US2258939A - Armed tank construction - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 14, 1941. 'M POCHE 2,258,939

ARMED TANK CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 2, 1939 Patented Get. 4, 1941 UNITED-"STATES PATEN OFFlCEf ARMED TANK CONSTRUCTION John Morris Poche, Gulfport, Miss., assignor of one-haIf-to Lucas Vaccaro, New Orleans, La.

Application October 2, 1939, Serial No. 297,603

ZClaims. (CI. 89-40) This invention relates to' improvements in armed tank constructions] One object of the invention is to provide a turret construction for tanks in which the ordnance carried by the tank can be adjusted to fire in practically any direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a turret construction for tanks wherein the operator for the ordnance will be amply protected.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a turret for armedtanks so constructed that a gun projecting through the side thereof may be moved to any DOsition around the tank.

- Still another object is to provide a. tank turret with a gun'projecting through the top thereof which may be fired not only upwardly, but forwardly, rearwardly or toward either side of the turret or, in other words, this gun can also be revolved throughout an entire circle.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

As the present invention deals solely with the construction of the turret, th major portion of the body ID of the tank is not shown. The turret itself is composed of vertically spaced upper and lower sections II, l2, the lower section [2 being rigidl mounted on the body ill of the tank, while the upper section II is rigidly supported from the tank body by standards [3. A gun it is adaptedto be mounted in the interior of theturret, with the barrel thereof projecting outwardly through the space between the upper and lower sections ll, I2, of the turret. Preferably,

.gun I4 is pivotally mounted to swing in'a 'vertical plane and is also mounted whereby it .can be revolved within the turret so as to be directed in any line desired throughout the entire periphery of the turret. In other words, the carriage for the gun is 50 supported that the gun can be swung entirely around the turret. In the present instance, this is accomplished by forming a way or track E5 on the lower section top of the turret. In other words, the top sur-. 7

I: of the turret, in which rollers it on a car- 5 5 retgthrou h which the gun extends.

' To further facilitate attacks with the tank,

riage I! are received. The gun is pivotally supported on this carriage as by a'pivotal connection It. As usual, a suitable seat l9 is provided in the interior for the operator.

To fully protect the operator, a suitable shield or protective covering is provided for the space between the upper and lower sections of the tur- This protective pl te or covering must, of course, not interfere with the movement of the gun around I the turret and, in the preferredconstruction, these protective devices comprise a ring-like member 20 rotatably supported on upper and lower ways 2|, 22, anti-friction elements 23 preferably being interposed between the ring 20 and said ways. Ring 20 is provided with an aperture 24 through which the gun projects and, rotatably supported, in this opening is a closure plate 25, preferably of circular formation. If desired, this closure plate may be provided with a reversely disposed portion 25 1 so as to embrace the apertured portion of ring'20. This revoluble plate 25 is formed with a still smaller opening for the gun and, to substantially entirely close the turret at this point, there i a plate or shield 26 on the gun. barrel which overlies the space between the barrel and the wall of the opening in cover plate 25. Due to the fact that closure plate 25 is carried on ring member 20, the gun can b readily tilted with respect to the ring and, by reason of the fact that the ring itself is rotatably supported-on the turret, the gun, of .course, can be moved entirely around the turret so as to be fired inany' desired direction, forwardly or aft or sidewise of the tank.

a second gun is provided within the turret and so mo ted as to project outwardly through-the face of the upper section I l is provided with an aperture 21 in which there is rotatably carried a closure 28 similar in construction to the closure 25, in that it comprises reversely bent portions and is formed with an aperture '29 through which the barrel of the gun 30 projects. To fully close the space between the wall of this opening 29 and the gun barrel, a shield 3| is provided on the gun barrel so that, regardless of the direction in which the gun may be directed through the top of the turret, the opening 21 in the turret will be fully closed to protect the-operator.

In the interior of the turret, the upper section II is formed with a circular 'track or way 32 which may be in the form of a rack,- and the gun is swiveled on a plate 33 mounted on a cylinder 34 journaled on a cross-member 35 which is mounted in a carriage adapted to be rotated around the track 32. For instance, the carriage may consist of rollers 36 disposed at opposite sides of the tiack 32, these rollers, supporting links'S'I which, in turn, support the {cross-member 35. The cross-member 35 has, at least at one end, a pinion 38, adapted to mesh with the teeth of track 32 and, it desired, a hand-wheel 39 may be provided on cross-member 35 so that, by rotating the latter, the carriage will be caused to roll around the track 32 until the gun is brought in line with the target. Thus, by reasonv of the fact that the gun carriage can be turned throughout an entire circle on the track 32 and the gun can be rocked on the cross-member 35, as well as swung on the plate 33, it can be aimed or directed at a target above the turret, either forwardly, or rearwardly, or at the sides of the tank. This mounting of the gun permits it to be trained on a target, regardless of the relative position of the targetabove the tank. At the same time, the operator is fully protected so far as concerns the opening in the top of the turret for the gun because, as previously pointed out, the cover plate 21 is rotatably supported in the opening in the upper section of the turret and the shield 3|, carried on the gun barrel, closes whatever space there might be between the gun barrel and said closure plate.

With the turret construction such as described, the operator can attack or resist attack, regardless of the relative position of the target with respect to the tank, either horizontally or vertically.

What "1 claim is:

rigid upper section, a circular way including a continuous rack formed in said section, a gunsupport mounted on said circular way andpineluding a pinion meshing with said rack, a shaft on which said pinion is mounted, means for rotating said shaft to revolve the gun-su p rt around the turret and a gun pivotally mounted on said gun-support, said section 0! the turret having an opening therein located axially of said circular rack .through which the barrel of said gun projects.

2. A turret for motor vehicles comprising fixed, vertically spaced upper and lower side wall sections, a gun support within the turret, means for pivotally mounting a gun on said support with the gun barrel projecting outwardly through the space between said wall sections, a lateral flange on each of said upper and lower wall sections, a circular way formed in the flange of the lower wall section, said gun support being revoluble around the turret in said way, a circular closure member for the space between said wall sections rotatably supported by said flanges, there being an opening for the gun barrel in said closure, said closure and gun being revoluble around said 4 turret in unison with one another, and a shield substantially closing the opening in said closure, said shield having reversely bent portions embracing opposite sides of said closure around said opening. I

JOHN MORRIS POCHE.

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