A tether reeling device for a tethered satellite to capture a small celestial body

Abstract

This invention provides a rope deployment and retrieval device for capturing small celestial bodies using a tethered satellite, belonging to the field of deep space exploration technology. The invention features two symmetrically mounted rope rollers on a support frame. One end of each roller is connected to a servo motor. One end of the rope is wound around the roller, and the other end passes through a rope straightener and enters a straightener ring, then passes through the gap between a fixed control wheel and a sliding control wheel, and finally extends out of the housing through a rope outlet hole. A smooth rod is fixed to the support frame at both ends, passes through a smooth hole in the rope straightener in the middle, and a threaded rod passes through a threaded hole in the rope straightener and connects to a second servo motor. The fixed control wheel is connected to a support via a third bearing, and the fixed control wheel is connected to a transmission gear, which in turn is connected to a fourth servo motor. This invention enables the deployment and retrieval of the rope and allows control over the rope's deployment and retrieval length, speed, and acceleration, laying the foundation for the capture of small celestial bodies using a formation ring system and holding significant importance for small celestial body exploration missions.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a rope deployment and retrieval device for using a rope to connect a satellite to capture a small celestial body, belonging to the field of deep space exploration. Background Technology

[0002] With the deepening development of aerospace technology, human exploration is gradually expanding into deep space, making deep space exploration a new hot topic in aerospace science research. Small celestial bodies within the solar system are products of the early formation of the solar system. The rich mineral deposits on these bodies have been suggested as a future source of resources for Earth, helping to find solutions to the increasingly strained resources on Earth. If deep space exploration technology continues to develop and improve in the future, these small celestial bodies are expected to become fuel supply stations, mining sites, or astronomical observatories in deep space.

[0003] One of the important foundations for small body sampling and return and the manipulation of small celestial bodies is that the probe can achieve surface landing. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out soft landing and capture strategies for small celestial bodies.

[0004] Small celestial bodies have relatively weak gravity, irregular geometry and gravitational fields, making them difficult to capture by gravity alone. They also exhibit significant communication delays and slow rotation. Encirclement techniques for capturing small celestial bodies offer advantages such as a large envelope size range and adaptability to the complex surfaces and motion states of these bodies. This process requires precise control of the ropes to achieve the encirclement objective. Currently, no such device exists to accomplish this task; therefore, there is an urgent need to invent a mechanical device that can connect to a spacecraft and control the release and retraction of the ropes. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to meet the requirements of rope deployment and retrieval during the capture of small celestial bodies by a formation ring system, and to provide a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethered satellites to capture small celestial bodies.

[0006] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0007] A rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, the device comprising: a bracket, a rolling drum, a bearing 1, a servo motor 1, a rope, a rope straightener, a rope straightener ring, a fixed control wheel, a sliding control wheel, a rope outlet hole, a housing, a smooth rod, a smooth hole for the rope straightener, a bearing 2, a threaded hole for the rope straightener, a servo motor 2, a bolt 1, a bearing 3, a slider, a slide rail, a bearing 4, a short semi-circular threaded hole, a long semi-circular smooth hole, a threaded rod 1, a threaded rod 2, a servo motor 3, a transmission gear, a servo motor 4, a bolt 2, and a support;

[0008] The bracket is fixed to the bottom of the housing by bolt two. One end of the rolling drum is fixed to the bottom of the bracket by bearing one, and the other end of the rolling drum is connected to servo motor one, which is fixed to the top of the bracket. The cable straightener has a cable straightener smooth hole and a cable straightener threaded hole. The smooth rod passes through the cable straightener smooth hole, and both ends of the smooth rod are fixed to the top and bottom of the bracket, respectively. One end of the threaded rod one is fixed to the bottom of the bracket by bearing two, and the other end of the threaded rod one passes through the cable straightener threaded hole and is connected to servo motor two, which is fixed to the top of the bracket. The support is fixed to the inner side of the housing by bolt one. The housing and the support have rope outlet holes. The fixed control wheel is fixed to the support by bearing three. The upper side of the support has a slide rail, and the slider passes through the slide rail. The slide is slidably connected to the support. The front of the support has a horizontally oriented elongated semi-circular smooth hole, and the back of the slide has a short semi-circular threaded hole. The short semi-circular threaded hole and the elongated semi-circular smooth hole are in contact to form a complete threaded hole. The sliding control wheel is fixed to the front of the slide through bearing four. One end of threaded rod two passes through the complete threaded hole formed by the short semi-circular threaded hole and the elongated semi-circular smooth hole. The other end of threaded rod two is connected to servo motor three. The transmission gear meshes with the fixed control wheel. Servo motor four is connected to the transmission gear and fixed to the support. The winding ring is fixed at the front end of the front of the support. One end of the rope is fixed to the rolling drum. After being wound, the rope passes through the gap between the winding device, the winding ring, the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel and the rope exit hole in sequence before extending out of the housing.

[0009] The present invention provides a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, wherein the rolling drum, smooth rod, threaded rod and rope winder are a set of winding mechanisms fixed on a support.

[0010] The present invention provides a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, wherein the number of the threaded rod, the rolling spool, and the smooth rod is 2 to n, all of which are symmetrically distributed along the axial direction of the support.

[0011] The present invention provides a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, wherein each of the rope winding mechanisms corresponds to a support.

[0012] The present invention discloses a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body. The short semi-circular threaded hole and the long semi-circular smooth hole are fitted together to form a complete threaded hole, wherein the angle of the cross section of the long semi-circular smooth hole accounts for one-half to two-thirds of the angle of the cross section of the complete threaded hole.

[0013] The present invention provides a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, wherein the slider is driven by a threaded rod two and moves along a slide track.

[0014] This invention discloses a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethered satellites to capture small celestial bodies. The rope is released by a fixed control wheel in conjunction with a sliding control wheel under the transmission action of a transmission gear. The release length, release speed, and release acceleration of the rope are controlled by the rotational speed of a servo motor.

[0015] The present invention discloses a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body. The rope winding device is driven by a servo motor and moves axially along the threaded rod. The rope is wound into the rolling drum at certain intervals by controlling the rotation speed of the servo motor.

[0016] This invention discloses a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethered satellites to capture small celestial bodies. The device can deploy and retrieval the rope according to the spacecraft's needs, and control the rope's deployment length, speed, and acceleration. It is a crucial component for encircling and capturing small celestial bodies. Different sizes of ropes can be accommodated by adjusting the gap between the fixed and sliding control wheels. Furthermore, during the encirclement and binding process, when external tension is high, rope slippage can be prevented by reducing the gap and increasing the preload, demonstrating excellent stability. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is an isometric schematic diagram of a rope deployment and retrieval device for using a rope to connect a satellite to capture a small celestial body, according to the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a rope deployment and retrieval device for a satellite to capture small celestial bodies.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the support in a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, according to the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A magnified view of a portion of the image.

[0021] Figure 5 This is a partially enlarged schematic diagram of the support frame in a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, according to the present invention.

[0022] In the attached diagram, the following labels represent different components: 1 is the support, 2 is the rolling drum, 3 is bearing one, 4 is servo motor one, 5 is the rope, 6 is the cable straightener, 7 is the cable straightener ring, 8 is the fixed control wheel, 9 is the sliding control wheel, 10 is the rope outlet hole, 11 is the housing, 12 is the smooth rod, 13 is the cable straightener's smooth hole, 14 is bearing two, 15 is the cable straightener's threaded hole, 16 is servo motor two, 17 is bolt one, 18 is bearing three, 19 is the slider, 20 is the slide rail, 21 is bearing four, 22 is the short semi-circular threaded hole, 23 is the long semi-circular smooth hole, 24 is threaded rod one, 25 is threaded rod two, 26 is servo motor three, 27 is the transmission gear, 28 is servo motor four, 29 is bolt two, and 30 is the support. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings: This embodiment is implemented based on the technical solution of the present invention and provides detailed implementation methods, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0024] Example 1: As Figure 1-5 As shown, a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body includes: a bracket, a spool, a bearing 1, a servo motor 1, a rope, a rope straightener, a rope straightener ring, a fixed control wheel, a sliding control wheel, a rope outlet hole, a housing, a smooth rod, a smooth hole for the rope straightener, a bearing 2, a threaded hole for the rope straightener, a servo motor 2, a bolt 1, a bearing 3, a slider, a slide rail, a bearing 4, a short semi-circular threaded hole, a long semi-circular smooth hole, a threaded rod 1, a threaded rod 2, a servo motor 3, a transmission gear, a servo motor 4, a bolt 2, and a support.

[0025] The bracket is connected to the bottom of the housing by bolt two. One end of the rolling drum is connected to the bracket via bearing one, and the other end is connected to the motor shaft of servo motor one. The housing of servo motor one is fixedly connected to the bracket. The cable winder has a smooth cable winder hole and a threaded cable winder hole. Both ends of the smooth rod are fixed to the bracket, and the middle part passes through the smooth cable winder hole. One end of the threaded rod one is fixed to the bracket via bearing two, and the middle part passes through the threaded cable winder hole. The other end is connected to the motor shaft of servo motor two. The housing of servo motor two is fixedly connected to the bracket. The support is connected to the housing by bolt one. A rope outlet hole is opened on the overlapping part of the housing and the support. The fixed control wheel is connected to the support via bearing three, and the axis of the fixed control wheel is perpendicular to the bottom of the housing. A slide is opened on the upper side of the support. A long semi-circular smooth hole is horizontally provided on the front of the support, and a short semi-circular smooth hole is opened on the back of the slider. The arc-shaped threaded hole is connected to the support through a slide rail. When the short semi-circular threaded hole on the back of the slider fits into the long semi-circular smooth hole on the front of the support, it forms a complete threaded hole. The sliding control wheel is connected to the slider through bearing four, and the axis of the sliding control wheel is perpendicular to the bottom of the housing. One end of the threaded rod two can be inserted into the complete threaded hole formed by the short semi-circular threaded hole and the long semi-circular smooth hole, and the other end is connected to servo motor three. The transmission gear is connected to the fixed control wheel. The motor shaft of servo motor four is connected to the transmission gear, and the motor shaft is perpendicular to the bottom of the housing. The housing of servo motor four is fixed on the support. The cable outlet is located on the support between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel. One end of the rope is fixed to the rolling drum, and the other end is wound and passed through the cable straightener, then through the cable straightener ring, and then through the cable outlet between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel.

[0026] The working process of the rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, as described in this application, is as follows:

[0027] 1. The rope is held in close contact with a fixed control wheel and a sliding control wheel. The servo motor drives the transmission gear to rotate the fixed control wheel. Under the drive of the fixed control wheel, the rope is released. The rope release length, release speed and release acceleration can be controlled, demonstrating good release capability.

[0028] 2. The rope can be tightened and wound onto the roller under the drive of the servo motor, demonstrating good tightening ability.

[0029] 3. The cable winder can move along the axial direction of the threaded rod under the drive of the servo motor, so that the rope is wound into the rolling drum at the required intervals, so that the rope is evenly wound on the rolling drum, maximizing the carrying capacity of the rope, and also demonstrating good ability to prevent the rope from tangling.

[0030] 4. The rope first passes through the straightening ring, then through the gap between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel, and finally through the rope exit hole. This prevents the rope from slipping off when it enters the gap between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel at different angles, demonstrating good stability.

[0031] 5. The following components can be installed symmetrically along the support frame: cable roller, bearing 1, servo motor 1, cable winder, cable winder ring, fixed control wheel, sliding control wheel, rope outlet hole, smooth rod, cable winder smooth hole, bearing 2, cable winder threaded hole, servo motor 2, bolt 1, bearing 3, slider, slide rail, bearing 4, short semi-circular threaded hole, long semi-circular smooth hole, threaded rod 1, threaded rod 2, servo motor 3, transmission gear, servo motor 4, bolt 2, and support. This allows for the release and retraction of ropes from both sides, demonstrating excellent straggling loop capability.

[0032] 6. The shape of the shell can be designed according to the actual situation. The shell of this application is provided with two winding drums and supports (as detailed in item 5 above), or four winding drums and supports can be designed; different shell structures can be designed to include multiple winding drums and supports.

[0033] 7. During the release and retraction of the rope, the rope between the lug and the lug remains slack.

[0034] Example 2: Figure 1-5 As shown, a rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body is described, and the specific rope deployment and retrieval process is as follows:

[0035] As the rope is released:

[0036] Servo motor three drives threaded rod two to rotate, causing the slider to move the sliding control wheel along the slide rail, so that the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel contact the two sides of the rope respectively; servo motor four drives the transmission gear to rotate, and at the same time the fixed control wheel meshing with the transmission gear rotates. The release length, release speed and release acceleration of the rope are controlled according to the rotation speed of servo motor four. The rope is released from between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel, passes through the rope outlet hole and extends out of the housing; at the same time, servo motor one rotates to drive the rolling drum to rotate, thereby realizing the release of the rope. During the release of the rope, the rotation of servo motor two is controlled to drive threaded rod one to rotate, thereby causing the rope straightener threaded to the threaded rod one to move axially, controlling the rope to be released evenly on the rolling drum.

[0037] When the rope is retracted:

[0038] Servo motor one rotates, driving the spinning drum to retract the rope. During rope retraction, servo motor two rotates, driving threaded rod one to rotate, causing the rope winder, which is threaded to threaded rod one, to move axially, controlling the rope to be evenly wound on the spinning drum. Simultaneously, servo motor three drives threaded rod two to rotate, causing the slider to move the sliding control wheel along the slide rail, so that the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel contact the two sides of the rope respectively. Servo motor four drives the transmission gear to rotate, and the fixed control wheel, which meshes with the transmission gear, rotates. The rope is retracted according to the rotation of servo motor four, and the rope is retracted between the fixed control wheel and the sliding control wheel through the rope outlet hole.

[0039] During the rope release and retraction process, the servo motors on the support and the bracket work simultaneously to keep the rope between the rope guide and the rope guide in a slack state at all times.

[0040] As the amount of rope wound on the spool increases, the coil diameter of the spool also increases. Therefore, at different release or retraction times (i.e., different coil diameters on the spool), the speed at which the rope is released or retracted differs at the same servo motor speed. Thus, the control strategy is as follows:

[0041] Regardless of whether the control variable of the control system is the length, speed or acceleration (released or retracted), what remains constant is the tooth speed of the fixed control wheel edge (under non-slip conditions) after the speed w1 of servo motor one is multiplied by the current coil diameter, which equals the speed w2 of servo motor four and the transmission ratio of the transmission gear.

[0042] When the external tension on the rope outside the shell is large during the binding process, the servo motor can rotate three times to reduce the gap between the sliding control wheel and the fixed control wheel, thereby increasing the pretension force by clamping the rope and preventing the rope from slipping.

[0043] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. These specific embodiments are different implementations based on the overall concept of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A tether deployment device for a tethered satellite to capture a small celestial body, characterized by, The device includes: a bracket (1), a rolling drum (2), a bearing (3), a servo motor (4), a rope (5), a cable straightener (6), a cable straightener ring (7), a fixed control wheel (8), a sliding control wheel (9), a rope outlet (10), a housing (11), a smooth rod (12), a cable straightener smooth hole (13), a bearing (24), a cable straightener threaded hole (15), a servo motor (26), a bolt (17), a bearing (3), a slider (19), a slide rail (20), a bearing (4), a short semi-circular threaded hole (22), a long semi-circular smooth hole (23), a threaded rod (14), a threaded rod (25), a servo motor (3) (26), a transmission gear (27), a servo motor (4) (28), a bolt (29), and a support (30); The bracket (1) is fixed to the bottom of the housing (11) by bolt two (29). One end of the rolling drum (2) is fixed to the bottom of the bracket (1) by bearing one (3). The other end of the rolling drum (2) is connected to servo motor one (4). Servo motor one (4) is fixed to the top of the bracket (1). The cable straightener (6) has a cable straightener smooth hole (13) and a cable straightener threaded hole (15). The smooth rod (12) passes through the cable straightener smooth hole (13). The two ends of the smooth rod (12) are fixed to the top and bottom of the bracket (1) respectively. Threaded rod one (29) 4) One end is fixed to the bottom of the bracket (1) by bearing two (14), and the other end of the threaded rod one (24) passes through the threaded hole (15) of the cable winder and is connected to the servo motor two (16). The servo motor two (16) is fixed to the top of the bracket (1); the support (30) is fixed to the inner side of the housing (11) by bolt one (17). The housing (11) and the support (30) have rope outlet holes (10). The fixed control wheel (8) is fixed to the support (30) by bearing three (18). The upper side of the support (30) has a slide rail (20). The slider (19) is slidably connected to the support (30) via the slide rail (20). The support (30) has a horizontally arranged elongated semi-circular smooth hole (23) on its front side, and a short semi-circular threaded hole (22) is opened on the back side of the slider (19). The short semi-circular threaded hole (22) and the long semi-circular smooth hole (23) are in contact to form a complete threaded hole. The sliding control wheel (9) is fixed to the front side of the slider (19) via bearing four (21). One end of the threaded rod two (25) passes through the complete threaded hole formed by the short semi-circular threaded hole (22) and the long semi-circular smooth hole (23). In the groove, the other end of the threaded rod two (25) is connected to the servo motor three (26), the transmission gear (27) meshes with the fixed control wheel (8), the servo motor four (28) is connected to the transmission gear (27) and fixed on the support (30); the winding ring (7) is fixed at the front end of the support (30), one end of the rope (5) is fixed on the rolling drum (2), and after winding, it passes through the gap between the winding device (6), the winding ring (7), the fixed control wheel (8) and the sliding control wheel (9) and the rope outlet (10) and then extends out of the shell (11).

2. The rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rolling drum (2), the smooth rod (12), the threaded rod (24), and the winding device (6) form a winding mechanism fixed on the bracket (1).

3. A rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body, as described in claim 1, is characterized in that... The number of the threaded rod (24), the rolling drum (2), and the smooth rod (12) is 2 to n, and they are all symmetrically distributed along the axis of the support (1).

4. A tether deployment device for a tethered satellite to capture a small celestial body according to claim 2, wherein, Each of the winding mechanisms corresponds to a support (30).

5. The tether deployment apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The short semi-circular threaded hole (22) and the long semi-circular smooth hole (23) are fitted together to form a complete threaded hole, wherein the angle of the cross section of the long semi-circular smooth hole (23) accounts for one-half to two-thirds of the angle of the cross section of the complete threaded hole.

6. A tether deployment apparatus for a tether connected satellite to capture a small celestial body according to claim 1, wherein, The slider (19) moves along the slide rail (20) driven by the threaded rod (25) and the servo motor (26).

7. A rope deployment and retrieval device for tethering a satellite to capture a small celestial body according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rope (5) is released by the fixed control wheel (8) in conjunction with the sliding control wheel (9) under the transmission action of the transmission gear (27). The release length, release speed and release acceleration of the rope (5) are controlled by the rotation speed of the servo motor (28).

8. The tether deployment apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The thread winder (6) moves axially along the thread rod (24) driven by the servo motor (16). By controlling the rotation speed of the servo motor (16), the rope (5) is wound into the rolling drum (2) at certain intervals.

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