AU2020250207B2

AU2020250207B2 - An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Info

Publication number: AU2020250207B2
Application number: AU2020250207A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Shuquan WANG
Original assignee: Zhuhai Jingdian Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Jingdian Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-21
Filing date: 2020-10-07
Publication date: 2021-08-05
Anticipated expiration: 2040-10-07
Also published as: AU2020250207A1; CN210882618U; NZ768719A

Abstract

The present invention discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle, which includes a body provided with a plurality of flying propellers and buoyancy feet, and a retraction and pay-off device is also provided within the body or the underwater vehicle, which pulls back or releases the underwater vehicle by retracting or releasing the control cable; the underwater vehicle includes submarine propellers, a camera, and lights. The advantageous effects of the present invention are these: after the unmanned vehicle stops on the water surface, the underwater vehicle submerges the water through the wireless remote control, and the lights and the camera are turned on, and then the submarine propellers are driven to find the target objects for observation and recording. After recording, the remote cable control motor drives the cable control gear to retract the underwater vehicle, and finally the unmanned aerial vehicle flies back being controlled remotely. The control cable can also be used as a traction rope with low cost and strong practicability. 514 5 3 512 Fig. 4 2 1 5 521 522 72 Fig. 5 3

Description

The present invention discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle, which includes a body provided with a plurality of flying propellers and buoyancy feet, and a retraction and pay-off device is also provided within the body or the underwater vehicle, which pulls back or releases the underwater vehicle by retracting or releasing the control cable; the underwater vehicle includes submarine propellers, a camera, and lights. The advantageous effects of the present invention are these: after the unmanned vehicle stops on the water surface, the underwater vehicle submerges the water through the wireless remote control, and the lights and the camera are turned on, and then the submarine propellers are driven to find the target objects for observation and recording. After recording, the remote cable control motor drives the cable control gear to retract the underwater vehicle, and finally the unmanned aerial vehicle flies back being controlled remotely. The control cable can also be used as a traction rope with low cost and strong practicability.

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Description Title An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), in particular to an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of recording underwater images.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Rotor unmanned aerial vehicles are a very popular form of wireless remote control aircraft, which could be applied broadly. However, existing UAVs cannot observe the situation below the water surface through the onboard cameras. Meanwhile, due to the strong absorption capacity of water to radio waves, when being controlled by radio waves, the diving device controlled wirelessly cannot dive too deep, otherwise it will be unable to receive the wireless control signal. Therefore, it is necessary to design an UAV device which can control an UAV and underwater vehicle through conventional wireless remote control. Searching results have shown that no suitable technology can be found for reference. Therefore, a new design is needed to achieve the purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of present invention is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with an underwater vehicle, which can record underwater images and achieve the purpose of monitoring underwater conditions. In order to solve the above problem, the present invention discloses the following technical solutions: an unmanned aerial vehicle, including a body and a plurality of flying propellers; the body is provided with a plurality of buoyancy feet, and connected to an underwater vehicle by a control cable; the said body is also provided with a retraction and pay-off device, which pulls back or releases the underwater vehicle by retracting or releasing the control cable; the said underwater vehicle has submarine propellers, a camera, and lights. The said retraction and pay-off device includes a cable control motor, a motor gear, a cable control gear, a cable take-up reel, and a cable control holder; the said cable control gear is provided in the center of the take-up reel and driven to rotate by the motor gear connected to the cable control motor; in the centre of the cable control gear is provided with a gear middle shaft with a cable control hole; the cable control holder is provided with a cable control groove; one end of the cable control groove is connected with the cable control hole and the other end connected with a cable management ring; the control cable is arranged in the cable control groove of the cable control holder and connected to the underwater vehicle at the bottom of the body passing through the cable control hole; when the control cable is released downward, the underwater vehicle leaves the body and descends by gravity; when the control cable is towed upward and taken back, the underwater vehicle retracts toward the body. The said retraction and pay-off device includes a rotary cable drive arranged on the top surface of the body, in the centre of the said rotary cable drive locates a screw hole whose thread shape and size match the thread and size of a threaded cable; the said threaded cable is connected to the underwater vehicle passing through the screw hole. The said threaded cable is coiled around a cable reel inside the body when passing through a cable hole inside the body. The said retraction and pay-off device provides a double roll drive arranged inside the body, and the said double roll drive includes a double roll groove in the middle of the pair drums of the double roll drive; the control cable is pressed and driven by the double roll groove when passing through the double roll groove; the said control cable is connected with the underwater vehicle. The said control cable is coiled around the cable reel inside the body passing through the cable hole inside the body. The said retraction and pay-off device provides a double roll drive arranged inside the body, and the said double roll drive includes a double roll groove in the middle of the pair drums of the said double roll drive; the said control cable is pressed and driven by the double roll groove when passing through the double roll groove; the control cable is connected with the underwater vehicle; when the control cable is not released, it is coiled around the cable reel inside the body. The present invention provides another unmanned aerial vehicle, including a body and a plurality of flying propellers; the body is provided with a plurality of buoyancy feet, and connected with an underwater vehicle with a cable; a pulling device is arranged on the underwater vehicle; the pulling device retracts the underwater vehicle close to the body by pulling back the cable, or release the underwater vehicle to submerge by releasing the cable; the underwater vehicle is provided with submarine propellers, a camera and lights. A rotary cable driver is arranged inside the said pulling device, in the centre of the said rotary cable drive locates a screw hole whose thread shape and size match the thread and size of a threaded cable; the threaded cable is connected to the body passing through the screw hole. A double roll device is arranged inside the said pulling device, and the double roll drive provides a double roll groove in the middle of the pair drums of the double roll drive; the cable is pressed and driven by the double roll groove when passing through the double roll groove; the cable is connected with the body passing through the double roll groove. The advantageous effects of the present invention are those: after the unmanned vehicle stops on the water surface, the underwater vehicle submerges into the water through the wireless remote control, and the lights and the camera are turned on, and then the submarine propellers are driven to find the target objects for observation and recording. After recording being completed, the remote cable control motor drives the cable control gear to retract the underwater vehicle, and finally the unmanned aerial vehicle flies back being controlled remotely. The control cable can also be used as a traction rope with low cost and strong practicability.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The following drawings are only for the purpose of description and explanation but not for limitation, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the top of the UAV of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom of the UAV shown in Fig.1; Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the cable control groove, cable control hole and cable management ring of the retraction and pay-off device shown in Fig.1; Fig. 4 is the sectional diagram of the UAV shown in Fig.1; Fig. 5 is another perspective view of the top of the UAV of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a thread driving schematic diagram of the retraction and pay-off device shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the top of another UAV of the present invention; Fig. 8 is a stereoscopic diagram of a double roll drive of the retraction and pay-off device shown in Fig.7; Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of configuration of the double roll drive of the retraction and pay-off device inside the body of the UAV; Fig.10 is a schematic diagram of an UAV with a pulling device arranged on the underwater vehicle; Fig.11 is a perspective view of the bottom of the UAV shown in Fig.10.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In order that the present invention can be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention. Embodiment 1 As shown in figures 1 to 4, the present invention provided an unmanned aerial vehicle, which includes: a body 1, which is provided with a plurality of flying propellers 2 and buoyancy feet 8, and the said body 1 is also provided with a retraction and pay-off device 5, which pulls back or releases the underwater vehicle 9 by retracting or releasing the control cable 7; the underwater vehicle 9 has submarine propellers 91, a camera 92, and lights 93. The said retraction and pay-off device 5 includes a cable control motor 511, a motor gear 512, a cable control gear 513, a cable take-up reel 514, and a cable control holder 515; the said cable control gear 513 is provided in the center of the take-up reel 514 and driven to rotate by the motor gear 512 connected to the cable control motor 511; in the centre of the cable control gear 513 is provided with a gear middle shaft 519 with a cable control hole 518; the cable control holder 515 is provided with a cable control groove 516; one end of the cable control groove 516 is connected with the cable control hole 518 and the other end connected with a cable management ring 517; the control cable 7 is arranged in the cable control groove 516 of the cable control holder 515 and connected to the underwater vehicle (9) at the bottom of the body 1 passing through the cable control hole 518; when the control cable 7 is released downward, the underwater vehicle 9 leaves the body 1 and descends by gravity; when the control cable 7 is towed upward and taken back, the underwater vehicle 9 retracts toward the body 1. Embodiment 2 As shown in figures 5 to 6, the retraction and pay-off device 5 of the present embodiment includes a rotary cable drive 521 arranged on the top surface of the body 1, in the centre of the said rotary cable drive locates a screw hole 5211 whose thread shape and size match the thread and size of a threaded cable 72; the threaded cable 72 is connected to the underwater vehicle 9 passing through the screw hole 5211. The said threaded cable 72 is coiled around a cable reel inside the body 1 when passing through a cable hole 522 inside the body 1. Embodiment 3 As shown in figures 7 to 8, the retraction and pay-off device 5 of the present embodiment provides a double roll drive 531 arranged on the top surface of the body 1, and the said double roll drive 531 includes a double roll groove 532 in the middle of the pair drums of the double roll drive 531; the control cable 7 is pressed and driven by the double roll groove 532 when passing through the double roll groove 532; the said control cable 7 is connected with the underwater vehicle 9. The said control cable 7 is coiled around the cable reel inside the body 1 passing through the cable hole inside the body 1. Embodiment 4 As shown in figure 9, the retraction and pay-off device 5 of the present embodiment provides a double roll drive 531 (shown in figure 8) arranged inside the body 1, and the double roll drive 531 includes a double roll groove 532 in the middle of the pair drums of the double roll drive 531; the control cable 7 is pressed and driven by the double roll groove 532 when passing through the double roll groove 532; the control cable 7 is connected with the underwater vehicle 9. When the control cable 7 is not released, it is coiled around the cable reel inside the body 1. Embodiment 5 As shown in figures 10 to 11, the present invention provided another unmanned aerial vehicle, which includes: a body 1, which is provided with a plurality of flying propellers 2 and buoyancy feet 8. The body 1 is connected with the underwater vehicle 9 through a cable 73, and the underwater vehicle is provided with a pulling device 98. The said pulling device 98 retracts the underwater vehicle 9 close to the body 1 by pulling back the cable 73, or release the underwater vehicle 9 to submerge by releasing the cable 73. Similar to figure 1, the underwater vehicle 9 can also be provided with propellers 91, a camera 92 and lights 93. A rotary cable drive 521 of the embodiment 1 can be arranged in the said pulling device 98, in the centre of the pulling device 98 locates a screw hole 5211 whose thread shape and size match the thread and size of a cable 73; the cable 73 is connected to the body 1 passing through the screw hole 5211. Embodiment 6 Still as shown in figures 10 to 11, a double roll device 531 as shown in figure 8 can be arranged inside the said pulling device 98, and the said double roll drive 531 provides a double roll groove 532 in the middle of the pair drums of the double roll drive 531; the cable 73 is pressed and driven by the double roll groove 532 when passing through the double roll groove 532; the cable 73 is connected with the body 1 passing through the double roll groove 532. As shown in Fig. 2, the buoyancy feet are made of light materials, and shaped as inverted cones with large tops and small bottoms. When the body is on the water surface and the buoyancy feet are immersed into the water, there is sufficient buoyancy to float the whole body of UAV on the water surface. A space for accommodating the underwater vehicle is arranged in the centre of the buoyancy feet, and a through-hole is arranged in the centre of the body. The control cable can be extended from the through hole from top to bottom and connected to the upper part of the underwater vehicle. When the control cable is released, the underwater vehicle can leave the body downward under the control of the control cable. When the control cable is retracted, the underwater vehicle can be retracted upward and stored in the space at the bottom of the body under the control of the control cable. As shown in Fig.1 to Fig.4, the control cable 7 can pass through a cable management ring 517, and be coiled around a take-up reel 514 through the management ring 517. As shown in Fig.1 to Fig.4, the upper part of the underwater vehicle is connected to the control cable, through which various functional components in the underwater vehicle can be controlled. The underwater vehicle with two submarine propellers at the tail can perform actions such as going forward, backward, horizontal rotation and the like, under the rotation control of the two propellers. A camera with lights is set in the front part of the underwater vehicle, and the camera is capable of rotation up and down, leading to the lights rotating as well. All parts of the underwater vehicle are waterproof. The underwater vehicle is heavier than water. When the control cable is released, the underwater vehicle can sink into the water by gravity. An external equipment mounting hole and a control interface can be arranged at the lower part of the underwater vehicle. The external camera can be installed in the installation hole and controlled through the control interface. When the UAV is on land, it can store the underwater vehicle entirely inside the body, and then lift off and fly away depending on the flight propellers. The camera of the underwater vehicle can implement the conventional shooting actions. When the UAV lands on the water surface, the flight propellers stop, and the UAV floats on the water surface depending on the buoyancy feet and the body's own buoyancy. Since that the UAV body does not sink into the water, the wireless control signal will not be affected by the water. Therefore, the UAV can be controlled from a long distance like the conventional one. In the meantime, the underwater vehicle will sink into the water by the control cable released and perform the actions such as going forward/ backward and horizontal rotation through the rotation of submarine propellers. In addition, the body of UAV floating on the water surface can be dragged by the control cable to move with the underwater vehicle synchronously on the water surface. When the UAV is about to leave the water surface, the underwater vehicle would be stored into the space under the body, and then the flying propeller would be started to take off, therefore the UAV leave the water and fly away. There are several buoyancy feet shaped as inverted cones at the bottom of the UAV, and a through-hole in the centre of the body. When the UAV takes off on the water surface, the through-hole in the centre of the body prevents the negative pressure from happening by leading air to enter into the lower part of the body from the upper part, and the buoyancy feet shaped inverted cone minimizes the pulling effects of surface tension, as at the moment when the UAV leaves the water surface, the contact sections of the buoyancy feet are minimized due to the inverted cones shapes of buoyancy feet that makes the leaving process happen from the large tops to the small bottoms gradually. All of these features helps the UAV lift off from the water surface easily. Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative examples of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle, including a body (1) and a plurality of flying propellers, characterized in that the said body (1) is provided with a plurality of buoyancy feet (8), and connected with an underwater vehicle (9) with a cable (73); the underwater vehicle is provided with a pulling device (98); the said pulling device (98) retracts the underwater vehicle (9) close to the body (1) by pulling back the cable (73), or release the underwater vehicle (9) to submerge by releasing the cable (73); the said underwater vehicle is provided with submarine propellers (91), a camera (92) and lights (93).

2. The said unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that a rotary cable drive (521) is arranged in the said pulling device (98), in the centre of the said rotary cable drive (521) locates a screw hole (5211), whose thread shape and size match the thread and size of the cable which is threaded (73); the said threaded cable (73) is connected to the body (1) passing through the screw hole (5211).

3. The said unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that a double roll device (531) is arranged inside the pulling device (98), and the said double roll drive (531) provides a double roll groove (532) in the middle of a pair of drums of the double roll drive (531); the cable (73) is pressed and driven by the double roll groove (532) when passing through the double roll groove (532); the cable (73) is connected with the body (1) passing through the double roll groove (532).

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