JP7035652B2 - Aperture cover for optical equipment and its opening method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an opening cover of an optical device mounted on a spacecraft such as an artificial satellite.

Artificial satellites equipped with optical telescopes require an aperture cover to protect the optical mirror in order to prevent damage to the optical mirror due to direct sunlight and performance deterioration due to debris. In the case of the satellite shown in FIG. 1, an optical mirror 11 is mounted on the satellite body 10, and the tip of a hood 12 that protects the optical mirror 11 is covered with an opening cover 13. However, this opening cover 13 is not used after the satellite is put into a regular orbit and deployed. Since the opening cover 13 after this deployment is left unattended, a dead space 14 is created, and the mounting space for the observation device 15 is limited.

In order to solve this problem of mounting space limitation, Patent Document 1 proposes mounting an observation device on the inner surface of the opening cover 13.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-190661

However, if the observation device is attached to the back side of the opening cover, the cable of the device must also be arranged, and the cable may hinder the deployment of the opening cover. Furthermore, since the opening cover is located at the tip of the satellite, the large opening cover is disadvantageous to the agility of the satellite. Therefore, if an observation device or the like is attached to the back surface of the opening cover, the agility is further deteriorated. Further, the proposal of Patent Document 1 does not eliminate the dead space generated after the opening cover is deployed, and cannot be said to be an essential solution.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an opening cover capable of suppressing a dead space and a method for opening the opening.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is an opening cover that covers an opening of a hood of an optical device mounted on a spacecraft, and a plurality of cover plates that cover the opening and the plurality of cover plates of the hood. At least one hinge placed around the opening and urging each of the plurality of cover plates in an opening direction, and a holding means for holding the plurality of cover plates in a closed state covering the opening. Consists of.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is a method of opening an opening cover that covers an opening of a hood of an optical device mounted on a spacecraft, and the hinge is an opening of the hood so that the opening is covered. Each of the plurality of cover plates arranged in the periphery is urged in the opening direction, and the holding means holds the plurality of cover plates in a closed state covering the opening so as to be openly open.

According to the present invention, by dividing the cover plate into a plurality of parts, it is possible to provide an opening cover capable of suppressing dead space.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a general satellite for explaining background technology. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a satellite equipped with an opening cover according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a satellite showing a state in which the opening cover according to the first embodiment is folded back. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the opening cover according to the first embodiment. 5 (A) is a partially broken plan view of an arbitrary cover plate constituting the opening cover, and FIG. 5 (B) is a sectional view taken along line I-I of the cover plate shown in FIG. 5 (A). 6 (A) is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a hinge, and FIG. 6 (B) is a cross-sectional view of the cover plate of FIG. 5 (B) in an unfolded and folded state. 7 (A) is a plan view (top) and a side view (bottom) showing a state in which the opening cover is closed, and FIG. 7 (B) is a plan view (top) and a side view showing a state in which the opening cover is in the process of opening. FIG. 7 (C) is a plan view (top) and a side view (bottom) showing a state in which the opening cover is folded back. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the opening cover according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

<Outline of Embodiment>
According to the embodiment of the present invention, the opening cover is divided into a plurality of cover plates, and the cover plates are folded back from the closed state to the front side of the hood to eliminate the dead space generated after the opening cover is unfolded. be able to.

More specifically, a plurality of cover plates cover the opening of the optical instrument hood to form an opening cover. These cover plates are urged to open, but are kept closed. When the cover plate is released from the closed state, the opening is opened, and the cover plate is further folded back to the front side of the hood to stop. That is, the opening operation of the opening cover is completed in a state where the plurality of cover plates are opened and folded back to the front side of the hood. As a result, the dead space created by unfolding the opening cover can be eliminated, and the space on the side surface of the hood can be used for mounting observation equipment and the like.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the components described in the following embodiments and examples are merely examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to them. Further, FIGS. 2 to 7 are examples for explaining the configuration and operation of the opening cover according to the embodiment of the present invention, and do not show the actual shape, dimensions, and ratio of each member and each component. ..

1. 1. 1st Embodiment As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the satellite main body 10 mounts an optical mirror 11, and the opening 12a of the hood 12 of the optical mirror 11 is provided by the opening cover 101 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Be covered. The opening cover 101 is composed of a plurality of cover plates P, as will be described later. The plurality of cover plates P are connected through the wire 102, and the wire 102 is connected to the winding device 103.

By winding the wire 102, the winding device 103 holds the plurality of cover plates P of the opening cover 101 in a closed state as shown in FIG. On the contrary, when the winding device 103 loosens the wire 102, the plurality of cover plates P are opened and folded back to the front side of the hood 12, as shown in FIG. The holding means of the opening cover in the present embodiment includes a wire 102 hung on a plurality of cover plates P and a winding device 103. By expanding the plurality of cover plates P constituting the opening cover 101 and folding them back to the front side of the hood 12, no dead space is generated, and restrictions on the arrangement of the observation equipment 108 and the like are relaxed.

Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the case where the opening 12a of the hood 12 has a regular hexagonal shape is illustrated, but the shape is not limited to this. For example, the present embodiment can be applied even if the opening 12a of the hood 12 is a regular polygon or a circle.

1.1) Opening cover With reference to FIG. 4, the opening cover 101 is composed of six cover plates P1 to P6 and is arranged so as not to overlap each other. Each cover plate has an equilateral triangular shape with the side corresponding to one side of the regular hexagonal opening 12a as the axis of rotation. Since the cover plates P1 to P6 have the same shape and the same configuration, hereinafter, when an arbitrary cover plate is indicated, it is appropriately referred to as "cover plate Px".

Each of the cover plates P1 to P6 has hinges 104 and 105 on the axis of rotation and is rotatably attached to the corresponding sides of the opening 12a. As will be described later, the hinges 104 and 105 are urged to open each cover plate. In this embodiment, two hinges 104 and 105 are provided on one cover plate Px, but one hinge may be used.

Each of the cover plates P1 to P6 is provided with a rib 106 directed from the midpoint of the rotation shaft toward the center of the opening 12a. Each rib 106 has a through hole 107 at a predetermined position near the center of the opening 12a. In the present embodiment, the wire 102 is passed counterclockwise from the through hole 107 of the rib 106 of the cover plate P1 to the cover plate P6, and the tip of the wire 102 is fixed so as not to come out of the through hole of the cover plate P6. .. The wire 102 passed through the through hole 107 of the cover plate P1 is connected to the winding device 103. The take-up device 103 is arranged on the side surface of the hood 12 below the cover plate P1. When the winding device 103 winds up the wire 102, the opening cover 101 is closed, and when the wire 102 is rewound, the opening cover 101 unfolds.

5 (A) and 5 (B) show an example of the cover plate Px. FIG. 5 (B) is a sectional view taken along line I-I of FIG. 5 (A), and rib 106 of FIG. 5 (A) shows a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 5 (B). The rotation axis R of the cover plate Px is provided with hinges 104 and 105 rotatably connected to the hood 12, and ribs 106 are formed in a direction orthogonal to the midpoint of the rotation axis R. The rib 106 improves the mechanical strength of the cover plate Px in the direction of rotation. Further, by providing the rib 106, a through hole 107 through which the wire 102 passes can be formed in the vicinity of the tip thereof. However, in the through hole 107 of the last cover plate P6, the wire 102 is fixed so as not to come off.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the hinge (104 or 105) has a rotary spring 201 that urges the hood 12 to open the cover plate Px about the rotation axis R, and rotation of the cover plate Px. It has a rotary damper 202 for decelerating. Since the rotary spring 201 always urges the cover plate Px to open, the cover plate Px naturally expands when the binding force of the wire 102 is relaxed as described later.

The rotary damper 202 acts to slow down the rotation of the cover plate Px, thereby alleviating the impact of the cover plate Px during deployment. As shown in FIG. 6B, for example, when the cover plate Px is in a folded state after a predetermined rotation angle (for example, 180 °) from the closed state, the wire 102 cannot suppress the expansion. Therefore, the rotary damper 202 acts to slow down the rotation. As the rotation deceleration method, for example, a method of decelerating the rotation speed by friction can be adopted. By providing such a rotary damper 202, it is possible to alleviate the impact when the cover plate Px is deployed, particularly the impact when the cover plate Px is folded back and comes into contact with the hood 12.

As a method of alleviating the impact when the cover plate Px comes into contact with the hood 12, the same effect can be obtained by adjusting the rewinding speed of the winding device 103. However, when the cover plate Px is in a folded state after a predetermined rotation angle (for example, 180 °) from the closed state, the wire 102 cannot suppress the deployment, so that the car plate Px absorbs the impact at the place where the car plate Px comes into contact with the hood 12. A cushion for the purpose can also be used.

1.2) Operation As shown in FIG. 7A, the winding device 103 is attached to one side surface of the hexagonal cylinder of the hood 12. The cover plates P1 to P6 are prevented from being unfolded by the winding device 103 squeezing the wire 102, and the closed state of the opening cover 101 is maintained.

As shown in FIG. 7B, when the winding device 103 loosens the wire 102, each cover plate Px naturally starts unfolding due to the action of the rotary spring 201 of the hinge. The winding device 103 can adjust the unfolding speed of each cover plate Px by slowly rewinding the wire 102.

As shown in FIG. 7C, when the winding device 103 further rewinds the wire 102, each cover plate Px is in a folded state further opened from the opening 12a by the action of the rotary spring 201. In the folded state, the rotation of each cover plate Px is decelerated by the action of the rotary damper 202 as described above, and the cover plate Px gently abuts on the side surface of the hood 12 and stops. By deploying the opening cover 101 in this way, no dead space is generated, and the observation device 108 and the like can be easily arranged.

1.3) Effect As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the cover plates P1 to P6 constituting the opening cover 101 are urged in the opening direction, but are restrained in the closed state by the wire 102. To. Subsequently, when the restraint is released, the cover plates P1 to P6 are unfolded from the closed state, and finally folded back to the front side of the hood to complete the unfolding. This makes it possible to eliminate the dead space due to the opening cover 101.

Further, by providing a rotary damper on the hinge that urges the cover plates P1 to P6 in the opening direction, it is possible to alleviate the impact when the cover plates P1 to P6 are folded back and come into contact with the hood.

2. 2. Other Embodiments In the first embodiment described above, cover plates P1 to P6 obtained by dividing an opening cover 101 having a shape matching the regular hexagonal opening 12a into six equal parts have been exemplified, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Generally, in the case of an opening cover that covers an opening of a regular n-sided polygon (n is an integer of 4 or more), triangular cover plates P1 to Pn having each side of the opening as a rotation axis are used in the above-described first embodiment. It can also be expanded in the same way as.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the opening cover 101 having a shape matching the regular hexagonal opening 12a can be divided into three equal parts on the cover plates P11 to P13. Referring to FIG. 8, the opening cover 301 is composed of three cover plates P11 to P13 and is arranged so as not to overlap each other. Each cover plate is a parallelogram (diamond) with two adjacent sides having the same length.

Each of the cover plates P11 to P13 has hinges 304 and 305 on the axis of rotation and is rotatably attached to the corresponding sides of the opening 12a. The hinges 304 and 305 are urged to open each cover plate. Although two hinges 304 and 305 are provided on one cover plate, one hinge may be used.

Each of the cover plates P11 to P13 is provided with ribs 306 along a diagonal line toward the center of the opening 12a. Each rib 306 has a through hole 307 at a predetermined position near the center of the opening 12a. In the present embodiment, the wire 302 is passed from the through hole 307 of the rib 306 of the cover plate P11 to the cover plate P13 counterclockwise, and the tip of the wire 302 is fixed so as not to come out of the through hole of the cover plate P13. .. The wire 302 passed through the through hole 307 of the cover plate P1 is connected to the winding device 303. The take-up device 303 is arranged on the side surface of the hood 12 below the cover plate P11. The winding device 303 winds up the wire 302 to keep the opening cover 301 in the closed state, and the winding device 302 rewinds the wire 302 to unfold the opening cover 301. The unfolding operation of the cover plates P11 to P13 is as described in the first embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, a method in which a wire is wound around each cover plate and deployment is controlled by a winding device is adopted, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is also possible to adopt a method in which the cover plate is locked by a clasp and the cover plate is unfolded by removing the clasp. In particular, in the clasp method, it is not possible to control the deployment by the winding device, so it is effective to provide a rotary damper on the hinge of the cover plate described above.

The present invention can be used as an aperture cover for an optical telescope mounted on an artificial satellite.

10 Satellite body 11 Optical mirror 12 Hood 12a Aperture 101 Aperture cover 102 Wire 103 Winding device 104, 105 Hinging 106 Rib 107 Through hole 108 Observation equipment P, P1 to P6, P11 to P13 Cover plate

Claims (10)

An opening cover that covers the opening of the hood of optical equipment mounted on a spacecraft.
A plurality of cover plates covering the opening,
With at least one hinge in which the plurality of cover plates are arranged around the opening of the hood and urged in the opening direction for each of the plurality of cover plates.
A holding means for holding the plurality of cover plates in a closed state covering the opening, and a holding means.
Opening cover consisting of. The opening cover according to claim 1, wherein the holding means holds the plurality of cover plates in a closed state by squeezing a wire penetrating the tip portions of the plurality of cover plates. The opening cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hinge has a rotation damper, and when the corresponding cover plate passes the turning point, the rotation in the opening direction is decelerated. One of claims 1-3, wherein the opening of the hood has a regular polygonal shape, and a plurality of cover plates are connected to each side of the regular polygon by the hinge. The opening cover described in the section. The opening cover according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the opening of the hood has a circular shape, and the plurality of cover plates are connected to the periphery of the opening at equal intervals by the hinge. .. It is a method of opening the opening cover that covers the opening of the hood of the optical equipment mounted on the spacecraft.
A hinge urges each of the plurality of cover plates arranged around the opening of the hood to open so that the opening is covered.
The holding means holds the plurality of cover plates openly in a closed state covering the opening.
How to open the opening cover. The sixth aspect of the present invention, wherein the holding means holds the plurality of cover plates in a closed state by squeezing a wire passing through the tip portions of the plurality of cover plates, and opens the plurality of cover plates by loosening the wires. The method for opening the opening cover described. The opening cover opening method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the hinge slows down the rotation in the opening direction when the corresponding cover plate passes the turning point. An optical instrument having the opening cover according to any one of claims 1-5. A spacecraft equipped with the optical device according to claim 9.

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