A cargo loading device, a freight multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, and a transportation system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cargo loading device, a freight multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a transportation system. The cargo loading device is arranged in the middle part of the upper part of the UAV fuselage, and the cargo is loaded by the cooperation of a limiting cavity and a cross bar. The freight multi-rotor UAV of the present invention has a good structural form, is convenient to operate, stable and efficient. Through the design of the overall layout, the operation mode of loading and unloading goods from above the UAV is realized. The transportation of goods does not require special fixation, and rapid loading and unloading operations can be achieved. Moreover, the UAV has a simple appearance, a simple and reliable structural form, a large load capacity, and is convenient to use. It is especially suitable for the transportation of multi-rotor UAVs. At the same time, the optimized loading and unloading operation of the UAV meets the design requirements of transporting standard-sized cargo boxes by multi-rotor UAVs, and has the characteristics of simple loading and unloading operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and particularly relates to a cargo loading device, a freight multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, and a transportation system. Background Art

[0002] At present, multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles have strong environmental adaptability and excellent portability, and are thus widely used in task fields such as reconnaissance and detection. To ensure that multi-rotor transport unmanned aerial vehicles can achieve the functions of loading and unloading goods more quickly, it is necessary to design the overall layout and structure of the unmanned aerial vehicles to meet their ability to quickly load and unload goods. The form of loading and unloading goods of a transport unmanned aerial vehicle is the core basis for ensuring the practicality of the unmanned aerial vehicle. For the design of a transport unmanned aerial vehicle, generally, the design of the unmanned aerial vehicle needs to meet the requirements of convenient, stable, and efficient loading and unloading operations, which puts forward relatively high requirements for the overall layout and structural form of the unmanned aerial vehicle. Currently, the loading and unloading method designed for multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles is to suspend goods below the unmanned aerial vehicle. Therefore, during loading and unloading, operations need to be carried out below the unmanned aerial vehicle. However, this operation is relatively difficult, and because the height of the unmanned aerial vehicle itself is low, the operator needs to squat down. During the squatting operation, even blind operation may be required due to the lack of visibility, resulting in difficult loading operations. Moreover, because the height of the unmanned aerial vehicle is generally relatively high, the space utilization rate is low, the unmanned aerial vehicle as a whole occupies a large space, and it is very cumbersome to use; moreover, the loading method of the unmanned aerial vehicle is complex and cumbersome, which does not meet the requirements of the practicality of the unmanned aerial vehicle for transporting and loading and unloading goods and cannot meet the requirements of stability and efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In order to overcome the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a cargo loading device, a freight multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, and a transportation system to overcome the existing defects.

[0004] A cargo loading device for an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that the cargo loading device is arranged at the middle position on the upper part of the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and includes a limiting cavity and a dropping structure.

[0005] Wherein, the limiting cavity includes a hollowed-out periphery formed by several limiting tubes for providing peripheral loading limitation for a cargo box for loading goods.

[0006] The dropping structure is arranged below the limiting tubes, provides lower loading limitation for the cargo box, and opens the limiting cavity when the unmanned aerial vehicle needs to drop goods to drop the loaded cargo box.

[0007] In the above aspect and any possible implementation manner, a further implementation manner is provided. The limiting tubes include at least two long tubes and short tubes, and the long tubes and short tubes are each arranged in parallel and connected in sequence.

[0008] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners as described above, a further implementation manner is provided. The delivery structure includes a servo assembly, a bushing, a bushing support, a short pull rod, a long pull rod, and a loading cross bar. One end of the short pull rod is hinged to the servo assembly, and the other end of the short pull rod is hinged to one end of the long pull rod. The bushing is fixed in the bushing support and sleeved outside the long pull rod. The other end of the long pull rod fixes the loading cross bar, and the loading cross bar is perpendicularly arranged with respect to the long pull rod.

[0009] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners as described above, a further implementation manner is provided. The servo assembly includes a servo, a servo bracket, and a servo rocker arm. The servo is fixed on the servo bracket, and the servo is connected to the servo rocker arm to control the rotational movement of the servo rocker arm.

[0010] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners as described above, a further implementation manner is provided. There are two delivery structures, and the two loading cross bars are respectively arranged in parallel below the two long tubes to form a loading limit space with the limit cavity.

[0011] The present invention also provides a cargo multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, which is characterized in that it includes the cargo loading device described in the present invention, and also includes a power subsystem and an avionics subsystem;

[0012] Among them, the power subsystem is arranged on the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle and in front of the cargo loading device, and is used to provide flight power for the unmanned aerial vehicle;

[0013] The avionics subsystem is arranged on the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle and behind the cargo loading device, and is used to control the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the power subsystem and the avionics subsystem are symmetrically arranged with respect to the cargo loading device.

[0014] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners as described above, a further implementation manner is provided. An image acquisition subsystem is installed at the lower part in front of the fuselage for acquiring images of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0015] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners as described above, a further implementation manner is provided. The power subsystem includes a motor, an electronic speed controller (ESC), a propeller, and a battery. The motor provides power to the ESC, and the ESC drives the propeller connected thereto to rotate under the drive of the power, and the battery supplies power to the motor.

[0016] For the aspects and any possible implementation manners described above, a further implementation manner is provided. The avionics system includes a control module, a navigation module connected thereto, and a communication module. The control module is used to control the flight of the UAV; the navigation module is used to provide position information for the UAV; and the communication module is used for information transmission between the UAV and a ground station or other devices.

[0017] The present invention also provides a freight multi-rotor UAV transportation system, which includes: a ground operation terminal and the freight multi-rotor UAV of the present invention. The ground operation terminal controls the freight multi-rotor UAV to carry out cargo transportation.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0019] The cargo loading device of the present invention is arranged at the upper part of the UAV fuselage and has an upper opening. It has a good structural form, is convenient to operate, stable and efficient. Through the overall layout design, an operation mode of loading and unloading goods from above the UAV is realized. The transported goods do not need special fixation, and rapid loading and unloading operations can be achieved. Moreover, the UAV has a simple appearance, a simple and reliable structural form, a large load capacity, and is convenient to use. It is particularly suitable for the transportation of multi-rotor UAVs. At the same time, the optimized loading and unloading operations of the UAV meet the design requirements of transporting standard-sized cargo boxes by multi-rotor UAVs and have the characteristic of simple loading and unloading operations. Description of the Drawings

[0020] Figure 1 It is the overall structure diagram of the freight multi-rotor UAV of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 It is the schematic diagram of the internal structure of the freight multi-rotor UAV of the present invention Figure 1 ;

[0022] Figure 3 It is the schematic diagram of the internal structure of the freight multi-rotor UAV of the present invention Figure 2 ;

[0023] Figure 4 It is the schematic diagram of the connection relationship of the avionics system modules of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5 It is the schematic diagram of the delivery structure of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 6 It is the schematic diagram of the loading structure of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 7 It is the schematic diagram of the cargo box on the cargo loading device of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 8 It is the schematic diagram of delivering the cargo box of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0028] For a better understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, the content of the present invention includes but is not limited to the specific implementation manners hereinafter. Similar technologies and methods should be regarded as within the scope of protection of the present invention. To make the technical problems to be solved, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0029] It should be clear that the embodiments described in the present invention are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present invention without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] As shown in Figure 1 the goods loading device of the present invention is for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The goods loading device is arranged at the middle position on the upper part of the fuselage of the UAV and includes a limiting cavity and a delivery structure. Among them, the limiting cavity includes a hollowed-out perimeter formed by sequentially connecting several limiting tubes, which is used to provide peripheral loading limitation for the loaded cargo box. As shown in Figure 6 the limiting cavity includes two short tubes 21 and two long tubes 22 of the fuselage itself. The two short tubes 21 and the two long tubes 22 both serve as limiting tubes and are sequentially connected to form a rectangular or square cavity, which is open at the top. When loading goods, the cargo box loaded with goods is limited within the limiting cavity. The connected ends of the two short tubes 21 and the two long tubes 22 are connected and fixed by rivets or other fixing components, which is not limited in the present invention. Other components are also respectively connected to the short tubes 21 and the long tubes 22, which are not within the scope of protection of the present invention and will not be discussed in the present invention.

[0031] As some alternative implementation manners of the embodiments of the present invention, the goods to be transported by the UAV are loaded in the cargo box 7. In the present invention, the cargo box 7 is placed on the delivery structure 6. As shown in Figure 5As shown, the delivery structure 6 includes a servo 61, a servo bracket 62, a servo rocker arm 63, a bushing 64, a bushing support 65, a short pull rod 66, a long pull rod 67, and a loading cross bar 68. The servo 61 is fixed on the servo bracket 62. One end of the servo rocker arm 63 is hinged to one end of the short pull rod 66, and the other end of the short pull rod 66 is hinged to one end of the long pull rod 67. The bushing 64 is fixed in the bushing support 65 and sleeved outside the long pull rod 67. The loading cross bar 68 is fixed to the other end of the long pull rod 67 and is perpendicularly arranged to the long pull rod 67. The limiting cavity and the loading cross tube 68 of the delivery structure 6 arranged below it form a cargo loading space. That is to say, the limiting cavity formed by the short tube 21 and the long tube 22 defines the length and width of the cargo box, while the loading cross tube 68 defines the maximum depth or height of the loaded cargo box. In the present invention, there are two delivery structures 6, which are respectively arranged below the short tube 21. Correspondingly, the two loading cross bars 68 are respectively arranged below the two long tubes 22 and are parallel to the corresponding long tubes 22. When the cargo box is loaded on the unmanned aerial vehicle and ready to be delivered, the movement of the servo 61 in the two delivery structures 6 controls the rotation of the servo rocker arm 63 to drive the short pull rod 66 to move accordingly. The movement of the short pull rod 66 drives the long pull rod 67 to perform a linear motion along the axis of the bushing 64, so that the loading cross bar 68 moves linearly with the long pull rod 67. Under the continuous rotational movement of the servo 61, the loading cross bar 68 is finally pushed to move outwards, thus Figures 7 - 8 as shown, opening the release space and dropping the cargo box from the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0032] The two delivery structures 6 in the present invention are arranged on the side of the fuselage, and drive the cross bar 68 connected to the two delivery structures 6 during the movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The cross bar 68 opens the limiting cavity during the movement, and the cargo box is thrown out. The cargo loading device is arranged in the middle of the fuselage for loading cargo. Specifically, a cargo loading space is arranged in the middle of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the cargo box 7 is loaded in the loading space. Because the size and weight of the cargo box are large, in order to balance the center of gravity of the unmanned aerial vehicle, the cargo loading device of the unmanned aerial vehicle is arranged at the central position. In the present invention, the cargo handling moving line (the route of cargo handling activities, borrowing the terms of architecture and interior design) is set in the vertical direction. The cargo is loaded in a cargo box 7 of a certain size, and the rapid loading and unloading of the cargo can be realized by changing the cargo handling moving line. The cargo box 7 is loaded into the cargo loading space of the unmanned aerial vehicle from above. Therefore, the limiting cavity arranged at the upper part of the fuselage is set with a hollow in the middle. The hollow four-sided frame structure is the surrounding fuselage square tube composed of the short tube 21 and the long tube 22. The short tube 21 and the long tube 22 provide the left and right peripheral limiting positions for loading the cargo, and the cross tube 68 provides the lower loading limit for the depth or height of the cargo loading. The upper part is the direction of the picking-up moving line. Since the cargo is subject to gravity and moves downward after being loaded, no fixing limit is set above the cargo loading space.

[0033] Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, the multi-rotor cargo unmanned aerial vehicle, such asFigure 1 As shown, it includes a fuselage, a power subsystem, an avionics subsystem, and a cargo loading device;

[0034] Among them, the power subsystem is arranged at the front and rear of the fuselage, and includes a motor, an electronic speed controller (ESC), a propeller, and a battery 11. The motor is used to provide power to the ESC, the ESC is used to drive the propeller, and the propeller is used to provide lift for the UAV to fly and change the flight attitude of the UAV when necessary; the battery is used to provide power supply for the motor and the entire avionics subsystem.

[0035] The avionics subsystem is arranged at the front and rear of the fuselage and is used to control the flight of the UAV; as Figure 4 shown, the avionics subsystem includes a control module, a navigation module, a communication module, a power conversion module, etc. Among them, the control module serves as the control center of the UAV, and its main function is to process the information measured by each sensor received and the information of different modules connected to it; the navigation module is connected to the control module and is used to provide position information for the UAV; the communication module is connected to the control module to establish the ability for the UAV to transmit data between the UAV and the ground station or other devices, and is used to transmit the information received by the control module or the commands sent; the power conversion module provides an appropriate power voltage for each subsystem and module of the UAV.

[0036] Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, the UAV includes an arm connecting piece 1, and the arm connecting piece 1 is installed on the fuselage 2 by screws. The arm 3 is connected to the arm connecting piece 1 in a plug-and-fix form. A propeller 4 is installed at the end of the arm 3. The landing gear 5 is fixedly connected to the fuselage 2 by screws, and the landing gear crossbar 6 and the fuselage 2 form a cargo box assembly space. The cargo box 7 is loaded in the cargo box assembly space. Since the cargo box assembly space is arranged in the upper space of the UAV, the operator can operate above the UAV, the operation is simple without squatting, and the field of vision is wide during the operation, and visual operation can be performed. The outside of the fuselage 2 is assembled by a housing 8 to form an outer contour, and the navigation antenna 9 is installed on the housing 8, and an optical camera 10 is installed at the lower front of the fuselage 2.

[0037] As Figures 2 - 3 shown, the battery 11 is installed inside the fuselage by opening the upper cover of the housing 8, and device modules such as the navigation module, the control module, and the communication module are fixedly installed inside the housing 8.

[0038] In the present invention, the freight multi-rotor UAV is arranged with batteries placed symmetrically front and rear, and the avionics subsystem is arranged symmetrically front and rear. Due to the large weight of the batteries, in order to ensure the center of gravity is at the center of the UAV as much as possible, the UAV adopts a symmetrical arrangement, that is, one battery 11 is placed at the front and one at the rear, and the avionics subsystem also adopts a symmetrical arrangement.

[0039] In the present invention, due to the random weight of the goods, the goods are placed at the center of the drone, which plays a role in balancing the center of gravity of the drone. In addition, the drone arms adopt a plug-in installation method, which can reduce the space occupied during the transportation of the drone.

[0040] Compared with the existing drones, the multi-rotor cargo drone of the present invention has a simple and reliable structure, a simple composition, is lightweight and efficient; the loading and unloading cargo moving line is more reasonable. Loading the cargo vertically allows the operator to operate more conveniently, and the loading and unloading of the cargo can be achieved through simple lifting, pulling, and placing. The drone of the present invention has good machinability, the structural components are easy to process, and the process is easy to implement. It is suitable for trial production or batch production of small drones, and the deployment and transportation operations are convenient. It can realize the short-distance large-scale operation of small multi-rotor drones. Due to the random weight of the goods, placing the goods at the center can maintain the relative position of the center of gravity.

[0041] Preferably, the present invention also provides a cargo multi-rotor drone transportation system, which includes: a ground operation terminal and the cargo multi-rotor drone of the present invention. Among them, the ground operation terminal controls the cargo multi-rotor drone to carry out cargo transportation.

[0042] When an operator uses this drone to transport goods, after powering on at the take-off point, the cargo box 7 can be loaded into the cargo box assembly space of the drone by means of lifting, pulling, placing, etc. from above the drone. The operator manipulates the drone to fly to the landing point, and the operator at the landing point takes out the goods from above the drone.

[0043] The present invention can also be used when people at a certain location need to distribute goods. The location information is sent to the cargo multi-rotor drone. The navigation module of the cargo multi-rotor drone calculates the deviation based on its own location information and the destination location information, and flies to the destination. The optical camera 10 sends image information to the ground drone operation terminal. At the same time, according to image recognition and guidance, it searches for a suitable cargo dropping location. After confirmation by the ground personnel, the drone descends to a suitable height to drop the goods, and returns to the take-off point to land after dropping.

[0044] The terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular forms "a", "the", and "said" used in the embodiments of the present invention and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0045] The foregoing description has shown and described several preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, as previously mentioned, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the forms disclosed herein, should not be regarded as excluding other embodiments, but can be used in various other combinations, modifications, and environments, and can be altered within the scope of the application concept described herein through the above teachings or the skills or knowledge in related fields. Any alterations and changes made by those skilled in the art that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the appended claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cargo loading device for an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that, The cargo loading device is arranged at the middle position on the upper part of the fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The cargo is loaded in a cargo box. The device includes a limiting cavity and a dropping structure. Among them, the limiting cavity includes two short tubes and two long tubes of the fuselage itself. The long tubes and the short tubes are arranged parallel to each other and are connected in sequence to form a rectangular or square cavity, which is open at the top. When loading the cargo, the cargo box loaded with the cargo is limited within this limiting cavity. The two dropping structures are arranged below the limiting tubes and on the sides of the UAV, providing lower loading limitation for the cargo box and opening the limiting cavity when the UAV needs to drop the cargo, so as to drop the loaded cargo box. Each dropping structure includes a servo motor, a servo motor bracket, a servo motor rocker arm, a bushing, a bushing support, a short pull rod, a long pull rod, and a loading cross bar. The servo motor is fixed on the servo motor bracket. One end of the servo motor rocker arm is hinged to one end of the short pull rod. The other end of the short pull rod is hinged to one end of the long pull rod. The bushing is fixed in the bushing support and sleeved outside the long pull rod. The loading cross bar is fixed to the other end of the long pull rod and is perpendicular to the long pull rod. When the cargo box is loaded on the UAV and ready to be dropped, the movement of the servo motors in the two dropping structures controls the rotation of the servo motor rocker arms, driving the short pull rods to move accordingly. The movement of the short pull rods drives the long pull rods to perform linear motion along the axis of the bushings, so that the loading cross bars move linearly with the long pull rods. Under the continuous rotational movement of the servo motors, the loading cross bars are finally pushed to move outwards, thereby opening the release space and dropping the cargo box from the UAV.

2. The goods loading device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Among them, the two loading cross bars are respectively arranged parallel to each other below the two long tubes, forming a loading limiting space with the limiting cavity.

3. A cargo multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that, It includes the cargo loading device according to any one of claims 1-2, and also includes a power subsystem and an avionics subsystem. Among them, the power subsystem is arranged on the fuselage of the UAV and in front of the cargo loading device, and is used to provide flight power for the UAV. The avionics subsystem is arranged on the fuselage of the UAV and behind the cargo loading device, and is used to control the flight of the UAV. And the power subsystem and the avionics subsystem are symmetrically arranged with respect to the cargo loading device.

4. The freight multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 3, wherein An image acquisition subsystem is installed at the lower part in front of the fuselage, and is used to acquire images of the UAV.

5. The cargo multi-rotor UAV according to claim 3, wherein, The power subsystem includes a motor, an electronic speed controller (ESC), a propeller, and a battery. The motor provides power to the ESC. Driven by the power, the ESC drives the propeller connected to it to rotate. The battery supplies power to the motor.

6. The multi-rotor cargo drone according to claim 3, wherein, The avionics subsystem includes a control module and a navigation module and a communication module connected to it. Among them, the control module is used to control the flight of the UAV; the navigation module is used to provide position information for the UAV; the communication module is used for information transmission between the UAV and a ground station or other devices.

7. A cargo multi-rotor UAV transportation system, characterized in that, The system includes: a ground operation terminal and the cargo-carrying multi-rotor UAV according to any one of claims 3-6. Among them, the ground operation terminal controls the cargo-carrying multi-rotor UAV to carry out cargo transportation.

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