An electric actuator for turning the front wheel of a drone

Abstract

This invention belongs to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design technology and discloses an electric actuation device for the front wheel turning of a UAV, including a motor, a planetary reduction gear mechanism, and an angle sensor. The motor is connected to the input end of the planetary reduction gear mechanism, the end of which contains an output gear. The angle sensor is connected to the output gear via a parallel shaft transmission. The planetary reduction gear mechanism, from top to bottom, consists of a high-speed NGW-type reducer, an NGWN-type reducer, and a low-speed NGW-type reducer. This invention employs an electric actuation method, utilizing onboard power to achieve directional control during UAV ground taxiing and landing, meeting the needs of multi-electric and all-electric aircraft. Furthermore, due to the use of a single-redundant motor and a dual-redundant feedback sensor, it exhibits high reliability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) design technology, and relates to a turning device for a UAV, specifically an electric actuation device for turning the front wheel of a UAV. Background Technology

[0002] Conventional hydraulic nose wheel steering systems are typically electro-hydraulic servo control systems. These systems require external electrical commands and hydraulic power to drive the nose landing gear deflection by outputting linear displacement. Due to various issues with hydraulic products, such as leaks, complex and heavy hydraulic piping, and significant noise pollution from hydraulic drives, hydraulic nose wheel steering systems have a high failure and maintenance rate over long service lives, impacting user operation and mission scheduling. As a branch of the trend towards more electric and fully electric aircraft, electromechanical actuators, when the output power is sufficient, do not require onboard hydraulic piping or a hydraulic power supply; they only require sufficient onboard power. Therefore, electromechanical actuators possess a high degree of product independence and energy economy.

[0003] The application of electromechanical actuators in front-wheel steering systems eliminates the need for hydraulic lines, reducing machine weight. The actuators, being purely mechanical components, require no hydraulic power, eliminating leaks and other problems. Furthermore, the reduced use of rubber parts improves the product's lifespan and reliability. The application of electromechanical actuators represents a significant development direction in front-wheel steering technology. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned problems, this invention provides a front wheel steering electromechanical actuator for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which enables directional control during UAV ground taxiing and landing.

[0005] The technical solution of this invention is:

[0006] An electric actuation device for turning the front wheel of a drone includes a motor, a planetary reduction mechanism and an angle sensor, arranged in an inverted "T" structure. The motor is located at the top, and the lower end of the motor is connected to the planetary reduction mechanism, which is cylindrical in shape. The output shaft of the planetary reduction mechanism is connected to two angle sensors on the left and right sides to form the two sides of the "T".

[0007] Furthermore, the motor is located at the top and connected to the housing of the planetary reduction mechanism by screws. Power flows from the motor through the high-speed NGW type reducer, NGWN type reducer, low-speed NGW type reducer and the end output gear in the planetary reduction mechanism before outputting torque to the outside.

[0008] Furthermore, an electromagnetic clutch is provided between the high-speed NGW type reducer and the NGWN type reducer, which cuts off or connects the power transmission path between the upper and lower reducers.

[0009] Furthermore, the electromagnetic clutch is a clutch that engages when energized, transmitting power downwards, and disengages when energized, stopping the transmission.

[0010] Furthermore, the motor is a single-redundant speed-regulating motor, which is a brushless DC motor using a Hall sensor.

[0011] Furthermore, the low-speed NGW type reducer is splinedly connected to the output gear, which drives the front wheel to deflect.

[0012] Furthermore, the output gear is an involute cylindrical gear structure.

[0013] Furthermore, the angle sensor is a non-wire-wound precision rotary potentiometer structure with single redundancy; the two single redundancy angle sensors are connected to the output gear through two sets of angle transmission mechanisms to collect angle signals with dual redundancy.

[0014] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0015] 1. This invention adopts an electric actuation method, which can realize the directional control function of the UAV during ground taxiing and landing using the onboard power supply.

[0016] 2. The inverted "T" shaped finished product design of this invention, along with the dual-redundancy end angle feedback capability, enables the finished product to have high electrical reliability while possessing sufficient mechanical stability.

[0017] 3. The present invention has good maintainability and high efficiency. The speed-regulating motor and feedback sensor used in the present invention are both based on mature technologies and have a high standardization coefficient, which can achieve good economic benefits.

[0018] 4. The present invention has a compact structure, requires little installation space, and is suitable for use with drones. Attached Figure Description

[0019] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this invention, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of this invention and should not be regarded as a limitation of the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a planetary deceleration mechanism;

[0022] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of an angle feedback mechanism;

[0023] Among them, 1—motor, 2—planetary reduction mechanism, 3—angle sensor, 4—high-speed NGW type reducer, 5—electromagnetic clutch; 6—NGWN type reducer, 7—low-speed NGW type reducer, 8—output gear, 9—angle transmission mechanism. Detailed Implementation

[0024] This section describes embodiments of the present invention, used to explain and illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0025] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicating directions or positional relationships, are given in the accompanying drawings and are used only for the convenience of describing the invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or device referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first," "second," etc., may explicitly or implicitly include more than one of those features. In the description of this invention, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0026] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integrated connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or a point connection; they can refer to a direct connection or a connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0027] An electric actuation device for turning the front wheel of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has an inverted "T" shaped layout. The weight of the finished product is concentrated in the lower middle part, the center of gravity is in the middle, and the finished product has sufficient mechanical stability. The finished product is mainly composed of a motor 1, a planetary reduction mechanism 2, and an angle sensor 3.

[0028] The single-redundant motor 1 is located on the top of the finished product and is connected to the planetary reduction mechanism housing by screws. The power flows from the motor through the high-speed NGW type reducer 4, NGWN type reducer 6, low-speed NGW type reducer 7 and the end output gear 8 in the planetary reduction mechanism 2 before outputting torque. An electromagnetic clutch 5 is designed and installed between the high-speed NGW type reducer 4 and NGWN type reducer 6. The clutch 5 can cut off / connect the power transmission path of the upper and lower reducers. The logic of the clutch 5 is that it is engaged when powered on and the power is transmitted downwards, and it is disengaged when powered off and the transmission is stopped.

[0029] The single-redundant motor 1 is a speed-regulating motor, which is a brushless DC motor using a Hall sensor.

[0030] The low-speed NGW type reducer 7 is splinedly connected to the output gear 8, and the output gear 8 drives the front wheel to deflect.

[0031] The output gear 8 is an involute cylindrical gear structure.

[0032] The angle sensor 3 is a non-wire-wound precision rotary potentiometer structure with single redundancy. The two single redundancy angle sensors 3 are connected to the output gear 8 through two sets of angle transmission mechanisms 9 to collect angle signals with dual redundancy.

[0033] Functional principle: When the electromagnetic clutch is engaged, the motor's output speed and torque are transmitted to the output gear through the planetary reduction mechanism, driving the front wheel to deflect in the corresponding direction. Simultaneously, the feedback sensor outputs a voltage signal proportional to the front wheel deflection angle. When the electromagnetic clutch disengages, the output gear can freely follow the deflection of the front landing gear.

[0034] Please see Figure 1 The front wheel steering electric actuator is mounted on the front landing gear strut via a mounting boss. The output speed and torque of motor 1 are transmitted to output gear 8 via planetary reduction mechanism 2. The output gear meshes with the steering sleeve gear on the front landing gear strut, driving the front wheel to deflect. At the same time, angle sensor 4 outputs a voltage signal that matches the rotation angle of the output gear.

[0035] Please see Figure 2 The planetary reduction mechanism 2 consists of a high-speed NGW type reducer 4, an electromagnetic clutch 5, an NGWN type reducer 6, a low-speed NGW type reducer 7, and an output gear 8.

[0036] Please see Figure 3 The end angle feedback consists of an angle sensor 3, an output gear 8, and an auxiliary gear angle transmission mechanism 9.

[0037] This invention features a compact structure with a small vertical range, making it suitable for the limited installation space requirements of drones. Furthermore, it achieves a dual-redundancy design for angle feedback while maintaining a compact footprint, resulting in high reliability and good maintainability.

Claims

1. An electric actuation device for turning the front wheel of an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that, It includes a motor (1), a planetary reduction mechanism (2) and an angle sensor (3), arranged in an inverted "T" structure. The motor (1) is located at the top, and the lower end of the motor (1) is connected to the planetary reduction mechanism (2), which is cylindrical in shape. The output shaft of the planetary reduction mechanism (2) is connected to two angle sensors (3) on the left and right sides to form the two sides of the "T". Its motor (1) is located at the top and connected to the housing of the planetary reduction mechanism (2) by screws. The power flows from the motor through the high-speed NGW type reducer (4), NGWN type reducer (6), low-speed NGW type reducer (7) and end output gear (8) in the planetary reduction mechanism (2) to output torque to the outside. An electromagnetic clutch (5) is provided between the high-speed NGW type reducer (4) and the NGWN type reducer (6). The electromagnetic clutch (5) cuts off or connects the power transmission path of the upper and lower reducers. The angle sensor (3) is a non-wire-wound precision rotary potentiometer structure with single redundancy setting; the two single redundancy angle sensors (3) and the output gear (8) are respectively connected by two sets of angle transmission mechanisms (9) to collect the angle signal with dual redundancy.

2. The electric actuation device for front wheel turning of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that, The electromagnetic clutch (5) is a clutch that is engaged when energized and transmits power downwards, and disengages when energized and stops transmission.

3. The electric actuation device for front wheel turning of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that, The motor (1) is a single-redundant speed-regulating motor, which is a brushless DC motor with a Hall sensor.

4. The electric actuation device for front wheel turning of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that, The low-speed NGW type reducer (7) is splinedly connected to the output gear (8), and the output gear (8) drives the front wheel to deflect.

5. The electric actuation device for front wheel turning of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that, The output gear (8) is an involute cylindrical gear structure.

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