Patent Application
20120024142
This application claims benefit of Serial No. TO 2010 A 000440, filed 26 May 2010 in Italy and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above disclosed application.
The present invention refers to a robotized arm installable on a vehicle.
In particular, the present invention describes a robotized arm installable on a vehicle preferably of military type, wherein it is provided the presence of an armament positioned on the turret or eventually on the ammunition chest or on the open luggage compartment or caisson of the vehicle itself.
To the prior art are known armored vehicles movable through a system of tracks or wheeled vehicles provided with a central turret, preferably rotatable upon which is mounted the main armament which is usually constituted by a cannon.
The turret is also usually provided with one or more machine guns or armaments in general and with various laying and viewing means or systems, such as for example a day/night stabilized periscopic viewer for the commanding officer, a stabilized viewer with thermal view and laser telemeter for the gunner, further than a fire monitoring computer. This last receives data from various sensors of the vehicle and is adapted to process all the data for determining the best fire conditions.
It is clear that these armaments are manually maneuvered by an operator also with the aid of servo-systems which facilitate the handling and laying operations of the armament itself.
The positions of the operator are always protected by shields, walls, protecting bars, but clearly a risk percentage for the operator is anyhow present.
The present invention solves this problem providing a robotized arm, upon which it is supported an armament which is adapted to permit the handling and the activation of the armament itself, this arm being installable on a vehicle, for example on the top of the vehicle or on the ammunition chest.
The characteristics and advantages of the arm according to the present invention will be clearer and evident from the following description, exemplificative and not limiting, of an embodiment with reference to the attached figures wherein:
With reference to the above mentioned figures, vehicle 1 comprises a conventional passenger compartment 11, wherein there is the driver and the personnel responsible for the armaments. In the example of embodiment the vehicle illustrated is rotated wheeled vehicle, but the present invention can be equivalently applied to a tracked or hybrid vehicle.
On the top of the vehicle there is a supporting plate 12 upon which it is mounted a robotized arm 2 on which free end is supported an armament 3.
In an alternative embodiment the supporting plate can be positioned in positions different from the top of the passenger compartment, for example it can be fastened to the loading plane or ammunition chest or on the luggage compartment.
In general, the arm and the armament must be preferably positioned on a dominant position of the vehicle, for permitting the maximum shooting radius to the armament and the best handling of the arm.
This robotized arm is able to permit to this armament to have at least four degrees of freedom in space.
Four degrees of freedom in space represent the minimum number for which a robotized arm can support with efficacy the movement of an armament. Preferably, an optimal number of degrees of freedom is six, more preferably seven degrees of freedom.
In
The second fork 26 is associated to the first end of a torsion bar 27, which can turn about its longitudinal axis L1 with respect to the fork. At the end of this bar opposite to the one constrained to the second fork a third fork 28 is present, integral with respect to said bar and to which an elongated support 29 for an armament is constrained in an articulated way, which can turn about an axis P perpendicular to longitudinal axis L1 of the bar.
Furthermore, this elongated support 29 can turn about its longitudinal axis L2.
Armament 3 is opportunely constrained to a bracket 291 of said support. The robotized arm enables the armament to move having a plurality of degrees of freedom, in the specific example the degrees of freedom are six in all, because the armament can move respectively about axis Y, X1, X2, L1, P and L2, as shown in
Clearly, for each degree of freedom, the robotized arm comprises at least a motor duly controlled from inside the vehicle. Furthermore, from inside the vehicle the armament is also completely controlled.
The robotized arm in this way supports the movements of the armament, which can lay also objects not directly visible from the passenger compartment. For example, extending the arm and putting rod 24 and bar 27 in a longitudinal position and positioning support 29 such that it is orthogonal with respect to bar 27 itself, it can be created a substantially 90° angulated structure able to lay the armament behind an angle of a building keeping the vehicle hidden. In another similar configuration, the armament can be laid further than a wall keeping the vehicle hidden under the wall itself, etc.
In these cases, clearly, on the arm can be advantageously provided laying and viewing means or systems, such as for example a day/night stabilized periscopic viewer, or a stabilized viewer with thermal view and laser telemeter which permit to the personnel inside the vehicle to have the view of the zone laid by the armament.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| TO 2010 A 000440 | May 2010 | IT | national |
