Segmented gun turret for quick assembly
A gun turret according to the invention feature a segmented or sectored configuration, which reduces the weight of the individual components of the turret assembly to facilitate mounting of the turret assembly to the roof of the vehicle by a single person. The gun turret features quick-release clamps or latches by means of which the gun turret can be attached to the roof of a vehicle without tools.
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This invention was made in part with U.S. Government support from the U.S. Army under contract number W56HZV-05-9-0002. The U.S. Government has certain rights in the invention.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to rotating support structures, more particularly, the invention relates to gun turrets used to support heavy caliber weapons, e.g., machine guns, which can be assembled and dissembled by only one individual without tools.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONLight military or tactical vehicles may be outfitted with relatively heavy-caliber defensive armaments such as machine guns. These armaments are often turret-mounted on the roof of the vehicle for maximum operational versatility. A conventional gun support turret is bolted to the roof of a vehicle. A gun mounting bracket (sometimes referred to as a “batwing”) is, in turn, bolted to the gun support turret, and a machine gun assembly is supported on the gun mounting bracket.
Military vehicles are often transported on cargo aircraft, where space is at a premium. Therefore, in order to reduce the height of the vehicle for transport, protruding items—including, in particular, the roof-mounted gun support turret are typically removed for transport and then remounted to the vehicle after the vehicle has been delivered to the theater of operations. However, the conventional configuration of roof-mounted gun support turrets gives rise to at least two problems. First, bolting the gun support turret to the roof of the vehicle is time-consuming. Second, the gun support turret is quite heavy, e.g., on the order of 200-400 pounds. Therefore, lifting it into place requires either multiple personnel, which consumes man-power that could be better use elsewhere, or a hoist/crane, which represents yet further equipment that needs to be delivered to the theater of operations.
There is therefore a need to provide a gun turret that is more quickly and easily mountable to the roof of a military or tactical vehicle.
There is a further need to provide a gun turret that is mountable to the roof of a military or tactical vehicle by a single person without a hoist.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe needs for the invention set forth above as well as further and other needs and advantages of the present invention are achieved by the embodiments of the invention described herein below.
In a first aspect, the invention provides a gun turret that can be mounted to the roof of a military or tactical vehicle by a single person, without the use of a hoist/crane to do so. The gun turret is divided into a number of segments, each of which is of a more manageable size and weight than an entire gun turret as per the prior art. The gun turret utilizes quick-release clamps to secure the gun turret to the roof of a military or tactical vehicle. One embodiment of the quick-release clamps are cam-action hook-and-latch-plate latch members to secure the gun turret to the roof of a military or tactical vehicle.
In a second aspect, the invention provides a segmented gun turret that can be retrofitted or mounted to the existing roof of a vehicle more quickly than in the case of prior gun turrets.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further needs thereof, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and detailed description, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An exemplary embodiment of segmented gun turret 10 according to the present invention is illustrated in
Semi-circular C-shaped frame 12 has a lower section 16, upper section 18, and back section 20 that define a gun mount track or gap 22 (
Now turning to
Inner surface 37 of upper section 18 and upper surface 39 of lower section 16 of semi-circular C-shaped frames 12 can be a low friction (coefficient of friction less than 0.1) surface 34 (
Alternatively, roller elements can be embedded in the gun mount (not shown) instead of inner surface 37 of upper section 18 and upper surface 39 of lower section 16 of semi-circular C-shaped frames 12. In this alternative embodiment, inner surface 37 of upper section 18 and upper surface 39 of lower section 16 of semi-circular C-shaped frames 12 can have a low coefficient of friction surface condition to provide a substantially friction-less track for the gun mount to travel on.
Now turning to
As illustrated in
Now turning to
A retrofit embodiment utilizes cam-action hook-and-latch-plate latch members—e.g., De-Sta-Co Model 330 latch members, which are illustrated in
Yet another alternative embodiment of a retrofit kit is illustrated in
It will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that other embodiments, improvements, details, and uses can be made consistent with the letter and spirit of the foregoing disclosure and within the scope of this patent, which is limited only by the following claims, construed in accordance with the patent law, including the doctrine of equivalents.
Claims
1. A gun turret comprising:
- a plurality of segments being releasably interlockable with adjacent segments, each of said plurality of segments having two ends and a gun mount track defined by a upper section, a lower section, and a back section, each of said ends includes an interlocking mechanism; and
- a clamping device operably attached to at least one segment of said plurality of segments, said clamping device being adapted to engage a roof of a vehicle,
- wherein the gun turret is secured to the roof of the vehicle when said clamping device engages the roof of the vehicle.
2. The gun turret according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of clamping devices, each of said clamping devices attached proximate one end to a different one of said plurality of segments and proximate another end adapted to engage the roof of the vehicle.
3. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said segments is semi-circular.
4. The gun turret according to claim 1 further comprising at least one projection disposed radially outward along an outer surface of at least one of said segments.
5. The gun turret according to claim 4 wherein said clamping device is mounted on said at least one projection.
6. The gun turret according to claim 5 wherein said clamping device comprises a plurality of pivotally connected sections, wherein one section of said sections being adapted to dispose the roof of the vehicle between said one section and said at least one projection.
7. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein said interlocking mechanism comprises a male connector at one end of said two ends and a female receiver at the other end of said two ends.
8. The gun turret according to claim 7 wherein said male connector is a dovetail configuration and said female receiver is a dovetail configuration complimentary with said male connector dovetail configuration.
9. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein said gun mount track includes low friction surfaces.
10. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein said gun mount track includes roller elements.
11. The gun turret according to claim 9 wherein said roller elements are ball bearings.
12. The gun turret according to claim 9 wherein said roller elements are disposed on opposing surfaces of said upper and lower sections of said segments.
13. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein said back section further comprises a circumferential channel adapted to entrap a gun mount whereby the gun mount is impeded from substantial outward radial movement.
14. The gun turret according to claim 1 wherein said plurality of segments form a ring when said segments interlock.
15. A removable gun turret kit comprising:
- a plurality of segments being releasably interlockable with adjacent segments, each said segment having two ends and a gun mount track defined by a upper section, a lower section, and a back section, each said end includes an interlocking mechanism;
- a clamping device attached to each said segment, and
- an anchor device attachable to a roof of a vehicle, said anchor device adapted to engage said clamping device,
- wherein the gun turret is secured to the roof of the vehicle when said segments are interlocked with each other and said clamping device engages said anchor device.
16. The removable gun turret kit according to claim 15 wherein:
- said clamping device includes a hook; and
- said anchor device includes a cross member to engage said hook.
17. The removable gun turret kit according to claim 16 wherein:
- said clamping device comprises a plurality of pivotally connected sections, wherein one section of said sections being adapted to dispose the roof of the vehicle between said one section and said at least one projection; and
- said anchor device includes a socket therein adapted to receive said clamping device.
18. A tactical vehicle with a removable gun turret and a roof, the improvement comprising:
- a gun turret having a plurality of segments being releasably interlockable with adjacent segments, each said segment having two ends and a gun mount track defined by a upper section, a lower section, and a back section, each said end includes an interlocking mechanism;
- a clamping device attached to at least one segment of said plurality of segments; and
- a plurality of anchor devices for attachment to the roof, said plurality of anchor devices adapted to receive said clamping device,
- wherein the gun turret is secured to the roof of the vehicle when said clamping device engages the anchor devices which are attached to the roof.
19. The improvement according to claim 18 comprising a plurality of clamping devices, each of said clamping devices attached proximate one end to a different one of said plurality of segments and proximate another end adapted to engage a different one of said anchor devices, respectively.
20. The improvement according to claim 18 wherein:
- said clamping device includes a hook; and
- at one of said anchor devices includes a cross member to engage said hook.
21. The improvement according to claim 18 wherein:
- said clamping device comprises a plurality of pivotally connected sections, wherein one section of said sections adapted to dispose the roof of the vehicle between said one section and said at least one projection; and
- at least one of said anchor devices includes a socket therein adapted to receive said clamping device.
22. A gun turret comprising:
- a plurality of segments being releasably interlockable with adjacent segments, each of said plurality of segments having two ends and a gun mount track defined by a upper section, a lower section, and a back section, each of said ends includes an interlocking mechanism;
- said plurality of segments form a ring when said segments interlock;
- at least one projection disposed radially outward along an outer surface of at least one of said segments
- at least one anchor device attachable to a roof of a vehicle;
- a plurality of clamping devices, each of said clamping devices attached proximate one end to a different one of said plurality of segments and proximate another end adapted to engage said at least one anchor device; and
- at least one of said clamping devices comprises a plurality of pivotally connected sections, wherein one section of said sections adapted to dispose the roof of the vehicle between said one section and said at least one projection;
- wherein the gun turret is secured to the roof of the vehicle when said clamping device engages the anchor device when said anchor device is attached to the roof of the vehicle.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 28, 2006
Publication Date: Nov 1, 2007
Applicant: Lockheed Martin Corporation (Bethesda, MD)
Inventors: Jeffrey Colburn (Harpursville, NY), Shane Mills (Owego, NY)
Application Number: 11/414,067
International Classification: F41A 23/00 (20060101);