WO2004008062A1

WO2004008062A1 - Armoured vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2004008062A1
Application number: PCT/GB2003/002696
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin Francis Carroll
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2002-07-13
Filing date: 2003-06-23
Publication date: 2004-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 2005-01-13
Also published as: GB0314535D0; AU2003246904A1; ZA200500569B; GB2390888B; GB2390888A; GB0216327D0

Abstract

An armoured vehicle has a body structure that includes a floor panel (4) made from a sheet of high strength steel plate bent upwards along its peripheral side margins to overlap adjacent side wall structures (5). A wheel arch panel (11) is located inside an upturned margin of the floor panel (4) and is attached to the floor panel by two welded joints (13, 14), the outer joint (13) being a continuous weld while the inner joint (14) is a continuous weld or a stitch weld. A similar joint (Fig.2) is used where the floor panel (4) is attached directly to a side panel (10). Tabs (10T) on the lower edge of the respective side panel (10) interlock with apertures (12) adjacent the outer edge (9) of the wheel arch panel (11). The outer side of the side panel (10) is secured to the wheel arch panel (11) by a continuous weld (10W) and an inner side of the side panel (10) is attached by a welded joint 10S which may be a continuous weld or may be a stitch weld. Overlapping the floor panel (4) to the outside in this way increases the resistance to failure when exposed to an explosion from below the armoured vehicle (2).

Description

ARMOURED VEHICLE

This invention relates to armoured vehicles and in particular to an improved body structure for such vehicles.

It is known to provide an armoured vehicle with a body structure including panels made from armour plate to resist the effect of attack by small arms fire and small explosive devices such as land mines. The known armoured vehicles commonly utilise a body construction in which a number of separate panels are joined together along their peripheral margins by continuous butt welds. These suffer from the disadvantage that the strength of the body structure is determined to a large extent by the integrity of the welds holding the body structure together.

EP-A-1182421 shows an armour shield for a vehicle which comprises an armour shield clamped in place below the vehicle chassis. This is intended to supplement the normal vehicle structure rather than form part of it.

It is an object of this invention to provide an armoured vehicle having an improved body structure.

According to the invention there is provided an armoured vehicle having a body structure comprising left and right side structures made from armour plate and a floor panel made from a blast resistant material, wherein the outer side margin of the floor panel forms an overlapping joint with an adjacent margin of a respective part of the side structure to which it is attached such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

The part of the side structure may be one of or both of a side panel of the armoured vehicle and a one piece wheel arch panel. In a preferred arrangement the floor panel is bent upwards along its peripheral margins to overlie the respective part of the side structure to which it is attached. Alternatively, the respective part of the side structure to which the floor panel is attached is bent inwards along its overlying peripheral margin.

The wheel arch panel may be attached along an opposite margin to a side panel of the armoured vehicle, in which case the wheel arch panel may have a number of apertures for accommodating tabs formed along the margin of the respective side panel to form an interlocking joint therebetween. Preferably, each side panel is welded on both sides to the respective wheel arch panel to which it is attached.

The body structure may further comprise a rear wall, the floor panel being bent upwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the rear wall at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges. Alternatively, the rear wall may be bent inwards to overlie the adjacent margin of the floor panel at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

The body structure may further comprise a front wall, the floor panel being bent upwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the front wall at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges. Alternatively, the front wall may be bent inwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the floor panel at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

One or both of the floor panel and the wheel arch panel may be made from a high strength metallic material such as high strength steel, e.g. 3mm thick. The invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:-

Fig.1 is a side view of an armoured vehicle according to the invention; Fig.2 is cross-section along the line Y-Y on Fig.1; Fig. 3 is a cross-section along the line X-X on Fig.1 ; and

Fig.4 is view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modification.

An armoured vehicle 2 has a rear wheel 7 rotatably mounted within a rear wheel arch 6, a front wheel 8 rotatably mounted within a front wheel arch 9 and a body structure comprising left and right side structures 5. Only the left hand side structure 5 is shown and this will be described in detail, a similar body construction being used on the right hand side of the armoured vehicle 2. The side structures 5 are made from armour plate and are joined together along their lower margins by a floor panel 4 made from a blast resistant material, the floor panel 4 being bent upwards along its side peripheral margins to overlie an adjacent margin of a respective part of the side structure 5.

The part of the side structure 5 to which the floor panel 4 is attached will depend upon its position along the armoured vehicle. Fig.2 shows the arrangement indicated at the position indicated by the line Y-Y. At this location the floor panel 4 has a peripheral margin bent upwards to overlie a side panel 10, to form an overlapping joint, the floor panel 4 having an exterior weld 10E and an interior weld 10B to attach it to the side panel 10 so that the floor panel is welded along both margins of the overlapping joint. The exterior weld 10E is a continuous weld to produce a water resistant joint while the interior weld 10B can be either a continuous weld or a stitch weld, i.e. made up of several short lengths of weld spaced out along the length of the side wall panel 10. The side panel 10 is made from 4mm thick steel armour plate and the floor panel is made from 3mm thick high strength steel plate such as Weldox (Trade Mark). However, the side wall and floor panels may be made from other metallic materials such as hardened or high strength aluminium alloy.

Fig.3 shows the situation in the region of a rear wheel arch 6 as indicated by the line X-X on Fig.1. In this case the floor panel 4 is not connected directly to the side wall panel 10 but is connected to a one piece wheel arch panel 11 which defines the interior shape of the rear wheel arch 6. The wheel arch panel 11 is located inside of the floor panel 4 and is attached to the floor panel by welds 13, 14. Again, the peripheral margin of the floor panel 4 is bent upwards to overlie the wheel arch panel 11 to form an overlapping joint, the exterior weld 13 being a continuous weld to produce a water resistant joint while the interior weld 14 is either a continuous weld or a stitch weld.

The wheel arch panel 11 has a number of apertures 12 adjacent the outer margin 9 which accommodate tabs 10T on the lower margin of the respective side panel 10 to form an interlocking joint. To hold the components together the side panel 10 is welded on both sides to the respective wheel arch panel 11 to which it is attached. An outer side of the side panel 10 is attached to the wheel arch panel 11 by a continuous weld 10W and an inner side of the side panel 10 is attached by a welded joint 10S which may be a continuous weld or may be a stitch weld.

The armoured vehicle also has a front wall and a rear wall which in combination with a roof panel define an interior space in the form of a passenger compartment (not shown). The front and rear margins of the floor panel 4 are also be bent upwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the rear wall and an adjacent margin of the front wall and are welded in a manner similar to that shown in Fig.2. The thickness of the material used for the one-piece wheel arch panel 11 and the floor panel 4 will depend upon the threat to be overcome and the type of material used.

Typically, to resist a 3Kg land mine the vehicle will require side panels 10 of 4mm thick armour plate while 3 mm thick high strength steel plate such as Weldox (Trade Mark) can be used for the wheel arch panel 11 and the floor panel 4.

By arranging for the floor panel to be bent upwards to form an external overlapping joint with the side, rear or front walls of the armoured vehicle, an improved blast resistant structure is produced that is less affected by the quality or integrity of the welded joints. For example, a blast impinging upon the floor panel 4 will cause the floor panel 4 to be moved upwards but, because the floor panel 4 overlaps the wheel arch panel 11, the load will be transferred to the end of the wheel arch panel 11 and will tend to compress the weld 14. In effect, the end of the wheel arch member 11 abuts against the inner surface of the floor panel 4. Similarly, However, due to the overlap joint construction, the blast will not need to be resisted in a tensile manner by the welds 10E, 10B because the lower margin of the side wall panel 10 abuts directly against the inner surface of the floor panel 4. Also, the wheel arch panel 11 will be forced up against the side panel 10 and so the interlocking joint transfers the load rather than the welds 10W, 10S which merely hold the two parts together. Hence any blast loads from below the floor are transferred directly into the part of the side structure to which the floor is attached and do not impart a tensile load on any welded joints used to connect the various components together.

The modification shown in Fig.4 is an alternative construction to that shown in

Fig.2, the side panel 10 being bent inwards at its lower margin so that the floor panel 4 again overlies the side panel 10 to form an overlapping joint, the floor panel 4 having a continuous outer weld to produce a water resistant joint while the interior weld is either a continuous weld or a stitch weld. Such a joint could also be used at the interface between the floor panel and the wheel arch panel or between the floor panel and any other panel such as the front or rear walls.

The term armour plate as meant herein relates to materials having sufficient hardness to resist penetration by ballistic objects such as bullets. The term blast resistant material relates to materials having sufficient strength to resist blasts. Ordinarily, the side walls of the armoured vehicle would require the use of hard armour plate and the floor structure would require the use of high strength material able to resist blasts.

Claims

1. An armoured vehicle (2) having a body structure comprising left and right side structures (5) made from armour plate and a floor panel (4) made from a blast resistant material, wherein the outer side margin of the floor panel (4) forms an overlapping joint with an adjacent margin of a respective part of the side structure to which it is attached such that the floor panel lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges (10E, 10B).

2. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 1 in which the part of the side structure (5) is a side panel (10) of the armoured vehicle.

3. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 1 in which the part of the side structure (5) is a one piece wheel arch panel (11).

4. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which the floor panel (4) is bent upwards along its peripheral margins to overlie the respective part (10 or 11) of the side structure (5) to which it is attached.

5. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the respective part (10 or 11) of the side structure (5) to which the floor panel (4) is attached is bent inwards along its overlying peripheral margin.

6. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 3 or any claim dependent therefrom in which the wheel arch panel (11) is attached along an opposite margin to a side panel (10) of the armoured vehicle.

7. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 6 in which the wheel arch panel (11) has a number of apertures (12) for accommodating tabs (10T) formed along the margin of the respective side panel (10) to form an interlocking joint therebetween.

8. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 6 or in claim 7 in which each side panel (10) is welded on both sides to the respective wheel arch panel (11) to which it is attached.

9. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which the body structure further comprises a rear wall and the floor panel (4) is bent upwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the rear wall at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel (4) lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

10. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 in which the body structure further comprises a rear wall and the rear wall is bent inwards to overlie the adjacent margin of the floor panel at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel (4) lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

11. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which the body structure further comprises a front wall and the floor panel (4) is bent upwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the front wall at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel (4) lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

12. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 in which the body structure further comprises a front wall and the front wall is bent inwards to overlie an adjacent margin of the floor panel (4) at an overlapping joint such that the floor panel (4) lies to the outside of the vehicle at the overlapping joint and the overlapping joint is welded along both edges.

13. An armoured vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim in which the one-piece wheel arch panel (11) and the floor panel (4) are both made from high strength steel plate.

14. An armoured vehicle as claimed in claim 13 in which 3mm thick high strength steel plate is used for the wheel arch panel (11) and the floor panel (4).

15. An armoured vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to Figs.1 to 3 or as modified with reference to Fig.4 of the accompanying drawings.