Mine roller attachment to tank

Claim 1

In association with a military tank: a mine roller mechanism, and means for attaching the mine roller mechanism to the tank front end; said attaching mechanism comprising a plural number of vertical bracket walls (24) carried on the tank front end, each bracket wall having a leading edge formed with a horizontal notch (23) therein; each notch having a concave semi-circular rear surface 27, a generally horizontal upper surface (29), and a generally lower horizontal lower surface (25). Said attaching mechanism further comprising a plural number of arms (20) extending rearwardly from the mine roller mechanism for individual entry into spaces between adjacent ones of the bracket walls, each arm having a pair of laterally-extending pins (28) sized to extend into a notch in a bracket wall, each pin having a circular cross section conforming to the aforementioned concave surface (27): the improvement comprising a simplified latch structure for retaining the pins in the notches; said latch structure including a plural number of hook-shaped retainer plates (30) swingably attached to the aforementioned bracket walls on a pivot axis located substantial distances above and behind the aforementioned notches; and a horizontal transverse operator bar (45) interconnecting said retainer plates for conjoint movement; said transverse bar being located above and in front of the aforementioned pivot axis; each retainer plate having a concave semi-circular undersurface (51) conforming to the front surface contour of the associated pin, whereby the retainer plates can be swung downwardly from raised positions above the notches to lowered positions wherein the concave undersurfaces prevent withdrawal of the pins out of the notches; each concave semi-circular undersurface (51) including a surface section that underlies a curved surface of the associated circular pin (28) when the retainer plates are in their lowered positions, whereby mine-explode forces cannot act through said pins (28) to lift the retainer plates from their lowered positions.