초록 ▼

A rotary storage magazine located immediately below the level of the deck of a vehicle or structure, usable such that munitions may be stored and thereafter quickly delivered on an as-needed basis to an intermediate position for the reloading of a weapon. This intermediate position can be on the dec

A rotary storage magazine located immediately below the level of the deck of a vehicle or structure, usable such that munitions may be stored and thereafter quickly delivered on an as-needed basis to an intermediate position for the reloading of a weapon. This intermediate position can be on the deck, alongside the weapon to be reloaded, or else outboard of the weapon. Our rotary storage magazine comprises fore and aft rotary support devices disposed immediately below deck level a spaced distance apart, which distance is less than the length of the munitions to be stored. The rotary support devices each have a plurality of support arms, such that munitions disposed in a generally parallel array may be cradled between corresponding support arms of the fore and aft rotary support devices. The rotary support devices have a common axis of rotation, and we provide electric power for driving these devices in one rotative direction during the loading of munitions into the storage magazine, and for driving these devices in the opposite direction during the delivery of the munitions to the vehicle\s deck level. Releasable restraint arms on the support arms of the rotary support devices prevent dislodgment of the munitions during rotation of the rotary support devices. In the preferred embodiment, an elevator operational in timed relation to the rotary support devices and located therebetween serves as a munitions transporter that accomplishes the ready loading as well as the rapid unloading of munitions from the rotary storage magazine.

대표청구항 ▼

In an ordnance apparatus having a generally horizontal deck, a munitions storage bay below the deck, and a weapon on the deck, a rotary storage magazine generally aligned with the longitudinal centerline of the ordnance apparatus and operably disposed in said munitions storage bay, said rotary stora

In an ordnance apparatus having a generally horizontal deck, a munitions storage bay below the deck, and a weapon on the deck, a rotary storage magazine generally aligned with the longitudinal centerline of the ordnance apparatus and operably disposed in said munitions storage bay, said rotary storage magazine usable such that munitions may be stored and thereafter quickly delivered on an as-needed basis to an intermediate position for the reloading of the weapon, said rotary storage magazine comprising multi-armed rotary support devices disposed in a fore-and-aft relationship immediately below deck level in said munitions storage bay, said rotary support devices being located a spaced distance apart, which distance is less than the length of the munitions to be stored, said rotary support devices each having the same number of support arms, such that a like number of munitions disposed in a generally parallel array may reside between corresponding support arms of the fore and aft rotary support devices, said rotary support devices being rotatable together, and having a common axis of rotation disposed in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal centerline of the apparatus, means in said munitions storage bay for driving said rotary support devices in one rotative direction during the loading of munitions into the storage magazine, and for driving said rotary support devices in the opposite direction during the delivery of the munitions for reloading of the weapon, and a munition transporter contained between said rotary support devices and spaced laterally from said axis of rotation of said rotary support devices, said munition transporter being in the form of an elevator movable between an upper position and a lower position, such that it can selectively move munitions down to said multi-armed rotary support devices during the loading of the storage magazine, and up away from said multi-armed rotary storage devices during the delivery of munitions of the loading of the weapon, said elevator, when in its lowered position, being located between circumferentially adjacent munition storage locations. In a vehicle or structure having a generally horizontal deck, a munitions storage bay below the deck, and a weapon on the deck, a rotary storage magazine usable so that munitions may be stored and thereafter quickly delivered on an as needed basis to an intermediate position for the reloading of a deck weapon, said rotary storage magazine comprising fore and aft multi-armed rotary support devices disposed below deck level in a munitions storage bay, said rotary support devices being located a spaced distance apart, which distance is less than the length of the munitions to be stored, said rotary support devices each having the same number of support arms, such that a like number of munitions disposed in a generally parallel array may reside between corresponding support arms of the fore and aft rotary support devices, said rotary support devices being rotatable together, and having a common axis of rotation disposed in substantial parallelism with the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle or structure, means in said munitions storage bay for driving said support devices in one rotative direction during the loading of munitions into the storage magazine, and for driving said rotary support devices in the opposite direction during the delivery of the munitions for reloading of the weapon, and a munition transporter usable for moving munitions to said multi-armed rotary support devices during the loading of the storage magazine, and away from said multi-armed rotary support devices during the delivery of munitions for the unloading of the weapon, said rotary support devices being mounted directly below an unbroken section of deck, and alongside an elongate lateral opening in the side of the vehicle or structure, and a munition transporter in the form of a below deck lateral conveyor serving to move munitions one at a time through said lateral opening during the loading of the storage magazine, and to redeliver munitions one at a time through said lateral opening during the phase in which the weapon is to be reloaded, the moving of munitions by said lateral conveyor being in a lateral direction spaced vertically from said axis of rotation of said rotary support devices between a munition storage location in said storage magazine and a location immediately outside said lateral opening, said lateral conveyor further serving to move munitions in a vertical direction between said outside location and a location at deck level.