JP4628994B2 - Airship type aerial crane - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an airship type aerial crane in which a crane is mounted on an airship so that cargo can be lifted and transported safely at low cost.

  In Japan, where 70% of the country is mountainous, thinned wood is generated for forest conservation, but it is difficult to carry out due to the lack of inexpensive means of carrying out and the lack of young forestry workers. It is a source of methane gas that accelerates global warming. If this thinned wood is accumulated and converted into liquefied fuel or gas, it will be useful as fuel for automobiles, factories and households. This biomass fuel is a clean energy that is much cheaper and more renewable than solar and wind energy.

  Therefore, there is a need for means for carrying out thinned wood and the like easily and inexpensively even in the above forests. It is conceivable to use a helicopter as one of the means, but the helicopter is expensive and is not suitable for carrying out thinned wood and the like due to high transportation charges. Therefore, it is conceivable to use an airship using a light gas such as hydrogen gas or a hot air balloon that obtains buoyancy by heating air, but a hot air balloon is not suitable because it consumes a large amount of fuel. Therefore, it is preferable to use an airship as an aerial crane.

  There has been a plan to use an airship as an aerial crane, and one of them is a helistat prototype manufactured in the United States, which is a structure that combines an airship gas sac and a helicopter. This aircraft is a gas sac made for an airship. In this system, four helicopters were connected to each other and heavier heaviness was used to bear the weight of the helicopter, and the weight of the transported goods was handled by the helicopter lift. As a result, large noise and vibrations were generated during cargo handling and the helicopter rotor diameter was large, resulting in a cantilever structure away from the air sac.

In recent years, the development of the cargo lifter, which carries a 160-ton baggage in Germany and transports it more than 10,000 km without landing, has been planned. This aircraft has a total length of 150 m, a maximum diameter of 70 m, a gas sac displacement volume of 400,000 m ³ and a total buoyancy of about 400 tons. Although the construction of the hangar where two of the Aircraft will be installed in the suburbs of Berlin has been completed, further development has not been promoted due to financial problems.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 describes a technique that enables a cargo to be carried by mounting a crane on an airship.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-249954

  Based on the experience of aborting the development of large-scale airship cranes as described above, the present inventors have advanced research and development aiming to develop airship-type cranes that are small and small-sized, ground-operated and automatically controlled. Various prototypes are being made. Such an airship type crane can be called a “new industrial machine”, and it can be operated in a limited space at first, rather than allowing it to fly freely in any airspace like an aircraft that has obtained type certification. It is possible to hold down. The limited space is usually, for example, an altitude of 150 m or less in an airspace where an aircraft does not fly, and within this height limit, in a mountain forest or sea where there are only a few operators and an aerial crane operator. It is assumed to fly over a lake.

  Specific applications when small airship-type cranes are widely accepted by society in the future include (1) transportation in mountain forests and seas, and cargo handling for transport vehicles and work ships. (2) Monitoring illegal dumping of industrial waste. (3) Disaster relief support and communication and monitoring base. (4) Guarding and monitoring in urban areas, (5) Monitoring, observation and sampling work in lakes and wilderness are expected to be used in a wide range, but gathering trees especially in mountainous areas as mentioned above Can be suitably used.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an airship-type aerial crane that can carry cargo in a wide range of fields, such as gathering trees in mountainous areas, at low cost, safely, and with simple operation. The main purpose.

In order to solve the above-described problem, an airship type aerial crane according to the present invention includes an airframe composed of a gas sac filled with a levitation gas, a propulsion device provided on the left and right sides of the airframe, and the gas on both left and right sides of the airframe. A support arm that is supported by a fulcrum that rotates in the front-rear direction of the airframe, the fulcrum and the horizontal position being the same position as the buoyancy of the sac , and a fulcrum of the suspended load via the support arm And a plurality of rotary blades that are rotatably supported at the ends of the drive arms that extend radially from the drive shaft. And a rotor blade inclination adjusting member that makes it possible to adjust the inclinations of the plurality of rotor blades in relation to each other, and adjusting the inclination of the rotor blades by the rotor blade inclination adjusting member to make the propulsion direction variable, rise and fall of the aircraft, the control of the pitch angle and yaw angle, and And performing post-translational movement.

  Further, another airship type aerial crane according to the present invention is the airship type aerial crane, wherein the rotary blade inclination adjusting member is rotated about one slip ring provided so as to be arbitrarily movable and the slip ring. It consists of a support plate, and a control arm that rotatably connects each rotor blade and the support plate at both ends, and the inclination of the plurality of rotor blades can be adjusted in relation to each other by the movement of the slip ring. It is characterized by that.

  In addition, in the airship type aerial crane according to the present invention, in the airship type aerial crane, the support portion by the driving arm of the rotary wing is a portion in which the aerodynamic center and the center of gravity of the rotary wing coincide with each other. The present invention is characterized in that an inertial load force due to a load and a centrifugal force is received by a drive arm.

  Further, another airship type aerial crane according to the present invention is the airship type aerial crane, wherein the center of gravity of the rotor blade is between the support portion by the driving arm of the rotor blade and the coupling portion of the rotor blade inclination adjusting member. It is characterized by being configured to be located at.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, an airship capable of carrying cargo in a wide range of fields such as gathering trees in a mountainous area at low cost, safely and with a simple operation. A type aerial crane can be provided.

  The present invention provides an airship-type aerial crane capable of carrying cargo in a wide range of fields, such as gathering trees in mountainous areas, at low cost, safely, and with simple operation. Challenges are the aircraft filled with the levitation gas, the propulsion units installed on the left and right sides of the aircraft, and the fulcrum where the buoyancy and the horizontal position are the same on the same vertical line as the buoyancy of the aircraft on both sides of the aircraft. Each propulsion unit includes a plurality of rotor blades rotatably supported on an end of a drive arm extending radially from a drive shaft, and an inclination of the plurality of rotor blades. By adjusting the inclination of the rotor blade by the rotor blade inclination adjusting member to make the propulsion direction variable and performing arbitrary movement of the aircraft It was realized.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the example shown in FIG. 1, a spheroid for utilizing the buoyancy of a buoyant gas such as helium to be filled, or a gas sac of a cylindrical body with rounded front and rear ends is used as the body 1, Attach four horizontal axis rotary wing omnidirectional propulsion units (referred to as cycloidal propellers) 2, 3, 4, 5 as described later, one on each of the left and right lower sides and the rear left and right lower sides. A support arm 6 supported by a fulcrum that can swing and swing in the front-rear direction of the airframe 1 so that the horizontal position of the airflow center P and the horizontal position are substantially the same position on the same vertical line as the airborne center P of the airframe 1 by the gas sac. Are attached to the left and right sides of the airframe, and a rod 7 is fixed to the lower ends of both support arms 6, and a crane suspending tool 8 such as a rope is connected to the rod 7.

  The hanging tool 8 is provided with a winch 9 so that the rope 11 having a hook 10 at the lower end can be taken up by the winch 9. With such a structure, a suspended load on the ground is hung on the hook 10 and the position is controlled from one point on the ground or in the air to another point by the propulsion unit using the cycloidal propeller as described above. It can be set as the aerial airship type crane which can be moved to a point. It should be noted that a reinforcing member 13 is appropriately provided at the attachment portion of the support arm 6 that receives a large force in the body 1.

In the flight control of the above airborne crane,
Without using a passive control wing such as a tail wing that is not effective at low speed, all the cycloidal propellers are used as shown in FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the pitch angle of the airframe posture is controlled by thrusting the front and rear cycloidal propellers 2 and 3 in the vertical direction opposite to each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the yaw angle control of the airframe is performed by causing the cycloidal propellers arranged on the left and right to generate thrust in the opposite direction. Note that roll angle control is not performed because the weight of the suspended baggage is constrained and unnecessary. Also, the back-and-forth translation moves forward or backward with the thrust of all cycloidal propellers. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, ascent and descent in a horizontal posture is performed with the thrust of all the cycloidal propellers directed upward or downward. Further, the propulsion of each attitude angle of the airframe 1 in the middle direction can be performed by directing the thrust direction of the cycloidal propeller in that direction.

  As described above, the driving method of the airship type aerial crane is four wheels, and by making the suspension fulcrum of the suspended load substantially coincide with the buoyancy P of the air bag of the floating gas, It can retain the function to freely control the pitch angle of the airframe attitude of an airship type aerial crane, which is involved in the most important climbing movement safety.

  The body of an airship type aerial crane has a pressurized membrane structure, which is almost similar to a shell structure, and the load force can be kept to a minimum only in the direction of the surface of the structure. It is preferable that the air bag is installed at two points on the surface of the airframe 1 so that the load acts in the plane. An imaginary line connecting these two points can be used as the central axis of the aircraft pitch angle motion by passing near the buoyant point of the gas held in the air sac, and for the flight motion of the aircraft, The restraint moment due to buoyancy and suspended load can be minimized.

  This fulcrum can be placed anywhere on the surface of the gas sac, but the flying motion function of the airship type aerial crane is used to control the buoyancy and suspended loads to control the aircraft pitch angle that supports the heaviest lifting performance. Most preferably, the load moment force is determined to be minimal. As an ascent function, there is also a method of ascending and moving the airship type aerial crane with the airframe horizontal, but the lateral translation of the airframe in this horizontal position has the greatest drag on the airframe, which is disadvantageous. It is. Therefore, it is the minimum propulsion power, that is, the drag is the least if it rises in the posture that receives the wind from the front of the aircraft, and it can rise as fast as possible, and it can be lifted and retreated when encountering atmospheric turbulence near the ground. It becomes easy.

  The cycloidal propeller used in the airship type aerial crane as described above includes, for example, four rotor blades 20 having two-dimensional wings having a symmetric cross section as shown in FIG. Are arranged on a surface F to be a rotating cylinder, the front edges of these rotating blades 20 are directed in the rotation direction, and all the rotating blades 20 are arranged on the rotating cylindrical surface F at equal intervals. All of the rotor blades 20 have a driving arm 22 coupled to a point of aerodynamic center via a driving support portion 21 of a pivot or a bearing, and a driving shaft of the center O is connected to a motor (not shown) by the driving arm 22. Etc. to rotate.

  A control support portion 23 as another pivot is provided on the symmetry axis S of each rotary blade 20 at a point away from the drive support portion 21 in the rotary blade 20, and a control arm 26 is provided for the pivot of the control support portion 23. The one end part of this is fixed so that rotation is possible. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 6, the other end of the control arm 26 is different from the rotation center O of the rotating cylindrical surface F and is disposed at a position that does not interfere with these rotation mechanisms. Each pivot ring 25 is connected to a support plate 27 that is rotatably supported with respect to each slip ring 24. The rotation fulcrum 25 in the illustrated embodiment is arranged radially with respect to the center Q of the slip ring 24, and the slip ring 24 can be arbitrarily moved up and down and left and right by a separate mechanism not shown.

  Accordingly, for example, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the rotation center O of the rotary blade 20 and the center Q of the slip ring 24 coincide with each other, the neutral state is established and thrust does not work. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, in this case, when the slip ring 24 is moved up and down, the rotary blade 20 is rotated by the driving arm 22 but diagonally on the moving direction line of the coupling point of the control arm 26. By making the pitch angle of the two rotor blades 20 positioned in the same direction deviate in the same direction, the pair of rotor blades 20 can generate thrust in the same direction. Such a force generation state is shown in FIG. Such a propulsion mechanism similar to a cycloidal propeller has been put into practical use in the field of surface vessels, but has not yet been put into practical use for aviation. complex control mechanism weight is required of the research by the present inventors developed a method as described above, it could be given a prospect to practical use.

  In the cycloidal propeller described above, the slip ring 24 including the support plate 27 that supports the coupling points on the rotation center side of all the control arms 26 of each rotor blade 20 is independent of the rotation of the rotor blade 20. The angle of attack of each rotor blade 20 is controlled by decentering it vertically and horizontally on the fuselage, so that the rotation of the rotor blades escapes through the slip ring 24 and rotates toward the control operation mechanism side of the top, bottom, left and right. The rotational movement of the wing 20 can be avoided.

  Since the angle formed by the adjacent control arms 26 changes during the rotation of the rotor blade 20, this slip ring 24 is originally required for each of the control arms. In the present invention, as shown in the example of FIG. In addition, a slip ring installed so as to contain the drive shaft is used so as to avoid interference with the drive shaft so as to escape the rotational drive shaft at the center O. As shown in FIG. 6, the control arm is swung on a flat support plate 27 attached to the slip ring 24 at a right angle to the rotation axis so as not to be coaxial with one slip ring 24. Attach as many pivots or bearings as there are rotor blades. As a result, a control mechanism for the rotor blades of the cycloidal propeller can be realized that has a mechanism that substitutes for the function of the independent slip ring, together with the support plate 27 coupled to one slip ring 24.

  By adopting such a configuration, in order not to interfere with the drive shaft, an inner diameter corresponding to the up / down / left / right eccentric distance is required, and the slip ring 24 having an excessive shape is made into one. Since all the other plurality of slip rings can be reduced in size, it can contribute to weight reduction. Further, the same effect can be obtained by adopting a structure in which the rotary drive shaft is formed into a large-diameter pipe and the control arm coupling point is located therein to eliminate interference.

  In the cycloidal propeller rotor blade control mechanism, the center of gravity of the rotor blade 20 is made to substantially coincide with the center of aerodynamic force of each rotor blade 20, a bearing or pivot is placed at that point, and the point is driven by the drive arm 22. As a result, most of the aerodynamic load of each rotor blade 20 and the inertial load force due to centrifugal force can be held by the drive arm 22, so that the control arm 26 can be operated with a small power. Become.

  However, when the rotational speed of the rotor blades increases and the forward speed of the entire propulsion device increases, a large angle of attack is required for the deflection angle control of the rotor blades. As shown in FIG. Thus, the trailing edge of the rotor blade is pushed back in the centripetal direction, the control arm needs to withstand the compressive force, and the weight of the control arm 26 increases. In order to suppress this, as shown in FIG. 8, the center of gravity of the rotor blade is placed at an appropriate position in the direction of the trailing edge of the rotor blade from the bearing of the drive arm in the rotor blade, and the centrifugal force is appropriately applied to the control arm, By preventing or reducing the trailing edge of the rotor blade from being pushed back in the centripetal direction by the air force, the load of the compressive force on the control arm 26 is prevented or reduced, and the weight of the control arm 26 is reduced. be able to.

  The calculation result of the operation of the cycloidal propeller as described above is shown together with a graph. The airfoil is NACA-0012, and the relationship between the angle of attack α and the rotation angle θ of the single blade in FIG. 5 is as shown in FIG. 9, and the relationship between the angle of attack α, the lift coefficient Cl, and the drag coefficient Cd is shown in FIG. As shown. FIG. 11 shows the results of calculating lift and drag when the peripheral speed of the single blade is 25 m / s. FIG. 12 shows the lift when the number of propulsion blades of one propulsion unit is seven for each blade, together with the combined value shown as the total in the figure. The drag of the single blade was composed of the fluctuation component of the wing (23 to 35N) and the constant component of the support rod (16N), and the maximum value of the combined drag of the seven blades was about 360N. Further, FIG. 13 shows lift versus power characteristics when the rotational speed is changed.

  The airship-type aerial crane according to the present invention as described above is (1) cargo handling for transportation in mountain forests / sea, transportation vehicles, and work ships. (2) Monitoring illegal dumping of industrial waste. (3) Disaster relief support and communication and monitoring base. It is expected to be used in a wide range of areas such as (4) security / surveillance in urban areas, (5) monitoring / observation and sampling work in lakes / fields.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a schematic diagram of the Example of the airship type air crane by this invention, (a) is a side view, (b) It is a rear view. It is an action | operation figure at the time of the pitch angle control of the body in the Example. It is an action | operation figure at the time of the yaw angle control of the body in the Example. It is an action | operation figure at the time of the vertical motion control of the body in the Example. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the cycloidal propeller used by this invention. It is an enlarged view of the central part of the cycloidal propeller. It is a figure which shows the various operation | movement aspects of the same cycloidal propeller. It is explanatory drawing of the support structure of the cycloidal propeller. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the attack angle (alpha) of a wing | blade and rotation angle (theta) in the same cycloidal propeller. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the attack angle (alpha) of a wing | blade in the same cycloidal propeller, the lift coefficient Cl, and the drag coefficient Cd. It is a graph which shows the result of having calculated the lift and drag when the peripheral speed of a single wing was 25m / s in the same cycloidal propeller. In the same cycloidal propeller, when the number of propulsion blades of one propulsion unit is seven, the lift is calculated for each blade and is shown together with a composite value. It is a graph which shows the lift vs. power characteristic at the time of changing rotation speed.

Explanation of symbols

1 Airframe 2, 3, 4, 5 Cycloidal propeller 6 Support arm 7 Rod 8 Suspension tool 9 Winch 10 Hook 11 Rope 12 Suspended load 13 Reinforcement member

Claims (4)

An aircraft consisting of a gas sac filled with levitation gas;
Propulsion units provided on the left and right sides of the aircraft, respectively,
The left and right sides of the fuselage, on the same vertical line as buoyancy of the gas capsule and the buoyancy and the horizontal position is the same position, a support arm supported by a fulcrum for pivoting in the longitudinal direction of the machine body,
Via the support arm , provided with a hanging tool that can be pivoted so that the fulcrum of the suspended load matches the floating core ,
Each propulsion unit includes a plurality of rotor blades rotatably supported on an end of a drive arm that extends radially from a drive shaft, and a rotor blade inclination that adjusts the inclination of the plurality of rotor blades in relation to each other. An adjusting member, adjusting the inclination of the rotor blade by the rotor blade inclination adjusting member to change the propulsion direction, controlling the ascending / descending of the fuselage , controlling the pitch angle and yaw angle, and moving back and forth. An airship type aerial crane.   The rotary blade inclination adjusting member includes a slip ring that is arbitrarily movable, a support plate that rotates around the slip ring, and each rotary blade and the support plate that can rotate at both ends. 2. An airship type aerial crane according to claim 1, comprising control arms connected to each other, wherein the inclination of the plurality of rotor blades can be adjusted in relation to each other by movement of the slip ring.   The support portion by the driving arm of the rotor blade is a portion in which the aerodynamic center and the center of gravity of the rotor blade are made to coincide with each other, and the inertia load force due to the aerodynamic load and centrifugal force of the rotor blade is received by the driving arm. The airship type aerial crane according to claim 1. 2. The airship type aerial vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the center of gravity of the rotor blade is positioned between a support portion by a drive arm of the rotor blade and a coupling portion of the rotor blade inclination adjusting member. crane.

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