Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
  • H01Q15/00—Devices for reflection, refraction, diffraction or polarisation of waves radiated from an antenna, e.g. quasi-optical devices
  • H01Q15/14—Reflecting surfaces; Equivalent structures
  • H01Q15/16—Reflecting surfaces; Equivalent structures curved in two dimensions, e.g. paraboloidal
  • H01Q15/161—Collapsible reflectors
  • H01Q15/162—Collapsible reflectors composed of a plurality of rigid panels
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/222—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles for deploying structures between a stowed and deployed state
  • B64G1/2221—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles for deploying structures between a stowed and deployed state characterised by the manner of deployment
  • B64G1/2222—Folding
  • B64G1/2224—Folding about multiple axes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09F—DISPLAYING; ADVERTISING; SIGNS; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; SEALS
  • G09F15/00—Boards, hoardings, pillars, or like structures for notices, placards, posters, or the like
  • G09F15/0068—Modular articulated structures, e.g. stands, and articulation means therefor
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
  • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
  • H01Q1/08—Means for collapsing antennas or parts thereof
  • H01Q1/084—Pivotable antennas
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/42—Arrangements or adaptations of power supply systems
  • B64G1/44—Arrangements or adaptations of power supply systems using radiation, e.g. deployable solar arrays
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/52—Protection, safety or emergency devices; Survival aids
  • B64G1/54—Protection against radiation
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
  • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
  • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
  • B64G1/66—Arrangements or adaptations of apparatus or instruments, not otherwise provided for

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a deployable articulated structure.
• a deployable articulated structure can find many applications. For example to deploy remotely a canvas or the like, for the purpose of protection or dissemination of information.
• a deployable articulated structure according to the invention will find, without limitation, a particular application in the field of space, whether to deploy sun shields for satellite protection, or satellite dishes for satellite, or photovoltaic solar panels.
• Another application can be found in the field of road signs, to allow to deploy, in emergencies, and remotely, large signs or information.
• the satellite dish antennas must be able to be folded and stored in a small space during the launching of the satellite, and then be able to be deployed once said satellite is in orbit.
• Many types of deployable parabolic antenna are known, which differ essentially in the technology used to allow the parabola to be deployed and folded. Thus these parables include in most cases, a deployable structure in the manner of an umbrella or a fan, or they are sometimes inflatable.
• Such satellite dishes obviously have an uneven parabolic surface which may be detrimental to the use made of them.
• Articulated deployable structures are already known, of the type comprising a set of segments abutted two by two through articulation means, and shaped in a loop, each said articulation means having two joints on each of which articulates a segment. These structures have disadvantages, on the one hand the multiplication of the axes of articulation harms the rigidity of the assembly, and on the other hand they are not intended to deploy automatically.
• the present invention aims to provide a deployable articulated structure used in the construction of a deployable parabolic antenna, and to overcome the various aforementioned drawbacks.
• the present invention is not limited to the space domain, but may find utility in all areas requiring the deployment of a web or the like.
• the articulated deployable structure consists of the assembly of articulated elements in pairs through hinge means, and it is essentially characterized in that each of said elements has at each of its ends a joint allowing connecting the end of another element through a hinge axis, all the pivot axes of said hinges being constructed so that said structure can take two extreme positions, namely an extended position where said elements are two to two more or less in the extension of one another to form an ellipse, and a folded position where said elements are grouped against each other substantially parallel to each other; and in that said elements and said hinges are associated on the one hand with means for controlling the deployment of said elements, and on the other hand with assistance means able to ensure simultaneity of the deployment or folding of said elements.
• the pivot axes of said hinges are arranged so that for each of the elements constituting the structure, the two pivot axes that it comprises, one at each end, s' extend in parallel planes, perpendicular to the main axis of said element.
• said two axes of each of said elements being offset angularly with respect to said main axis, and the sum of all the angular offsets of all said elements is equal to 360 °.
• some offsets may be nil, while others may be negative.
• the elements that compose it are all of the same length, and the offsets are all of the same value.
• the elements consist of tubes inside which pass cables which constitute the control means and the assistance means.
• the joints consist of clevises on whose axes are mounted pulleys in which the cables pass.
• the control means consist of a cable which travels the entire structure passing over a pulley at each of the joints.
• each of the axes of the articulations comprises, axially threaded, pulleys in free rotation, which constitute guides for the cables which pass through the elements
• each of the joints comprises two cable guide means constituting the assistance means, each disposed integral with one end of the connected elements and offset transversely to said axes of the joints; and in that said cables constituting the assistance means are two in number per pair of successive articulations, that on the one hand one passes on the pulley of a first articulation of the outer side in cooperation with said guide means, and on the pulley of the second hinge on the inner side, so that its winding on the pulley of the first hinge is minimum, and at most on the pulley of the second hinge in folded position, and vice versa in the
• the deployable articulated structure according to the invention because of the simplicity of its construction and the ease of its handling, makes it possible to consider using it in many applications, and particularly, but not exclusively in the space field.
• the elements that make up the structure are in the form of bar or tube, they can serve as winding shafts to flexible panels interconnected by their free end, and during deployment of the structure, the unfolding of these panels and their juxtaposition results in the formation of a surface to the dimensions of the structure.
• the panels are not stored folded, so there is no need for the structure to exert a strong tension to eliminate storage folds.
• This technology is not limited to the manufacture of an antenna, it can also make it possible to make a photovoltaic sensor. Indeed, there are flexible solar panels, but they can not be folded, by cons they can be rolled.
• a panel consisting of the combination of several parts, each wound on a mandrel, can thus be envisaged, each of the mandrels being secured to the elements of a deployable structure, and said parts being secured to each other by their free end, minus two to two, so that the deployment of said structure causes the unwinding of said parts until the constitution of a panel.
• Such a configuration can be applied to all existing deployable structures, even for an open deployable structure, however the application to a deployable structure according to the invention has many advantages.
• each of the elements that compose it can be shaped into a winding mandrel, so as to be able to receive a piece of flexible or semi-rigid material, which can be partly to be wound on said element when the structure is folded, and secondly to be unwound when said structure is deployed, being connected to at least one other room vis-à-vis, so to constitute with the others parts, a panel extending inside said structure.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a deployable articulated structure according to the invention, in the intermediate position.
• FIG. 3 shows a partial schematic perspective view of another part of the same structure.
• FIG. 4 shows a partial schematic perspective view of another part of the same structure.
• FIG. 5a, 5b and 5c show partial views in sections, of a part of the same structure in different configurations of use.
• FIG. 7 shows a partial sectional view of the same part of the same structure in a particular configuration.
• Figure 8 shows a partial sectional view of another part of the same structure in the same particular configuration.
• Figures 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d show schematic perspective views of another structure according to the invention, in a particular application and in successive positions of a deployment.
• Figure 10 shows a schematic perspective view of a variant of the same structure, in the deployed position.
• Figure 11 shows a schematic perspective view of a portion of the same structure.
• a deployable articulated structure 1 consisting of the assembly of tubes 2 articulated in pairs by means of joints 3 and 4.
• joints 3 and 4 which respectively represent the joints 3 and 4
• the latter each consist of two yokes 30 and 31, respectively 40 and 41, each secured to a tube 2 and joined by a shaft 32, respectively 42, of axis X, respectively Y.
• the X and Y axes of articulation of a tube 2 on the two neighboring tubes 2 are in parallel planes but angularly offset by relative to the main axis of the tube 2, the offset being in the present case an angle of a value equal to 360 ° divided by the number of joints 3 and 4, or tubes 2, in this case twelve , an angle of 30 °.
• the articulated deployable structure 1 can take two extreme positions, one where all the joints 3 and 4 are folded to the maximum and the tubes 2 are attached to one another and are all substantially parallel to each other, and another where all the joints are deployed to the maximum, the tubes 2 then being in the extension of each other to form a polygon.
• the X axes are radial and arranged in the same plane, while the Y axes are also radial and arranged in another same plane.
• joints 3 and 4 moreover have freely rotatable pulleys, respectively, 33 and 43, threaded on the shafts, respectively 32 and 42, these pulleys being three in number by articulation. .
• the pulleys 33 and 43 constitute guides for three cables which pass through the tubes 2, and which constitute means of maneuvering the deployable articulated structure 1. It will be noted that in these figures 5a, 5b, 5c, 6a, 6b, 6c, 7 and
• joints 3 and 4 are shown in section in the same plane, perpendicular to their axis X and Y of pivoting.
• FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c show three different configurations, namely, respectively, folded, partially deployed and deployed.
• FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c also show a cable 5 passing through the tube 2 as well as the two joints 3 and 4 passing over the pulleys 33 and 43, the ends 50 and 51 of which are fixed beyond the joints, respectively 3 and 4.
• the hinge 3 must open at an angle less than that which must open the hinge 4, also to compensate this difference the pulleys 33 and 43 are of different radii, whose ratio is inversely proportional to the ratio of said angles.
• the cable 5 passes on the pulley 33 on the outer side, and on the pulley 43 on the inner side, so that its winding on the pulley 33 is minimum, and at most on the pulley 43 in the folded position, and vice versa in the deployed position.
• the hinge 3 internally has at each of its articulated parts a guide, respectively 34 and 35, over which the cable 5 passes.
• FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c also show that the deployable articulated structure 1 according to the invention comprises a second cable 6 which passes through the tube 2 as well as the two joints 3 and 4 while passing over the pulleys 33 and 43, and whose ends 60 and 61 are fixed beyond the joints, respectively 3 and 4.
• the cable 6 passes on the pulley 33 on the inner side, and on the pulley 43 on the outer side, so that its winding on the pulley 33 is maximum, and at least on the pulley 43 in the folded position, and vice versa in the deployed position.
• the hinge 4 has internally to each of its hinged portions a guide, respectively 44 and 45, which passes the cable 6. It will be understood that the deployment of the hinge 4 causes, under the effect of the traction exerted by the cable 6, the deployment of the articulation 3, and that inversely the folding of the articulation 3 causes the folding of the articulation 4.
• the structure 1 thus comprises several cables 5, one per pair of joints 3 and 4, and several cables 6, one per pair of joints 3 and 4, these cables 5 and 6 make it possible to obtain simultaneity of the folding movements and deployment.
• the deployable articulated structure 1 comprises a third cable 7, which traverses the entire structure 1, one end 70 of which is fixed at one end in a tube 2 while the other end 71 exits the same tube 2 through an orifice 20, visible in Figure 8.
• the cable 7 passes on the pulleys 33 and 43, on the inner side that is to say that its winding is maximum in folded position. It will be understood that thus a traction T, external to the structure 1, causes the deployment of the latter, while the maintenance of the cable 7 under tension ensures the rigidity of the assembly.
• a fabric In an application to the realization of a satellite dish, a fabric is fixed by its edge to the elements that make up the structure 1, so that the deployment of the latter ensures the deployment of the fabric.
• mistletoe differs only in that the number of tube 2 is six and not twelve.
• the tubes 2 are assembled by means of articulation 3 and 4, and are also traversed by cables not shown.
• Each of the tubes 2 is equipped with a housing device 21, in the form of a tube threaded onto the tube 2, and provided with a longitudinal slot 22 through which a piece 8 of flexible material passes, which is capable of to be wound on the tube 2, inside the housing 21.
• the parts 8 are triangular in shape, so that their juxtaposition can reproduce the inner shape of the structure 1 deployed.
• the free end points 80 of the parts 8 are interconnected by means of a link 81 shown only in FIG. 9d.
• the links 81 the parts 8 are unwound to form a panel 82, of course the dimensions of the parts 8 are chosen so as to have a certain tension in the deployed position, knowing that each piece 8 is provided with stop means, not shown, consisting of means for securing either the tube 2 or the housing 21.
• each of the parts 8 is secured to a sleeve threaded on a tube 2 and in free rotation of it.
• the parts 8 can be secured to the tubes 2 through resilient return means capable of promoting the winding of the parts 8 on the tubes 2, which return means can contribute to the folding of the structure 1.
• the parts 8 of flexible material may be of different natures depending on the application for which the structure is intended.
• an occultation screen it may be a simple opaque canvas, in the case of a solar panel it may be a canvas provided with photovoltaic sensors, and in the case of an antenna it may be a canvas provided with reflective elements.
• FIG. 10 it is possible to see a deployed structure 1, equipped with parts 8 of flexible material, sufficiently flexible to be able to be rolled up, or semi-rigid, which form a panel 82 having a concave shape, namely a parabola .
• the shape of this panel 82 is obtained through the characteristics of the parts 8 that compose it, and one of which is shown in FIG.
• each of the parts 8 is preformed and has at rest a certain concavity, materialized by two curved axes V and W.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• Remote Sensing (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Aerials With Secondary Devices (AREA)
• Details Of Aerials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

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• 2009
  • 2009-03-04 FR FR0951353A patent/FR2932709A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-06-17 EP EP09766016A patent/EP2301112A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-06-17 WO PCT/FR2009/000723 patent/WO2009153454A2/fr active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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