Abstract:
A canister for launching a missile having a cylindrical outer tube with a hemispherical head releaseably secured to its lower end connected through stiffeners to an inner tubular member to form a passage for the gases generated when the missile is fired. A restraint mechanism secures the missile to a base plate, which is itself mounted on shock absorbers, with a release mechanism responsive to the firing of the missile for disabling the restraint mechanism.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is based on a U.S. provisional application filed Jan. 14, 1997, having Ser. No. 60/035,495 now abandoned and priority in that application is claimed for this application. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to launchers for missiles and, more particularly, to such launchers for missiles which are encapsulated within canisters. 
     Encapsulating missiles within a canister is desirable because it provides a convenient and safe way to ship, handle and launch the missiles. The prior art canisters were arranged in cells requiring the gases generated by the missile&#39;s burning motor to be vented through a common path. This arrangement concentrated stresses and erosion on certain components of the gas management system because such components were subjected to the gases generated by multiple missiles, resulting in a short life for the gas management system as well as frequent and expensive maintenance of such system. The restraint means for the missile, i.e. the means for securing the missile in its associated canister, could fail when the missile was fired. Protection against the hazards associated with such restrained firings was provided in the prior art launchers in the form of a deluge and drain system. Provision for such a system undesirably added to the complexity, cost, maintenance and weight of the launcher. Increased weight is particularly undesirable when the launcher is to be installed aboard a ship. The prior art canisters also required a launching system in which the electronics for the control system located external to the canister were unique to the particular missile in the canister. Consequently, a change in the type of missile within the canister necessitated a change in the control system, making the installation of a new or different missile expensive and delaying the integration of a new missile throughout the fleet. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a canister launcher which overcomes the above-described problems and limitations associated with the prior art canister launchers, which provides integral gas management (i.e. self-contained management of the products of combustion resulting from burning of the motor in the missile contained in that particular canister), which provides positive release of the missile from the canister upon ignition of the missile&#39;s rocket motor, which prevents restrained firing of the missile within the canister, which eliminates the need for a deluge and drain system normally required in canister launchers to reduce the deleterious effects of, and hazards to the ship and its personnel associated with, restrained firing, which provides a launcher of light weight and corrosion resistance, which provides integral shock mitigation for the missile, which permits mounting of the launcher above deck, which is resistant to the wide range of hostile environmental conditions encountered at sea, which provides an open electronics architecture, which is modular and which requires no changes in the control system to deploy a new missile, and which may economically and readily installed in a variety of ship configurations. 
    
    
     The foregoing advantages of the present invention, and many of the attendant attributes thereof, will become more readily apparent from a perusal of the following description of preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a view of a missile in a canister, with portions broken away for clarity, constructed according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a more detailed view of the upper portion of the canister shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a more detailed view of the lower portion of the canister and missile shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the means for positively releasing the missile from the canister; 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of the canister and missile shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a view of a four cell module according to the present invention capable of holding four canisters as shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is a more detailed view of the lower portion or base assembly of the module shown in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is another view of the base assembly of FIG. 7 showing the dog down linkages for securing the canisters to the base assembly; 
     FIG. 9 is a more detailed view of the deck assembly portion of the module shown in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 10 is another view of the deck assembly shown in FIG. 9; 
     FIG. 11 is a more detail view of one of the hatch and associated drive assemblies for the deck assembly shown in FIGS. 9 and 10; 
     FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the electronics for a canister as shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the electronics for the four cell module shown in FIG. 6; and 
     FIG. 14 is a view of another embodiment of the present invention showing an arrangement for mounting a launcher above deck. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-5, there is shown a canister, indicated generally at  10 , with a missile  12  restrained therein. The particular missile  12 , shown for purposes of illustration, is a TACMS (Tactical Missile System) missile. The canister  10  has a fabricated cylindrical outer tube  14  and generally cylindrical inner tubular member  16 . The member  16  may be actually cylindrical if the fins on the missile do not extend, when folded, beyond the outer periphery of the missile, as in the case of the Tomahawk missile. Because fin pockets are required to accommodate the fins and the hinges mounting the same to the missile, the member  16  is formed of four cylindrical sections  18  separated by and secured to a generally U-shaped members  20 , with the latter having a cross section shaped to function as fin pockets. The tunnels formed by the spacing between the outer tube  14  and the tubular member  16  form uptake passages  17  for the exhaust of gases produced by the motor of the missile  12 . In order to weld or otherwise secure the U-shaped members  20  to the outer tube  14 , cylindrical panels are provided in the outer tube  14  which are not secured to the outer tube  14  until after the U-shaped members  20  are secured to the outer tube  14 . Although the members  20  function as stiffeners and reduce the inward deflection of the sections  18  under the pressure of the gases within the uptake passages, stiffeners  19  are also positioned within the uptake passages  17 , extending along their length, and are secured to the outer tube  14  and to the sections  18 . The stiffeners  19  are first secured to the cylindrical sections  18  and then to the outer tube  14 , which is accomplished by forming a plurality of aligned slots in the outer tube  14  through which tabs on the stiffeners  19  extend and are welded. Fly-out guides  22  are secured to the tubular members  16  to properly direct the missile  12  as it is launched. A circular flange  24  encircles and is secured to the upper end of the outer tube to add structural stability to the upper end of the tube  14 . A similar flange  26  encircles and is secured to the lower end of the outer tube  14 . A hemispherical head  28  is removably secured to the lower flange  26 , preferably by bolts, and seals the lower end of the canister  10 . The inner surface of the hemispherical head  28 , which is formed of stainless steel, is coated with an ablative material to resist the erosion resulting from the flow of high temperature gases produced by the missile&#39;s motor. The head  28  serves to turn and redirect such gases through the uptake passages  17 . The sections  18  and the members  20  terminate a short distance above the level of the lower flange  26  to permit free entry of the gases, redirected by the head  28 , into the passages  17 . This arrangement provides integral gas management, i.e. management of the gases entirely within the confines of the canister itself, and is often referred to as a concentric canister launcher (CCL). In order to keep the weight of the canister low and to provide good corrosion resistance, the foregoing components, except for the head  28  and guides  22 , are made of titanium or other appropriate material. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower end of the missile  12  rests upon a base plate  30  supported by a plurality of shock absorbers  32 , each of which is pinned to a bracket  34  secured to an adjacent U-shaped member  20 . This arrangement provides shock mitigation integral to the canister  10  for the missile  12 . Three levers  36  are pivotally mounted on brackets secured to the base  30  and have projections or dogs on their upper ends that are engageable with complementary recesses formed in the missile  10 . The lower ends of the levers  36  are pinned to links  38  which extend though, and are fulcrumed on, openings in the base plate  30 . The lower end of the links  38  are pinned to a release mechanism  40 , which mechanism includes two tension links  42  pinned to a third link  44 . The third link  44  is a fusible link which separates or comes apart upon exposure to high heat. The two links  42  are shorter than the link  44  in order to position the link  44  directly in the flow of the high temperature gases created upon firing the missile  12 . The dogs on the levers  36  remain engaged with the recesses in the missile, securing the missile  10  to the base plate  30 , as long as the link  44  remains a unitary structure. However, upon exposure to the high temperature gases created upon firing the missile  12 , the link  44  comes apart permitting the dogs to disengage from the missile recesses. Thus, the release mechanism is directly responsive to the firing of the missile and restrained firing is precluded. The link  44  may be made by forming engageable flats on overlapping ends of segments of the link  44  and joining the flats by a means, such as soldering, which fails upon exposure to the high temperatures of the missile&#39;s combustion products, but is otherwise structurally sound. 
     As shown in FIG. 6, four of the canisters may be arranged within a cell, indicated generally at  46 , having a base assembly  48  capable of attachment within a ship, an intermediate structure  50  and an upper deck assembly  52 . The base assembly  48 , as best seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, includes a segmented socket  54  for each of the four canisters  10  having a shape complementary to the hemispherical head  28  for securing the canister  10  from radial movement relative to the base assembly  48  and to assist in properly locating the canister within the cell. For each of the canisters in the cell  46 , four latches  56 , which are commonly called dog down latches, are carried on the base assembly  48  and have projections on their upper ends which engage the lower flange  26  on the canister  10 . Of the four latches, the one adjacent the corner of the cell is connected to a manually actuated lock mechanism which slides the associated latch in a slot angled toward the flange  26  so that the projection thereon engages the top of the flange  26 . The lock mechanism is connected to the other three latches by links  57 . Thus, movement of the lock mechanism will cause all four latches to a position in which the projections thereon engage the upper surface of the lower flange  26 , thereby locking the canister  10  to the base assembly  48 . 
     The deck assembly  52 , as shown in FIGS. 9-11, which is intended for mounting on the upper deck of a ship, has a hatch  60  for each of the four canisters  10  in the cell  46 . Each hatch  60  has a pair of arms  61  secured thereto with pins  63  extending through brackets  62  secured to the upper surface of the deck assembly  52 . One of the pins  63  is non-rotatably secured to the associated arm and to a crank  64 . A pin  66  pivotally connects a link  68  pinned to the crank  64 , a drag link  70  pivotally connected to the deck assembly  52  and a connecting link  72 . The connecting link  72  is also pinned to an actuating arm  74  which rotates with the output shaft  76  of a worm and wheel drive  78  which is powered by an electric motor  80 . When the hatch  60  is closed the opening in the deck assembly covered thereby is sealed with the pin  66  going over-center, i.e. the pin  66  goes below the line between the pivotal connections of the link  68  to the crank  64  and of the drag link  70  to the deck assembly  52 . With such an over-center arrangement, any force attempting to open the hatch  60  will only cause the hatch to be sealed more tightly. Guide rings  82  are secured within the deck assembly  52  to assist in loading the canister into the cell. 
     The arrangement of the electronics provides an open architecture that renders the entire system versatile and economical. This is achieved by placing the electronics specific to the type of missile in the canister within the canister and the electronics needed for monitoring and control of the missile on the canister. The cell electronics are enclosed within a protective housing  90  as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 with an umbilical cord  92  connecting the circuitry within the housing to the missile itself. The connection of the umbilical cord  92  to the missile includes a break-away connector to permit separation there between when the missile is launched. Another housing  94  mounted on each leg of the base assembly  48  contains all of the electronics for control and monitoring of the missile, which are connected to the canister electronics by a cord having a male connector capable of mating with the female connector on the housing  90 . FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the canister electronics in the housing  90  showing its relationship to the missile  12  and the cell electronics in the housing  94  on the associated leg of the base assembly  48 . FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the cell electronics and shows its relationship to the canister electronics and the launcher control panel, the canister electronics, and sensors and control of the hatch motors  80  and hatch heaters necessary for operation of the hatches in cold climates. 
     Some ships are not physically capable of accepting the launcher below deck, and some missile cannot be launched vertically because they lack the capability of turning into level flight. The present invention is adaptable to overcome either short coming by the arrangement shown in FIG.  14 . In this embodiment, the launcher structure  98  is mounted at an angle to the vertical by the support structure  100 . The lowered height permits mounting the entire launcher above deck, facilitating installation of the launcher on ships that cannot otherwise accommodate such a launcher, and can be used with missiles requiring a low launch angle. 
     In this embodiment each hatch such as  102  covers a pair of missiles such as  104  and  106 . These missiles are each resident in a canister which is similar to the canister shown in FIG. I et seq. Thus surface  108  is inner tubular member similar in structure and function to the inner tubular member  16  of FIG.  2 . Likewise, the fin pocket  110  of FIG. 14 is similar to the U-shaped fin pocket shown at  20  in FIG.  2 . 
     Each of the canisters  112  and  114  will have structures identical to those shown for the FIG. 1-3 canisters except that the hatch will be controlled by a single over-center latch operating through and with the hinge  120 . The hatch actuating mechanism will be contained in housing  116 . 
     Each of the nine missile canisters in this FIG. 14 are identical, thus providing  18  missile capacity from this launcher. It is expected that arrays of between two and any number of missile tubes could be arranged in a structure as shown in FIG.  14 . 
     The housing  118  may cover the array and also, in this view, covers the apparatus shown in FIG.  7  and FIG. 8 including the electrical connections with housing  94  and the latch mechanism such as  56 . 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the scope of the following claims.