An on-board charging type unmanned aerial vehicle, take-off and landing platform and system

Abstract

The present invention discloses an on-board charging type unmanned aerial vehicle, a take-off and landing platform and a system. The unmanned aerial vehicle comprises: a body, a rechargeable battery installed on the lower surface of the body and a bracket for ground support extending downward from the lower surface of the body, the bracket having at least two vertical cylindrical cavities, each cylindrical cavity accommodating a charging contact assembly, each charging contact assembly having a support rod that can move vertically up and down, the lower end of the support rod being provided with a charging contact, and being able to protrude out of the cylindrical cavity of the bracket; when the protruding length of the charging contact is a predetermined length, the support rod is electrically connected to the inside of the cylindrical cavity through a conductive component, forming a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery. The present invention utilizes a movable support rod to change the protruding length of the charging contact, and only when the protruding length is a predetermined length, the entire charging circuit is turned on to charge the unmanned aerial vehicle, and has a simple structure, small charging interference factors and fast charging.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicle charging, and in particular to an on-board charging type unmanned aerial vehicle, a take-off and landing platform and a system. Background Art

[0002] At present, conventional drone charging technologies on the market mostly use battery charging and battery replacement. If it relies on manual charging and battery replacement, manual operation is required, which affects the overall efficiency of drone use. If automatic battery replacement technology is used, it is necessary to add an additional battery replacement robotic arm and control it through the logic of the robotic arm. The cost of use is relatively high, and only some drones support this type of battery replacement. Some drones that are difficult to operate with robotic arms for plugging and unplugging cannot use this method for battery replacement.

[0003] In addition, existing drones also use wireless charging mode. The main disadvantage of this mode is that it requires a relatively complex modification of the drone structure, large areas of metal affect the drone's gyroscope, and have a significant impact on the drone's balance and control; the wireless charging technology itself is subject to greater interference factors, and the charging speed is slow, making it difficult to meet the needs of high-frequency drone use.

[0004] Therefore, the drones in the prior art lack a charging design that is simple in structure, relatively convenient and low in cost. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present invention provide an on-board charging type UAV, a take-off and landing platform and a system to solve the problem that the UAVs in the prior art lack a charging design with a simple structure, relatively convenient and low cost.

[0006] In a first aspect, a rechargeable drone is provided, comprising: a body, a rechargeable battery mounted on the lower surface of the body, and a bracket for ground support extending downward from the lower surface of the body, the bracket having at least two vertical cylindrical cavities, each cylindrical cavity accommodating a charging contact assembly, each charging contact assembly having a support rod that can move vertically up and down, a charging contact being provided at the lower end of the support rod and being able to protrude out of the cylindrical cavity of the bracket; when the protruding length of the charging contact is a predetermined length, the support rod is electrically connected to the inside of the cylindrical cavity through a conductive component, thereby forming a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery.

[0007] Further: a fixed plate is fixedly arranged in the cylindrical cavity, the lower surface of the fixed plate is connected to the upper end of the spring, the lower end of the spring is connected to the upper surface of the movable plate, and the lower surface of the movable plate is connected to the upper end of the support rod.

[0008] Further: the conductive component includes: an elastic movable conductive contact fixedly extending from the radial surface of the support rod, a circle of fixed conductive contacts fixedly arranged around the cylindrical cavity, the support rod passes through the annular ring formed by the fixed conductive contacts, the outer end of the movable conductive contact matches the inner diameter of the fixed conductive contact, the fixed conductive contact is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery, and when the protruding length of the charging contact is a predetermined length, the movable conductive contact is in contact with the fixed conductive contact.

[0009] Further: the charging contact is hemispherical.

[0010] Further: the bracket includes two symmetrically arranged T-shaped brackets, each of which is composed of a vertical support rod and a transverse support rod, the upper end of the vertical support rod is connected to the lower surface of the body, the lower end of the vertical support rod is connected to the middle of the transverse support rod, and at least one cylindrical cavity is arranged in the transverse support rod.

[0011] In a second aspect, a UAV take-off and landing platform is provided, comprising: a take-off and landing platform plate and a power supply, wherein the take-off and landing platform plate is divided into two areas, namely a positive platform plate and a negative platform plate, each of the areas is provided with at least one blind hole for accommodating and electrically connecting the charging contacts of the on-board rechargeable UAV as described in any one of the embodiments of the first aspect, the depth of each blind hole being the predetermined length, and the blind hole being electrically connected to the power supply.

[0012] Further: the blind hole is hemispherical.

[0013] Further: the UAV take-off and landing platform also includes: a centering component arranged on the take-off and landing platform plate.

[0014] In a third aspect, a drone system is provided, comprising: an onboard rechargeable drone as described in any one of the embodiments of the first aspect above and a drone take-off and landing platform as described in any one of the embodiments of the second aspect above.

[0015] In this way, in the embodiment of the present invention, a movable support rod is used to change the extended length of the charging contacts. Only when the extended length is predetermined, the entire charging circuit can be turned on to charge the drone. The structure is simple, no additional battery-changing mechanical arm structure is required, charging interference factors are small, and charging can be done quickly. The time from landing to returning to the center of the drone can be shortened to 5 seconds, greatly shortening the operation time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments of the present invention will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other accompanying drawings can be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without paying creative labor.

[0017] Figure 1 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an on-board rechargeable UAV according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing that the charging contacts of Embodiment 1 of the present invention are completely inserted into the hollow structure;

[0019] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the spring of Example 1 of the present invention in a fully extended state;

[0020] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the contact between the movable conductive contact and the fixed conductive contact according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the UAV take-off and landing platform of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 6 It is a distribution diagram of the centralization components of Example 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not 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.

[0024] Example 1

[0025] Embodiment 1 of the present invention discloses an on-board charging type drone. Figures 1 to 4 As shown, the onboard rechargeable drone includes: a body 101, a rechargeable battery 102 mounted on the lower surface of the body 101, and a bracket 103 extending downward from the lower surface of the body 101 for ground support. A metal contact finger 1022 electrically connected to the rechargeable battery 102 is provided at the interface 1021 of the rechargeable battery 102.

[0026] Among them, the bracket 103 has at least two vertical cylindrical cavities 1031. In a specific embodiment, the number of cylindrical cavities 103 is 4. Each cylindrical cavity 1031 accommodates a charging contact assembly. Among them, at least one charging contact assembly is a positive charging contact assembly, and at least one charging contact assembly is a negative charging contact assembly. In a specific embodiment, there are 4 charging contact assemblies, two of which are positive charging contact assemblies and two are negative charging contact assemblies. Each charging contact assembly has a support rod 104 that can move vertically up and down. The lower end of the support rod 104 is provided with a charging contact 105, and it can protrude from the outside of the cylindrical cavity 1031 of the bracket 103. "Protruding" means that the charging contact 105 can be moved out of the cylindrical cavity 1031 as the support rod 104 moves. The charging contact 105 can be made of high-strength conductive material, which has the characteristics of wear resistance and good conductivity, and can effectively reduce the wear on the platform. Preferably, the charging contact 105 is hemispherical, and the diameter of the support rod 104 is the same as the diameter of the hemispherical shape of the charging contact 105. It should be understood that the diameter of the outlet of the cylindrical cavity 1031 is at least not less than the diameter of the charging contact 105. When the length of the charging contact 105 protruding out is a predetermined length, the support rod 104 is electrically connected to the inside of the cylindrical cavity 1031 through the conductive components provided, forming a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery 102. The "protruding length" refers to the distance between the charging contact 105 and the bottom of the cylindrical cavity 1031 after it is located outside the cylindrical cavity 1031.

[0027] Specifically, a fixed plate 106 is fixedly arranged in the cylindrical cavity 1031, and the position of the fixed plate 106 is fixed in the cavity, such as by clamping, or fixing the fixed plate 106 from the external shell with screws. The lower surface of the fixed plate 106 is connected to the upper end of the spring 107. The lower end of the spring 107 is connected to the upper surface of the movable plate 108. The surface of the lower end of the spring 107 is insulated. The movable plate 108 is sleeved in the cavity, and the spring 107 is extended and retracted, and the movable plate 108 is insulated to prevent short circuit. The lower surface of the movable plate 108 is connected to the upper end of the support rod 104.

[0028] The conductive components disposed inside the support rod 104 and the cylindrical cavity 1031 include: an elastic movable conductive contact 109 fixedly extending from the radial surface of the support rod 104. Specifically, the movable conductive contact 109 is in the shape of a bar, including two contacts of the same shape, with a spring connection disposed in the middle, and is assembled into the cylindrical cavity 1031 along with the support rod 104.

[0029] A circle of fixed conductive contacts 110 is fixedly arranged in the cylindrical cavity 1031. The support rod 104 passes through the annular ring formed by the fixed conductive contacts 110. Preferably, the surface of the fixed conductive contact 110 facing the support rod 104 is a convex arc surface. The outer end of the movable conductive contact 109 matches the inner diameter of the fixed conductive contact 110 after elastic contraction. The fixed conductive contact 110 is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery 102. When the length of the charging contact 105 protruding is a predetermined length, the movable conductive contact 109 contacts the fixed conductive contact 110. Specifically, the metal contact finger 1022 can be electrically connected to the contact finger lower lead wire 111. The bracket 103 can be hollow as a whole, and the contact finger lower lead wire 111 extends through some gaps inside the body 101 and the hollow part of the bracket 103 and is electrically connected to the fixed conductive contact 110.

[0030] Preferably, the bracket 103 includes two symmetrically arranged T-shaped brackets. Each T-shaped bracket is composed of a vertical support rod 1032 and a transverse support rod 1033. The upper end of the vertical support rod 1032 is connected to the lower surface of the body 101. The lower end of the vertical support rod 1032 is connected to the middle of the transverse support rod 1033. At least one cylindrical cavity 1031 is provided in the transverse support rod 1033. In a specific embodiment, two cylindrical cavities 1031 are provided in the transverse support rod 1033, and the charging contact assembly in the cylindrical cavity 1031 of one T-shaped bracket is a positive charging contact assembly, and the charging contact assembly in the cylindrical cavity 1031 of the other T-shaped bracket is a negative charging contact assembly.

[0031] When in use, under the action of the gravity of the drone and / or the elastic force of the spring 107, the support rod 104 can move up and down, thereby driving the charging contact 105 to extend or retract into the cylindrical cavity 1031. When the charging contact 105 completely enters the cylindrical cavity 1031, or when the spring 107 is in a fully extended state, the charging contact 105 is located outside the cylindrical cavity 1031, and the movable conductive contact 109 does not contact the fixed conductive contact 110, and the drone will not be charged.

[0032] When the drone lands on the drone landing platform, the charging contact 105 extends out of a predetermined length, the charging contact 105 can match the blind hole of the drone landing platform (i.e., the charging contact 105 completely enters the blind hole), and the movable conductive contact 109 is completely in contact with the fixed conductive contact 110. At this time, the drone is in a charging state.

[0033] The drone of Example 1 of the present invention can land on the drone landing platform. Only when the charging contact 105 protrudes a predetermined length can it match the blind hole of the drone landing platform, so as to charge the drone. The structure is simple, no additional battery replacement mechanical arm structure is required, charging interference factors are small, and fast charging is possible. When the length of the charging contact 105 protruding exceeds the predetermined length, or the contact surface of the bracket is a plane, the charging contact 105 is completely retracted, and the moving conductive contact 109 will not contact the fixed conductive contact 110, thereby avoiding a short circuit.

[0034] Example 2

[0035] In conjunction with the drone of embodiment 1, embodiment 2 of the present invention discloses a drone take-off and landing platform. Figure 5 and 6 As shown, the UAV landing platform includes: a landing platform plate and a power supply 201. The landing platform plate is divided into two areas, namely a positive platform plate 202 and a negative platform plate 203. A positive and negative isolation plate 204 is arranged between the positive platform plate 202 and the negative platform plate 203 to prevent the positive and negative poles from being short-circuited. A circle frame 205 is arranged on the edge of the landing platform plate. At least one blind hole 206 for accommodating and electrically connecting the charging contacts of the on-board charging UAV as described in Example 1 is arranged on each area. The depth of each blind hole 206 is a predetermined length. In a specific embodiment, the number of blind holes 206 is 4, and the two blind holes 206 located on the positive platform plate 202 are used to contact the charging contacts of the positive charging contact assembly, and the two blind holes 206 located on the negative platform plate 203 are used to contact the charging contacts of the negative charging contact assembly. The blind holes 206 are electrically connected to the power source 201 . Specifically, the blind holes 206 in each region can be electrically connected to the power source 201 through corresponding positive electrical connection lines 207 and negative electrical connection lines 208 .

[0036] Preferably, the blind hole 206 is hemispherical, and the size of the blind hole 206 matches the size of the charging contact to accommodate the hemispherical charging contact.

[0037] After the drone lands on the drone landing platform, it can be manually centered. In addition, the drone landing platform can also include a centering component 209 disposed on the landing platform board, and the centering component 209 can realize automatic centering of the drone. The centering component 209 can adopt any suitable structure of the prior art, which will not be described in detail here. Figure 5 As shown, a centering component 209 is provided in the left and right directions, so that the centering component 209 can be used to push the drone to move in the left and right directions to achieve centering. Figure 6As shown, a centering component 209 is provided in the four directions of front, back, left, and right, so that the drone can be pushed to move in the four directions of front, back, left, and right by the centering component 209 to achieve centering. The centering component 209 can be composed of push rods and transmission components. The push rods on the four sides are grouped with 2 opposite push rods, for a total of 2 groups, and they are pushed to the predetermined position and stop. At this time, the charging contact of the drone is just in the blind hole 206. The two groups of push rods are not in the same plane in space, and the transmission components of each group are also not in the same plane. The transmission components can be a combination of guide rails and lead screws, or a combination of racks and gears. If it is a rack, all four sides of the platform have it, and there are gears at both ends of the push rod, which are pushed by the controller; if it is a lead screw, each push rod needs to be equipped with a single group to drive a push rod to extend and retract along the guide rail. In order to show clearly, Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a push rod is shown. When the drone is centered, the charging contact contacts the blind hole 206, and the power supply 201 starts charging. Furthermore, the centering component 209 can also use the actuator in the application number 201810517922.8 to achieve the alignment of the charging contact after the drone lands.

[0038] The drone landing platform of embodiment 2 of the present invention can be used for the drone of embodiment 1 of the present invention to take off and land. When the drone lands on the drone landing platform and the charging contacts are in contact with the blind hole 206, the drone landing platform can charge the drone with a fast charging speed and less charging interference.

[0039] Example 3

[0040] Embodiment 3 of the present invention discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle system, which includes: the on-board rechargeable unmanned aerial vehicle described in Embodiment 1 and the unmanned aerial vehicle take-off and landing platform described in Embodiment 2.

[0041] like Figures 1 to 6 As shown, the working process of the UAV system is described.

[0042] During the flight of the drone, the charging contact 105 is no longer affected by the gravity of the drone. The support rod 104 moves downward under the elastic force of the spring 107, driving the charging contact 105 to extend downward out of the cylindrical cavity 1031 until the spring 107 is in a fully extended state. Figure 3 As shown, the moving conductive contact 109 and the fixed conductive contact 110 are not in contact.

[0043] When the drone lands, the lower part of the bracket 103 contacts the landing platform. Before the drone returns to the center, the drone's own gravity causes the drone to move downward until the charging contact 105 is completely pressed into the cylindrical cavity 1031 by the landing platform, and the drone's bracket 103 can be placed stably on the landing platform. When the charging contact 105 completely rebounds to the cylindrical cavity 1031, the moving conductive contact 109 and the fixed conductive contact 110 briefly contact and then separate. Figure 2 Therefore, the drone is not being charged at this time.

[0044] The drone centering component 209 centers the drone, and during the centering process, neither the positive platform plate 202 nor the negative platform plate 203 is powered. After the centering is completed, the charging contact 105 of the drone's positive charging contact component moves to the corresponding blind hole 206 of the positive platform plate 202, so that it can completely enter the blind hole 206 of the positive platform plate 202 under the action of elastic force, and contact the blind hole 206 of the positive platform plate 202. The charging contact 105 of the negative charging contact component moves to the corresponding blind hole 206 of the negative platform plate 203, so that it can completely enter the blind hole 206 of the negative platform plate 203 under the action of elastic force, and contact the blind hole 206 of the negative platform plate 203. The support rod 104 also moves downward, just enough to move the movable conductive contact 109 to the same position as the fixed conductive contact 110, such as Figure 4 As shown, the movable conductive contact 109 is in full contact with the fixed conductive contact 110. The power supply 201 monitors the position of the drone centering component 209, and after determining that the drone has landed in place, the power supply 201 starts to build voltage to charge the drone.

[0045] In summary, the embodiments of the present invention utilize a movable support rod to change the length of the charging contacts. Only when the predetermined length is extended, the entire charging circuit can be turned on to charge the drone. The structure is simple, no additional battery-changing mechanical arm structure is required, charging interference factors are small, and charging can be done quickly. The time from landing to returning to the center of the drone can be shortened to 5 seconds, greatly shortening the operation time.

[0046] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An onboard charging type UAV, comprising: A body, a rechargeable battery mounted on the lower surface of the body, and a bracket extending downward from the lower surface of the body for ground support, characterized in that: the bracket has at least two vertical cylindrical cavities, each cylindrical cavity accommodates a charging contact assembly, each charging contact assembly has a support rod that can move vertically up and down, and the lower end of the support rod is provided with a charging contact, which can be extended out of the cylindrical cavity of the bracket; when the extended length of the charging contact is a predetermined length, the support rod is electrically connected with the inside of the cylindrical cavity through the provided conductive component, forming a charging circuit for the rechargeable battery; The conductive component includes: an elastic movable conductive contact fixedly extending from the radial surface of the support rod, a circle of fixed conductive contacts fixedly arranged around the cylindrical cavity, the support rod passes through the annular circle formed by the fixed conductive contacts, the outer end of the movable conductive contact matches the inner diameter of the fixed conductive contact, the fixed conductive contact is electrically connected to the rechargeable battery, and when the protruding length of the charging contact is a predetermined length, the movable conductive contact contacts the fixed conductive contact, and the charging contact is hemispherical.

2. The on-board rechargeable drone according to claim 1, characterized in that: A fixed plate is fixedly arranged in the cylindrical cavity, the lower surface of the fixed plate is connected to the upper end of the spring, the lower end of the spring is connected to the upper surface of the movable plate, and the lower surface of the movable plate is connected to the upper end of the support rod.

3. The on-board rechargeable UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bracket includes two symmetrically arranged T-shaped brackets, each of which is composed of a vertical support rod and a transverse support rod. The upper end of the vertical support rod is connected to the lower surface of the body, and the lower end of the vertical support rod is connected to the middle part of the transverse support rod. At least one cylindrical cavity is arranged in the transverse support rod.

4. A drone system, characterized in that: include: An on-board rechargeable UAV as described in any one of claims 1 to 3 and a UAV take-off and landing platform capable of charging the on-board rechargeable UAV.

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