Ammunition and explosives – Mines – Pop-up type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-27
2002-06-25
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3641)
Ammunition and explosives
Mines
Pop-up type
C102S401000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06408763
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is a defense apparatus for land, sea, and air defense. With the help of the invention, firing and defense operation is carried out with no troops present on the site. The invention has several forms of operation. The surveillance of the surroundings can be done with automatic devices and the starting, duration, and ending of the firing is an independent operation, i.e., the invention can be called a robot.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The traditional methods known in this field of technology are various mines, such as anti-tank mines, which are detonated by a load applied to them or vertically positioned mines which are detonated by a manual switch. Conventional mines explode only once.
Consequently, a vertically positioned or such other mine is detonated manually, i.e., someone has to pull the string to detonate the mine. So, this requires that someone has to be positioned essentially close to the mine in order to see the right moment to detonate it. Hence, being positioned within a close proximity of the enemy and the threat to life it imposes are inevitable. So, an anti-tank mine or other type of mine which is detonated by a load only explodes once and, after it has destroyed itself, it is useless.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of the invention is to minimise the time spent within a close proximity of the enemy in a defense battle and in withdrawing from a battle as well as to surprise the enemy in a situation where the enemy can assume to have already carried out, or be soon through with, a successful attack. In other words, the enemy has, in part or in whole, passed the location of an apparatus according to the invention at which time the apparatus only sets off, starting to fire the enemy from a direction the enemy regards essentially an improbable direction to be fired at from. Consequently, the purpose of the invention is also to cause confusion and panic.
Several apparatuses according to the invention can be placed in the same area and they can operate individually, independently of each other, or in unison, as a group. The dimensions and weight of an apparatus according to the invention can be such that a person can carry it, or even several of them, with him. On the other hand, the size of an apparatus according to the invention can also be such that its transportation requires machinery, for instance, a crawler lorry, helicopter, snowmobile, or such other means. Covered by a lead jacket, an apparatus according to the invention is hidden from a mine detector or such other device. Located under dirt cover, an apparatus according to the invention is also covered to a degree from firing. The thickness of the dirt cover can range from less than half a meter to over one meter. Also, when placed into the earth in front of a defense line and, for instance, of a trench, an apparatus according to the invention effectively surprises the attacker. Firing of grenades can be started from an apparatus according to the invention against all types of ground troops, such as men, tanks, crawler lorries, or the like; and against missiles with the possible targets of, in addition to the above-mentioned ones, air and naval force ships.
According to the invention, this objective can be achieved by using a cylinder mast hidden underground that can be opened, consisting of nested cylinders including an automatic weapon, a grenade thrower, fragmentation or other type of mine, or a group of missiles, or some other weapon. At the other end of the outermost cylinder, there is a drill or an auger or such other device, a so-called earth drill, rotated with a power device powered by a charged battery or an accumulator with the help of which the cylinder setup drills into the earth as it is pushed down from above at the same time. As an alternative, the drill can also be permanently fixed to the cylinder in which case drilling is done by rotating the cylinder and by pressing. In such a case, the power source used is a drilling unit equipped with a battery or an accumulator which has equipment to rotate the drill cylinder setup and to push it into the earth and which is handy, for instance, to transport with a helicopter or such other means. The operation of the drilling unit can also be such that it has its own drill which can be rotated and pushed in order to drill a hole into the earth. In such a case, the bottom end of the outermost cylinder can have a spring, e.g., a coil or gas spring, to alleviate the impact of the upper load. There are two or more nested cylinders. The cylinders are preferably made for the most part or in whole of titanium which is a relatively light and durable material; furthermore, titanium is hard to detect with a mine detector. The cylinders and other parts of the apparatus can also be made of aluminum or some other metal or plastic. The materials used are not limited to these. When opening, the nested cylinders form a telescope-like cylinder mast similar to the tipping gear of a tractor trailer or a lorry.
The cylinders according to the invention form a cylinder mast which differs from the aforementioned tipping gear system in the way that the power needed for creating a cylinder mast is charged inside the innermost cylinder in the form of excess pressure which, when discharging through a valve, a breakable plug, or the like located at either one end or both ends of the cylinder, makes the cylinders move longitudinally with respect to each other. The outermost cylinder is supported against the ground staying in place and the inner cylinder/cylinders moves/move. It is noteworthy that there can be one or more inner cylinders. There can also be a so-called inner tube inside the innermost cylinder which brings the valve close to the surface of the earth. There is a lid at the end of the cylinder tube that can be opened through which the weapon placed inside the cylinder is pushed into the right position in order to start firing at the enemy. If the innermost cylinder is of the type to have valves at both ends, then there are two of the next larger size cylinders, one of each at both ends of the innermost cylinder. Consequently, when the valves open, the excess pressure is discharged into both directions whereupon the telescope becomes longer in both directions.
As an alternative, the excess pressure can be loaded in all of the cylinders and the cylinders remain nested when the outermost and the innermost cylinder are bound together, e.g., with one or more tie(s), which tie can be either a bundle tie or the like at which point the telescope opens up when the tie is cut e.g. with an electric primer arrangement explained later on in this application.
As an alternative, the opening of the telescope can be realised together with, or instead of, the gas pressure energy by putting one or several compressed spring(s) inside the cylinders. In such a case, tying the cylinders inside each other and also releasing them from that tie is economic to realise in the manner explained in the previous paragraph.
When being drilled into the earth, the apparatus can be supported manually by using an installation tool to be connected to, and disconnected from, the apparatus or by using automation so that when the drill is rotating into the outer surface of the outermost cylinder, the shields prevent the cylinder from rotating together with the drill rotation into the opposite direction. The drilling can be started automatically so that when the drill point hits the ground, the transducer placed in it gives an order to the drill to start rotating. Furthermore, the drilling can be stopped by setting a certain number of revolutions to be drilled, by a certain earth resistance, or by using some other criterion.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3403624 (1968-10-01), Fosler et al.
patent: 4702169 (1987-10-01), Gallant
patent: 4711179 (1987-12-01), Sundberg
patent: 4714021 (1987-12-01), Tranin
patent: 5133260 (1992-07-01), Grosch
patent: 5206653 (1993-04-01), Westphal
patent: 5677506 (1997-10-01), Wallin
patent: 6079334 (2000-06-01), Roheim
pate
Hurtta Tero
Niinivaara Juhani
Niinivaara Tarmo
Poon Peter M.
Sea Valve Engineering Oy
Sukman Gabriel
Young & Thompson
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