JP5046100B2 - Short-range take-off and landing aircraft - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is capable of taking off and landing at a short distance by using both a propulsion force of a driving wheel and a propulsion force of a propulsion device, and taking a landing at a short distance by using a braking force of the driving wheel. It relates to short-range take-off and landing aircraft.

Most of Japan's major airports are remote or offshore, so it takes a long time to travel to the airport, and domestic air traffic rarely loses its advantage in speed over railways, cars and ships. Absent. In recent years, airports that are inconvenient to access often cause passengers to leave and not only the number of flights but also the abolition of routes. On remote islands that have only low-frequency means of sea transportation, even if demand for air transport is high as a means of attracting islanders' lives and attracting tourists, there are concerns about the impact on the environment. Generally not easy. On the other hand, passenger demand in the Tokyo metropolitan area is increasing year by year, and airline slots in the metropolitan area are chronically lacking.
In order to solve the problems that exist in the current air transportation in Japan, the ideal solution is to establish a new airport near the city and on the remote islands. Since it is very difficult to secure a site in terms of construction cost and environmental load, the construction of a small airport with a short runway is one solution. However, aircraft that can take off and land at short distances usually achieve their purpose by increasing the power of the engine and equipping the main wing with a special aerodynamic device to generate high lift, This method has a disadvantage in that it tends to sacrifice the cruise performance due to an increase in weight and an increase in air resistance. In addition, special development as a short-range take-off and landing aircraft is required, so it is difficult to have the development and design process compatible with ordinary aircraft that are currently operating on a daily basis. Even short-range take-off and landing aircraft are not widespread.
In order for an airport near the city to be accepted by neighboring residents, not only short-range take-off and landing performance, but also low emission and noise performance during take-off and landing are strongly required.
However, current aircraft use propellers such as propellers or jet engines used during flight as they are when taxiing and taking off and taking off in airports. These are usually designed to achieve maximum efficiency at cruising speed.If the speed is low, such as during taxiing or gliding, the propulsion efficiency is low, which increases fuel consumption and also causes noise. Become.
Regarding this, as shown in US Pat. No. 3,977,631 from Boeing, a method for quietly and highly efficiently performing taxiing by incorporating an electric motor in an landing gear and driving wheels with power has been proposed (for example, (See Patent Document 1).
Even in Japan, a method of rotating a landing gear wheel has been proposed in various forms (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 to 6). However, since the mechanism shown in these patent documents is a mechanism for rotating the wheel immediately before the landing for the purpose of reducing the impact at the time of landing and landing, there is not enough output to accelerate the entire body on the ground. In addition, the aircraft wheel of Patent Document 6 has a drive mechanism on the wheels of the landing gear for the purpose of saving the propellant fuel during taxiing, but the drive is also sufficient to accelerate the entire fuselage to the takeoff speed. In order to have a force, there is a drawback that the weight of the entire drive mechanism becomes unacceptably large for an aircraft.
In recent years, the performance of permanent magnets has improved, and a small and high-power in-wheel motor type electric vehicle shown in Patent Document 7 has been developed. The in-wheel motor used here has an output necessary for take-off of a small aircraft, and at the same time, since it is an in-wheel, the weight of the drive mechanism is small. By applying these to the wheels of an aircraft, it is possible to reinforce not only the taxing but also the propulsive force during take-off run with a slight increase in weight.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,761 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-095299 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-150796 JP 2004-058978 A JP 2004-203223 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-193577 JP 2002-186119 A

An aircraft with a longer take-off run distance requires a longer runway, and the environmental load associated with airport construction or operation is greater. However, even if a short take-off and landing aircraft that requires a short runway is realized by increasing engine power and adding an aerodynamic device as previously proposed, it is difficult to become an aircraft that is widely spread on the market for the reasons described above.
By the way, the in-wheel motor is built in the wheel of the aircraft, and the driving force generated by the engine and the driving force generated by the wheel are used together to reinforce the driving force during take-off and can take off at a short distance. It becomes possible.
However, when the driving force for accelerating the entire aircraft is given to the wheels of the aircraft, the following pitch-up problem occurs. In other words, unlike an automobile, an aircraft has a high center of gravity, so the pitch-up moment that occurs around the center of gravity (the moment that acts to raise the nose) is as large as the pitch-down moment due to gravity. Have Therefore, when the driving driving force of the wheel increases, the pitch-up moment becomes larger than the pitch-down moment, and as a result, there arises a problem that the aircraft pitches up and the aircraft tail comes into contact with the ground.
Further, when the airframe starts pitching up, there is a problem that the front leg loses the steering function at all after the front wheel steered away from the ground.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to add a few devices without changing the parts related to the design of the aircraft body shape and engine of the existing aircraft. It is an object of the present invention to provide a short-range take-off aircraft equipped with means that can easily reduce the take-off and landing run distance.

In order to achieve the above object, a short take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 1 is provided with left and right main landing gears each having one or a plurality of driving wheels arranged obliquely rearward and symmetrically with respect to the axle from the center of gravity of the aircraft, And a front leg having one or a plurality of idler wheels, which are arranged behind the left and right main legs and have a sliding means and can arbitrarily change a ground distance. And a propulsive force varying means for individually changing the propulsive force of each driving wheel according to the operation amount of the ladder, and the propulsive force of the main propulsion device used during cruise of the aircraft during takeoff and the driving It is characterized by taking off and running while accelerating with the driving force of the wheels.
In the above short-range take-off and landing aircraft, the fourth leg is provided with a movable leg behind the center of gravity of the aircraft from the left and right main legs, so that the nose rises due to the pitch-up moment generated by the propulsive force of the left and right drive wheels, and the tail is lowered. In this case, it is possible to prevent the contact of the movable leg with the ground of the tail and contact the ground of the tail and to keep the aircraft's sliding posture stable. In addition, since the movable legs can change the distance to the ground, the propulsion force of the drive wheels can be efficiently contributed to the acceleration of the aircraft by keeping the aircraft in a sliding posture that is less susceptible to air resistance. . Thereby, it becomes possible to accelerate the airframe to the takeoff speed in a short distance by using the driving force of the driving wheel and the driving force of the main propulsion device in combination.
In addition, by providing propulsive force variable means that individually changes the propulsive force of each drive wheel according to the amount of operation of the ladder, even if the steering function of the front leg is lost, steering is performed with the difference in the propulsive force of the left and right drive wheels This makes it possible to maintain the directional stability of the aircraft.

In the short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 2, the driving wheel is driven by an electric motor.
In the short-range take-off and landing aircraft, it is possible to easily control the torque of the left and right drive wheels by adopting an electric motor as the drive means of the drive wheels. Furthermore, in the case of an in-wheel motor in which the electric motor is housed in a wheel, the rotor's rotating shaft and the wheel's rotating shaft are directly connected, which greatly reduces the mechanism and parts related to power transmission and reduces the weight of the fuselage. Will be. Therefore, by using the driving force of the driving wheel and the driving force of the main propulsion device in combination, the airframe can be accelerated more efficiently to the take-off speed over a short distance. In addition, the weight reduction of the fuselage greatly contributes to the improvement of the fuel consumption rate and the shortening of the landing distance described later.

In the short take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 3 , the propulsion force varying means generates a braking torque in the electric motor during the landing run.
In the short-range take-off and landing aircraft, by generating a braking torque in the electric motor, it becomes possible to use both the reverse thrust of the main propulsion device and the braking force of the driving wheel proportional to the braking torque of the electric motor at the time of landing. As a result, the landing run distance is shortened.

In the short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 4 , the prime mover that drives the main propulsion device of the aircraft includes an internal combustion engine.
In the above short-range take-off and landing aircraft, the take-off run distance and landing run distance of an aircraft equipped with an internal combustion engine as a prime mover can be shortened, and further, taxiing can be performed by oneself.

In the short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 5 , the prime mover that drives the main propulsion device of the aircraft is an electric motor.
In the above short-range take-off and landing aircraft, the take-off running distance and landing run distance of an aircraft equipped with an electric motor as a prime mover can be shortened, and further, taxiing can be performed by oneself.

According to the short-range take-off and landing aircraft of the present invention, the following effects are expected.
(1) The number of runways that can be used is increased by reducing the take-off and landing run distance of the aircraft, and the size of the airport can be reduced, so it is possible to establish new airports near urban areas where construction was difficult in the past. As a result, passenger convenience is greatly improved.
(2) Since the taxi can be freely controlled by a single aircraft, it is possible to reduce the cost of the tow vehicle and the personnel for that purpose, and it is possible to reduce airport noise and excessive fuel consumption generated during taxiing.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a short-range take-off and landing aircraft 100 according to the present invention. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a side view.
This short-range take-off and landing aircraft 100 includes a front leg 11 having a steering wheel 12 disposed below a nose portion of the fuselage 1 and left and right main legs 21 having left and right driving wheels 22 and 32 disposed below the left and right main wings 2 and 3. In addition to 31, a movable leg 13 having a idler wheel 14 as a sliding means disposed at the rear part of the body 1 as a fourth leg is provided. As will be described later, in-wheel brushless motors are built in the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32, and these left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 are directly driven by the motors to generate a driving propulsion force that pushes the airframe forward. As a result, the aircraft will take off and run using the propulsive force of the left and right engines 24 and 34 and the propulsive force of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32, and the aircraft will take off with only the propulsive force of the main engine. Compared to take a short distance. Further, by providing the movable leg 13, the idler wheel 14 of the movable leg 13 is grounded when the nose is raised and the tail is lowered due to the pitch-up moment generated due to the propulsive force of the left and right drive wheels 22,32. While preventing the tail from touching the ground, it keeps the aircraft in a stable position and contributes greatly to shortening the takeoff distance. Further, after reaching the takeoff speed, the movable leg 13 is housed inside the aircraft by a movable leg control device described later. Further, a non-rotating mechanism such as a sled can be adopted as the sliding means of the movable leg 13 instead of the idler wheel 14.

Movable legs 13 which are disposed on the same rear leg 11 before being placed in front of the center of gravity X _G is respectively arranged in the body 1, also the front legs 11 equipped with a steering wheel 12 having a steering function that does not generate a driving force The movable leg 13 is also provided with an idler wheel 14 that does not generate a driving force. As shown in FIG. 1 (b), the idler wheel 14 is not grounded with a clearance from the ground when stationary. Further, the movable leg 13 is a damping mechanism, for example, a part of the leg is constituted by a cylinder and a piston, and the inside of the cylinder is divided into two chambers by a partition plate having an orifice, and oil and inert gas are enclosed. Provide mechanism. Therefore, for example, the ground distance of the movable leg 13 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the sealing pressure of the inert gas.

Diagonally behind the center of gravity X _G in the left and right wing 2,3 equipped with left and right main legs 21 and 31 respectively, also provided right engine 24, 34 for generating a propulsive force during cruising or during skid respectively. Further, the left and right main legs 21 and 31 are provided with left and right drive wheels 22 and 32, respectively, for generating a driving propulsion force during takeoff. Therefore, at the time of takeoff run, the propulsive force of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 is added to the propulsive force of the left and right engines 24 and 34, and the takeoff speed can be reached with a shorter run distance than before.

  An in-wheel brushless motor is built in each wheel of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32. Here, by using the in-wheel motor, the parts used in the power transmission mechanism can be omitted, and as a result, the number of parts can be greatly reduced, and current control (torque control) described later of the motor can be achieved. ), The torque of each drive wheel can be easily controlled. As a result, a pitch-up moment is generated during take-off, the nose rises, and even if the steering wheel 12 of the front leg 11 leaves the ground and the steering function of the front leg 11 is lost, the movable leg 13 causes the aircraft to slide. The posture is kept stable, and further, the aircraft can be stably steered by the torque control of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32. In addition, by using a brushless motor, as described later, by applying a DC voltage to each phase or by short-circuiting the terminals of each phase, it is possible to generate braking torque in the motor and brake the machine body, and as a result The landing run distance is shortened, maintenance is not required, and the operation cost can be reduced. The motor for driving the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 is preferably an in-wheel type in consideration of not only the ease of torque control of each drive wheel but also the reduction in the number of parts and maintenance-freeness described above. If only the ease of torque control of each drive wheel is considered, an out-wheel type via a power transmission mechanism such as a gear or a pulley may be used.

Moreover, the movable leg 13 includes a damping mechanism (not shown) as described above, and can be expanded and contracted with respect to the cylinder axial direction. Therefore, when the propulsion force of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 increases and the aircraft starts to pitch up, the damping mechanism of the movable leg 13 acts to support the tail of the aircraft and to keep the aircraft's sliding posture stable. . The leg length of the movable leg 13 is a length that does not contact the ground when stationary in order to ensure the stability of the aircraft. Therefore, the aircraft is in front of the front legs 11 (steering wheels 12), left and right until the pitch-up movement starts from the stationary time. It is supported by the main legs 21 and 31 (left and right drive wheels 22 and 32). Thereafter, when the driving propulsion force of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 increases and the aircraft starts to pitch up, the steering wheel 12 leaves the ground, and the idler wheel 14 of the movable leg 13 is grounded to support the aircraft. Further, after the steered wheel 12 is separated from the ground, the front leg 11 loses the steering function. However, as shown in a torque control sequence described later, the left and right drive wheels are driven by the torque control device constituting the propulsive force varying means. It is possible to maintain the directional stability of the aircraft by controlling the propulsive forces 22 and 32 individually.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the torque control system 200 of the present invention.
This torque control system 200 includes a movable leg control device 15 that controls the movable leg 13, a throttle 16 that adjusts the output of the propulsion device (left and right engines 24 and 34), and a ladder pedal (a rudder operation pedal that operates the direction of the aircraft). ) 17, the torque control device 18 that receives the throttle operation amount Th and the rudder pedal operation amount Ru and determines the current values Iml and Imr to be supplied to the left motor 23 and the right motor 33, and the torque control device 18 is supplied with electric power. And a charging circuit 20.

  The movable leg control device 15 controls the damping force of the damping mechanism (damper) of the movable leg 13, the leg length, and the pulling out and retracting. That is, when the pitch-up moment becomes strong and the tail of the aircraft is about to be pressed against the ground, the damping force of the damper is strengthened to absorb the pitch-up moment, and further, the leg length of the movable leg 13 so as to keep the posture of the aircraft stable. Is controlled to maintain an appropriate length. In addition, after the aircraft has taken off, the movable leg 13 is housed inside the aircraft so that it does not become a resistance during cruising.

  The torque control device 18 receives the input of the manipulated variables Th and Ru, and supplies power to the left and right motors 23 and 33, which are in-wheel brushless motors that drive the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 according to the sequence shown in FIG. By controlling the currents Iml and Imr to be applied, the torques of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32 proportional to the currents, and the right drive wheel propulsion force Fwr and the left drive wheel propulsion force Fwl proportional to these are controlled. .

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a torque control sequence of the left and right motors 23 and 33 by the torque control device 18.
Torque controller 18, the operation amount command values FWL _ref, and the operation amount Th and rudder pedals 17 of the propulsion force of the right motor 33 a command value Fwr _ref about (Fwr) throttle 16 about propulsion (FWL) of the left motor 23 Calculated based on the value of Ru.
Therefore, first, in step S1, the sum Fwl _ref + Fwr _ref of the propulsive force (Fwl) of the left motor 23 and the propulsive force (Fwr) of the right motor 33 is controlled by the operation amount Th of the throttle 16. Here, Fwl _ref + Fwr _ref = At × Th, and Fwl _ref + Fwr _ref is calculated. At is a gain preset by the user.

In step S <b> 2, the difference Fwl _ref −Fwr _ref between the propulsive force (Fwl) of the left motor 23 and the propulsive force (Fwr) of the right motor 33 is controlled by the operation amount Ru of the ladder pedal 17. Here, Fwl _ref −Fwr _ref = Ar × Ru, and Fwl _ref −Fwr _ref is calculated. Further, when turning the aircraft to the right, Fwl may be increased with respect to Fwr, and when turning to the left, Fwr may be increased with respect to Fwl. In other words, the aircraft turns to the right if Fwl-Fwr is positive, and to the left if Fwl-Fwr is negative. Therefore, rudder pedal operation amount Ru is positive in the input corresponding to the right turn, the torque control unit 18 calculates the Fwl _ref -Fwr _ref from _{Fwl ref -Fwr ref = Ar × Ru} . Ar is a gain set in advance by the user.

In step S3, the Fwl _ref + Fwr _ref obtained in step S1, based on Fwl _ref -Fwr _ref obtained in step S2, the command value FWL _ref of the left and right motors 23 and 33 is calculated individually Fwr _ref.

In step S4, the command values Iml and Imr of the currents of the left and right motors 23 and 33 corresponding to the command values Fwl _ref and Fwr _ref of the left and right motors 23 and 33 obtained in step S3 are calculated. Here, by multiplying each command value Fwl _ref and Fwr _ref by constants C _l and C _r determined from the current-torque characteristics of the motor, current command values Iml and Imr corresponding to each command value of each motor are obtained. Then, the command values Iml and Imr are given to the left and right motors 23 and 33, respectively. In actuality, the calculated command values Iml and Imr of each current are transmitted to a motor driver circuit (not shown), where the duty ratio of each pulse voltage applied to each motor is determined according to the command value of each current. Each current supplied to each motor is controlled by adjusting.

  In this way, by controlling the current supplied from the power source 19 to the left and right motors 23 and 33 to Iml and Imr, the torque of the left and right drive wheels 22 and 32, and thus the left drive propulsion force Fwl and the right drive propulsion force Fwr are individually obtained. It becomes possible to control, and it becomes possible to maintain the direction stability of the aircraft.

  On the other hand, when the airframe lands, a DC torque is applied to each phase of the coils of the left and right motors 23 and 33 or a terminal of each phase is short-circuited to generate a braking torque in the left and right motors 23 and 33. It is possible to apply braking. Alternatively, when a large braking force is not necessary, the charging circuit 20 regenerates the rotational energy generated in the left and right motors 23 and 33 to charge the power source 19.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be applied not only when the prime mover prime mover is an engine but also when the prime mover is an electric motor as shown in FIG.

  Here, the results of verifying the effect of shortening the take-off run distance according to the present invention using a 20% scale model of Cessna 182 (manufactured by Cessna) are shown in FIGS. Here, in the sliding method of the present invention (combination of propeller and driving wheel), the sliding method of `` driving wheel only '', and the sliding method of `` propeller only '', the speed at which the aircraft obtains the lift necessary for takeoff (14 m / s The comparison was made by taking the run distance to reach) as the take-off run distance. As shown in FIG. 5, the take-off run distance when the present invention is applied is reduced by about 57% compared to the case of “propeller only”. On the other hand, in the case of “only driving wheel”, the take-off running distance is reduced by about 23% compared to the case of “propeller only”, and the take-off running distance is reduced compared to the present invention using both propeller and driving wheel. The effect is less than half.

  Moreover, the time change of the speed in each sliding method is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, when the speed approaches 14 m / s (takeoff speed), the increase in speed becomes slower in the case of only driving wheels than in the case of applying the present invention and the case of “propeller only”. . This is because the motor used for the drive wheel cannot maintain torque up to a high speed (number of rotations), and it is more effective to accelerate the aircraft with a propeller in a higher speed range. Therefore, in takeoff run, the takeoff run distance can be minimized by using the present invention in combination with a propeller and a drive wheel.

  The short-range take-off and landing aircraft of the present invention can be applied to various types of aircraft take-off and landing devices, but can be suitably applied to small aircraft for which demand growth is expected in the future. Especially in Japan, where the land is small and mountainous, this technology enables the activation of local airports that are currently sluggish and the efficient operation of runways at metropolitan airports.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the short distance take-off and landing aircraft of this invention. It is composition explanatory drawing which shows the torque control system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the torque control sequence of the left-right motor by a torque control apparatus. It is composition explanatory drawing which shows the other torque control system of this invention. It is a graph which shows the result of having verified the shortening effect of the take-off run distance by the present invention. It is a graph which shows the time change of the speed in a sliding system.

Explanation of symbols

1 fuselage 2 left main wing 3 right main wing 4 left horizontal tail 5 right horizontal tail 6 vertical tail 11 front leg 12 steering wheel 13 movable leg 14 idler wheel 15 movable leg control device 16 throttle 17 ladder pedal 18 torque control device 19 power supply 20 charging circuit 21 Left main leg 22 Left drive wheel 23 Left motor 31 Right main leg 32 Right drive wheel 33 Right motor 100 Short-range take-off and landing aircraft 200,300 Torque control system

Claims (5)

It is an aircraft having left and right main legs that are arranged obliquely rearward from the center of gravity of the fuselage and symmetrically with respect to the axle and each provided with one or more drive wheels, and front legs that are disposed in front of the center of gravity of the aircraft and provided with one or more idle wheels. A movable leg which is disposed behind the center of gravity of the aircraft from the left and right main legs and has sliding means and can arbitrarily change the ground distance, and the propulsive force of each driving wheel according to the operation amount of the ladder. A variable propulsive force means for changing is provided, and during take-off run, the take-off run is performed while accelerating by using both the propulsion force of the main propulsion device used when cruising the aircraft and the propulsion force of each driving wheel. A short-range take-off and landing aircraft.   The short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the driving wheel is driven by an electric motor. The short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the propulsive force varying means generates a braking torque in the electric motor during landing landing. The short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the prime mover that drives the main propulsion device of the aircraft includes an internal combustion engine. The short-range take-off and landing aircraft according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the prime mover that drives the main propulsion device of the aircraft is an electric motor.

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