conceivable. Thus, the securing shaft can have an angular cross-section instead of a round cross-section. The opening of the locking lever must then also be designed accordingly. The present device is designed to be used as a retrofit for all existing mechanical safety systems of large-caliber weapons. All that is required is that the opening of the locking lever is applied to the existing securing shaft. This makes it very easy to retrofit existing systems accordingly.

[0049] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.