JPH09124000A - Pannel structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high rigidity pannel structure and facilitate reduction in weight. SOLUTION: Structural members 20 are assembled in a frame form and connected to the back surface of 6 sheets of antenna pannels 10 which are arranged bendable and extendable therebetween along the surface of the pannel 10, a triangular column truss 30 bendable and extendable in a substantially triangular column shape with the bottom surface composed of two sheets of the antenna pannel 10, with respect to the structural members 20 is combined and connected. The members 20, 20 between which the panel abutting part at the bottom surface of the truss 30 is held are connected through a sliding member and a link member to thereby control the movement of the sliding member, and this bending and developping of the panel 10 is carried out through bending and developing of the truss 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a panel structure suitable for use in a synthetic aperture radar mounted on a spacecraft such as an artificial satellite and used for various observations such as meteorological observation and a solar cell paddle. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a synthetic aperture radar mounted on an artificial satellite is constructed in a shape larger than that of a mounted satellite structure in order to secure desired observation performance. Therefore, in the synthetic aperture radar, for example, a plurality of antenna panels are consecutively arranged in a folding screen shape via a rotating hinge, and the rear side of the plurality of antenna panels is a quadrangular pyramid that is foldably and unfoldably frame-joined. A support truss in the shape of a cone is attached and arranged via a folding and unfolding mechanism.

Such a synthetic aperture radar is transported to outer space with the supporting truss folded and the antenna panel folded and housed, and when the supporting truss reaches the outer space, the supporting truss has a folding and unfolding mechanism. When the antenna panel is driven to be deployed via the antenna panel, the antenna panel is deployed in a shape larger than that of the satellite structure and provided for desired operation.

However, in the above synthetic aperture radar, since the frame structure of the support truss is a structure in which the shape is stable depending on the shape of the antenna panel in its deployed state, its rigidity is large relative to the rigidity of the antenna panel. Due to the influence, the antenna panel has to be made thicker than necessary in order to secure a desired rigidity, which causes a problem of increasing weight.

This problem of weight increase becomes particularly serious when increasing the diameter of a synthetic aperture radar which has been studied in the field of recent space development. Further, the situation is not limited to the synthetic aperture radar, and the same applies to, for example, a solar cell paddle in which a plurality of solar cell panels are folded and folded in a folding screen and arranged so as to be developed.

[0006]

As described above, the conventional rigid aperture radar has a problem that the weight becomes heavy when a desired rigidity is secured. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a panel structure having a simplified structure, capable of promoting weight reduction, and realizing a highly rigid panel support structure. And

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an even number of panels arranged in combination so as to be foldable and deployable between each other,
A plurality of foldable and foldable frames in which a frame member is arranged on the back surface of the panel along a panel surface, and the frame members arranged in the frame are combined in a substantially triangular prism shape having two panels as the bottom surface. Of the triangular prism truss and a frame member supported by the two panels on the bottom surface side facing the panel of the triangular prism truss are urged to rotate around the panel contact side, and the triangular prism truss is folded and expanded,
A panel structure is provided with a folding and unfolding means for folding and unfolding the panel.

According to the above structure, the triangular prism truss is stabilized in the triangular prism shape by the bottom surface corresponding to the panel shape and the two triangular surfaces substantially orthogonal to the bottom surface in the unfolded state. , By itself, shape stability is obtained. Therefore, even for a panel having low rigidity, it is possible to easily achieve a panel structure in which desired rigidity is ensured, and it is possible to easily reduce the weight.

Further, according to the present invention, the folding and unfolding means is provided with a synchronizing mechanism for synchronizing the rotational urging of the frame members of the plurality of triangular prism trusses. According to the above configuration, a plurality of triangular prism trusses can be synchronously and stably folded and unfolded, and a highly reliable and stable folding and unfolding operation can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, the triangular prism truss is arranged on the panel so as to be positionally adjustable through the adjusting device. According to the above construction, the triangular prism truss can be mounted on the panel with high accuracy. Therefore, the assembling work can be simplified.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the concept of a panel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. An antenna panel 10 is formed in a substantially quadrilateral shape, and for example, six sheets are so-called mountain folds and valley folds, not shown. It is foldable like a folding screen through and is continuously installed. This antenna panel 10 constitutes a synthetic aperture radar, and on the back side thereof, three triangular prisms are frame-bonded to each other by framing a skeleton member 20 made of a tip-reassembly material such as CFRP with two of the antenna panels 10 as one set. The bottom surface of the truss 30 is assembled and arranged.

In the three triangular prism trusses 30 described above, the rod-like frame member 20 is formed into a set of two antenna panels 10 on the back side of the antenna panel 10 in a similar manner, and two quadrilateral shapes will be described later. The members 25 (see FIG. 3) are connected to each other so as to be connected to each other in a frame shape and continuously arranged. The coupling member 25 rotatably couples the frame members 20 supported by the antenna panel 10 and allows the antenna panels 10 to be folded and housed. The frame member 20 constituting the triangular prism truss 30 connected to the frame shape is adjusted by the adjusting device 31 as shown in FIG. 2, for example.
It is attached to the antenna panel 10 through the so as to be positionally adjustable in the arrow direction.

A plurality of the adjusting devices 31 are arranged on the antenna panel 10 at predetermined intervals, for example, and a holding portion 31a is movably arranged in the arrow direction via an adjusting operation portion 31b. To be done. The holding member 31 a of the adjusting device 31 has a frame member 20 of the triangular prism truss 30.
Is attached, and the holding portion 31a is moved in the direction of the arrow in conjunction with the rotation operation of the adjusting operation portion 31b, so that the frame member 2
Position adjustment between 0 and the antenna panel 10 is performed. As a result, the triangular prism truss 30 can be mounted and arranged with high accuracy on the antenna panel 10.
The assembly work on the panel surface can be simplified.

Further, the frame member 20 connected to the above-mentioned antenna panel 10 in a frame shape is combined with the frame member 20 and the bending member 21 in a frame structure having a substantially triangular prism shape, and both ends thereof are rotated. Can be freely combined. Of these, the bending member 21 is disposed on the oblique side of the slope of the triangular prism truss 30. Then, on each diagonal surface of the triangular prism truss 30, two wire members 22 (only one wire is shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of illustration) are installed so as to cross each other on a diagonal line thereof. Combined with the department. Here, the six antenna panels 10 include three triangular prism trusses 3 that are located between each other.
It is electrically connected via 0.

The three triangular prism trusses 30 are
Two reinforcing connecting members 23 are installed between the apexes of each other with a predetermined gap, and both ends thereof are rotatably connected. The connecting member 23 is provided with a bendable portion 23a which is bendable in an intermediate portion, and is bent and developed around the bendable portion 23a. With this, three triangular prism trusses 30
Are combined and coupled to the frame structure with predetermined rigidity so that they can be folded and deployed via the connecting member 23.

Further, in the triangular prism truss 30, vertical members 24 are respectively installed between the connecting portions of the frame members 20 on the apex and the bottom surface in a similar manner as shown in FIG. One end of the vertical member 24 is rotatably connected to the apex of the triangular prism truss 30. The other end of the vertical member 24 is
It is connected to the connecting member 25 that rotatably connects the frame members 20 that are connected to each other in the frame shape and are respectively supported by the antenna panel 10.

On the vertical member 24, sliding members 27 (see FIG. 3, not shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of illustration) constituting an umbrella mechanism for folding and unfolding are respectively similarly indicated by arrows A and B. It is provided so as to be movable in the direction (axial direction). This sliding member 27
One end of each of the pair of link members 28a, 28b is rotatably supported by the link member 28a, 28b.
The other end of each is rotatably connected to the skeleton members 20 and 20 that are connected via the connecting member 25.

For example, a spring member is built in the sliding member 27, and the triangular column truss 30 is set to a folding position in a state where the sliding member 27 is moved in the direction of the arrow A in the drawing with respect to the vertical member 24 (panel folding state). When the lock mechanism (not shown) is positioned at the moving position and the lock of the lock mechanism (not shown) is released, the spring member (not shown) urges the spring member to move in the direction of arrow B.

Here, when the sliding member 24 is moved in the direction of the arrow B with respect to the vertical member 24, the link members 28a, 2a.
8B, the skeleton members 20, 20 are rotated and biased in the directions substantially opposite to the arrow C direction and the arrow D direction in FIG. The antenna panels 10 and 10 connected to the frame members 20 and 20 are unfolded in the same direction.

It should be noted that, without using the spring member (not shown) as the movement control means of the sliding member 24,
For example, the sliding member 24 is controlled to move with respect to the vertical member 24 by using a drive source such as a motor, and the triangular prism truss 3
The 0 may be configured to be folded and expanded.

Further, the ends of the cables 26 forming the synchronizing mechanism are attached to the sliding members 27, respectively. The base end of the cable 26 attached to each sliding member 27 is
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is wound around a rotatable sending-out portion 29a via a pulley 29b, and the sending-out portion 29a is connected to a drive motor 29c for synchronous drive so that the rotational force can be transmitted.

When the sliding member 27 is urged to move in the direction of the arrow B by the urging force of the spring member (not shown), the drive motor 29c is drive-controlled by a control unit (not shown) and is sent out. The part 29a is rotationally driven. Then, the sending-out part 29a sends out the cable 29b wound in conjunction with the rotation thereof at a constant speed in the sliding member direction via the pulley 29b, and is arranged on the vertical member 24 of each triangular prism truss 30. The sliding member 27 that moves is guided synchronously. Here, the sliding members 27 of the three triangular prism trusses 30 are synchronously moved in the direction of the arrow B, and are synchronously expanded, so that highly reliable and stable folding expansion is performed.

The synchronizing mechanism for synchronously moving and guiding the sliding member 27 may be formed independently for each triangular prism truss 30. In the above configuration, the frame member 20 coupled to the frame shape of the triangular prism truss 30 is assembled and arranged on the back side of the antenna panel 10 via the adjusting device 31. At this time, the triangular prism truss 30 is operated to adjust the position with respect to the antenna panel 10 by operating the adjusting operation section 31b of the adjusting device 31, and the panel surface accuracy and the like are set to a desired state.

In the three triangular prism trusses 30 whose position is adjusted with respect to the antenna panel 10 in this manner, the sliding members 27 arranged on the respective vertical members 24 are urged by the spring members (not shown). Against each other, the link members 28a and 28b of the sliding member 27 urge the frame members 20 and 20 to fold in the folding direction, thereby urging the frame members 20 and the bending members. 21, wire member 2
2. The connection member 23 is rotationally controlled and folded and accommodated.

Here, the three triangular prism trusses 30 interlock with the folding operation to form the six antenna panels 10 as shown in FIG.
It is folded and accommodated as shown in FIG. In this folded state, the triangular prism truss 30 and the antenna panel 10 are
It is locked by the locking mechanism (not shown), is attached to the satellite structure (not shown), and is transported to, for example, outer space.

Then, in the state where it has reached outer space, first, the lock mechanism (not shown) for locking the triangular pyramid truss 30 in the folded position is released. Then, the sliding member 27 arranged on the vertical member 24 of the triangular prism truss 30 is urged to move in the direction of arrow B by the spring member (not shown).

Here, the sliding member 27 is the link member 28.
a and 28b are reversed, and the frame member 20 of the framework of the triangular prism truss 30 is reversed as shown in FIG.
Unfold the triangular prism truss 30. As a result, the three triangular prism trusses 30 linearly deploy the six antenna panels 10 at predetermined positions on the satellite structure (not shown) as shown in FIG.

At this time, the drive motor 29c rotationally drives the feeding portion 29a to feed the cable 26 at a constant speed to control the movement of the sliding members 27 of the three triangular prism trusses 30. The unfolding operation of the triangular prism truss 30 is synchronized.

As described above, in the above panel structure, the frame members 20 are combined in a frame shape along the panel surface on the back surface of the six antenna panels 10 which are arranged so that they can be folded and deployed. A triangular prism truss 30 which is combined and foldable into a substantially triangular prism shape having two antenna panels 10 as a bottom is skeleton-bonded to the frame member 20 combined in the frame shape, and the panel on the bottom surface of the triangular prism truss 30 is combined. Frame members 20, 20 arranged with the abutting portion sandwiched therebetween
Is linked to the sliding member 27 via the link members 28a and 28b, and the movement of the sliding member 27 is controlled, so that the triangular prism truss 30 is folded and unfolded so that the antenna panel 10 is unfolded and unfolded. Configured to.

According to this, the triangular prism truss 30 arranged on the back side of the antenna panel 10 is stabilized in the triangular prism shape by the bottom surface corresponding to the panel shape and the two triangular surfaces substantially orthogonal to the bottom surface. By doing so, shape stability is obtained by itself. Therefore, even with the antenna panel 10 having a relatively low rigidity, it is possible to easily realize a panel structure in which desired rigidity is secured, and a lightweight and highly reliable panel structure is realized.

Further, according to this, since the rigidity of the frame structure can be easily set to a high rigidity,
Since the antenna panel 10 can be easily made flexible and the panel can be made thin, for example, a large aperture radar can be configured without increasing the weight, which is required in the field of space development. It becomes possible.

In the above-described embodiment, the six antenna panels 10 are folded and deployed in a continuous manner, and two triangular panels trusses 30 are frame-connected to each other on the back side of the antenna panel 10. I explained in the case of configuring
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a panel structure in which two or more even-numbered antenna panels 10 are folded and unfolded.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the antenna panel 10 is used as a panel and applied to a synthetic aperture radar has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various types of folding-expanded solar cell panels and the like can be used. The panel can be folded and unfolded, and the same effect is expected.

Further, although the frame body of the triangular prism truss 30 is mounted and arranged on the antenna panel 10 through the adjusting device 31 so that the position can be adjusted, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to directly mount and arrange the triangular prism truss 30.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the wire member 22 is connected and arranged in a frame structure on the diagonal line of the slope of the triangular prism truss 30 has been described. However, the structure is not limited to this, for example, a rod frame. A member may be used to connect to the frame structure. Therefore, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a panel structure having a simple structure, a weight saving promotion, and a highly rigid panel support structure can be provided. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram shown for explaining an outline of a panel structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the adjusting device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view shown for explaining details of the sliding member of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main part of the synchronization mechanism shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram shown for explaining the expansion operation of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Antenna panel. 20 ... Frame member. 21 ... Bending member. 22 ... Wire member. 23 ... Connection member. 23a ... a bent portion. 24 ... Vertical member. 25 ... Coupling member. 26 ... Cable. 27 ... Sliding member. 28a, 28b ... Link members. 29a ... Sending part. 29b ... a pulley. 29c ... Drive motor. 30 ... Triangular truss. 31 ... Adjusting device. 31a ... Holding part. 31b ... Adjustment operation unit.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A pair of panels arranged in a foldable and deployable manner, and a frame member is frame-bonded to a back surface of the panel along a panel surface, and the frame member is frame-bonded to the frame member. On the other hand, a foldable and deployable triangular prism truss which is frame-joined in a substantially triangular prism shape having two panels as the bottom surface, and a skeleton member supported by the two panels on the bottom surface side facing the panel of the triangular prism truss, A panel structure comprising: a folding and unfolding means that folds and unfolds the triangular prism truss by urging the panel contacting side as a center to fold and unfold the truss. 2. An even number of panels arranged so as to be foldable and deployable mutually, and a frame member is frame-arranged on the back surface of the panel along the panel surface, and the frame-arranged member is frame-arranged. On the other hand, a plurality of foldable and unfoldable triangular prism trusses, which are frame-joined in a substantially triangular prism shape having two panels as the bottom surface, and a frame member supported by two panels on the bottom surface side facing the panel of the triangular prism truss A panel structure including: a folding and unfolding means that folds and unfolds the triangular prism truss by pivotally urging the panel contacting side, and folds and unfolds the panel. 3. The panel structure according to claim 2, wherein the folding and unfolding means includes a synchronizing mechanism for synchronizing the rotational urging of the frame members of the plurality of triangular prism trusses. 4. The panel structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the triangular prism trusses is arranged so that its position can be adjusted with respect to each of the panels via an adjusting device. 5. The panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the panels are electrically coupled to each other via the triangular prism truss. 6. The panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the triangular prism truss is formed by connecting wire members to a frame structure in a plane thereof. 7. The panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the panel is an antenna panel. 8. The panel structure according to claim 1, wherein the panel is a solar cell panel.