JP2591609B2 - Hinge device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hinge with a locking and unlocking mechanism for folding and extending a longiron member, particularly in a structure constructed in outer space, for example, an extension mast. Related to the device.

[Technological background]

The above-mentioned extension mast means that the long longiron members and other structural members constituting the mast are reduced as much as possible on the ground and stored in a compartment, and this compartment is transported to a space base by a space transport machine or the like. After that, it is expanded to the expected mast shape,
For example, on page 16 of the pamphlet “Space Development” No.045 (1B) R issued by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagoya Aircraft Works, a member such as the above-mentioned Longiron was formed of an elastic body, which was compressed and constrained in the compartment. There has been disclosed a technique in which the restraint is released in the outer space so that the member is extended using the elastic restoring force of each member.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present invention has proposed an extension mast that has increased the degree of freedom of the extension scale and has made it possible to recover the ground by re-scaling (Japanese Patent Application No. 261561 in 1985).

FIG. 8 illustrates the extension posture of the extension mast according to the above proposal, in which the mast 10 includes four longidron members 12 extending forward from the compartment 1;
A box cell 11 (as a unit mast) having a cross member 15 connecting these members 12 via a joint 14 and a truss member 16 formed of a flexible rope stretched diagonally to the joint 14 11a, 11b,…, 11n)
Are formed in series.

The longiron member 12 is divided into two equal-length parts in units of these box cells 11, and these divided members 13a and 13b are connected by a hinge device 20 having a lock and unlock function. As shown, it is configured to be foldable inward. On the ground, these box cells 11a,..., 11n are folded flat and stored in the compartment 1 as shown in FIG.
The folding posture is restrained by using a stack holder (not shown). Then, the compartment 1 is transported to the space base and locked by the coupling mechanism in the structure of the base, and then the stack is sequentially extended to construct the mast 10, or the mast 10 is folded again while the compartment 1 is folded.
And collect it on the ground for maintenance.

As shown in FIG. 11, the above-mentioned extension and folding means comprises a drive rod 3 which can extend and retreat from four corners (only one corner is shown in the drawing) of the compartment 1 in the extension direction E and this drive. Electromagnetically actuated plunger devices 4, 5 mounted on front, rear and center of rod respectively
And 6 and a drive mechanism (not shown) including a direct current motor and a ball screw for controlling the advance and retreat of the drive rod 3, and when extending, the rear cross member 15 r of the box cell 11 is After the front joint 14f is latched by the front plunger device 4 while being restrained by the stack holder, the drive rod 3 is advanced. As a result, the longdilon split members 13a, 13
b unfolds into a straight shape, where the hinge device 20 is locked and one box cell 11 is formed outside the compartment 1. By repeating this operation, all or an appropriate number of box cells 11a, 11b,... Are sequentially formed, and the extension mast 10 having a desired scale is constructed.

Also, in the above-mentioned re-storage, the rear plunger device 5
The rear joint 14r is latched, the drive rod 3 is retracted, and the rear cross member 15r is restrained by the stack holder. Next, the latch is released and the front joint 14f is latched by the front plunger device 4, and the drive rod 3 is further retracted, and at the same time, the central plunger device 6 is operated to unlock the hinge device 20. As a result, the members 13a, 13
b is folded as shown in FIG. By repeating this operation, the extension mast 10 is pulled into the compartment 1 and stored.

[Conventional technology]

In general, a hinge device having a lock and unlock mechanism as described above generally connects a pair of members by a hinge pin so as to be rotatable between an unfolded position and a folded position, and a link mechanism linked to both members. When the link is in the deployed position, the link is placed in the over-center position to lock this position, and the link is unlocked by removing the link from the over-center position. The specification and drawings attached to the patent application show a hinge device having such a configuration.

The hinge device 20 has a hinge pin as shown in FIG.
It comprises hinge arms 22 and 23 connected by 21, a link mechanism 25 having a lock function, and an unlock mechanism 33.

The hinge arms 22 and 23 are fitted to the members 13a and 13b, respectively, and when the two hinge arms 22 and 23 are brought into abutment, the two members 13a and 13b are unfolded straight as shown in FIG. When the member is rotated in the direction of the line A, both members overlap and are folded.

The link mechanism 25 includes link arms 28 and 29 supported on hinge arms 22 and 23 by link pins 26 and 27, a link pin 30 for linking the free ends of the link arms, and a hinge pin 21 for link arm 28. A torque spring 31 for urging the member 13a, 13b to rotate toward the opposite side, and the member 13a, 13b is locked in such a manner that the member 13a, 13b cannot be folded by bringing the linking pin 30 to the over-center position and positioning it.

When the unlocking mechanism 33 causes the plunger 6a of the central part plunger device 6 to protrude, the release rod 34 of the mechanism 33 is pushed upward in the drawing, and the release lever 35 rotates in conjunction with this, and the link is released. The linking portion between the arms 28 and 29 is pushed down to remove the linking pin 30 from the overcenter position. As a result, the link arms 28 and 29 perform a toggle movement to release the lock. Reference numeral 36 denotes a return spring of the release rod 34.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, when an extension mast with an adjustable construction scale is conceived in this way, there has been a demand for using this to, for example, scale up and down while the mission payload is being mounted. New demands and improvements are imposed.

 The above requirements are mainly summarized in the following two points.

(1) The degree of freedom in setting the unfolding mode is large, because an impact is generated each time the members 13a and 13b are unfolded and locked in a straight shape, or each time both members are folded and overlap each other. Since this affects the installed mission payload, it is necessary to appropriately set operation acceleration conditions in the unfolding and folding processes in order to keep these impact values within allowable limits.

However, a three-link three-joint type link mechanism as in the hinge device 20 has a very low degree of freedom even in such a mode setting. It should be noted that the speed of the above-mentioned unfolding / folding motion seems to be determined according to the advance / retreat speed of the drive rod 3, etc. High efficiency means such as the above-mentioned ball screw are employed, and since such means is reversible, the driving speed changes under the influence of the load side.

(2) Variation in function among a large number of hinge devices is small.

This is because the operations such as unfolding, locking, unlocking, and folding are uniformly performed using the drive rod and other automatic driving mechanisms as described above, so that, for example, the locking of each hinge device in one box cell 11, If there is a variation in the unlock time or the mode in the middle, the box is distorted during operation, and the mast following the box is swung, which may be a criterion for the mounted payload.

Therefore, in order to realize the function consistency in each hinge device 20, in particular, manufacturing of each component of the link mechanism 25,
Extremely high precision control is required for assembly, resulting in a great increase in cost. However, because the clearance around the link pins 26 and 27 or the link pin 30 is slightly suppressed in connection with the above-mentioned improvement in accuracy, the load condition becomes severe, and appropriate space-specific solid lubrication is selected for this part. Since the degree of freedom is reduced, irregular rotation resistance may be applied to the surroundings of the pins, and this may be a factor that hinders consistency in another aspect.

In addition, if liquid lubrication is applied to a material that stays in a high vacuum atmosphere in outer space for a long time, such as an extension mast, the volatile components of the lubricant will evaporate and contaminate peripheral devices. Liquid lubrication cannot be practically applied, since this would lead to so-called contamination.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge device that can satisfy the above-described requirements.

[Means for solving the problem]

Means of the present invention for solving this problem is that, of the two members connected to the hinge device, a base end portion is supported on one member side and a free end portion is arranged on the other member side. A link arm having a cam follower at an end and a link pin supporting the base end are provided to move the link arm away from the hinge pin and to deploy one member relative to the other member about the hinge pin. A biasing means for biasing the rotating tendency, a stopper for receiving the biased link arm at the over center position in the deployed posture, and fixed to the other member, extending to the hinge surface following the lock surface and the lock surface. A link cam having a cam surface formed of a cam path, wherein the lock surface is linked to a cam follower and has an arc centered on a link pin at an over-center position; The chair consists of an arc whose profile changes the curvature little by little with reference to this arc, and which does not generate a component force in the cam path direction on the lock surface when a load in the folding direction is applied from the deployed posture, The cam trail is
The cam follower is guided in accordance with the profile of the cam path while being elastically contacted with the cam follower of the link arm urged away from the hinge pin, and in the deployed posture, the ends of the one member and the other member are opposed to each other. On the lock surface, the link arm is locked so that it cannot rotate freely, and the locking action is performed.On the other hand, the free end of the link arm is pushed down from the lock surface toward the cam path by the unlock mechanism, and the cam follower is locked on the lock surface. The lock is released by moving from to the cam path.

[Action]

According to this means, one link arm and one link cam are uncoupledly linked via the cam follower and the cam surface to form a free link mechanism. When one member makes a relative angular movement in the folding or unfolding direction about the hinge pin with respect to the other member, the base end of the link arm urged away from the hinge pin is moved to one side. While the link arm is guided along this cam path while elastically contacting the cam path extending to the hinge pin side, the link arm responds to this posture angle while changing the posture angle. Interfere with the angular motion to a certain degree. Therefore, the angular acceleration can be changed as desired by appropriately selecting the profile of the cam path.

Also, when the link arm is received at the over-center position, the cam follower is freely rotated in cooperation with the lock surface, that is, the conversion of the attitude angle is restrained to be impossible, so that the locking action is performed here. . The lock can be released by moving the cam follower on the cam path and removing the cam follower from the lock surface. The release force and release stroke at this time can be determined as desired by appropriately selecting the profile and length of the lock surface. Can be set to At this time, the operation is performed with good reproducibility because it does not involve a discontinuous behavior such as the toggle movement.

According to this means, in addition to reducing the number of members of the link mechanism, in particular, the link cam can be easily obtained with uniform and high precision by a numerically controlled grinding machine or the like. Since they are linked by non-connected line contact, the positional relationship between them can be adjusted at the time of assembling, so that functional variations can be suppressed to a small extent.

In addition, since the pressure receiving direction at the base end of the link arm is substantially constant, a relatively large clearance can be allowed at the base, so that the solid lubrication specification can be applied to the base end together with the cam surface. Becomes

That is, when the present invention is applied to the extension mast, the number of parts is reduced as compared with the conventional hinge device, so that accuracy control is facilitated and the contact area is reduced, so that lubricity is improved. In addition, the joint with the truss tube improves the load-bearing capacity of the joints, and facilitates the production of components from composite materials, contributing to weight reduction, and applying lubrication to parts that are directly exposed to the space environment. The above conditions are greatly improved. That is, by changing the contact condition from the surface contact to the line contact and the point contact, and contributing to the prevention of the cold welding and the reduction of the driving load, the space power source, which is a limited resource, is saved.

Furthermore, by adjusting the folding ratio of Longilon within 0 to 100%, by changing the shape of the link cam and providing an appropriate stopper such as a recess, the total length change of the extension mast can be controlled separately from the number of extension of the box cell. Can be adjusted. In addition, the box cell can be extended from one-dimensional extension to two- or three-dimensional extension, and can be developed into a beam, plane, or three-dimensional large space structure as an arbitrary shape. It not only allows the efficient design and operation of a wide variety of space structures using standard and limited types of hinges, but also accurately predicts dynamic behavior in orbit. In this way, it is possible to reduce the number of tests for the hinge part necessary for the system and to make effective use of existing data, thereby contributing to a reduction in development costs.

〔Example〕

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG.

In the drawing, reference numerals 17 and 18 denote one and the other members when the longiron member 12 is divided into two parts by using each voxel 11 as a unit, as described above.
Is a hinge device according to this embodiment.
And 18 are deployed in a straight posture and locked.

The hinge arms 41 and 42 of the hinge device 40 are fitted to the one member 17 and the other member 18, respectively, and abut each other in the above-described deployed posture. In this state, both members are below in the drawing (the same applies to the vertical relationship).
A hollow section 43 having a U-shaped cross section that opens to the side is formed in a series. Brackets 45, 4 from both sides of this hollow 43
5 and 46, 46 project downward, and these brackets are connected to each other by hinge pins 44, 44. Further, in this state, the distal end of the knock pin 48 implanted in the hinge arm 41 is removably engaged into the socket hole 47 formed near the upper end of the hinge arm 42, and the engagement portion and the hinge pins 44, 44 allow the members 17, It has three points of support to counter 18 torsion.

Reference numeral 50 is a link mechanism. Link arm of the mechanism 50
51 has a base end boss 52 forming the base end thereof, and a cam follower 53 projecting from both sides from the free end, and a link pin 54 is inserted through the base end boss 52 to be closer to the upper side of the hollow 43. , The link arm 51 is extended to the outside of the other hinge arm 42. Also link pin
A dual helical type torque spring 55 as an urging means is externally fitted to 54 to urge the link arm 51 to rotate upward, and the energized link arm 51 is hollowed out of the hinge arm 42. Stopper 56 formed using the upper wall surface
To lock the link arm at the over-center position.

Further, a pair of plate-type link cams 60, 60 in the link mechanism 50 are arranged on both sides of the link arm 51 and fixed to both side walls of the hollow portion 43 of the hinge arm 42, and their cam surfaces 61 are directed to the both sides. It is linked to the projecting cam follower 53. The cam surface 61 is located at the over-center position of the cam follower.
A lock surface 62 corresponding to 53 and a cam path 63 extending downward following the lock surface are provided. The profile of the lock surface 62 is, for example, an arc centered on the link pin 54 or an arc whose curvature is changed little by little based on this arc, that is, when a load in the folding direction is applied in the specification state. The lock surface 62 is designed so that a component force in the direction of the cam path 63 is not generated, or even if it is generated, it cannot withstand the biasing force of the torque spring 55, and the above-described relationship is established by an appropriate release force. Is set so that the link arm 51 can be released, and the free rotation of the link arm 51 is restricted.
The profile of the cam path 63 is set based on the operational acceleration condition in relation to the above-mentioned biasing force. It is also optional to form a stopper such as the recess.

The unlocking mechanism 65 has substantially the same configuration as that of the conventional one. That is, a release rod 67 having a head at both ends is slidably fitted to a cylindrical retainer 66 having the member 18 vertically penetrated and fixed, and the lower head 68 is urged downward by a return spring 70. At the same time, the lowering position is regulated by the upper head 69. On the other hand, one end of a release lever 72 whose intermediate portion is supported by a support pin 71 is lightly pressed against the upper head 69 by a push spring 73, and the other end of the lever is slightly above the free end of the link arm 51. It is arranged. Therefore, when the release rod 67 is pushed up by the plunger 6a of the central plunger device 6, the release lever 72 is rotated, and the other end pushes down the free end of the link arm 51, whereby the cam follower 53 is locked on the lock surface. Cam road from 62
Transfer to 63 to unlock. Immediately thereafter, when the plunger 6a retreats, the release rod 67 and the release lever 72 return to their original positions by the return spring 70 and the push spring 73, respectively.

Pushing of the release rod is usually performed using a solenoid or the like, but it is difficult to obtain a desired low-power, long-stroke, small-size latch drive source due to various design constraints. Therefore, the unlocking mechanism 65 that adjusts the distance between the fulcrum points of the release lever to achieve the necessary amount of push displacement and push force has a large degree of freedom with respect to such constraints. In addition, the extension mechanism requires an auxiliary mechanism, but simply pushing the mast from the outside to the storage direction and releasing the latch mechanism on the same force line with one action of pulling means that the extension mast and the extension While the design interface of the storage assist mechanism can be determined independently,
As it leads to simplification of the mechanism of the extension storage mechanism and greatly contributes to securing and improving reliability in important space,
Such a push-pull system is also under development.

The embodiment is configured as described above. Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. The symbols I to IV in FIG. The symbol T indicates the torque of the link arm 51 based on the urging force of the torque spring 55, and this torque value is assumed to be constant in the following description.

Step I shows a state in which the hinge device 40 is locked. In this state, since the link arm 51 is restrained from rotating freely as described above, the members 17, 18 are locked.
When the link pin 54 is forced to move in a circular motion around the hinge pin 44 by forcing the folding movement in the direction A, the link arm 51 is protruded and stops this movement.

Therefore, in order to release the locked state, the link arm 51 is provided with the total force of the frictional force due to the tension and the reaction force of the torque T and the difference between the component force from the lock surface 62.
In this case, the value of the frictional force is roughly determined by the expected load in the folding direction, and the torque T is set in relation to the operational acceleration condition as described above. This release force is almost uniquely determined by the profile of the lock surface 62.

FIG. 5 shows an experimental result obtained by measuring the release force F and the release stroke S of one prototype of the hinge device 40. As shown in the figure, the releasing force F fixes the member 18 and applies a load G to the outer end of the member 17 while applying a load G to the link arm.
The stroke S is the acting force when the free end of the free end is depressed, and the stroke S is applied to the member 18 having a linear distance connecting two points between the initial state where the free end is locked and the state where the lock is released. On the other hand, the vertical component is shown. Also lock surface
The profile of 62 is an arc that bulges slightly outward from the reference arc. The graphs X, Y, and Z are for the load G of 0 Kgf, 1 Kgf, and 3 Kgf, respectively, and the point where the releasing force F = 0 indicates the stroke S when the lock is released.

FIG. 6 shows the results of a similar experiment performed on the hinge device 20. The load conditions of the graphs X ', Y' and Z 'are respectively shown in the graphs X, Y and Z of FIG.
Corresponding to

Referring to both figures, a large difference in the releasing force F is first noticeable, but this is due to the difference in the mechanism design specification that balances the unlatching characteristics of both devices and the load-bearing characteristics against external force. This is because the functional difference between the free link cam system and the fixed link cam system has been realized.
The tendency of these unique characteristics can be grasped from FIG. 5 and FIG.

That is, the graphs Y and Z in FIG. 5 change in the shape of a chevron above the graph X and then release at the strokes Sy and Sz, respectively, and the inflections of the chevron at substantially the same stroke in both graphs. Have a point. With this, the bay road is mounted on the extension mast,
Alternatively, when a load G is applied in the folding direction at the moment of removal, the releasing force F increases and opposes this, and when the load G is applied from the drive rod 3 during folding, the releasing force F is increased. Is moderately reproducible at the inflection point, so that each hinge device in the box cell 11 operates evenly and is folded smoothly. These characteristics can be set as desired by appropriately selecting the profile of the lock surface.

On the other hand, the graphs Y 'and Z' in FIG. 6 show an almost uniform downward tendency as a whole, and especially with regard to the graph Y ', the release stroke is shorter with a smaller unlocking force than that of FIG. It can be seen that the locked state is released. In addition, since the graphs are close to the graph X 'at the beginning of the graphs Y' and Z ', it is apparent that it is difficult to perform the above-described operations in the graph of FIG. In the three-link three-joint type link mechanism 25, the degree of freedom to change this characteristic is extremely small.

Returning to FIG. 4, Step II shows a mode in which the folding motion is progressing in the unlocked state, and Step III shows a mode in which this motion is further advanced. In the above-described motion process, the cam follower 53 repels the torque T of the link arm 51 while elastically contacting the cam path 63. As a reaction, the member 17 has a moment M (M ₁ , M ₂ ) in the folding direction A.
Is added. The moment M is a function of the attitude angle θ (θ ₁ , θ ₂ ) of the link arm 51, and the attitude angle θ is the polar coordinate [coordinate angle] of the contact point P (P ₁ , P ₂ ) between the cam follower 53 and the cam path 63. Ψ (Ψ ₁ , Ψ ₂ )], the torque M and the profile of the cam path 63 ultimately determine the moment M at that time. Therefore, while the angular velocity of the member 17 changes according to the profile set in the cam path 63, the member 17 is finally folded against the member 18 as in step IV,
Also, at the time of deployment, the hinge arms 41 and 42 come into contact with each other by following the opposite process. Therefore, the angular acceleration condition in each of the above processes is determined by a profile, and the impact value at the time of a collision is set to be equal to or less than an allowable limit.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, in a hinge device having a link mechanism for locking and unlocking, the acceleration condition in the unfolding and folding processes can be set as desired, so that the impact at the end of these processes can be set. In addition, the lock release operation is performed with good reproducibility because it does not involve discontinuous behavior, and the easy operation of precision can minimize the functional variation and operate with high reproducibility. In addition, the deployment posture can be maintained in a stable state. Therefore, the utility value of a space structure such as an extension mast using a large number of such hinge devices can be remarkably enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram for summarizing the mechanism of the part, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the above embodiment, FIG. 5 is a graph showing the experimental results of the above embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the results, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional device, FIGS. 8 to 11 are diagrams showing an extension mast as an example of the device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of an extension form, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of a folding storage form, FIG.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the folding and extending operations. 17, 18 Member, 40 Hinge device 44 Hinge pin, 50 Link mechanism 51 Link arm 52 Base boss 53 Cam follower 54 Link pin 55 Biasing means (Torque spring) 56 Stopper 60 Link cam 61 Cam surface 62 Lock surface 63 Cam path 65 Unlock mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A pair of members are rotatably connected between a deployed position and a folded position by a hinge pin, and the linking portion of a link mechanism linked to both members is in a deployed position. In a hinge device which is placed in the over-center position to lock in this position, and which is unlocked by removing this link from the over-center position, the base end is supported on one member side and the other end is supported on the other member side. A link arm having a free end provided with a cam follower at the free end; and a link pin supporting the base end, moving the link arm away from the hinge pin, and connecting one member to the other member. And a biasing means for biasing the hinge arm to pivot around the hinge pin, and receiving the biased link arm at the over-center position in the deployed posture. And a link cam fixed to the other member and having a lock surface and a cam surface formed of a cam path extending to the hinge pin side following the lock surface. The lock surface is linked to a cam follower. At the over-center position, the arc centered on the link pin or the curvature is changed little by little based on this arc, and when a load is applied in the folding direction from the unfolded posture, the lock surface has a distance in the cam path direction. The cam path consists of an arc with no force generated. The ends of the one member and the other member abut against each other and lock the link arm so that it cannot rotate freely on the lock surface. The lock action is performed, while the unlock mechanism pushes the free end of the link arm down from the lock surface toward the cam path, and moves the cam follower from the lock surface to the cam path to release the lock. Hinge device.