Abstract:
The invention relates to a loading device for a medium or large caliber weapon supplied with rounds constituted by a projectile and modular charges.  
     It comprises means to receive a projectile and modular charges, a vehicle incorporating at least two housings and suitable support means to allow the vehicle to move from a starting replenishing position to a final weapon loading position in which the projectile housing then the modular charge housing are successively brought into said position. The support means are constituted by a cage having two sides between which the vehicle travels. The vehicle is constituted by a slide and a drum provided with housings at its parallel edges each intended to receive a container.  
     Application of 155 mm 52 caliber weapons.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The technical scope of the present invention is that of feed devices for a weapon.  
           [0002]    To feed a large or medium caliber weapon (for example 100 to 155 mm), it is well known to use either manual loading using a tray and in which case it is possible for single rounds or two-stage rounds (projectile and modular charges) to be loaded, or automatic means allowing only single rounds to be extracted from a magazine. However, when the weapon is in a confined or isolated place, such as on a ship for example, the handling of modular charges and projectiles using conventional means is not conceivable. Indeed, on the one hand the projectile&#39;s mass is substantial exceeding the capacities of an operator, and on the other the pyrotechnic risk is unacceptably high since an incident could lead to the destruction of the assembly and thus the potential loss of a ship.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The aim of the present invention is to provide an automatic loading device for a large or medium caliber weapon mounted in an isolated structure such as a ship and ensuring a high level of safety.  
           [0004]    The invention thus relates to a loading device for a medium or large caliber weapon supplied with rounds formed of a projectile and modular charges, wherein it comprises means to receive a projectile and the modular charges, a vehicle incorporating at least two housings, and suitable support means to allow the vehicle to move from an initial replenishing position to a final weapon loading position in which the projectile housing then the modular charge housing are brought successively into said position. Advantageously, the support means are constituted by a cage having two sides between which the vehicle travels.  
           [0005]    Advantageously again, the projectile and modular charge reception means are constituted by a container in the shape of a tubular element fitted with retention means for the projectile and the modular charges.  
           [0006]    According to one embodiment, the vehicle is constituted by a slide and a drum in the shape of a substantially parallelepipedic part having housings at its parallel edges intended to each receive a container and the drum can incorporate four housings arranged according to four parallel edges.  
           [0007]    The cage delimits the arc of a circle centered on the weapon&#39;s trunnion shaft and it comprises a race arranged on each side in which the slide is mounted by means of rollers.  
           [0008]    According to another embodiment, the vehicle drum is mounted able to rotate with respect to the slide.  
           [0009]    According to yet another embodiment, the vehicle is able to move with respect to the cage by means of a motor integral with the slide meshing with a rack integral with the cage.  
           [0010]    The vehicle may support means to introduce the projectile then the charges into the weapon chamber.  
           [0011]    The introduction means are represented by a thrustor acting on the projectile and a rammer acting on the modular charges.  
           [0012]    The drum incorporates means to lock the containers.  
           [0013]    According to yet another embodiment, the transfer means are integral with the turret to firstly transfer the empty containers into a space arranged nearby and secondly to pick up full containers of projectiles and modular charges from this space.  
           [0014]    A first advantage of the device according to the invention lies in the high level of safety obtained since the projectiles and the modular charges are never handled. Indeed, during all the handling phases between the projectile and modular charge storage space and their loading into the weapon it is a protection element constituted by the container that withstands all the constraints.  
           [0015]    A second advantage lies in the compactness of the loading device which is placed very close to the weapon and which may be integrated into a turret without any major modifications to said turret.  
           [0016]    Another advantage lies in the fact that the loading device ensures the process may be reversed in the event of an incident. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    Other characteristics, particulars and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the description given hereafter in reference to the drawings in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a view showing the vehicle and its support,  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a top view of the drum,  
         [0020]    FIGS.  3  to  6  show the different positions of the drum between its starting position and its final position,  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 shows a turret fitted with the device according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 shows a view of a vehicle  1  and support means  2  defining in the plane of the figure a starting position at one end and any final position between the starting position and the other end. The vehicle  1  visible on the figure is shown in the starting position and in this position it may be filled with projectiles and modular charges as will be explained hereafter. The support  2  is an open structure comprising two sides  3  and  4  joined by beams  5 , fitted at each end with a lower abutment  6  and an upper abutment  7 . These abutments limit the range of movement of the vehicle. Each side is provided with a groove. In the Figure, we can see that the groove  8  in side  3  is delimited by a U-shaped angle bracket. The same is true for the groove in side  4 . The support means have a preferred shape that is globally that of the arc of a circle and in other words the vehicle moves between its two starting and final positions along the arc of a circle. The vehicle  1  is thus able to move with respect to its support  2  along which it follows the arc of a circle.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 shows a top view of the vehicle  1 , that is composed of two parts, a slide  9  and a drum  10 . The slide  9  in is the general shape of a closed envelope onto which four external rollers  11   a - 11   c  are fitted which slide in the grooves  8  of the support  2  so as to allow the vehicle to move in the arc of a circle race defined by the grooves  8 . The drum  10  is in the globally parallelepipedic in shaped and is provided with a recess  12  in its central part in which a motor  13  is fixed that allows the drum  10  to be driven in rotation with respect to the slide  9  along a perpendicular axis to the plane of the Figure and aligned according to the radius of the arc of a circle. The slide  9  is driven with respect to the support  2  by means of a motor not shown meshed with the rack  61  and guided by rollers  14 . A booster  15  is provided in the recess  12  that is intended to act on the projectile as will be explained hereafter. The drum  10  comprises four housings  16   a - 16   d  arranged according to four parallel edges. Two housings  16   a - 16   b  are shown empty in the upper part of the Figure and two housings  16   c - 16   d  are shown full in the lower part of the Figure. The housing  16   c  for example receives a container  17  of charge modules and the housing  16   d  receives a projectile container  18 . A timing device  19  is arranged in the vicinity of the container  18  whose function is to time the fuse present on the projectile. A sensor  20  integral with the slide  9  allows any debris from a previous firing to be detected in the cannon before the new loading sequence commences. In the Figure, a rammer  21  is shown whose function is to introduce the charge modules from container  17  into the weapon chamber.  
         [0024]    FIGS.  3  to  6  show the different phases of rotation of the drum  10  with respect to its axis of rotation X under the action of the motor  13  and with respect to the axis Y of the weapon. In FIG. 3, as in FIG. 2, the drum  10  has two empty housings  16   a  and  16   b  and two housings filled with charge modules in a container  17  and a projectile in container  18 . In FIG. 4, the vehicle  1  has been transferred from its starting position to its final weapon loading position. During this phase, the drum  10  is subjected to a rotation of ⅙ th  of a revolution with respect to the slide  9  and the projectile container  18  is placed in the weapon axis Y at the delivery post. The projectile may then be delivered into position in the weapon chamber, the container being retained in the drum by appropriate means. After delivering the projectile and a further ⅙ th  revolution of the drum  10  according to FIG. 5, the modular charges present in container  17  are in the axis Y of the chamber and may be introduced by means of the rammer  21   a  to which the pusher  21   b  is attached, means being provided to retain the container in the drum. After the charge modules have been pushed into place and further to another ⅙ th  revolution according to FIG. 6, the drum  10  is no longer aligned with the axis Y of the cannon and it incorporates two empty housings  16   a - 16   b  and two housings occupied by empty containers  17 . The vehicle is then lowered into its starting position. As soon as the drum is supplied with projectile and modular charge containers, the previously described cycle may begin again.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7 allows us to understand the advantage of the device according to the invention. Let&#39;s take as an example a turret  32  mobile in traverse following a circuit  22  and supporting a weapon  23  mobile in elevation with respect to trunnions  24  able to rotate with respect to the turret. The weapon is of the 155 mm 52 caliber type and is supplied with projectiles and modular propellant charges. The two stages of the round are brought to the rear of the weapon, using the device according to the invention, into a so-called loading position. This principle is known and does not require further explanation. The vehicle  1  mounted on the support  2  is integrated into the turret and according to an entirely automated sequence brings the two stages of the round up to the weapon chamber to be fired. Firing is carried out conventionally by means of squibs stored in a drum  25  placed in the weapon breech. The vehicle  1  in its lower position co-operates with two actuators  26  and  27 , one of which  26 , the elevator, intended to pick up a projectile and module container from a storage space  29  located beneath the circuit  22  following a replenishment axis, the other  27 , the pusher, intended to introduce the empty containers into the storage space. The turret  32  is then laid in traverse and in elevation according to the firing instructions received. When the weapon breech  23  is open, the vehicle  1  is made to move back towards the rear of the weapon. During its return, the timer means  19  are lowered to cap the fuse of the projectile in place and aligned with the delivery axis. When the fuse is set, the means  19  are released, the drum  10  is then made to rotate with respect to the slide  9  of a ⅙ th  of a revolution to bring the timed projectile into the delivery axis as shown in FIG. 4. In the position in which it is aligned with the delivery axis, the vehicle  1  is locked on the cannon  23  so as to eliminate any relative movement of the vehicle with respect to the weapon. The projectile is unlocked with respect to its container and the pusher  15  is activated to deliver the projectile into position, that is to bring it to the forcing cone in the weapon chamber. An additional rotation of the drum of ⅙ th  of a revolution is made in order to bring the charge modules into the delivery axis Y, as shown in FIG. 5 and after having released the elements retaining the modules in their container the rammer  21  is activated so as to deliver these modules. The drum  10  is made to rotate a further ⅙ th  of a revolution and thus now occupies the position shown in FIG. 6. The slide  9  is then unlocked from the cannon and the vehicle  1  is lowered into its starting position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.  
         [0026]    It goes without saying that the turret  32  is able to move with respect to its support shown, for example, by a wall  28  in which the circuit  22  is made. Beneath this wall, for example, storage space  29  is provided for a quantity of projectiles and modular charges that is sufficient for the mission commanded. Naturally, the storage space  29  is positioned so that the actuators  26  and  27  are able to return the empty containers and pick up full ones from this space. Thus, a space  29  comprising empty housings  30  in which the empty containers are introduced and full housings  31  from which the containers are taken may be provided. A storage space comprising a rectilinear alignment of housings is shown. This illustration is given merely by way of example and an alignment in the form of two concentric circles may also be provided.