A high-speed cylinder system for UAV launch

Abstract

The present invention relates to a high-speed cylinder system for launching a drone, and belongs to the technical field of drone launching equipment. The present invention separates the dynamic seal from the static seal by setting a front end cover and a cylinder barrel with multiple chambers and multiple seals, which can not only ensure that the seal between the piston and the ejection cylinder does not leak during the entire drone launching process, but also enable the piston to obtain sufficient gas pressure and obtain a large initial acceleration after the latch is released. At the same time, since the piston compresses the air to achieve adiabatic expansion after leaving the static sealing area, the take-off speed of the drone can be kept consistent each time, and is not affected by the valve opening time. It is relatively easy to release the latch, and the overall structure is highly practical and has high promotion value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a high-speed cylinder system for launching an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), belonging to the technical field of UAV launching equipment. Background Art

[0002] The ejection speed of military UAVs is generally required to be 30-50m / s. Due to the size limitations of the venue and sports equipment, the launch distance cannot be too long. For heavier military UAVs (20-100kg), a short distance (generally within 3-4 meters) is required to provide maximum energy acceleration for ejection.

[0003] In the prior art, there are mainly two types of drone launches, each with corresponding defects:

[0004] 1. Use control valve to directly drive high pressure gas tank to accelerate ( Figure 1 ), but the control valve opening time generally takes 80-200MS, so the high-pressure gas tank cannot get the compressed air with the maximum valve flow in time. Usually, the high-pressure gas tank has to travel a long distance before it can get the air supply from the fully open valve, making it difficult for the UAV to launch. In addition, due to the influence of the valve opening time, its final speed accuracy is difficult to guarantee.

[0005] 2. Use a control valve to pre-supply the high-pressure gas tank with gas, and the high-pressure gas tank movement is started by pulling out the pin ( Figure 2 ), so that the UAV can be ejected in theory, but there are two points that make it difficult to achieve. The first is the sealing problem. High-speed sealing exceeding 5m / s basically adopts mechanical seals or gap seals. When the high-pressure gas tank is preparing for launch, the high-pressure gas is prone to leakage and cannot maintain pressure; the second is that due to excessive force, it is easy to cause difficulty in pulling out the pin.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need to find a drone ejection device that is not affected by the valve opening time and can ensure sealing without leakage. Summary of the invention

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV, the high-speed high-pressure gas cylinder system comprising an ejection cylinder, a piston matched with the ejection cylinder, the piston being connected to the UAV through a traction member and positioned through a latch, the piston comprising a piston rod and a first step, a second step, and a piston head which are sequentially connected to the piston rod and whose diameters increase sequentially;

[0008] The ejection cylinder comprises:

[0009] A cylinder barrel, the inner wall of which has a piston head seal, the piston head being able to fit in the cylinder barrel and being able to be sealed by the piston head seal;

[0010] A front end cover is connected to an end of the cylinder barrel close to the drone, and the interior of the front end cover has a first chamber, a second chamber, a third chamber and a fourth chamber connected in sequence along a direction close to the piston head, the first chamber has a first seal and can cooperate with and seal the piston rod, the second chamber has a second seal and can cooperate with and seal the first step, the third chamber is connected to the air intake assembly outside the front end cover, and the fourth chamber has a third seal and can cooperate with the second step;

[0011] The rear end cover is connected to the end of the cylinder away from the front end cover. The rear end cover has two functions: on the one hand, the rear end cover can prevent the piston head from continuing to move; on the other hand, during the high-speed movement of the piston head, the right step of the piston head enters the rear end cover chamber, which will produce a deceleration and buffer effect on the piston head, thereby preventing the piston head from hitting the rear end cover at high speed or causing impact and damage to the entire equipment.

[0012] In the present invention, the “first”, “second”, “third” and “fourth” are used to distinguish similar components with different positions or different characteristics and have no other limiting meanings.

[0013] Furthermore, the piston head seal and the first seal are both high-speed mechanical seals; the second seal and the third seal are both low-speed seals or static seals; such a setting can separate the dynamic seal and the static seal of the ejection cylinder, so that the piston obtains full-flow compressed air after leaving the static sealing area (i.e., the third chamber, the fourth chamber, and the space inside the cylinder outside the fourth chamber), thereby allowing the drone to obtain the maximum ejection acceleration in a short time.

[0014] Furthermore, the diameter of the third chamber is larger than the diameter of the second step; a gap space is always left between the piston head and the front end cover; the front end cover also has a through hole connecting the gap space and the atmosphere outside the front end cover; since the thrust on the piston toward the direction of launching the UAV formed by the air intake assembly entering the third chamber is very large, the latch is often unable to resist the thrust and is prone to damage, resulting in release of positioning, or causing difficulty in pulling out the pin when it is needed, so the gap space and the external atmosphere are connected through the through hole to reduce the thrust, thereby reducing the working pressure of the latch and ensuring smooth work.

[0015] In one embodiment of the present invention, the air intake assembly includes a high-pressure gas tank and an air intake pipe connecting the high-pressure gas tank and the third chamber; preferably, the air intake pipe is provided with a high-pressure ball valve, and the air intake pipe and the high-pressure ball valve are both selected with large diameter specifications.

[0016] The piston is accelerated at full speed by the high-pressure gas filled by the air intake device. Because the diameter of the high-pressure ball valve and the air intake pipe is large, the pressure loss in the air path can be ignored. The gas can be regarded as adiabatic expansion. Its acceleration is mainly determined by the diameter, pressure, total weight and friction of the piston head, and is not affected by the valve opening time of the high-pressure ball valve. Therefore, the required ejection speed can be reached within a short acceleration stroke. Since each launch is accelerated when the second step leaves the low-speed sealing area (i.e. the third chamber, the fourth chamber and the space inside the cylinder outside the fourth chamber), as long as the initial pressure remains consistent each time, the ejection speed finally achieved by the drone is the same, thereby effectively avoiding take-off failure caused by changes in the ejection speed.

[0017] In one embodiment of the present invention, the piston rod is replaced with a steel wire rope, which can reduce the weight of the movable parts and thus improve the acceleration.

[0018] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0019] The present invention separates the dynamic seal from the static seal by arranging a front end cover and a cylinder with multiple chambers and multiple seals, which not only ensures that the seal between the piston and the ejection cylinder does not leak during the entire UAV launch process, but also enables the piston to obtain sufficient gas pressure and obtain a large initial acceleration after the latch is released. At the same time, since the piston compresses the air to achieve adiabatic expansion after leaving the static sealing area, the take-off speed of the UAV can be kept consistent each time and is not affected by the valve opening time. It is relatively easy to release the latch, and the overall structure is highly practical and has high promotion value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of using a control valve to directly drive the high-pressure gas tank to accelerate in the prior art.

[0021] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of using a control valve to pre-supply gas to a high-pressure gas tank in the prior art.

[0022] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure (piston rod) in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure (wire rope) in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of the matching part of the piston and the ejection cylinder in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of state 1 of the transmission process in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 7Schematic diagram of state 2 of the launch process in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of state 3 of the launch process in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Fig. 9 Schematic diagram of state 4 of the launch process in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] In the figure, 11: cylinder, 12: front end cover, 13: rear end cover, 2: piston, 21: first step, 22: second step, 23: piston head, 3: high-pressure gas tank, 4: high-pressure ball valve, 5A: piston rod, 5B: wire rope, 6: latch, 121: first chamber, 122: second chamber, 123: third chamber, 124: fourth chamber, A: piston head seal, B: first seal, C: second seal, D: third seal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Example 1

[0031] like Figure 3 , Figure 5 As shown, the present invention provides a high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV, the high-speed high-pressure cylinder system comprises an ejection cylinder, a piston 2 matched with the ejection cylinder, the piston 2 is connected to the UAV through a traction member and positioned through a latch 6, the piston 2 comprises a piston rod 5A and a first step 21, a second step 22, and a piston head 23 which are sequentially connected to the piston rod 5A and have successively increasing diameters;

[0032] The ejection cylinder comprises:

[0033] A cylinder barrel 11, wherein the inner wall of the cylinder barrel 11 has a piston head seal A, and the piston head 23 can fit in the cylinder barrel 11 and can be sealed by the piston head seal A;

[0034] The front end cover 12 is connected to the end of the cylinder 11 close to the UAV, and the interior of the front end cover 12 has a first chamber 121, a second chamber 122, a third chamber 123 and a fourth chamber 124 connected in sequence along the direction close to the piston head 23, the first chamber 121 has a first seal B and can cooperate with and seal the piston rod 5A, the second chamber 122 has a second seal C and can cooperate to seal the first step 21, the third chamber 123 is connected to the air intake assembly outside the front end cover 12, and the fourth chamber 124 has a third seal D and can cooperate with the second step 22; the air intake assembly includes a high-pressure gas tank 3, and an air intake pipe connecting the high-pressure gas tank 3 and the third chamber 123; preferably, the air intake pipe is provided with a high-pressure ball valve 4, and the air intake pipe and the high-pressure ball valve 4 are both selected with large diameter specifications;

[0035] The rear end cover 13 is connected to the end of the cylinder 11 away from the front end cover 12. The rear end cover 13 has two functions: on the one hand, the rear end cover 13 can prevent the piston head 23 from continuing to move; on the other hand, during the high-speed movement of the piston head 23, the right step of the piston head 23 enters the chamber of the rear end cover 13, which will produce a deceleration and buffer effect on the piston head 23, thereby preventing the piston head 23 from hitting the rear end cover 13 at high speed or causing impact and damage to the entire equipment.

[0036] The piston head seal A and the first seal B are both high-speed mechanical seals; the second seal C and the third seal D are both low-speed seals or static seals; such a setting can separate the dynamic seal and the static seal of the ejection cylinder, so that the piston 2 obtains full-flow compressed air after leaving the static sealing area (i.e., the third chamber 123, the fourth chamber 124, and the space inside the cylinder 11 outside the fourth chamber 124), thereby allowing the drone to obtain the maximum ejection acceleration in a short time.

[0037] The diameter of the third chamber 123 is larger than the diameter of the second step 22; a gap space is always left between the piston head 23 and the front end cover 12; the front end cover 12 also has a through hole connecting the gap space and the atmosphere outside the front end cover 12; since the thrust of the piston 2 in the direction of launching the UAV formed by the air intake component entering the third chamber 123 is very large, the latch 6 is often unable to resist the thrust and is prone to damage, resulting in release of positioning, or difficulty in pulling out the pin when it is needed, so the gap space and the external atmosphere are connected through the through hole to reduce the thrust, thereby reducing the working pressure of the latch 6 and ensuring smooth work.

[0038] The piston 2 is fully accelerated by the high-pressure gas filled by the intake device. Since the diameter of the high-pressure ball valve 4 and the intake pipe is large, the pressure loss of the gas path can be ignored. The gas can be regarded as adiabatic expansion. Its acceleration is mainly determined by the diameter, pressure, total weight and friction of the piston head, and is not affected by the valve opening time of the high-pressure ball valve 4. Therefore, the required ejection speed can be reached within a short acceleration stroke. Since each launch is accelerated when the second step leaves the low-speed sealing area (i.e., the third chamber, the fourth chamber and the space inside the cylinder outside the fourth chamber), as long as the initial pressure remains consistent each time, the ejection speed finally achieved by the drone is the same, thereby effectively avoiding the take-off failure caused by changes in the ejection speed.

[0039] The UAV launch process of this embodiment:

[0040] like Figure 6As shown, state 1 is the state of preparing to launch. In state 1, the high-pressure ball valve 4 is opened, pre-filled with high-pressure gas, and the latch 6 is not released (unless the latch 6 is released, the piston 2 will not move under any circumstances); at this time, the piston rod 5A is tightly matched and sealed with the first seal B of the first chamber 121, a part of the first step 21 is tightly matched and sealed with the second seal C of the second chamber 122 and the other part is placed in the third chamber 123, a part of the second step 22 is tightly matched and sealed with the third seal D of the fourth chamber 124 and the other part is placed in the third chamber 123, the piston head 23 is tightly matched and sealed with the piston head seal A of the cylinder barrel 11, and a gap space is left between the piston head 23 and the front end cover 12; since the second seal C and the third seal D are both low-speed seals or static seals, the high-pressure gas is completely sealed at the inlet of the third chamber 123.

[0041] like Figure 7 As shown, state 2 is a slow-motion state. In state 2, the latch 6 has been released; the high-pressure gas tank 3 and the high-pressure ball valve 4 are opened to pre-charge the third chamber 123 with high-pressure gas to prevent the ejection from being affected by the opening time of the high-pressure ball valve 4; as the high-pressure gas enters the third chamber 123 and the gap space is connected to the atmosphere, the piston 2 slowly moves to the right (firing direction).

[0042] like Figure 8 As shown, state 3 is the launch state. Due to the area difference between the first step 21 and the second step 22, under the action of the high-pressure gas in the third chamber 123, the second step 22 of the piston 2 slowly leaves the low-speed sealing area (the second step 22 only needs to leave the fourth chamber 124 and the space inside the cylinder 11 outside the fourth chamber 124 to leave the low-speed sealing area, and only needs to move 30mm in this embodiment), and then the piston 2 overcomes the resistance of the trolley carrying the drone and is fully accelerated; because the high-pressure ball valve 4 and the intake pipe have large diameters, the pressure loss of the gas path can be ignored, and the gas can be regarded as adiabatic tidal expansion, and its acceleration is mainly determined by the diameter, pressure, total weight and friction of the piston head 23, and is not affected by the valve opening time of the high-pressure ball valve 4, so it can quickly reach the required ejection speed within a short acceleration stroke S.

[0043] like Fig. 9 As shown, state 4 is a buffer state. The UAV flies away from the trolley, and the piston 2 gradually approaches the rear end cover 13 after entering the buffer stroke in the cylinder 11, and decelerates throughout the process until it stops.

[0044] Example 2

[0045] like Figure 4 As shown, the piston rod in Example 1 is replaced by a steel wire rope, which can reduce the weight of the movable parts and thus improve the acceleration; the remaining structure and launching principle are the same as those in Example 1.

[0046] Although the present invention has been disclosed as above in the form of a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with this technology can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be based on the definition of the claims.

Claims

1. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a drone, comprising a launch cylinder and a piston matched with the launch cylinder, wherein the piston is connected to the drone through a traction member and positioned by a latch, characterized in that: The piston comprises a piston rod, and a first step, a second step, and a piston head which are sequentially connected to the piston rod and whose diameters increase sequentially; The ejection cylinder comprises: A cylinder barrel, the inner wall of which has a piston head seal, the piston head can fit in the cylinder barrel and can be sealed by the piston head seal; A front end cover is connected to an end of the cylinder barrel close to the drone, and the interior of the front end cover has a first chamber, a second chamber, a third chamber and a fourth chamber connected in sequence along a direction close to the piston head, the first chamber has a first seal and can cooperate with and seal the piston rod, the second chamber has a second seal and can cooperate with and seal the first step, the third chamber is connected to the air intake assembly outside the front end cover, and the fourth chamber has a third seal and can cooperate with the second step; A rear end cover connected to an end of the cylinder away from the front end cover; A gap space is always left between the piston head and the front end cover.

2. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The piston head seal is a high-speed mechanical seal.

3. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first seal is a high-speed mechanical seal.

4. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second seal and the third seal are both low-speed seals or static seals.

5. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 4, characterized in that: A diameter of the third chamber is greater than a diameter of the second step.

6. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The front end cover also has a through hole communicating with the gap space and the atmosphere outside the front end cover.

7. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air intake assembly comprises a high-pressure gas tank and an air intake pipe connecting the high-pressure gas tank and the third chamber.

8. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air intake pipe is provided with a high-pressure ball valve.

9. A high-speed cylinder system for launching a UAV according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The piston rod is replaced by a steel wire rope.

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