EP0308342B1 - Locking system for the doors of vertical missile launching modules - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a locking system for the door of vertical missile launching modules.

In vertical missile launch systems, from a warship, the container missiles are each stored in a launch module that can include several containers.

Each container serves as both a launch tube and a missile storage tank.

There are many and varied locking systems for module doors. The most usual system, which represents the state of the art within the meaning of article 54 and which corresponds to the preamble of claim 1 (2), comprises a locking latch cooperating with a hook secured to the door, the control opening or closing being carried out electrically from a mechanism controlled by the electric motor fitted to each door. In fact, it is a command dependent on the movement of the door.

Such an electrical control has many drawbacks.

When the door is in the open position, vertically with respect to the bridge of the building, there is no provision for locking the door in the open position and preventing it from being folded down to the closed position, for example under the wave action passing over the bridge. Such a drawdown may possibly occur during the launch of the missile and even before the latter has completely left the container which also constitutes the launch tube. The consequences of such an untimely closure would then be very serious for both the building and the staff.

When the door has just been locked in the closed position, a technical problem may occur in the opening control circuit and cause the door to open without being desired, for example due to a mechanical rebound. While the firing of the missile was not triggered, the consequences of the unwanted opening of the door are relatively unimportant. The fact remains that the door is no longer locked in the closed position, it can open further and thus provide a passage for foreign bodies likely to enter the container and damage and / or constitute an obstacle to the launching of the missile, or obstruct and / or cause accidents to personnel moving near the ajar door.

The same incident due to a mechanical rebound can cause the door to close without being desired and thereby induce the drawbacks already mentioned.

Similar disadvantages are found in the locking system of the door of a missile container described in document US-A 4471684. It in fact comprises an electrically controlled pyrotechnic ejection device. The same is true of the locking device shown in document DE-A 2627505 relating to a missile launcher container. This mechanical locking only operates to keep the door in the closed position.

The present invention overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks and relates to a locking system for each module door both in the open and closed position, insensitive to control incidents.

To this end, the locking system according to the present, which is of the type comprising a locking system for a missile container door, of the type comprising a locking member cooperating with a locking element integral with the door, control means of movements of said door characterized in that it further comprises movable locking control means capable of moving the locking member to bring it from a locked position to an unlocked position, means for driving the means control mobile, and means for locking the door in each of the extreme open and closed positions.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective de la partie supérieure d'un module équipé d'un module à plusieurs conteneurs de portes.
• La figure 2 est une vue partielle schématique en élévation des moyens de déverrouillage ou verrouillage d'une porte en position fermée.
• La figure 3 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 2, les moyens de verrouillage étant représentés lorsque la porte est proche de la position fermée.
• Les figures 4a et 4c sont des représentations schématiques des moyens de commande des verrous.

Other advantages and characteristics will appear in the other claims and on reading the description given by way of non-limiting exemplary embodiment, as well as the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper part of a module equipped with a module with several door containers.
• Figure 2 is a schematic partial elevation view of the unlocking or locking means of a door in the closed position.
• Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, the locking means being shown when the door is close to the closed position.
• Figures 4a and 4c are schematic representations of the lock control means.

A module, designated as a whole by the reference 1 and the upper part of which is represented in FIG. 1, is provided on a warship and comprises several containers 2 each containing a missile not shown. Each container includes all the components specific to the storage and launching of the missile, and it is surmounted at the upper end by a door 3. The module 1 of FIG. 1 comprises eight containers 2 and a closed gas evacuation duct 4 by a door 5. In this example, each door covers two containers.

Each door 3 comprises, in addition to the abovementioned members mentioned above, a control and locking system. An engine of power 6 is coupled to an assembly 7 constituted by torque limiters 8, appropriate reducers 9 and a connecting rod 10, said assembly 7 transmitting the power necessary for the opening or closing of the door 3.

A linkage 11 connects the assembly 7 to the locking system according to the invention and which will be described in detail below. The door 3 rests, by means of seals and damping 12, on the upper structure 13 of the module of which only part is shown in Figures 2 and 3 for clarity of the drawing, said door comprising two hooks 15 provided on its internal face 14.

The locking system comprises a maneuverable lock 16 pivotally mounted about a fixed axis 17 and resiliently returned to a neutral position by a spring 18 which bears at one of its ends on the structure 13. The upper end 19, in hook shape, is capable of cooperating with the hook 15 opposite and locking the door 3 in the closed position which is shown in Figure 1. In order not to overload the drawings, the system according to the invention is shown for a single hook 15 of the door, it being specified that it has two locks 16, one for each hook 15. The lower end 20 of the lock 16 can be controlled and moved by means of a control assembly 21.

The control assembly 21 comprises a body 22 mounted on the structure of the upper part of the module and movable between two extreme positions thanks to the linkage 11. The linkage 11 comprises a main linkage 23 and a body 22 provided with a light 24 in which is housed a rod 25 shown in section in the figures. A control finger 26 is pivotally mounted about an axis fixed 27 which is fixed to the body 22, and it is connected to a fixed stop 28 by a return spring 29. A damper or dash-pot 30 comprises a fixed cylinder 31 and a piston rod 32 which is fixed to the body 22.

When the door 3 is closed and locked as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end 20 of the lock 16 is inserted between the finger 26 and the stop 28, the piston rod 32 being almost completely extended, which corresponds to a position of the rod 25 on the left in the light 24.

When an order to open door 3 is given by the motor 6, the latter is first of all slightly moved downwards before moving upwards as indicated by arrow 33 (FIG. 2), while the linkages 23 and 25 control the movement to the left of the body 22. The finger 26 by its action on the end 20 of the latch 16 in a clockwise direction makes it possible to release the end 19 of the latch 16 from the hook 15. The door 3, after release of the hook 15, continues its upward movement thanks to the action of the assembly 7. The body 22 is moved entirely.

At the end of the opening, the dash-pot 30 brings the body 22 back to the rest position of the figure, after a time which is approximately equal to one second, while the latch 16 is also in the position neutral with the end 20 inserted between the finger 26 and the stop 28. When the body 22 returns, the finger 26 rocks and can also pass under the latch 20.

After order to close the door, given from the open position, the body 22 is again moved to the left as before when the door is already closed. Lock 16 has returned neutral position, the part 20 having escaped from the finger 26 as during an opening. The lock can no longer be ordered at opening for the duration of the return of the dash-pot. Consequently, the door 3 then automatically locks after the hook 15 has engaged under the locking end 19 of the lock 16. In this way, a rebound or a control defect is no longer to be feared for the duration of the back of the dash-pot.

It goes without saying that the same device is applicable in the open door position.

The door is unlocked in the open and closed positions by means of a cam 40 driven by the linkage 11 and mounted on an appropriate support of the structure 13.

The cam 40 is very schematically represented in its different positions in FIG. 4. The cam 40 is mounted on an axis of rotation 41 and comprises a profile 42 provided with a cutout 43, on which a cam probe 43 moves. A the opening of the door 3, the cam 40 connected to the motor for opening the door, rotates clockwise (FIG. 5a), the profile 41 resting on the cam probe 44 (FIG. 5b) until it has completed a full turn. Then, the cam sensor 44 is found in the cutout 43 (FIG. 5c) which corresponds to the fully open position of the door which remains locked in this position as long as a closing order has not been given, that is to say in fact as long as the cam 40 remains stationary.

When a closing order is given, the cam 40 then rotates anticlockwise and the same movement as above is carried out, but in the opposite direction, until the cam feeler 44 returns in cutting 43 after a full turn the cam 40, and the door is locked in its closed position. It should be noted that the movement of the feeler 44 is communicated to the linkage 11 directly and to the linkage 25 by an angle gear.

The various kinematics connections involved in the locking system of the invention have not been described in detail because they are within the reach of ordinary skill in the art.

Claims (8)

1. Locking system for cover (3) of a vertical missile launcher module (1), of the type comprising a locking device (16) that operates in conjunction with a locking element (15) that is rigid with the cover, means for controlling the movement of the cover (6-10), characterized in that it also comprises travelling means of control (21) for the locking device (16) that can move the locking device (16) in order to bring it from a locked position to an unlocked position, and the means for actuating (11, 25, 40, 44) the travelling control devices (21) in order to immobilize the cover (3) in one of the extreme open or closed positions.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the travelling control devices (21) comprising a travelling body (22) a pawl (26) that pivots about a swivel pin (27), the pawl (26) working in conjunction with a bottom end (20) of the locking device (16) which pivots around a fixed spindle (17) and whose top end is of the appropriate shape to engage in the locking element (15) of the cover (3).

3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the control devices (21) also comprise a dash pot (31) whose stem (32) is rigid with the body (22).

4. System according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that a slot (24) is made in the body (22) for a rod (25) of the actuating devices to pass through.

5. System according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the bottom end (20) of the locking device is inserted between the pivotal pawl (26) and a fixed limit stop (28) mounted on the body (22), the said limit stop (28) and pawl (26) being connected by a spring (29), when the body is in the rest position.

6. System according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the locking device (16) is retracted to a rest position by a spring (18) that rests on the said device and a fixed element of the structure (13) of the chamber (2).

7. System according to claim 1 characterized in that the actuating devices (11) are made up of a rod assembly whose travelling is ensured by the movement controls (6-10) for the cover (3), and by a cam (40) linked to a cam follower, the said cam being driven by a motor.

8. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the amount of time taken for the body (22) to return is adjustable according to the time the cover takes to operate in order to avoid an untimely instruction being given to the locking device (16) at the end of the operation.

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