Unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear buffer device

Abstract

This invention discloses a landing gear buffer device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which solves the problem of impact energy absorption during UAV landing by using a phased destruction and energy absorption deformation method. Designed based on the concept of phased energy absorption destruction, and installed on the existing UAV landing gear, it effectively reduces the peak impact overload and the transfer of impact kinetic energy to the fuselage during landing through phased destruction and energy absorption buffering, thus increasing structural safety and improving the UAV's crash survivability. Simultaneously, this UAV landing gear buffer device has a simple structure, low cost, and high energy absorption efficiency, which can reduce the fuselage's impact energy absorption requirements and has a positive impact on reducing the fuselage's structural weight.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landing gear technology, and in particular to a UAV landing gear buffer device that uses a graded destruction energy absorption deformation method to address the crash energy absorption problem of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) or fixed-wing UAVs under complex or extreme landing conditions. Background Technology

[0002] A drone consists of a fuselage and landing gear mounted on the bottom of the fuselage. The landing gear is used to support the drone's landing. Generally, drone landing gear is a skid-type structure, while wheeled landing gear is used for heavier drones. During landing, if the drone encounters excessive descent speed, it will impact the ground with a large force, which can damage the drone's fuselage or its components, causing unnecessary losses.

[0003] The landing gear system and its crashworthiness are important performance indicators for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For typical landing gear, the landing impact kinetic energy is mainly overcome by the plastic deformation of the structure to absorb energy or by the buffer, which can easily lead to a high overload coefficient, insufficient crash energy absorption efficiency, and ultimately, damage to the airframe. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, the present invention aims to provide a landing gear buffer device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve the structural shock resistance and enhance the UAV's buffering adaptability. The design configuration and method of this landing gear buffer device proposed in this invention can significantly improve the safety performance of UAVs during landing, thus contributing to improved landing safety.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0006] A drone landing gear buffer device includes a mounting clip 3 and a buffer; one end of the mounting clip 3 is fixedly connected to the drone landing gear, and the other end is fixedly connected to the buffer. The buffer is a columnar hollow structure, including multiple buffer stages, each buffer stage is fixedly connected to the other. Starting from the end connected to the mounting clip 3, the diameter of the hollow structure of each buffer stage increases step by step, and the hardness of the material of each stage decreases step by step.

[0007] Each buffer stage has pre-fabricated weak points on its outer wall, which are grooves and / or holes.

[0008] The external shape of the buffer may be, but is not limited to, cylindrical or hexahedral, and the hollow cross-section of each internal stage is not limited to circular or rectangular.

[0009] The number of buffer stages is 1 to 10.

[0010] The diameter of the hollow cross section in each buffer stage is 10-90% of the diameter of the corresponding stage.

[0011] The length of each buffer stage is 10-80% of the total length of the buffer.

[0012] The fixed connection methods between each buffer stage include, but are not limited to, one of the following: flange, welding, riveting, and screwing.

[0013] The aforementioned buffering method for the UAV landing gear buffer device is applied during emergency crash landings. Due to the large landing speed, a large impact load is generated, which triggers the failure mode of the buffer stage structure and absorbs the energy of the crash process. Therefore, the bottom buffer stage is destroyed after landing, which serves to dissipate energy. Subsequently, each buffer stage above the bottom one is destroyed in turn according to the landing energy.

[0014] The technical features of this invention are as follows:

[0015] This invention provides a landing gear buffer device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that addresses the impact energy absorption problem during UAV landing by employing a staged energy-absorbing and destructive approach. The proposed landing gear buffer device significantly reduces peak impact overload through controlled plastic deformation or destructive energy absorption at each buffer stage, effectively reducing the transfer of impact kinetic energy to the fuselage. This increases structural safety and improves the UAV's crash survivability. Furthermore, this UAV landing gear buffer device is simple in structure, low in cost, and highly efficient in energy absorption, reducing the required energy absorption for fuselage impacts and contributing to a reduction in fuselage structural weight. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a buffer device fixed on the landing gear of a drone according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the buffer device of the UAV landing gear buffer provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a buffer stage of the unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear buffer device provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] In the diagram: 1—UAV fuselage, 2—UAV landing gear, 3—buffer device mounting clip, 4—buffer device, 21—buffer fixing mounting clip, 22—buffer first stage, 23—buffer second stage, 24—buffer third stage, 25—buffer fourth stage, 26—buffer fifth stage, 31—buffer stage upper flange plate, 32—upper connecting device, 33—buffer stage cylinder, 34—prefabricated weak point, 35—lower connecting device, 36—buffer stage lower flange plate. Detailed Implementation

[0020] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, a drone landing gear buffer device includes a mounting clip 3 and a buffer; one end of the mounting clip 3 is fixedly connected to the drone landing gear 2, and the other end is fixedly connected to the buffer. The buffer is a columnar hollow structure, including multiple buffer stages, each buffer stage is fixedly connected to the other. Starting from the end connected to the mounting clip 3, the diameter of the hollow structure of each buffer stage increases step by step, and the hardness of the material of each stage decreases step by step.

[0022] Each buffer stage has pre-fabricated weak points on its outer wall, which are grooves and / or holes, and can be used to controllably destroy the structure of each buffer stage to absorb energy during emergency landing.

[0023] The external shape of the buffer may be, but is not limited to, cylindrical or hexahedral. The hollow cross section of each internal stage is not limited to circular or rectangular. The number of buffer stages is 1 to 10. The diameter of the hollow cross section of each buffer stage is 10-90% of the diameter of the corresponding stage.

[0024] The length of each buffer stage is 10-80% of the total length of the buffer. The fixed connection method between each buffer stage includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: flange, welding, riveting, and bolting.

[0025] like Figure 2 The drone landing gear buffer device consists of mounting clips 3 and multi-stage buffer structures 22-26.

[0026] The landing gear buffer device is connected to the original landing gear of the UAV by a mounting clip. It is adapted according to the structural diameter of the specific UAV landing gear, and the number of UAV landing gear buffer devices can be selected according to mission requirements.

[0027] like Figure 3 The buffer stage consists of an upper flange plate 31, an upper connecting device 32, a buffer stage cylinder 33, a lower connecting device 35, and a lower flange plate 36. Weak points 34 are pre-fabricated on the surface of the buffer stage cylinder. The upper flange plate 31 is connected to the previous buffer stage via the upper connecting device 32, and the lower flange plate 36 is connected to the upper flange plate of the next buffer stage via the lower connecting device 35. The materials of the upper and lower flange plates are the same as those of the buffer stage cylinder, possessing corresponding strength and rigidity. The buffer stage cylinder 33 is installed between the upper flange plate 31 and the lower flange plate 36, and is a tubular structure with a certain thickness.

[0028] Specific Implementation Example 1: Emergency Crash of a Drone

[0029] When applied to emergency crash landings, such as a fall at a speed of 10.2 m / s, the high landing velocity generates a large impact load, triggering a failure mode in the buffer stage structure to absorb the energy of the impact. Therefore, the bottom buffer stage is destroyed upon landing, serving the purpose of dissipating energy. Subsequent buffer stages above the bottom stage fail sequentially based on the landing energy. In this scenario, the landing process is a multi-stage buffer stage energy absorption and failure mode. The diameter, length, and material selection of each buffer stage are determined based on the UAV model and crashworthiness requirements.

[0030] The technical solution of this invention is adopted:

[0031] Installing landing gear buffers on drones can ensure their safety in emergency landings and accidental crashes, guaranteeing safe landings at high descent speeds and effectively improving aircraft and crash survivability. It can also reduce reliance on the drone operator's experience and decrease crashes caused by human error.

[0032] Main innovations of this invention

[0033] The present invention proposes a drone landing gear buffer device that absorbs landing energy through the gradual plastic deformation or energy absorption destruction of the buffer stages in the event of an emergency landing or accidental crash of the drone. It can absorb energy in stages according to the actual landing energy, thus innovating the energy absorption mode of the buffer.

[0034] The UAV landing gear buffer device proposed in this invention adopts a staged energy absorption mode, which can better absorb energy and avoid the situation where the buffering capacity of a single buffer is insufficient or the structural weight is too large. Furthermore, at the moment of impact landing, the staged energy absorption mode of the buffer structure can better protect the safety of the fuselage structure, while having the advantages of simple structure, low cost, and high energy absorption efficiency.

Claims

1. A landing gear buffer device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), characterized in that, Includes mounting clips (3) and buffers; one end of the mounting clips (3) is fixedly connected to the UAV landing gear (2), and the other end is fixedly connected to the buffer. The buffer is a columnar hollow structure, including multiple buffer stages. Each buffer stage is fixedly connected to the other. Starting from the end connected to the mounting clips (3), each buffer stage has the same outer diameter. The diameter of the hollow structure of each buffer stage increases step by step, and the hardness of the material of each stage decreases step by step. Weak points are pre-made on the outer wall of each buffer stage. The pre-made weak points are grooves and / or holes.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The external shape of the buffer is cylindrical or hexahedral, and the hollow cross section of each stage is not limited to circular or rectangular.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of buffer stages can range from 1 to 10.

4. The unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The diameter of the hollow cross section in each buffer stage is 10-90% of the diameter of the corresponding stage.

5. A UAV landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of each buffer stage is 10-80% of the total length of the buffer.

6. A UAV landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fixed connection methods between each buffer stage include: flange, welding, riveting, and screwing.

7. The buffering method for a UAV landing gear buffer device according to claim 1, characterized in that, When applied to emergency crash landings, the large landing speed generates a large impact load, triggering the failure mode of the buffer stage structure and absorbing the energy of the crash process. Therefore, the bottom buffer stage is destroyed after landing, which serves to dissipate energy. Subsequently, each buffer stage above the bottom one is destroyed in turn according to the landing energy.

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