RU2105703C1 - Truss drive structure - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: space engineering; building of large-sized orbital structures from truss members. SUBSTANCE: structure includes modules formed by two prismatic cells with longitudinal, transverse and diagonal members, as well as members for connecting the actuating members of drive. Diagonal of adjacent cells have different direction; their diverging ends are articulated with peaks of modules and convergent ends are combined by means of articulated point. Coupling members are provided on intermediate members and on transverse members, thus providing for deployment of truss practically without seizure and maximum compactness in stowage. Intermediate members provided in each module for articulation of convergent ends of diagonals which are not connected with longitudinal and transverse framing members make it possible to reduce number of articulated points in truss structure. EFFECT: reduction of articulated points in truss structure. 8 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to space technology, in particular to the construction in space of large-sized structures mounted from trusses.

 Known development trusses deployable and assembled type. At present, some practical experience has been accumulated in the construction of truss large-sized structures in outer space.

 The large-sized truss of the assembled type is known, which was mounted on the outer surface of the Quantum module of the MIR orbital station in July 1991 during the Sophora space experiment. The assembly of the farm, consisting of core elements, was carried out manually by two astronauts A. Arcebarsky and S. Krikalev [1] For the construction of the farm 1.5 m long, it took 4 astronauts to space with a total time of 28 hours. The actual time was longer than planned. The experiment showed that manual assembly has a significant drawback: the assembly process is time-consuming and requires quite a lot of physical effort from the astronauts, from which it was concluded that manual assembly of large structures will require lengthy expeditions and large ergonomic costs.

 The known deployable drive truss is represented by the design tested during the Rapana experiment in September 1993 [2]. The five-meter truss was deployed using a wire drive made of material with a shape memory effect mounted on rod diagonals. Manual operations in the experiment were: preparatory actions inside the inhabited compartment, removal of the transport packaging of the structure to the compartment surface, connection of electrical cables to the drive control panel. Deployment was carried out by heating wire drives. The time of direct deployment of the farm was 5 minutes, the total time, including preparatory actions, was 2 hours.

 A common drawback for all deployable structures is that it is not possible to use such truss structures when they are not fully disclosed. It is also impossible to randomly build farms with additional sections and mount additional modules in different directions.

 Currently, trusses of the so-called "hybrid" type are promising in space technology, which are removed from deployable modules delivered to orbit in the form of transport packages.

 Truss structures of the "hybrid" type are supposed to be used at the international space station Alpha, created under the Russian-American project.

 The main point in designing a “hybrid” type design is to create a driveable deployable structure that can be easily deployed and assembled in outer space.

 The closest analogue of the invention is a truss wire structure [3] which can be used for space construction, as it easily adapts to manual assembly conditions using simple drive devices and has a rather high folding factor.

 The expandable drive truss is assembled from modules, each of which is formed by two prismatic cells of a triangular section, assembled from longitudinal, transverse and diagonal elements made in the form of rods. The longitudinal and transverse rods are pivotally interconnected. The diagonal rods in adjacent cells of the module are installed in different directions. Moreover, the diverging ends of the diagonals are pivotally connected to the vertices of the module, and the converging ends of the diagonals are pivotally connected to the slider. On the common (middle) for two cells of each module, the transverse rods have an additional transverse rod, which is a guiding element along which the slider moves in the reciprocating direction.

 The deployment of each module from the folded position to the working one is carried out by a drive, the executive parts of which interact with the slider through communication elements. As a result of the diagonal, turning in the hinges of the slider during its movement along the guide element, the angular movement is transmitted by the longitudinal and transverse rods, turning the module in a vertical position.

 The disadvantages of the design include the fact that with the introduction of guides and sliders, the truss design becomes more complex and less technological, since additional parts require their location in the structure and new connections, which complicates and complicates the structure, and also imposes restrictions on the density of laying the structure in folded condition.

 In addition, the simultaneous rotational movement of the rods in the hinges and the translational movement of the slider during deployment can cause jamming in the translationally moving pairs of "slider guide element". This is due to the fact that the backlash in the moving nodes, even of the smallest size, with the spatial movement of the structure rods cause some distortion of the geometric shape. Under normal terrestrial conditions, these distortions can be neglected. But in space flight conditions, when the farm is subject to dynamic influences from the working engine, as well as temperature extremes, the likelihood of jamming in moving pairs becomes very high.

 The technical result of the invention is the creation of a truss in which the diagonals would have fewer articulated connections with a longitudinally transverse set of truss elements, and in which the coupling elements with deployment drives would be made in such a way as to ensure truss deployment with virtually no wedging phenomena and solve the task of ensuring maximum density of the transport laying of the structure and its facilitation.

 The specified technical result is achieved by the fact that in the truss drive structure, consisting of modules, each of which is formed by two prismatic cells containing longitudinal and transverse elements articulated between each other, diagonal communication elements with actuator parts of the drive, while the diagonals in adjacent cells are located in different directions, their diverging ends are pivotally connected to the vertices of the modules, and the converging ends are connected by a hinge, intermediate links are introduced, each of which x is connected with a swivel of the converging ends of the diagonals, and the communication elements with the actuating parts of the drive are in the form of mounting sockets made on intermediate links and common to two cells of each module of the transverse elements in the areas of their articulation with longitudinal elements, and the mounting sockets on the intermediate links through mating elements interact with translationally moving parts of the drive, and landing sockets on common transverse elements interact through mating elements with epodvizhnymi often results.

 In FIG. 1 shows a general view of a truss drive structure; in FIG. 2, 3 is a front and side view of one truss module (image of an external element I); in FIG. 4 transport laying truss; in FIG. 5 view of the folded position of one pair of diagonals (image of the remote element II); in FIG. 6, 7 is a top and side view of the transport packaging with a conditional image of the drive deploying the structure; in FIG. 8 modified truss design and options for its possible transformation in space.

 The invention is illustrated by the example of a truss drive structure of a rectangular cross section (Fig. 1).

 The farm is assembled from four modules (Fig. 1, 2, 3), each of which is formed by two prismatic cells 1 and 2, having the shape of a parallelepiped. The cells consist of longitudinal rods 2, transverse rods 4 and diagonal rods 5. The transverse rods 4 are rigidly fastened together by fittings 6, forming rigid frames. The longitudinal and transverse rods 3 and 4 are pivotally interconnected using the rotation axes 7. In each module (Figs. 1, 2, 3), the diagonal rods 5 are mounted in different directions, with the diverging ends of the pair of diagonals 5 connected by hinges 8 to the vertices of the module, and converging the ends of the diagonals 5 are located on the inserted intermediate link, made, for example, in the form of a trapezoidal strip 9 (Fig. 5).

 A design feature is that the trapezoidal strip 9 serves only to connect the diagonal rods 5 and is not connected with either the longitudinal rods 3 or the transverse rods 4, which is expressed by the installation clearance Δ (Fig. 4, 6, 7) between the trapezoidal strip 9 and a longitudinally-transverse set of design rods. The connection of the diagonals 5 with the trapezoidal bar 9 is made using hinges 10, which are made in the area of the larger base of the trapezoidal bar 9.

 In the folded state (Fig. 4, 5), diagonals 5 are parallel to each other. On the trapezoidal bar 9 in the area of the smaller base on the part that protrudes on the other side of the folded diagonals 5 (Fig. 5), communication elements with actuating parts of the actuator 11 are made, which are two mounting sockets 12 and 13 of a round and oval shape.

 On common for two cells of each module of the transverse elements 4 (Fig. 2, 3, 5) there are also elements of communication with the actuating parts of the actuator 11, made on fittings 6 in the form of seat slots 1. Moreover, the seat slots 12 and 13 on the trapezoidal bar 9 are made along an axis oriented in the transverse direction of the structure, and the seating sockets 14 on the fitting 6 are located along an axis oriented along the longitudinal rods, i.e. the axis of location of the seating nests on the bar 9 and fitting 6 are perpendicular to each other.

 Landing sockets 12, 13, 14 through mating elements interact with the corresponding parts of the drive 11. The mating elements can be accessory truss or can be performed on the actuator 11.

 In FIG. 6 and 7 show a diagram of the interaction of the seating nests and mating elements, which are made on the actuator 11 in the form of pins 15 and 16. The pins 15 are connected with the translationally moving actuating parts of the actuator 11, which are made in the form of a sleeve in the illustrated example (Fig. 6, 7) 17, moving along the housing of the drive 11. The pins 16 are connected with the stationary parts of the drive 11, which in the illustrated example are made in the form of a handle 18, rigidly connected to the drive 11. One of the pins 16 is equipped with a ball lock (not shown), the mechanism of action of which is mounted mounted on handle 18.

 The deployment of the truss drive is carried out by two astronauts in the following order.

 The transport stacking of the truss structure is brought to the surface of the station, fixed by the adapter 19 on the corresponding working platform, and the astronauts begin the process of deploying the farm.

 First, the transport laying of the structure is unlocked. Then, each astronaut on both sides of the first (upper) module connects his actuator 11, which pins 15 and 16 are inserted into the corresponding mounting sockets 12 and 13 of the trapezoidal strap 9 and into the mounting sockets 14 of the fittings 6. A ball lock of one pin 16 fixes the position of the actuator 11 on truss structure. In this state, the actuator 11 acquires a stable position relative to the longitudinally-transverse set of truss rods.

After installing the actuators 11, each astronaut moves the sleeve 17 along the housing of the actuator 11, imparting translational motion to the intermediate element
trapezoidal bar 9. The diagonal rods 5, turning in hinges 8 and 10, begin to move apart, driving the longitudinal rods 3 of the truss structure, which, in turn, turning in the axis of rotation 7, connecting the longitudinal rods 3 and the transverse rods 4, deploy the structure . Moreover, the fixed position of the actuator 11 allows the bar 9 to perform translational motion regardless of the angular spatial displacements of the longitudinal rods 3 and diagonals 5 in the hinged nodes and maintain a gap D between the diagonals 5 and the longitudinally transverse set of truss rods. Such an independent movement of the trapezoidal strip 9 relative to the longitudinal rods 3 and diagonals 5 virtually eliminate the phenomenon of jamming in the moving parts of the structure.

 Upon completion of the deployment of the module, the trapezoidal strip 9 occupies a position in which the socket 12 is located above the hole 20, made on the fitting 6, of the common transverse rods 4. The astronauts take each of their actuators 11 and fix the position of the strip 9 relative to the common transverse rods 4 with a latch 21, installing it in the combined socket 12 and the hole 20.

 Similarly, each subsequent module is disclosed. With this movement of truss elements, the phenomenon of jamming is practically excluded. The trapezoidal bar 9, moved by the actuator 11 and not connected with the longitudinal and transverse rods 3 and 4 of the module, freely translates in space, allowing the diagonals 5 to rotate in hinges 10. A rigid connection of the pins 16 with the mounting sockets 14, provided by a ball lock in one of pins 18, allows you to withstand the gap between the diagonals and the longitudinally-transverse set of truss rods, thereby organizing a stable position of the trapezoidal strip 9 in one direction.

 An important factor should be noted, since there is no constructive connection between the trapezoidal bar 9 and the longitudinally transverse set of truss rods, the astronauts do not need strict coordination in actions with the drive, which greatly facilitates their work, the truss version allows the deployment process to be carried out even for one astronaut.

 The truss can be delivered on board the station in the form of transport packages of each module or several modules. In this case, the truss provides for nodes of rigid connection of the deployed modules to each other, made, for example, in the form of mechanical locks or crimp couplings made of a material with a shape memory effect.

 Truss drive design has been successfully tested to develop installation and deployment technology in conditions simulating outer space, namely in conditions of hydro-weightlessness.

 The design of the drive mechanism can have a wide variety of versions, since the connection of the truss structure with the drive is organized very simply through the landing slots.

 The proposed design of truss elements allows you to mount the farm of arbitrarily large length, increasing it with deployable modules. In addition, there are great opportunities in creating structures of various spatial configurations, since the modules are easy to mount among themselves in different directions. Moreover, the conversion of the structure to its "growing" or disassembly can be done sequentially, delivering the necessary modules or returning them by different expeditions.

 The advantage of the proposed technical solution is to achieve maximum stacking density. Since the design contains movable nodes of the same type of hinges, the density of laying will be limited only by their design. In the given example of execution, the design of the four diagonals of each module has only four points of articulation with the longitudinally-transverse rods of the truss (not eight, as it would be if the tetrahedral shape was executed according to the prototype scheme: with two guides and sliders), which makes it very simple arrange out connector and connection. In connection with such a diagonal design, it is easier to deliver separately on board the station. The module frame (without diagonals) in this case will add up to an even higher density. The diagonals in this case will be connected to the module frame inside the inhabited compartment. Modules mounted with diagonals will need to be folded only for removal to the outside of the station, which removes the strict requirements for stacking density.

 In addition, due to the "untied" position of the diagonals, the truss can be easily transformed. For example, if you remove the common transverse rods 4 in each module, this will allow you to give the truss a different spatial shape, by “breaking” the longitudinal rods of the module in the hinge nodes (Fig. 8), freed from communication with the common transverse rods 4. This appears the ability to shift the position of the upper modules relative to the lower module stationary mounted on the working platform by an amount equal to the height h of an individual module. In addition, the design of the modules without common diaphragms allows you to increase the amount of internal space of the truss, reduce weight and simplify the design.

Claims (1)

 Truss drive structure, consisting of modules, each of which is formed by two prismatic cells containing longitudinal and transverse elements, pivotally connected to each other, diagonal elements and communication elements with actuating parts of the drive, while the diagonals in adjacent cells are located in different directions, their divergent ends are pivotally are connected to the vertices of the modules, and the converging ends are connected by a hinge, characterized in that intermediate links are introduced into it, each of which is connected to the hinges by connecting the converging ends of the diagonals, and the communication elements with the actuating parts of the drive have the form of mounting sockets made on intermediate links and on common transverse elements for two cells of each module in the areas of their articulated connection with longitudinal elements, and the mounting sockets on the inserted intermediate links through mating the elements interact with the translational actuating parts of the drive, and the mounting seats on the common transverse elements interact through mating elements with n fixed actuating parts of the drive.

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