JP3484538B2 - Airship recovery method and system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the technical field of airship recovery for capturing and mooring a relatively large unmanned airship that is descending.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, it is impossible for an unmanned airship to equip a complicated mechanism for capturing and mooring due to difficulty of control. Therefore, it is necessary to install a complicated mechanism for capture mooring on the side of the descent point on the ground or the like. In addition, in a relatively large airship, in order to prevent collisions, crashes, etc., the self-weight is slightly larger than the buoyancy, and the inertia force that stops the flight power or the propulsive force that makes the flight power minute is used to slowly incline. Descend downwards. Therefore, it is necessary to capture the airship so as not to disturb the descent balance.

[0003] Conventionally, as an airship recovery technique provided under the above-mentioned background, for example, the technique described in Japanese Patent No. 3005861 is known.

In this conventional airship recovery technique, a trapping device equipped with a complicated mechanism for trapping mooring is moved in the descending direction of an airship whose weight is slightly larger than buoyancy, and the trapping device is moved. However, it consists of capturing an airship and continuing to move to the mooring point.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional airship recovery technique, since the capturing device serving as the descending point moves,
As the equipment on the descent point side becomes larger, there is a problem that a large area must be secured as the descent point.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and is a method for collecting an airship in which the equipment on the descent point side is small and the area to be secured as a descent point is small, and this airship collection method. It is an object of the present invention to provide an airship recovery system suitable for carrying out the above.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the airship recovery method according to the present invention employs the following means.

That is, as described in claim 1, the mooring rope is hung from the airship that descends with its own weight slightly larger than the buoyancy, and the lower end of the mooring rope is fixed to the descending point, and then the airship is attached to the airship. A buoyant body that adds buoyancy to exceed its own weight is lifted along the mooring rope to the airship.

This means requires a scale and an area of equipment for making the buoyancy body stand by as a descent point and fixing the lower end of the mooring rope.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the airship recovery system according to the present invention employs the following means.

That is, as described in claim 2, a mooring rope installed on an airship and suspended when descending in a state where its own weight is slightly larger than buoyancy, and a lower end of the mooring rope installed at a descending point. And a buoyant body that is installed at the descent point and that rises along the mooring rope to the airship and adds buoyancy to the airship to exceed its own weight.

In this means, a fixing means for fixing the lower end of the mooring rope is installed at the descent point.

Further, as described in claim 3, claim 2
In the above airship recovery system, the lower end of the mooring rope and the fixing device are equipped with a coupler that can be connected with one touch.

In this means, the lower end of the mooring rope and the fixing device are connected by a coupler.

Further, as described in claim 4, claim 3
In the airship recovery system of
It is characterized in that it is attached to the tip of a recovery rope wound around a winch fixedly installed at the descent point.

With this means, the airship is lowered by winding the recovery rope and the mooring rope with a winch.

Further, as described in claim 5, claim 2
In the airship recovery system according to any one of to 4 above, the buoyant body is connected to a guide slidably fitted to the mooring rope through a connecting rope, and ascends to be in a non-contact state with the airship. It is characterized by consisting of a plurality of balloons.

In this means, the floating body imparts buoyancy to the airship in a non-contact state.

Further, as described in claim 6, claim 2
In the airship recovery system according to any one of 1 to 4, the buoyant body is connected to a guide slidably fitted on the mooring rope through a connecting rope, and the buoyant body rises to contact with the body of the airship. It is characterized by consisting of.

In this means, the floating body comes into contact with the body of the airship to impart buoyancy.

[0021] Further, as described in claim 7, claim 6
In the airship recovery system, the buoyant body is characterized in that a position adjusting rope is hung from the ascending position to the descending point.

In this means, the position adjusting rope adjusts the contact position of the floating body with the body of the airship.

Further, as described in claim 8, claim 2
In the airship recovery system according to any one of 1 to 4, the buoyant body is a ring-shaped balloon slidably fitted on the mooring rope.

With this means, the buoyant body rises directly along the mooring rope.

Further, as described in claim 9, the mooring rope is stored in the airship only for descent until the descent.

In this means, the mooring rope is not used for launching (climbing) the airship, but is stored in the airship until it descends.

[0027]

Embodiments of the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment (1) of an airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

First, the configuration of the embodiment of the airship recovery system according to the present invention will be described.

The airship 1 to be recovered in this embodiment
Is an unmanned vehicle that is controlled from the ground to climb up to the stratosphere and stop there. The size is about 200 m in length and the maximum diameter is about 50 m.

The airship 1 is equipped with a mooring rope 2.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the mooring rope 2 is wound and stored in a hemispherical openable / closable storage portion 1b provided at the tip of the main body 1a of the airship 1. , Is not used for launching (climbing) the airship, and is stored in the airship 1 until descent and is released into the air as the storage part 1b is opened according to an instruction from the descent point and hangs while unwinding. Therefore, the air resistance of the airship 1 during flight can be reduced, and the power consumption of the airship 1 can be reduced. The rope used for launching the airship is detachably hung on another portion of the airship 1 so as to be detached and dropped after the launch. When the mooring rope 2 and the launching rope are separated, the storage structure of the mooring rope 2 can be simplified as compared with the case where the launching rope is rolled up and stored as the mooring rope 2 after launching.

The mooring rope 2 has a body portion 1a at the upper end.
And a coupler 3 is attached to the lower end. The coupler 3 is provided with an engaging structure and the like that can be connected to the fixing device 4 side described later with one touch, and is provided with a small weight for hanging and guiding the mooring rope 2 downward against the resistance of air (wind). There is. In addition, about 200 m or more may be secured for the mooring rope 2 in order to avoid the collision and the crash of the airship 1.

A fixing device 4 and a buoyant body 5 are installed at the descending point.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the fixing device 4 includes a winch 4a fixedly installed at the descent point, a recovery rope 4b wound around the winch 4a, and a recovery rope fixedly installed at the descent point. A support arm 4c with a pulley for pulling out and guiding the rope 4b from the winch 4a and a coupler 4d attached to the tip of the recovery rope 4b are provided. The coupler 4d can be connected to the above-mentioned coupler 3 attached to the lower end of the mooring rope 2.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3, the buoyant body 5 is composed of a spherical balloon filled with helium gas or the like, and is formed to have a diameter of about 14 to 18 m.
An airship that descends with its own weight slightly higher than its buoyancy.
The buoyancy is ensured by adding buoyancy so that it exceeds its own weight. This buoyant body 5 is a recovery rope 4b
It is connected via a connecting rope 7 to a ring-shaped guide 6 slidably fitted on the (mooring rope 2). Further, the buoyant body 5 has a connection rope 7 fixed to a descent point by a hook or the like (not shown) before connecting the mooring rope 2 (coupler 3) to the recovery rope 4b (coupler 4d). 5 is fixed near the ground. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide 6 is formed to have a diameter such that both couplers 3 and 4b can slide.

Next, an embodiment of the airship recovery method according to the present invention will be described based on the description of the operation and operation of the embodiment of the airship recovery system according to the present invention.

The airship 1 which descends with its own weight slightly larger than buoyancy suspends the mooring rope 2 at an altitude higher than 200 m before the descending point. Then, it enters the descent point as it is from an oblique direction.

At the descent point, at least one person M stands by and connects the coupler 4d of the fixing device 4 to the coupler 3 attached to the lower end of the mooring rope 2 and approaching. Since the couplers 3 and 4b can be connected with one touch, they can be executed quickly and reliably.

The mooring rope 2 fixed to the fixing device 4 is attached to the airship 1 which is going to pass the descending point due to inertial force or the like.
The tensile force of. Therefore, the forward movement of the airship 1 is braked.

At this time, the fixing of the buoyancy body 5 to the descending point is released, and the buoyancy body 5 (guide 6) is raised along the recovery rope 4b of the fixing device 4 and beyond the couplers 3 and 4d for mooring. Raise along the rope 2 (see Figure 5).

The lifted buoyant body 5 adds buoyancy to the airship 1 without contacting the airship 1 to make the airship 1 slightly larger than its own weight and prevent a fall. The addition of buoyancy by the buoyancy body 5 also contributes to the braking of the descent operation due to the inertial force of the airship 1 in the initial stage, and maintains a stable mooring at the descent point in the final stage. Since the buoyancy body 5 is not in contact with the airship 1, buoyancy can be effectively added without changing the attitude of the airship 1.

After that, in consideration of the wind condition, etc., the recovery rope 4b and the mooring rope 2 may be wound by the winch 4a of the fixing device 4, and the airship 1 may be lowered and stored in the hangar or the like. it can. Even during this storage work, the airship 1
The stable mooring posture of is maintained.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since only the fixing device 4 and the buoyant body 5 (guide 6, connecting rope 7) are installed at the descent point, the equipment on the descent point side is small and the area to be secured as the descent point is small. . If a large area is secured as the descent point, the equipment of the descent point (fixing device 4, buoyant body 5, guide 6, connecting rope 7) is mounted on a vehicle, a ship, etc. as in the above-mentioned conventional example. It is also possible.

6 and 7 show an embodiment (2) of the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, two buoyant bodies 5 are raised along the one mooring rope 2 on the left and right sides of the airship 1. The buoyancy body 5 is connected to a common guide 6 via a connecting rope 7 having the same length.

In addition, in this embodiment, a structure in which buoyancy is added to the airship 1 is also used on the rear side of the main body 1a of the airship 1.

According to this embodiment, one buoyant body 5
Since it is possible to reduce the size, the buoyancy body 5 can be easily handled at the descent point. In addition, since buoyancy is added to the tip side and the rear side of the airship 1, a horizontally stable mooring posture can be obtained.

8 and 9 show an embodiment (3) of the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the body portion 1 of the airship 1
The buoyant body 5 configured to add buoyancy on the rear side of a is the airship 1
2 mooring ropes with an elliptical sphere that contacts the body of
It is designed to rise along. Also, this buoyant body 5
A position adjusting rope 8 that hangs down to the descent point is hung on the. The purpose of making the buoyancy body 5 into an ellipsoidal shape is to reduce air resistance.

According to this embodiment, the buoyant body 5 contacting the body of the airship 1 can be finely adjusted by the position adjusting rope 8 to positively change the attitude of the airship 1. Further, the position adjusting rope 8 can also adjust the posture of the buoyant body 5 while rising. The elliptic spherical buoyancy body 5 contributes to reduction of air resistance.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment (4) of the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the body portion 1 of the airship 1
The fixing device 4 on the front end side of a has a tower shape with a turning mechanism, and the fixing device 4 on the rear side is movable.

According to this embodiment, the direction of the airship 1 can be changed according to the direction of the wind, and the airship 1 can maintain a stable mooring posture.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment (5) of the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the buoyant body 5 is a ring-shaped balloon slidably fitted on the mooring rope 2.

According to this embodiment, the guide 6 and the connecting rope 7 connected to the buoyant body 5 can be omitted, and the equipment at the descent point can be made smaller.

As described above, in addition to the illustrated embodiment, the shape and number of the buoyant bodies 5 can be appropriately selected.

[0059]

As described above, in the airship recovery method and system according to the present invention, the scale and area of the equipment are required to make the buoyancy body stand by as the descent point and fix the lower end of the mooring rope. The equipment on the side of the descent point will be small, and the area to be secured as the descent point will be small.

Further, as claimed in claim 3, since the mooring rope is fixed to the fixing device at the descending point by the coupler which can be connected by one-touch, there is an effect that the mooring rope can be quickly and surely fixed to the fixing device. is there.

Further, as claimed in claim 4, since the airship can be lowered by winding the recovery rope and the mooring rope by the winch, it is effective in storing the airship in the hangar.

Further, according to claim 5, since the floating body imparts buoyancy to the airship in a non-contact state, there is an effect that the buoyancy can be effectively added without changing the attitude of the airship.

Further, according to claim 6, the floating body comes into contact with the body of the airship to impart buoyancy, so that the attitude of the airship can be positively varied.

Further, according to claim 7, since the contact position of the floating body with the body of the airship is adjusted by the position adjusting rope, there is an effect that the attitude of the airship can be delicately changed.

Furthermore, since the buoyant body rises directly along the mooring rope, it is possible to omit the accessory parts of the buoyant body and to make the equipment at the descent point smaller in scale. .

Further, as claimed in claim 9, since the mooring rope is not used for launching the airship and is stored in the airship until the descent, the air resistance during the flight of the airship is reduced and the power consumption of the airship is reduced. There is an effect that can be.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a capturing and mooring step showing an embodiment (1) of an airship recovery method and system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

3 is an enlarged view of another main part of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of another main part of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view of an airship recovery method and system according to an embodiment (2) of the present invention in a capture and mooring state.

FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an airship recovery method and system according to an embodiment (3) of the present invention in a trapped mooring state.

9 is a front view of FIG. 8. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a side view of an airship recovery method and system according to an embodiment (4) of the present invention in a trapped mooring state.

FIG. 11 is a side view of an airship recovery method and system according to an embodiment (5) of the present invention in a trapped and moored state.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 airship 2 mooring rope 3 coupler 4 fixing device 4a winch 4b Recovery rope 4d coupler 5 Buoyant body 6 guides 7 Connection rope 8 Position adjustment rope M personnel

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 2001-122194 (JP, A) JP 63-235197 (JP, A) JP 54-129697 (JP, A) JP 54-70598 (JP, A) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-125695 (JP, A) Actual Development Sho 61-78093 (JP, U) Patent 3005861 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B64B 1 / 66 B64F 1/14

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A buoyancy force is added to the airship so that the mooring rope is suspended from an airship that descends with its own weight slightly larger than the buoyancy, the lower end of the mooring rope is fixed to the descent point, and then the airship exceeds its own weight. An airship recovery method in which a buoyant body is raised along the mooring rope to the airship. 2. A mooring rope that is installed on an airship and is suspended when descending in a state where its own weight is slightly larger than buoyancy, a fixing device that is installed at a descent point and fixes the lower end of the mooring rope, and a descent point. An airship recovery system that consists of a buoyant body that is installed on the ship and climbs up to the airship along the mooring rope to add buoyancy to the airship to exceed its own weight. 3. The airship recovery system according to claim 2, wherein a coupler that can be connected with one touch is attached to the lower end of the mooring rope and the fixing device. 4. The airship recovery system according to claim 3, wherein the coupler of the fixing device is attached to a tip of a recovery rope wound around a winch fixedly installed at a descending point. system. 5. The airship recovery system according to claim 2, wherein the buoyant body is connected to a guide slidably mounted on the mooring rope via a connecting rope and lifted to the airship. An airship recovery system comprising one or more balloons that are in non-contact state. 6. The airship recovery system according to claim 2, wherein the buoyant body is connected to a guide slidably fitted to the mooring rope via a connecting rope and is lifted to ascend to the fuselage of the airship. An airship recovery system comprising one or more balloons in contact with the airship. 7. The airship recovery system according to claim 6, wherein the buoyant body is hung with a position adjusting rope that hangs from the ascending position to the descending point. 8. The airship recovery system according to claim 2, wherein the buoyant body comprises a ring-shaped balloon slidably fitted on a mooring rope. 9. The airship recovery system according to claim 1, wherein the mooring rope is stored in the airship only for descending until the descent.