The invention discloses a low-
impact expandable
locking mechanism for an inter-
satellite laser communication terminal, and belongs to the technical field of
spacecraft precision mechanisms. The mechanism comprises a base unit, a rotary unfolding unit and a memory
metal unlocking unit. During locking, the slotted bolt of the memory
metal unlocking
pipe is connected with a load, and the torsional spring is in a compressed
energy storage state. During unlocking, the memory
metal pipe is heated to expand to break the bolt; then the
torsion spring releases energy to drive the hinge unscrewing piece to rotate outwards and unfold, buffering and positioning are achieved by impacting the
silica gel pad, and the whole mechanism is completely separated from the load movement envelope; and the travel switch synchronously outputs an unlocking
signal. The memory metal non-explosive unlocking and elastic driving-buffering unfolding combined
collaborative design is adopted, the technical effects of extremely small
impact, no envelope interference after unlocking, high reliability and
reusability are achieved, and the memory metal non-explosive unlocking and elastic driving-buffering unfolding combined
collaborative design is particularly suitable for a light and small inter-
satellite laser communication
system sensitive to
impact and strict in view field requirement.