JP3762934B2 - airship - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an airship, and more particularly, to an airship including a rope body that constrains the shape of an outer covering material of an air sac that accommodates a floating gas.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, airships do not require large runways or airfields, generate relatively little noise, and can fly at low speeds. Therefore, advertisements are mainly used at relatively low altitudes (altitudes of several kilometers or less) during the daytime. It is used for advertising, event relay, surveillance, security guard, transportation and tourism.
[0003]
Such an airship used at a relatively low altitude has an air sac that stores buoyant gas such as helium gas, for example, inside the hull, and a front baronet and a rear that keep the balance of the hull at the front and rear of the air sac. Each baronet is provided, and the volume of the buoyant gas in the air sac is variably controlled to adjust the buoyancy by changing the volume of the front and rear baronets formed by the thin film.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Airships that are used at such relatively low altitudes have a relatively small volume occupied by levitation gas, compared to the overall volume of the hull, and the intensity of irradiation to the airship is increased by the absorption of sunlight by clouds and the atmosphere. Since it is attenuated, the temperature rise of the levitating gas due to solar radiation is suppressed. As a result, the pressure increase in the air sac caused by the temperature increase can be avoided by inflating the air sac in the hull.
[0005]
However, for example, when rising to altitude above the stratosphere (for example, altitude of 17 km or more) and staying in the sky for a long period of time continuously day and night, the airship is not hot because it is altitude and has no clouds and the atmosphere is dilute. Directly exposed to medium sunlight, the buoyant gas occupying most of the hull's internal volume is heated and tends to expand. Here, if the outer shape of the hull, in other words, the outer shape of the air sac is maintained constant, there is a concern that the pressure in the air sac increases about 5 to 6 times.
[0006]
For this reason, in order to raise a conventional airship used at a low altitude to the stratosphere, the strength of the outer covering material of the air sac that can withstand an internal pressure of 5 to 6 times is required. As a result, the thickness of the outer coating material becomes 5 to 6 times, and the weight of the entire hull is greatly increased due to the increase in the weight of the outer coating material that occupies most of the hull weight. As a result of the increase in weight, the buoyancy caused by the buoyant gas is offset, so that a large buoyancy is required, the size of the air sac increases, and the size of the hull increases, causing design, manufacturing and operational difficulties.
[0007]
In recent years, in a large observation balloon floating in the stratosphere, a top view is shown on the outer surface of the outer skin member 102 of the air sac 101 as shown in a side view in FIG. 16 and a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. Is divided into a plurality of continuous curved surfaces 102a by a cord 103 extending from the bottom to the bottom, and formed into a pumpkin shape, thereby reducing the surface curvature of the outer coating material 102 and reducing the tension generated in the outer coating material 102. Although there is a super-pressure type balloon that secures a pressure resistance against the differential pressure between the inside and outside of the air sac 101 by reducing, a streamlined balloon like an airship is not embodied.
[0008]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention made in view of such a point is to provide an airship capable of ensuring a pressure resistance against a differential pressure between the inside and outside of the air sac without causing an increase in weight and obtaining sufficient buoyancy ability. is there.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The airship according to claim 1, which achieves the above object, includes an air sac that is formed in a balloon shape by an outer skin material and accommodates a buoyant gas, and a plurality of air bags that are arranged to intersect along the outer skin material of the air sac. And forming a split curved surface in which a plurality of outer coating material portions surrounded by the plurality of cords bulge outward each other. It is characterized by having prepared.
[0010]
According to the first aspect of the invention, the internal pressure acting on the outer skin material is shared and supported by the plurality of cords due to the differential pressure between the inside and the outside of the air sac, and the deformation of the outer skin material is restrained to maintain the shape of the air sac. In addition, since the air sac is formed by a large number of divided curved surfaces having a curved surface, the tension of the outer film material against the internal pressure is reduced, and it becomes possible to form the outer film material by a thin film having a low strength. Mitigation is provided and the buoyancy capacity of the levitation gas is improved.
[0011]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the airship of the first aspect, the plurality of ropes extend in the front-rear direction of the air sac along the outer skin material and restrain the deformation of the outer skin material. And a plurality of latitude cable bodies that intersect the meridian cord body and extend in the circumferential direction of the air sac along the outer skin material to restrain deformation of the outer skin material. .
[0012]
According to the invention of claim 2, the internal pressure acting on the outer skin material due to the differential pressure between the inside and the outside of the air sac is shared by the plurality of meridian cords and the parallel cords, and in particular the latitude cords stretched in the circumferential direction The body restrains the deformation of the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the air sac and maintains the shape of the air sac.
[0013]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the airship according to the second aspect, the intersecting portion between the meridian cable body and the latitude cable body is inserted into the tubular meridian cable body holding section through which the meridian cable body passes and the latitude cable body. It is characterized in that it is fixed to the outer coating material by means of a cable body holding means which is coupled to intersect with a tubular latitude cable body holding part.
[0014]
According to the invention of claim 3, since the intersecting portion of the meridian cord and the latitude cord is inserted and supported by the tubular meridian cord holding portion and the latitude cord cord holding portion, the meridian cord and the latitude cord Generation | occurrence | production of the excessive bending load in a crossing part of this is suppressed, while the required intensity | strength reduction with respect to a meridian cable body and a parallel cable body is obtained, and the improvement of durability of a meridian cable body and a parallel cable body is obtained.
[0015]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the airship of the third aspect, the meridian cable body is extended in combination with the outer skin material, and the latitude cable body is stretched away from the outer skin material. It is characterized by that.
[0016]
According to the invention of claim 4, since the latitude cable body is stretched without being bonded to the outer skin material, the curvature radii in the front-rear direction of the respective divided curved surfaces are increased, and are continuously formed smoothly. The stress generated in the film is suppressed and the durability of the outer coating material is improved.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of an airship according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of an airship 1, and 2 is an air sac that is formed into a streamlined shape such as a horizontally elongated oval or spindle shape by an outer coating material 3 and accommodates a floating gas such as helium gas. .
[0019]
The air sac 2 includes a plurality of meridian cords in the direction connecting the front end and the rear end of the air sac 2, that is, a so-called meridian direction, at substantially equal intervals along the outer coating material 3, and in this embodiment, 16 meridian cords 11 is stretched. On the other hand, in the central portion in the front-rear direction where the tension is relatively large with respect to the internal pressure of the air sac 2, a plurality of the air sac 2 in the circumferential direction of the air sac 2, that is, in the so-called parallel direction, with an interval along the outer coating material 3, In the present embodiment, eight parallel cords 12 are arranged side by side, and a central portion in the front-rear direction of the outer coating material 3 is divided into a plurality of divided curved surfaces by a plurality of meridian cords 11 and parallel cords 12 arranged in a lattice pattern. It is divided into four. The meridian cords 11 and the latitude cords 12 are formed by thin wires, for example, thin ropes.
[0020]
Accordingly, since the shape deformation of the portion of the outer coating material 3 where the meridian cord 11 and the latitude cord 12 are arranged is restricted by the meridian cord 11 and the latitude cord 12, there is a difference between the inside and the outside of the air sac 2. Due to the pressure, the central part of each divided curved surface 4 bulges into a spherical shape as shown in FIG.
[0021]
The radius of curvature r of each divided curved surface 4 is formed to withstand a high internal pressure by setting it to about one tenth of the radius R of the circular cross section of the conventional air sac, for example. Here, the relationship between the curvature r of the divided curved surface 4 and the tension T generated in the circumferential direction of the outer coating material 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0022]
In general, the tension T generated in the circumferential direction of the outer coating material 3 is referred to as a hoop force. If the differential pressure between the inside and the outside of the outer coating material 3 is Δp and the radius of curvature is r, T = Δp. Since the radius r of curvature is small, the tension T is reduced and the outer coating material 3 can withstand a higher internal and external differential pressure Δp.
[0023]
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion B of FIG. 1 showing details of the divided curved surface 4, and two opposite sides of each divided curved surface 4 are held by a meridian cord body 11 extending in the meridian direction of the air sac 2. The other two opposite sides are held by the latitude cord body 12 extending in the latitude direction, and each corner of the divided curved surface 4 is held by the intersection of the meridian cord body 11 and the latitude cord body 12.
[0024]
As shown in the sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 4, the meridian cord 11 is arranged between the adjacent curved surfaces 4 and the outer skin material 3 is retained by the meridian cord 11 as shown in FIG. This is performed by adhering between the ends of the divided curved surfaces 4 that are adjacent to each other from the inner side and the outer side with a reinforcing tape 13. Similarly, the division curved surface 4 is held by the latitude cable body 12 as shown in the sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 3 is performed by adhering between the end portions of the divided curved surface 4 adjacent to each other from the inside and the outside with a reinforcing tape 13.
[0025]
At the intersection of the meridian cable body 11 and the latitude cable body 12, a cable body holding metal fitting 15 that functions as a cable body holding means for holding the meridian cable body 11 and the latitude cable body 12 is fixed to the outer coating material 3 and arranged. Has been. FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the main part of the cord holding metal fitting 15, and FIG. 8 shows a tubular meridian cord holding portion 16 for inserting and holding the meridian cord 11 as shown in a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. And a parallel latitudinal cord holding portion 17 that crosses the meridian cord holding portion 16 and holds the latitude cord cord 12 inserted and held in the vicinity thereof, is formed in a substantially cross shape, and the meridian cord cord holding portion 16 and The relative position is held by inserting the meridian cable body 11 and the latitude cable body 12 into the latitude cable body holding part 17, respectively.
[0026]
Further, the meridian cord body holding portion 16 and the latitude meridian body holding portion 17 are gently curved so that the meridian cord body 11 and the latitude cord body 12 are stretched in close contact with the divided curved surface 4, and the meridian cord body 11 and Suppressing the generation of excessive bending loads at the intersections of the latitude cords 12 to reduce the required strength of the meridian cords 11 and the latitude cords 12 and improving the durability of the meridian cords 11 and the latitude cords 12 At the same time, the load concentration occurring at the corners of the divided curved surface 4 is suppressed to improve the durability of the outer coating material 3.
[0027]
In the airship 1 formed in this way, the internal pressure acting on the outer coating material 3 due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the air sac 2 is shared by the plurality of meridian cords 11 and the parallel cords 12, and particularly in the circumferential direction. The latitude of the air sac 2 is restrained from deforming the longitudinal cross-sectional shape of the air sac 2 and the air sac 2 is maintained in a stable desired shape.
[0028]
Further, since the air sac 3 is formed by a large number of divided curved surfaces 4 having a curved surface with a small radius of curvature, the tension of the outer coating material 3 against the internal pressure is reduced. As a result, the outer coating material 3 can be formed by a thin film having low strength, and the weight of the outer coating material 3 can be reduced. Here, the weight increase of the added meridian cable body 11, the latitude cable body 12, the cable body holding metal fitting 15 and the like is extremely small with respect to the weight reduction sum of the outer coating material 3 occupying most of the hull structure. In addition, sufficient buoyancy ability by buoyant gas can be obtained without causing an increase in weight, and the effect of weight reduction is extremely effective.
[0029]
In particular, in a stratospheric airship that is directly exposed to sunlight in the stratosphere and the buoyant gas in the air sac 3 is heated to significantly increase the internal pressure in the air sac 3, the volume of the buoyant gas is prevented from increasing and sufficient buoyancy capability is ensured. can do.
[0030]
(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13, the same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 to 8, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted, and different portions will be mainly described.
[0031]
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of the cord holding metal fitting 20 corresponding to FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V in FIG. The cord holding metal fitting 20 includes a tubular meridian cord holding portion 21 for inserting and holding the meridian cord cord 11, and a latitude cord cord holding portion for inserting and holding the latitude cord cord 12 crossing the meridian cord cord holding portion 21. 22 are formed in a substantially cross shape in which they are closely connected.
[0032]
The meridian cord holding part 21 is gently curved so that the meridian cord 11 is closely attached to the divided curved surface 4, and the meridian cord 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the outer surface of the outer coating material 3 is bonded to the outer coating pair 3 by adhering between the ends of the adjacent dividing curved surfaces 4 from the inner side and the outer side with the reinforcing tape 13. ing.
[0033]
On the other hand, the latitude cable body 12 is inserted and held in the latitude cable body holding part 22 of the cable body holding metal fitting 20, and FIGS. 12 and 13 show the VII-VII line sectional view and the VIII-VIII line sectional view of FIG. Further, as shown in a longitudinal sectional view of the air sac 2 in FIG. 14, the air bag 2 is stretched in a polygon separated from the outer skin material 3 between the cord holding metal fittings 20 without being in close contact with the outer skin material 3. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, each of the divided curved surfaces 4 has a larger radius of curvature in the meridian direction than the first embodiment, and is joined smoothly between the adjacent divided curved surfaces 4 formed continuously. In addition to the first embodiment, the durability of the outer coating material 3 is improved.
[0034]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in each of the above embodiments, a plurality of latitude cable bodies 12 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the air sac 2 only in the center portion in the front-rear direction, but by arranging the meridian cable bodies 12 over the entire front-rear direction, FIG. It is also possible to form the divided curved surface 4 on the entire air sac 2 as shown in FIG. 5 and to appropriately change the curvature radius of the divided curved surface 4 by appropriately increasing or decreasing the number of meridian cords 11 and latitude cords 12. Thus, the tension of the outer coating material 3 can be variably set.
[0035]
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the meridian cord body 11 and the latitude cord body 12 are arranged along the front-rear direction and the circumferential direction of the air sac 2, but the cords are spirally crossed along the outer skin material 3 of the air sac 2. It is also possible to form a divided curved surface by arranging a body, and it is also possible to form a divided curved surface by arranging cords in a mesh shape.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
According to the airship of the present invention described above, the shape of the outer skin material is constrained by the plurality of ropes, and the plurality of outer skin material portions surrounded by the ropes form divided curved surfaces that bulge outward. The internal pressure acting on the outer skin material is shared and supported by multiple cords due to the differential pressure between the inside and outside of the air sac, and the deformation of the outer skin material is constrained to stabilize the shape of the air sac Since the air sac is formed by a large number of divided curved surfaces having curved surfaces, the tension of the outer coating material against the internal pressure is reduced, and it becomes possible to form the outer coating material with a thin film having low strength. As a result, the weight of the airship is reduced, and the buoyancy capacity by the levitation gas is improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of a first embodiment of an airship according to the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG.
3 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG.
4 is an enlarged view of part B of FIG.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an essential part showing an outline of a cord holding metal fitting.
8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a principal part showing an outline of a rope holding metal fitting used in a second embodiment of an airship according to the present invention.
10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.
11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.
12 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG.
13 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in FIG.
FIG. 14 is also a longitudinal sectional view of the air sac.
FIG. 15 is an overall perspective view showing an outline of an airship showing another embodiment.
FIG. 16 is a side view showing an outline of an observation balloon.
17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Airship 2 Air sac 3 Outer skin material 4 Divided curved surface 11 The graticule (cord)
12 Latitudinal Cord (Rose)
15 Fixing bracket for cable body (Ring body holding means)
16 meridian cable body holding part 17 latitude line cable body holding part 20 metal fitting for holding cable body (cord body holding means)
21 Meridian cord holding part 22 Latitudinal cord holding part T Tension Δp Pressure difference between the inside and outside of the air sac r Radius of curvature

Claims (4)

An air sac that is formed in a balloon shape by an outer skin material and accommodates floating gas;
A plurality of cords arranged to cross along the outer skin material of the air sac,
Constraining the shape of the outer coating material by the plurality of cords, and forming a divided curved surface in which each of the plurality of outer coating material portions surrounded by the plurality of cords bulges outward. A characteristic airship. The plurality of cords are
A plurality of meridian cords extending in the front-rear direction of the air sac along the outer skin material and restraining deformation of the outer skin material;
A plurality of latitude line cords that intersect the meridian cords and extend in the circumferential direction of the air sac along the outer skin material to restrain deformation of the outer skin material. The airship according to 1. The intersection between the meridian cord and the latitude cord is
The tubular meridian body holding portion through which the meridian cord body is inserted and the tubular meridian cord body holding portion through which the latitude line cord body is inserted are fixed to the outer coating material by a cord body holding means in which the tubular meridian cord body intersects and is coupled. The airship according to claim 2. The meridian cord extends in combination with the outer skin material,
The airship according to claim 3, wherein the latitude cable body is stretched apart from the outer skin material.

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