HK1078641B - Arrangement for supporting a mortar shell into barrel of weapon and a method for attaching a support member to a mortar shell - Google Patents

Description

Arrangement for supporting a mortar shell into the barrel of a weapon and method for attaching a support member to a mortar shell

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a support member for supporting a mortar shell into the barrel of a breech-loading weapon, the support member comprising a support piece comprising a rim flange and a firing mechanism for firing the actual primer of the mortar shell. The support member further comprises means for attaching the support member to at least one guiding fin arranged at the tail of the mortar shell. The invention also relates to a method of attaching a support member to a mortar shell.

Background

A mortar may be provided on a movable base, such as an armored car, which allows the mortar to be conveniently moved from one location to another and, on the other hand, which allows the mortar to be rapidly moved from the gun position to a safe location. When the intention is to fire the mortar vertically or downwards, the problem is that the mortar shell does not stay in place in the smoothbore barrel of the mortar, but may slide forwards in the barrel so that it can no longer fire. Us patent 5503080 discloses a support member which is frictionally attachable to the tail fin in a mortar shell, however, the frictional attachment taught by the publication is not sufficiently reliable to enable attachment of the support member. Furthermore, the dimensions of the support member and the tail wing exhibit at least some manufacturing-induced variations that result in variations in the magnitude of the coupling force.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved support member for supporting a mortar shell into the barrel of a breech-loading weapon, and a method for attaching such a support member.

The support structure of the invention is characterized in that the means for connecting the support comprise at least one connection; said attachment piece comprising at least one longitudinal shaft, which shaft is adapted to substantially longitudinally accommodate said mortar shell, and a first end of the shaft which is supportable to said support piece; and a second end of the shaft of the connecting piece, which comprises a support part transverse to the longitudinal axis of the mortar shell for supporting the connecting piece to the front surface of the guiding fin; and the attachment piece comprises at least one predetermined deformable point allowing the fired mortar shell to be detached from the support member.

The method of the invention is characterized in that the support member is supported to the front surface of at least one guiding fin by means of at least one connection piece arranged between the support piece and the front surface.

The main idea of the invention is to attach a support member to the tail of the mortar shell, which support member comprises a rim flange and a firing member. In that the leading edge of the guiding fin of the mortar shell tail is used for attachment to a support member, which for this attachment is provided with at least one attachment piece comprising at least one shaft portion longitudinal to the mortar shell, and a lateral support portion arranged to rest against the leading edge of the guiding fin. The connecting element further comprises at least one predetermined point arranged to deform during firing, thereby enabling the separation of the mortar shell from the support member.

In the invention the attachment of the support member to the tail of the mortar shell is based on shape locking, which attachment is more reliable than a friction-based attachment. Furthermore, possible dimensional changes caused by the manufacture of the mortar shell do not decisively affect the magnitude of the joining force and the fixation of the support member as in the case of friction-locked solutions. In the solution of the invention, the connection force is relatively easy to manage. Another advantage of the invention is that the support member can be attached to the tail of the mortar shell easily and quickly, even in difficult situations.

The essential idea of an embodiment of the invention is that the attachment piece is provided with a weak point arranged to break or bend when the mortar shell is fired. Weakening can be provided by providing a portion with a smaller cross-section at a predetermined point, the weakening ensuring that the connection breaks or bends at the pre-planned point and that deformation occurs in a controlled manner and not before a higher force than the pre-planned connection force is injected on the connection. This ensures that the attachment piece or parts thereof will not follow the fired mortar shell in any case and thus will not damage the weapon or affect the aerodynamics of the mortar shell.

The essential idea of an embodiment of the invention is that the attachment piece is arranged to form a loop around at least one guiding fin.

The essential idea of an embodiment of the invention is that the shaft and the support part form a substantially T-shaped part at the front end of the connecting piece. This enables the shaft to be arranged between two adjacent guiding fins, the lateral support part in turn being able to bear against the front edge of the adjacent guiding fin.

The essential idea of an embodiment of the invention is that the support member comprises a support ring, to which the rear end of the connecting piece is supported, and that the support ring can be pulled backwards by means of the support. In this case, the connecting piece can be tensioned to a desired degree of tightness between the guiding fin and the support ring.

Drawings

The invention will be described in detail in the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 shows schematically a mortar shell, which is supported in the barrel of a weapon by means of a support member according to the invention,

figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the device of the invention with separate parts,

fig. 3 shows schematically the arrangement of fig. 2, assembled and attached to a mortar shell,

FIG. 4 schematically shows the principle of the second connection element of the invention, an

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates the principle of the third connection of the invention.

For the sake of clarity, the figures show the invention in a simplified manner, in which like parts are indicated by like reference numerals.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1a mortar shell 1 is arranged in the barrel 2 of a breech-loading weapon, which may be a mortar, the inner surface of the barrel 2 being substantially smooth. The rear part of the mortar shell 1 is provided with a tail tube 3 and a tail 4. the tail 4 comprises one or usually several guiding fins 5 affecting the trajectory of the mortar shell 1. The details of the construction of the mortar shell 1 may deviate from the one shown in the figures, the breech and other details of the weapon not being shown for reasons of clarity. At the tail 4 is attached a support member 6 according to the invention for holding the mortar shell 1 in place in the barrel 2 until it is fired. The rim flange 7 in the support member 6 prevents the mortar shell 1 from moving forward in the barrel 2 when the barrel 2 is aimed horizontally or even if the barrel 2 is directed downwards. The support member 6 is dimensioned to withstand not only the load caused by the mass of the mortar shell 1, but also any forces caused by vibrations and acceleration.

The structure of the support member 6 according to the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 2 and 3. In fig. 2 the parts of the support member 6 are shown separately, while fig. 3 shows the structure assembled and mounted into the mortar shell 1. The support member 6 shown in fig. 2 and 3 comprises a support 8, a support ring 9, and two connectors 10. It is clear that the number of connecting pieces 10 can be selected according to the desired connecting force and the number of guiding fins 5.

The support member 8 comprises an end portion 11, a cover 12 and an edge flange 7. The support 8 is provided with a sleeve 13 on the longitudinal axis a, the outer circumference of which is provided with a thread 14, and inside which a firing mechanism 15 is provided, which may comprise an intermediate firing pin. The firing pin of the weapon may be arranged to strike the primer of the mortar shell 1 and ignite the propelling charge of the mortar shell 1 by means of said intermediate firing pin, although other firing mechanisms known per se in the art may be applied. For the firing mechanism 15, the inner diameter of the sleeve 13 may be provided with a thread, which allows the firing mechanism 15 to be detachably driven into the sleeve 13, and the outer mantle 12 in the support member 8 may be dimensioned to allow at least a part of the tail 4 of the mortar shell 1 to be placed inside it. On the other hand, the outer cover 12 is sometimes hardly required at all. Furthermore, the barrel 2 of the weapon may be provided with a groove in which the rim flange 7 comprised in the support member 8 can be seated once the mortar shell 1 equipped with the support member 6 has been loaded into the barrel 2.

The support ring 9 comprises a front face 16, a rear face 17, and a central aperture 18. The central bore 18 is provided with an inner support surface 19 which corresponds to the outer thread 14 in the sleeve 13 of the support 8. The support ring 9 can be placed with respect to the guiding fin 5 by means of a grooved projection 30, and furthermore the outer circumference of the support ring 9 can comprise recesses 20 or other positioning means for positioning the connecting pieces 10. In addition, the notches 20 may be used to hold the connector 10 in place, thereby facilitating assembly of the support member 6.

The joint 10 shown in fig. 2 and 3 includes a longitudinal shaft 21, the longitudinal shaft 21 including a first shaft portion 21a and a second shaft portion 21b, and the front ends of the shaft portions 21a and 21b are connected to each other by a support portion 22. In this case the front end of the attachment piece 10 is annular and can be arranged around the guide tail 5 in the manner shown in fig. 3, so that the support portion 22 is arranged to rest against the front edge 23 on the guide tail 5. The rear ends of the shaft portions 21a and 21b are provided with one or more transverse portions 24, which transverse portions 24 bear against the rear surface 17 of the support ring 9 after the attachment 10 has been set in place and the shaft portions 21a and 21b have been located in the recesses 20. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the cross section of the support portion 22 of the link 10 is set smaller than the cross sections of the shaft portions 21a and 21b, and further, the lateral portion 24 is set rigid, which ensures that the weakest point of the link 10 is in the support portion 22. The leading edge 23 of the guiding fin 5 breaks the support part 22 as soon as the mortar shell 1 is fired and substantially no material belonging to the support member 6 is ejected with the mortar shell 1, which material of the support member 6 with the mortar shell 1 may cause damage to the barrel 2 of the weapon or affect the trajectory of the mortar shell 1. The attachment piece 10 may further comprise flaps 25 which support the attachment piece 10 against the tail 4 of the mortar shell. The connecting element 10 can be manufactured from sheet metal by cutting and bending, and according to another alternative it can also be a metal casting. Furthermore, the connector 10 may be made of a plastic material, for example by injection moulding, or it may be a composite structure. The attachment piece 10 is dimensioned to withstand the required attachment forces but, on the other hand, is broken by the action of a predetermined force, so that the mortar shell 1 can be detached from the support member 6 once fired.

Fig. 3 shows the support member 6 assembled and attached to the tail portion 4. For clarity, the firing mechanism 15 is not shown in FIG. 3. The support member 6 is installed as follows. First, the support ring 9 is placed in position with its first surface 16 abutting against the rear end 31 of the tail pipe 3, the rear part of the guiding fin 5 extending into a groove of a projection 30 on the support ring 9, which groove may be dimensioned to hold the support ring 9 in position by friction during assembly. The attachment pieces 10 are then placed in position, each attachment piece 10 forming a ring around the adjacent guiding fin 5, the transverse portion 24 in the rear part of the attachment piece 10 resting on the side of the rear surface 17 of the support ring 9 when the attachment piece 10 is pushed into the recess 20 on the support ring 9, the recess 20 being dimensioned so as to hold the attachment piece 10 in position by friction during assembly. The firing mechanism 15 is then mounted into the support 8, the support 8 is seated in the rear of the tail 4 and the sleeve 13 is seated in the central hole 18 of the support ring 9. The support 8 is then driven about its longitudinal axis a, whereby the thread 14 of the sleeve 13 is screwed into the thread 19 in the intermediate hole 18. When screwing in is continued, the front edge of the sleeve 13 presses against the rear end 31 of the tailpipe 3, starting to pull the support ring 9 backwards, thereby tightening the connector 10. This enables the attachment of the support member 6 to be adjusted without play in the axial direction of the mortar shell 1, which adjustment can compensate for any size or shape deviations of the mortar shell 1 and the support member 6.

There are typically at least two connecting pieces 10 and they are arranged substantially symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis a, whereby the connecting forces are evenly distributed. However, when desired, the connecting member 10 may be formed as a unitary piece including two or more substantially symmetrically formed shaft portions 21 and support portions 22.

The support ring 9, the support piece 8 and the firing mechanism 15 can normally be used several times to fire the mortar shell 1, only the attachment piece 10 may be damaged during firing, so that they are replaced for each mortar shell 1.

Fig. 4 is a top view of a second solution for attaching the support member 6 to the guiding fin 5 of the mortar shell 1. In this embodiment, the shaft parts 21a and 21b of the connecting element 10 are not connected to each other at their front ends, but each shaft part 21a and 21b comprises a special transverse support 22, in which case also the guiding fin 5 is surrounded by a kind of ring, although this ring is not closed. The shaft parts 21a and 21B may be bent sideways as indicated in the figure by the broken line 21 a' upon firing of the mortar shell 1 in the direction B. In this case, the shaft portion 21 may be dimensioned to bend by the action of a force of a predetermined magnitude. Alternatively, the support portion 22 may be curved relative to the shaft portion 21, as indicated in fig. 4 by the broken line 22'. For the sake of clarity, figures 4 and 5 do not show other structures of the mortar shell 1 and the support member 6.

Fig. 5 is a top view of another solution for attaching the support member 6 to the guiding fin 5 of the mortar shell 1. In this solution, the front end of the connecting piece 10 is substantially T-shaped, comprising a shaft 21 and a lateral support 22, such connecting piece 10 being able to be arranged between two adjacent guiding fins 5a and 5b, the support 22 resting against the front edge 23a and 23b of each guiding fin 5a and 5 b. In this solution, the deformable points are provided in a support part 22, which support part 22 is dimensioned to bend or break when the mortar shell 1 is fired. The support part 22 may be designed to break, for example, at the point 40 shown in fig. 5, in turn the shaft 21 and its connection to the support piece 8 being dimensioned such that the shaft 21 cannot in any case be ejected together with the mortar shell 1.

The figures and the related description are only intended to illustrate the inventive idea, the details of which may vary within the scope of the claims. Thus, the connector can be connected to the support in another way than by the support ring shown in the figures. Furthermore, the rear end of the connector can be connected to a support ring or similar member by means of screws or similar means.

Claims (10)

1. A support member for supporting a mortar shell into the barrel of a breech-loading weapon, the support member comprising

A support member comprising a rim flange and a firing mechanism for firing the real primer of the mortar shell,

at least one attachment piece for attaching the support piece to at least one guiding fin arranged at the tail of the mortar shell,

said attachment piece comprising at least one longitudinal shaft, which shaft is longitudinally fittable in relation to said mortar shell, and which shaft is supportable at a first end to said support piece;

and a second end of the shaft of the connecting piece, which comprises a support part transverse to the longitudinal axis of the mortar shell for supporting the connecting piece to the front surface of the guiding fin;

and the attachment piece comprises at least one predetermined deformable point allowing the fired mortar shell to be detached from the support member.

2. A support member as claimed in claim 1, wherein the attachment piece comprises a predetermined point of weakness at which the attachment piece is arranged to break by the action of force caused by firing the mortar shell.

3. The support member of claim 1, wherein

The deformable point is disposed in the support portion,

the area of the cross-section at the deformable point is smaller than at other parts of the connection.

4. A support member as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support parts or shafts of the attachment pieces are arranged to bend in relation to each other and the connection between the attachment pieces and the guiding fin is released by the action of the force caused by firing the mortar shell.

5. The support member of claim 1, wherein the shaft of the connector includes a longitudinal first shaft portion and a second shaft portion,

and the second ends of the shaft parts are joined to each other by means of a transverse support part, the connecting element forming a loop which is adapted to fit around at least one guiding fin.

6. A support member as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft and the support portion of the connection piece are arranged substantially in a T-shape at one end of the connection piece, whereby the shaft is adaptable between two adjacent guide fins and the support portion is adapted to abut against the front surfaces of the adjacent guide fins.

7. The support member of claim 1, wherein the support member comprises a support ring supporting at least one connector to the support,

the support ring comprises a front surface, a rear surface and a central bore provided with a first thread,

the front surface of the support ring may be adapted to the side of the rear surface of the tail of the mortar shell,

the first end of the shaft of the coupling piece is provided with at least one transverse portion, which can bear against the rear surface of the support ring,

the longitudinal axis of the support is provided with a sleeve having a front surface and an outer periphery provided with a second thread, an

The sleeve of the support member may be driven into the middle hole of the support ring, whereby the front surface of the sleeve is arranged to be placed against the rear surface of the mortar shell tail, and the support ring and the connecting piece are pulled backwards to tension the support member at the mortar shell tail.

8. The support member of claim 7, wherein

The support ring comprises a first positioning element for positioning the support ring in a predetermined position in relation to the guiding fin of the mortar shell tail,

and the outer periphery of said support ring includes a second locating member for locating each connector in a predetermined position relative to said support ring.

9. A method of attaching a support member to a mortar shell, the method comprising:

-attaching the support member to the tail of the mortar shell, the support member comprising a support provided with a rim flange and a firing mechanism;

the support member is supported to the front surface of at least one guiding fin at the mortar shell tail by at least one connecting piece arranged between the support member and the front surface.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising fitting a ring-shaped connector around at least one guiding fin.