JP2014091413A - Launching azimuth control device of air-launching system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a launching azimuth control device of an air-launching system, which can keep an azimuth of a rocket as a preset azimuth without being affected by an air current during descent.SOLUTION: A launching azimuth control device includes: a hollow body 22 that is suspended by a parachute 13 and suspends front and rear sections of a platform 12 by connecting harnesses 16a and 16b, during descent; a fly wheel 24 that is provided in the hollow body 22 and that rotates on a vertical axis 25 during the descent; and an azimuth controller 26 that controls the rotational speed and rotational direction of the fly wheel 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to a launch direction control device for an air launch system that transports a rocket to the sky with a transport aircraft, drops the rocket into the air in the sky, and launches the rocket in the air while descending.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 and Non-Patent Document 1 have already been disclosed as an air launch system that transports a rocket to the sky with a transport aircraft, drops it into the air in the sky, and launches the rocket in the air while descending.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air launch system described in Non-Patent Document 1.
In this figure, 1 is a rocket, 2 is a platform, 3 is a main parachute, and 4 is an auxiliary parachute.

In this aerial launch system, the rocket 1 is fixed to the platform 2 with a blanket 5 and is mounted inside the transport aircraft together with the folded main parachute 3 and auxiliary parachute 4.
When the transport aircraft reaches a predetermined altitude, the rocket 1 and the platform 2 are pulled out from the rear of the transport aircraft with an extraction parachute (not shown in the figure), dropped into the air and lowered. Thereafter, the extraction parachute (not shown in the figure) pulls out and separates the main parachute 3, the main parachute 3 opens, and the descent speed of the rocket 1 and the platform 2 is reduced. FIG. 1 shows this lowered state.

  Next, when the attitude and the falling speed of the rocket 1 are stabilized, the blanket 5 is opened, the rocket 1 is disconnected from the platform 2, the rocket motor of the rocket 1 is ignited, and the rocket 1 is launched in the air. .

JP 2007-83837 A JP 2010-221983

Ken Heindel and Dean Wolf, “PARACHUTE TESTS FOR A MISSILE DESCENT SYSTEM”, AIAA-99-1758

In the aerial launch system described above, a plurality of (four in this figure) main parachutes 3 are connected to the connecting tool 6, and after the main parachute 3 is opened, the front and rear of the platform 2 are suspended from the connecting tool 6 by the connecting harness 7. Be lowered.
However, during the descent after the main parachute 3 is opened, the rocket 1 and the platform 2 perform a pendulum motion around the vicinity of the main parachute 3. In order to attenuate this pendulum movement in a short time, an auxiliary parachute 4 shown in FIG. 1 is used. The auxiliary parachute 4 is not essential and can be omitted.

  On the other hand, in the above-described aerial launch system, the azimuth of the rocket 1 is determined by the flight azimuth of the transport aircraft, and the rocket 1 dropped into the air from the transport aircraft is directed to a predetermined orientation at that time. However, if the direction of the airflow changes while descending in the airflow above, there is a possibility that the direction of the rocket 1 deviates from the preset direction.

  The present invention has been developed to solve the above-described problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a launching direction control device for an aerial launching system that can maintain the orientation of a rocket in a preset orientation without being affected by airflow during descent.

According to the present invention, there is provided a launching direction control device for an aerial launch system in which a rocket is fixed to a platform and mounted in a transport aircraft together with a parachute, and the rocket and the platform are pulled out from the transporter with a parachute and dropped into the air to descend. And
A hollow body that is suspended by a parachute and suspended by a connecting harness during the descent;
A flywheel provided in the hollow body and rotating around a vertical axis when descending;
There is provided a launch direction control device for an air launch system, comprising an orientation controller that controls a rotation speed and a direction of rotation of a flywheel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the flywheel is
A rotating body that is rotatable about the vertical axis and configured symmetrically with respect to the vertical axis;
A plurality of forward-rotating nozzles and reverse-rotating nozzles that are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body, inject gas in the circumferential direction, and rotate the rotating body forward or backward;
A gas generator containing the propellant and generating the gas;
And a switching valve that supplies the gas by switching to a normal rotation nozzle or a reverse rotation nozzle.

  The azimuth controller receives the current azimuth detected by the azimuth detector mounted on the rocket, and the gas generator and the switching valve inject the injection direction so that the current azimuth matches a preset setting azimuth. To control.

The rocket is fixed to the platform and is pulled out of the transport aircraft with the rocket with a parachute,
It is preferable that the hollow main body suspends the front and rear of the rocket by suspending the front and rear of the platform with a connection harness.

According to the configuration of the present invention, since the flywheel rotates around the vertical axis in the hollow body when descending, the torque in the direction opposite to the rotation direction acts on the hollow body and is suspended from the hollow body. The orientation of the rocket and platform can be changed.
In addition, by controlling the rotational speed and direction of the flywheel with the azimuth controller, the rocket azimuth can be maintained at a preset azimuth without being affected by the airflow during the descent.

It is a figure which shows the descent | fall state in the conventional air launch system. It is a figure which shows the descent | fall state in the air launch system provided with the launch direction control apparatus by this invention. It is the top view of FIG. 2 which looked at the flywheel from upper direction.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a descending state in the air launch system including the launch direction control device 20 according to the present invention.
In this figure, 11 is a rocket, 12 is a platform, 13 is a parachute, 15 is a blanket, 16 is a connector, and 17 is a hanging harness.
In this aerial launch system, the rocket 11 is mounted inside the transport aircraft together with the parachute 13, and the rocket 11 is pulled out of the transport aircraft with the parachute and dropped into the air to be lowered. More preferably, the rocket 11 is fixed to the platform 12 by the blanket 15 and mounted inside the transport aircraft together with the parachute 13, and the rocket 11 and the platform 12 are pulled out from the transport aircraft by the extraction parachute (not shown in the drawing) and are in the air. It is designed to drop and drop.

The rocket 11 is equipped with a rocket motor 11a and an electronic device 11b for flight, and injects gas from an injection nozzle 11c provided at the lower end in the drawing to fly in the axial direction.
The electronic device 11b for flight has an orientation detector, can detect the orientation of the rocket 11 and transmit the orientation data to the orientation controller 26 (described later). This transmission is performed by wireless communication or a preset communication line.

  The blanket 15 fixes the rocket 11 to the platform 12 and opens the blanket 15 when the posture and the falling speed of the rocket 11 are stabilized. This opening can be activated by a command signal from the ground, the electronic device 11b or the direction controller 26, or a preset timer, but may be activated by a command signal from an aircraft or the ground.

  The rocket 11 separated from the platform 12 then ignites the rocket motor 11a of the rocket 11 to launch the rocket 11 in the air. This ignition can also be activated by a command signal from the ground, the electronic device 11b or the direction controller 26, or a preset timer.

  In FIG. 2, the platform 12 is an elongated member configured to be able to fix the rocket 11 along its lower surface, and the length direction of the platform 12 coincides with the axial direction of the rocket 11.

  In FIG. 2, the launch direction control device 20 according to the present invention includes a hollow body 22, a flywheel 24, and an orientation controller 26.

The hollow body 22 is suspended by the parachute 13 during the descent, and the front and rear of the platform 12 are suspended by the connection harnesses 16a and 16b, respectively, and the front and rear of the rocket 11 are suspended by the connection harnesses 16a and 16b via the platform 12. It is like that.
The hollow main body 22 has a large opening and discharges gas generated inside to the outside. Further, the entire area of the opening is set sufficiently large so that the position and posture of the hollow body 22 do not change due to the reaction force of the gas released from the hollow body 22.
In addition, the connection harnesses 16a and 16b may suspend the front and back of the rocket 11 directly.

In this example, the upper portion of the hollow body 22 is suspended from the lower end of the connector 16 via the suspension harness 17. The connector 16 is preferably more returnable so that the hollow body 22 can freely rotate about the vertical axis with respect to the parachute 13 and the suspension harness 17 is not twisted. The connecting tool 16 (returned) is not limited to one, and a plurality of connecting tools 16 may be used in series.
The lengths of the connecting harnesses 16a and 16b that suspend the front and rear of the platform 12 are set so that the vertical angle of the rocket 11 becomes a predetermined angle (for example, 30 to 60 °) when lowered.

The flywheel 24 is provided in the hollow main body 22 and rotates around the vertical shaft 25 when lowered.
In this example, the azimuth controller 26 is provided outside the hollow body 22 and controls the rotational speed and direction of the flywheel 24. The direction controller 26 may be provided in the rocket 11.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2 when the flywheel 24 is viewed from above.
In this figure, the flywheel 24 includes a rotating body 30, a plurality of forward rotation nozzles 32 a and reverse rotation nozzles 32 b, a gas generator 34, and a switching valve 36.
The rotating body 30 is rotatable about the vertical axis 25 when lowered, and is configured symmetrically with respect to the vertical axis 25. The bearing that rotatably supports the vertical shaft 25 may be a magnetic bearing, an air bearing, or a bearing bearing having a small rotational resistance.

A plurality of (three sets in this figure) forward rotation nozzles 32a and reverse rotation nozzles 32b are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 30 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the rotating body 30 is rotated forward by injecting gas in the circumferential direction. Or it is made to reversely rotate.
The gas generator 34 contains a propellant inside and generates gas by ignition. In this example, three gas generators 34 are provided, one for each of the pair of forward rotation nozzles 32a and the reverse rotation nozzle 32b, but may be one as a whole.

  The switching valve 36 supplies the gas generated by the gas generator 34 while switching to the forward rotation nozzle 32a or the reverse rotation nozzle 32b. In this example, three switching valves 36 are provided, one for each of the pair of forward rotation nozzles 32a and the reverse rotation nozzle 32b, but may be one in total.

With the configuration described above, the rotating body 30 (and the forward rotation nozzle 32a, the reverse rotation nozzle 32b, the gas generator 34, and the switching valve 36) is rotated at a high speed (for example, 5000 to 10000 RPM) by injection of gas generated from the propellant. Therefore, the flywheel 24 can be reduced in size with respect to the required torque.
In addition, this invention is not limited to this structure, For example, you may rotate the rotary body 30 with an electric motor (motor).

In FIG. 3, the hollow main body 22 is provided with a rotation sensor 38 that detects the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the rotating body 30. Data detected by the rotation sensor 38 is input to the direction controller 26.
The azimuth controller 26 includes a receiving device capable of communicating with the flight electronic device 11b mounted on the rocket 11, receives the current azimuth detected by the azimuth detector mounted on the rocket 11, and receives the current azimuth. It is also possible to control the gas generation amount by the gas generator 34 and the injection direction by the switching valve 36 so as to coincide with a preset setting direction.

According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the flywheel 24 rotates around the vertical axis 25 in the hollow main body 22 when descending, and thus torque in the direction opposite to the rotation direction acts on the hollow main body 22, The orientations of the rocket 11 and the platform 12 suspended on 22 can be changed.
Further, by controlling the rotational speed and direction of the flywheel 24 by the direction controller 26, the direction of the rocket 11 can be maintained at a preset direction without being influenced by the air flow during the descent.

  Furthermore, since the flywheel 24 is rotated by jetting gas generated from the propellant, high-speed rotation (for example, 5000 to 10000 RPM) is possible, and the flywheel 24 can be reduced in size with respect to necessary torque. So it is easy to install on an aircraft.

Therefore, a small launching direction control device 20 that does not use an electric motor (motor) or a large flywheel can be configured, and the launching direction of the rocket 11 can be set to a preset orientation or an arbitrary orientation.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the rocket 11 from being launched in an unfavorable direction, and it is possible to eliminate the need to consume (waste) the rocket propellant after the ignition of the rocket motor 11a and change the flight direction. .

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, is shown by description of a claim, and also includes all the changes within the meaning and range equivalent to description of a claim.

11 rockets, 11a rocket motors,
11b electronic equipment for flight, 11c injection nozzle,
12 platforms, 13 parachutes,
15 blankets, 16 couplings,
16a, 16b connection harness, 17 suspension harness,
20 launch direction control device, 22 hollow body,
24 flywheel, 25 vertical axis, 26 bearing controller,
30 Rotating body, 32a Forward rotating nozzle, 32b Reverse rotating nozzle,
34 gas generator, 36 selector valve, 38 rotation sensor

Claims (4)

A launch direction control device for an aerial launch system in which a rocket is mounted inside a transport aircraft together with a parachute, the rocket is pulled out of the transport aircraft with a parachute, dropped into the air, and lowered,
A hollow body that is suspended by a parachute and suspended by a connecting harness during descent,
A flywheel provided in the hollow body and rotating around a vertical axis when descending;
A launching direction control device for an air launching system, comprising: an orientation controller that controls a rotational speed and a rotational direction of a flywheel. The flywheel is
A rotating body that is rotatable about the vertical axis and configured symmetrically with respect to the vertical axis;
A plurality of forward-rotating nozzles and reverse-rotating nozzles that are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body, inject gas in the circumferential direction, and rotate the rotating body forward or backward;
A gas generator containing the propellant and generating the gas;
The launch direction control device for an air launch system according to claim 1, further comprising a switching valve that switches the gas to a forward rotation nozzle or a reverse rotation nozzle and supplies the gas.   The azimuth controller receives the current azimuth detected by the azimuth detector mounted on the rocket, and controls the injection direction by the gas generator and the switching valve so that the current azimuth matches the preset setting azimuth. The launch direction control device for an aerial launch system according to claim 2, wherein: The rocket is fixed to the platform and is pulled out of the transport aircraft with the platform with a parachute,
The launch direction control device for an aerial launch system according to claim 1, wherein the hollow body suspends the front and rear of the rocket by suspending the front and rear of the platform with a connection harness.

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