Demining method and dedicated demining vehicle
AssigneeAB Bofors
InventorsJann Kjell Haughom, Håkan Svensson, Bengt Karlén
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and a device for clearing mines deployed on or in the ground using a mechanical demining vehicle operating on the rotary cultivator principle in a way that prevents major damage to the demining tool (6) or the engine (5 ). The basis of the present invention is that the demining tool (6) is enabled to deflect away from large mine detonations whereby the demining tool (6) moves in coordination with the engine so that neither it nor its drive function suffers any major damage.
Claims15
A demining device for clearing landmines on or in the upper ground layer and down to a predetermined depth thereunder comprising a self-propelled demining vehicle having a chassis and a front part and a longitudinal axis, a demining tool mounted at said front part for operating in the upper ground layer down to a pre-determined distance below the surface of the ground to fragment into harmless pieces or detonate any mine in its path, an engine on said chassis, mounting structure connecting said engine to said demining tool for rotating said demining tool and for creating an interconnected unit of said engine and said demining tool, a transverse shaft extending across said vehicle perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of said vehicle, said unit being pivotally mounted around said transverse shaft, said transverse shaft being located at a position with respect to said longitudinal axis so that said unit has more than half of its weight located ahead of said transverse shaft toward said front part as viewed in the direction of the operation of the vehicle to make said unit front heavy, lift structure between said vehicle chassis and said unit, said lift structure compensating for the front heaviness of said unit, said lift structure further controlling the angle between said vehicle chassis and said unit to determine the operation depth of a demining action in the upper ground layer by said demining tool, and said lift structure being capable of minimizing disturbance of movement of said unit around said transverse shaft which moves said demining tool upwards away from a detonating mine whereby said unit may pivot upwards in a case of a heavy mine detonation under said demining tool.
A method of mine detonation comprising providing a self-propelled demining vehicle having a chassis and a front part and a longitudinal axis, mounting a demining tool at the front part of the vehicle, mounting an engine on the chassis, interconnecting the engine and chassis by mounting structure to create a unit from the engine and demining tool, mounting the unit for pivotal movement around a transverse shaft which extends across the vehicle perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of the vehicle, locating more than half of the weight of the unit ahead of the transverse shaft toward the front part of the vehicle as viewed in the direction of operation of the vehicle to make the unit front heavy, providing lift structure between the vehicle chassis and unit, compensating for the front heaviness of the unit by operation of the lift structure, controlling the angle between the vehicle chassis and the unit by operation of the lift structure to determine the operation depth of a demining action in an upper ground layer by the demining tool, and arranging the lift structure such that the lift structure minimizes any disturbance of the unit around the transverse shaft to permit the demining tool to move upwards away from a detonating mine and permit the unit to pivot upwards in a case of a heavy mine detonation under the demining tool to thereby minimize the risk of major damage to the demining tool when encountering a heavy mine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.