JP3118109B2 - Sensor angle control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sensor angle control device used as a scanning mechanism or a tracking mechanism for sensors such as sonars and antennas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical example of this type of control device is a sonar scanning mechanism that emits an ultrasonic beam into the water from the bottom of a ship and receives a reflected wave to detect a fish school.

[0003] The sonar scanning method is roughly classified into a method of mechanically scanning and a method of electronically scanning. In the mechanical scanning method, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, by rotating a transducer mounted on the bottom of a ship a, the transmitting and receiving direction of the thin ultrasonic beam b is changed, that is, transmitting and receiving wave → rotation. A school of fish is detected from reflected waves obtained by repeating operations such as → transmission / reception wave → rotation, and the detected information is displayed on a PPI. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, when the ultrasonic beam b is turned horizontally, it is not possible to detect the fish school other than the fish school near the sea surface, so that it is necessary to detect the fish school in the middle layer between the sea surface and the sea floor. Requires that the radiation of the ultrasonic beam b be directed in the depression angle direction, as shown in FIG. The depression angle θ in this case is set according to the limit of the detection distance due to attenuation or refraction of the ultrasonic beam in the seawater, and the water depth to the sea bottom. When a fish school is detected in the vertical cross-section direction, as shown in FIG. 8, the ultrasonic wave b is transmitted and received only in the depression direction while being fixed in the turning direction.

Conventionally, such mechanical scanning is performed by an angle control device as shown in FIG. A transducer 1 for mutually converting between a high-frequency voltage and an ultrasonic wave is supported by a frame 3 via a horizontal rotating shaft 2 and a depression angle control motor 4 such as a pulse motor attached to one side of the frame 3. , And the angle of depression of the wave transmitting and receiving surface 1a is controlled. The frame 3 is
It is suspended from a housing (not shown) via a vertical rotation shaft 5, and the rotation force of a turning angle control motor 6 composed of a pulse motor attached to the housing is transmitted through a gear 7 to rotate around the rotation shaft 5. The transducer 1 is rotated, whereby the turning angle of the transmitting / receiving wave surface 1a of the transducer 1 is controlled. The input and output of the high-frequency electric signal to and from the transducer 1 and the supply of the drive current and the depression angle control signal to the depression angle control motor 4 are performed by sliding the slip ring 8 attached to the circumference of the rotating shaft 5 and the slip ring 8. This is done via a brush 9.

The entire structure including the transducer 1, the frame 3, the depression angle control motor 4, and the turning control motors 6 is covered with a protection dome (not shown) projecting from the bottom of the ship.
The lower portion inside the dome is filled with a medium such as oil whose acoustic impedance is similar to seawater outside the dome.

[0006]

According to the above-mentioned conventional control device, since the depression angle control motor 4 is turned together with the frame 3, the inertial load of the turning angle control motor 6 for controlling the turning angle of the transducer 1 is large. As a result, there is a problem that high-speed turning becomes difficult and a large motor having a large torque is required. In addition, the number of brushes 9 to be brought into sliding contact with the slip ring 8 is increased by the amount of the power supply path to the depression angle control motor 4, and the signal system to the transducer 1 passing through the slip ring 8 is included in the signal system for the depression angle control motor 6. However, there is a problem that noise accompanying the drive current may be mixed.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A sensor angle control device according to the present invention comprises a frame for rotatably holding a sensor such as a transducer, and a frame having a common axis and rotatable independently of each other. First and second rotating shafts extended by
A bevel gear, a worm gear, a crown gear, and other power transmission mechanisms for transmitting the torque of the second rotation shaft to a sensor supported by the frame while converting the rotation force into a rotation force in the orthogonal direction; and the first rotation shaft. A first electric motor that controls an angle around one of the two orthogonal axes of the sensor by rotating the frame through the power transmission mechanism by rotating the second rotation axis. A second motor for controlling the angle of the sensor about the other of the two orthogonal axes, and a part of a rotation command to be supplied to the first motor, also supplied to the second motor, whereby the orthogonal And a canceling circuit for canceling a change in an angle around the other of the two axes caused by controlling the angle around the other axis.

[0008]

In the case where the control device of the present invention is applied to a sonar, a transducer is rotatably held on a frame, and first and second control units for controlling the turning angle and the depression angle of the transducer. Are extended so as to have a common axis and to be rotatable independently of each other. The rotational force given to the first rotating shaft by the first electric motor is transmitted to the frame as it is without changing its rotation direction, and changes the turning angle of the transducer held by the frame. On the other hand, the amount of rotation given to the second rotating shaft by the second electric motor is transmitted to the transducer while being converted into a rotating force in an orthogonal direction by a power transmission mechanism such as a bevel gear, and is orthogonal to the turning angle. Change the depression angle of the transducer. First
Since the rotational force of the second motor is transmitted to the sensor via the first and second rotating shafts extending in a rotatable state independently of each other, one motor becomes a load on the other motor. Is eliminated.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a case will be described as an example in which a sensor angle control device according to the present invention is applied to a sonar scanning mechanism for detecting a fish school on a ship. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 denotes a housing attached to the bottom of the ship, 11 denotes a frame disposed below the housing 10 and rotatably supports a transducer 30 via a horizontal shaft 12, and 13 denotes a frame. It is a cylindrical rotating shaft that holds the frame 11 rotatably. This cylindrical rotating shaft 13
Is a shaft hole 1 formed in the lower end wall 10a of the housing 10.
4 and the thrust bearing 15
The housing 1 is rotatably supported via a gear train including a driven gear 16 provided at an upper end thereof and a drive gear 17 meshed with the driven gear 16.
Pulse motor 18 for turning angle control on the lower end wall 10a
Is transmitted, the transducer 30 is turned around the vertical axis through the frame 11.

In the hollow portion 13a of the cylindrical rotary shaft 13,
A rod-shaped rotary shaft 20 connected to the output shaft of a depression angle control pulse motor 19 fixed to the upper end wall 10b of the housing 10 is inserted therethrough. From the lower end of the hollow portion 13a, the frame 1
A drive bevel gear 21 is provided at a lower end of the rotation shaft 20 protruding into the inside 1. On the other hand, a driven bevel gear 22 having a semicircular arc shape is fixed to the back surface 30 b of the transducer 30 concentrically with the horizontal shaft 12. This driven bevel gear 2
2 is engaged with the drive bevel gear 21 and the depression angle control motor 1
The rotational force of the rotating shaft 20 rotated by the rotary shaft 9 in the turning direction is transmitted to the transducer 30 via the bevel gear trains 21 and 22 while being converted into the rotational force in the orthogonal depression angle direction. Accordingly, the transducer 30 moves to the horizontal axis 1
2, and the depression angle of the wave transmitting / receiving surface 30a is controlled. The input and output of the high-frequency signal of the transducer 30 are performed by a slip ring 23 fixed to the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 13 and the brush 2 slidingly contacting the slip ring 23.
4 is performed.

The entire space in which the housing 10 and the transducer 30 and the like under the housing 10 are located is covered with a plastic dome (not shown) projecting from the bottom of the hull. The medium is full. Between the inner peripheral surface of the shaft hole 14 of the housing 10 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 13, and the hollow portion 13 a of the rotary shaft 13
Appropriate shaft sealing devices 25 and 26 such as oil seals are interposed between the rotating shaft 20 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 20, respectively, to prevent oil at the lower part of the dome from rising through a gap between the rotating shafts. doing. Further, a radial bearing 27 is interposed between the rotating shaft 13 and the rotating shaft 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, the driving of the pulse motor 18 for turning angle control and the pulse motor 19 for depression angle control are performed as follows.
It is controlled by the number of input driving pulses P1 and P2.
The turning angle and the depression angle of 0a are controlled. Here, when it is intended to control only the turning angle of the transducer 30 by rotating only the turning angle control motor 18, the driven bevel gear 22 on the rear surface 30 b thereof together with the transducer 30 turned by the rotating shaft 13 through the frame 11. Are also turned together, so that the engagement with the stationary drive bevel gear 21 changes. As a result, the transducer 30
Changes with the change of the turning angle. For this reason,
A part of the drive pulse P1 supplied to the turning angle control motor 18 is also supplied to the depression angle control motor 19 via a cancellation circuit 31 including an N frequency divider 32 and an adder 33.

That is, the canceling circuit 31 drives the drive bevel gear 21 by the same angle as the turning angle of the transducer 30.
The driving pulse P1 supplied to the turning angle control motor 18 is divided into 1 / N by the N frequency divider 32 so that the driving pulse signal ΔP1 is divided by the adder 33. It is supplied to the control motor 19. The frequency division ratio by the N frequency divider 32 depends on the gear ratio between the driven gear 16 of the rotating shaft 13 and the driving gear 17 of the output shaft 18a of the turning angle control motor 18 and the rotation angle per pulse of each pulse motor. Is set. As a result, the drive bevel gear 21 is rotated so as to cancel the change in the depression angle caused by the driven bevel gear 22 being swung integrally with the transducer 30, and
The turning of the transducer 30 can be controlled while maintaining a constant depression angle. This control is performed when the transducer 30 is turned in either the forward or reverse direction.
The same is done.

According to the above embodiment, the depression angle control motor 18
Is not attached to the frame 11, the inertial load acting when the turning angle control motor 18 is driven is reduced.
For this reason, it is possible to speed up the turning angle control of the transducer 30 or downsize the turning angle control motor 18. Also, since it is not necessary to supply the drive current to the depression angle control motor 18 via the slip ring 23 and the brush 24 slidably contacting the slip ring 23, the transducer input and output through the slip ring 23 and the brush 24 30 can be prevented from generating noise.
Furthermore, since the number of slip rings 23 and brushes 24 is reduced, the sliding torque is reduced, and the volume of the dome that covers the outside of the frame 11 can be reduced. For this reason, the turning angle control motor 18 can be downsized and the slip ring 2 can be used.
3, the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.
Further, since the depression angle control motor 18 does not exist in the dome, oil sealing by the shaft sealing devices 25 and 26 can be easily performed.

The rotation shaft 2 by the depression angle control motor 19
A power transmission mechanism including a drive bevel gear 21 and a driven bevel gear 22 for converting the rotational force in the turning direction of 0 into the rotational force in the depression angle direction of the transducer 30 is provided on the second rotating shaft 20, for example, as shown in FIG. Pinion gear 2
A power transmission mechanism consisting of meshing of a crown gear 22 ′ fixed to the back surface 30 b of the transducer 30,
As shown in FIG. 5, a power transmission mechanism such as a worm gear including a worm 21 "provided on the second rotating shaft 20 and a worm wheel 22" fixed to the back surface 30b of the transducer 30 can be used.

In the above, the case where the sensor angle control device according to the present invention is applied to a sonar scanning mechanism has been described as an example. However, the antenna azimuth and elevation angle control devices and light, smoke, smell, etc. are detected. It is apparent that the angle control device of the present invention can be applied to various angle control devices that control angles around two orthogonal axes for scanning and tracking of various sensors.

[0017]

Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the conventional disadvantage that one motor becomes the load of the other is eliminated, and high-speed control can be realized using a small-sized and low-power motor. The effect is achieved. In addition, a rotating contact mechanism consisting of a slip ring and a brush eliminates the need for a power supply system to the motor, which simplifies the rotating contact mechanism and eliminates the problem of noise mixing from the power supply system into the signal system. Also, there is an effect that the reliability of operation is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which a sensor angle control device according to the present invention is applied to a sonar scanning mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a canceling circuit for canceling a change in a depression angle caused by control of a turning angle in the embodiments of FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of another embodiment in which a pinion gear and a crown gear are applied as a power transmission mechanism in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of still another embodiment in which a worm and a worm wheel are applied as a power transmission mechanism in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a scanning method for horizontally turning an ultrasonic beam in fish school detection.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a scanning method in which the radiation of an ultrasonic beam is set in a depression angle direction and turned in fish detection.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a scanning method for changing an ultrasonic beam only in a depression angle direction in fish school detection.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional example of a transducer angle control device in a sonar for detecting a school of fish on a ship.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Frame 13 Cylindrical rotating shaft 18 Turning angle control motor 19 Depression angle control motor 20 Rotating shaft 21 Drive bevel gear 21 'Pinion gear 21 "Worm 22 Follower bevel gear 22' Crown gear 22" Worm wheel 30 Transducer (sensor) 31 Cancellation circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01S 7/521 G01S 7/03 G01S 15/96 G05D 3/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sensor angle control device for independently controlling angles around two orthogonal axes of a transducer, an antenna, and other sensors, comprising: a frame body rotatably holding the sensors; and a common axis center. First and second rotating shafts extending in a rotatable state independently of each other, and the frame body while converting the rotating force of the second rotating shaft into a rotating force in an orthogonal direction. A power transmission mechanism for transmitting to the held sensor; and a first electric motor for controlling an angle of the sensor about one of the two orthogonal axes by rotating the frame via the first rotation shaft. A second electric motor that controls the angle of the sensor around the other of the two orthogonal axes via the power transmission mechanism by rotating the second rotation shaft; and supplying the second electric motor to the first electric motor. Part of the rotation command is
And a canceling circuit for canceling a change in an angle around one of the two orthogonal axes by controlling the angle around the other of the two orthogonal axes by supplying the motor to the motor. .