A Tetrahedron Folding Unit and Spatial Expandable Mechanism

Abstract

The invention discloses a tetrahedral folding unit. The tetrahedral folding unit comprises two folding plates and two folding rods, one side of one folding plate coincides with and is hinged to eitherside of the other folding plate, the two folding rods are connected with the folding plates in a hinged mode correspondingly, the two folding rods are connected in a hinged mode, the two folding plates are in a folded state when completely coinciding, and the two folding rods are in a fully expanded state and of a stable tetrahedron structure when on the same straight line. The present inventionfurther provides two types of space expandable mechanisms. Multiple tetrahedral folding units are used for being expanded into an open-loop assembly in the same direction, the multiple tetrahedral folding units are connected by overlapping the folding plates to realize the construction of the expandable mechanisms; the multiple tetrahedral folding units are used for being expanded into an closed-loop assembly in different directions, and the specifications of the expandable mechanisms and the thickness of the folded mechanisms are determined by the size and number of the tetrahedral folding units. According to the space expandable mechanism, the kinematic pair is simple, the folding ratio is great during the mechanism unfolding process, and the structure of the tetrahedral folding unit isstable.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of mechanisms, in particular to a tetrahedral folding unit and a space expandable mechanism. Background technique [0002] Deployable mechanisms have attracted much attention due to their two stable states: folded state and fully unfolded state. The folded state is generally the transportation and storage state, and the structure is folded to its minimum volume; the fully unfolded state is the working state. Under the action of the driving force, the mechanism gradually unfolds from the folded state to the working state according to its own motion characteristics, and then locks into a stable state. Deployable mechanisms have been widely used in aerospace, construction engineering and other fields. In the field of aerospace, deployable mechanisms are mainly used in reflective antennas on various satellites, various solar panels, extension arms, etc. reflective surface antennas include mesh reflective surfac...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

For large-scale expandable mechanisms, there are still problems such as low folding rate, complex structure, and low deployment reliability.

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