JPH10310100A - Space structure separation mechanism, and separation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a separation mechanism in which impact force generated in separating a bolt from a separation nut is reduced in separating a space structure comprising a pair of structures integrated with each other by the bolt and the separation nut. SOLUTION: In a space structure separation mechanism composed of a bolt part provided to penetrate a pair of structures 5, 5' from the side of one structure 5 for coupling the structures 5, 5' with each other, a separation nut part 3 engaged with a tip part of the bolt part 1 protruded on the other side of the structures 5, 5' at the tip part of the bolt part 1, and a separation means 4 to separate the separation nut part 3, a heater means 2 is disposed on the bolt part 1. In this constitution, before igniting a power cartridge 4, electric energy is supplied to the heater means 2 to heat the bolt 1. As the bolt 1 is elongaged for a micro-quantity to shorten its diameter, tightening force to the structures 5, 5' is reduced. The power cartridge 4 is then ignited, and the separation nut 3 is separated to be separated from the bolt 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a space structure separating mechanism, and more particularly, to a space structure in which at least one pair of structure groups used in space is integrated. The present invention relates to a separation mechanism for separating the two without generating a strong impact force.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional separation method of a space structure, there are many cases where the space structure is fastened by bolts / separation nuts. In such a method, generally, after a pair of structures are joined and fixed with a bolt and a separation nut, a power cartridge attached to the separation nut side is ignited, and the explosion force causes the separation nut to be separated. Is divided to release the connection with the bolt.

[0003] However, in such a method, a pyrotechnic such as an explosive attached to the separation nut portion is ignited,
The separation nut is divided, thereby releasing the fastening force between the bolt and the structure, and separating the pair of structures. In such a separation method,
It is possible to instantly separate the pair of structures by the firing of the explosives, but since a high impact force is generated, it can be used for other structures or other parts of the pair of structures. In some cases, this had an adverse effect.

[0004] Further, maintenance and management of the pyrotechnic product or strict adjustment and management of ignition conditions are required, so that an operation mechanism becomes complicated and an increase in cost is unavoidable.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of such a conventional space structure separation mechanism 20. FIG. 2A shows a state before separation, and FIG. 2B shows a state after separation. It is shown.

In FIG. 2, a pair of structures 5, 5 '
A bolt 1 inserted from one side into a through hole 12 provided commonly to the pair of structures 5 and 5 ′ and the bolt 1
And a separating nut 3 screwed to a tip protruding to the other side of the head. More specifically, a housing 8 is attached to one structure 5 of the pair of structures via an appropriate fixing member 10,
The bolt 1 is housed in the housing 8.

On the other hand, the other structure 5 'of the pair of structures
A housing 8 ′ is mounted via an appropriate fixing member 9, and a separable separation nut 3 that can be fitted to the tip of the bolt 1 is housed in the housing 8 ′. At the same time, a power cartridge 4 is provided on the top of the housing 8 '. The power cartridge 4 ignites the pyrotechnic, and the piston 11
, The wedge portion 12 in contact with the bolt 1 is hung down to divide the separation nut 3 into a predetermined number, and then the pair of structures 5, 5 'is separated using an appropriate separation mechanism. The pair of structures are separated from each other by being disengaged from the engagement with each other.

At this time, since the strain energy accumulated in the structure is instantaneously released, a high impact force is generated, which is a problem. On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-27119, a pair of structures are fixed using bolts and a separation nut made of a low-melting substance in the same manner as described above.
At the time of separation, a method of heating the heating means provided in a portion adjacent to the separation nut to melt the low melting point material constituting the separation nut and cancel the fastening between the bolt and the nut However, in such a method, a processing mechanism for the low-melting substance in the molten state, which constitutes the separation nut, is required, so that the separation mechanism is similarly complicated and the cost is increased. It was inevitable.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-187,094 discloses that
When a coil made of a shape memory alloy is wound around the outer circumference of the separation nut and the pair of structures is separated, the shape memory alloy is heated and deformed to separate the separation nut, and then appropriately. Describes a method of extruding and separating bolts by a spring. However, even in this method, since the frictional force between the bolt and the structure is considerably high, even when a spring is used, the impact force when the bolt and the pair of structures separate from each other is greatly reduced. It was impossible to mitigate.

[0009]

The first problem in the above-mentioned prior art is that a high impact force is generated when the bolt and the nut are separated as described above. The reason is that the strain energy stored when the bolt and nut are tightened is instantaneously released.

[0010] Further, the separation structure itself becomes complicated, which hinders weight reduction and also raises the problem of cost increase. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, and to separate a space structure integrating a pair of structures using a bolt and a separation nut.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a space structure separating mechanism for reducing the impact force generated when the bolt and the separating nut are separated.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention employs a basic technical configuration as described below. That is, a bolt portion provided to penetrate the pair of structures from one structure side to join the pair of structures, and projecting from the tip of the bolt portion to the opposite side of the pair of structures. In a space structure separation mechanism comprising a separation nut portion engaged with a tip end portion of the bolt portion and separation means for separating the separation nut portion, a heater is attached to the bolt portion. It is a separation mechanism of the space structure in which the means are arranged.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A space structure separating mechanism according to the present invention is characterized in that a heater is attached to a bolt as described above. In other words, in the space structure separation mechanism related to the present invention, a strong fastening force is required to integrate the pair of structures, because the space structure separation mechanism is a rocket or the like. It is time to launch into space, and the phase where space structures are separated (on orbit)
Then no strong fastening force is needed.

[0013] Therefore, on the track, the bolt is stretched by applying heat to the bolt by a heater, and the fastening force between the bolt and the structure is weakened by the extension of the bolt. When separating from objects,
Less stored strain energy. Therefore, the impact force generated when separating the pair of structures is small.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A concrete example of a space structure separating mechanism according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. That is,
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a specific example of a space structure separation mechanism according to the present invention.
A bolt portion 1 provided through the pair of structures 5, 5 ′ from one structure 5 side to join 5 ′, a pair of structures 5 at a tip end of the bolt portion 1, A space structure comprising a separation nut 3 engaging with the tip of the bolt 1 protruding to the opposite side of 5 ′ and separation means 4 for separating the separation nut 3 In the separation mechanism 20, a space structure separation mechanism 20 in which the heater means 2 is arranged on the bolt portion 1 is shown.

The space structure separation mechanism 20 according to the present invention.
Has the same structure as that of the conventional space structure separation mechanism 20 shown in FIG. 2 and is different from the related art, and the best mode of the present invention is as follows.
The heater means 2 is attached to the sleeve portion of the bolt 1, and the heater means 2 may be a wound type or a sheet type.

That is, in the present invention, it is desirable that the separating means 4 has a function of dividing the separating nut portion 3 into a predetermined number, and the separating means 4 is a power cartridge. It is desirable to be configured. Further, in one embodiment of the separating means 4 according to the present invention, the separating means 4 responds to the displacement of the power cartridge 4, the piston 11 receiving the pressure by the power cartridge 4, and the piston 11. Further, it is preferable that the separation nut 3 is provided with a wedge portion 12 that applies a dividing force to the separation nut 3.

Further, in the separating mechanism according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the bolt portion is formed inside the housing 8 by a flange portion and a cylindrical portion, and the flange portion and the cylindrical portion are dropped. It is also desirable to dispose a bolt catcher 7 for receiving 1. That is, as another aspect of the present invention, a bolt portion penetrating from one side to the other side of a pair of structures and a nut portion screwed to the bolt portion are used. In a space structure separating mechanism in which a pair of structures are combined, the bolt portion is heated to reduce the tightening force between the bolt and the pair of structures, and then the separation is performed. A space structure separating method characterized by dividing a nut portion and thereafter performing a separating operation on the pair of structures to separate the bolt portion from the pair of structures.

In the present invention, as described above, it is necessary that a heat supply means for supplying heat energy to the heater means 2 be provided. Then, the heater means 2 is heated. For example, it is also possible to provide an appropriate slit portion on the flange portion of the bolt catcher 7 and to connect a suitable power source through a heater lead wire from the slit portion.

Next, the operation of one embodiment of the space structure separating mechanism 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. That is, before the bolt 1 is passed through the common hole 12 of the pair of structures 5, 5 ', the heater means 2 is connected to the bolt 1
Attach to the sleeve part of If the heater means 2 is a wound type, it may be wound around a sleeve portion, and if the heater means 2 is a sheet type, it is attached to the sleeve portion.

After that, the bolt 1 is tightened with the separating nut 3. After tightening, an appropriate power cartridge 4 is attached to the housing portion 8 that houses the separation nut 3, and the assembling procedure is completed. On the other hand, in the separation and release procedure of the space structure separation mechanism 20 according to the present invention, before the power cartridge 4 is ignited, electric energy is supplied to the heater means 2 to warm the bolt 1. The bolt 1 stretches a little,
When the diameter is reduced, the force that has tightened the pair of structures 5, 5 'is reduced.

Then, when the power cartridge 4 is ignited, the separation nut 3 is divided and separated from the bolt 1. In the present invention, since the bolt portion 1 is slightly elongated by the heating, the force for tightening the structure is reduced,
The strain energy decreases. As a result, even if the power cartridge 4 is ignited, the impact energy is reduced because the distortion energy is reduced.

That is, the impact force is not at the time of ignition,
The impact force can be reduced by the method according to the invention, since it generally increases when the strain energy is released. Therefore, in the space structure separating mechanism 20 according to the present invention, when separating the structures 5, 5 ', the tightening force for securely removing the bolt 1 from the structure 5 is not sufficient. Has little effect.

A cable (not shown) for supplying electric energy to the heater means 2 is provided with an appropriate groove in the pair of structures 5, 5 ', and is led out therefrom. In the present invention, a power cartridge is provided as an example of the retreating means 4 for retreating the bolt 1 from the pair of structures 5, 5 'after the bolt 1 is heated. In addition, the retreating means 4 is not particularly limited. For example, an appropriate spring means may be used.

In the present invention, by using the above-mentioned space structure separating mechanism, a bolt portion penetrating from one side to the other side of the pair of structures and the bolt portion are provided. In the separation mechanism of the space structure in which the pair of structures are coupled by the screwed nut portion, by heating the bolt portion, the space between the bolt and the pair of structures is heated. After reducing the tightening force of
There is provided a method of separating a space structure in which the bolt portion is detached from the pair of structures.

In this case, it is preferable that a separation mechanism in which the bolt 1 and the separation nut 3 are fastened to each other be such that a heater for weakening the tightening force of the bolt is attached to the bolt.

[0026]

According to the present invention, a space structure separating mechanism according to the present invention comprises:
Since the above-described configuration is employed, as a first effect, it is possible to reduce the impact force generated when the bolt and the nut are separated. The reason is that the tightening force is weakened before the separating operation, so that the stored energy is somewhat released, and the impact force at the time of separating is weakened.

As a second effect, the required tightening force at the time of launching the rocket is secured. The reason for this is that the space structure separating mechanism according to the present invention operates on an orbit beyond the time of launch.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a specific example of a space structure separating mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 (A) shows a state before the pair of structures is separated. FIG. 1B shows a state after the pair of structures has been separated.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional space structure separating mechanism, and FIG. 2 (A) shows a state of the pair of structures before separation, and FIG. B) shows a state after the pair of structures has been separated. You.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bolt part 2 ... Heating means 3 ... Separation nut part 4 ... Retraction means, power cartridge 5, 5 '... A pair of structures 7 ... Bolt catcher 8, 8' ... Housing part 9, 10 ... Fixing member 11 ... Piston part 12 Wedge 20 Separation mechanism of space structure

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A bolt portion provided to penetrate a pair of structures from one structure side to couple the pair of structures, and a tip of the bolt portion opposes the pair of structures. In a space structure separation mechanism comprising a separation nut portion that is engaged with a tip portion of the bolt portion protruding to the side and separation means for separating the separation nut portion, A space structure separation mechanism characterized in that a heater means is arranged in a section. 2. The space structure separating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein means for supplying thermal energy to said heater means is provided. 3. The space structure separation mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the separation means has a function of dividing the separation nut portion. 4. The space structure separating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said separating means is constituted by a power cartridge. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the separating means includes a power cartridge, a piston portion receiving pressure from the power cartridge, and a wedge portion that applies a dividing force to the separation nut in response to displacement of the piston portion. The space structure separating mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: 6. The pair of structures are joined by a bolt portion penetrating from one side to the other side of the pair of structures and a nut portion screwed to the bolt portion. In the space structure separation mechanism, the bolt is heated to reduce the tightening force between the bolt and a pair of structures, and then the separation nut is divided. A method for separating a space structure, comprising separating the bolt portion from the pair of structures by performing a separation operation on the pair of structures. 7. The method for separating a space structure according to claim 6, wherein a heater for weakening the bolt tightening force is provided on the bolt in the separation mechanism fastened by the bolt and the nut.