Patent Application
20050257479
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective shelter according to the preamble of claim 1 against fragment effect, fire from light/small arms and like external effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
In different conflict situations, it is imperative to protect own troops and equipment from the adversary's fire and other hostile activity in order to maintain the operational functionality of own troops. Such conflict situations include wars, peacekeeping operations, wide riots and similar occurrences that presumably may involve the use of light/small arms, bombs, other explosives or, simply, throwable objects alone. Particularly in war situations, modern warfare doctrines strongly emphasize fast deployment and speed of troops, whereby arduous long-term field fortifications are impossible. On the other hand, today's world appears to meet at an increasing rate such situations that require temporary or semitemporary shelter constructions. These needs are especially typical in peacekeeping operations and, sometimes, also in conjunction with international summits involving the risk of protest demonstrations turning violent.
Conventionally, troops are protected by the shelter offered by armored vehicles, rapid digging or other preparation of a shelter from locally available material. If efficient digging is not possible, shelter erection becomes both time-consuming and frequently necessitates haulage of construction materials to the erection site. During peace, digging or erection of heavy shelter constructions in an urban environment is generally entirely out of question. In Finnish utility model reg. no. U 1518 is disclosed a shelter assembly system comprised of polygonal or sector-shaped panels made from a metal or non-metal material and adapted connectable to each other. Along the edges of the panels, suitably spaced apart from each other, are fitted coupler bushings of noncircular cross section. When two elements are placed abutting edge-to-edge, the coupler bushings of the panels form a string of interleaved bushings. Thus, the panels can be connected to each other by means of a locking bar threaded through the string of coupler bushings. The panel may have a planar or curved surface and also the panel edges may be planar or profiled.
The above-described construction is hampered by its relatively heavy structure and the limited number of angles possible in the connection of the panels to each other. The cross-sectional shape of the coupler bushings and the locking bar constrain the allowable locking angles between the panels. Additionally, the spacing pitch of the coupler bushings on one edge of a given panel are dictated by the spacing pitch along the mating edge of the adjoining panel thus necessitating the use of a given set of panels in the connection of the panels to each other. As a result, shaped panels for instance cannot be used but in a single given construction or, alternatively, in another shelter but only with an exactly identical construction. Hence, the modifiability of a fortification erected according to this construction is limited and, hence, the panel system is optimally usable only for rapidly erecting a relatively long-term fortification at a terrestrial point taken over. Such locations are, e.g., guard and observation points and like. According to the teachings of the example of the invention, metallic materials are employed for strengthening the panel edges and as connecting members, whereby the weight of the panels becomes high. Obviously, the panel weights are also increased by their size.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lightweight ballistic shelter system comprising mutually connectable panels of two sizes only. Each panel of the novel shelter structure is connectable to any other panel of the shelter system thus allowing protective structures of different sizes and shapes to be assembled therefrom.
The goal of the invention is achieved by virtue of having the shelter system comprised of planar panel elements of which at least one has the shape of an equilateral triangle and at least another one has a rectangular shape.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that at least one edge of the shelter system panels includes at least one open coupling slot having a smoothly rounded surface provided on at least the inner slot edge facing the inner area of the panel.
More specifically, the ballistic shelter according to the invention is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.
The invention offers significant benefits.
By virtue of the invention, a lightweight modular shelter is provided with ease of erection. The construction and shape of the shelter system components facilitate the assembly of shelters in varying shapes, whereby the maximal size of the shelter is limited only by the number of available panel elements. Inasmuch as the shelter system comprises panel elements of two different sizes only and all the panel elements are connectable to each other, the erection of a shelter becomes simple, whereby different types of shelters are possible without the need for multiple parts that must be shipped connected together. The erection of a shelter can be carried out extremely quickly and the coupler means may be implemented as quick-lock couplers whose locking levers on a given edge of the panel are connected together by a rope thus permitting the locking levers to be released simultaneously by a single pull. As the coupler means are integral members of the shelter panels, they cannot become lost during the haulage, erection or dismantling of the shelter. The coupler means are further adapted to the edges of the panel elements in such a fashion that any panel element can be connected to any other panel element. The level of protection provided by the panel elements can be designed compatible with the protection needs depending on whether the shelter shall offer protection against fragments, stop fire from small arms or other offense. The shelter panels are also highly durable under the stresses imposed thereon during haulage and handling, as well as very resistant to weather exposure due to their entirely sealed structure with fully sealed edges. Planar panels of triangular and square shape connected to each other allows a maximally simple construction to provide full protection by a shelter of desired kind, wherein all panel elements of the shelter are always compatible with each other thus disposing with the need for any special complementary members.
In the following, the invention is described in more detail by making reference to the appended drawings in which
Referring to
The edges 3 of the planar part 2 are rounded smooth and sealed with a durable, elastic and weather-resistant material such as an urethane-based sealant or, in the case that matrix material has suitable properties, using the matrix material also for surfacing the edges so as to make them highly resistant to impacts and other mechanical stresses as well as capable of preventing penetration of water into the matrix material. With the smoothly rounded profile of modular panel edges 3, the system becomes extremely flexible inasmuch as any planar panel element can thus be readily connected to another planar panel element at any angle. Additionally, the cross sections of open slots 5 and pawl recesses of couplers 4 of the panel connection system are shaped in a convex/concave rounded fashion, whereby the clamping hold of the coupler is similar to the grip of a plumber's wrench about a round tube. In the illustrated embodiment, the open slots 5 comprise openings made in the planar part 2 such that the panel edge at the open slot 5 forms a bridge of a circular cross section. Hence, the coupler can be locked at any angle of the panel and, moreover, panels already connected to each other may be rotated even after connection if it is desired to alter the mutual position of the panels.
The couplers 4 are placed on two cornering edges of a panel element, while the open slots 5 of the coupling system are made along the opposite edges of the panel, at identical positions relative to the couplers 4. Resultingly, the modular panels I will be connectable to each other in any kind of protective shelter assembly. In
In
In
The connection of the modular protective panels into a shelter construction takes place as follows. Two protective panels are aligned adjacent to each other so that the adjacent panels have one coupler-type edge and one slotted edge abutting. Thereupon, pulling the release rope of the coupler members 4 allows the coupler claw 12 to rotate about its pivot pin 16 as shown in
In
In
In certain constructions, e.g., those having large roof areas, support columns can be used to prevent sagging of the roof. The support column may be such as shown in
As is evident from the diagrams discussed above, the invention makes it possible to implement a plurality of different protective shelter structures.
In addition to those described above, the invention may have alternative embodiments.
The profile of the planar part edges can be varied and the edge may be fabricated from continuous metal sections, for instance. However, the panel structure is hereby complicated unnecessarily and, moreover, the weight and cost of the modular panel element become higher. While the sets of triangular and square modular panels may be complemented with panels of other shape, particularly having the shape of a rectangle or non-equilateral triangle, the unlimited connectability of different modular panels is hereby constrained. The connection technique and coupler means of the modular panels can be replaced by, e.g., the clamping means used in transport pallets, but also herein the clamping surface and the compatible slot are most advantageously designed to have an arcuate cross-sectional shape so as to permit any angular alignment between modular panels adjacently connected to each other. Advantageously, the edges of the modular panels are longitudinally straight. The connection system comprising two coupler members/slots on one edge of the panel may alternatively comprise a greater number of coupler means and open slots compatible therewith. Obviously, the number of coupler means must at all times be selected to take the stresses occurring in service.
