A tail-mounted electric propeller with fly-by-wire control

Abstract

The present invention discloses a fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric propeller, comprising a steering gear support seat fixed on the stern beam of a boat, a fly-by-wire steering gear detachably mounted on the top of the steering gear support seat, a boom rotatably connected to the bottom of the boom, and an underwater propulsion mechanism mounted on the bottom of the boom; the electric propeller also comprises a folding fixing device, the folding fixing device comprises a sliding bearing sleeve movably sleeved on the outside of the boom and a boom support seat fixedly connected to the sliding bearing sleeve. The fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric propeller provided by the present invention can automatically control the speed and steering of the propeller through the fly-by-wire steering gear, and has significant working efficiency and economic benefits; it can be customized for fly-by-wire control modification according to most electric propeller propellers, some gasoline and diesel tail-mounted propellers already configured on the user's ship, and has the characteristics of low modification cost, small size, convenient installation, open control interface, strong environmental applicability, etc., and has a wide range of applications and strong practicality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the fields of metal structure component processing and motor control, and specifically designs an electric propeller with fly-by-wire control and tail-mounted type. Background Art

[0002] A propeller is a device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy. It generates thrust through rotating blades and can be used to drive a vehicle forward. In small unmanned boats and other equipment, finished electric propellers are used, and their speed and steering control mostly require manual control by the boat crew. Directly ordering a full electric propeller is not a suitable choice for small unmanned boats due to its cost, structural size and weight. For this reason, installing an electric steering gear on top of the original manual propeller and adding a foldable fixing device to it has become the design goal of the present invention. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster, which can automatically control the speed and direction of the thruster by electric power, and has significant work efficiency and economic benefits.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0005] A fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric propulsion device, comprising a steering gear support seat fixed on the stern beam of a boat, a fly-by-wire steering gear detachably mounted on the upper side of the steering gear support seat, a suspension rod rotatably connected to the lower side of the fly-by-wire steering gear, and an underwater propulsion mechanism mounted on the bottom of the suspension rod;

[0006] The electric propeller also includes a folding and fixing device, which includes a sliding bearing sleeve movably sleeved on the outside of the suspension rod and a suspension rod support seat fixedly connected to the sliding bearing sleeve.

[0007] According to a further solution, the servo support seat comprises a pair of lower servo support seats and a pair of upper servo support seats; the lower servo support seats are symmetrically fixed on the stern crossbeam, and the upper servo support seat is hinged to the lower servo support seat through a hinge shaft; a positive posture positioning pin is also installed between the lower servo support seat and the upper servo support seat.

[0008] In a further solution, a locking slot is provided at the top of the upper servo support seat, and a threaded hole is provided at the bottom of the locking slot; the upper servo support seat is connected to the electric servo via the threaded hole.

[0009] In a further embodiment, the telex servo comprises a chassis fixed above the servo support seat, a driving mechanism is installed on the top of the chassis, and an output end of the driving mechanism is connected to the suspension rod through a ring gear reducer;

[0010] The telex steering gear also includes a steering flange sleeved on the boom, the steering flange penetrates the chassis and the annular gear reducer, and the steering flange, the chassis and the annular gear reducer are coaxially arranged; the steering flange includes a flange section, a shaft sleeve section and a synchronous pulley section; the synchronous pulley section is located at the top of the annular gear reducer, the synchronous pulley section is sleeved with a synchronous pulley, and a steering angle sensor is arranged inside the synchronous pulley;

[0011] The fly-by-wire servo also includes a housing fixed to the chassis.

[0012] In a further embodiment, the driving mechanism includes a thruster DC servo motor driver and a steering gear stepper motor driver.

[0013] In a further solution, a pair of chassis positioning ears are symmetrically fixed on both sides of the chassis, and the size of the chassis positioning ears is adapted to the size of the locking slots; the chassis positioning ears are connected to the upper servo support seat through locking bolts.

[0014] In a further solution, a first connecting hole is opened on the lower circumference of the shell, and a second connecting hole adapted to the first connecting hole is opened on the side wall circumference of the chassis, and the first connecting hole and the second connecting hole are penetrated by shell mounting screws; the shell and the chassis are connected as a whole by the shell mounting screws.

[0015] According to a further solution, threaded holes are correspondingly provided on the chassis and the annular gear reducer, and reducer mounting screws are passed through the threaded holes.

[0016] According to a further solution, the boom support seat comprises a pair of symmetrically arranged bow seats, one end of each bow seat is fixed with a belt. According to a further solution, a boom flip positioning handle is fixed to the outer side of the sliding bearing sleeve.

[0017] The above-mentioned annular gear reducer, propeller DC servo motor driver and steering gear stepper motor driver are all commercially available products. The specific working principles thereof are not described here.

[0018] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0019] The electric-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric propeller provided by the present invention can automatically control the speed and direction of the propeller through the electric-by-wire steering gear, and has significant work efficiency and economic benefits; through the folding fixing device, the propeller can be placed in a vertical fixed state when in the working state, and can be placed in a folded and laid-down posture during maintenance or storage and transportation, which is convenient to use. In addition, the electric propeller can be customized for electric-by-wire control modification according to most electric propeller propellers and some gasoline and diesel tail-mounted propellers already configured on the user's ship. It has the characteristics of low modification cost, small size, easy installation, open control interface, strong environmental applicability, etc., and has a wide range of applications and strong practicality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 A front view of the fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster provided by the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 An axonometric view of the fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster provided by the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Enlarged view of part A in the middle;

[0023] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the upper servo support seat;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the exploded structure of the fly-by-wire servo;

[0025] Figure 6 It is a structural schematic diagram of the steering flange;

[0026] Figure markings: 1-servo support seat, 11-lower servo support seat, 12-upper servo support seat, 13-hinge shaft, 14-positive positioning pin, 15-locking slot, 2-teletype servo, 21-chassis, 22-annular gear reducer, 23-steering flange, 231-flange section, 232-shaft sleeve section, 233-synchronous pulley section, 24-synchronous pulley, 25-rudder angle sensor, 26-housing, 27-thruster DC servo motor driver, 28-servo stepper motor driver, 29-chassis positioning ear, 3-boom, 4-underwater propulsion mechanism, 5-folding fixing device, 51-sliding bearing sleeve, 52-bow seat, 53-boom flip positioning handle, 54-fixing screw, 55-handle, 6-locking bolt, 7-first connecting hole 7, 8-second connecting hole, 9-housing mounting screw, 10-reducer mounting screw. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0028] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed connection" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0029] It should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific position, be constructed and operated in a specific position, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present invention. The "first" and "second" in the present invention do not represent specific quantities and orders, but are only used to distinguish names.

[0030] refer to Figures 1 to 6 A telex-controlled tail-mounted electric propulsion device includes a steering gear support seat 1 fixed on the stern beam of the boat, a telex-controlled steering gear 2 is detachably installed on the top of the steering gear support seat 1, a suspension rod 3 is rotatably connected to the bottom of the telex-controlled steering gear 2, and an underwater propulsion mechanism 4 is installed at the bottom of the suspension rod 3; the underwater propulsion mechanism 4 can be purchased from the market, and it is composed of a shell, a propeller and locking accessories, a DC motor, a motor driver, etc. The propeller suspension rod 3 is directly fixed on the propulsion mechanism shell, and a sealing material is used to ensure the water sealing performance of the connection part. The motor power supply line and the drive control signal line of the underwater propulsion mechanism 4 pass through the suspension rod 3 and are provided with a cable connection terminal at the place where the suspension rod 3 is exited. The shell of the underwater propulsion mechanism is an aluminum alloy precision casting, and the suspension rod 3 is a stainless steel pipe.

[0031] The electric propeller also includes a folding fixing device 5, which includes a sliding bearing sleeve 51 movably sleeved on the outside of the boom 3 and a boom support seat fixedly connected to the sliding bearing sleeve 51. A boom flip positioning handle 53 is fixed to the outside of the sliding bearing sleeve 51. The sliding bearing sleeve 51 is the main force-bearing structure for transmitting the thrust of the propeller to the hull. Its opening design can use a fixed screw 54 with a handle 55 to lock the steering and up and down movement of the boom 3. The boom support seat includes a pair of symmetrically arranged bow seats 52, and a fixed screw 54 with a handle 55 is fixed at one end of the bow seat 52. The bow seat 52 is an aluminum alloy precision casting, and its bow-shaped portion is fixed to the stern beam of the boat using two fixed screws 54 with handles. The handle can realize the positioning of 6 tilting angles during the propeller tilting process.

[0032] The servo support seat 1 includes a pair of lower servo support seats 11 and a pair of upper servo support seats 12; the lower servo support seat 11 is symmetrically fixed on the stern beam, and the upper servo support seat 12 is hinged to the lower servo support seat 11 through a hinge shaft 13; a positive positioning pin 14 is also installed between the lower servo support seat 11 and the upper servo support seat 12. When the lower servo support seat 11 and the upper servo support seat 12 are in a vertical position, the positive positioning pin 14 can be inserted to ensure that the telex servo 2 thereon maintains an upright posture. When the propeller needs to be adjusted to a horizontal state, the positive positioning pin 14 is removed, and the upper servo support seat 12 can be rotated with the hinge shaft 13 as the axis to achieve the effect of adjusting the posture of the propeller. The lower servo support seat 11 and the upper servo support seat 12 are made of rust-proof aluminum alloy. A locking slot 15 is provided at the top of the upper servo support seat 12 , and a threaded hole is provided at the bottom of the locking slot 15 ; the upper servo support seat 12 is connected to the telex servo 2 via the threaded hole.

[0033] The telex servo 2 includes a chassis 21 fixed on the top of the servo support seat 1. The chassis 21 is made of rust-proof aluminum alloy, which is milled and processed on the CNC, and the surface is treated with white oxidation passivation. Further, a pair of chassis positioning ears 29 are symmetrically fixed on both sides of the chassis 21. The size of the chassis positioning ears 29 is adapted to the size of the locking slot 15, so as to form a reliable connection with the upper servo support seat 12 in a slot-locked manner to offset the reaction force of the steering of the telex servo 2; the chassis positioning ears 29 are connected to the upper servo support seat 12 through the locking bolt 6. A driving mechanism is installed on the top of the chassis 21, and the output end of the driving mechanism is connected to the boom 3 through the annular gear reducer 22, and the chassis 21 and the annular gear reducer 22 are connected through the reducer mounting screw 10. Through the annular gear reduction mechanism, its output torque reaches 15N.m, the minimum step angle is 1.8°, and the maximum speed is 2s / turn, which can meet the needs of the servo during the high-speed maneuvering navigation of the boat. Preferably, the driving mechanism includes a propeller DC servo motor driver 27 and a steering gear stepper motor driver 28. The unmanned boat navigation controller can directly drive the corresponding execution motors by issuing speed and steering navigation control instructions to the two drivers, and realize closed-loop control through speed and rudder angle detection sensors.

[0034] The telex servo 2 also includes a steering flange 23 sleeved on the boom 3, the steering flange 23 penetrates the chassis 21 and the annular gear reducer 22, and the steering flange 23, the chassis 21, and the annular gear reducer 22 are coaxially arranged; the steering flange 23 includes a flange section 231, a shaft sleeve section 232 and a synchronous pulley section 233, the steering flange 23 is made of rust-proof aluminum alloy and is processed in one piece by CNC, and is used for the mechanical connection between the boom of the underwater propulsion mechanism and the telex servo, and the tooth shape of the synchronous pulley section 233 adopts XL type, with a pitch of 5.08mm, a tooth height of 1.27mm, a tooth width of 15mm, and a wheel diameter of 50mm. The synchronous pulley section 233 is located at the top of the annular gear reducer 22. The synchronous pulley section 233 is sleeved with a synchronous pulley 24, and a rudder angle sensor 25 is arranged inside the synchronous pulley 24. The rudder angle sensor 25 detects the propulsion direction of the propeller in real time by achieving synchronous rotation between the synchronous pulley 24 and the boom 3. The rudder angle sensor 25 uses a 40 diameter optical rotary encoder, 1024 pulses / turn, and is pre-installed with a synchronous pulley 24 that matches the steering flange 23. The tooth shape of the synchronous pulley 24 is XL type, with a pitch of 5.08mm, a tooth height of 1.27mm, a tooth width of 15mm, and a wheel diameter of 25mm. The optional XL type synchronous belt (seamless closure) has a belt width of 15mm, a belt thickness of 2.3mm, and a distance between the two wheel axles of 52mm.

[0035] The telex servo 2 also includes a shell 26 fixed on the chassis 21. The shell 26 is a protective cover for the internal parts of the servo. It is made of epoxy-based fiberglass paste and is connected to the chassis 21 by 15 M4 shell mounting screws. The connecting seams are sealed with rubber rings to achieve a water-tight level not lower than IP65. Two waterproof aviation plug interfaces are also installed on the side facade of the shell 26 to provide interfaces for the propeller and servo power and control communication cables. Furthermore, a first connecting hole 7 is opened on the lower peripheral side of the shell 26, and a second connecting hole 8 adapted to the first connecting hole 7 is opened on the side wall of the chassis 21. The first connecting hole 7 and the second connecting hole 8 are penetrated by shell mounting screws 9; the shell 26 and the chassis 21 are connected as a whole through the shell mounting screws 9.

[0036] The electric-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric propeller provided by the present invention can automatically control the speed and steering of the propeller through the electric-by-wire steering gear 2, and has remarkable working efficiency and economic benefits; the propeller can be switched between the vertical state and the horizontal state through the folding fixing device. When the propeller is in the vertical falling position, the speed and steering instructions can be sent to the propulsion device through the navigation control computer of the carrier to realize the speed and heading control of the carrier; when the boat is berthed at the dock, or lifted out of the water and placed on the land boat frame, the upper steering gear support seat 12 can be rotated with the hinge shaft 13 as the center to manually lift the propeller and lock the height, so as to facilitate inspection and maintenance, and avoid the propeller propeller touching the ground; at this time, each propeller can also be laid down to facilitate the loading and lifting of the boat body; when the boat needs to be stored in a warehouse for a long time, the propeller can be disassembled as a whole and packed separately to reduce the demand for storage space on the boat body.

[0037] The fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster provided by the present invention can use an embedded computer to control its speed and steering through a communication link (CAN / RS485), and can realize computer control and automatic driving for existing ships equipped with electric thrusters, providing a low-cost solution. The present invention can be customized for fly-by-wire control modification according to most electric propeller thrusters and some gasoline and diesel tail-mounted thrusters already configured on user ships, and has the characteristics of low modification cost, easy installation, open control interface, strong environmental applicability, etc., and has a wide range of applications and strong practicality.

Claims

1. A fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster, Features: It comprises a steering gear support seat fixed on the stern beam of the boat, a telex steering gear is detachably installed on the upper part of the steering gear support seat, a suspension rod is rotatably connected to the lower part of the telex steering gear, and an underwater propulsion mechanism is installed at the bottom of the suspension rod; The electric propeller further comprises a folding and fixing device, wherein the folding and fixing device comprises a sliding bearing sleeve movably sleeved on the outside of the boom and a boom support seat fixedly connected to the sliding bearing sleeve; The steering gear support seat comprises a pair of lower steering gear support seats and a pair of upper steering gear support seats; the lower steering gear support seats are symmetrically fixed on the stern beam, and the upper steering gear support seats are hinged with the lower steering gear support seats through hinge shafts; a positive posture positioning pin is also installed between the lower steering gear support seats and the upper steering gear support seats; A locking slot is provided at the top of the upper servo support seat, and a threaded hole is provided at the bottom of the locking slot; the upper servo support seat is connected to the telex servo through the threaded hole; The telex servo includes a chassis fixed above the servo support seat, a driving mechanism is installed on the top of the chassis, and the output end of the driving mechanism is connected to the suspension rod through a ring gear reducer; The telex steering gear also includes a steering flange sleeved on the boom, the steering flange penetrates the chassis and the annular gear reducer, and the steering flange, the chassis and the annular gear reducer are coaxially arranged; the steering flange includes a flange section, a shaft sleeve section and a synchronous pulley section; the synchronous pulley section is located at the top of the annular gear reducer, the synchronous pulley section is sleeved with a synchronous pulley, and a steering angle sensor is arranged inside the synchronous pulley; The fly-by-wire servo also includes a housing fixed to the chassis; The driving mechanism includes a propeller DC servo motor driver and a steering gear stepper motor driver; A pair of chassis positioning ears are symmetrically fixed on both sides of the chassis, and the size of the chassis positioning ears is adapted to the size of the locking slots; the chassis positioning ears are connected to the upper servo support seat through locking bolts.

2. The fly-by-wire tail-mounted electric thruster according to claim 1, Features: A first connecting hole is provided on the lower circumference of the shell, and a second connecting hole adapted to the first connecting hole is provided on the side wall circumference of the chassis. Shell mounting screws are passed through the first and second connecting holes; the shell and the chassis are connected as a whole through the shell mounting screws.

3. The fly-by-wire tail-mounted electric thruster according to claim 1, Features: The chassis and the annular gear reducer are provided with threaded holes correspondingly, and reducer mounting screws are passed through the threaded holes.

4. The fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Features: The boom support seat comprises a pair of symmetrically arranged bow seats, one end of which is fixed with a fixing screw with a handle.

5. The fly-by-wire controlled tail-mounted electric thruster according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Features: A suspension rod flipping positioning handle is fixed to the outer side of the sliding bearing sleeve.

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