Tank-gun loading simulator for training purposes

Claim 2

A tank-gun loading simulator for training purposes, wherein the said simulator comprises: an ammunition, formed of a shell and a case connected together by a system which can be released by applying pressure to the case at the point where in a real shell the detonator would be placed; a breech, recoil and return of which are guided by two roller slides, under pressure from a first hydraulic jack; a breech wedge containing, instead of an actual hammer, an electromagnet release system, which applies thrust to the case; a primary mechanism mounted on the breech, which raises the breech wedge by means of a first spring, transmitting to the breech-opening lever, through this first spring and a second spring, a force of resistance equal to the force applied by the gun-loader to open the breech, and operating a second mechanism where the breech is opened manually; said second mechanism making the extractors pivot out of the breech through the effect of the first mechanism and during manual opening of the breech; a cradle, comprising: a breech jacket inside which the breech effects its recoil and return movements on roller slides, two flanges supporting the jacket, and separated from each other by a strut on which the first jack presses, bearings pivoting in elevation in these flanges, a second jack pivoting in elevation, fixed to one of the flanges and to the base of the simulator; and a shell separator mounted on the cradle, which separates the shell and the case, and moves the shell to the position in which it is gripped by a chain conveyor, as soon as the breech wedge has re-ascended after loading of ammunition.

Claim 3

A simulator as defined in claim 1, wherein the shell separator comprises: a frame, fitted to the cradle, extending beyond the breech jacket, and constructed from sections, comprising two shell-release cams, two cams to halt further movement and two guide rods; a carriage sliding along said guide rods, on each side of the carriage two conveyor displacement hooks, each of which comprises a roller and retaining bolt, these hooks and bolts being kept in the raised position by springs, fitted to the carriage, a shell-withdrawal hook, pivoting on a horizontal axle, kept in the raised position by a spring, and comprising two rollers, a retraction lever, which pivots and lowers the hook by pressing on it, an electrical contactor indicating the presence of a shell, a central shank, one end of which is attached to the carriage, and the other end of which is parallel to the guide-rods, through an opening in the frame, a spring, surrounding the central shank and compressed on it between the carriage and the frame, and wherein: in the absence of external forces, the carriage is kept in its rest position by pressure from the spring on the central shank; as soon as ammunition is loaded into the breech, the withdrawal hook fits into a groove on the shell, and the contactor supplies a signal to an electronic system, as soon as the signal indicating the presence of a shell has been received by the electronic system, chain-conveyor pins fit between the displacement hooks and retaining bolts, and displace the carriage toward the release position, displacement of the carriage causes separation of the shell and the case, and moves the shell on the frame to the position in which it is gripped by the conveyor, the withdrawl hook rollers connecting with the shell-release cams and making the withdrawal hook pivot, thereby releasing it from the shell groove, after the withdrawal hook has been released from the shell groove, the diplacement hook rollers connect with the displacement-halting cams and release the carriage, which returns to its original position, under pressure from the spring on the central shank.

Claim 4

A simulator as defined in claim 2, wherein the first mechanism comprises: an axle which revolves on two bearings mounted on the breech, on this axle and fixed to it, a lever with a crank pin, a breech-opening ring containing a displacement pin, a cam, a toothed arc, and a first drum, on the axle and able to rotate freely, a manual control ring, on which the breech-opening lever is mounted, and which comprises a first cam and a second cam, and a displacement pin, a second drum, on which is a displacement pin, fixed to the breech, a first spring box containing a first spring, which is compressed by means of a cable wound on the drum, a second spring box containing a second spring, which is compressed by means of a cable wound on the second drum, a locking device pivoting on an axle fixed to the breech and held away from it by a spring, a flexible drive, a first retractable cam on one of the wings fixed to the cradle, wherein said secondary mechanism comprises a second retractable cam on the other wing fixed to the cradle, and wherein: when the opening lever is lowered by the gun-loader, the displacement pin on the manual control ring rotates the second drum, the cable on which compresses the second spring, and the breech-opening ring, which rotates the axle to which it is fixed, this axle thereby rotating the toothed arc, which meshes with the rack on the breech wedge, and lowers the said wedge, and the first drum, the cable on which compresses the first spring, the first cam of the manual control ring connecting with the cam on the second mechanism and causing the extractors to pivot out of the breech, and the locking device connecting with the cam on the second drum, and bearing the force of the second spring, which is thus kept compressed, the second cam of the manual control ring pressing on the end of the flexible drive, which simultaneously actuates the shell-separator retraction lever, the extractors blocking the breech wedge on the lowered position, and the toothed arc, which is also blocked, keeping the spring compressed, through the agency of the axle and first drum; the opening lever being raised, and when ammunition is loaded into the breech, the extractors release the breech wedge, which moves upwards under the combined pressure of the toothed arc, the first drum and the first spring, which is released, the cam fixed to the axle raises the locking device, which releases the second drum, thereby releasing the spring, when the breech returns the crank pin on the lever forming part of the first mechanism connects with the first retractable cam, and by rotating the axle, toothed sector and first drum, thereby lowers the breech wedge and compresses the first spring.

Claim 5

A simulator as defined in claim 1 wherein the shell comprises: a head, a shank, a first means of connection, the head itself comprising a cylindrical barrel, a conical head force-fitted on to the barrel, and a ring-shaped wedge, which fits into a cylindrical axis recess in the barrel, one end of the shank being screwed axially into the barrel, and the other end carrying the first means of connection, the barrel comprising a circular external groove, the wedge ring, comprising an outward-tapering bearing surface, sliding on the shank and inside the barrel recess, and being pushed away from the bottom of this recess by springs, the case comprises a casing, preferably consisting of a real shell case, a shell-shank guide system, and second means of connection, the guide system comprises an opening with an inward-tapering bearing surface, a tube and a supporting base, the base being screwed to the casing-base, the tube being force fitted to the supporting base, and the opening ring being force-fitted on to the tube; the case also comprises a resilient cast and polymerized plastic lining between the guiding system and the casing; the second means of connection is positioned on the tube and supporting base axis, and fixed to the case at the point coupled in a real shell by the detonator, the assembly of the shell and the case resulting from the locking of the first and second means of connection is obtained by full insertion of the shank into the case, after locking of the first and second means of connection, the shell and case are connected tightly, by the pressure of the springs, compressed between the wedge ring and the shell barrel, keeping the tapered surface of the ring pressed against the tapered surface of the opening.

Claim 6

A simulator as defined in claim 4, wherein: the first means of connection comprises a tubular retaining end, one end of which is screwed on to the shank, and the other end of which contains a neck, the second means of connection is formed of a locking device which comprises a support, a lock-barrel, a control rod, locking balls, a mask, and two springs.