An intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device

Abstract

The present invention relates to an intelligent in-vehicle drone automatic locking and charging device, belonging to the fields of intelligent devices and drones. The automatic locking and charging device of the present invention includes: a drone, an in-vehicle takeoff and landing platform, a homing device, a lifting platform, drone landing gears, a crossbar limiting device for drone landing gears, a rotating locking buckle, a torsion spring, a rotating shaft, a rotating locking bracket, a trigger push rod, a fixing plate, a charging seat, a snap spring, a spring, flexible charging electrode contacts, and drone-end charging electrode contacts. The present invention realizes automatic locking and automatic charging of the drone during collection, and automatic loosening during deployment through the design of a pure mechanical structure, without the need for manual intervention, occupies a small space, has a low cost, saves the time for system collection and deployment, avoids the risks of motor step loss and abnormal failures, and enables the in-vehicle system to stably charge during movement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of intelligent devices and unmanned aerial vehicles, and particularly relates to an intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle automatic locking and charging device. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of the intelligent device and unmanned aerial vehicle industries, intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle systems have gradually attracted the attention of fields such as security and transportation due to their advantages such as high mobility, long-distance projection, and fast emergency response. They are already very advanced and mature in technical fields such as automatic flight, precise landing, and long-distance data communication. For example, police security vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicles, highway patrol vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicles, and coastal anti-smuggling vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicles.

[0003] The demand for unmanned aerial vehicles in various industries is increasing continuously. Especially in the security field, there is an urgent need for an intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle system with high autonomy, strong mobility, and stable reliability. Since the vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle system can move at any time, it is inevitable that there will be bumps and shakes during vehicle driving. If the unmanned aerial vehicle cannot be reliably locked and charged during movement, it is very likely to cause damage to the unmanned aerial vehicle or the entire system. Therefore, if the vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle system is to be stably and widely applied, the problems of locking and fixing the vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle and stable charging during movement must be solved.

[0004] Currently, there are mainly three types of vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle systems: semi-automated application mode, automated static application mode, and automated dynamic application mode.

[0005] The semi-automated mode is mainly a simple combination of the vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle system, which can achieve the purpose of quickly and maneuverably reaching the target area for operation. However, the operator needs to complete operations such as deploying, charging, retracting, and fixing the unmanned aerial vehicle; the utility model patent CN215042375U discloses a method for fixing the unmanned aerial vehicle through manual operation.

[0006] The automated static application mode is mainly a further combination of the vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle system, which can achieve full-automatic operations such as operation, collection, and charging of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the vehicle. However, this automated application mode needs to be carried out when the vehicle is stationary, and reliable charging of the equipment cannot be guaranteed during vehicle movement; the invention patent CN105730313A discloses an automatic locking device for an unmanned aerial vehicle composed of a motor, a lead screw, a slider, etc., but it does not charge the unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0007] The automated dynamic application mode is a deep integration of the vehicle and the unmanned aerial vehicle system. The unmanned aerial vehicle and the vehicle can achieve full-autonomous operations during stationary or moving processes. Currently, this mode uses an independent servo mechanism to ensure unmanned aerial vehicle charging and equipment fastening, and the overall structure is complex and the reliability is insufficient.

[0008] In view of the application needs of the integration of drones and vehicles, how to make full use of the limited space inside the car to design a low-cost, high-reliability pure mechanical automatic locking device and achieve stable charging during movement needs to be solved urgently.

[0009] The technical problems to be solved by the present invention include:

[0010] 1) The existing technical solution uses direct motor drive, which requires additional motors, lead screws, and various fixing frames, which takes up a lot of space and is costly. This is very disadvantageous for the limited space inside the car and may even affect the layout of other equipment.

[0011] 2) The existing technical solution adopts direct motor drive, which makes the control part more complicated. The locking process requires separate logic to control. The locking movement process takes extra time, which increases the system collection time.

[0012] 3) The existing technical solution uses a motor to drive directly, which is prone to motor step loss or abnormal failure. The locking part has not reached the predetermined position and cannot be locked, while the control system is locked by default, which can easily cause the drone to be damaged during the movement of the vehicle.

[0013] 4) In the existing technical solutions, most of them are manually disassembled for charging or charging when the vehicle-mounted system is stationary, which fails to achieve stable charging of the vehicle-mounted drone system during movement. When operating in multiple locations, it is necessary to statically charge after one operation before moving to the next operation point, which wastes a lot of time and is inefficient. Summary of the invention

[0014] 1. Technical issues to be resolved

[0015] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is how to provide an intelligent vehicle-mounted drone automatic locking and charging device to solve the problem of low-cost, high-reliability pure mechanical automatic locking and achieve stable charging during movement.

[0016] (II) Technical solution

[0017] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention proposes an intelligent vehicle-mounted UAV automatic locking charging device, the device comprises: a UAV, a vehicle-mounted take-off and landing platform, a homing device, a lifting platform, a UAV landing gear and an automatic locking charging structure, the automatic locking charging structure comprises: a UAV landing gear crossbar limit device, a rotation locking buckle, a torsion spring, a rotating shaft, a rotation locking bracket, a trigger push rod, a fixing plate, a charging seat, a retaining spring, a spring, a flexible charging electrode contact and a UAV end charging electrode contact;

[0018] The bottom of the vehicle-mounted landing platform is tightly connected to the vehicle body and is the platform for the drone to take off and land. The vehicle-mounted landing platform consists of a support frame at the bottom and a table top at the top;

[0019] The lifting platform is located in the middle of the support frame and is connected by module guide rails. The lifting platform can rise and fall under the action of its own electric drive device;

[0020] The homing device is located on the four edges of the top of the tabletop of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform and is fixed with screws. Under the action of its own electric drive device, the push rods of the homing device move towards the middle of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform respectively, accurately homing the unmanned aerial vehicle to the lifting platform, realizing the automatic homing of the intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle;

[0021] The landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle is composed of two U-shaped frames and two parallel crossbars at the bottom. The bottom of the U-shaped frame is respectively connected to the two parallel crossbars, and the top is used to connect the unmanned aerial vehicle. The landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle is fixed below the unmanned aerial vehicle and is connected with fastening screws;

[0022] The crossbar limiting device of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear is fixed on the upper surface of the crossbar at the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear;

[0023] The rotating lock catch and torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through the rotating shaft; the rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixed plate; the fixed plate is fixedly connected to the vehicle body through the adapter;

[0024] The trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and is fixed below the lifting platform; and it can squeeze the rotating lock catch during the up and down movement;

[0025] The charging electrode contact on the unmanned aerial vehicle side is fixed on the inner side of the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear. One end of the charging electrode contact on the unmanned aerial vehicle side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear;

[0026] The flexible charging electrode contact and spring are fixed on the charging seat through the lower retaining ring; the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire; the flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built in the lower part of the charging seat, and ensures stable contact during vibration; the charging seat is fixed on the fixed plate.

[0027] Furthermore, there are 4 sets of automatic locking charging structures, which are respectively arranged at the four corner positions of the landing gear.

[0028] Furthermore, long holes and square holes are opened on the lifting platform. The square hole is used for the flexible charging electrode contact to pass through the lifting platform from below, and the long hole is used for the rotating lock catch to pass through the lifting platform from below.

[0029] Furthermore, the crossbar limiting device of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear is fixed on the crossbar at the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear, and the locking surface thereof cooperating with the rotating lock catch adopts a design combining a top plane and a side arc surface.

[0030] Furthermore, serrated limiting wedge grooves are designed on the flat surface and the arc surface, and these wedge grooves cooperate with the wedge grooves below the front end of the rotating locking buckle.

[0031] Furthermore, a locking surface combining a flat surface and an arc surface is designed below the front end of the rotating locking buckle, and serrated wedge grooves are designed on the locking surface. When locked, they closely cooperate with the serrated wedge grooves of the crossbar limiting device of the UAV landing gear to ensure high-precision locking and positioning.

[0032] Furthermore, when the UAV lands on the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, the homing device automatically performs the homing action to accurately position the UAV on the lifting platform. At this time, the bottom of the UAV landing gear is located on the lifting platform, and the lifting platform starts to descend. The UAV descends with the lifting platform to realize the storage of the UAV in the vehicle-mounted system.

[0033] Furthermore, during the descent of the lifting platform, the trigger push rod fixed below the lifting platform moves downward, touches the rotating locking buckle, causing the rotating locking buckle to compress the torsion spring and rotate around the rotating shaft. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the front end of the rotating locking buckle just extends out of the lifting platform and presses against the crossbar limiting device of the UAV landing gear fixed on the UAV landing gear in the horizontal direction and at the arc, and the wedge grooves at the front end are wedged into each other to ensure high-precision locking.

[0034] Furthermore, one end of the charging electrode contact at the UAV end connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear, and the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. During the descent of the UAV with the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact extends out of the lifting platform. The charging electrode contact at the UAV end and the flexible charging electrode contact first come into contact with each other and then continue to be compressed downward. When the lifting platform reaches the bottom position, the charging electrode completes the predetermined compression amount and can be charged.

[0035] Furthermore, during the ascent of the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring, and the rotating locking buckle releases the UAV and automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring.

[0036] (III) Beneficial effects

[0037] The present invention provides an intelligent vehicle-mounted UAV automatic locking and charging device, and the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0038] 1) In the existing vehicle-mounted UAV locking solutions, direct drive by a motor is adopted, which requires additional structures such as motors, lead screws, and various fixing brackets, occupying a large space and having a high cost. This is very disadvantageous for the limited space inside the vehicle and may even affect the layout of other devices. In the automatic locking and charging device of the present invention, the automatic locking during UAV storage and automatic release during deployment are realized through a pure mechanical structure design, without manual intervention, occupying a small space and having a low cost.

[0039] 2) The existing technical solution uses direct motor drive, which makes the control part more complicated. The locking process requires separate logic to control, and the locking movement process takes extra time, which increases the system storage time. The automatic locking charging device in the present invention, with the help of the lifting and lowering movement of the lifting platform, does not require additional motors and control systems to control the operation separately. The locking is completed at the same time when the vehicle-mounted lifting platform is stored, and the locking is released at the same time when the vehicle-mounted lifting platform rises, which saves the time of system storage and deployment.

[0040] 3) The existing technical solution uses direct motor drive, which is prone to motor step loss or abnormal failure. The locking piece has not reached the set position and cannot be locked, while the control system has locked by default, which can easily cause the drone to be damaged during the movement of the car. The automatic locking charging device in the present invention relies on a pure mechanical structure for locking, avoiding the risk of motor step loss and abnormal failure. The pure mechanical structure has high locking accuracy, and the locking force is large with the help of the descending movement of the take-off and landing platform, so there will be no false locking misjudgment, ensuring that the drone will not be damaged in the car due to not being locked.

[0041] 4) In the existing technical solutions, most of them are to manually disassemble the battery for charging or charge when the vehicle-mounted system is stationary, which fails to realize stable charging of the vehicle-mounted UAV system during movement. When working in multiple locations, it is necessary to statically charge after one operation before moving to the next operation point, which wastes a lot of time and is inefficient. The automatic locking charging device in the present invention, through automatic locking and flexible electrode design, makes the electrode contacts at the aircraft end contact with the flexible motor contacts at the vehicle end. When the UAV vibrates upward with the vehicle, the flexible electrode on the vehicle also moves upward. When the UAV vibrates downward with the vehicle, the flexible electrode on the vehicle also moves downward. This can solve the problem of virtual connection of the UAV charging electrode caused by the bumps of the vehicle-mounted system during movement, and realize stable charging of the vehicle-mounted system during movement. When working in multiple locations, the UAV battery can be charged during the transition. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic locking charging device of the intelligent vehicle-mounted drone of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic locking charging state;

[0044] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the automatic locking charging structure;

[0045] Figure 4 This is an exploded diagram of the automatic locking charging structure;

[0046] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the drone landing gear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] In order to make the purpose, content and advantages of the present invention more clear, the specific implementation methods of the present invention are further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and examples.

[0048] The present invention relates to the fields of intelligent equipment, vehicle-mounted drone systems, drones, and automatic locking and charging devices.

[0049] In view of the technical problems in the background technology, the present invention:

[0050] 1) The automatic locking charging device of the present invention realizes automatic locking when the drone is stored and automatic release when it is unfolded by designing a purely mechanical structure, without the need for manual intervention, taking up little space and having low cost.

[0051] 2) The automatic locking charging device of the present invention utilizes the lifting and lowering movement of the lifting and lowering platform, and does not require an additional motor and control system to independently control the operation. The locking is completed simultaneously when the vehicle-mounted lifting and lowering platform is stored, and the locking is released simultaneously when the vehicle-mounted lifting and lowering platform rises, thus saving the time for storing and deploying the system.

[0052] 3) The automatic locking charging device in the present invention relies on a purely mechanical structure for locking, thus avoiding the risk of motor step loss and abnormal failure. The purely mechanical structure has high locking accuracy, and the locking force is large by virtue of the descending movement of the take-off and landing platform, so there will be no false locking misjudgment, ensuring that the drone will not be damaged in the vehicle due to unlocking.

[0053] 4) The automatic locking charging device of the present invention makes the electrode contact of the aircraft end contact with the flexible charging electrode contact of the vehicle end through the automatic locking and flexible electrode design. When the drone vibrates upward with the vehicle, the flexible electrode on the vehicle also moves upward, and when the drone vibrates downward with the vehicle, the flexible electrode on the vehicle also moves downward. This can solve the problem of virtual connection of the drone charging electrode caused by the bumping of the vehicle system during movement, and realize that the vehicle system can be stably charged during movement. When operating at multiple points, the drone battery can be charged during the transition.

[0054] The present invention provides a novel intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle automatic locking charging device, comprising: a unmanned aerial vehicle, a vehicle-mounted take-off and landing platform, a homing device, a lifting platform, a unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear and an automatic locking charging structure, wherein the automatic locking charging structure comprises: a unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear crossbar limiting device, a rotating locking buckle, a torsion spring, a rotating shaft, a rotating locking bracket, a trigger push rod, a fixing plate, a charging seat, a retaining spring, a spring, a flexible charging electrode contact and a unmanned aerial vehicle end charging electrode contact.

[0055] The bottom of the vehicle-mounted landing platform is tightly connected to the vehicle body and is the platform for the drone to take off and land. The vehicle-mounted landing platform consists of a support frame at the bottom and a table top at the top;

[0056] The lifting platform is located in the middle of the support frame and is connected by module guide rails. The lifting platform can be raised and lowered under the action of its own electric drive device;

[0057] The homing device is located on the four edges of the top of the tabletop of the vehicle-mounted lifting platform and is fixed with screws. Under the action of its own electric drive device, the push rods of the homing device move towards the middle of the vehicle-mounted lifting platform respectively, accurately homing the unmanned aerial vehicle to the lifting platform, realizing the automatic homing of the intelligent vehicle-mounted unmanned aerial vehicle;

[0058] The landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle consists of two U-shaped frames and two parallel crossbars at the bottom. The bottom of the U-shaped frames is respectively connected to the two parallel crossbars, and the top is used to connect the unmanned aerial vehicle. The landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle is fixed under the unmanned aerial vehicle and connected with fastening screws;

[0059] The crossbar limit device of the landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle is fixed on the upper surface of the crossbar at the bottom of the landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

[0060] The rotating lock catch and torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through the rotating shaft; the rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixing plate; the fixing plate is fixedly connected through the adapter and fixed on the vehicle body;

[0061] The trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and fixed under the lifting platform; and it can squeeze the rotating lock catch during the up and down movement;

[0062] The charging electrode contact at the unmanned aerial vehicle end is fixed on the inner side of the bottom of the landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle. One end of the charging electrode contact at the unmanned aerial vehicle end connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the landing gear of the unmanned aerial vehicle;

[0063] The flexible charging electrode contact and the spring are fixed on the charging seat through the lower snap ring; the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire; the flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built in the lower part of the charging seat, and ensures stable contact during vibration; the charging seat is fixed on the fixing plate;

[0064] Furthermore, a long hole and a square hole are opened on the lifting platform. The square hole is used for the flexible charging electrode contact to pass through the lifting platform from below, and the long hole is used for the rotating lock catch to pass through the lifting platform from below;

[0065] Furthermore, there are 4 sets of automatic locking charging structures;

[0066] When the UAV lands on the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, the homing device automatically performs the homing action, accurately homing the UAV to the lifting platform. At this time, the bottom of the UAV landing gear is located on the lifting platform, and the lifting platform starts to descend. The UAV descends with the lifting platform to realize the storage of the UAV in the vehicle-mounted system. During the descent of the lifting platform, the trigger push rod fixed under the lifting platform moves downward, touching the rotating lock catch, causing the rotating lock catch to compress the torsion spring and rotate around the rotating shaft. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the front end of the rotating lock catch just extends out of the lifting platform and presses tightly against the UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device fixed on the UAV landing gear in the horizontal direction and at the arc, and the wedge grooves at the front ends are wedged into each other to ensure high-precision locking. One end of the charging electrode contact on the UAV side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear, and the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. During the descent of the UAV with the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact extends out of the lifting platform. The charging electrode contact on the UAV side and the flexible charging electrode contact first come into contact with each other and then continue to compress downward. When the lifting platform reaches the bottom position, the charging electrode completes the predetermined compression amount and can be charged. During the ascent of the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring, and the rotating lock catch releases the UAV and automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring.

[0067] Through the high-precision and large-pressure locking of the automatic locking structure and the flexible design of the flexible charging structure, the vehicle-mounted UAV system can still firmly fix the UAV and keep the charging electrodes in close contact even when driving on a bumpy road, realizing stable charging during movement. The pure mechanical high-precision automatic locking structure and the flexible charging structure that can be charged during movement are the core of the present invention, as follows:

[0068] 1) The pure mechanical high-precision automatic locking structure. The key lies in using the downward movement of the lifting platform during the storage of the UAV to drive the trigger push rod to trigger the locking structure for locking. When the lifting platform rises, the trigger push rod also rises, and under the action of the torsion spring, the locking structure automatically resets to complete the automatic locking and unlocking of the UAV. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0069] The automatic locking and charging structure includes an automatic locking structure and a flexible charging structure. The automatic locking structure mainly includes: UAV landing gear, UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device, rotating lock catch, torsion spring, rotating shaft, rotating locking bracket, trigger push rod and fixing plate. The flexible charging structure includes: charging seat, snap ring, spring, flexible charging electrode contact and UAV side charging electrode contact.

[0070] The crossbar limit device of the UAV landing gear is fixed on the crossbar at the bottom of the UAV landing gear. The locking surface that cooperates with the rotating locking buckle adopts a design combining a top plane and a side arc surface. The plane and the arc surface are designed with serrated limit wedge grooves, which cooperate with the wedge groove under the front end of the rotating locking buckle to ensure high-precision positioning.

[0071] The rotating locking buckle and the torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through the rotating shaft. The rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixed plate, and the fixed plate is fixedly connected to the vehicle body through the adapter. The front end of the rotating locking buckle is designed with a locking surface combining a plane and an arc surface, and a serrated wedge groove is designed on the locking surface, which closely cooperates with the serrated wedge groove of the UAV landing gear crossbar limit device when locking to ensure high-precision locking and positioning. The torsion spring is used to ensure the automatic reset of the rotating locking buckle.

[0072] The trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and fixed under the lifting platform, and moves up or down with the lifting platform.

[0073] The whole process is as follows: The trigger push rod moves downward with the lifting platform, makes extrusion contact with the rotating locking buckle, and then continues to move downward, forcing the automatic locking buckle to twist the torsion spring to rotate around the rotating shaft. When the trigger push rod drops to the bottom position with the lifting platform, the trigger push rod completely presses the automatic locking buckle. The serrated wedge groove of the rotating locking buckle and the serrated wedge groove of the UAV landing gear crossbar limit device fixed on the UAV landing gear are mutually extruded and matched, and the arcs are also mutually extruded and matched at the same time, realizing the automatic high-precision locking of the UAV. When the trigger push rod moves upward with the lifting platform, the automatic locking buckle automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring. There are 4 automatic locking and charging structures in total, which are respectively arranged at the four corner positions of the landing gear. The structural principles are the same and will not be elaborated here.

[0074] 2) The flexible charging structure that can be charged during movement. The key lies in using the downward movement of the lifting platform when the UAV is stored to compress the UAV-side charging electrode contact with the flexible charging electrode contact for charging. When the lifting platform rises, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0075] The flexible charging structure mainly includes: a charging seat, a snap ring, a spring, a flexible charging electrode contact, and a UAV-side charging electrode contact.

[0076] One end of the UAV-side charging electrode contact connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear; the UAV-side charging electrode contact is fixed on the UAV landing gear;

[0077] The lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. The flexible charging electrode contact and the spring are fixed on the charging base by a circlip. The flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built in the charging base below, and ensures stable contact during vibration. The charging base is fixed on the fixing plate.

[0078] The whole process is as follows. When the drone-end charging electrode contact on the drone landing gear moves down with the lifting platform, it contacts the flexible charging electrode contact, and then compresses the flexible charging electrode contact during the continuous downward movement. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the automatic locking structure has firmly fixed the drone on the lifting platform. The drone-end charging electrode contact on the drone landing gear and the flexible charging electrode contact are fully compressed. At this time, the spring built in the charging base below the flexible charging electrode contact is in a compressed state, giving an upward thrust to the flexible charging electrode contact, making it in close contact with the drone-end charging electrode contact to ensure reliable connection. When the vehicle is driving, even if there are large bumps and vibrations, the flexible charging electrode contact can automatically expand and contract with the bumps and vibrations, ensuring a tight connection between the two charging electrodes and realizing stable charging of the whole system during movement.

[0079] Embodiment 1:

[0080] As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 shown, the present invention provides a new type of intelligent vehicle-mounted drone automatic locking charging device, including: a drone, a vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, a homing device, a lifting platform, a drone landing gear, a drone landing gear crossbar limiting device, a rotating locking buckle, a torsion spring, a rotating shaft, a rotating locking bracket, a trigger push rod, a fixing plate, a charging base, a circlip, a spring, a flexible charging electrode contact and a drone-end charging electrode contact.

[0081] The lifting platform is located in the middle of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform and is connected by a module guide rail. The lifting platform can rise and fall under the action of its own electric drive device; the positioning device is fixed on the four sides of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform with screws. Under the action of its own electric drive device, the push rods of the positioning device move towards the middle of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform respectively, accurately positioning the drone on the lifting platform to achieve automatic intelligent vehicle-mounted drone positioning; the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform is firmly connected to the vehicle body and is the platform for the drone to take off and land; the drone landing gear is composed of two U-shaped frames and two cross bars at the bottom. The drone landing gear is fixed below the drone and is connected by fastening screws; the cross bar limiting device of the drone landing gear is fixed on the cross bar at the bottom of the drone landing gear; the rotating locking buckle and the torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through a rotating shaft; the rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixing plate; the fixing plate is firmly connected and fixed to the vehicle body through an adapter; the trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and is fixed below the lifting platform; the charging electrode contact on the drone side is fixed on the drone landing gear. One end of the charging electrode contact on the drone side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the drone landing gear; the flexible charging electrode contact and the spring are fixed on the charging seat through a snap ring; the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire; the flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built into the charging seat below, and ensures stable contact during vibration; the charging seat is fixed on the fixing plate.

[0082] When the UAV lands on the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, the homing device automatically executes the homing action to accurately position the UAV on the lifting platform. At this time, the lifting platform starts to descend, and the UAV descends with the lifting platform to realize the storage of the UAV in the vehicle-mounted system. During the descent of the lifting platform, the trigger push rod fixed on the lifting platform moves downward and touches the rotating lock catch, causing the rotating lock catch to compress the torsion spring and rotate around the rotating shaft. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the front end of the rotating lock catch just squeezes and presses against the UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device fixed on the UAV landing gear in the horizontal direction and at the arc, and the wedge grooves at the front ends are wedged into each other to ensure high-precision locking. One end of the charging electrode contact on the UAV side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear, and the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. During the descent of the UAV with the lifting platform, the charging electrode contact on the UAV side and the flexible charging electrode contact first come into contact with each other and then continue to be compressed downward. When the lifting platform reaches the bottom position, the charging electrode completes the predetermined compression amount and can be charged. During the ascent of the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring, and the rotating lock catch releases the UAV and automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring. Through the high-precision and large-pressure locking of the automatic locking structure and the flexible design of the flexible charging structure, the vehicle-mounted UAV system can still firmly fix the UAV and keep the charging electrodes in close contact even when driving on a bumpy road, realizing stable charging during movement. Among them, the pure mechanical high-precision automatic locking structure and the flexible charging structure that can be charged during movement are the cores of the present invention, which are specifically as follows:

[0083] The pure mechanical high-precision automatic locking structure is characterized in that the descent movement of the lifting platform during the storage of the UAV is used to drive the trigger push rod to trigger the locking structure to lock. When the lifting platform ascends, the trigger push rod also ascends, and under the action of the torsion spring, the locking structure automatically resets to complete the automatic locking and unlocking of the UAV. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0084] The automatic locking structure mainly includes: UAV landing gear, UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device, rotating lock catch, torsion spring, rotating shaft, rotating locking bracket, trigger push rod, fixed plate, etc.

[0085] The UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device is fixed on the crossbar at the bottom of the UAV landing gear. The locking surface that cooperates with the rotating lock catch adopts a design combining a plane and an arc surface, and serrated limiting wedge grooves are designed on its upper plane and arc surface. This wedge groove cooperates with the wedge groove on the rotating lock catch to ensure high-precision positioning.

[0086] The rotating lock catch, torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through a rotating shaft. The rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixed plate, and the fixed plate is fixedly connected and fixed to the vehicle body through an adapter. The front end of the rotating lock catch is designed with a locking surface combining a plane and an arc surface, and a serrated wedge groove is designed on the locking surface, which closely cooperates with the serrated wedge groove of the limiting device of the cross bar of the UAV landing gear during locking to ensure high-precision locking and positioning. The torsion spring is used to ensure the automatic reset of the rotating lock catch.

[0087] The trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and fixed below the lifting platform, and moves up or down together with the lifting platform.

[0088] The whole process is as follows: The trigger push rod moves downward with the lifting platform, squeezes and contacts the rotating lock catch, and then continues to move downward, forcing the automatic lock catch to twist the torsion spring to rotate around the rotating shaft. When the trigger push rod drops to the bottom position with the lifting platform, the trigger push rod completely presses the automatic lock catch. The serrated wedge groove of the rotating lock catch and the serrated wedge groove of the limiting device of the cross bar of the UAV landing gear fixed on the UAV landing gear are mutually extruded and cooperated, and the arcs also mutually extrude and cooperate to achieve automatic high-precision locking of the UAV. When the trigger push rod moves upward with the lifting platform, the automatic lock catch automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring. There are 4 automatic locking and charging structures in total, which are respectively arranged at the four corner points of the landing gear, and the structural principles are the same, so they will not be elaborated here.

[0089] The key of the flexible charging structure that can charge during movement is to make the charging electrode contact on the UAV side compress the flexible charging electrode contact by means of the downward movement of the lifting platform when the UAV is stored for charging. When the lifting platform rises, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring. The specific implementation is as follows:

[0090] The flexible charging structure mainly includes: charging electrode contacts on the UAV side, flexible charging electrode contacts, springs, circlips, charging seats, etc.

[0091] One end of the charging electrode contact on the UAV side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear.

[0092] The charging electrode contact on the UAV side is fixed on the UAV landing gear; the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. The flexible charging electrode contact and the spring are fixed on the charging seat through a circlip. The flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built in the charging seat below, and ensures stable contact during vibration.

[0093] Then fix the charging seat on the fixed plate.

[0094] The entire process is as follows: When the charging electrode contacts on the drone landing gear of the drone move downward with the lifting platform, they come into contact with the flexible charging electrode contacts. Then, during the continued downward movement, the flexible charging electrode contacts are compressed. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the automatic locking structure has firmly fixed the drone on the lifting platform. The charging electrode contacts on the drone landing gear of the drone and the flexible charging electrode contacts complete compression. At this time, the spring built into the charging base below the flexible charging electrode contacts is in a compressed state, giving an upward thrust to the flexible charging electrode contacts, making them closely contact the charging electrode contacts on the drone and ensuring a reliable connection. When the vehicle is in motion, even if there are large bumps and vibrations, the flexible charging electrode contacts can automatically expand and contract with the bumps and vibrations, ensuring a tight connection between the two charging electrodes and enabling stable charging of the entire system during motion.

[0095] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0096] 1) In the existing on-vehicle drone locking solutions, direct drive by a motor is adopted, which requires additional structures such as motors, lead screws, and various fixing brackets, occupying a large space and having a high cost. This is very disadvantageous for the limited space inside the vehicle and may even affect the layout of other devices. In the automatic locking and charging device of the present invention, the drone is automatically locked during collection and automatically released during deployment through a pure mechanical structure design, without the need for manual intervention, occupying a small space and having a low cost.

[0097] 2) In the existing technical solutions, direct drive by a motor is adopted, making the control part more cumbersome. The locking process requires separate logic for control, and the locking movement process takes an additional long time, increasing the system collection time. In the automatic locking and charging device of the present invention, relying on the lifting movement of the takeoff and landing platform, there is no need for an additional motor and a separate control system for operation. The locking of the on-vehicle takeoff and landing platform is completed simultaneously when the collection is completed, and the locking is released simultaneously when the on-vehicle takeoff and landing platform rises, saving the system collection and deployment time.

[0098] 3) In the existing technical solutions, direct drive by a motor is adopted, and it is easy to have problems such as motor step loss or abnormal failures. The locking part does not reach the predetermined position and cannot be locked, while the control system defaults that it has been locked, which easily causes damage to the drone during the vehicle's movement. In the automatic locking and charging device of the present invention, relying on a pure mechanical structure for locking, it avoids the risks of motor step loss and abnormal failures. Moreover, the pure mechanical structure has a high locking accuracy, and with the help of the downward movement of the takeoff and landing platform, the locking force is large, and there will be no false locking misjudgment, ensuring that the drone will not be damaged due to non-locking inside the vehicle.

[0099] 4) In the existing technical solutions, it is mostly manual disassembly for battery charging or charging when the vehicle-mounted system is stationary. The stable charging of the vehicle-mounted UAV system during movement cannot be achieved. When operating at multiple locations, after one operation, it is necessary to charge statically first before transferring to the next operation point, which wastes a lot of time and has low efficiency. In the automatic locking charging device of the present invention, through the design of automatic locking and flexible electrodes, the electrode contacts at the aircraft end are in contact with the flexible motor contacts at the vehicle-mounted end. When the UAV vibrates upward with the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted flexible electrodes also move upward accordingly. When the UAV vibrates downward with the vehicle, the vehicle-mounted flexible electrodes also move downward accordingly. It can solve the problem of virtual connection of the UAV charging electrodes caused by the bumps during the movement of the vehicle-mounted system and achieve stable charging of the vehicle-mounted system during movement. During multi-point operation, the UAV battery can be charged during the transfer process.

[0100] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art in this technical field, without departing from the technical principle of the present invention, several improvements and deformations can still be made, and these improvements and deformations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device, characterized in that, The device includes: a drone, a vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, a homing device, a lifting platform, drone landing gears, and an automatic locking and charging structure. The automatic locking and charging structure includes: a crossbar limiting device for the drone landing gear, a rotating locking buckle, a torsion spring, a rotating shaft, a rotating locking bracket, a trigger push rod, a fixing plate, a charging seat, a circlip, a spring, a flexible charging electrode contact, and a charging electrode contact at the drone end; The bottom of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform is fixedly connected to the vehicle body and serves as the platform for the takeoff and landing of the drone. The vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform consists of a support frame below and a tabletop above; The lifting platform is located in the middle of the support frame and is connected by module guide rails. The lifting platform can move up and down under the action of its own electric drive device; The homing device is located on the four edges of the top of the tabletop of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform and is fixed with screws. Under the action of its own electric drive device, the push rods of the homing device move towards the middle of the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform respectively, accurately homing the drone onto the lifting platform to achieve automatic homing of the intelligent vehicle-mounted drone; The drone landing gear consists of two U-shaped frames and two parallel crossbars at the bottom. The bottoms of the U-shaped frames are respectively connected to the two parallel crossbars, and the tops are used to connect the drone. The drone landing gear is fixed below the drone and connected with fastening screws; The crossbar limiting device for the drone landing gear is fixed on the upper surface of the crossbar at the bottom of the drone landing gear; The rotating locking buckle and the torsion spring are fixed on the rotating locking bracket through the rotating shaft; the rotating locking bracket is fixed on the fixing plate; the fixing plate is fixedly connected through an adapter and fixed on the vehicle body; The trigger push rod is connected to the lifting platform and fixed below the lifting platform; and it can squeeze the rotating locking buckle during the up and down movement; The charging electrode contact at the drone end is fixed on the inner side of the bottom of the drone landing gear. One end of the charging electrode contact at the drone end connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the drone landing gear; The flexible charging electrode contact and the spring are fixed on the charging seat through the circlip below; the lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire; the flexible charging electrode contact realizes downward compression movement and upward automatic reset movement through the spring built in the charging seat below, and ensures stable contact during vibration; the charging seat is fixed on the fixing plate.

2. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 1, characterized in that, There are 4 sets of automatic locking and charging structures, which are respectively arranged at the four corner positions of the landing gear.

3. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 2, characterized in that, Long holes and square holes are opened on the lifting platform. The square holes are used for the flexible charging electrode contacts to pass through the lifting platform from below, and the long holes are used for the rotating locking buckles to pass through the lifting platform from below.

4. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The crossbar limiting device for the drone landing gear is fixed on the crossbar at the bottom of the drone landing gear, and the locking surface thereof cooperating with the rotating locking buckle adopts a design combining a top plane and a side arc surface.

5. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The plane and the arc surface are designed with serrated limiting wedge grooves, and this wedge groove cooperates with the wedge groove below the front end of the rotating locking buckle.

6. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The front end of the rotating locking buckle is designed with a locking surface combining a plane and an arc surface and a serrated wedge groove is designed on the locking surface, which closely cooperates with the serrated wedge groove of the crossbar limiting device for the drone landing gear during locking to ensure high-precision locking and positioning.

7. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, When the UAV lands on the vehicle-mounted takeoff and landing platform, the homing device automatically performs the homing action to accurately home the UAV to the lifting platform. At this time, the bottom of the UAV landing gear is located on the lifting platform, and the lifting platform starts to descend. The UAV descends with the lifting platform to realize the storage of the UAV in the vehicle-mounted system.

8. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 7, characterized in that, During the descent of the lifting platform, the trigger push rod fixed under the lifting platform moves downward and touches the rotating lock catch, causing the rotating lock catch to compress the torsion spring and rotate around the rotating shaft. When the lifting platform moves to the bottom position, the front end of the rotating lock catch just extends out of the lifting platform and squeezes and presses against the UAV landing gear crossbar limiting device fixed on the UAV landing gear in the horizontal direction and at the arc, and the wedge grooves at the front ends are wedged into each other to ensure high-precision locking.

9. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 8, characterized in that, One end of the charging electrode contact on the UAV side connected to the landing gear is finally connected to the battery in the cabin through a wire inside the UAV landing gear. The lower end of the flexible charging electrode contact is connected to the battery charger through a wire. During the descent of the UAV with the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact extends out of the lifting platform. The charging electrode contact on the UAV side and the flexible charging electrode contact first come into contact with each other and then continue to compress downward. When the lifting platform reaches the bottom position, the charging electrode completes the predetermined compression amount and can be charged.

10. The intelligent in-vehicle UAV automatic locking and charging device according to claim 9, characterized in that, During the ascent of the lifting platform, the flexible charging electrode contact automatically resets under the action of the spring, and the rotating lock catch releases the UAV and automatically resets under the action of the torsion spring.

Images