A variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless rotating rim propeller

Abstract

This invention provides a variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller, specifically relating to the field of underwater propulsion technology. The invention includes a variable-direction structure and a shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller. The variable-direction structure includes a slewing assembly and a pitching assembly. The slewing assembly includes a slewing joint, a slewing drive motor, a slewing connecting rod, and a slewing rod. The pitching assembly includes a pitching joint, a pitching drive motor, and a pitching rod. The shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller includes a connecting rod and a guide tube. The inner cavity of the guide tube houses a front rotating assembly, a rear rotating assembly, and a piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The front and rear rotating assemblies are coaxially arranged and each has multiple shaftless annular propellers, rotating in opposite directions. The propeller of this invention features high propulsion efficiency, low noise, high integration, and high reliability. It achieves slewing and pitching control while ensuring the propeller's lightweight design, effectively improving its adaptability to complex navigation environments.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of underwater propulsion technology, specifically to a variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propulsion device. Background Technology

[0002] When underwater vehicles operate under prolonged, high-load conditions in harsh environments such as high pressure and high salinity, the overall requirements for their propulsion systems are extremely high. Furthermore, the maneuverability of an underwater vehicle is a crucial criterion for evaluating its operational capabilities, and the propulsion system, as the power source and primary noise source, has a vital impact on its overall performance. Traditional propellers are noisy, have limited propulsive performance, and are poorly adaptable to complex environments. Single-propeller propellers are prone to generating offset torque during rotation, affecting the overall stability of the underwater vehicle. Shaftless rim propulsion systems, with their high integration, excellent propulsive performance, and low noise, are currently a hot research topic in the field of propulsion.

[0003] Currently, shaftless rim-driven propellers are divided into two types: single-rotor and counter-rotating. Chinese invention patent CN104326073A discloses a marine permanent magnet motor propeller, which is a single-rotor shaftless rim-driven propeller. This type of propeller mounts the motor, stator, and a single set of rotors in a guide tube, connecting the rotor to a single set of ordinary blades. The rotor drives the ordinary blades to rotate, generating thrust. It has a high degree of integration and relatively low noise. However, because ordinary blades have blade tips, the blade tip vortex structure generated during operation is strong, significantly affecting the propeller's noise and cavitation performance. Furthermore, the offset torque generated by the single blade affects the vehicle's stability, and the permanent magnet motor is highly sensitive to magnetic fields, causing this type of propeller to malfunction in certain special environments. The counter-rotating shaftless rim-driven propeller disclosed in Chinese invention patent CN105109650A and the counter-rotating rim-driven propeller disclosed in Chinese invention patent CN115892417A are both counter-rotating shaftless rim-driven propellers. These propellers combine a duct with front and rear rotors, connecting the front and rear rotors to ordinary propeller blades. During operation, the front and rear rotors drive the propeller blades to rotate in opposite directions, improving energy utilization and stability while reducing noise. However, since these propellers currently use ordinary propeller blades, noise and cavitation problems caused by blade tip vortices still exist. Furthermore, the propeller blades and motors used in existing single-rotor and counter-rotating shaftless rim-driven propellers are relatively heavy, especially in the counter-rotating shaftless rim-driven propeller, which is detrimental to the lightweight design of underwater propellers. Moreover, most propellers currently need to be fixed to submersibles and cannot perform turning, pitching, or other steering functions, resulting in poor flexibility. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the shortcomings of the prior art, this invention provides a variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim thruster, which features high propulsion efficiency, low noise, high integration, and high reliability. It achieves both gyroscopic and pitch control of the thruster, ensures the thruster's lightweight design, and improves the thruster's adaptability to complex navigation environments.

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

[0006] A variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller includes a connected variable-direction structure and a shaftless counter-rotating rim annular propeller.

[0007] The reversing structure includes a slewing assembly and a pitch assembly. The slewing assembly includes a slewing joint, a slewing drive motor, a slewing connecting rod, and a slewing rod. A first groove is provided inside the slewing joint. The slewing drive motor, the slewing connecting rod, and the slewing rod are coaxially arranged from top to bottom along the vertical direction inside the first groove. The slewing connecting rod is fixed to the bottom of the slewing drive motor and fixedly connected to the top of the slewing rod. The bottom end of the slewing rod extends out from the first groove and is connected to the pitch joint.

[0008] The pitch assembly includes a pitch joint, a pitch drive motor, and a pitch rod. The top of the pitch joint has a rotating rod fixing groove, and the bottom of the rotating rod is fixed within the groove to drive the pitch joint to rotate. The bottom of the pitch joint has a second groove, and a connecting rod located at the top of the guide tube is placed within the second groove. A third groove is located on the bottom sidewall of the pitch joint, and the pitch drive motor is embedded within the third groove. The pitch drive motor and the pitch rod are coaxially arranged in the horizontal direction. One end of the pitch rod is fixedly connected to the pitch drive motor, and the other end passes through the connecting rod of the shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller and is fixedly connected to the connecting rod, thus driving the shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller to rotate.

[0009] The shaftless counter-rotating annular propeller includes a connecting rod and a guide tube. The guide tube is annular, and a front rotating component, a rear rotating component, and a piezoelectric ceramic component are disposed in the inner cavity of the guide tube. The piezoelectric ceramic component is disposed between the front rotating component and the rear rotating component. The front rotating component and the rear rotating component are coaxially arranged and rotate in opposite directions. Multiple shaftless annular propellers are disposed on both the front rotating component and the rear rotating component.

[0010] Preferably, a protective layer is provided on the sidewall of the piezoelectric ceramic assembly.

[0011] Preferably, the protective layer is an epoxy resin layer.

[0012] Preferably, the front rotating assembly includes a front stator, a front rotor ring, and a front blade. The front stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is in close contact with the side wall of the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The front rotor ring is connected to the inner cavity of the guide tube by a bearing. Multiple front positioning grooves are evenly spaced along the circumference on the inner wall of the front rotor ring. The number of front positioning grooves is equal to the number of front blades. The front blade plate, located at the end of the front blade, is embedded in the front positioning groove and is used to drive the front blade to rotate with the front rotor ring.

[0013] Preferably, the rear rotating assembly includes a rear stator, a rear rotor ring, and a rear blade. The rear stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is fixedly connected to the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The rear rotor ring is connected to the bearing in the inner cavity of the guide tube. Multiple rear positioning grooves are evenly spaced along the circumference on the inner wall of the rear rotor ring. The number of rear positioning grooves is equal to the number of rear blades. The rear blade plate, located at the end of the rear blade, is embedded in the rear positioning groove and is used to drive the rear blade to rotate behind the rotor ring.

[0014] Preferably, both the front and rear blades are shaftless annular propellers.

[0015] Preferably, the rotary connecting rod and the rotary rod are fixedly connected by bolts.

[0016] Preferably, threaded grooves are provided at the center of the bottom surface of the rotary connecting rod and at the center of the top surface of the rotary rod.

[0017] Preferably, the slewing rod and the slewing joint, as well as the pitch rod and the pitch joint, are connected by bearings.

[0018] Preferably, both the rotary drive motor and the pitch drive motor are ultrasonic motors.

[0019] The beneficial technical effects of this invention are as follows:

[0020] This invention proposes a variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim thruster. By setting a variable-direction structure, the forward direction of the submersible can be controlled using only a single thruster, realizing the rotation and pitch control of the thruster. It features a compact structure, good flexibility, high propulsion efficiency, good stability, and high reliability, which is beneficial for the recovery and attitude adjustment of the thruster in complex environments.

[0021] The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller proposed in this invention features a shaftless counter-rotating rim annular propeller in which both the front and rear rotor rings significantly reduce the weight of the blades, achieving lightweight propeller design. Furthermore, both the front and rear blades in this invention are shaftless annular propellers. Compared to traditional blades, the annular propeller design eliminates blade tips, thus suppressing tip vortices and reducing leakage vortices, effectively avoiding noise and cavitation. Additionally, the shaftless design of the propeller effectively prevents damage from collisions and entanglement with underwater structures, improving the propeller's adaptability to complex environments.

[0022] Meanwhile, in the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim thruster proposed in this invention, the piezoelectric ceramic components drive the front rotor ring and the rear rotor ring to rotate in opposite directions. Since the front blade and the rear blade rotate in opposite directions, the offset torque generated by the two cancels each other out, ensuring the stable navigation of the submersible. At the same time, the use of an ultrasonic motor that is not affected by the magnetic field environment achieves the lightweighting of the thruster and effectively improves the thruster's adaptability to complex environments. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the directional structure of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the shaftless counter-rotating rimmed annular propeller of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the shaftless rotating rim annular spiral of the present invention.

[0028] In the diagram: 1. Conduit, 2. Front blade, 3. Front rotating component bearing, 4. Front rotor ring, 5. Front stator, 6. Front piezoelectric ceramic protective layer, 7. Piezoelectric ceramic assembly, 8. Rear piezoelectric ceramic protective layer, 9. Rear stator, 10. Rear rotor ring, 11. Rear rotating component bearing, 12. Rear blade, 13. Front blade plate, 14. Rear blade plate, 15. Pitch drive motor, 16. Pitch joint, 17. Pitch rod, 18. Rotary rod, 19. Rotary joint, 20. Rotary drive motor, 21. Rotary connecting rod, 22. Upper slewing bearing, 23. Lower slewing bearing, 24. Front pitch bearing, 25. Rear pitch bearing. Detailed Implementation

[0029] It should be noted that the following detailed descriptions are illustrative and intended to provide further explanation of this application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains.

[0030] It should be noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to this application. As used herein, the singular form is intended to include the plural form as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it should be understood that when the terms "comprising" and / or "including" are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0031] In this invention, terms such as "upper," "lower," "bottom," and "top" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are merely relational terms determined for the convenience of describing the structural relationship of the various components or elements of this invention, and do not specifically refer to any component or element in this invention, and should not be construed as limiting this invention.

[0032] In this invention, terms such as "connected" and "linked" should be interpreted broadly, indicating a fixed connection, an integral connection, or a detachable connection; a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art can determine the specific meaning of these terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances, and they should not be construed as limitations on the invention.

[0033] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0034] This invention proposes a variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless rim-mounted thruster, such as... Figures 1-2 As shown, it includes a reversing structure connected to the shaft and a shaftless, counter-rotating rimmed annular propeller.

[0035] The direction-changing structure is as follows Figure 3 As shown, it includes a slewing assembly and a pitching assembly.

[0036] The rotary assembly includes a rotary joint 19, a rotary drive motor 20, a rotary connecting rod 21, and a rotary rod 18. A first groove is provided within the rotary joint, and the rotary drive motor, rotary connecting rod, and rotary rod are coaxially arranged vertically from top to bottom inside the first groove. The rotary connecting rod is fixed to the bottom of the rotary drive motor. Threaded grooves are provided at the center of the bottom surface of the rotary connecting rod and the center of the top surface of the rotary rod for bolting the top of the rotary rod to the bottom of the rotary connecting rod. The rotary rod is movably connected to the rotary joint via an upper rotary bearing 22 and a lower rotary bearing 23. The top of the rotary rod is bolted to the rotary connecting rod, and the bottom of the rotary rod extends from the first groove and connects to the pitch joint.

[0037] The pitch assembly includes a pitch joint 16, a pitch drive motor 15, and a pitch rod 17. The top of the pitch joint has a rotating rod fixing groove, and the bottom of the rotating rod is fixed within the rotating rod fixing groove. This connects the pitch assembly to the rotating assembly and also drives the pitch joint to rotate horizontally. The bottom of the pitch joint has a second groove, in which a connecting rod located at the top of the guide tube is placed. A third groove is located on the bottom sidewall of the pitch joint, in which the pitch drive motor is embedded. The pitch drive motor and the pitch rod are coaxially arranged horizontally and are fixedly connected to each other, driving the pitch rod to rotate. The pitch rod is connected to the pitch joint bearing via a front pitch bearing 24 and a rear pitch bearing 25. One end of the pitch rod is fixedly connected to the pitch drive motor, and the other end passes through and is fixedly connected to the connecting rod, driving the shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller to rotate.

[0038] In this embodiment, both the rotary drive motor and the pitch drive motor are ultrasonic motors. Compared with traditional DC motors and stepper motors, ultrasonic motors are lightweight, have high torque and low noise, which is beneficial for the precision handling of the thruster and the pre-launcher. At the same time, ultrasonic motors are not easily affected by magnetic field environments, making them more suitable for polar environments.

[0039] The shaftless counter-rotating rimmed annular propeller, such as Figures 4-5 As shown, it includes a connecting rod and a conduit 1. The conduit is annular, and a front rotating assembly, a rear rotating assembly, and a piezoelectric ceramic assembly 7 are disposed in the inner cavity of the conduit. The piezoelectric ceramic assembly is disposed between the front rotating assembly and the rear rotating assembly. Multiple shaftless annular propellers are disposed on both the front rotating assembly and the rear rotating assembly. The front rotating assembly and the rear rotating assembly are coaxially arranged and rotate in opposite directions.

[0040] A protective layer is provided on the side wall of the piezoelectric ceramic component. In this embodiment, a front piezoelectric ceramic protective layer 6 is provided on the side wall of the piezoelectric ceramic component that is in close contact with the front rotating component, and a rear piezoelectric ceramic protective layer 8 is provided on the side wall of the piezoelectric ceramic component that is in close contact with the rear rotating component. Both the front piezoelectric ceramic protective layer 6 and the rear piezoelectric ceramic protective layer 8 are epoxy resin layers.

[0041] The front rotating assembly includes a front stator 5, a front rotor ring 4, and a front blade 2. The front stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is in close contact with the front piezoelectric ceramic protective layer of the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The front rotor ring is movably connected to the inner cavity of the guide tube through the front rotating assembly bearing 3. Four front positioning grooves are evenly spaced along the circumference on the inner wall of the front rotor ring, and four front blades in a ring-shaped spiral are provided thereon. Front blade plates 13 are provided at both ends of the front blades. The front blade plates are embedded in the front positioning grooves and are used to drive the front blades to rotate with the front rotor ring.

[0042] The rear rotating assembly includes a rear stator 9, a rear rotor ring 10, and a rear blade 12. The rear stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is in close contact with the rear piezoelectric ceramic protective layer of the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The rear rotor ring is movably connected to the inner cavity of the guide tube through the rear rotating assembly bearing 11. Four rear positioning grooves are evenly spaced along the circumference on the inner wall of the rear rotor ring, and four rear blades in a ring-shaped spiral are provided thereon. Rear blade plates 14 are provided at both ends of the rear blades. The rear blade plates are embedded in the front positioning grooves and are used to drive the rear blades to rotate behind the rotor ring.

[0043] Compared to the blades used in traditional propellers, this invention uses a shaftless annular propeller with the front and rear blades as an integrated structure. This eliminates the blade tips of traditional propellers, suppressing the generation of tip vortices, which helps to reduce propeller cavitation and reduce propeller noise. It also eliminates the shaft system structure of traditional propellers, which can effectively avoid collision damage to the propeller in complex environments and accidents such as entanglement with foreign objects. Furthermore, the shaftless annular propeller also reduces the overall weight of the duct structure, achieving a lightweight design for the propeller.

[0044] The working process of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless rotating rim propeller proposed in this invention is as follows:

[0045] When the piezoelectric ceramic component inside the conduit structure is energized, the piezoelectric ceramic component 7 is in an electric field. By adjusting the magnitude and frequency of the current, the deformation of the piezoelectric ceramic component is controlled. The piezoelectric ceramic component drives the front stator 5 and the rear stator 9 to generate vibration deformation with opposite directions. The generated vibration deformation drives the front rotor ring 4 and the rear rotor ring 10 to rotate, and the rotation directions of the front rotor ring and the rear rotor ring are opposite. At this time, the front blade 2 rotates with the front rotor ring 4, and the rear blade 12 rotates with the rear rotor ring 10. Thus, the front blade and the rear blade generate thrust, which drives the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless rotating rim propeller to move forward or backward as a whole.

[0046] Meanwhile, during the operation of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller, the rotary drive motor 20 is controlled to drive the guide tube 1 of the shaftless counter-rotating rim annular propeller to rotate in the horizontal direction, thereby adjusting the orientation of the guide tube in the horizontal direction and realizing the rotary control of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller. In conjunction with the control of the pitch drive motor 15, the pitch angle of the guide tube 1 is adjusted in the vertical direction, thereby realizing the pitch control of the variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller.

[0047] While the specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, they are not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications or variations that can be made by those skilled in the art without creative effort based on the technical solutions of the present invention are still within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller, characterized in that, Includes a connected reversing structure and a shaftless, counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller; The reversing structure includes a slewing assembly and a pitch assembly. The slewing assembly includes a slewing joint, a slewing drive motor, a slewing connecting rod, and a slewing rod. A first groove is provided inside the slewing joint. The slewing drive motor, the slewing connecting rod, and the slewing rod are coaxially arranged from top to bottom along the vertical direction inside the first groove. The slewing connecting rod is fixed to the bottom of the slewing drive motor and fixedly connected to the top of the slewing rod. The bottom end of the slewing rod extends out from the first groove and is connected to the pitch joint. The pitch assembly includes a pitch joint, a pitch drive motor, and a pitch rod. The top of the pitch joint has a rotating rod fixing groove, and the bottom of the rotating rod is fixed within the groove to drive the pitch joint to rotate. The bottom of the pitch joint has a second groove, and a connecting rod located at the top of the guide tube is placed within the second groove. A third groove is located on the bottom sidewall of the pitch joint, and the pitch drive motor is embedded within the third groove. The pitch drive motor and the pitch rod are coaxially arranged in the horizontal direction. One end of the pitch rod is fixedly connected to the pitch drive motor, and the other end passes through the connecting rod of the shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller and is fixedly connected to the connecting rod, thus driving the shaftless counter-rotating rim-mounted annular propeller to rotate. The shaftless counter-rotating rim-shaped annular propeller includes a connecting rod and a guide tube. The guide tube is annular, and a front rotating component, a rear rotating component, and a piezoelectric ceramic component are arranged in the inner cavity of the guide tube. The piezoelectric ceramic component is arranged between the front rotating component and the rear rotating component. The front rotating component and the rear rotating component are coaxially arranged and rotate in opposite directions. Multiple shaftless annular propellers are arranged on both the front rotating component and the rear rotating component. The front rotating assembly includes a front stator, a front rotor ring, a front blade, and a front blade plate. The front stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is in close contact with the side wall of the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The front rotor ring is connected to the bearing in the inner cavity of the guide tube, and the front blade plate is embedded in the positioning groove of the front rotor ring. The rear rotating assembly includes a rear stator, a rear rotor ring, a rear blade, and a rear blade plate. The rear stator is fixed in the inner cavity of the guide tube and is fixedly connected to the piezoelectric ceramic assembly. The rear rotor ring is connected to the bearing in the inner cavity of the guide tube, and the rear blade plate is embedded in the positioning groove of the rear rotor ring.

2. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 1, characterized in that, A protective layer is provided on the sidewall of the piezoelectric ceramic component.

3. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 2, characterized in that, The protective layer is an epoxy resin layer.

4. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the front and rear blades are shaftless annular propellers.

5. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slewing connecting rod and the slewing rod are fixedly connected by bolts.

6. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 5, characterized in that, Threaded grooves are provided at the center of the bottom surface of the rotary connecting rod and at the center of the top surface of the rotary rod.

7. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slewing rod and the slewing joint, as well as the pitch rod and the pitch joint, are all connected by bearings.

8. The variable-direction ultrasonic shaftless counter-rotating rim propeller according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the rotary drive motor and the pitch drive motor are ultrasonic motors.

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