JP2019182390A - Flight body - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a flight body which is improved in flight efficiency.SOLUTION: The present invention particularly relates to a flight body which has a mount part on which a baggage or the like can be mounted. The flight body comprises: a lift generation part; an arm part for holding the lift generation part; a mount part provided on the arm part and positioned on a rear side of a centroid of the flight body; and maintaining means for maintaining an orientation of the flight body to a horizontal orientation. The mount part has a connection part for maintaining an orientation of a mount object to at least a horizontal orientation, and the maintaining means comprises a counter weight provided on a front side of the centroid of the flight body in a cross direction and a movement mechanism for moving the counter weight in a direction of a prescribed angle to the arm part. With this configuration, entry of the baggage to a rear flow region generated by a propeller can be prevented, thereby improving a flight efficiency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an aircraft, and more particularly to an aircraft having a mounting portion on which a luggage or the like can be mounted.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, attempts have been made to deliver packages using flying bodies (hereinafter collectively referred to as “flying bodies”) such as drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Patent Document 1 discloses a delivery system using a flying object (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The delivery system forms a shipping inventory for delivering packages to be delivered by a flying body (drone) autonomously to a delivery destination.

US Patent Publication No. 2015-0120094 A1

  The flying body of Patent Document 1 may have a problem that the flight efficiency is lowered particularly when moving forward with a load.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a flying object that can improve flight efficiency.

  A flying object according to the present invention includes a lift generating part, an arm part for holding the lift generating part, a mounting part provided in the arm part, a mounting part located behind the center of gravity of the flying object, and the flying object. Maintaining means for maintaining the orientation of the mounting object at least horizontally, and the mounting portion has a connecting part for maintaining the orientation of the mounting object at least horizontally, and the maintaining means is in the front-rear direction rather than the center of gravity of the flying object. A counterweight provided in front and a moving mechanism capable of moving the counterweight in a direction at a predetermined angle with respect to the arm portion. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the load from entering the wake area generated from the propeller, and to improve the flight efficiency.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the flight body which can improve flight efficiency can be provided.

It is a schematic diagram showing the state (A) of the flying body when the conventional flying body rises and the state (B) of the flying body when traveling. It is a figure showing the state at the time of the raising of the flying body and hovering by this Embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the flying body of Drawing 2 from the upper part. It is a figure showing the state at the time of advance of the flying body of FIG. It is a figure showing the state at the time of the descent | fall of the flying body of FIG. It is another figure showing the state at the time of the descent | fall of the flying body of FIG. It is a figure showing the state after the flying body of FIG. It is a general functional block diagram of a flying object.

The contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described. An aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
An aircraft that can travel at least in the longitudinal direction,
A lift generator,
An arm portion for holding the lift generating portion;
A mounting portion provided in the arm portion, the mounting portion located behind the center of gravity of the flying object;
Maintaining means for maintaining the orientation of the flying body at least horizontally,
The mounting part has a connection part for maintaining the orientation of the mounting object at least horizontally,
The maintaining means includes a counterweight provided in front of the center of gravity of the flying object in the front-rear direction, and a moving mechanism capable of moving the counterweight in a direction at a predetermined angle with respect to the arm portion.
Flying body.
[Item 2]
The aircraft according to item 1, wherein
The lift generation unit is a plurality of rotor blades that generate a wake, and a wake region is generated by the rotor during flight of the flying object,
The mounting portion is positioned on the arm portion so that the mounting target is outside the wake region when the flying object travels.
Flying body.
[Item 3]
Item 1 or Item 2 is a flying object according to any one of the items,
The counterweight is a battery of the aircraft.
Flying body.
[Item 4]
The aircraft according to item 1, wherein
The mounting part is a flying object having a damper.
[Item 5]
The flying object according to any one of Items 1 to 4,
When the flying object moves at least in the front-rear direction, the number of rotations of the rotor blades rearward in the traveling direction is made larger than the number of rotations of the rotor blades forward in the traveling direction. Control,
Flying body.
[Item 6]
The flying object according to item 5,
The mounting portion is provided at a position where the rotating blade and the mounting object do not overlap when viewed from above the rotating blade.
Flying body.
[Item 7]
The flying object according to any one of Items 1 to 6,
The connecting portion connects the mounting portion so as to be movable only in the front-rear direction.
Flying body.

<Details of the embodiment>
Hereinafter, an aircraft according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Background>
A conventional flying object used in a delivery system is not a flying object that can cope with an updraft generated in a high-rise building or the like. Currently, a flying vehicle called a delivery vehicle is a flying vehicle that is converted from a general flying vehicle used for aerial shooting aircraft or the like as a delivery vehicle. When a general flying object is converted to a delivery vehicle, the following technical problems occur.

  A typical flying object is tilted by the wind. When diverting a general aircraft to a delivery vehicle, it is necessary to quickly deliver the package from the departure place to the destination while maintaining the position of the package immediately before delivery. This is because, as the flying object tilts, the cargo delivered by the flying object also inevitably tilts.

  A general flying object is easily inclined by the wind. In addition, it is necessary to incline to move forward. If the package delivered by the aircraft tilts even for a moment, the commercial value of the package is lost. In particular, when the package delivered by the flying object is a food containing liquid such as home delivery pizza, delivery, western confectionery, beverage, etc., the business loss due to the inclination of the flying object is large. The same is true if the aircraft delivers home goods.

  Further, at the timing just before a general flying object lands on the destination, the flying object may be tilted by an air current generated in a high-rise building or the like. A general air vehicle that is tilted by an air current first brings one leg of the air vehicle into contact with a destination. After that, the aircraft must bring the other leg on one side into contact with the destination. From the time when the leg on one side of the flying object comes into contact with the time when the other leg on the other side comes into contact with the destination, it is not possible to maintain the tilt of the airframe that properly opposes the airflow. As a result, the fuselage may be swept away from the leeward, or the balance may be lost. That is, there is a problem that the flying body falls down immediately before landing at the destination due to the airflow generated at the destination. In particular, in order to cope with a payload (load) mounted on a lower part of a general flying body, the possibility of falling is high when the gain is set high.

  In addition, a package delivered by a flying object must be delivered from a delivery destination to a destination in several minutes to several tens of minutes depending on the customer's needs. This is because the merchandise value is lost if the merchandise is not delivered promptly. However, the flight speed of a general aircraft is not sufficient from the viewpoint of delivering goods quickly.

  The flying object must deliver the package accurately from the delivery destination to the destination. An operator of a flying object needs to accurately grasp the current position from a delivery destination to a destination by using a GPS device or the like and operate the flying object. However, when the flying object is tilted, the GPS antenna provided on the flying object is also tilted. As a result, there is a problem that the GPS reception sensitivity of the flying object is lowered. Furthermore, there is a problem that the balance is lost immediately after delivery of the package from the flying object, and the vehicle falls or falls.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (A) in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional aircraft, by providing a hinge 50 on the aircraft 1 ′, the load 52 can be moved even during the forward movement shown in FIG. 1 (B). The orientation is to be kept horizontal. However, as understood from FIG. 1 (B), when the vehicle is moving forward, since the load 52 enters the wake region Bs where the wake of the flying object 1 'is generated by the propeller 2, the flight efficiency is poor.

<Details of the embodiment of the present invention>
As shown in FIG. 2, the flying object 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is provided with a propeller 2 (lift generation unit: rotor blade), a motor 3 for rotating the propeller 2, and the motor 3. An arm 4, a mounting portion 5 on which a load 52 is mounted, and a battery portion 6 as a counterweight are provided. The flying object 1 has the direction of arrow D (+ X direction) in the drawing as the traveling direction (details will be described later).

In the following description, terms may be used according to the following definitions.
Front-back direction: + X direction and X direction Up-down direction (or vertical direction): + Z direction and Z direction Left-right direction (or horizontal direction): + Y direction and Y direction Traveling direction (front): + X direction Backward direction (backward): -X Direction Up direction (upward): + Z direction Downward direction (downward): -Z direction

  Propeller 2 receives the output from motor 3 and rotates. As the propeller 2 rotates, a propulsive force is generated for taking off the flying object 1 from the starting point, horizontally moving it, and landing it at the destination. The propeller 2 can rotate rightward, stop, and rotate leftward.

  In the propeller 2 of the present invention, the blade has an elongated shape. There may be any number of blades (rotors) (eg, 1, 2, 3, 4, or more blades). Further, the shape of the blade can be any shape such as a flat shape, a bent shape, a twisted shape, a tapered shape, or a combination thereof. In addition, the shape of a blade | wing can change (for example, expansion / contraction, folding, bending, etc.). The vanes may be symmetrical (having the same upper and lower surfaces) or asymmetric (having differently shaped upper and lower surfaces). The vanes can be formed into a suitable geometry to generate dynamic aerodynamic forces (eg, lift, thrust) as the vanes are moved through the air, wings, or air. The blade geometry can be selected as appropriate to optimize the dynamic air characteristics of the blade, such as increasing lift and thrust and reducing drag.

  The motor 3 causes the propeller 2 to rotate. For example, the drive unit can include an electric motor or an engine. The vanes can be driven by a motor and rotate around a rotation axis of the motor (eg, the long axis of the motor) in a clockwise and / or counterclockwise direction.

  All the blades can rotate in the same direction, or can rotate independently. Some of the blades rotate in one direction and the other blades rotate in the other direction. All of the blades can be rotated at the same rotational speed, and can be rotated at different rotational speeds. The number of rotations can be determined automatically or manually based on the dimensions (for example, size, weight) of the moving body and the control state (speed, moving direction, etc.).

  Each arm 4 is a member that supports the corresponding motor 3 and propeller 2. The arm 4 may be provided with a color developing body such as an LED to indicate the flight state, flight direction, etc. of the rotorcraft. The arm 4 according to the present embodiment can be formed of a material appropriately selected from carbon, stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium and the like, or alloys or combinations thereof.

  The mounting unit 5 is a mechanism for mounting and holding the load 52. The mounting unit 5 always maintains its state in a predetermined direction (for example, the horizontal direction (vertically downward)) so that the position and orientation of the loaded luggage 52 can be maintained.

  More specifically, the mounting portion 5 has a hinge (gimbal) 50, and the luggage 52 is bent according to the inclination of the flying object 1 with the hinge 50 as a fulcrum. The angle at which the hinge 50 is bent is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is only necessary that the position and direction of the load 52 can be kept horizontal even when the flying object 1 flies in a forward leaning posture. Thus, the luggage 52 is always held in a state of being suspended vertically downward, and can be delivered to the destination while maintaining the position and state at the departure point. The hinge 50 according to the present embodiment is movable only in the front-rear direction, which is the same direction as the traveling direction. However, it may be movable in the left-right direction.

  Here, the hinge 50 may be controlled by a motor or the like. As a result, wobbling (natural vibration or the like) of the luggage 52 during flight is further prevented. In addition, by providing the damper 53 at a portion of the mounting portion 5 that connects the arm 4 and the hinge 50, vibration that may occur when the hinge 50 is movable can be absorbed.

  The shape / mechanism of the mounting portion 5 is not particularly limited as long as it can store and hold the load 52, and the load 52 mounted on the first mounting portion 30 is tilted and holds its position. As long as it can do, it may be anything.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mounting portion 5 according to the present embodiment is provided behind the center of gravity Gh in the front-rear direction of the flying object 1 in the traveling direction D by a predetermined distance L1. The predetermined distance L1 is a circular area (refer to the area indicated by the one-dot chain line of the propeller 2b in FIG. 3) generated at least when the propeller 2b at the back rotates at least in the vertical direction, even if the load 52 is partially. In order not to overlap. In other words, the predetermined distance L1 is set to a value such that the propeller 2 that rotates and the luggage 52 do not overlap when viewed from above the propeller 2. More preferably, the load 52 is provided at a position not affected by the wake region Bb generated from the rear propeller 2b. The mounting portion 5 can be provided at any position on the arm. Further, the position can be changed by sliding or the like after the attachment.

  The battery unit 6 acting as a moving mechanism is fixed to and fixed to a battery 60 such as a lithium ion secondary battery (Li-Po battery or the like), a fixing unit 62 fixed to the arm 4, and the battery 60. It has a variable part 61 that moves the position of the battery 60 by moving a groove (not shown) provided in the part 62. The battery unit 6 according to the present embodiment is provided at least in front of the center of gravity, and has a function as a counterweight that balances with the mounting unit 5 described above in the front-rear direction. Details of the function will be described later. In the present embodiment, two batteries 60 are used, and the variable portion 61 is a flat member made of a material appropriately selected from carbon, stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium, etc., or alloys or combinations thereof. It is formed. The fixing portion 62 is formed of a material appropriately selected from carbon, stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium, etc., or an alloy or combination thereof, and is provided as a set at an opposing position so as to sandwich the battery 60 and the variation portion 61. In addition, a groove that can be a movable range of the flat plate-like variation portion 61 is provided on each side where the battery 60 and the variation portion 61 are located. The fixing unit 62 is provided so as to be fixed at a predetermined angle with respect to the arm 4, so that the battery 60 moves in the direction of the predetermined angle with respect to the arm 4 by the changing unit 61. The changing unit 61 has a motor (not shown) for controlling the movement of the changing unit, and changes the position of the battery 60 according to an instruction from a control unit (not shown: described later). It is possible to change. The changing unit 61 according to the present embodiment is movable only in the front-rear direction, which is the same direction as the traveling direction. However, it may be movable in the left-right direction.

<Explanation during flight>
Subsequently, a flight mode of the flying object 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that. In the following description, in order to clarify the explanation, each of the four modes of rising, horizontally moving, descending, and re-raising will be described, but for example, moving horizontally while rising, etc. Naturally, a mode of flying by a combination of these modes is also included.

<When rising>
As shown in FIG. 2, the user operates a radio control transmitter having an operation unit to increase the output of the aircraft motor 3 and increase the rotation speed of the propeller 2. When the propeller 2 rotates, a lifting force necessary to lift the flying object 1 is generated vertically upward. When the lift exceeds the gravity acting on the flying object 1, the flying object 1 leaves the ground and takes off from the starting point.

  As shown in the figure, the aircraft 1 including the arm 4 is maintained horizontally as a whole when ascending. At this time, the position of the battery unit 6 is maintained so as to be positioned on the front side and in the upward direction, as shown in FIG. In other words, when the lift generated by the propeller 2 is the same, the gravity applied to the flying object 1 in the front-rear direction coincides with the center of gravity Gh (the rotational moment about the left-right direction around the center of gravity Gh is Counteracting) Thereby, the flying body 1 can rise while keeping the level.

  Note that the position of the battery unit 6 can be changed according to the weight of the load 52. That is, in the case of a light load, the battery 6 moves backward, and in the case of a heavy load, the battery unit 6 moves forward to achieve balance.

  Note that the flying object 1 can be hovered when the weight applied to the flying object 1 and the lift generated in the flying object 1 due to the rotation of the propeller 2 are dynamically balanced. At this time, the altitude of the flying object 1 is maintained at a constant level. The flying object 1 in the present embodiment maintains the same posture as in FIG. 2 described above even during hovering.

<When moving horizontally>
When the flying object 1 travels in the horizontal direction, the flying object 1 is controlled so that the number of revolutions of the propeller 2 located rearward in the traveling direction is larger than the number of revolutions of the propeller 2 located forward in the traveling direction. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the flying object 1 takes a forward leaning posture when horizontally moving in the traveling direction. At this time, the battery unit 6 is balanced by moving rearward relative to the relative position with respect to the fixing unit 62 shown in FIG. At this time, due to the presence of the hinge 50, the direction of the luggage 52 is kept horizontal. Further, the presence of the damper 53 makes it possible to absorb vibration associated with posture adjustment.

  As can be understood by comparing FIG. 1B and FIG. 4, since the mounting portion 5 is located behind the center of gravity Gh, the load 52 is in the wake areas Bf, Bb of the propeller 2f and the propeller 2b. Not located in. Therefore, according to the aircraft 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to increase the flight efficiency at least when traveling in the horizontal direction.

<Descent (landing)>
As shown in FIG. 5, when descending, the battery unit 6 is positioned rearward and downward in the fixing unit 62. When an upward force is applied to a general flying object 1 due to an updraft, the flying object 1 is out of balance and may crash. However, since the flying object 1 positions the battery unit 6 in the downward direction before descending, the center of gravity of the flying object 1 is lowered in the vertical direction (the position before the movement of the battery unit 6 schematically shown in FIG. 6). See G _V0 and G _V1 ). By lowering the center of gravity of the flying object 1, the upward force applied to the flying object 1 can be canceled out by the rising airflow. As described above, the flying object 1 according to the present embodiment can also counter the force generated by the rising airflow by appropriately combining means for lowering the center of gravity Gh of the flying object 1.

  The flying object 1 lands at the destination and lowers the luggage 52 mounted on the mounting unit 5 to the destination. That is, the aircraft 1 and the luggage 52 are separated at the destination. Separation of the flying object 1 and the luggage 52 is performed by separating the luggage 52 from the mounting portion 5. Aircraft 1 in the present embodiment does not have landing legs in order to reduce the weight. Therefore, when landing, the loaded luggage 52 itself has a landing leg function. However, landing legs may be provided according to circumstances such as the characteristics of the luggage.

  Usually, immediately after the luggage L is separated from the flying object 1, the payload becomes small, and the center of gravity of the flying object 1 may be instantaneously moved upward. However, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the flying object 1 changes its position so that the battery unit 6 faces downward after arriving in the sky, and the center of lift generated by the propeller 2 is the center of gravity. (Hereinafter referred to as “lift center”) is located vertically downward. For this reason, even after the luggage 52 is separated from the flying object 1, the position of the center of gravity in the vertical direction can still be positioned below the center of lift.

<When re-raising>
As shown in FIG. 7, after the load 52 is separated from the mounting portion 5, the battery portion 6 further rotates rearward. Thereby, the flying object 1 can balance the change of the center of gravity due to the separation of the load 52. The battery unit 6 in the present embodiment includes a lock mechanism (not shown). The lock mechanism locks the battery unit 6 at the position shown in FIG. The flying object 1 rises again in this state and returns to a designated place such as a departure place.

  In the embodiment described above, the battery unit is used as the counterweight for balancing with the mounting unit 52. However, the means for balancing with the mounting portion 52 is not limited to this. For example, a method of balancing by changing the rotation speed of the propeller 2 can be considered.

  The above-described flying object has the functional blocks shown in FIG. In addition, the functional block of FIG. 8 is a minimum reference structure. The flight controller is a so-called processing unit. The processing unit can have one or more processors, such as a programmable processor (eg, a central processing unit (CPU)). The processing unit has a memory (not shown) and can access the memory. The memory stores logic, code, and / or program instructions that can be executed by a processing unit to perform one or more steps. The memory may include, for example, a separable medium such as an SD card or random access memory (RAM) or an external storage device. Data obtained from cameras and sensors may be transmitted directly to the memory and stored. For example, still image / moving image data shot by a camera or the like is recorded in a built-in memory or an external memory.

The processing unit includes a control module configured to control the state of the aircraft. For example, the control module may adjust the spatial arrangement, velocity, and / or acceleration of an aircraft that has six degrees of freedom (translational motion x, y, and z, and rotational motion θ _x , θ _y, and θ _z ). Control the propulsion mechanism (motor, etc.) of the flying object. The control module can control one or more of the states of the mounting unit and sensors.

  The processing unit can communicate with a transceiver configured to transmit and / or receive data from one or more external devices (eg, a terminal, display device, or other remote controller). The transceiver can use any suitable communication means such as wired or wireless communication. For example, the transmission / reception unit uses one or more of a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), infrared, wireless, WiFi, point-to-point (P2P) network, telecommunication network, cloud communication, and the like. be able to. The transmission / reception unit can transmit and / or receive one or more of data acquired by sensors, a processing result generated by the processing unit, predetermined control data, a user command from a terminal or a remote controller, and the like. .

  Sensors according to this embodiment may include inertial sensors (acceleration sensors, gyro sensors), GPS sensors, proximity sensors (eg, riders), or vision / image sensors (eg, cameras).

  The flying object of the present invention can be expected to be used as a flying object dedicated to home delivery services and as an industrial flying object in warehouses and factories. In addition, the flying object of the present invention can be used in airplane related industries such as multicopters and drones. Furthermore, the present invention can be suitably used as an aerial photography flying object equipped with a camera or the like. It can also be used in various industries such as security, agriculture, and infrastructure monitoring.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from the gist thereof, and it is needless to say that the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

1, 1 'Aircraft 2, 2f, 2b Propeller (lift generator)
3 Motor 4 Arm (arm part)
5 Mounting part 6 Battery part (counterweight)
50 Hinge 52 Baggage (object to be loaded)
53 Damper 60 Battery 61 Variable part 62 Fixed part

Claims (7)

An aircraft that can travel at least in the longitudinal direction,
A lift generator,
An arm portion for holding the lift generating portion;
A mounting portion provided in the arm portion, the mounting portion located behind the center of gravity of the flying object;
Maintaining means for maintaining the orientation of the flying body at least horizontally,
The mounting part has a connection part for maintaining the orientation of the mounting object at least horizontally,
The maintaining means includes a counterweight provided in front of the center of gravity of the flying object in the front-rear direction, and a moving mechanism capable of moving the counterweight in a direction at a predetermined angle with respect to the arm portion.
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 1,
The lift generation unit is a plurality of rotor blades that generate a wake, and a wake region is generated by the rotor during flight of the flying object,
The mounting portion is positioned on the arm portion so that the mounting target is outside the wake region when the flying object travels.
Flying body. The flying object according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
The counterweight is a battery of the aircraft.
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 1,
The connecting portion is a flying object having a damper. The flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
When the flying object moves at least in the front-rear direction, the number of rotations of the rotor blades rearward in the traveling direction is made larger than the number of rotations of the rotor blades forward in the traveling direction. Control,
Flying body. The aircraft according to claim 5,
The mounting portion is provided at a position where the rotating blade and the mounting object do not overlap when viewed from above the rotating blade.
Flying body. The flying body according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The connecting portion connects the mounting portion so as to be movable only in the front-rear direction.
Flying body.