CN117734970A - Large folding expansion ratio folding solar sail and spacecraft - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a large folding-unfolding ratio folding solar sail and a spacecraft, wherein the large folding-unfolding ratio folding solar sail comprises a solar sail film, a rotary driving device and a folding-unfolding driving device; the surface of the solar sail film is of a regular polygon structure, a fixing area is arranged in the center, the fixing area is of a similar polygon shape relative to the outer edge of the solar sail film, multiple layers of folding areas with similar geometry are equally divided along the fixing area towards the outer edge of the solar sail film, diagonal lines of the solar sail film are alternately changed into mountain folds and valley folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in one-to-one correspondence, vertical lines are drawn towards the outer edge of the solar sail film along the vertex of the fixing area, and the vertical lines are alternately changed into valley folds and mountain folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in one-to-one correspondence; the rotary driving device is used for driving the solar sail film to rotate; the folding driving device is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move along the direction approaching or separating from the fixed area. The folding solar sail with large folding and unfolding ratio provided by the invention can effectively improve the folding and unfolding ratio and has high reliability.

Description

Large folding expansion ratio folding solar sail and spacecraft

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of solar sails, in particular to a large folding solar sail and a spacecraft adopting the large folding solar sail.

Background

The solar sail propulsion is a novel spacecraft power propulsion mode without propellant, the spacecraft carrying the solar sail does not need to carry any energy, only the granularity of light is utilized, the solar pressure can be obtained as orbital propulsion by reflecting sunlight by the huge solar sail surface, the dependence of the traditional spacecraft on limited chemical fuel is effectively eliminated, and the solar sail propulsion system is an important research object in the fields of deep space exploration and interstar long distance navigation. Because the thrust generated by the solar sail is positively correlated with the sail surface area, the larger the sail surface area is, the larger the thrust is, but the thrust is limited by the unfolding form of the solar sail, the load capacity of a transmitter, the envelope requirement of a carrier and the like, the unfolding area of the solar sail can be restrained, so that how to design the solar sail with a large folding and unfolding ratio and ensure the stability of the folding and unfolding process of the solar sail is an important task of spacecraft design.

The traditional solar sail generally adopts Z-shaped folding design, and the solar sail in a folding state is driven by the elastic potential energy of a spring to rotate in the unfolding process, so that the supporting mast is unfolded to enable the traction sail surface to be leveled, the folding configuration is simple, the folding ratio is limited, the solar sail can only be unfolded once, a complex limiting structure is required to be arranged, limiting unlocking is required in the unfolding process, the structure is complex, the universality is poor, and the solar sail cannot be assembled on satellites of different types for use.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a folding solar sail with a large folding-unfolding ratio, which aims to solve the technical problems of low folding-unfolding ratio and complex structure of the existing solar sail.

The invention also provides a spacecraft, which adopts the folding solar sail with the large folding ratio.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a large fold ratio folding solar sail comprising a solar sail membrane, a rotary drive means and a fold drive means;

the solar sail film comprises a solar sail film, wherein the surface of the solar sail film is of a regular polygon structure, a fixing area is arranged at the center of the solar sail film, the fixing area is in a similar polygon shape relative to the outer edge of the solar sail film, multiple layers of folding areas with similar geometry are equally divided along the fixing area towards the outer edge of the solar sail film, diagonal lines of the solar sail film are alternately changed into mountain folds and valley folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, vertical lines are arranged towards the outer edge of the solar sail film along the vertex of the fixing area, and the vertical lines are alternately changed into valley folds and mountain folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, so that the solar sail film can be folded to form a windmill-shaped first folding state with a plurality of blades, and the solar sail film can be synchronously contracted into a petal-shaped second folding state through rotary motion under the first folding state;

the rotary driving device is connected with the fixed area and is used for driving the solar sail film to rotate;

the folding and unfolding driving device is respectively connected with a plurality of vertexes on the outer edge of the solar sail film and is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move along the direction approaching or separating from the fixed area;

when the solar sail film is in a second folding state, the folding driving device is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move in a direction away from the fixed area, and the rotary driving device synchronously drives the solar sail film to rotate so as to enable the solar sail film to be in a first folding state; when the solar sail film is in a first folding state, the folding driving device is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move in a direction away from the fixed area, so that the solar sail film is sequentially unfolded into a regular polygon structure along a plurality of folding areas.

Preferably, the folding and unfolding driving device comprises a shell, a first motor, a scroll, a plurality of beam expanders and a plurality of pod rods, wherein the shell is provided with an inner cavity, the first motor is installed on the shell, the scroll is rotatably installed in the inner cavity and is connected with the first motor, the beam expanders are distributed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the shell and are respectively communicated with the inner cavity, the pod rods are correspondingly arranged on the beam expanders in a penetrating mode, the first ends of the pod rods are connected with the scroll, and the second ends of the pod rods are used for being connected with the top points of the solar sail film;

the beam expander is used for compressing the pod rod from double omega type to flat ribbon shape through the section of the beam expander in the process that the pod rod enters the inner cavity, and is also used for expanding the pod rod from flat ribbon shape to double omega type through the section of the beam expander in the process that the pod rod extends out of the inner cavity;

the first motor is used for driving the scroll to rotate, so that the pod rod is driven to rotate and wind on the scroll or release from the scroll, and the pod rod is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move along the direction close to or far away from the fixed area.

Preferably, two folding driving devices are stacked up and down, and pod rods in the two folding driving devices are arranged at staggered positions along the circumferential direction.

Preferably, the two folding driving devices share a single first motor, and the first motor is arranged between the shells of the two folding driving devices.

Preferably, the folding driving device further comprises a traction rod, a first end of the traction rod is connected with a second end of the pod rod, a second end of the traction rod is connected with the vertex of the solar sail film, and the second ends of the traction rods in the two folding driving devices are located on the same plane.

Preferably, the folding and unfolding driving device further comprises a plurality of pre-tightening components and a plurality of elastic components, wherein the pre-tightening components are arranged at one end of the beam expanders, which faces the scroll, in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and the elastic components are arranged between the pre-tightening components and the scroll in a one-to-one correspondence manner;

the pre-tightening assembly comprises two pre-tightening rollers which are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the beam expander, the two pre-tightening rollers are used for mutually compacting and straightening the pod rod, and the spring assembly is used for spring the pod rod on the scroll.

Preferably, the spring assembly comprises a spring column mounted in the inner cavity of the housing and an arc-shaped pressing plate connected with the spring column, the arc-shaped pressing plate comprises an arc-shaped pressing surface arranged towards the scroll, and the spring column is used for applying elastic acting force to one end, close to the pretension assembly, of the arc-shaped pressing surface in the direction towards the scroll.

Preferably, the rotation driving device comprises a support rod, a rotating seat, a second motor and an angle sensor;

the first end of bracing piece with roll over exhibition drive arrangement and be connected, the roating seat rotationally install in the second end of bracing piece, the roating seat is including being used for fixing the mounting end face in fixed zone, the second motor with the roating seat is connected and is used for the drive the roating seat is relative the bracing piece is rotatory, angle sensor locates on the roating seat and be used for detecting the rotation angle of roating seat.

Preferably, the rotary driving device further comprises a plurality of support spokes which are equidistantly arranged around the rotary seat, are arranged on the periphery of the rotary seat and are flush with the mounting end face, and are positioned on the diagonal line of the solar sail film or on the vertical line and are used for supporting the solar sail film.

As a second aspect, the present invention also provides a spacecraft comprising a high fold-to-spread fold solar sail as described above.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

in the folding solar sail with the large folding expansion ratio, the fixing area which is similar to the outer edge of the solar sail film in a polygonal shape is arranged at the central position of the solar sail film, the solar sail film is equidistantly divided into multiple layers of folding areas with similar geometry along the fixing area towards the outer edge of the solar sail film, diagonal lines of the solar sail film are arranged to be alternately changed of mountain folds and valley folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, vertical lines are drawn to the outer edge of the solar sail film along the vertex of the fixing area, the vertical lines are arranged to be alternately changed of valley folds and mountain folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and therefore the solar sail film can be folded along a folding configuration to form a windmill-shaped first folding state with a plurality of blades, and the solar sail film can be synchronously contracted into a petal-shaped second folding state through rotary motion under the first folding state. When the solar sail film is in the second folding state, the folding driving device drives the outer edge of the solar sail film to move and spread along the direction away from the fixed area, and the rotary driving device synchronously drives the solar sail film to rotate so as to enable the solar sail film to be unfolded to be in the first folding state; when the solar sail film is in a first folding state, the folding driving device can drive the outer edge of the solar sail film to move and unfold along the direction away from the fixed area, so that the solar sail film is unfolded into a regular polygon structure along a plurality of folding areas in sequence. In summary, the solar sail film folding structure is optimized, the solar sail film can be unfolded in multiple stages under the cooperation of the rotary driving device and the folding driving device, the petal-shaped sail surface wrapped around the center is stretched outwards to be straightened, then the solar sail film is fully unfolded and laid in the circumferential direction, the folding ratio is effectively improved, the stability of the sail surface folding process is ensured, a limiter is not needed to be arranged, the solar sail film folding structure is simple and efficient, the reliability is high, the solar sail film folding structure can be realized through the reverse actions of the rotary driving device and the folding driving device, the on-orbit multiple controllable folding of the solar sail film is further realized, more application scenes are met, and secondly, the large folding ratio folding solar sail can be assembled on any satellite platform for use due to the fact that the rotary driving device and the folding driving device are provided with the large folding ratio.

In addition to the objects, features and advantages described above, the present invention has other objects, features and advantages. The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a large fold-over-fold solar sail in a second folded state according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the folded solar sail of FIG. 1 in a solar sail film removal state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fold-over-fold solar sail of FIG. 1 in a fully deployed state;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the fold-over-fold solar sail of FIG. 3 at another angle;

FIG. 5 is a view of the deployment process of the solar sail membrane of the fold-over-fold solar sail of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the fold drive in the fold-over-fold solar sail of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the folding drive device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the pod rod of the folding drive device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the beam expander in the folding and unfolding drive arrangement shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the deployment driving device shown in FIG. 6 in use, wherein arrows indicate the direction of rotation of the deployment process;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the rotary drive in the folding solar sail of FIG. 2.

Legend description:

1000. folding solar sails with large folding and unfolding ratio; 1. a solar sail film; 11. a fixed zone; 2. a rotation driving device; 21. a support rod; 22. a rotating seat; 23. a second motor; 24. an angle sensor; 25. a controller; 26. support spokes; 27. a bearing; 3. a folding and unfolding driving device; 31. a housing; 32. a first motor; 33. a reel; 34. a beam expander; 35. pod stems; 36. a traction rod; 37. a pretension assembly; 371. pre-tightening the roller; 38. a spring assembly; 381. a spring post; 382. an arc-shaped pressing plate.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, but the invention can be practiced in a number of different ways, as defined and covered below.

Fig. 1 to 11 together show a large folding ratio folding solar sail provided by the embodiment of the invention, which is used for being installed on a spacecraft and providing propulsion force for the spacecraft by utilizing the granularity of light, and the folding configuration of a solar sail film is simple and efficient, has a large folding ratio, effectively improves the sail surface area under the same folding volume, and improves the performance of the solar sail.

Please combine fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4, the folding solar sail 1000 with large folding ratio comprises a solar sail film 1, a rotary driving device 2 and a folding driving device 3, the surface of the solar sail film 1 is set to be a regular polygon structure, a fixing area 11 is arranged at the central position of the solar sail film 1, the shape of the fixing area 11 is kept unchanged in the folding process of the solar sail film 1, that is, the fixing area 11 does not participate in folding, the fixing area 11 is a similar polygon which is concentrically arranged relative to the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, a plurality of layers of folding areas with similar geometry are equally divided along the fixing area 11 towards the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, each layer of folding area is arranged around the fixing area 11, and the plurality of layers of folding areas are used for folding in turn in a Z shape.

Further, the diagonal lines of the solar sail film 1 are set to be alternately changed between mountain folds and valley folds along the multi-layer folding area in a one-to-one correspondence manner, namely, the diagonal lines of the solar sail film 1 are set to be mountain folds in the first layer folding area, valley folds in the second layer folding area, mountain folds in the third layer folding area, valley folds in the fourth layer folding area, and so on until all folding areas are covered. And a vertical line is drawn along the vertex of the fixing area 11 towards the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, the vertical line is alternately changed into valley folds and mountain folds along the multi-layer folding area in a one-to-one correspondence manner, and similarly, the vertical line is set into valley folds in the first layer folding area, mountain folds in the second layer folding area, valley folds in the third layer folding area, mountain folds in the fourth layer folding area, and so on until all folding areas are covered. The solar sail film 1 can be folded along the multi-layer folding area and simultaneously respectively folded along the diagonal line and the vertical line of the solar sail film 1 in sequence, so that the solar sail film 1 can be folded from a fully unfolded regular polygon structure to form a windmill-shaped first folding state with a plurality of blades, and the solar sail film 1 can be synchronously contracted into a petal-shaped second folding state through a rotating action in the first folding state.

Further, the rotation driving device 2 is connected to the fixed area 11 and is used for driving the solar sail film 1 to rotate, and the folding driving device 3 is respectively connected to a plurality of vertexes on the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 and is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film to move along a direction approaching or separating from the fixed area 11.

Referring to fig. 5, in fig. 5, six states of the solar sail film 1 are shown, wherein the first state is the second folded state, the fourth state is the first folded state, the sixth state is the fully unfolded state, the second and third states are the changing process of the second folded state being the first folded state, and the fifth state is the changing process of the first folded state being the fully unfolded state. When the solar sail film 1 is in the second folded state, the folding driving device 3 is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 to move in a direction away from the fixed area 11, and the rotation driving device 2 synchronously drives the solar sail film 1 to rotate so that the solar sail film 1 is folded into the first folded state; when the solar sail film 1 is in the first folded state, the folding driving device 3 is configured to drive the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 to move in a direction away from the fixing area 11, so that the solar sail film 1 is sequentially unfolded into a regular polygon structure along a plurality of folding areas.

In the folded solar sail 1000 with a large folding ratio, a fixing area 11 which is similar to a polygon with respect to the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 is arranged at the central position of the solar sail film 1, a plurality of layers of folding areas with similar geometry are equally divided along the fixing area 11 towards the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, diagonal lines of the solar sail film 1 are set to be alternately changed between mountain folds and valley folds along the plurality of layers of folding areas one by one, vertical lines are made to the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 along the vertex of the fixing area 11, and the vertical lines are set to be alternately changed between valley folds and mountain folds along the plurality of layers of folding areas one by one, so that the solar sail film 1 can be folded along a folding configuration thereof to form a windmill-shaped first folding state with a plurality of blades, and the solar sail film 1 can be synchronously contracted into a petal-shaped second folding state through a rotating action under the first folding state. Therefore, when the solar sail film 1 is in the second folded state, the folding driving device 3 drives the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 to move and spread along the direction away from the fixed area 11, and the rotary driving device 2 synchronously drives the solar sail film 1 to rotate so as to enable the solar sail film to be unfolded to the first folded state; when the solar sail film 1 is in the first folded state, the folding driving device 3 may drive the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 to move and unfold along a direction away from the fixed area 11, so that the solar sail film 1 is unfolded into a regular polygon structure along a plurality of folding areas. In summary, the multi-stage unfolding action of the solar sail film 1 can be realized by optimizing the folding configuration of the solar sail film 1 under the cooperation of the rotary driving device 2 and the folding driving device 3, the petal-shaped sail surface wrapped around the center is stretched outwards to straighten, then the solar sail film 1 is fully unfolded and laid out along the circumferential direction, the folding ratio is effectively improved, the stability of the sail surface folding process is ensured, the structure is simple and efficient, the folding and folding of the solar sail film 1 can be realized through the reverse actions of the rotary driving device 2 and the folding driving device 3, the on-orbit multiple controllable folding of the solar sail film 1 can be further realized, more application scenes are satisfied, and secondly, the large folding ratio folding solar sail 1000 can be assembled on any satellite platform for use due to the fact that the rotary driving device 2 and the folding driving device 3 are carried by itself, and the applicability is strong.

As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the folding driving device 3 includes a housing 31, a first motor 32, a reel 33, a plurality of beam expanders 34 and a plurality of pod rods 35, the housing 31 is provided with an inner cavity, the first motor 32 is mounted on the housing 31, the reel 33 is rotatably mounted in the inner cavity and is connected with the first motor 32, the plurality of beam expanders 34 are equidistantly arranged along the circumferential direction of the housing 31 and are respectively communicated with the inner cavity, the plurality of pod rods 35 are correspondingly arranged on the plurality of beam expanders 34 in a penetrating manner, a first end of the pod rods 35 is connected with the reel 33, and a second end of the pod rods 35 is used for being connected with the vertex of the solar film 1.

Referring to fig. 8 and 9, the pod rod 35 is made of a carbon fiber composite material with a shape memory function, one end of the pod rod 35 has a double Ω shape, has high supporting strength, is not easy to bend and deform, and the other end of the pod rod 35 has a flat ribbon shape, and can be bent and wound on the reel 33. The beam expander 34 includes a first opening provided in a direction away from the reel 33 and a second opening provided toward the reel 33, and a beam expanding passage that communicates between the first opening and the second opening and smoothly transits the first opening and the second opening, the first opening being adapted in a double Ω -type state of the pod rod 35, and the second opening being adapted in a flat ribbon-type state of the pod rod 35. The beam expander 34 is configured to compress the pod rod 35 from a double omega shape to a flat ribbon shape through the section of the beam expander 34 during the pod rod 35 entering the lumen, and the beam expander 34 is further configured to expand the pod rod 35 from a flat ribbon shape to a double omega shape through the section of the beam expander 34 during the pod rod 35 extending out of the lumen.

Further, the first motor 32 is configured to drive the reel 33 to rotate, so as to drive the pod rod 35 to rotate and wind on the reel 33 or release from the reel 33, and further drive the outer edge of the solar sail film 1 to move along a direction approaching or separating from the fixed area 11 through the pod rod 35. The motor 32 and the reel 33 cooperate to drive the pod rods 35 to retract or extend relative to the housing 31, so as to drive the vertexes of the solar sail film 1 to move, thereby ensuring the folding and unfolding synchronism of the solar sail film 1 in multiple directions, and having simple and efficient structure.

Preferably, two folding driving devices 3 are stacked up and down, and pod rods 35 in two folding driving devices 3 are located at a staggered position along the circumferential direction, that is, pod rods 35 in one folding driving device 3 are located between two adjacent pod rods 35 in the other folding driving device 3. The pod rods 35 in the folding and unfolding driving device 3 are used for respectively supporting a plurality of vertexes on the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, so that the supporting strength is improved, the problem that the reel 33 in the folding and unfolding driving device 3 cannot be wound with too many pod rods 35 at the same time is avoided, the position between two adjacent pod rods 35 in the folding and unfolding driving device 3 can be reinforced and supported through the pod rods 35 in the folding and unfolding driving device 3, the stress effect is better, stress concentration on the same folding and unfolding driving device 3 is avoided, and the stability of folding and unfolding driving is improved.

Preferably, the two folding driving devices 3 share a single first motor 32, the first motor 32 is disposed between the two shells 31 of the folding driving devices 3, the first motor 32 is respectively connected with the two reels 33 of the folding driving devices 3 through a gear box, and further drives the two reels 33 to rotate simultaneously, so as to ensure that the rotation speeds and rotation angles of the two reels 33 are synchronous, and synchronous expansion control of all pod rods 35 is realized.

Preferably, the folding driving device 3 further includes a plurality of traction rods 36, the traction rods 36 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with the pod rods 35, a first end of each traction rod 36 is connected with a second end of each pod rod 35, a second end of each traction rod 36 is connected with the vertex of the solar sail film 1, and the second ends of the traction rods 36 in the two folding driving devices 3 are on the same plane. The pod rod 35 is connected with the solar sail film 1 through the traction rod 36, so that the folding driving device 3 can be integrally arranged on the back surface of the solar sail film 1, occupation of the front surface area of the solar sail film 1 is avoided, and the second ends of the traction rods 36 in the folding driving devices 3 are positioned on the same plane, so that the two folding driving devices 3 which are arranged in a stacked manner can have the same supporting height, and complete unfolding effect of the solar sail film 1 is ensured.

In this embodiment, the surface of the solar sail film 1 is in a regular hexagonal structure, and a single folding and unfolding driving device 3 includes three pod rods 35, and an included angle between two adjacent pod rods 35 is 120 degrees, so that six vertices of the solar sail film 1 are respectively supported by six pod rods 35 in two folding and unfolding driving devices 3, and the solar sail film 1 is jointly unfolded, so that the stability is good. In other embodiments, the surface of the solar sail film 1 may be configured in other regular polygonal structures, but it is notable that when the number of vertices of the solar sail film 1 is less than five, it will be difficult to stably support the solar sail film 1 only by the traction rods 36 at the vertices, and the surface area of the solar sail film 1 will be reduced, affecting the folding ratio; when the number of the vertices of the solar sail film 1 is more than six, more than three pod rods 35 need to be disposed on the single folding driving device 3, so that it is difficult to wind the pod rods 35 on the single reel 33 at the same time, and a larger-diameter reel 33 needs to be disposed, which further increases the volume of the folding driving device 3, and makes it difficult to implement a miniaturized design.

Referring to fig. 10, the folding driving device 3 further includes a plurality of pre-tightening assemblies 37 and a plurality of spring assemblies 38 disposed in one-to-one correspondence with the pre-tightening assemblies 37, wherein the pre-tightening assemblies 37 are disposed at one end of the beam expanders 34 facing the winding shaft 33, and the spring assemblies 38 are disposed between the pre-tightening assemblies 37 and the winding shaft 33.

Further, the pre-tightening assembly 37 includes two pre-tightening rollers 371, the two pre-tightening rollers 371 are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the second opening of the beam expander 34, the two pre-tightening rollers 371 are used for mutually compressing and straightening the pod rod 35, and the compressing assembly 38 is used for compressing the pod rod 35 on the reel 33. When the pod rod 35 enters the inner cavity of the shell 31 along the beam expander 34, the pod rod 35 is pre-tightened and straightened by applying pre-tightening force to the pod rod 35 through the two pre-tightening rollers 371, so as to avoid the swelling phenomenon of the pod rod 35 in the recovery process, then the pod rod 35 is sprung on the scroll 33 through the spring assembly 38, plays a role in guiding and restraining the pod rod 35, effectively avoids the problems of clamping stagnation, outward expansion and the like of the pod rod 35 in the folding or unfolding process,

preferably, the spring assembly 38 includes a spring post 381 mounted in the inner cavity of the housing 31 and an arc-shaped pressing plate 382 connected to the spring post 381, the arc-shaped pressing plate 382 includes an arc-shaped pressing surface disposed toward the reel 33, the arc-shaped pressing surface being disposed along a bending curve of the pod rod 35 at a corresponding position, and the spring post 381 is configured to apply an elastic force to an end of the arc-shaped pressing surface near the pretension assembly 37 in a direction toward the reel 33. The pod rod 35 is pressed by the arc pressing surface of the arc pressing plate 382, so that the pod rod 35 is restrained on the reel 33, and meanwhile, the pod rod 35 can be guided to wind on the reel 33 more smoothly or move from the reel 33 to the beam expander 34 more smoothly.

As shown in fig. 11, the rotation driving device 2 includes a supporting rod 21, a rotating base 22, a second motor 23 and an angle sensor 24, a first end of the supporting rod 21 is connected to the folding driving device 3, the rotating base 22 is rotatably mounted at a second end of the supporting rod 21, the rotating base 22 includes a mounting end surface 221, a fixing area 11 of the solar sail film 1 is fixedly disposed on the mounting end surface 221, the second motor 23 is connected to the rotating base 22 and is used for driving the rotating base 22 to rotate relative to the supporting rod 21, so as to drive the solar sail film 1 to rotate integrally relative to the folding driving device 3, and the angle sensor 24 is disposed on the rotating base 22 and is used for detecting a rotation angle of the rotating base 22, so as to ensure that the solar sail film 1 is folded in place, and avoid that the solar sail film 1 rotates too much or too little to be folded and cannot be fully unfolded.

Further, the rotary driving device 2 further includes a controller 25, the second motor 23 and the angle sensor 24 are respectively electrically connected to the controller 25, and the controller 25 is configured to adjust the rotation of the second motor 23 in real time according to the detection result of the angle sensor 24, so as to improve the rotary driving precision.

Preferably, the rotary driving device 2 further comprises a plurality of support spokes 26 equidistantly arranged around the rotary base 22 on the outer periphery of the rotary base 22, and the upper surfaces of the support spokes 26 are flush with the mounting end surface 221. Perpendicular lines are drawn along the vertex of the fixing area 11 towards the outer edge of the solar sail film 1, a plurality of support spokes 26 are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the perpendicular lines, and the support spokes 26 are located on the perpendicular lines and are used for supporting the solar sail film 1. The rotary driving device 2 supports the solar sail film 1 through a plurality of support spokes 26, so that the stability of the solar sail film 1 is improved, the area of the mounting end surface 221 can be reduced, the volume of the rotary seat 22 can be reduced, the weight is reduced, and the applicability is improved.

In other embodiments, the support spokes 26 may also be located on a diagonal line of the solar sail film 1, that is, a plurality of support spokes 26 are disposed in a one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of diagonal lines of the solar sail film 1, so as to stably support the fixing area 11, thereby improving stability of the solar sail film 1.

Further, the rotation driving device 2 further includes a bearing 27 disposed between the support rod 21 and the rotating base 22, and the bearing 27 promotes the smoothness of the rotation of the rotating base 22 on the support rod 21, so as to avoid jamming.

As a second aspect, the present invention further provides a spacecraft, including the above-mentioned large folding ratio folding solar sail 1000, because the folding configuration of the large folding ratio folding solar sail 1000 can effectively improve the folding ratio, the structure is simple and efficient, the reliability is high, and the on-orbit multiple controllable folding of the solar sail film 1 can be realized, and the thrust performance of the spacecraft is effectively improved in the spacecraft with limited space, so that the spacecraft can meet more application scenarios, and the applicability is strong.

The above description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, but various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. The solar sail is characterized by comprising a solar sail film (1), a rotary driving device (2) and a folding driving device (3);

the solar sail film (1) is characterized in that the surface of the solar sail film (1) is of a regular polygon structure, a fixing area (11) is arranged at the center of the solar sail film (1), the fixing area (11) is similar to a polygon relative to the outer edge of the solar sail film (1), multiple layers of folding areas with similar geometry are equidistantly divided along the fixing area (11) towards the outer edge of the solar sail film (1), diagonal lines of the solar sail film (1) are alternately changed into mountain folds and valley folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, vertical lines are made to the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) along the vertex of the fixing area (11), and the vertical lines are alternately changed into valley folds and mountain folds along the multiple layers of folding areas in a one-to-one correspondence manner, so that the solar sail film (1) can be folded to form a windmill-shaped first folding state with a plurality of blades, and the solar sail film (1) can be synchronously contracted into a petal-shaped second folding state through rotary actions under the first folding state;

the rotary driving device (2) is connected with the fixed area (11) and is used for driving the solar sail film (1) to rotate;

the folding and unfolding driving device (3) is respectively connected with a plurality of vertexes on the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) and is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) to move along the direction approaching or separating from the fixed area (11);

when the solar sail film (1) is in a second folding state, the folding driving device (3) is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) to move in a direction away from the fixed area (11), and the rotary driving device (2) synchronously drives the solar sail film (1) to rotate so as to enable the solar sail film (1) to be in a first folding state; when the solar sail film (1) is in a first folding state, the folding driving device (3) is used for driving the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) to move in a direction away from the fixed area (11), so that the solar sail film (1) is sequentially unfolded into a regular polygon structure along a plurality of folding areas.

2. The large folding-unfolding ratio folding solar sail according to claim 1, characterized in that the folding-unfolding driving device (3) comprises a shell (31), a first motor (32), a scroll (33), a plurality of beam expanders (34) and a plurality of pod rods (35), wherein the shell (31) is provided with an inner cavity, the first motor (32) is installed on the shell (31), the scroll (33) is rotatably installed in the inner cavity and is connected with the first motor (32), the plurality of beam expanders (34) are distributed at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the shell (31) and are respectively communicated with the inner cavity, the plurality of pod rods (35) are correspondingly arranged on the plurality of beam expanders (34) in a penetrating mode, the first ends of the pod rods (35) are connected with the scroll (33), and the second ends of the pod rods (35) are used for being connected with the top point of the solar sail film (1);

the beam expander (34) is used for compressing the pod rod (35) from a double omega shape to a flat ribbon shape through a section of the beam expander (34) during the process that the pod rod (35) enters the inner cavity, and the beam expander (34) is also used for expanding the pod rod (35) from the flat ribbon shape to the double omega shape through the section of the beam expander (34) during the process that the pod rod (35) extends out of the inner cavity;

the first motor (32) is used for driving the scroll (33) to rotate, so that the pod rod (35) is driven to rotate and wind on the scroll (33) or release from the scroll (33), and the outer edge of the solar sail film (1) is driven to move along the direction approaching or separating from the fixed area (11) through the pod rod (35).

3. The solar sail with large folding ratio according to claim 2, wherein two folding driving devices (3) are stacked up and down, and pod rods (35) in the two folding driving devices (3) are at circumferentially offset positions.

4. A large folding-unfolding ratio folding solar sail according to claim 3, characterized in that the two folding-unfolding driving means (3) share a single first motor (32), the first motor (32) being arranged between the housings (31) of the two folding-unfolding driving means (3).

5. A large fold ratio folding solar sail according to claim 3, characterized in that the fold drive means (3) further comprise a traction bar (36), a first end of the traction bar (36) being connected to a second end of the pod bar (35), the second end of the traction bar (36) being connected to the apex of the solar sail membrane (1), the second ends of the traction bars (36) in both fold drive means (3) being in the same plane.

6. The large folding-unfolding ratio folding solar sail according to claim 2, characterized in that the folding-unfolding driving means (3) further comprises a plurality of pre-tightening assemblies (37) and a plurality of snapping assemblies (38), wherein the plurality of pre-tightening assemblies (37) are mounted in a one-to-one correspondence at one end of the plurality of beam expanders (34) facing the reel (33), and the plurality of snapping assemblies (38) are mounted in a one-to-one correspondence between the pre-tightening assemblies (37) and the reel (33);

the pre-tightening assembly (37) comprises two pre-tightening rollers (371) which are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the beam expander (34), the two pre-tightening rollers (371) are used for mutually compacting and straightening the pod rod (35), and the snapping assembly (38) is used for snapping the pod rod (35) onto the scroll (33).

7. The high fold ratio folding solar sail of claim 6, wherein the spring assembly (38) includes a spring post (381) mounted in an interior cavity of the housing (31) and an arcuate pressure plate (382) connected to the spring post (381), the arcuate pressure plate (382) including an arcuate compression surface disposed toward the spool (33), the spring post (381) for applying a spring force to an end of the arcuate compression surface proximate the pretension assembly (37) in a direction toward the spool (33).

8. The high fold ratio folding solar sail according to claim 1, characterized in that the rotation driving means (2) comprise a support bar (21), a swivel (22), a second motor (23) and an angle sensor (24);

the first end of bracing piece (21) with roll over exhibition drive arrangement (3) and be connected, roating seat (22) rotationally install in the second end of bracing piece (21), roating seat (22) are including being used for fixing mounting end face (221) of fixed zone (11), second motor (23) with roating seat (22) are connected and are used for the drive roating seat (22) are relative bracing piece (21) are rotatory, angle sensor (24) are located on roating seat (22) and are used for detecting the rotation angle of roating seat (22).

9. The high fold ratio folding solar sail of claim 8, wherein the rotary drive device (2) further comprises a plurality of support spokes (26) equally spaced around the periphery of the rotary base (22) and flush with respect to the mounting end face (221), the support spokes (26) being located on a diagonal of the solar sail membrane (1) or on the vertical and serving to support the solar sail membrane (1).

10. A spacecraft comprising a large fold ratio folding solar sail as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.