Lightweight vehicle gun turret

Abstract

A vehicle gun turret that includes a circular or horseshoe-shaped track suspended and mounted over the roof or cab area of a lightweight military vehicle. The track includes three legs configured in a triangle designed to attach to the vehicle's windshield frame member and roll bar. Rolling over the track is a carriage that attaches to a gun holder that selectively attaches to a machine gun. The gun holder is attached to a rotating stem that fits into a vertical sleeve attached to the carriage. Clevis pins are used to attach to the machine gun to the gun holder and to attach the gun holder to the carriage so that the components may be manually and quickly assembled and disassembled.

1 . A Vehicle gun turret, comprising 
 a) a track;    b) at least three vertical legs perpendicularly aligned and attached to said track, said legs being sufficient in length to align said track in a substantially horizontal orientation over the roof or cab area of a vehicle;    c) means for connecting said legs to support structures located along the roof or above the cab area of a vehicle;    d) a carriage attached to, and capable of rolling over said track, said carriage includes a top plate aligned parallel to said track and a perpendicularly aligned sleeve attached to said top plate, and sleeve includes a bore formed therein;    e) a cylindrical stem capable of sliding and rotating freely inside said bore formed on said sleeve, said neck including a narrow neck that is disposed inside said sleeve when said stem is inserted to said sleeve;    f) a gun holder including a gun bracket with a downward extending neck and at least one gun clip, said neck including a downward extending bore capable of receiving the upper portion of said stem, when said stem is inserted into said sleeve on said carriage, said gun holder further including at least one downward extending gun clip attached to a gun;    g) at least one clevis pin disposed between said arm bracket and said gun clip to selectively attach said gun to said gun holder, and;    h) at least one clevis pin disposed between said stem and said neck to selectively attach said stem to said neck, and;    i) at least one clevis pin disposed transversely through said neck on said stem and said sleeve to selectively attach said stem to said carriage and allow said stem to rotate.    
   
   
       2 . The vehicle gun turret, as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said track has a horseshoe configuration.  
   
   
       3 . The vehicle gun turret, as recited in  claim 2 , wherein said track is circular.  
   
   
       4 . The vehicle gun turret, as recited in  claim 1 , wherein at least on leg member includes a bracket capable of connecting to a roll bar located on said vehicle.  
   
   
       5 . The vehicle gun turret, as recited in  claim 1 , wherein at least one leg member includes a bracket capable of connected to the front windshield frame member.  
   
   
       6 . The vehicle gun turret, as recited in  claim 4 , wherein said means for supporting said legs over the cab area of a vehicle is at least one second bracket capable of being connected to the front windshield frame member.