CN116424585A

CN116424585A - Load adapter and working method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN116424585A
Application number: CN202310689850.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宛敏红; 汪清强
Original assignee: Zhejiang Lab
Current assignee: Zhejiang Lab
Priority date: 2023-06-12
Filing date: 2023-06-12
Publication date: 2023-07-14

Abstract

The application provides a load adapter and a working method thereof, wherein the load adapter comprises an active end and a passive end. The driving end comprises a driving frame body, one side of the driving frame body is fixedly connected with an external load, and a driving structure, a transmission structure and a spinning structure which are sequentially connected are fixedly arranged on the other side of the driving frame body. The passive end comprises a passive frame body, one side of the passive frame body is connected with an exposed platform outside the cabin of the spacecraft, and the other side of the passive frame body is fixedly provided with a matching structure matched with the spinning structure. When the spin structure is in corresponding contact with the matching structure, the spin structure can be fixedly connected or separated from the matching structure so as to lock or unlock the driving end and the driven end. The load adapter can realize emergency unlocking without additionally arranging a separation driving structure, and simultaneously can overcome the friction force between each connecting component when the driving end and the driven end are close to or separated from each other, and can rapidly realize the fixation or separation between the extravehicular load connected by the load adapter and the extravehicular exposed platform of the spacecraft.

Description

Load adapter and working method thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of aerospace equipment, in particular to a load adapter and a working method thereof.

Background

With the development of manned aerospace technology, an environment in which people live and work for a long time is established in outer space, which becomes the center of gravity of the human aerospace industry, and in the future, a cargo ship is required to frequently transport scientific experimental payloads between the ground and a space station. The scientific test payload needs to be moved from the cargo airship into a space station or out of the cabin and to make a rigid connection to the exposed test platform and to power and communication connections.

The on-orbit service technology of the spacecraft starts to rise from the 60 th century of the 20 th century, and can be divided into two parts of on-orbit service of someone and autonomous on-orbit service according to the type of service body, wherein the on-orbit service of the person maintains a scientific experiment effective load through astronauts, and the locking of the scientific experiment effective load is mainly realized by virtue of screws and wedge-shaped locking mechanisms, and the locking is unlocked by screwing out the screws and unscrewing the wedge-shaped locking mechanisms through astronauts. The on-orbit service has various defects such as high cost, high risk and the like, and the autonomous on-orbit service has become an important development direction of the space on-orbit service by virtue of the advantages of low cost, low risk, quick response and the like.

The autonomous on-orbit service is mainly used for on-orbit maintenance and replacement of the scientific experiment effective load through the space manipulator. Meanwhile, a self-positioning load adapter is adopted to connect and separate a scientific experiment effective load and an exposure experiment platform. At present, because the existing space manipulator is not flexible and exquisite enough, the self-positioning load adapter is required to overcome the positioning error of the space manipulator so as to realize coarse positioning and self-positioning functions. However, the load adapter in the related art has low automation degree, high requirement on the operation capability of astronauts or mechanical arms, complex mechanism, low reliability, incapability of accurately positioning and incapability of realizing emergency unlocking. There is therefore a need for a new load adapter that solves the above-mentioned problems.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects of the related art, the application provides a load adapter and a working method thereof, which are used for solving the problems that the load adapter in the related art has high requirements on the operation capability of astronauts or mechanical arms, cannot be positioned accurately or cannot realize emergency unlocking.

The application provides a load adapter including an active end and a passive end. The driving end comprises a driving frame body, one side of the driving frame body is fixedly connected with an external load, and a driving structure, a transmission structure and a spinning structure which are sequentially connected are fixedly arranged on the other side of the driving frame body. The passive end comprises a passive frame body, one side of the passive frame body is connected with an out-of-cabin exposure platform of the spacecraft, and the other side of the passive frame body is fixedly provided with a matching structure matched with the spinning structure. When the spin structure is in corresponding contact with the matching structure, the spin structure can be fixedly connected or separated from the matching structure so as to lock or unlock the driving end and the driven end.

According to the embodiment, the load adapter in the application provides a power source through the driving structure, the driving structure is connected with the transmission structure, the spinning structure is further driven to be matched with the matching structure, the spinning structure moves along the preset first spinning direction, the driving end is controlled to approach the driven end, and accordingly the spinning structure on the driving end is correspondingly contacted with the matching structure on the driven end, so that locking and unlocking between the driving end and the driven end of the load adapter can be achieved. The load adapter that this application provided does not need to set up in addition and separates drive structure and can realize emergent unblock, and drive structure provides the frictional force between each coupling assembling when pressing close to or the separation between the drive end and the passive end simultaneously can overcome, realizes fast that the load adapter is connected link firmly or separate between the extravehicular load and the space vehicle extravehicular exposing platform, realizes the initiative locking or the initiative separation of load adapter promptly. Simple structure, convenient operation and high reliability.

In one embodiment, the spin structure is provided with a first thread face. The matching structure is provided with a second thread surface which is opposite to the first thread surface in rotation direction and is mutually embedded. When the first thread surface and the second thread surface are correspondingly contacted, the first thread surface and the second thread surface can be switched between a jogged state or a separated state.

In one embodiment, the spin structure is nut-shaped, and the first thread surface is provided on the inner wall surface of the spin structure, and the first thread surface is perpendicular to the plane of the spin structure, which is close to one side of the active frame body. The matching structure is in a stud shape, the second thread surface is arranged on the outer wall surface of the matching structure, and the second thread surface is perpendicular to the plane of one side, close to the passive frame, of the matching structure.

In one embodiment, the transmission structure includes a worm gear and a worm. The worm wheel is arranged on one side of the spin structure, which is close to the active frame body, and is coaxially and fixedly connected with the spin structure; the worm is meshed with the worm wheel and is connected with the driving structure. When the driving structure drives the worm to rotate along a first direction, the worm wheel rotates under the action of the worm and drives the spinning structure to rotate along the first rotation direction, so that the spinning structure and the matching structure are locked; when the driving structure drives the worm to rotate along a second direction opposite to the first direction, the worm wheel rotates under the action of the worm and drives the spinning structure to rotate along a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction, so that unlocking is realized between the spinning structure and the matching structure.

In one embodiment, the load adapter further comprises a travel switch and a ram. The travel switch is fixedly arranged on one side, away from the extravehicular load, of the active frame body, and is connected with the driving structure; the collision block is fixedly arranged on one side, far away from the exposed platform outside the cabin, of the passive frame body and is matched with the travel switch, and when the self-rotating structure and the matching structure are screwed to be completely embedded, the collision block abuts against and triggers the travel switch so that the driving structure stops working.

In one embodiment, the load adapter further comprises a first guide portion and a second guide portion, the first guide portion being fixedly arranged on a side of the active frame body away from the external load; the second guide part is fixedly arranged on one side, far away from the cabin outer exposure platform, of the passive frame body and is matched with the first guide part so as to realize preliminary positioning between the driving end and the passive end.

In one embodiment, the first guide portion is a guide pin, the guide pin includes a post segment and a cone segment connected in sequence, and a side of the post Duan Yuan away from the cone segment is fixed to a side of the active frame away from the off-board load; the diameter of the cone section gradually decreases along the direction that the cone section is far away from the column section. The second guide part is a guide hole, the guide hole comprises a positioning section and a fault-tolerant section which are sequentially connected, and one side of the positioning section, which is far away from the fault-tolerant section, is fixed on one side of the passive frame, which is far away from the cabin outer exposure platform; the diameter of the fault tolerant segment gradually increases along the direction that the fault tolerant segment is far away from the positioning segment.

In one embodiment, the active frame is further provided with a first fastening structure, and the first fastening structure includes at least one first fastening and at least one first fastening slot; the passive frame body is also provided with a second buckle structure, and the second buckle structure comprises at least one second clamping groove clamped with the first buckle and at least one second buckle clamped with the first clamping groove, so that the reinforced fixed connection between the driving end and the passive end is realized.

In one embodiment, the first buckle is provided with a first protrusion, and the second clamping groove is provided with a first concave hole which is embedded with the first protrusion.

In one embodiment, the second buckle is provided with a second protrusion, and the first clamping groove is provided with a second concave hole which is embedded with the second protrusion.

In one embodiment, the load adapter further comprises a first electrical connector and a second electrical connector. The first electric connecting piece is fixedly arranged on the active frame body. The second electric connecting piece is fixedly arranged on the passive frame body and matched with the first electric connecting piece, and when the spin structure moves along the locking direction between the spin structure and the matched structure, the first electric connecting piece is connected with the second electric connecting piece.

The application also provides a working method of the load adapter, which is based on the load adapter provided by the embodiment, and comprises the following steps:

when the load outside the cabin is fixed on the exposed platform outside the cabin, the driving structure is controlled to drive the spinning structure through the transmission structure, so that the spinning structure moves along the first rotation direction.

And controlling the driving end to be close to the driven end until the first guide part and the second guide part are contacted.

And controlling the column section of the first guide part to be embedded with the positioning section of the second guide part.

The first guide part is controlled to be close to the passive end until the spinning structure is contacted with the matching structure, the spinning structure and the matching structure start to be screwed, the first electric connecting piece and the second electric connecting piece start to be connected, and the locking is completed until the collision block on the passive end triggers the travel switch on the active end.

When the load outside the cabin is separated from the exposed platform outside the cabin, the driving structure is controlled to drive the spinning structure through the transmission structure, so that the spinning structure moves along a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction. And meanwhile, the driving end is controlled to be far away from the driven end, and the first guide part is far away from the second guide part until the driving end and the driven end are completely separated.

According to the embodiment, the working method of the load adapter can realize quick fixing and separating between the driving end and the driven end, and realize accurate self-positioning, self-locking and self-unlocking functions.

Additional aspects and advantages of the application will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the application.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the application and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the application.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the assembly of an outboard load and an outboard exposure platform according to one embodiment provided herein;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the docking preparation of a load adapter according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the completion of docking of a load adapter according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the load adapter of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the load adapter of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the load adapter of FIG. 5 taken along the dashed line A-A';

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the drive end of a load adapter according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the drive end of the load adapter of FIG. 7 in a different orientation;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of FIG. 8 at B;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the active end of the load adapter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the drive end of the load adapter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a passive end according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the passive end of the load adapter of FIG. 12;

fig. 14 is a side view of the passive end of the load adapter of fig. 12.

Wherein: 10-load adapter; 20-off-board load; 30-an off-board exposure platform; 100-a drive end; 110-an active frame; 111-a first snap-fit structure; 1111-first catch; 1112-a first card slot; 120-driving structure; 130-a transmission structure; 131-worm wheel; 132-worm; 140-spin structure; 141-a first thread face; 150-a travel switch; 160-a first guide; 161-column section; 162-cone segment; 170-a first electrical connection; 200-passive end; 210-a passive frame; 211-a second snap-fit structure; 2111-a second catch; 2112-a second card slot; 220-mating structure; 221-a second thread face; 230-bump; 240-a second guide; 241-positioning section; 242-fault tolerant segment; 250-second electrical connection.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the accompanying claims.

The terminology used in the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The research finds that the spacecraft cabin external load adapter is a light and small space docking mechanism with smaller mass and volume, simpler function and lower complexity, supports the on-orbit installation and disassembly of the cabin external load, and provides generalized mechanical, electric energy, information, thermal control, fluid and other partial or all interfaces for the cabin external load. Load adapters can be categorized into passive and active types. The passive load adapter is operated by a mechanical arm or an astronaut to carry out docking of the load outside the cabin, and then the load adapter is used for realizing locking and interface communication. The active load adapter is used for carrying the load to the capturing range of the load adapter by a mechanical arm or an astronaut, and then the load adapter is used for actively realizing the butt joint, locking and interface communication. Space manipulator technology, astronaut EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity, space walking) technology have reduced the development degree of difficulty of load adapter, but brought a series of new problems simultaneously. The vast majority of exposure loads of the ISS (International Space Station ) and the platform are intensively installed on the exposure platform through a universal load adapter, the installation and recovery of the exposure loads are carried out through a space manipulator and the astronaut EVA, and the maintenance operation is carried out through the astronaut EVA after faults occur. The mechanical arm or the mechanical arm is matched with EVA to mount and replace the exposure load, so that the utilization efficiency and flexibility of the exposure resource are greatly improved. However, most of the existing internal driving structures of the load adapter are crank connecting rod or screw nut pair driving structures, and the problems of low automation degree, high requirement on the operation capability of astronauts or mechanical arms, complex mechanism, low reliability, incapability of accurately positioning or incapability of realizing emergency unlocking exist.

The application provides a load adapter and a working method thereof, which aim to solve the technical problems in the related art.

The load adapter and the working method thereof in the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The features of the embodiments described below can be supplemented or combined with one another without conflict.

The present application provides a load adapter 10, as shown in fig. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the load adapter 10 including an active end 100 and a passive end 200. Specifically, as shown in fig. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, the driving end 100 includes a driving frame 110, one side of the driving frame 110 is fixedly connected with the external load 20, and the other side is fixedly provided with a driving structure 120, a transmission structure 130 and a spin structure 140 which are sequentially connected. As shown in fig. 12, 13 and 14, the passive end 200 includes a passive frame 210, one side of the passive frame 210 is connected to the exposed platform 30 outside the cabin of the spacecraft, and the other side is fixedly provided with a matching structure 220 that matches the spinning structure 140. When the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220 are in corresponding contact, the spin structure 140 can be fixedly connected or separated from the mating structure 220 so as to lock or unlock the active end 100 and the passive end 200.

The load adapter 10 in the application provides a power source through the driving structure 120, the driving structure 120 is connected with the transmission structure 130, the spinning structure 140 is further driven to be matched with the matching structure 220, the spinning structure 140 moves along a preset first spinning direction, the driving end 100 is controlled to approach the driven end 200, and accordingly the spinning structure 140 on the driving end 100 is correspondingly contacted with the matching structure 220 on the driven end 200, so that locking and unlocking between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200 of the load adapter 10 can be achieved. The load adapter 10 that this application provided does not need to set up in addition and separates drive structure 120 and can realize emergent unblock, and drive structure 120 provides the frictional force between each coupling assembling when can overcoming between active end 100 and the passive end 200 when pressing close to or separating simultaneously, realizes fast that load adapter 10 connects link firmly or separation between extravehicular load 20 and the space vehicle extravehicular exposure platform 30, realizes the initiative locking or the initiative separation of load adapter 10 promptly. Simple structure, convenient operation and high reliability.

In some embodiments, the active and

passive frames

110, 210 of the present application are shaped to conform to each other. Illustratively, both the active housing 110 and the passive housing 210 are square.

In some embodiments, the active frame 110 and the passive frame 210 are each provided with a plurality of hollow areas. Illustratively, the hollow area is circular, oval, triangular, rectangular or polygonal in shape. In the embodiment, the hollow area is arranged to save the material cost.

In some embodiments, the drive structure 120 includes a control interface and a motor assembly interconnected, wherein the control interface is coupled to the astronaut control system for controlling the motor assembly to provide a power source for the transmission structure 130.

In some embodiments, the active end 100 is coupled to the outboard load 20 by a screw, or bolt, and the passive end 200 is secured to the outboard exposure platform 30 by a screw, or bolt.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-11, the spin structure 140 is provided with a first thread 141. The engaging structure 220 is provided with a second screw surface 221 which is opposite in rotation to the first screw surface 141 and is engaged with each other. When the first screw surface 141 and the second screw surface 221 are in contact with each other, the first screw surface 141 and the second screw surface 221 can be switched between the engaged state and the disengaged state.

The spin structure 140 and the matching structure 220 in the application are provided with a first thread surface 141 and a second thread surface 221 which are matched with each other, and the two are screwed or unscrewed to realize thread fixed connection or mutual separation. The screw-fit connection can prevent the active end 100 and the passive end 200 of the load adapter 10 from loosening easily after the fixed connection, and has high stability and reliability. Meanwhile, through threaded close connection, the phenomenon that the accurate fixation of the extra-cabin load 20 is influenced by human errors or mechanical errors of an astronaut or a mechanical arm in the operation process is avoided, and poor contact caused by inaccurate electrical connection between the extra-cabin load 20 and the extra-cabin exposed platform 30 is avoided.

In some embodiments, the first and

second flanks

141 and 221 are triangular, trapezoidal, rectangular, zigzag, or circular-arc threads. Illustratively, the first and

second flanks

141 and 221 are each trapezoidal threads.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7 to 11, the spin structure 140 is nut-shaped, and the inner wall surface of the spin structure 140 is provided with a first thread surface 141, and the first thread surface 141 is perpendicular to a plane of a side of the spin structure 140 near the active frame 110. The matching structure 220 is in a stud shape, the outer wall surface of the matching structure 220 is provided with a second thread surface 221, and the second thread surface 221 is perpendicular to the plane of one side of the matching structure 220, which is close to the passive frame 210.

The spin surface between the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220 in this embodiment is perpendicular to the interface between the active frame 110 and the passive frame 210, so that the active end 100 and the passive end 200 can rapidly control the relative motion between the active end 100 and the passive end 200 in the direction of approaching or separating the two, and the friction force generated when the connection assembly between the active end 100 and the passive end 200 approaches or separates the two is overcome fully, so as to realize simple motion control on the active end 100 and the passive end 200 in the direction of the relative motion.

It should be noted that, the spin structure 140 in this embodiment may be in a stud shape, and the mating structure 220 mated with the spin structure may be in a nut shape, so long as the two structures are mated with each other to achieve screwing or unscrewing. The art is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-11, the transmission 130 includes a worm gear 131 and a worm 132. The worm wheel 131 is arranged on one side of the spin structure 140, which is close to the active frame 110, and is coaxially and fixedly connected with the spin structure 140; the worm 132 is engaged with the worm wheel 131 and is connected with the driving structure 120. When the driving structure 120 drives the worm 132 to rotate along the first direction, the worm wheel 131 rotates under the action of the worm 132 and drives the spinning structure 140 to rotate along the first rotation direction, so that the spinning structure 140 and the matching structure 220 are locked; when the driving structure 120 drives the worm 132 to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the worm wheel 131 rotates under the action of the worm 132 and drives the spin structure 140 to rotate in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction, so as to unlock between the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220.

The matching between the worm wheel 131 and the worm 132 in the present embodiment can realize the transmission of the power source provided by the driving structure 120 to the spinning structure 140, so as to realize the connection between the power driving end 100 and the driven end 200. The conventional screw thread pair has a complex structure, a large number of parts are assembled, high requirements on installation and machining precision are met, and the distance between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200 in the direction of relative movement cannot be adjusted after the driving end and the driven end are locked. In contrast, the worm gear 131 and worm 132 pair transmission structure 130 provided by the application is simpler, and simultaneously, when the spinning structure 140 and the matching structure 220 are combined, the relative pose between the spinning structure 140 and the matching structure 220 can be further adjusted by screwing or unscrewing, so that the orientation of the extravehicular load 20 relative to the extravehicular exposure platform 30 can be conveniently adjusted and controlled.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-14, the load adapter 10 further includes a travel switch 150 and a ram 230. Wherein, the travel switch 150 is fixedly arranged at one side of the active frame 110 away from the load 20 outside the cabin, and the travel switch 150 is connected with the driving structure 120; the ram 230 is fixedly disposed on a side of the passive frame 210 away from the exposed platform 30 outside the cabin, and cooperates with the travel switch 150, and when the spin structure 140 and the cooperation structure 220 are screwed to be completely engaged, the ram 230 abuts against and triggers the travel switch 150, so that the driving structure 120 stops working.

The load adapter 10 in this embodiment is further provided with a travel switch 150, so that when the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220 are completely embedded to the limit and the motor torque reaches the threshold value, the bump 230 on the passive end 200 bumps against the limit switch on the active end 100 to control the driving structure 120 to stop working, thereby completing locking. The travel switch 150 and the bump 230 cooperate to realize real-time control of the screwing degree between the spin structure 140 and the cooperation structure 220, protect the structures on the driving end 100 and the driven end 200 from crushing and deformation, and simultaneously automatically control the spin structure 140 to stop rotating in time after locking is completed.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-14, the load adapter 10 further includes a first guiding portion 160 and a second guiding portion 240, where the first guiding portion 160 is fixedly disposed on a side of the active frame 110 away from the external load 20; the second guiding portion 240 is fixedly disposed on a side of the passive frame 210 away from the exposed platform 30, and cooperates with the first guiding portion 160 to achieve preliminary positioning between the active end 100 and the passive end 200.

The first guiding portion 160 in the present embodiment is disposed at a side of the active frame 110 close to the passive frame 210, and the second guiding portion 240 is disposed at a side of the passive frame 210 close to the active frame 110. The first guide 160 and the second guide 240 cooperate with each other to achieve preliminary positioning between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200, and correct an attitude error of the driving end 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-14, the load adapter 10 includes two first guiding portions 160 symmetrically distributed on two sides of the spin structure 140, and a line between the two first guiding portions 160 coincides with a symmetry axis of the spin structure 140. Correspondingly, the load adapter 10 further includes two second guiding portions 240 symmetrically distributed on two sides of the mating structure 220, and a connecting line between the two second guiding portions 240 coincides with a symmetry axis of the mating structure 220. To perform coarse positioning between the active end 100 and the passive end 200.

In some embodiments, the load adapter 10 includes three first guides 160 evenly spaced around the spin structure 140, with the center of gravity of the triangle formed by the three first guides 160 coinciding with the geometric center of the spin structure 140. Correspondingly, the load adapter 10 further includes three second guiding portions 240 uniformly spaced around the mating structure 220, and the center of gravity of the triangle formed by the surrounding of the three second guiding portions 240 coincides with the geometric center of the mating structure 220. So as to realize preliminary positioning between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200, and simultaneously avoid the situation that the positioning direction of the load adapter 10 is inverted by 180 degrees, thereby being more accurate and avoiding the occurrence of robot or human error.

In some embodiments, the first guiding portion 160 is a guiding pin, and the guiding pin includes a column section 161 and a cone section 162 connected in sequence, wherein a side of the column section 161 away from the cone section 162 is fixed on a side of the active frame 110 away from the external load 20; the diameter of the tapered section 162 gradually decreases in a direction in which the tapered section 162 is away from the column section 161. The second guiding part 240 is a guiding hole, and the guiding hole comprises a positioning section 241 and a fault-tolerant section 242 which are sequentially connected, wherein one side of the positioning section 241 away from the fault-tolerant section 242 is fixed on one side of the passive frame 210 away from the cabin exterior exposure platform 30; the diameter of the fault tolerant segment 242 increases gradually in a direction in which the fault tolerant segment 242 is away from the locating segment 241.

The cone section 162 of the guide pin in this embodiment is matched with the fault-tolerant section 242 of the guide hole, and because the diameter of the fault-tolerant section 242 of the guide hole is larger than that of the positioning section 241, when the astronaut or the mechanical arm grabs the extra-cabin load 20 for preliminary alignment, a certain position posture error-tolerant space can be formed between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200, and when the cone section 162 of the guide pin contacts the fault-tolerant section 242, the cone section 162 of the guide pin can tightly attach the guide pin to the positioning section 241 of the guide hole through the oblique guiding function of the fault-tolerant section 242, so that the preliminary alignment is completed, the fault-tolerant capability and the positioning precision of the load adapter 10 can be improved, the operation precision requirement of the astronaut or the mechanical arm for clamping the extra-cabin load 20 can be reduced, and the installation efficiency of the extra-cabin load 20 can be improved.

In some embodiments, the column section 161 is cylindrical, the cone section 162 is conical, and the parting line between the column section 161 and the cone section 162 is smoothly connected, so that the friction between the first guiding portion 160 and the second guiding portion 240 can be reduced, and quick positioning and clamping or quick separation can be realized more easily. It should be noted that the column section 161 may be a prism, and the cone section 162 may be a pyramid, which may be set by those skilled in the art according to the specific circumstances.

In some embodiments, the fault-tolerant segment 242 is in the shape of a hollow truncated cone, the positioning segment 241 is in the shape of a hollow cylinder, and the boundary between the fault-tolerant segment 242 and the positioning segment 241 is smoothly connected, so that the friction between the first guiding portion 160 and the second guiding portion 240 can be reduced, and quick positioning and clamping or quick separation can be more easily realized. Note that, the fault-tolerant segment 242 may be a hollow prismatic table, and the positioning segment 241 may be a hollow prismatic column, which may be set by those skilled in the art according to the specific situation.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7 to 11, the active frame 110 is further provided with a first fastening structure 111, and the first fastening structure 111 includes at least one first fastening 1111 and at least one first fastening slot 1112. As shown in fig. 12 to 14, the passive frame 210 is further provided with a second fastening structure 211, where the second fastening structure 211 includes at least one second fastening slot 2112 fastened with the first fastening slot 1111 and at least one second fastening slot 2111 fastened with the first fastening slot 1112, so as to achieve a reinforced and fixed connection between the active end 100 and the passive end 200.

In this embodiment, the active frame 110 and the passive frame 210 are respectively provided with a first fastening structure 111 and a second fastening structure 211, which can be mutually fastened to further strengthen and fix the active end 100 and the passive end 200, so that a heavy large load can be loaded, and the bearable capacity of the load adapter 10 is improved.

In some embodiments, the active frame 110 and the passive frame 210 are both in a fence shape, and the fence sidewalls of the active frame 110 and the passive frame 210 are formed with a first fastening structure 111 and a second fastening structure 211 that are mutually embedded. When the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220 are engaged and locked gradually, the first fastening structure 111 and the second fastening structure 211 are close to and fastened gradually to achieve the reinforced fixation. When the spin structure 140 and the mating structure 220 are separated and gradually unlocked, the first and

second snap structures

111 and 211 gradually move apart and are separated to achieve the disconnection.

In some embodiments, the first buckle 1111 is provided with a first protrusion, and the second clamping groove 2112 is provided with a first concave hole (not shown) engaged with the first protrusion.

In some embodiments, the second buckle 2111 is provided with a second protrusion, and the first clamping groove 1112 is provided with a second concave hole (not shown) that is engaged with the second protrusion.

In the above embodiment, the protrusions are provided on the first buckle 1111 or the second buckle 2111, so that the protrusions and the concave holes can be mutually embedded to realize reinforced fixation, and compared with the two-side clamping of the buckle structure, the additional protrusions can ensure the stable state of the buckle structure on four sides, and further improve the stability and reliability of the connection between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 7-14, the load adapter 10 further includes a first electrical connector 170 and a second electrical connector 250. The first electrical connector 170 is fixedly disposed on the active frame 110. The second electrical connector 250 is fixedly arranged on the passive frame 210 and is matched with the first electrical connector 170, and when the spin structure 140 moves along the locking direction with the matching structure 220, the first electrical connector 170 is connected with the second electrical connector 250.

In some embodiments, the first electrical connector 170 is secured to an interior hollow region of the spin structure 140 and the second electrical connector 250 is secured to an interior hollow region of the mating structure 220.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application further provides a working method of the load adapter 10, based on the load adapter 10 provided in the foregoing embodiment, including the following steps:

s100: when the outboard load 20 is secured to the outboard exposure platform 30, the control drive structure 120 drives the spin structure 140 through the transmission structure 130, causing the spin structure 140 to move in a first rotational direction.

S200: the active end 100 is controlled to approach the passive end 200 until contact is made between the first guide 160 and the second guide 240.

S300: the column section 161 of the first guide 160 is controlled to be engaged with the positioning section 241 of the second guide 240.

S400: the first guiding part 160 is controlled to approach the passive end 200 until the spinning structure 140 contacts with the matching structure 220, the spinning structure 140 starts to be screwed with the matching structure 220, the first electric connector 170 and the second electric connector 250 start to be connected, and the locking is completed until the ram 230 on the passive end 200 triggers the travel switch 150 on the active end 100.

S500: when the outboard load 20 is disengaged from the outboard exposure platform 30, the drive structure 120 is controlled to drive the spin structure 140 via the transmission structure 130 such that the spin structure 140 moves in a second spin direction opposite the first spin direction. While controlling the active end 100 away from the passive end 200, the first guide 160 away from the second guide 240 until the active end 100 is completely separated from the passive end 200.

The working method of the load adapter 10 provided in this embodiment can realize rapid fixing and separating between the driving end 100 and the driven end 200, and realize accurate self-positioning, self-locking and self-unlocking functions.

In some embodiments, the extravehicular load 20 is secured to the extravehicular exposure platform 30 or the extravehicular load 20 is disengaged from the extravehicular exposure platform 30 by either manually grasping the extravehicular load 20 by an astronaut EVA technology or mechanically gripping the extravehicular load 20 by a robotic arm connection control device.

In some embodiments, after the spin structure 140 contacts the mating structure 220, the spin structure 140 may be driven by the driving structure 120 through the transmission structure 130 to move the spin structure 140 along the first rotation direction. The spinning structure 140 then begins to tighten with the mating structure 220 to achieve a snap fit.

The above embodiments of the present application may be complementary to each other without conflict.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various operations, methods, steps in the flow, actions, schemes, and alternatives discussed in the present application may be alternated, altered, combined, or eliminated. Further, other steps, means, or steps in a process having various operations, methods, or procedures discussed in this application may be alternated, altered, rearranged, split, combined, or eliminated. Further, steps, measures, schemes in the related art having various operations, methods, flows disclosed in the present application may also be alternated, altered, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientation or positional relationships shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present application and simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present application.

The terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise indicated, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be either fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected, for example; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communication between two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this application will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in a specific context.

In the description of the present specification, a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present application and it should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present application, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A load adapter, comprising:

the driving end comprises a driving frame body, one side of the driving frame body is fixedly connected with an external load, and the other side of the driving frame body is fixedly provided with a driving structure, a transmission structure and a spinning structure which are sequentially connected;

the passive end comprises a passive frame body, one side of the passive frame body is connected with an out-of-cabin exposure platform of the spacecraft, and the other side of the passive frame body is fixedly provided with a matching structure matched with the spinning structure;

when the spinning structure is in corresponding contact with the matching structure, the spinning structure can be fixedly connected or separated from the matching structure so as to lock or unlock the driving end and the driven end.

2. The load adapter of claim 1, wherein the load adapter is configured to receive the load adapter,

the spin structure is provided with a first thread surface;

the matching structure is provided with a second thread surface which is opposite to the first thread surface in rotation direction and is mutually embedded;

when the first thread surface and the second thread surface are correspondingly contacted, the first thread surface and the second thread surface can be switched between a jogged state or a separated state.

3. The load adapter of claim 2, wherein the load adapter is configured to receive the load adapter,

the spin structure is nut-shaped, the first thread surface is arranged on the inner wall surface of the spin structure, and the first thread surface is perpendicular to the plane of one side, close to the active frame body, of the spin structure;

the matching structure is in a stud shape, the second thread surface is arranged on the outer wall surface of the matching structure, and the second thread surface is perpendicular to the plane of one side, close to the passive frame, of the matching structure.

4. The load adapter of claim 1, wherein the transmission structure comprises:

the worm wheel is arranged on one side of the spin structure, which is close to the active frame body, and is coaxially and fixedly connected with the spin structure;

the worm is in meshed connection with the worm wheel and is connected with the driving structure;

when the driving structure drives the worm to rotate along a first direction, the worm wheel rotates under the action of the worm and drives the spinning structure to rotate along the first rotation direction, so that the spinning structure and the matching structure are locked; when the driving structure drives the worm to rotate along a second direction opposite to the first direction, the worm wheel rotates under the action of the worm and drives the spinning structure to rotate along a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction, so that unlocking is realized between the spinning structure and the matching structure.

5. The load adapter of claim 1, further comprising:

the travel switch is fixedly arranged on one side, away from the load outside the cabin, of the active frame body and is connected with the driving structure;

the collision block is fixedly arranged on one side, far away from the cabin outer exposure platform, of the passive frame body and is matched with the travel switch, and when the self-rotating structure and the matching structure are screwed to be completely embedded, the collision block abuts against and triggers the travel switch, so that the driving structure stops working.

6. The load adapter of claim 1, further comprising:

the first guide part is fixedly arranged on one side of the driving frame body, which is far away from the load outside the cabin;

the second guide part is fixedly arranged on one side, far away from the cabin outer exposure platform, of the passive frame body and is matched with the first guide part so as to realize preliminary positioning between the driving end and the passive end.

7. The load adapter of claim 6, wherein the load adapter is configured to receive the load adapter,

the first guide part is a guide pin, the guide pin comprises a column section and a cone section which are sequentially connected, and one side of the column Duan Yuan, which is away from the cone section, is fixed on one side of the active frame body, which is away from the cabin load; the diameter of the cone section gradually decreases along the direction that the cone section is far away from the column section;

the second guide part is a guide hole, the guide hole comprises a positioning section and a fault-tolerant section which are sequentially connected, and one side of the positioning section, which is far away from the fault-tolerant section, is fixed on one side of the passive frame, which is far away from the cabin outer exposure platform; the diameter of the fault tolerant segment gradually increases along the direction that the fault tolerant segment is far away from the positioning segment.

8. The load adapter of claim 1, wherein the load adapter is configured to receive the load adapter,

the driving frame body is also provided with a first buckle structure, and the first buckle structure comprises at least one first buckle and at least one first clamping groove;

the passive frame body is also provided with a second buckle structure, and the second buckle structure comprises at least one second clamping groove clamped with the first buckle and at least one second buckle clamped with the first clamping groove, so that the reinforced fixed connection between the driving end and the passive end is realized.

9. The load adapter of claim 8 wherein the load adapter is configured to receive a load,

the first buckle is provided with a first bulge, and the second clamping groove is provided with a first concave hole which is embedded with the first bulge;

and/or the second buckle is provided with a second bulge, and the first clamping groove is provided with a second concave hole which is embedded with the second bulge.

10. The load adapter of claim 1, further comprising:

the first electric connecting piece is fixedly arranged on the active frame body;

the second electric connecting piece is fixedly arranged on the passive frame body and matched with the first electric connecting piece, and when the spin structure moves along the locking direction between the spin structure and the matched structure, the first electric connecting piece is connected with the second electric connecting piece.

11. A method of operating a load adapter based on any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising:

when the load outside the cabin is fixed on the exposed platform outside the cabin, the driving structure is controlled to drive the spinning structure through the transmission structure, so that the spinning structure moves along a first rotation direction;

controlling the driving end to approach the driven end until the first guide part and the second guide part are contacted;

controlling the column section of the first guide part to be embedded with the positioning section of the second guide part;

the first guide part is controlled to be close to the passive end until the spin structure is contacted with the matching structure, the spin structure and the matching structure start to be screwed, the first electric connecting piece and the second electric connecting piece start to be connected, and the locking is completed until the collision block on the passive end triggers the travel switch on the active end;

when the load outside the cabin is separated from the exposed platform outside the cabin, the driving structure is controlled to drive the spinning structure through the transmission structure, so that the spinning structure moves along a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction; and meanwhile, the driving end is controlled to be far away from the driven end, and the first guide part is far away from the second guide part until the driving end and the driven end are completely separated.