Europaisches Patentamt

J» European Patent Office f\) Publication number: 0193 507 B1 Office europeen des brevets

EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION

Date of publication of the patent specification: Int. Cl ;F41H 3/00 26.04.89 Application number: 86850053.9 Date of filing: 18.02.86

A vehicle carried system for with foam.

Priority: 22.02.85 SE 8500875 Proprietor: Affarsverket FFV, Tullgatan 8, S-631 87 Eskilstuna(SE) © Date of publication of application : 03.09.86 Bulletin 86/36 Inventor: Sollander, Stefan, 1892 Berge, S-83400 Brunflo(SE) Inventor: Trubenbach, Rainer, Schiringe Gard, @ Publication of the grant of the patent: S-64200 Flen(SE) 26.04.89 Bulletin 89/17 Inventor: Wigren, Per, PI 3386A, S-63590 Eskilstuna(SE)

Designated Contracting States: Representative: Hopfgarten, Nils et al, Bergenstrahle & AT BE CH DE FR GB IT LI LU NL Lindvall AB Sankt Paulsgatan 1 , S-116 47 Stockholm(SE)

References cited: EP-A- 0 018 956 DE-A-3217 977 FR-A-1131158 FR-A-2521715 US-A- 4 142015 m o

^J Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned A statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid (Art. 99(1) European patent I"! convention). ACTORUM AG EP 0193 507 B1

Description In Fig. 1 a system is illustrated, intended for gen- erating and applying large volumes of foam. The The present invention relates to a vehicle carried system includes a water tank 2 as well as five addi- system for camouflage with foam, including a plant tional reservoirs 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, which respectively for generating water-based foam, said foam gener- 5 contain a stabilizer for prolonging the time of dura- ating plant including a foaming reservoir con- tion of the foam, a foaming agent, e.g. in the form of taining foaming agent and water, which under pres- tensides, a first colouring agent, a second colour- sure are delivered to at least one foam generator ing agent and a third colouring agent. The colouring for generating camouflage foam. agents are conveniently constituted of water-solu- Such a system is previously known through EP-A 10 ble paper colours which relatively soon will disap- 0 018 956. In this document camouflage within the pear in the landscape, when the foam is dissolved. visible range of lengths as well as within the Each of the reservoirs 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 is con- infrared range and the microwave range of primari- nected via a pump 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 respectively ly military objects by laying out foam on the ground to an output conduit 24 from the water tank 2. Each or putting it around e.g. a vehicle is described. In 15 of the pumps 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 is driven by an elec- the latter case vertical sides as well as upper parts tric motor 26, 28, 30, 32 and 34 respectively, of the vehicle are covered by foam. In FR-A 2 521 whereby in a simple way an individual control of the 715 a technique is described for camouflage of in- rotation speed of the pumps is made possible. By frared emitting objects by applying a foam directly variation of the rotation speed of the electric mo- on the surfaces of the objects, the foam being espe- 20 tors 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 and with that the speed of the cially prepared to exhibit a good adherence to said pumps 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 the amount of the different surfaces. additives consisting of stabilizer, foaming agent The object of the present invention is to provide and various colouring additives could be controlled. a new system for camouflage, which system is in- On the conduit 24 a water pump 36 is arranged. tended to be carried by that vehicle which should be 25 The water pump 36 is driven by a hydraulic motor 38 camouflaged. and its rotation speed can be controlled in order to This object is obtained by a system of the kind adjust the delivered volume. mentioned in the introduction, wherein foam is filled By the pump 36 the foaming liquid can be pumped into containers in the form of bags, preferably of either through a conduit 40 to a foam generator 42 cotton, which are placed on the vehicle for its cam- 30 for generating an intermediate foam having a foam- ouflage, said bags being attached to and carried by ing coefficient in the range of 30-200 and at a pres- the foam generators, which are located at fixed po- sure of typically 5 bars. The foam generator is of a sitions on the vehicle, ad said bags having a shape type to be described in detail in relation to Fig. 2 and adapted to the actual position on the vehicle. can be used for filling foam bags in the system de- Thus, with the present invention a system is pro- 35 scribed more in detail in connection with Figs. 3-5. vided for camouflage of moving vehicles and as the Alternatively, the cut-off cock 44 can be closed bags are adapted to their positions on the vehicle and the foaming liquid pumped to the foam generator camouflage is obtained without disturbing the func- 46. This foam generator 46 is constructed to pro- tion or hindering the use of the vehicle. The bags duce large volumes of light foam with a foaming co- are intended to be mounted on the foam generators 40 efficient exceeding 200 and a liquid pressure of typ- before their filling with foam. The filling with no sol- ically 1 .5 bars, this foam being intended to be applied dier staying outside the vehicle. to the ground. The foam bags are then preferably coloured to The foam generator 46 includes a rectangular form a visual camouflage. The thickness of the housing 48, at the input end of which a nozzle 50 in bags is adapted to attenuate infrared radiation and 45 the shape of an essentially rectangular frame is ar- microwave radiation to a desired degree. ranged, this nozzle 50 being fed with foaming liquid An embodiment of the system according to inven- by the conduit 52. From the nozzle 50 the foaming tion, chosen as an example, will now be described liquid is sprayed through the space inside the hous- more in detail in relation to the accompanying draw- ing 48 and out through a net 54, arranged at the op- ings, in which 50 posite side of the housing 48, together with air, which a fan 56, arranged at the input side of the - Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the construction housing 48, is blowing through the output net 54 to of the embodiment of a foam generating system, obtain a light foam. As is shown in Fig. 1 the net is - Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of an pleated to increase the output area. embodiment of a foam generator in the system ac- 55 The water pump 36 and the fan 56 are each driv- cording to the invention, en by a hydraulic motor 38 and 58 respectively, - Fig. 3 illustrates a tank, seen from the top, on while the pumps 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 for the different which a system according to the invention with filled additives are each driven by an electric motor 26, foam bags is placed, 28, 30, 32, and 34 respectively. A hydraulic pump - Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a tank, seen 60 60 for the hydraulic motors and an electric genera- from behind, provided with foam-filled camouflage tor 62 for the electric motors, are driven by an in- bags and ternal combustion engine 64, whereby the foam ap- - Fig. 5 illustrates a foam bag in the system ac- plying system forms a self-supporting unit as far as cording to Figs. 3 and 4, mounted on a foam genera- power is concerned. The whole system is preferably tor of the type shown in Fig. 2. 65 built into a container-like modular unit, which can EP 0193 507 B1

easily be loaded on a suitable transport vehicle, are suitably placed within the tank, and the system e.g. a heavy truck. is controlled from inside the vehicle. The water tank 2 is also provided with a connec- The camouflage bags 90 are preferably of such a tion 66 for filling water, e.g. from a vehicle for colour that a good visible camouflage is obtained al- transport of liquid goods or by means of a pump 5 so when they are moist, and their form and position from another water source. The water pump 36 it- are chosen to obtain good camouflage for micro- self could be used for filling of water. as well as infrared and visual radiation. For By the fact that the hydraulic and electric motors this the shape of the bags is adapted to the actual are speed-controlled the amount of the different ad- position, cf. also Fig. 4 showing a tank from behind, ditives to the foam liquid can be controlled, whereby 1 o provided with foam bags 90. the foaming coefficient, the foam capacity and the To obtain a saticfactory attenuation of infrared colour of the foam can be regulated within wide lim- waves and microwaves the bags 90 have to be of its. sufficient thickness. The control panel for the foam applying system The camouflage bags 90 are conveniently manu- can either be placed in the modular container unit it- 15 factured from cotton. The outer cloth therein will be self or in the transport vehicle. moistened by the foam in the bags and this cloth is The system could also be provided with a spray- permeable to air but not to foam. ing gun for heavy foam intended for fire-fighting In Fig. 5 is shown a foam bag 90. The bag con- purposes. tains partitions 92 in order to give the filled bag the In Fig. 2 is illustrated, in a longitudinal sectional 20 desired shape, e.g. a relatively flat shape, cf. Figs. view and in an end view from the input side, a foam 3 and 4. Instead of partitions, threads arranged ap- generator of the type used at 42 in the system ac- propriately and connecting the walls of the bag in cording to Fig. 1 . At the input end the foam genera- the interior, could be used for this purpose. At the tor 42 is provided with a nipple 68 for the hose 40. upper end of the bag a guiding bar 94 is arranged, Thus, foaming liquid is injected through the nipple 68 25 and the bag is mounted with its mouth 96 on a foam into the space inside the conical pipe 70, air being generator 42. The bags 90 have small weight in com- sucked together with the liquid through the space parison with their area. The area can typically by around the mouth of the nipple 68 and the pipe about 1 .5 m2 and the thickness of the bag could be flange 72, as is schematically illustrated in Fig. 2. At about 0.15 m. the end of the conical pipe 70 there is a conically 30 shaped net 74, through which foaming liquid and air Claims thus are exhausted for the formation of foam. The net 74 is surrounded by a protective cylindrical 1. A vehicle carried system for camouflage with pipe 76. The nipple 68 is attached to the pipe flange foam including a plant for generating water-based 72 by means of a suitable number of arms 78, ar- 35 foam, said foam generating plant including a foaming ranged circumferentially. Suitably three arms 78 liquid reservoir (80) containing foaming agent and are evenly distributed circumferentially at a mutual water, which under pressure are delivered to at distance of 120°. least one foam generator (88) for generating camou- The foam generator 42 in the system according to flage foam, characterized in that containers in the Fig. 1 can be used for filling camouflage bags which 40 form of bags (90), preferably of cotton, are dis- are then placed on a combat vehicle to be camou- posed to be filled with foam and placed on the vehi- flaged. cle for camouflage thereof, and in that said bags In Fig. 3 is illustrated an embodiment of the sys- are attached to and carried by the foam generators tem according to the invention, which is fixedly or (88) which are located at fixed positions on the vehi- detachably mounted on a tank. This embodiment in- 45 cle, said bags having a shape adapted to the actual cludes a foaming liquid reservoir 80 containing a position on the vehicle. of foaming agent and water. The reservoir 2. A system according to claim 1 , characterized in 80 is pressurized from a compressed air bottle 82. that the foam bags (90) have partitions (92). From the foaming liquid reservoir a conduit 84 pas- 3. A system according to claim 1 , characterized in ses to distributing pipes 86 with cut-off valves and 50 that threads are connecting the walls of the bags conduits pass from this distributor pipes 86 to twen- (90) in the interior to modify the shape of the bags. ty-seven foam generators 88 located in the desired 4. A system according to one of the claims 1 way on the tank. These foam generators can be of through 3, characterized in that the foam bags (90) the type shown in Fig. 2. To these foam generators are coloured to give a visual camouflage. 88 fifteen foam bags 90 are connected. When the 55 valves belonging to the respective foam genera- Revendications tors 88 are opened the pressurized foaming liquid is pressed together with co-ejected air through the 1 . Systeme de camouflage a I'aide de mousse mon- foam generator to obtain foam, which is used for fill- te sur vehicule comprenant une installation pour ing the bags 90 under pressure. 60 produire de la mousse a partir d'eau, la dite installa- In this way the camouflage can be rapidly applied tion de production de mousse comprenant un reser- to the vehicle and it can be driven and used in other voir de liquide moussant (80) contenant un agent ways with the camouflage applied to it. moussant et de I'eau, achemines sous pression a au The foaming liquid container 80, the compressed moins un generateur de mousse (88), destine a ge- air bottle 82 and the associated valves and filters 65 nerer le camouflage a base de mousse, caracterise: EP 0193 507 B1

- en ce que les conteneurs en forme de poches (90), preferentiellement en coton, sont destines a etre remplis de mousse, et places sur le vehicule pour le camouflage, - et en ce que les dites poches sont fixees et por- 5 ties par les generateurs de mousse (88), position- nes en des lieux determines sur le vehicule, les di- tes poches ayant une forme adaptee a la position reelle du vehicule. 2. Systeme selon la revendication 1, caracterise 10 en ce que les poches de mousse (90) sont cloison- n£es (92). 3. Systeme selon la revendication 1, caracterise en ce que des fils relient I'interieur des cloisons des poches (90) afin de modifier la forme desdites po- 15 ches. 4. Systeme selon Tune des revendications 1 a 3, caracterise en ce que les poches de mousse (90) sont colorees afin de realiser une camouflage vi- suel. 20 Patentanspriiche

1. Fahrzeuggetragenes System zur Tamung mit Schaum, bestehend aus einer Anlage zum Erzeugen 25 von Schaum auf Wasserbasis, wobei die Schaumer- zeugungsanlage einen Schaumbildungsmittel und Wasser enthaltenden Schaumbildungsfliissigkeits- behalter (80) aufweist und diese Materialien unter Druck mindestens einem Schaumgenerator (88) zum 30 Erzeugen von Tarnschaum zugefuhrt werden, da- durch gekennzeichnet, da(3 Behalter in Form von Beuteln (90), vorzugsweise aus Baumwolle, zum Ful- ien mit Schaum vorgesehen sind und zur Tarnung des Fahrzeugs an diesem angeordnet sind, und daB 35 die Beutel an den Schaumgeneratoren (88), die an festen Positionen ah dem Fahrzeug angeordnet sind, befestigt und von diesen getragen sind, wobei die Gestalt der Beutel der tatsachlichen Position am Fahrzeug angepaBt ist. 40 2. System nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekenn- zeichnet, daB die Schaumbeutel (90) Zwischenteilun- gen (92) aufweisen. 3. System nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekenn- zeichnet, daB zum Modifizieren der Gestalt der 45 Beutel Faden die Wande der Beutel (90) im Innen- raum verbinden. 4. System nach einem der Anspruche 1 bis 3, da- durch gekennzeichnet, daB die Schaumbeutel (90) zur visuellen Tarnung gefarbt sind. 50

55

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65 EP 0193 507 B1

% EP 0193 507 B1

Rg. 3

86

Fig. U EP 0193 507 B1

92