DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0050] The present invention relates to equipment for receiving a small-calibre weapon A for a test bench 1 such as that shown in FIG. 1. The test bench is composed of a mount 2 which is provided with different azimuth- and sight-adjustment means and which carries two receiving means in the form of symmetrical lateral sliding plates 3, 4 that are to receive two U-shaped stirrups which are themselves symmetrical and which normally receive a long small-calibre weapon in order to lock it in position and test it.

[0051] The equipment according to the invention is installed on one of the two lateral sliding plates 3, 4 of the mount 2 and is composed of a receiving means 5 in the form of a seat carrying the weapon A which is clamped at its butt CR in such a manner as to leave free the lower end EI of the butt CR in order to gain access to the magazine, that is to say, in order to be able to replace the magazine without having to dismount the weapon A, for a series of test shots.

[0052] The various means making up the seat 5 appear, in particular, in FIG. 2. The seat 5 carries a positioning means formed by two grooved plates 6, 7 which are generally symmetrical in accordance with a plane and which are connected by positioning spindles and by screws 9 (FIG. 3). The plates 6, 7 whose grooves face one another are not applied directly against the weapon but against an interface which is moulded on the weapon and which is not shown in FIG. 2.

[0053] This embodiment is intended very especially for securing small-arms while the second embodiment described afterwards and represented by means of FIGS. 11 to 13 is intended for long weapons or hip weapons having a complicated shape which may be readily secured using the known means mentioned above.

[0054] FIG. 4 is a simplified top view of the seat 5 showing a clamping nut 51 and operating handles 52 for screwing the wedges placed in a rail (not shown) of the mount in order to lock the seat 5 in position on the rail of the mount. The seat 5 also comprises two trued-up parallel positioning pins 53, 54 which are to cooperate with the grooved plate 6 applied against the seat 5. The grooved plate 6 comprises a surface 61 which is opposite that 62 on the side where the seat is located and which comprises vertical and horizontal grooves in the form of wide channels.

[0055] The plate 7 which is to be placed against the outside of the butt of the weapon according to FIG. 3 also has grooves in the form of channels 71 in its face turned towards the inside of the device while the outer face 72 is flat.

[0056] Finally, FIG. 4 shows the assembly screws 9 whose length is chosen as a function of the spacing (e) which is required between the grooved plates 6, 7 in order to clamp a given type of small-arm, after surrounding the small-arm with a layer of thermoformable material having a thickness suitable, on the one hand, for correctly surrounding and clamping the butt and, on the other hand, for correctly distributing the pressure exerted by the clamping screws as will be seen hereinafter. Depending on the thickness of the butt and of the plastics material, clamping screws 9 of suitable length will be chosen.

[0057] The various steps involved in putting a small-arm in place in the test bench will be described hereinafter by means of FIGS. 5 to 10.

[0058] FIG. 5 is a side view of the seat 5 with the two operating handles 52 for locking the seat in position on the rail of the lateral sliding plate of the mount (not shown). This seat 5 comprises the trued-up parallel positioning pins 53, 54 and openings 55 for receiving the screws 9 in order to mould and clamp the interface on the butt with the interposition of the grooved plates. The seat 5 comprises a given number of internally threaded openings for receiving grooved plates 6, 7 having a symmetrical form enabling the equipment according to the invention to be used in the opposite manner, independently of the lateral sliding plate (of the test bench) used and the need to have access to the weapon.

[0059] FIG. 6 is a side view of a clamping plate (for example, here the grooved plate 6) showing the distribution of the grooves 61 in horizontal and vertical lines. The grooves forming the grid pattern have a clearance angle facilitating the unmoulding of the interfaces. This plate also has the openings 62, 63 for the passage of the trued-up parallel pins 53, 54 of the seat and also three openings 64 for the passage of the screws 9.

[0060] This grooved plate 6 is placed on the seat 5 as shown in FIG. 7. The weapon A (FIG. 8) is then put in place after interposing between the butt CR and the grooved surface of the plate 6 a mass of thermoformable material constituting the interface. This same mass or a different mass is arranged on the other face of the butt CR. In the example of FIG. 9, the mass 10 applied below the butt CR is folded towards the front of the butt leaving free the access route to the various members of the pistol, and also the openings for the ejection and introduction of the magazine. After folding the mass 10 of plastics material around the butt, preferably leaving the front free, the second plate 7 (FIG. 10) is applied, observing the alignment of the holes for the passage of the clamping screws 9, then the three clamping screws 9 are introduced and the three clamping screws 9 are tightened progressively in order not to push away excessively the still-soft plastics material; finally, the plastics material is left to cool and solidify before unmoulding is carried out. After setting, it is possible either to unmould or leave the weapon in position, carry out tests and then only dismount the weapon in order to place another identical weapon there for tests. The interface(s), that is to say, the masses of plastics material divided into one or more portions, contribute at the same time as the test benches to ensuring the reference position of the weapon in space. This enables the human parameter during test firing to be eliminated, in the case of both small-arms and long weapons.

[0061] FIGS. 11 to 13 show a variant of the invention. This case corresponds to long weapons having a complicated shape or structure which prevents the use of traditional means for securing a weapon with a view to firing an adjusting shot.

[0062] FIG. 11 shows a general view of a test bench provided with equipment for receiving a long weapon AL. This test bench, like the previous test bench, is composed of a mount 102 provided with various azimuth- and sight-adjusting means. It carries two receiving means in the form of symmetrical lateral sliding plates 103, 104 which are to receive two U-shaped stirrups which are themselves symmetrical, and which receive the long weapon AL in order to lock it in position and test it. As before, the equipment according to the invention is installed on the two lateral sliding plates 103, 104 of the mount 102 and is composed of interfaces which are integrated in the U-shaped stirrups.

[0063] Since it is not necessary in this case to have an opening towards the bottom in order to free the base of the butt as in the case of a small-arm, stirrups, for example the stirrup 103, 104 represented in FIG. 11, are used. These stirrups are mounted on the lateral sliding plate of the mount 102 by means of clamping nuts which can be tightened with the indexable operating handles 141, 142. Imprint-marking screws 11 like those represented in detailed manner in FIG. 12 are mounted in these stirrups at the site of the clamping screws. After the positioning of the imprint-marking screws 11 (with a calculated overshoot limiting their excessive overshooting in the volume of the lower housing of the stirrup) the portion of the weapon to be gripped and the imprint-marking screws are surrounded from below and from the lateral sides with the thermoformable plastics material which has been softened to the pasty state and which is applied by packing. The portion of the weapon to be fastened (not shown) is enveloped in thermoformable plastics material softened to the pasty state. The screws 11 (FIG. 12) have a body 11-1 which is preferably terminated by a half-sphere 11-2. Upstream of the smooth body 11-1, there is a threaded portion 11-3 and finally a head 11-4. The diameter of the threaded portion 11-3 and the diameter of the head 11-4 differ in order to form a shoulder 11-5 by way of which the head 11-4 bears against the outer face of the U-shaped stirrup in order thus to limit the penetration distance of the screw 11 into the mass of thermoformable plastics material. This abutment is necessary in order to avoid a reduction in the thickness of material which exists on the wall of the weapon in front of the clamping screw.

[0064] The imprint-marking screws project in accordance with an overshoot calculated to avoid any excessive overshooting in the volume of the mass of the interface in order to prevent the clamping screws from coming into direct contact with the weapon. The consequence of that would be to constrain the weapon during clamping rather than to constrain the interface, that is to say, the gripping jaws.

[0065] It should also be observed that the imprint-marking screws replace the clamping screws during the stage of moulding the interface. Since the clamping screws have a ¾ spherical head, that is to say, a neck portion constituting an undercut region, it would not be possible to unmould the thermoplastics mass after it had set, with respect to the clamping screws. In contrast, the imprint-marking screws have a hemi-spherical end which does permit unmoulding after the formation of the imprints in the thermoplastic mass.

[0066] After thus moulding the interface on the weapon and on the positioning means, such as the imprint-marking screws 11 (FIG. 12), the plastics material is left to cool and solidify and then the screws 11 are unscrewed and replaced by clamping screws 12 formed from a threaded body 12-1 terminated at the front by a hemispherical ball 12-2 and at the rear by a knurled wheel 12-3 with a knurled counternut wheel 12-4 for locking (FIG. 13).

[0067] When the thermoformable plastics material has set, it is possible either to remove the weapon and use the moulded interface to adjust other weapons, or to adjust the weapon.

[0068] The imprint-marking screws are composed of stainless steel while the clamping screws are composed of burnished steel. The plastics material used for the interface is polyurethane.

[0069] The thermoformable plastics material described above may be replaced by a similar material, especially compact bicomponent epoxy pastes used to secure portions that make up the weapons and that generate high temperatures. What is involved is above all a device according to the invention for long weapons.

[0070] It is also possible to produce the thermoformable plastics interfaces on the two stirrups of a test bench. The two interfaces are not produced simultaneously on the stirrups but in succession because one of the stirrups is used to keep the weapon in place while moulding is carried out using the other stirrup. This technique is applicable to long weapons.

[0071] According to another feature, the interface may be in the shape of a U, in a single piece or in several pieces depending on the configuration of the weapon. The form in several pieces (multimodular form) facilitates unmoulding and prevents the weapon from being trapped in the interface. This solution is applicable very especially to long weapons.

[0072] Furthermore, the solution of thermoformable plastics interfaces is very especially suitable for securing long and semi-long weapons produced from sheet steel or from hollow plastics material which are renowned for being difficult to secure.

[0073] According to a variant of the above method, it is possible to mass-produce interfaces starting from the thermoformable plastics interfaces. For that purpose, it is possible in particular to make calculations and machine or to use a method for the injection of plastics material. The interfaces, thus mass-produced, constitute interface gripping jaws. These jaws may be produced from polymers or from composite materials but also from aluminium or from steel in order to permit the rapid fastening of a given weapon model on the test and adjusting benches.

[0074] In general, the solution according to the invention constitutes an alternative for reducing the time taken to secure weapons to test and adjusting benches.