PROTECTION DEVICE FOR A TUBULAR ROCKET LAUNCHER

Abstract

A protection device for a rocket launcher includes a cover with a triplet of openings arranged in angularly equidistant positions so as to allow a passage of the rockets housed in two alternating triplets of rocket housings. An actuation means is designed to rotate the cover between a first position in which the triplet of openings is aligned with the first triplet of openings and a second position in which the triplet of openings is aligned with the second triplet of housings.

Claims

1. Protection device for a tubular rocket launcher provided with a first and a second triplet of rocket housings arranged in angularly equidistant positions with respect to an axis of the rocket launcher, the housings of the first triplet being alternated with the housings of the second triplet, said protection device comprising: a circular cover applied in a coaxially rotatable fashion to the rocket launcher for the front closure of the front end of said rocket launcher and actuation means for rotating said cover, said cover comprising a triplet of openings arranged in angularly equidistant positions so as to allow the passage of the rockets housed in one or the other of said first and second triplet of housings, and said actuation means designed to rotate the cover between a first position in which said triplet of openings is aligned with said first triplet of housings and a second position in which said triplet of openings is aligned with said second triplet of housings.

2. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 1, wherein said cover comprises a triplet of safety portions, each provided with a weakening line arranged for breaking the corresponding safety portion without fragments, said safety portions being angularly interposed between said openings of the cover.

3. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 1, wherein said safety portions are made of a composite material having a continuous epoxy matrix surrounded by a perimeter line comprising a part in which the fibres are mechanically interrupted so to allow the breaking of the corresponding safety portion and a part in which the fibres are continuous so as to allow the broken safety portion to remain connected to the cover so as not to produce fragments.

4. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 3 wherein said actuation means comprise an electronic control unit, an electric motor controlled by said control unit, a drive shaft of the cover, and a manual release device including releasable coupling means between said motor and said drive shaft.

5. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 4, further comprising a safety device adapted to check the correct alignment of said triplet of openings with said first or said second triplet of housings of the rockets to be launched, said safety device including at least one movable presser tooth carried by said cover and at least a pair of fixed switches cooperating with said presser tooth.

6. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 5, further comprising a mechanical limit switch designed to ensure the correct alignment of said triplet of openings with said first or said second triplet of housings of the rockets to be launched, said limit switch including at least one movable abutment element carried by said cover and at least a pair of fixed abutment elements cooperating with said movable abutment element.

7. Protection device for a rocket launcher according to claim 6, further comprising a permanent magnet brake controlled by said electronic control unit for braking the rotation of said cover in said first and second alignment position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Further characteristics of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, with reference to the attached drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

[0026] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a rocket launcher provided with the protection device according to the invention,

[0027] FIG. 2 is a partial schematic perspective view of a rocket launcher provided with six rocket housings,

[0028] FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views—in larger scale—of the protection device for a rocket launcher according to the invention,

[0029] FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional perspective views of a part of the protection device according to the invention into two different use configurations,

[0030] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a part of the protection device according to the invention,

[0031] FIG. 8 shows—in perspective view—some internal details of the protection device according to the invention, and

[0032] FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the cover of the protection device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] Initially with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, indicated with 1 is a generic rocket launching device comprising a cylindrical casing 2 within which there are provided for, in angularly equidistant positions with respect to the axis of the rocket launcher 1, six tubular housings 3A,3B, so-called launch tubes, each designed to contain a rocket R. For the sake of descriptive clarity the housings are divided into two different triplets the housings of the first triplet 3A are alternating with the of the second triplet 3B.

[0034] The rocket launching device 1 is of the generally conventional type, therefore only the essential components and the components expressly referred to in the invention will be described.

[0035] On the front end face 4 of the rocket launching device 1, that is the launch face of the rockets R, there is applied—in a coaxially rotatable fashion—a circular cover 5 provided with a triplet of openings 6 arranged in angularly equidistant positions so as to allow the passage of the rockets R housed in one of the two alternating triplets of housings 3A or 3B.

[0036] In FIG. 1 the cover 5 is shown in the first operating position thereof, wherein the openings 6 are aligned with the first triplet of the launch tubes 3A, allowing to launch the respective rockets R, while the cover 5 closes the second triplet of pipes 3B, protecting the head of the rockets R housed therein.

[0037] The cover 5 may rotate, as mentioned hereinafter, between the aforementioned first position and a second position in which the triplet of openings 6 is aligned with the second triplet of housings 3B.

[0038] On the casing 2 there is provided for a pair of hooks 7 for installing the rocket launching device 1 on a means of transport not shown.

[0039] FIGS. 3 and 4 show the protection device 8 according to the invention provided with a cover 5 and means for the actuation and locking thereof 8, which will be described hereinafter.

[0040] With reference to FIG. 3, the inner surface 16 of the cover 5 faces a flange 17 which can be coupled integrally joined with face 4 of the rocket launcher. Such flange 17 has a perimeter edge 13 which surrounds the cover 5 and a circular crown surface 14, concentric with the cover 5, provided with a number of openings 15 equal to that of the launch tubes 3A,3B of the rocket launcher 1. The openings 15 are arranged in angularly equidistant positions so that, when the flange 17 is installed on the rocket launcher 1, each opening 15 is aligned with a respective launch tube 3A,3B.

[0041] Generally indicated with 9 are means for driving the cover in rotation, in this embodiment comprising a “brushless” motor 10 provided with a drive shaft 22 and controlled by an electronic control unit contained in an appropriate container 11.

[0042] Now, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, such means for actuating the cover 9 further comprise a support for the disc-shaped cover 18 fixed to the cover 5 through a plurality of tangential bolts 19 and from which there axially protrudes a hollow cylindrical portion 20 inside which a drive shaft 21 is coaxially slidable to transmit the rotation motion of the shaft 22 of the motor 10 to the disc-shaped support 18 and therefore to the cover 5.

[0043] The drive shaft 21 has, in an end thereof, a seat 36 suitable to be releasably coupled with the drive shaft 22, and—in the opposite end thereof—a handle 27, protruding from the disc-shaped support 18, for de-coupling the seat 36 from the shaft 22 as mentioned hereinafter.

[0044] Furthermore, the drive shaft 21 has a median portion provided with a protruding tangential end 24 abutting against an end of a counteracting spring 25 coaxial to the hollow cylindrical portion 20 and having the opposite end abutting against an internal central portion 26 of the support cover 18.

[0045] With reference to FIG. 6, manually actuating the handle 27 allows to axially translate the drive shaft 21—against the force of the spring 25 de-coupling the seat 36—to the drive shaft 22, allowing an operator to manually rotate the cover 5 to load, unload or carry out maintenance on the rockets R. Upon releasing the handle 27, the force of the spring 25 pushes the drive shaft 21 so that the seat 36 is once again coupled with the drive shaft 22 restoring the mechanical connection between the motor 10 and the cover 5, as observable in FIG. 5.

[0046] According to an embodiment of the invention not shown in the figures, at the handle 27 there is provided for a coloured warning strip visible should the drive shaft 21 not be correctly coupled with the drive shaft 22.

[0047] FIGS. 7,8 show a safety device designed to verify the correct alignment triplet of openings 6 with one of the two triplets 3A,3B of the launch tubes of the rockets R to be launched. Such safety device includes a pair of pressing teeth 31 arranged in a mirror-like fashion protruding from a median portion of the disc-shaped support 18 and two pairs of switches 29A,29B arranged in a mirror-like fashion fixed within a thickened central portion 30 of the flange 17.

[0048] The arrangement of the two pairs of switches 29A-29B and of the pair of pressing teeth 31 is such that, when the cover 5 is in the aforementioned first position for aligning the openings 6 with the first triplet of housings 3A, the pressing teeth 31 press the first pair of switches 29A sending the signal—to the electronic control unit—that the cover 5 is in the correct aligning corresponding to the first use position thereof. When the cover 5 is actuated in the second position for aligning the openings 6 with the second triplet of housings 3B, the pressing teeth 31 moved by the support 18 press the second pair of switches 29B signalling—to the electronic control unit—the correct alignment of the openings 6 and of the housings of the second triplet 3B.

[0049] The protection device 8 according to the invention further comprises a pair of mechanical limit switches which include a pair of movable abutment elements 28 adjacent to the pressing teeth 31 carried by the support 18 of the cover 5, and a pair of fixed abutment elements 32 adjacent to the switches 29A,29B. Such mechanical limit switches 28,32 guarantee that the cover 5 does not exceed the rotation required to align the openings 6 with the respective two triplets of launch tubes 3A,3B, and they offer a contact surface on which the system is to be preloaded to reduce clearances and vibrations avoiding the potential occurrence of involuntary rotations of the cover 5 which entail the risk of interferences between the rocket R being launched and the cover.

[0050] A further embodiment of the protection device 8 according to the invention, not shown in the drawings given that it is generally known, provides for a permanent magnet brake for braking the rotation of the cover 5 in the two alignment positions between the openings 6 and the launch tubes 3A,3B.

[0051] In the embodiment of the protection device shown in FIG. 9, the cover 5 comprises a triplet of safety portions 33 alternating with the openings 6 and designed to break without creating fragments should a rocket R not aligned with one of the openings 6 of the cover 5 be launched inadvertently. Such safety portions 33 are made of a composite material having a continuous epoxy matrix surrounded by a perimeter line comprising a part 35 in which the fibres are interrupted mechanically, and a part 34 in which the fibres are continuous. A such configuration of the epoxy matrix allows to create a weakening line 34,35 for each safety portion 33, such that the breaking of the line 35 with the interrupted fibres entails the detachment of the safety portion 33 and a subsequent rotation thereof around the line with the continuous fibres 34 so as to remain connected to the cover.

[0052] Obviously, the construction details and the embodiments may widely vary with respect to what has been described and illustrated, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention as defined in the claims that follow. Therefore, for example, the general shape of the cover 5 and the arrangement of the actuation means 8 thereof could be different from the ones shown in the drawings, and the rocket launching device 1 could be adapted to be installed both in fixed stations and on the land vehicles or fixed or rotary wing aircraft.