CN212022981U

CN212022981U - Unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device and unmanned aerial vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN212022981U
Application number: CN202020438486.8U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 崔鹏; 陈思瀚
Original assignee: Beijing Airlango Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Airlango Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2020-03-30
Publication date: 2020-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2030-03-30

Abstract

The utility model relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device and unmanned aerial vehicle. The charging device includes: a support platform for supporting the drone; the locking part is used for locking the unmanned aerial vehicle on the supporting platform; the air blowing device is used for blowing air to the propeller of the unmanned aerial vehicle after the locking part locks the unmanned aerial vehicle on the supporting platform, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can be charged through the rotation of the propeller. Like this, saved connector and high-power coil such as charging connector of easy loss, reduced unmanned aerial vehicle dead weight, improved battery utilization efficiency to operation maintenance cost has been reduced.

Description

Unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device and unmanned aerial vehicle

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle field specifically, relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device and unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background

An unmanned plane, called unmanned plane for short, is an unmanned plane operated by radio remote control equipment and a self-contained program control device, and comprises an unmanned helicopter, a fixed wing plane, a multi-rotor aircraft, an unmanned airship, an unmanned parachute plane and the like.

The unmanned aerial vehicle is divided according to different application fields, the unmanned aerial vehicle can be divided into three categories of military use, civil use and consumption level, and the requirements of different types of unmanned aerial vehicles on performance are heavier. Wherein, consumer-grade unmanned aerial vehicle generally adopts the lower many rotor platforms of cost for leisure usage such as aerial photography, recreation. The unmanned aerial vehicle can complete complex aerial flight tasks and various load tasks under the unmanned condition, and can be regarded as an aerial robot.

In the related art, two schemes are generally adopted when the unmanned aerial vehicle is charged. First, it is necessary to connect the connectors of the unmanned aerial vehicle side and the charging equipment side by the automation equipment. Because unmanned aerial vehicle adopts the heavy current connector usually, consequently, the number of times in plug life-span is lower, can't recycle for a long time, this cost with regard to greatly increased unmanned aerial vehicle. Secondly, a wireless charging system is adopted. Because unmanned aerial vehicle charging current is great, consequently, adopt wireless transmission to need arrange great induction coil at unmanned aerial vehicle end, this has just increased unmanned aerial vehicle dead weight to unmanned aerial vehicle's flight efficiency has been reduced, battery loss cost has been increased.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model aims at providing a practical and reliable unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device and unmanned aerial vehicle.

In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a charging device of an unmanned aerial vehicle, the charging device includes:

a support platform for supporting the drone;

the locking part is used for locking the unmanned aerial vehicle on the supporting platform;

the air blowing device is used for blowing air to the propeller of the unmanned aerial vehicle after the locking part locks the unmanned aerial vehicle on the supporting platform, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can be charged through the rotation of the propeller.

Optionally, the air blowing device includes a plurality of air blowers disposed on the supporting platform, the plurality of air blowers correspond to a plurality of propellers of the unmanned aerial vehicle one to one, and each air blower is used for blowing air to the corresponding propeller.

Optionally, each of the air blowers includes a plurality of air outlet nozzles, and the plurality of air outlet nozzles of each of the air blowers correspond to the plurality of blades of the propeller corresponding to the air blower one to one.

Optionally, each air outlet of the plurality of air outlet openings is spiral, so that the air outlet of each blower forms a vortex.

Optionally, the charging device further comprises:

and the driving device is connected with the supporting platform and used for driving the supporting platform to rotate so as to calibrate the position of the propeller relative to the air blowing device.

The present disclosure also provides an unmanned aerial vehicle, the unmanned aerial vehicle includes:

a cradle by which the drone is locked onto a charging device;

the propeller is used for providing flight power for the unmanned aerial vehicle and converting wind energy into rotational kinetic energy;

the motor is connected with the propeller, the rotation of the propeller drives the motor to rotate, and the motor is used as a generator so that the rotation kinetic energy of the propeller is converted into electric energy;

and the battery is used for storing the electric energy converted by the motor and providing the electric energy to the outside.

Optionally, the drone further comprises:

the circuit switching module is connected with the motor and used for transmitting a first alternating current signal generated by the rotation of the motor to the rectifying module under the condition that the unmanned aerial vehicle is in a charging working condition;

the rectifying module is connected with the circuit switching module and used for converting the first alternating current signal into a first direct current signal used for charging the battery.

Optionally, the drone further comprises:

and the voltage stabilizing module is used for stabilizing the voltage of the first direct current signal and transmitting an electric signal obtained after voltage stabilization to the battery to charge the battery.

Optionally, the drone further comprises:

the battery is connected with the circuit switching module through the inverter module, and the inverter module is used for converting a second direct current signal output by the battery into a second alternating current signal and transmitting the second alternating current signal to the circuit switching module.

Correspondingly, the circuit switching module is also used for transmitting the second alternating current signal output by the inversion module to the motor under the condition that the unmanned aerial vehicle is in the flight working condition, and the motor is used as a motor to drive the propeller to rotate so as to provide flight power for the unmanned aerial vehicle.

Optionally, the propeller rotates under the effect of the blower device, and the unmanned aerial vehicle further includes:

a rotational speed sensor for detecting a rotational speed of blades of the propeller;

and the output module is connected with the rotating speed sensor and used for outputting the rotating speed, and the rotating speed is used for calibrating the position of the propeller relative to the blowing device.

Through above-mentioned technical scheme, unmanned aerial vehicle descends back on charging device's supporting platform, and locking portion can be with its locking. The blower device blows air to the propeller of the unmanned aerial vehicle after the unmanned aerial vehicle is locked by the locking part. Control module in the unmanned aerial vehicle can utilize the rotation of screw to drive the electric energy that the motor rotation produced for unmanned aerial vehicle's battery charges. Like this, saved connector and high-power coil such as charging connector of easy loss, reduced unmanned aerial vehicle dead weight, improved battery utilization efficiency to operation maintenance cost has been reduced.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the detailed description which follows.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the disclosure without limiting the disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a block diagram of a charging device of a drone according to an exemplary embodiment;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a charging device of a drone provided in an exemplary embodiment for charging;

fig. 3 is a block diagram of a drone provided by an exemplary embodiment;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of a drone according to another example embodiment.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description of specific embodiments of the present disclosure is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the present disclosure, are given by way of illustration and explanation only, not limitation.

In the present disclosure, the use of directional words such as "up and down" generally refers to directions relative to the drone when normally flying, without being stated to the contrary.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a charging device of a drone according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the charging device of the drone may include a support platform 11, a locking portion 12, and a blowing device 13.

The support platform 11 is used for supporting the unmanned aerial vehicle. The locking portion 12 is used for locking the unmanned aerial vehicle on the support platform 11. Air blast device 13 is used for locking unmanned aerial vehicle at supporting platform 11 back in locking portion 12, to unmanned aerial vehicle's screw blast air to rotate through the screw and charge for unmanned aerial vehicle.

The charging device of the drone may be set on the ground or on a building. The support platform 11 may provide a landing platform for the drone. The drone may land directly on the support platform 11. For example, the driver may control the drone to land on the support platform 11 via a remote control.

When the unmanned aerial vehicle descends on the supporting platform 11, the driver can control the locking part 12 to lock the unmanned aerial vehicle on the supporting platform 11 through a special remote controller. The locking portion 12 may be implemented as various types of devices capable of locking the drone to the support platform 11 without being fixed, for example, a snap-in type, a limit groove type, or the like. The locking portion may lock the landing gear of the drone to the support platform 11. After locking unmanned aerial vehicle at supporting platform 11, just can not blow unmanned aerial vehicle away from supporting platform 11 because of the blast air of blast air device 13.

The scheme in this disclosure is applicable to the unmanned aerial vehicle that has the screw, and this kind of unmanned aerial vehicle relies on the battery to drive the motor rotatory when flight, and the rotation of motor drives the screw and rotates to promote the air downwards, unmanned aerial vehicle can lift off the flight. After unmanned aerial vehicle fell, air blast device 13 can blast air and make the movable screw rotate to drive the motor and rotate. At this time, the motor of the drone serves as a generator, and kinetic energy of the rotation of the motor is converted into electric energy to be stored in a battery (described in detail below).

The drone in this disclosure may be a multi-rotor drone, i.e., including a plurality of propellers. In a further embodiment, the blowing device 13 may include a plurality of blowers disposed on the supporting platform 11, the plurality of blowers corresponding to the plurality of propellers of the drone one by one, each blower being configured to blow air to the corresponding propeller.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a charging device of a drone provided in an exemplary embodiment for charging. In this embodiment, the charging device includes four blowers 131 disposed on the support platform. The drone 20 comprises four propellers 24, each propeller 24 being provided with four blades 241. The four air blowers 131 correspond to the four propellers 24 of the drone one by one. Screw 24 evenly distributed is around unmanned aerial vehicle, and air-blower 131 is evenly distributed around supporting platform 11 also, and the center of every air-blower 131 all equals with supporting platform 11's distance, all equals the distance in screw 24 center and unmanned aerial vehicle 20 center. Thus, each blower 131 blows air to the corresponding propeller 24, the blowing distance is short, the effect is good, energy is saved, and the charging efficiency is high.

In yet another embodiment, each blower 131 may include a plurality of outlet nozzles, and the plurality of outlet nozzles of each blower 131 correspond to the plurality of blades of the propeller corresponding to the blower in a one-to-one manner. As shown in fig. 2, each blower 131 may include four air outlet nozzles 132, and the four air outlet nozzles 132 of each blower 131 correspond to the four blades 241 of the propeller 24 corresponding to the blower one by one. Like this, every air-out mouth of pipe 132 is used for to a paddle 241 air-out, and the distance of blowing is short, has saved the energy, and charging efficiency is high. The outlet opening 132 may be arranged to be inclined upwards as shown in fig. 2, so that the propeller 24 can be gradually blown up when the distance between the blades 241 and the outlet opening 132 is relatively long.

Each of the plurality of outlet nozzles 132 may have a spiral shape as shown in fig. 2, so that the outlet air of each blower 131 forms a vortex. When the supporting platform 11 is along the horizontal direction, the air outlet direction of the air outlet pipe opening 132 forms an acute angle with the vertical direction, and may be upward or downward. When the propeller 24 is located above the outlet duct 132, the outlet direction may be inclined upward. When the propeller 24 is located below the outlet duct opening 132, the outlet direction may be obliquely downward. Like this, compare for vertical upwards or decurrent direction with air outlet pipe opening 132's air-out direction, spiral air outlet pipe opening 132's air-out direction has the angle of slope, helps forming the vortex, can increase the conversion efficiency that the screw converts wind energy into kinetic energy.

If the position of the propeller is far from the position of the blower when the drone lands on the support platform 11, the blower may require a greater wind force and a longer time to blow the propeller to rotate. At this moment, can set up charging device's supporting platform 11 into rotatable to it is rotatory to drive unmanned aerial vehicle, thereby reaches the effect of adjustment screw position. In this embodiment, the charging device may further include a driving device.

Drive means may be associated with the support platform 11 for driving rotation of the support platform 11 to calibrate the position of the propeller relative to the blower means 13.

When unmanned aerial vehicle was locked on supporting platform 11, supporting platform 11's rotation (around the axis of ordinates) can drive unmanned aerial vehicle's rotation (around the axis of ordinates) to it rotates around unmanned aerial vehicle's center to drive a plurality of screws. The driving device can drive the support platform 11 to rotate when receiving the rotation driving command. The rotation driving instruction may be issued by a user by activating a dedicated switch provided on the charging device. Or the user can send the information by remotely controlling the charging device through a special remote controller. When the propeller 24 is rotated to the position shown in fig. 2, i.e. the distance between the propeller 24 and the blower 131 is small, the support platform 11 can be controlled to stop rotating, and the energy conversion rate is large and the loss is small.

In yet another embodiment, the rotational drive command may also be issued by the charging device when a low rotational speed of the blades is detected. In this embodiment, the charging device may further include a control module. The control module may be connected to the drive device for receiving a rotational speed of the blades of the propeller and sending a rotational drive command if the rotational speed is less than a predetermined rotational speed threshold.

The rotational speed of the paddle of screw can be detected by the rotational speed sensor who sets up in unmanned aerial vehicle and sent control module after obtaining. When the rotating speed of the blades is smaller than a preset rotating speed threshold value, the distance between the air outlet pipe opening of the air blower and the propeller is considered to be too far, the position of the propeller relative to the air blower needs to be calibrated, and the control module can generate and send a rotation driving instruction at the moment. When the rotating speed of the blades is larger than or equal to the preset rotating speed threshold value, the distance between the air outlet pipe opening of the air blower and the propeller is considered to be appropriate, and calibration is not needed. In this embodiment, the charging device is able to automatically calibrate the position of the propeller relative to the blower device 13 according to the rotational speed of the blades, and the accuracy of the control is high.

The present disclosure also provides an unmanned aerial vehicle. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a drone provided in an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the drone 20 may include a mount 21, a battery 22, a motor 23, and a propeller 24.

The drone 20 is locked to the charging device by means of a bracket 21. The propeller 24 is used to provide flight power for the drone and to convert wind energy into rotational kinetic energy. The motor 23 is connected to the propeller 24, and the rotation of the propeller 24 drives the motor 23 to rotate, and the motor 23 functions as a generator, so that the rotational kinetic energy of the propeller 24 is converted into electric energy. The battery is used for storing the electric energy converted by the motor 23 and supplying the electric energy to the outside.

Corresponding with the charging control device of fig. 1, when the unmanned aerial vehicle lands on the supporting platform 11 and the bracket 21 thereof is locked by the locking part, the unmanned aerial vehicle 20 is fixed on the supporting platform. The propeller 24 is blown by the blower device to rotate the motor 23. The kinetic energy of the rotation of the motor 23 is converted into electric energy to be stored in the battery 22.

Through above-mentioned technical scheme, unmanned aerial vehicle descends back on charging device's supporting platform, and locking portion can be with its locking. The blower device blows air to the propeller of the unmanned aerial vehicle after the unmanned aerial vehicle is locked by the locking part. The rotation of screw drives the electric energy that the motor rotation produced and charges for unmanned aerial vehicle's battery. Like this, saved connector and high-power coil such as charging connector of easy loss, reduced unmanned aerial vehicle dead weight, improved battery utilization efficiency to operation maintenance cost has been reduced.

Unmanned aerial vehicle's operating mode can be divided into the operating mode of charging and the operating mode of flying. Under the charging working condition of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the alternating current generated by the rotation of the motor 23 can be converted into direct current to be charged into the battery 22. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a drone according to another example embodiment. As shown in fig. 4, on the basis of fig. 3, the drone 20 may further include a circuit switching module 25 and a rectifying module 26.

The circuit switching module 25 is connected with the motor 23, and is configured to transmit a first alternating current signal generated by rotation of the motor 23 to the rectification module 26 when the unmanned aerial vehicle is in a charging condition. The rectifying module 26 is connected to the circuit switching module 25, and is configured to convert the first ac signal into a first dc signal for charging the battery 22. The circuit switching module 25 may be a routing device for signal transmission. When the first direct current signal is converted, the first direct current signal can be directly input into the battery. In the embodiment, the battery is charged by converting alternating current and direct current signals through the rectifying module, and the method is simple, reliable and high in efficiency.

In another embodiment, the rectified electrical signal may be further regulated and then input to the battery. In the embodiment of fig. 4, the drone may also include a voltage regulation module 27. The rectifying module 26 may be connected to the battery 22 through a voltage stabilizing module 27, and the voltage stabilizing module 27 is configured to stabilize the first direct current signal and transmit the stabilized electric signal to the battery 22 to charge the battery 22.

The rectifying module 26 and the voltage stabilizing module 27 can be integrated, and in this embodiment, the alternating current output by the motor 23 is rectified and stabilized to generate a direct current with a stable voltage, so that the voltage for charging the battery 22 is stable and the charging effect is good.

In the above embodiment, the circuit switching module 25 may be used for electrical signal transmission under the charging condition, and the circuit switching module 25 may also be used for electrical signal transmission under the flying condition. In the embodiment of fig. 4, the drone may also include an inversion module 28. The battery 22 and the circuit switching module 25 are further connected through an inverter module 28, and the inverter module 28 is configured to convert a second direct-current signal output by the battery 22 into a second alternating-current signal and transmit the second alternating-current signal to the circuit switching module 25. Correspondingly, circuit switching module 25 is also used for under the unmanned aerial vehicle is in the condition of flight operating mode, with the second alternating current signal transmission of contravariant module 28 output to motor 23, and motor 23 is used as the motor this moment to drive screw 24 and rotate, provide flight power for unmanned aerial vehicle.

In this embodiment, the circuit switching module 25 may be a router, which transmits electrical signals to different directions under different operating conditions. Under the flight condition, the alternating current signal output by the inverter module 28 is transmitted to the motor 23, and under the charging condition, the electric signal generated by the motor 23 is transmitted to the rectifier module 26 for charging the battery. Like this, through the bidirectional transfer function of circuit switching module 25, realized the smooth switching of the flow direction of the signal of telecommunication of unmanned aerial vehicle under flight operating mode and the operating mode of charging. The structure of the circuit switching module 25 is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

In a further embodiment, the drone is able to detect the speed of rotation of the blades to calibrate the position of the propeller relative to the blowing device according to this speed of rotation. In this embodiment, the propeller is rotated by the blower device. The drone may also include a speed sensor and an output module.

The rotation speed sensor is used for detecting the rotation speed of the blades of the propeller. The output module is connected with a rotation speed sensor and is used for outputting rotation speed, and the rotation speed is used for calibrating the position of the propeller relative to the air blowing device. The speed sensor may be provided on the propeller. The output module may include a display screen or the like. When the output module is a display screen, a user can control the support platform to rotate according to the rotating speed displayed by the display screen. In addition, the output module can also output the rotating speed to a control module of the charging device. When the rotation speed received by the control module is less than the predetermined rotation speed threshold value, a rotation driving instruction can be sent to the driving device to drive the supporting platform to rotate so as to calibrate the position of the propeller relative to the blowing device.

In this embodiment, unmanned aerial vehicle can outwards export the rotational speed of paddle to accurately trigger the calibration of the position of screw, charge for the high efficiency and provide reliable foundation, consequently, reduced the waste of the energy.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details of the above embodiments, and various simple modifications may be made to the technical solution of the present disclosure within the technical idea of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the various features described in the above embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner without departing from the scope of the invention. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, various possible combinations will not be separately described in this disclosure.

In addition, any combination of various embodiments of the present disclosure may be made, and the same should be considered as the disclosure of the present disclosure, as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. The utility model provides an unmanned aerial vehicle's charging device, its characterized in that, charging device includes:

a support platform for supporting the drone;

2. The charging device of claim 1, wherein the blower device comprises a plurality of blowers disposed on the support platform, the plurality of blowers corresponding to a plurality of propellers of the drone, each blower for blowing air to a respective propeller.

3. The charging device of claim 2, wherein each of the air blowers includes a plurality of air outlet nozzles, the plurality of air outlet nozzles of each of the air blowers corresponding to the plurality of blades of the propeller corresponding to the air blower.

4. The charging device of claim 3, wherein each outlet of the plurality of outlets is spiral shaped such that the air from each blower forms a vortex.

5. A charging arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

6. A drone, characterized in that it comprises:

a cradle by which the drone is locked onto a charging device;

7. The drone of claim 6, further comprising:

8. The drone of claim 7, further comprising:

9. The drone of claim 7, further comprising:

the battery is connected with the circuit switching module through the inverter module, the inverter module is used for converting a second direct current signal output by the battery into a second alternating current signal and transmitting the second alternating current signal to the circuit switching module,

10. A drone according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the propeller is rotated by the action of blowing means, the drone further comprising: