A cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings

Abstract

The present invention provides a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings, including a fuselage and wings arranged in the middle of the fuselage. The wings are inflatable wings, and the wingspan changes and variable configurations are achieved through self-growth. When the aircraft provided by the present invention is flying in the air, the inflatable wings are quickly unfolded by means of compressor inflation, and a rapid transition from a folded state to a flying state is achieved. The multi-wing segment structure forms a large aspect ratio, and long-term cruising is achieved. The connection between the wing segments can also be disconnected, so that the corresponding wing segments can be quickly detached and discarded under aerodynamic loads to form a small aspect ratio, thereby improving the speed and maneuverability of the aircraft. Before entering the water, part of the wings are discarded to reduce the resistance of entering the water, and at the same time, the attitude stability during the entry into the water is improved. When sailing in the water, the lift floating of the inflatable wings is used to achieve surface navigation. The cross-medium aircraft of the present invention can adapt to different working conditions of flying in the air and sailing underwater.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cross-medium aircraft, and in particular to a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings. Background Art

[0002] The cross-medium aircraft is a new concept amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle that can cruise amphibiously in the air and water and can freely cross the air-water interface. It has broad application prospects in maritime rescue, environmental monitoring and other aspects.

[0003] The mission environment of a cross-medium aircraft is different in different media, and it is necessary to have a variety of aerodynamic configurations to meet different mission requirements, and it is required to be able to switch between different configurations quickly, controllably and repeatedly. In order to meet this demand, most existing cross-medium aircraft use wing deformation or folding and unfolding mechanisms. For example, Chinese invention patent CN116160810B, "A cross-medium aircraft that can be deployed in the whole area of ​​sea and air and its flight control method", discloses an aircraft including a fuselage, wings, tail wing and power system, the fuselage is provided with a control system, a load compartment, an energy device and a buoyancy control mechanism, the wings are two pairs of tandem wings, the two pairs of tandem wing spring shafts are respectively connected to the front and rear of the fuselage, and the front section of the wing located in the front of the fuselage is equipped with elevator ailerons; the power system and tail wing are installed at the rear of the fuselage. Flight control includes longitudinal control of the entire aircraft, lateral control of the entire aircraft, delivery control, water entry control and water exit control. The invention selects tandem wings as a fluid mechanics solution that takes into account both aerial flight and underwater gliding, and the wings are designed to be foldable; the Chinese invention patent application CN116280192A, "A Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircraft for Air and Sea Cross-Medium", discloses an aircraft including a fuselage, a pulling mechanism, a lifting mechanism and an underwater propeller; the fuselage is provided with folding mechanisms near the nose and tail, and the folding mechanisms are connected to a wing, and the folding mechanisms are used to drive the wings to unfold and fold, and the two wings in the unfolded state are respectively placed on both sides of the fuselage, and the two wings in the folded state are stacked and arranged at the bottom of the fuselage; the pulling mechanism is arranged at the nose of the fuselage, and the pulling mechanism is a foldable blade structure; the two lifting mechanisms are respectively arranged at the nose and tail of the fuselage, and the lifting mechanism is a foldable blade structure; the underwater propeller is arranged at the tail of the fuselage; so this scheme can realize vertical lift control, flight control, and underwater navigation control.

[0004] However, the existing folding technology still has problems such as complex structure, easy wear and difficult maintenance, and the driving system has a complex structure, large size and weight.

[0005] Inflatable Wing is an aircraft wing composed of an inflatable structure. It is made of high-strength composite flexible woven material, and is filled with high-pressure gas to maintain the pressure of the multi-cavity inflatable structure. It is designed to be inflated to form a wing surface when needed, and can be folded and stored when not in use. It has significant advantages such as flexible volume, light structure weight, convenient storage and carrying, easy to deploy at any time, and relatively low cost. The design of the inflatable wing can adjust the airfoil and size as needed to adapt to different flight environments and mission requirements to achieve the best flight performance.

[0006] At present, the technology of combining inflatable wing technology with cross-medium aircraft is still under research and development, but its potential applications and advantages have attracted attention in related fields. Therefore, it is necessary to design a variable configuration mechanism based on inflatable wings, which is of great significance to meet the convenient switching needs of cross-medium UAVs for multiple aerodynamic configurations. Summary of the invention

[0007] According to the technical problems raised above, a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings is provided. The invention mainly realizes rapid change of the wing span through the self-growth and ejection of the inflatable wings, so that the cross-medium aircraft can adapt to different working conditions of aerial flight and underwater navigation.

[0008] The technical means adopted by the present invention are as follows:

[0009] A cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings comprises a fuselage and a wing arranged in the middle of the fuselage. The wing is an inflatable wing that achieves wing span change and variable configuration through self-growth.

[0010] Furthermore, the inflatable wing comprises a wing self-growth device, a connecting mechanism and an inflation mechanism. The wing self-growth device is located in the middle of the fuselage. The inflatable wing is folded in the fuselage before the aircraft is launched.

[0011] Furthermore, the wing self-growth device includes an outer shell, a hollow shaft placed in the middle of the outer shell, two inflatable wing membrane structures connected to the hollow shaft and rolled up on the hollow shaft, and locking mechanism arms and limit rollers symmetrically arranged at the outlets on both sides of the outer shell. The inflatable wing membrane structure is rolled up in the wing self-growth device before the aircraft is launched, and the two inflatable wing membrane structures are inflated by the inflation mechanism and then unfolded into inflatable wings on both sides of the fuselage.

[0012] Furthermore, the inflatable wing membrane structure has at least one wing segment for inflating and unfolding to form an inflatable wing, and a plurality of the wing segments are connected by the connecting mechanism to form a series loop, which are overlapped and rolled up on the hollow shaft, and the wing segment at the end of the inflatable wing membrane structure passes through the locking mechanism arm and the limit roller.

[0013] Furthermore, the wing section has a plurality of air chambers, and the air chambers are separated by air beams.

[0014] Furthermore, the limiting roller drives the inflatable wing membrane structure to extend outward from the outer shell, and the inflatable wing membrane structure is inflated and expanded into an inflatable wing. When the wing span reaches a set value, the locking mechanism arm locks the wing.

[0015] Furthermore, the inflation mechanism includes a compressor, and during the flight phase in the air, the compressor takes in air from the atmospheric environment and pressurizes it.

[0016] Furthermore, when flying in the air, each wing segment is tightly connected through the connecting mechanism to form an inflatable wing with a large span; by controlling the disconnection of the connecting mechanism, the inflatable wing can be quickly detached and thrown away under the action of aerodynamic load.

[0017] Furthermore, the connecting mechanism includes a first connecting mechanism and a second connecting mechanism matching the first connecting mechanism, wherein the first connecting mechanism includes a back panel, a front panel arranged at the front end of the back panel, an electromagnet and a slot arranged on the front panel; the second connecting mechanism includes a pin arranged on the front panel and matching the slot.

[0018] Furthermore, the electromagnets are arranged at two ends of the front panel, and stable connection and disconnection of the connection mechanism are achieved by controlling the power on and power off of the electromagnets.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0020] 1. The self-growing inflatable wing cross-medium aircraft provided by the present invention adopts the self-growth and jettisoning design of the inflatable wing in terms of wing configuration change design. The jettisoning variable length greatly increases the speed of the aircraft configuration change and improves the flexibility of aircraft operation;

[0021] 2. The self-growing inflatable wing cross-medium aircraft provided by the present invention has a lightweight design. The inflatable wing is made of high-strength composite flexible material and has significant lightness and flexibility. Compared with traditional folding wings, the weight of the mechanical folding mechanism and the driving mechanism are reduced, which greatly increases the payload of the aircraft.

[0022] 3. In terms of multi-mode conversion, the cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention can quickly switch between different flight modes to adapt to different media and flight conditions because the flight conditions of the aircraft in various flight modes are different.

[0023] 4. The cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention adopts multi-section inflatable wings. When part of the wings are damaged, they can be automatically discarded and new wings can be self-grown for rapid replacement, and have high survivability.

[0024] In summary, the cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention, when flying in the air, uses a compressor to inflate the inflatable wings to quickly unfold them, thereby achieving a rapid transition from a folded state to a flying state, and extending the wings outwards through rollers to increase the number of wing segments to form a large aspect ratio and achieve long-term cruising. In addition, by disconnecting the connection between the wing segments, the corresponding wing segments can be quickly detached under aerodynamic loads to achieve jettisoning, forming a small aspect ratio, and improving the speed and maneuverability of the aircraft. The span of the wings can be quickly changed through self-growth and jettisoning of the wings to adapt to different working conditions; before entering the water, the outer part of the wing is jettisoned to reduce the resistance of the cross-medium aircraft to entering the water, while improving the attitude stability during the entry into the water; when sailing in the water, the state of the half wing can reduce the sailing resistance and avoid lift redundancy, and the lift of the inflatable wing is used to float on the water surface, and the dual-purpose water-air propeller is used for propulsion to achieve surface navigation, thereby meeting the requirements of the cross-medium aircraft for its own density during underwater navigation.

[0025] The cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention has the advantages of flexible and variable volume, etc., and multiple sections of wings can be folded inside the fuselage. The wings can be made to self-grow by inflation to realize the aircraft's variable configuration function, and the aircraft's span can be reduced by disconnecting the connections between the wing sections and discarding some of the wing sections. Based on the above reasons, the present invention can be widely promoted in the field of cross-medium aircraft technology. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a high aspect ratio aerial flight mode of a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention.

[0028] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a small aspect ratio underwater navigation cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention.

[0029] Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of the folding and storage mode of a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention.

[0030] Figure 4A schematic structural diagram of the inflatable wing of a cross-medium aircraft with a self-growing inflatable wing provided by the present invention.

[0031] Figure 5 A schematic cross-sectional diagram of an inflatable wing air beam of a cross-medium aircraft with a self-growing inflatable wing provided by the present invention.

[0032] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the inflatable wing self-growth device of the cross-medium aircraft with self-growth inflatable wings provided by the present invention.

[0033] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a first connecting mechanism of an inflatable wing of a cross-medium aircraft with a self-growing inflatable wing provided by the present invention.

[0034] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a second connection mechanism of the inflatable wing of the cross-medium aircraft with a self-growing inflatable wing provided by the present invention.

[0035] Fig. 9 This is a schematic diagram of the inflatable wing connection mechanism of the cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings provided by the present invention after being matched.

[0036] In the figure: 1. Wing self-growth device; 2. Fuselage; 3. Propeller; 4. Tail; 5. Inflatable wing; 11. Hollow shaft; 12. Inflatable wing membrane structure; 13. Outer shell; 14. Locking mechanism arm; 15. Limit roller; 21. Electromagnet; 22. Front panel; 23. Slot; 24. Back panel; 25. Latch. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention. Example 1

[0038] like Figure 1-Figure 3 As shown, the present invention provides a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings, including a fuselage 2 and a wing arranged in the middle of the fuselage 2. In this embodiment, the aircraft also includes a tail 4 and a propeller 3 arranged at the tail of the fuselage 2. The wing is an inflatable wing 5. The inflatable wing 5 has two wings, which are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the middle of the fuselage 2 and pre-folded inside the fuselage 2. When needed, it can be quickly unfolded to provide lift for the aircraft. The unfoldable inflatable wing 5 has the characteristics of small volume after folding, light weight, and rapid unfolding. The purpose of setting the propeller 3 is to provide better propulsion for the aircraft, preferably a dual-purpose propeller for water and air, to achieve the propulsion of the cross-medium aircraft in the air or underwater.

[0039] Specifically, the inflatable wing 5 includes a wing self-growth device 1, a connecting mechanism and an inflation mechanism. The wing self-growth device 1 is located in the middle of the fuselage 2, and the inflatable wing 5 is folded in the fuselage 2 before the aircraft is launched. The inflation mechanism includes a compressor, and may also include a high-pressure gas cylinder, an inflation pipeline and an electromagnetic valve. During the flight phase in the air, the compressor takes in air and pressurizes it in the atmospheric environment, connects the high-pressure gas cylinder through the inflation pipeline, and supplies air to the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 through the hollow shaft 11. At the same time, it can also supply air to the onboard air storage mechanism for standby. The electromagnetic valve is set on the inflation pipeline. When the internal pressure of the inflatable wing 5 reaches the set value, the electromagnetic valve is closed. Preferably, the internal pressure of the inflatable wing 5 during cruising is set to 30kPa.

[0040] Wing self-growth device 1 Figure 6 As shown, it includes an outer shell 13, a hollow shaft 11 placed in the middle of the outer shell 13, two inflatable wing membrane structures 12 connected to the hollow shaft 11 and rolled up on the hollow shaft 11, and locking mechanism arms 14 and limit rollers 15 symmetrically arranged at the exits on both sides of the outer shell 13. The inflatable wing membrane structure 12 is rolled up in the wing self-growth device 1 before the aircraft is launched. The two inflatable wing membrane structures 12 are inflated by the inflation mechanism and unfolded into inflatable wings 5 ​​on both sides of the fuselage. Specifically, the inflatable wing 5 is inhaled and pressurized in the atmospheric environment by a compressor, and the compressor, the hollow shaft 11 and the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 form a closed pneumatic transmission circuit, so as to be quickly inflated to achieve the self-growth of the inflatable wing 5.

[0041] Preferably, the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 has at least one wing section for inflating and unfolding to form an inflatable wing 5, and the wing section has a plurality of air chambers, which are separated by air beams. Figure 5 As shown, in a preferred embodiment, the compressor takes in and pressurizes air in the atmospheric environment, supplies air to the air beams of the wing section through the hollow shaft 11, and divides the inflatable wing 5 into 18 air chambers through 17 air beams to improve the performance of the inflatable wing 5, which has the advantages of good integrity and strong load-bearing capacity, and has a good ability to resist load-bearing deformation.

[0042] When the aircraft is launched, the inflatable wing 5 is folded in the wing self-growth device 1 in the form of an inflatable wing membrane structure 12 before being unfolded. The inflatable wing membrane structure 12 is overlapped and rolled up on the hollow shaft 11, and the end of the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 passes through the locking mechanism arm 14 and the limit roller 15. After takeoff, when the wing needs to be extended, the compressor supplies air to the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 through the hollow shaft 11, and the limit roller 15 drives the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 to extend outward. When the set wingspan is reached, the locking mechanism arm 14 locks the inflatable wing 5, generating sufficient friction to fix the inflatable wing 5 and keep the wing span unchanged.

[0043] The present invention provides a cross-medium aircraft with self-growing inflatable wings. During the launch phase, a compressor is used to supply air from atmospheric compressed air to the inflatable wings 5, so that the inflatable wings 5 ​​can quickly self-grow. The wings are quickly extended through the self-growth device 1 for cruising. A larger aspect ratio can provide greater lift, thereby reducing the fuel consumption of the aircraft and effectively improving the cruising capability of the aircraft. Example 2

[0044] On the basis of Example 1, the cross-medium aircraft can also control the self-growth and ejection of the inflatable wing 5 through the wing self-growth device 1 to adapt to different media and different working conditions.

[0045] like Figure 4 As shown, the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 has at least one wing segment for inflating and unfolding to form an inflatable wing, and a plurality of wing segments are connected by a connecting mechanism to form a series loop. Figure 7-Figure 9 As shown, the connection mechanism includes a first connection mechanism and a second connection mechanism matched with the first connection mechanism. When flying in the air, each wing section is closely connected through the connection mechanism to form a large-length inflatable wing 5; by controlling the disconnection of the connection mechanism, the inflatable wing 5 can be quickly detached and thrown away under the action of aerodynamic load. The first connection mechanism includes a back plate 24, a front panel 22 arranged at the front end of the back plate 24, an electromagnet 21 arranged on the front panel 22, and a slot 23; the second connection mechanism includes a pin 25 arranged on the front panel 22 and matched with the back plate 24. Preferably, the electromagnet 21 is arranged at both ends of the front panel 22. When the pin 25 is inserted into the slot 23, due to the arrangement of the electromagnet 21, the magnetic force is evenly distributed, and the front panel 22 and the back plate 24 are more closely attached; during operation, by controlling the power on and off of the electromagnet 21, the stable connection and disconnection of the connection mechanism are achieved. During actual installation, the above-mentioned connection mechanism is embedded in the end faces of both sides of the wing section and fixedly connected to the end faces of the wing section by glue.

[0046] Preferably, the latch 25 and the slot 23 are processed into a rectangle, and the two can fully cooperate with each other, so that the two adjacent wing sections are completely locked and cannot roll relative to each other. The wing sections are connected in series through a connecting mechanism. In the cruise stage, multiple wing sections form a larger aspect ratio, thereby reducing energy consumption in the cruise stage and improving the endurance of the aircraft; in the high-speed flight stage, by disconnecting the electromagnet 21, the corresponding wing section is quickly detached under the action of aerodynamic load to achieve jettisoning, and a smaller aspect ratio can reduce the resistance of the inflatable wing 5; in the water entry stage, by jettisoning the corresponding wing section, the water entry resistance is reduced, and at the same time, the density of the aircraft is reduced to avoid lift redundancy.

[0047] The working modes of the cross-medium aircraft provided by the present invention include a launch mode, an air flight mode, an underwater navigation mode, a surface navigation mode and a return recovery mode, which are specifically as follows:

[0048] (1) Launching mode: The inflatable wing 5 is folded inside the fuselage 2 to save space and facilitate carrying. After launching, the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 is rapidly extended outward through the limit roller 15, the compressor takes in air and pressurizes it in the atmospheric environment, and supplies air to the inflatable wing membrane structure 12 through the hollow shaft 11, and the inflatable wing 5 automatically grows from the self-growth device 1, and rapidly switches to the air flight mode;

[0049] (2) Aerial flight mode: The span of the inflatable wing 5 can be automatically adjusted according to the actual mission environment requirements. In the cruise phase, the aspect ratio is increased to reduce the induced drag and energy consumption, thereby increasing the cruise time; in the high-speed flight phase, the aspect ratio is reduced to reduce the drag of the inflatable wing 5;

[0050] (3) Underwater stealth mode: During the water entry phase, the aircraft disconnects the electromagnetic connection of the outer inflatable wing 5 and jettisons the corresponding wing, which can significantly reduce the impact of entering the water, and is propelled by the dual-purpose propeller thruster 3;

[0051] (4) Surface navigation mode: The aircraft floats on the water surface relying on the lift of the inflatable wing 5 and is propelled by the dual-purpose propeller thruster 3;

[0052] (5) Return recovery mode: During the water exit phase, air is quickly supplied to the inflatable wing 5, and the wing self-growth allows the aircraft to regain greater buoyancy and good flight capability and take off. In the case of insufficient energy reserves, the aircraft can also choose to use the buoyancy provided by the self-growing wing to float on the water surface and wait for subsequent water surface recovery.

[0053] Among them, there are multiple ways to launch aircraft, including tube launch and air launch. Tube launch means that the aircraft is launched by a launch tube; air launch means that the aircraft is released from high altitude by a large aircraft.

[0054] The above embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that any modification, equivalent substitution, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A self-growing inflatable wing cross-medium aircraft, comprising a fuselage and a wing arranged in the middle of the fuselage, characterized in that: The wing is an inflatable wing, which realizes the change of wing span and configuration through self-growth; the inflatable wing includes a wing self-growth device, a connecting mechanism and an inflation mechanism, the wing self-growth device is located in the middle of the fuselage, and the inflatable wing is folded in the fuselage before the aircraft is launched; the wing self-growth device includes an outer shell, a hollow shaft placed in the middle of the outer shell, two inflatable wing membrane structures connected to the hollow shaft and rolled up on the hollow shaft, locking mechanism arms and limit rollers symmetrically arranged at the outlets on both sides of the outer shell, the inflatable wing membrane structure is rolled up in the wing self-growth device before the aircraft is launched, and the two inflatable wing membrane structures are inflated by the inflation mechanism to form inflatable wings on both sides of the fuselage; when flying in the air, each wing section is tightly connected through the connecting mechanism to form an inflatable wing with a large span; by controlling the disconnection of the connecting mechanism, the inflatable wing can be quickly detached and thrown away under the action of aerodynamic load.

2. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inflatable wing membrane structure has at least one wing segment for being inflated and expanded to form an inflatable wing. A plurality of the wing segments are connected by the connecting mechanism to form a series loop, and are overlapped and rolled up on the hollow shaft. The wing segment at the end of the inflatable wing membrane structure passes through the locking mechanism arm and the limit roller.

3. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 2, characterized in that: The wing section has a plurality of air chambers, and the air chambers are divided by air beams.

4. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 3, characterized in that: The limiting roller drives the inflatable wing membrane structure to extend outward from the outer shell, and the inflatable wing membrane structure is inflated to form an inflatable wing. When the wing span reaches a set value, the locking mechanism arm locks the wing.

5. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 4, characterized in that: The inflation mechanism includes a compressor. During the flight phase, the compressor takes in and pressurizes air from the atmospheric environment and supplies air to the inflatable wing membrane structure through the hollow shaft.

6. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 5, characterized in that: The connecting mechanism includes a first connecting mechanism and a second connecting mechanism matching the first connecting mechanism, wherein the first connecting mechanism includes a back panel, a front panel arranged at the front end of the back panel, an electromagnet and a slot arranged on the front panel; the second connecting mechanism includes a pin arranged on the front panel matching the slot.

7. The self-growing inflatable wing trans-medium aircraft according to claim 6, characterized in that: The electromagnets are arranged at two ends of the front panel, and the stable connection and disconnection of the connection mechanism are achieved by controlling the power on and power off of the electromagnets.

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