JP2014091414A - Attitude stabilization device of air-launching system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an attitude stabilization 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: An attitude stabilization device of an air-launching system includes: a hollow body 22 that is suspended by a parachute 13 and fixed to a platform 12, during descent; a fly wheel 24 that is provided in the hollow body 22 and that rotates on a rotation axis 25 parallel to a central axis of a rocket 11 during the descent; and an attitude controller 26 that controls a rotation starting time point of the fly wheel 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to an attitude stabilization 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 an attitude stabilization device for an aerial launch system capable of maintaining a rocket orientation in a preset orientation without being affected by an air current during descent.

According to the present invention, there is provided an attitude stabilization 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 of the transport aircraft with a parachute and dropped into the air to descend. ,
A hollow body suspended by a parachute and secured to the platform during the descent;
A flywheel that is provided in the hollow body and rotates around a rotation axis parallel to the center axis of the rocket when descending;
There is provided an attitude stabilization device for an air launch system, comprising: an attitude controller that controls a rotation start time of a flywheel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the flywheel is
A rotating body that is rotatable about the rotation axis and configured symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis;
A plurality of injection nozzles that are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body and inject gas in the circumferential direction to rotate the rotating body;
A gas generator containing the propellant and generating the gas;
An ignition device for igniting the propellant.

  The attitude controller receives the current direction detected by the direction detector mounted on the rocket, and ignites the propellant by the ignition device after the current direction matches a preset set direction.

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the flywheel rotates around the rotation axis parallel to the center axis of the rocket in the hollow body when descending, so that torque in the direction opposite to the rotation direction acts on the hollow body. Since the hollow body is fixed to the upper part of the platform, rotation (roll) around the rotation axis of the rocket can be automatically prevented by the weight of the rocket and the platform.
On the other hand, the flywheel maintains the rotational axis direction by its gyro rigidity.
Therefore, by controlling the flywheel rotation start time by the attitude controller, the rocket heading can be maintained at a preset heading without being influenced by the airflow during the descent after the start of rotation.

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 attitude | position stabilizer by this invention. It is the figure which looked at the flywheel of FIG. 2 from the rotating shaft 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 diagram showing a lowered state in the air launch system including the attitude stabilizing 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 fixed to the platform 12 by a blanket 15 and mounted inside the transport aircraft together with the parachute 13, and the rocket 11 and the platform 12 are pulled out of the transport aircraft by an extraction parachute (not shown in the figure). It is designed to drop by dropping into the air.

The rocket 11 is equipped with a rocket motor 11a containing propellant and an electronic device 11b for flight, and injects gas from an injection nozzle 11c provided at the lower end in the figure and flies in the axial direction. Yes.
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 attitude 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 may be operated by a command signal from the aircraft, the ground, the electronic device 11b or the attitude controller 26, or a preset timer.

  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 aircraft, the ground, the electronic device 11b or the attitude 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 posture stabilization device 20 according to the present invention includes a hollow main body 22, a flywheel 24, and a posture controller 26.

The hollow body 22 is suspended by the parachute 13 and is directly fixed to the platform 12 during the lowering. The hollow main body 22 and the platform 12 may be configured integrally. The hollow body 22 is preferably directly fixed to the upper part of the platform 12.
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 this example, the upper portion of the hollow body 22 is suspended from the lower end of the connector 16 via the connection harnesses 16a and 16b. 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 connection tool 16 (returned) is not limited to one, and a plurality may be used in series.
The lengths of the connecting harnesses 16a and 16b that suspend the upper and lower ends of the hollow body 22 are set so that the vertical angle of the rocket 11 is a predetermined angle (for example, 30 to 60 °) when lowered.

The flywheel 24 is provided in the hollow main body 22 and rotates around a rotation shaft 25 parallel to the center axis of the rocket 11 when lowered.
In this example, the attitude controller 26 is provided outside the hollow main body 22 and controls the rotation start time of the flywheel 24.
The rotation start time is preferably the time after the pendulum motion of the rocket 11 and the platform 12 around the parachute 13 is attenuated.

FIG. 3 is a view of the flywheel of FIG. 2 as viewed from the direction of the rotation axis.
In this figure, the flywheel 24 has a rotating body 30, a plurality of injection nozzles 32, a gas generator 34, and an ignition device 36.
The rotating body 30 can rotate around the rotating shaft 25 when lowered, and is configured symmetrically with respect to the rotating shaft 25. The bearing that rotatably supports the rotating shaft 25 may be a magnetic bearing, an air bearing, or a bearing bearing having a small rotational resistance.

A plurality (four sets in this figure) of the injection nozzles 32 are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body 30 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and jets gas in the circumferential direction to rotate the rotating body 30. This direction of rotation may be clockwise or counterclockwise.
The gas generator 34 contains a propellant inside and generates gas by ignition. In this example, the gas generator 34 is built in the rotating body 30.

The ignition device 36 ignites the propellant in the gas generator 34. In this drawing, the ignition device 36 is shown outside the rotating body 30, but may be set inside the rotating body 30.
The attitude controller 26 receives the current azimuth detected by the azimuth detector mounted on the rocket 11, and after the current azimuth matches a preset setting azimuth, the ignition device 36 (described later) ignites the propellant. To do.

With the above-described configuration, the rotating body 30 can be rotated at high speed (for example, 5000 to 10000 RPM) by injection of gas generated from the propellant, and the flywheel 24 can be reduced in size with respect to necessary 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).

According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the flywheel 24 rotates around the rotary shaft 25 parallel to the central axis of the rocket 11 in the hollow main body 22 when descending, so that the torque in the direction opposite to the rotational direction is hollow. Although acting on the main body 22, since the hollow main body 22 is fixed to the upper part of the platform 12, rotation (roll) around the rotation axis of the rocket 11 can be automatically prevented by the weight of the rocket 11 and the platform 12. it can.
On the other hand, the flywheel 24 maintains the rotation axis direction by its gyro rigidity.
Therefore, by controlling the rotation start time of the flywheel 24 by the attitude controller 26, the rocket 11 can be maintained in a predetermined direction without being affected by the air flow during the descent after the rotation starts. .

  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.

  Accordingly, the launch direction of the rocket 11 can be adjusted to a preset direction, and the launch of the rocket 11 in an unfavorable direction can be prevented in advance, and the rocket propellant is consumed after the rocket motor 11a is ignited ( It is possible to eliminate the need to 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 posture stabilizer, 22 hollow body,
24 flywheel, 25 rotation axis, 26 attitude controller,
30 rotating body, 32 injection nozzle,
34 Gas generator, 36 Ignition device

Claims (3)

An attitude stabilization device for an aerial launch system in which a rocket is fixed to a platform, mounted inside a transport aircraft together with a parachute, the rocket and the platform are pulled out from the transport aircraft with a parachute, dropped into the air, and lowered.
A hollow body suspended by a parachute and secured to the platform during the descent;
A flywheel that is provided in the hollow body and rotates around a rotation axis parallel to the center axis of the rocket when descending;
An attitude control device for an air launch system, comprising: an attitude controller that controls a rotation start time of a flywheel. The flywheel is
A rotating body that is rotatable about the rotation axis and configured symmetrically with respect to the rotation axis;
A plurality of injection nozzles that are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral portion of the rotating body and inject gas in the circumferential direction to rotate the rotating body;
A gas generator containing the propellant and generating the gas;
The attitude stabilization device for an air launch system according to claim 1, further comprising: an ignition device that ignites the propellant.   The attitude controller receives a current bearing detected by a bearing detector mounted on a rocket, and ignites a propellant by an ignition device after the current bearing matches a preset setting bearing. The attitude stabilization device for an air launch system according to claim 2.

Images