RU2269462C2 - Device for coupling space modules - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: rocketry and space engineering; deployment of spacecraft in orbits, including those of protracted flight.

SUBSTANCE: proposed device includes preliminary locking unit consisting of pin at one of modules to be coupled, taper seat on other module and members for locking pin in seat. Locking members are made in form of sunken spring-loaded wedge-shaped stops received by slot made in bottom portion of taper seat and respective circular bore on pin, thus ensuring free turn of pin around its longitudinal axis in taper seat. Device is also provided with relative angular orientation of modules being coupled in form of spring-loaded sunken rod on one module and receiving seat on other module. Said rod and seat are mounted at radial shift from preliminary locking unit. Device is also provided with locks of final coupling whose members are located over periphery of device on each module.

EFFECT: ease in operation for cosmonauts.

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Description

The invention relates to the field of rocket and space technology and is intended for use in spacecraft (SC) deployed in orbit, including long-term ones.

Various types of spacecraft docking systems are known, as described, for example, in US Pat. Nos. 4,500,057 of 02/19/85 and No. 4,588,150 of May 13, 86.

Each of these systems includes a preliminary fixation and retraction unit, which includes a retractable articulated rod placed on one of the objects to be joined, and a conical shaped receptacle with a rod end lock located on the other object to be joined, as well as locks for the final connection of objects, whose elements are located on the periphery of the aforementioned docking systems on each of the spacecraft.

The successful functioning of such docking systems is possible under the condition of sufficiently accurate mutual orientation of the objects to be joined and their approach to the minimum necessary distance, which is usually achieved by installing a special control system on the spacecraft. The consequence of this is the rather high cost of such docking systems, which for this reason are used mainly in transport and cargo ships, space stations, etc.

With the development of manned astronautics in the direction of creating long-term deployable orbital stations, such as Mir and the ISS, the need arose for fairly simple and reliable docking systems for individual instruments and assemblies located at the stations during their deployment. To perform such work on the external surfaces of the station, special docking units or mounting sites are provided. Such work is increasingly being carried out with the participation of astronauts - operators who often use various mounting devices such as a cargo boom or manipulators.

An example of such a device can serve as a system for docking spacecraft modules according to US patent No. 4607815 from 08/26/86, taken as a prototype.

This docking system comprises a preliminary fixation unit for mating objects, made in the form of a male element — a pin, placed on one of the mating objects — and, accordingly, a female element — a conical socket on another mating object; these elements hold the joined objects from mutual transverse movements, allowing them to simultaneously scroll around the axis of the pin; as well as locks of the final docking, located on the periphery of the docking system, each lock consisting of a profiled socket located on one of the joined objects, and a rod with a head expanding inside the receiving socket located on the other.

The connecting elements provide mutual fixation of the mating objects by introducing into the receiving sockets of one apparatus of the expandable heads of the corresponding rods of another apparatus. The heads of the rods are unclenched in the respective sockets as a result of the action of the axially movable rods located inside the rods.

The main disadvantages of this docking system are:

- the absence of a node that allows you to uniquely orientate the mating objects along the angle in order to ensure the coincidence of the axes of the corresponding parts of the locks necessary for their normal operation;

- the absence of a stopper in the preliminary fixation unit, which ensures that the pin is held in the corresponding conical socket after their connection, which leads to the need to keep the objects to be joined at the required distance until the locks are fixed by applying an external action in the direction of docking.

The aim of the present invention is to improve the convenience for astronauts-operators in the process of performing work on the docking of any unit, for example, to an orbital station.

This goal is achieved by the fact that the structure of the docking device for space modules, which includes a preliminary fixation unit, consisting of a pin located on one of the mating modules, a corresponding conical socket on the other mating module, and pin fixing elements in the conical socket, and made with the possibility of free the rotation of the pin around its longitudinal axis in the conical socket, as well as the locks of the final docking, the elements of which are located on the periphery of the docking device, respectively, on one and and the other abutting modules introduced mutual angular orientation of the assembly in position abutting modules, which is designed as a spring-loaded, recessed rod mounted on one of the abutting modules offset radially with respect to the provisional fixing assembly and the respective receiving slot in another abutting module.

The technical result of such a constructive solution of the device for docking space modules is the ability to ensure the combination of the corresponding elements of the locks for their guaranteed operation after the preliminary connection of the joined modules. This is achieved by simply turning any of the abutting modules relative to the axis of the pin of the preliminary fixing unit until the spring-loaded rod of the angular orientation unit, recessed during the preliminary connection of the modules, coincides with the corresponding receiving socket of this unit. As a result, the rod, having entered the corresponding socket, fixes the mating modules in the required angular position.

The invention is illustrated by drawings, while:

figure 1 presents a General view of the inventive device docking in its original position (before docking);

figure 2 shows a view along arrow A of the constituent elements of the docking device located on one of the abutting SC, in the initial position;

figure 3 shows a view along arrow B on the constituent elements of the docking device located on another of the abutting SC, in the initial position;

figure 4 shows a General view of the inventive docking device in the position of the preliminary fixation of the devices (before combining the rod assembly of the angular orientation with the corresponding socket);

figure 5 shows a General view of the inventive device docking after combining the stem of the node of the angular orientation with the corresponding socket (before locking locks);

figure 6 shows the remote element B with presented on it the node fixing the pin in the conical socket after completing the preliminary fixation of the mating modules;

in Fig.7 shows the remote element G with the node presented on it of the mutual angular orientation of the abutting modules after its operation (combining a spring-loaded rod with a receiving socket).

The device for docking space modules 1 and 2 contains a preliminary fixation unit 3 (see Fig. 6), which includes a pointed pin 4 located on the docking frame 5 of module 1, and the corresponding conical socket 6, located on the docking frame 7 of module 2. B the bottom part 8 of the conical socket 6 in a special groove 9 (Fig. 6) has a spring-loaded wedge stopper 10, and a special groove 11 is made on the pin 4; these elements allow you to hold the pin 4 in the slot 6 after the preliminary docking of the modules 1 and 2 and at the same time make it possible to scroll relative to this slot. Along the perimeter of the connecting frames 5 and 7 of the modules 1 and 2, respectively, the active 12 and passive 13 parts of the locks of the dock 14 are placed. In addition, the docking device includes a mutual angular orientation unit 15 of modules 1 and 2. This assembly includes a spring-loaded, recessed rod 16, located in a special cavity 17 made in the frame 5 of module 1 with a radial offset relative to the aforementioned pin 4, and a corresponding receiving socket 18 located in the docking frame 7 of module 2. In this case, precede the position of the assembly 3, the docking device with the position of the locks 14 and the node of the angular orientation 15 is coordinated in such a way that the spring-loaded rod 16 in the corresponding receiving socket 18 when the modules 1 and 2 are joined relative to the axis of the pin 4 ensures that the axes of the active 12 and passive 13 parts of the locks 14 , which ensures guaranteed docking of the latter.

The operation of the claimed device for docking space modules, for example, to install a newly launched functional space module on a special site of an orbital station, is carried out in the following sequence.

The docking module 1 with the help of a cargo boom or a manipulator is removed by the astronauts-operators from the transport ship that delivered it and transferred to the installation site on the surface of the station. Here it is prepared for docking, for which the pin 4 of the fixing unit 3 on module 1 is oriented in the direction of the receiving socket 6 on the docking station of the station (module 2). After that, the module 1 is pushed onto the platform until the corresponding mating surfaces 19 and 20 of the connecting frames 5 and 7 are combined and the spring-loaded wedge stopper 10 gets into the groove 11 of the pin 4. At the same time, the spring-loaded rod 16 of the angular orientation unit 15, resting on the surface 20 of the connecting frame 7, it is recessed in the cavity 17. Next, the astronauts-operators need to rotate the module 1 relative to the axis of the pin 4 in the nearest direction until the spring-loaded rod 16 enters the corresponding socket 17 of the angular orientation unit nation. As a result of this, the axes of the active 12 and passive 13 parts of the locks of the docking 14 are combined, which ensures their normal operation and reliable docking of the modules.

Thus, the proposed docking device can improve the convenience of astronauts-operators in the process of performing docking of various kinds of units, for example, on the surface of an orbital station. This is achieved by introducing an additional unit of angular orientation of the modules into the docking device, which reduces the rather thin process of combining the axes of the active and passive parts of the docking locks in order to ensure their reliable docking to the simple operation of rotating the docked module relative to the axis of the pin of the pre-docking assembly until the spring-loaded rod matches the corresponding spring nest.

Claims (1)

A device for docking space modules, including a preliminary fixation unit, consisting of a pin located on one of the modules to be mated, a corresponding conical socket on the other mating module and pin fixing elements in the socket, and configured to freely rotate the pin around its longitudinal axis in the conical socket, a node for the mutual angular orientation of the mating modules in the form of a spring-loaded recessed rod on one module with a shift in the radial direction from the preliminary fixation unit, etc. a mute socket on the other, as well as the final docking locks, the elements of which are located on the periphery of the docking device, respectively, on each of the modules, characterized in that the pin fixing elements in the socket are made in the form of a recessed spring-loaded wedge stopper installed in a groove located in the bottom of the conical nests, and the corresponding annular groove stopper on the pin.

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