Foldable hexahedral structure

Abstract

The invention relates to a foldable polyhedral structure with single degree of freedom and large folding ratio, and discloses a foldable hexahedral structure. The structure comprises six folding units, twelve rod units and a symmetric axis, wherein connecting positions of the six folding units are respectively connected with connecting positions on the twelve rod units through revolute pairs or ball pairs to from a closed polyhedral structure; the units and motion pairs can meet a series of symmetric relations and constraint conditions in regard with a symmetric axis, so that a tetrakaidecahedron structure which can be folded into a hexahedron structure can be constructed. According to the foldable hexahedral structure, two stable states including folding and unfolding can be realized, the small folded size is convenient for transmitting or transporting, and the unfolded structure has a large working space; and the whole structure only has one degree of freedom, has the advantages of simplicity in production processing, convenience in motion control, high reliability and the like, and has important meaning and wide application prospect in aerospace, civil engineering and other fields.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a foldable polyhedron structure with a single degree of freedom and a large fold-to-expand ratio, and specifically relates to a transformation between a tetradecahedron and a hexahedron realized by a single drive. Background technique [0002] Due to its good symmetry, polyhedral structures are widely used in aerospace, architectural structures, artworks and daily life. However, due to their large size and unfavorable transportation, polyhedral structures are often only used in fixed occasions. Cube small satellites, which were rated as one of the top ten scientific and technological breakthroughs in 2014 by the SCIENCE journal, are typical representatives of the aerospace field in pursuit of miniaturization and low-cost launch. However, the shortcoming of its small working space in the orbital state also restricts its further application. [0003] The space foldable structure is a new type of structure born with the developmen...

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Problems solved by technology

[0004] Existing spatially expandable structures mainly involve folding on planes or curved surfaces, such as solar panels and satellite antennas, while folding mechanisms involving volume are mainly obtained by non-rigid deformation. The deformation process is not conducive to control and is not easy to repeat. , the existing expandable polyhedron that adopts rigid deformation is either complex in structure, such as the foldable polyhedron structure driven by a regular polygon mechanism proposed by C.M.Gosselin and D.Gagnon-Lachance in 2006; or it cannot be completely folded, such as Kiper and The folding ratio of the foldable polyhedron proposed in 2009 is less than 1.1

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