JPH08107305A - Antenna reflecting mirror - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an antenna reflecting mirror with directivity control function in which the precise directivity control function and the entire light weight are realized by relieving a load torque with respect to the drive control mechanism in the antenna reflecting mirror with the directivity control function for the space. CONSTITUTION: Three points apart sufficiently from each other are used for support points of the antenna reflecting mirror in its operation, the one point is used for a fulcrum, and a drive mechanism applying straight displacement control to the antenna reflecting mirror 1 toward the outer side of the reflecting face is arranged independently to the remaining two points. A load torque to each control point from the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is relieved and the directivity of the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is controlled around biaxes with high precision. Furthermore, since the drive mechanism 4 is arranged distributingly to make the weight and the size of each drive mechanism 4 light and small and the fluctuation of the antenna directivity due to a size change depending on temperature is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an antenna mounted on space equipment such as an artificial satellite, and more particularly to a reflector of an aperture type antenna.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Antennas mounted on space equipment such as artificial satellites are used for communication, radio wave observation and the like. In recent years, however, there have been cases where extremely high pointing accuracy is required for these antennas. is increasing. The main factors that affect the pointing accuracy of the antenna are the alignment during manufacturing and assembly, and the deformation caused by the thermal environment on the orbit.However, the requirement for pointing accuracy exceeds the integrated value of these error factors. It has become to. As a measure against this, a control method for compensating the pointing deviation by adding a driving mechanism for actively changing the angular posture of the reflecting mirror is adopted.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional antenna reflector with a pointing control function. In the figure, 1 is an antenna reflector, 7 is a spacecraft body, and 8 is a pointing control drive mechanism. Further, FIG. 6 shows another example of a conventional antenna reflecting mirror with a direction control function, and in the figure, 9 is a supporting structure member.

The pointing control drive mechanism in these examples is in the form of one component separated from the antenna reflecting mirror, and a uniaxial or biaxial driving axis for changing the pointing direction of the antenna reflecting mirror. The fixed part side is connected to the spacecraft body or a support structure member directly connected to the spacecraft body, and the opposite movable part side is connected to the antenna reflector via the drive shaft. The drive shaft of the pointing control drive mechanism is rotationally driven by an actuator such as a step motor, and thereby the direction of the antenna reflecting mirror is changed around one axis or about two axes.

[0004]

In the antenna reflector with the directivity control function having such a configuration, the directivity control accuracy and the magnitude of the load torque of the antenna reflector are as follows.
The pointing control drive mechanism depends on the size of the support span that supports the antenna reflector. That is, as the directional control drive mechanism becomes a lighter and smaller component, the displacement of the drive unit is represented by the amount amplified by the angular variation of the antenna reflecting mirror, so that it is difficult to achieve high accuracy and the load torque becomes large. On the other hand, when aiming to improve the accuracy of pointing control or when applying it to a large-diameter antenna reflector, there is a problem that the pointing control drive mechanism is large in size and therefore large in mass. In addition, since the directional control drive mechanism is composed mainly of metal, the coefficient of thermal expansion is relatively large, and the directional control drive mechanism itself may be deformed or the antenna reflector may be deformed due to temperature changes. As a result, the linearity between the control amount and the change in the antenna angle is broken, and there is also a problem that the pointing accuracy is reduced.

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems of the antenna reflecting mirror having a pointing control function. The supporting of the antenna reflecting mirror is widely dispersed, and the pointing reflectors are used for pointing control. By arranging the drive mechanisms in a distributed manner, it is possible to realize an antenna reflector with a pointing control function that reduces the load torque of the antenna reflector and improves the pointing control accuracy.

[0006]

In the antenna reflector having a directivity control function of the present invention, a direct drive mechanism is provided to each of two fixing members for fixing the antenna reflector to the body of the spacecraft. One point on the back side of the antenna reflecting mirror apart from the two places is supported by a beam member from the spacecraft body.

Further, in the antenna reflecting mirror with directivity control function of the present invention, a drive shaft and a rotation driving mechanism for deploying the antenna reflecting mirror are provided to two fixing members in the antenna reflecting mirror with directivity control function. It is a thing.

The antenna reflector with directivity control function of the present invention uses one fixing member for fixing the antenna reflector to the spacecraft body as a fulcrum, and two points on the back side of the antenna reflector having a distance from this point. The spacecraft body is supported by beam members, and a linear motion type drive mechanism is provided at each of two end support points thereof.

Further, in the antenna reflecting mirror having the directivity controlling function of the present invention, a drive shaft for deploying the antenna reflecting mirror and a rotation driving mechanism are provided to a fixed member in the antenna reflecting mirror having the directivity controlling function. .

[0010]

According to the present invention, the directivity direction of the antenna reflector is arbitrarily set within a limited range by controlling the two direct-acting drive mechanisms with a point supported by the beam member from the spacecraft body as a fulcrum. Can be changed to.

Further, according to the present invention, even when the antenna reflecting mirror is a deployment type antenna reflecting mirror which is carried to an operation orbit in a state where it is accommodated on the side surface of a spacecraft and is operated after being deployed on the orbit, The rotary mirror provided on the fixing member deploys the antenna reflector in a predetermined position and posture.

According to the present invention, a point supported by the fixing member from the spacecraft body is a fulcrum, and two points supported by the spacecraft body through the beam member and two other end portions of the beam member are respectively provided. By controlling the arranged direct drive type drive mechanism, it becomes possible to arbitrarily change the pointing direction of the antenna reflecting mirror within a limited range.

Further, according to the present invention, even when the antenna reflecting mirror is a deployment type antenna reflecting mirror which is carried to the operation orbit in a state of being housed on the side surface of the spacecraft and is deployed and operated in orbit, After the antenna reflecting mirror is deployed in a predetermined position and posture by the rotation driving mechanism provided in the fixing member, it has the same function as that of the antenna reflecting mirror with a directivity control function according to the third aspect.

[0014]

【Example】

Example 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an antenna reflector having a pointing control function of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an antenna reflector, 2 is a coupling member, 3 is a beam member, 4 is a drive mechanism, and 7 is a spacecraft body. The antenna reflecting mirror 1 is connected to the spacecraft main body 7 at two end portions, respectively, by a coupling member 2,
And is fixed to the spacecraft body 7 via the drive mechanism 4.
Further, another portion of the central portion of the antenna reflector 1 is supported by the beam member 3 from another portion of the spacecraft body 7. The drive mechanisms 4 each independently have a function of linearly moving the fixing member 2 in the out-of-plane direction of the antenna reflecting mirror 1, and the directivity of the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is changed by the combination of the amounts of the linear movements.
It is possible to control in any direction around the two axes with the point supported by the as a fulcrum. Specifically, when the linear displacements of the two drive mechanisms 4 are in the same direction, the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is controlled in direction about the pitch axis, and in the opposite direction, is controlled in direction about the roll axis. . In the antenna reflector of the first embodiment, the directivity control function is divided into the fulcrum and the point of action by the two drive mechanisms 4, and the directivity direction of the antenna reflector can be adjusted in a wide span, so that high-accuracy directivity control is achieved by a small mechanism. Can be achieved with. In addition, the load from the antenna reflector is distributed to the fulcrum and the action point, and the load load per location is reduced, and the influence of local dimensional change due to thermal deformation of the drive mechanism on the antenna reflector is also reduced. It

Example 2. 2 (a) (b) and (c)
Embodiment 2 of the antenna reflector with directivity control function of the present invention
FIG. 5 is a view showing a holding / releasing mechanism, and 6 is a guide. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are diagrams showing a state of being housed and fixed in the spacecraft body 7, and FIG. 2 (c) is a diagram showing an operating state of being deployed from the spacecraft body. The antenna reflector 1 is carried to a required orbit while being held by the spacecraft body 7 by the holding and releasing mechanism 5, and the holding and releasing mechanism 5 is held there.
Is released from the restraint due to, and the rotary mechanism is expanded to a predetermined position and posture by the operation of the rotary drive mechanism (not shown) of the drive mechanism 4. At this time, the end portion of the beam member 3 on the side of the spacecraft body 7 moves along the guide 6 and is latched at the expanded position. After the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is deployed, the driving mechanism 4 independently has a function of linearly moving the fixing member 2 in the out-of-plane direction of the antenna reflecting mirror 1, and by the combination of the linear movement displacements,
As in the case of the first embodiment, the orientation of the antenna reflecting mirror 1 can be controlled in any direction around the two axes with the point supported by the beam member 3 as the fulcrum. In the antenna reflector of the second embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, the coupling member 2 also has the function of deploying from the spacecraft body, so that the antenna with a small number of components and a simple and lightweight pointing control function is provided. A reflector can be realized.

Embodiment 3. Third Embodiment FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of an antenna reflecting mirror with a pointing control function of the present invention. The antenna reflector 1 is located at one end near the spacecraft body 7,
It is fixed to the spacecraft body 7 via the coupling member 2 and the drive mechanism 4. Further, the beam member 3 supports the two rear portions of the antenna reflector 1 from another portion of the spacecraft body 7. The drive mechanisms 4 each independently have a function of linearly moving the beam member 3 in the out-of-plane direction of the antenna reflecting mirror 1, and the direction of the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is supported by the fixing member 2 by the combination of the amounts of the linear movements. It can be controlled in any direction around the two axes with the point as a fulcrum. Specifically, when the linear movement displacement amounts of the two drive mechanisms 4 are in the same direction, the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is controlled in direction about the pitch axis, and in the opposite direction, is controlled in direction about the roll axis. . Example 3
In the antenna reflector, the directivity control function is divided into a fulcrum and a point of action by the drive mechanism 4 at two places, and the directivity direction of the antenna reflector can be adjusted in a wide span, so that high-accuracy directivity control is realized by a small mechanism. be able to. In addition, the load from the antenna reflector is distributed to the fulcrum and the action point, and the load load per location is reduced, and the influence of local dimensional change due to thermal deformation of the drive mechanism on the antenna reflector is also reduced. It

Embodiment 4 FIG. 4 (a) (b) and (c)
Embodiment 4 of the antenna reflecting mirror with directivity control function of the present invention
4A and 4B are views showing a state of being housed and fixed in the spacecraft body 7, and FIG.
(C) is a figure which shows the operation state expanded from the spacecraft main body. The antenna reflector 1 is carried on a required orbit while being held by the spacecraft body 7 by the holding / releasing mechanism 5, where it is released from the restraint by the holding / releasing mechanism 5, and the coupling member 2
By the operation of the rotary drive mechanism not shown in FIG. At this time, the end portion of the beam member 3 on the side of the spacecraft body 7 moves along the guide 6 and is latched at the expanded position. After the antenna reflecting mirror 1 is deployed, the driving mechanism 4 independently has a function of linearly moving the beam member 3 in the out-of-plane direction of the antenna reflecting mirror 1, and the combination of the linear movement displacement amounts causes the antenna reflecting mirror 1 to move. The orientation can be controlled in any direction around the two axes with the point supported by the fixing member 2 as a fulcrum. In the antenna reflector of the fourth embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, the coupling member 2 also has a deployment mechanism from the spacecraft main body, so that the antenna with a small number of components and a simple and lightweight pointing control function is provided. A reflector can be realized.

[0018]

According to the present invention, a fulcrum for changing the directional direction of the antenna reflector is located at the center of the antenna reflector.
Also, by disposing two displacement driving action points separately at the mounting positions of the spacecraft body of the antenna reflector, the support span that determines the pointing precision is widened, and thus an antenna reflector that achieves high pointing control precision is obtained. be able to. At the same time, by widening the support span, the load torque of the antenna reflecting mirror on the pointing accuracy driving mechanism is reduced, and it is possible to construct a lightweight driving mechanism with a small driving force. Furthermore, unlike the case of the conventional directional control drive mechanism of metal integrated component,
The dimensional changes due to the thermal deformation of the drive mechanism section are greatly reduced by the distributed miniaturization, and it is possible to obtain the antenna reflecting mirror having a small influence on the directional fluctuation of the entire antenna reflecting mirror.

Further, the present invention can realize the effect of the antenna reflecting mirror with the directivity control function shown in the first embodiment also for the deployable antenna reflecting mirror.

According to the present invention, the fulcrum for changing the direction of the antenna reflecting mirror for antenna orientation control having the same advantages is set at the mounting position of the antenna reflecting mirror on the spacecraft main body, and the displacement driving action point is set at the tip of the antenna reflecting mirror. By providing them at positions separated from each other, the supporting span that determines the pointing accuracy can be widened, and therefore an antenna reflector that achieves high pointing control accuracy can be obtained. At the same time, by widening the support span, the load torque of the antenna reflecting mirror on the pointing accuracy driving mechanism is reduced, and it is possible to form a lightweight driving mechanism with a small driving force. Further, unlike the case of the conventional directional control drive mechanism of a metal integrated component, the dimensional change due to thermal deformation of the drive mechanism section is greatly reduced by each distributed miniaturization, and it has an effect on the directional variation of the entire antenna reflector. A small antenna reflector can be obtained.

Further, the present invention can realize the effect of the antenna reflecting mirror with a directivity control function according to the third embodiment also in a deployable antenna reflecting mirror.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an antenna reflector having a pointing control function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an antenna reflecting mirror with a pointing control function according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of an antenna reflecting mirror with a pointing control function according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing Embodiment 4 of the antenna reflecting mirror with a pointing control function according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional antenna reflector with a pointing control function.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of a conventional antenna reflecting mirror with a pointing control function.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 antenna reflector, 2 coupling member, 3 beam member, 4
Drive mechanism, 5 holding and releasing mechanism, 6 guide, 7 spacecraft body, 8 pointing control drive mechanism, 9 support structure members.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A reflecting mirror having a metal surface or a radio wave reflecting surface equivalent thereto, a beam member connecting one point on the rear surface of the reflecting mirror and the spacecraft body, and a lower part of the rear surface of the reflecting mirror, An antenna reflecting mirror comprising a pair of coupling members for holding a radio wave reflection surface at a predetermined position and a drive mechanism for independently changing the relative positions of the pair of coupling members with respect to the body of the spacecraft. 2. The coupling member constitutes a central axis of rotation when the angular attitude of the reflecting mirror is changed from the spacecraft accommodation state to the deployment operation state, and is composed of a pair of deployment mechanisms that generate a deployment driving force. A holding / releasing mechanism for holding the reflecting mirror on the spacecraft body and releasing the restraint in accordance with a predetermined command, which is above the reflecting mirror, and one end of the beam member The antenna reflector according to claim 1, further comprising: a guide which is received by the side and which is provided with a stopper at a position in a deployed operation state. 3. A reflecting mirror having a metal surface or a radio wave reflecting surface equivalent thereto, a coupling member for holding the radio wave reflecting surface at a predetermined position below the back surface of the reflecting mirror, and the reflecting mirror rear surface portion. Of the beam member connecting the two points of the spacecraft body and the two points of the spacecraft body, a pair of beam fixing members for fixing the two ends of the beam member on the spacecraft side to the spacecraft body, and the space of the pair of beam fixing members. An antenna reflector consisting of a drive mechanism that changes the relative position to the ship body independently. 4. The joint member constitutes a central axis of rotation when the angular attitude of the reflecting mirror is changed from the housed state of the spacecraft to the deployed operational state, and is constituted by a deploying mechanism for generating a deploying driving force. The drive mechanism receives two end portions of the beam member on the spacecraft body side, and each of the drive mechanisms includes a guide having a stopper at a position in a deployed operation state,
4. The antenna reflecting mirror according to claim 3, further comprising a holding / releasing mechanism, which is above the reflecting mirror, holds the reflecting mirror on the spacecraft body, and releases the restraint according to a predetermined command.