Moving sacrificial vehicle hull

Abstract

The present invention is directed to new and improved armor protection that can replace the existing crew cabin with a field replaceable armored crew compartment to be attached to the existing body of an HMMWV military vehicle to protect the military personnel within from explosive blasts, roll-over or collisions. In accordance with the concepts of the present invention, in order to provide additional protection to personnel in the HMMWV crew compartment, a sacrificial V-shaped hull is designed to be attached onto the underside of the crew compartment over the HMMWV frame rails. In the event of an explosion underneath the HMMWV, the V-shaped hull will shield the personnel inside the cabin and absorb the force of the explosion.

1 . A sacrificial vehicle hull for protecting occupants in a vehicle from the impact of an explosion beneath the vehicle, comprising:
 a first plate, having a V-shaped contour defined by a first and second V-arm extending from an apex in a plane substantially parallel to a transverse axis of the first plate, and including a plurality of oval V-arm holes defined by the V-arms configured to couple the vehicle hull to the vehicle, with the oval V-arm holes extending in a plane substantially parallel to the transverse axis.   
     
     
         2 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 1 , wherein the coupling of the vehicle hull with the vehicle is rigidly fixed under normal vehicle operating conditions and slidably coupled in response to an explosion. 
     
     
         3 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle hull is coupled with the vehicle via respective coupling assemblies that extend through the oval V-arm holes to rigidly couple the vehicle hull to the vehicle in an operating configuration, and wherein the coupling assemblies are configured to slidably assume a shock position in response to an explosion. 
     
     
         4 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 1 , further comprising a second plate configured to extend between the first and second V-arm. 
     
     
         5 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 4 , wherein the second plate is configured to reside within a V-slot defined by the first and second V-arm. 
     
     
         6 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 4 , wherein the second plate comprises a plurality of second-plate coupling holes defined by the second plate that correspond to at least a portion of the oval V-arm coupling holes. 
     
     
         7 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 6 , wherein the second-plate coupling holes are oval and substantially correspond to the oval V-arm coupling holes. 
     
     
         8 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 4 , wherein the first and second plate are configured to couple with the vehicle in a stacked configuration, with the second plate stacked abutting a portion of the vehicle and the first plate stacked over and abutting the second plate. 
     
     
         9 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 8 , wherein the second plate defines a plurality of oval second-plate coupling holes that correspond to respective V-arm coupling holes, and wherein a plurality of respective coupling assemblies are configured to extend through corresponding pairs of second-plate and V-arm coupling holes to couple the first and second plates with the vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 4  further comprising a plurality of ribs that extend between the first and second plate within a rib-cavity defined by the first and second plate. 
     
     
         11 . The sacrificial vehicle hull of  claim 10 , wherein the second plate defines a plurality of rib-holes, and wherein the plurality of ribs are coupled with the second plate via the rib-holes. 
     
     
         12 . A vehicle comprising and coupled with the sacrificial hull defined by  claim 1 .