RU2396649C1 - Unfolding spherical radiation reflector - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: reflector is a frame on which a reflecting surface is mounted. The frame consists of bearing meridian rod lying on meridian spheres which are composite and are made from parts which are pivotally connected to each other. The meridian rods are pivotally attached to annular rods lying on parallel spheres connected by free ends lying on the poles of the sphere with possibility of turning to ends of an extendable telescopic arm. The hinge for connecting parts of the rod has a housing with springs which are in contact with supports of the connected parts of the rod. The nodal hinge for connecting the meridian rod with the annular rod is made in form of a housing with springs inside. The polar hinge consists of a housing at the end of the telescopic arm with radial loops to which free ends of the meridian rods are attached.

EFFECT: simple design, highly reliable operation and improved transportation conditions.

5 cl, 11 dwg

Description

The invention relates to space technology, in particular to the designs of reference and calibration reflectors, can be used to assess the radiation characteristics of multiband radar systems.

Spherical reflectors of inflatable and all-metal fixed type are known.

However, the known reflectors have disadvantages: inflatable reflectors have instability of geometric shape, and all-metal reflectors of a fixed type have significant dimensions and mass, which does not allow their transportation to near-earth orbits by passing launches.

One of the analogues is a drop-down reflector (patent No. 2214659, H01Q 15/16, 03/05/2001), in which the frame consists of a central node and a power ring formed of intersecting intersecting rods pivotally connected to each other. The rods at their ends are pivotally and pairwise connected to the uprights, interacting through the support lobes with a central node, which communicate the movement of the rods through the drives. The net of the reflective surface is attached to the frame elements defining the profile of the working surface of the reflector.

This device relates to large-sized all-metal structures of space reflectors, the significant size and mass of which does not allow them to be transported to near-earth orbits by passing launches.

The prototype is a spherical radiation reflector (patent No. 2185695, H01Q 15/14, 10/12/2000), which is a collapsible frame, which consists of concentric internal and external pneumatic tubes, interconnected by flexible radial pneumatic tubes. On the radial and inner pneumotubes, spherical pneumatic cells communicating with them from elastic material are placed. The design is equipped with a source of compressed gas, to which an internal pneumatic tube is connected with a hose. A reflective surface is placed around the entire perimeter of the frame with the help of threads and loops fixed to the pneumatic cells and the internal pneumatic chamber.

This reflector relates to devices of an inflatable type, with which it is possible to obtain spherical reflective surfaces. However, the need to use a source of compressed gas complicates the design, reduces reliability, creates inconvenience when folding and deploying an inflatable frame, requires additional costs for the transportation of the device.

The objective of the invention is to increase the reliability of the device, simplifying the design, improving operating conditions and transportation.

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that the drop-in spherical radiation reflector, made in the form of a metal folding frame, on which a reflecting surface is mounted, differs from the closest analogue in that the frame rods consist of articulated parts, the meridian bearing rods attached pivotally to annular rods located parallel to the sphere and connected by free ends using hinges located on the poles of the sphere - pole hinges, from the end mi sliding telescopic tubular rod.

The hinge of the connection of the parts of the rod consists of a housing in which springs are installed, each of which is made in contact with the inner surface of the stop of the connected part of the rod, and the housing is equipped with an elastic cover in contact with the outer surface of the stops.

The nodal hinge for attaching the meridian rod to the annular consists of a body in which springs of hinges of the connected parts of the meridian and ring rod are installed, and the springs in the case are located from the center with the provision of mutually perpendicular arrangement of the meridian and ring rods.

The pole hinge consists of a housing attached to the end of the telescopic rod, in which, with the help of the axes, radial loops are mounted for attaching to them the free ends of the folding meridian rods.

The reflecting surface is formed by a woven metal mesh made of tungsten or steel microwire coated with gold.

The implementation of the frame rods from folding components, the rotary connection of the meridian rods with the annular parallel spheres, the rods and the ends of the telescoping telescopic rod located on the poles of the sphere, allows the frame rods to move simultaneously in two planes, which leads to a significant reduction in the dimensions of the reflector in the folded state, simplifying folding and deployment of the structure, increasing reliability during operation and improving the conditions for trans ortirovaniya that a technical result.

The invention is presented in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a general view of the device, Fig. 2 shows the connection of the meridian and annular rods of the frame (view A), Fig. 3 shows the hinge connection of the parts of the core of the frame, and Fig. 4 shows the hinge design from the side of the springs, Fig. 5 - hinge from the stop side, Fig. 6 - nodal hinge for connecting the meridian and ring rods, Fig. 7 - placement of springs in the nodal hinge, Fig. 8 - pole hinge, top view, Fig. 9 - pole hinge, section B -B, figure 10 - connection of the meridian rod with a pole joint.

Figure 11 shows the expanded, intermediate and folded state of the meridian rod in the process of disclosure.

The proposed spherical radiation reflector is a metal folding frame with a network mounted on it. The frame consists of annular rods 1 located on the parallels of the sphere, and rods 2 located on the meridians of the sphere (bearing meridian rods). The rods 2 are formed by prestressed arcs. The rods 1 give the frame additional rigidity due to the exception of the displacement of a number of points of the bearing rods 2 from their planes.

Meridian rods 2 with free ends using hinges 3 located on the poles of a sphere (pole hinges) are connected to a telescopic sliding tubular rod 4.

The rods 1, 2 are folding; each rod 1, 2 consists of tubular parts interconnected by hinges 5 (figure 2).

The hinge 5 consists of springs 7 installed in the housing 10, each of which is made in contact with the abutment surface 8 of the connecting part of the rod 1, 2 (Figs. 3, 4, 5). The housing 10 is prefabricated, equipped with a removable elastic cover 9 made of hard spring steel. Made with the possibility of contacting with the inner surface of the cover 9, the stops 8 are also elastic, unlike absolutely rigid in other variants of their use.

The meridian rods 2 are connected with the annular rods 1 using nodal joints 6, each of which consists of a housing 18 with springs 7 installed in it (6, 7). The springs 7 in the housing 18 are spaced from the center of the hinge 6 in such a way that a mutually perpendicular arrangement of the rods 1 and 2 is provided.

The pole hinge 3 consists of a housing 11, mounted on the free end of the rod 4 (Fig.8, 9). The housing 11 is made with radially located in

grooves with axes 12, on which loops 13 are mounted radially to the pole of the sphere, each of which is rotationally connected to the corresponding part of the meridian rod 2 (Fig. 10). The housing 11 is equipped with a cover 14, fixed by a screw 17 in the grooves of the housing 11, which protects the axis 12 from falling out.

In the folded state of the reflector structure, the links of the telescopic rod 4 are shifted to the center of the sphere to the stop - Fig. 11, which shows the unfolded, intermediate and folded state of one of the meridian rods 2 in the process of opening. All the centers of the hinges 5 of the folding rods move along the radii of the sphere, and the centers of the pole hinges 3 - along the axis of the telescopic rod 4. Moreover, the stops 8 of the hinges 5, restricting the movement of the rods 1 and 2, set the desired direction in such a way that when folding the rods 1, 2 a fan-shaped row of their angular position is formed with the vertices of the angles arranged in a checkerboard pattern in which the hinges 5 are located (Fig. 10). Making connections with stops 8 provides the bending stiffness of the opening rods 1 and 2, at which the frequency of natural vibrations of the structural elements eliminates a significant change in the shape of the reflector in orbit when exposed to small perturbations.

The unfolding of the frame occurs due to the energy of the springs 7 of the hinges 5, spreading the folding rods 1, 2. In this case, the folding rods move in the direction from the center and in the final position form a frame of a spherical shape corresponding to the working position of the structure.

In the case of using a large-sized reflector design, in which an increase in the number of meridian rods will lead to an increase in the diameter of the pole hinge 3, additional, identical to the rods 2 meridian rods 15 are used, which with their free ends are connected not with the pole hinge 3, but with additional, identical rods 2, ring rods 16 located on the parallels of the sphere. The presence of the rods 15, 16 eliminates the increase in the diameter of the pole joint 3 and maintain the smallest dimensions of the reflector when folded.

The rods 1, 2, 15, 16 are fixed in a net-sheet, which is a reflective surface. The fixing of the net-cloth can be done using arimide cords (not shown), which are put together with the net-cloth in the grooves on the rods 1, 2, 15, 16. At the end of the assembly, the covers of the 14 pole joints 3 are fixed on the poles of the reflector.

The net canvas (not shown) is a woven metal mesh that can be made of tungsten or steel microwire coated with gold. Metal parts, except for axes and springs, used in the design of the reflector, can be graphite-plastic or made of materials such as alloy D16T.

The proposed spherical reflector is characterized by reliability in operation, ease of assembly and adjustment, stability of geometric shape, as well as small size and weight when folded, which allows its transportation to near-earth orbits by passing launches.

Claims (5)

1. A expandable spherical radiation reflector containing a folding metal frame on which a reflective surface is fixed, characterized in that the frame consists of bearing meridian rods located on the meridians of the sphere, pivotally attached to folding ring rods located on parallel spheres connected by pivotally free ends with the ends of a telescoping telescopic rod located at the poles of a sphere. 2. A disclosing spherical radiation reflector according to claim 1, characterized in that the meridian and ring rods are made of parts interconnected by hinges, each of which consists of a housing in which springs are installed, each of which is made in contact with the inner surface of the abutment connected part of the rod, and the housing is equipped with an elastic cover in contact with the outer surface of the stops. 3. The expandable spherical radiation reflector according to claim 1, characterized in that the meridian rods are attached to folding ring rods using nodal hinges, each of which consists of a housing in which springs of hinges of the connected parts of the meridian and ring rod are installed, and the springs in the housing placed from the center with the provision of a mutually perpendicular arrangement of the meridian and ring rods. 4. The expandable spherical radiation reflector according to claim 1, characterized in that the telescoping telescopic rod is made with pole joints, each of which consists of a housing attached to the end of the telescopic rod, in which, with the help of the axes, radial loops are installed to attach free loops to them ends of folding meridian rods. 5. A disclosing spherical radiation reflector according to claim 1, characterized in that the reflecting surface is formed by a woven metal mesh made of a tungsten microwire.

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