Air rescue device used on helicopter, rescue method and rotor craft

By installing an air rescue device on the helicopter, using culverts and adjusting the gimbal and other components to obtain space movement capabilities, solve the problem that helicopter twisted rescue cannot be effectively carried out in complex environments, and achieves wider rescue rescue rescue Scope and higher security.

CN119348827AInactive Publication Date: 2025-01-24CHINA HELICOPTER RES & DEV INST
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202411434372.5
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-10-15
Publication Date
2025-01-24
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

The existing helicopter winch rescue cannot be effectively carried out under environmental factors such as thick smoke, obstacle shielding and under-rotor scrubbing airflow, which limits the scope and safety of the rescue.

Method used

Design an air rescue device used on helicopters, including electric drivers, culverts, and components such as adjusting the gimbal, succession hooks, anti -twisting cables, etc., through the work of these components Ability, avoid the helicopter hovering above the target position.

Benefits of technology

This device eliminates the need for the helicopter to hover above the target rescue location, avoids the limitations of environmental factors, reduces the difficulty and risk of rescue, and expands the scope of use of helicopter winch rescue.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of aircraft rescue, and particularly relates to an air rescue device used on a helicopter, a rescue method and a rotorcraft, the air rescue device comprises at least four electrically-driven ducted fans and motors, an orientation adjusting holder, an upper relay hook, a lower relay hook and a reverse twisting lasso; the orientation adjusting holder is composed of a fixed rotating shaft and a movable shaft arranged on the fixed rotating shaft in a sleeving mode. Electric drive ducted fans and motors are symmetrically arranged on the left side and the right side of the orientation adjusting holder. An upper relay hook and a lower relay hook are fixedly connected to the upper side and the lower side of the orientation adjusting holder respectively; and reverse twisting lasso are arranged on the left side and the right side of the fixed rotating shaft of the orientation adjusting holder.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of aircraft rescue, and in particular relates to an aerial rescue device and a rescue method used on a helicopter, and a rotorcraft. Background Art

[0002] Helicopter hoisting rescue is the most effective method of helicopter rescue. It can be used for both personnel transportation and personnel evacuation at the rescue site. An important rescue method in hoisting rescue is winch rescue. Winch rescue is the main method for helicopters to carry out rescue work in complex terrain or water where it is not suitable for landing. It means that the helicopter hovers in the air, and the onboard winch equipment and steel cables are used to lower the mission personnel to the person in distress, and then the mission personnel and the person in distress are lifted and pulled back into the helicopter for emergency transfer and treatment.

[0003] Nevertheless, the existing winch rescue is still limited by certain environmental factors. Helicopter winch rescue cannot be performed in the following environments, including but not limited to:

[0004] (1) When there is a large amount of smoke above or near the rescue site, if the helicopter engine inhales the smoke, it may cause the engine's life cycle cost to increase, performance to decline and decay, and overheating or even stalling. The helicopter will not be able to hover above the target rescue site for rescue;

[0005] (2) When the rescue site is located on a steep cliff or in the middle of a high-rise building, if the vertical distance between the target rescue site and the top of the cliff or high-rise building is greater than the length of the helicopter winch cable, or even if the top is tilted outward relative to the rescue site and obscures the top of the target rescue site, the helicopter cannot hover above the target rescue site for rescue.

[0006] In addition, since the downwash of the helicopter is very large, it will also have an adverse effect on the rescue operation. For example, even if rescue is carried out in the middle of a low cliff, the downwash may blow the rescued people off the cliff. For example, the rotating airflow will cause the suspended people to spin, requiring the rescuers to constantly judge their position, and even endangering the safety of the rescuers and the rescued people. Summary of the invention

[0007] In view of the above technical problems of the existing winch rescue, the present invention proposes an aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter and a corresponding rescue method. The device can enable the materials, rescuers or persons to be rescued and other suspended objects hanging at the lower end of the cable to obtain a certain spatial mobility, thereby making it unnecessary for the helicopter to hover above the target rescue site, avoiding the restrictions caused by environmental factors such as thick smoke and obstacles; at the same time, the suspended objects can be moved outside the rotor downwash airflow, reducing the difficulty and risk of rescue.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solution to achieve it.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter, the device comprising at least four electrically driven ducted fans and motors 1, a direction adjustment gimbal 2, an upper relay hook 3, a lower relay hook, and an anti-twist lasso 4;

[0010] The orientation adjustment platform is composed of a fixed rotating shaft and a movable shaft sleeved on the fixed rotating shaft;

[0011] An electrically driven ducted fan and a motor are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides of the fixed rotating shaft of the orientation adjustment platform;

[0012] An upper relay hook and a lower relay hook are respectively fixedly connected to the upper and lower sides of the movable axis of the direction-adjusting pan / tilt platform;

[0013] An anti-torsion lasso 4 is arranged between the left and right sides of the fixed rotating shaft of the orientation-adjusting pan / tilt head and the electrically driven ducted fan and the motor.

[0014] Furthermore, the helicopter is provided with a winch 6;

[0015] The upper relay hook is used to connect the orientation adjustment pan / tilt head with the sling 4 of the winch 6, and the lower relay hook is used to suspend personnel or materials;

[0016] The anti-twist lasso is connected to the hanging personnel or materials, so that the hanging personnel and materials are relatively fixed in the same direction of the adjusting pan / tilt head;

[0017] The electrically driven ducted fan is used to generate thrust to enable the suspended personnel or materials to move in space and change their horizontal orientation;

[0018] The orientation adjustment gimbal is used to fix the thrust angle of the electrically driven ducted fan relative to the horizontal plane.

[0019] Furthermore, the angle of the thrust of the electrically driven ducted fan relative to the horizontal plane is set to a fixed angle as required, so that the thrust direction remains unchanged during the use of the rescue device.

[0020] Furthermore, the number of the electrically driven ducted fans and motors is at least four, and the electrically driven ducted fans are operated as follows:

[0021] By changing the differential speed of the upper and lower ducted fans or twisting in the pitch direction of the PTZ, the angle between the thrust direction of the ducted fan and the horizontal plane is kept at a set value during the movement;

[0022] The direction of the ducted fan is controlled by differential changes of the left and right ducted fans;

[0023] The duct thrust is changed by changing the average speed of the duct fan, and the forward, backward and flight altitude are changed by changing the length of the winch rope 4.

[0024] Furthermore, the device also includes: an anti-touch safety grille arranged at the fan air inlet.

[0025] Furthermore, the device further comprises: a mobile controller;

[0026] The mobile controller is arranged in the cockpit or carried by the hanging personnel, and is used to realize the spatial displacement, emergency power off and emergency cut-off functions towards the adjusting pan / tilt head.

[0027] Furthermore, the device also includes: a clamp and a cable; one end of the cable is connected to an onboard power supply;

[0028] The cable is used to power the ducted fan and motor, and the direction adjustment pan / tilt;

[0029] The clamp is used to clamp the sling 4 and the cable 5 of the winch 6 together.

[0030] Furthermore, the clamps are distributed on the cable at preset intervals. When the sling is extended, a clamp will clamp the sling and the cable. When the sling is shortened, the clamp and the cable are recovered at the same time.

[0031] Furthermore, a clamping point is set at a preset distance on the sling, and all clamps are placed in the clamp bracket. When the sling is extended, the clamp bracket is adjusted to place a clamp at the sling's clamping point as the sling extends.

[0032] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides an aerial rescue method used on a helicopter, the method being implemented using the rescue device, the method comprising:

[0033] Step 1: The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to hover the helicopter in an area diagonally above the target rescue location and maintains the altitude and position;

[0034] Step 2: Connect and fix the winch's sling to the upper relay hook facing the adjustable pan / tilt head;

[0035] Step 3: Then fix the direction adjustment gimbal and the rigging personnel relatively by using the anti-twist lasso;

[0036] Step 4: The winch operator lowers the hanging personnel and the direction adjustment platform to below a certain height;

[0037] Step 5: The rigging personnel or winch operator moves the direction adjustment pan / tilt unit to the designated rescue position by moving the controller.

[0038] Furthermore, in step 1, the height and position are maintained as follows:

[0039] The helicopter reduces its flight speed to a speed range within which the winch can be used. The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to take the rescue target location as the center of the circle, with the side of the helicopter where the winch is installed facing the center of the circle, and the helicopter steadily turns around the target location.

[0040] In a third aspect, the present invention further provides a rotorcraft, on which the rescue device is mounted.

[0041] The present invention proposes an aerial rescue device, a rescue method and a rotorcraft for use on a helicopter, so that rescue personnel or materials can be moved in the air within a certain range near the helicopter, so that the helicopter can perform rescue without hovering above the rescue site, expanding the scope of use of helicopter winch rescue; and when the rescue location is horizontally far away from the influence range of the rotor downwash airflow, the difficulty of rescue can be reduced. The present invention also proposes a cable collaborative load-bearing mode, which can make the operation of the flying parts simpler, and in principle avoid the possibility of interference between the rotor and the winch sling, thereby improving the safety of use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure and scenario of a helicopter air rescue device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a helicopter air rescue device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] 1-electrically driven ducted fan and motor, 2-direction adjustment pan / tilt, 3-upper relay hook, 4-anti-twist lasso, 5-cable, 6-winch, 7-clamp bracket;

[0045] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the manipulation of the flying component to change the forward and backward movement and the altitude provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the manipulation of changing the orientation of a flying component provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the manipulation of the flight component provided by an embodiment of the present invention to maintain the pitch direction of the ducted fan;

[0048] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of estimating the movable range of a flying component provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the relationship between the true airspeed and total power of a helicopter provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 8 The embodiment of the present invention provides

[0051] Fig. 9 The embodiment of the present invention provides DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0053] The embodiment of the present invention provides an aerial rescue device and method used on a helicopter, which comprises the following main components (see Figure 1 and Figure 2 ):

[0054] (1) External autonomous mobile flight components.

[0055] It includes paired (such as 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.) electric-driven ducted fans and motors on the left and right sides (anti-touch safety grilles can be added at the fan air inlet as needed), a direction-adjustable gimbal, a flight control system, an up / down relay hook, a rack, an anti-twist lasso, and a mobile controller.

[0056] The ducted fan generates thrust to enable suspended personnel or materials to move in space and change their horizontal direction.

[0057] The direction adjustment gimbal is used to fix the pitch direction of the ducted fan thrust relative to the horizontal plane. It can be set to a fixed angle as needed to keep the thrust direction unchanged during the use of the rescue device for easy control.

[0058] The flight control system includes GPS, temperature and pressure sensors, computing units, etc. GPS and pressure sensors are used to determine the current position, altitude and temperature of the suspended object. The computing unit is used to calculate the required motor speed changes and (or) rope extension and retraction according to the pilot's manipulation, flight control laws, and selected modes and functions.

[0059] The upper relay hook is used to connect the flight components (consisting of an electric-driven ducted fan and motor, and a direction-adjustable gimbal) with the winch's sling, and the lower relay hook is used to suspend personnel or supplies.

[0060] In addition to providing structural support for the flight components, the rack also houses electronic equipment.

[0061] The anti-twist lassoes are distributed on both sides of the main component and can be connected to the suspended personnel or materials to keep the suspended personnel and materials relatively fixed to the flying component.

[0062] The mobile controller is used to realize functions such as spatial displacement of flight components, emergency power off, and emergency cut off.

[0063] (2) Cables and fixed parts on the machine.

[0064] It includes flight component power cables, cable sling clamps, flight component power cable synchronous winding coils and motors, in-machine power supply cables, equipment fixing brackets, clamp brackets, winch operator controllers, and equipment data transmission cables.

[0065] The flight component power cable is used to supply power to the flight component during the hanging mission. Its exterior includes an anti-wear insulating skin and a sticky layer. The sticky layer can be made of a material with sticky force, or it can generate adhesion by a special texture.

[0066] Cable sling clamps are evenly distributed on the power cable at intervals. When the sling is extended, a cable sling clamp will clamp the sling in sequence for each certain distance; when the sling is shortened, the clamp and cable will be recovered in the opposite order of extension. This ensures the attachment of the winch sling and the power cable of the flight component, avoiding unwanted entanglement and interference.

[0067] The synchronous winding coil and motor are used to extend and retract the power cable of the flight component. They are not load-bearing components. Their retraction length is equal to or slightly greater than the retraction length of the sling to avoid excessive tensile stress on the power cable.

[0068] The in-flight power supply cable is used to supply power to flight components and in-flight equipment.

[0069] Equipment mounting brackets are used to secure components including synchronized winding coils and winch operator controls to the helicopter.

[0070] The clamp bracket is fixed on the helicopter, and its horizontal arm can rotate around the vertical axis of the bracket. The horizontal bracket can be extended to a certain extent, and the end clamp can rotate around the axis of the horizontal arm. When the air rescue device is needed, the clamp bracket can be rotated to the required position, and then extended to the winch sling, and the clamp on the clamp is clamped to the sling. Whenever the sling is extended, the clamp will move with the sling at the clamping point, and the power supply cable will also be extended; after the sling is extended to a fixed length, the next clamp will move to the clamp and be clamped on the sling, and so on. When the sling contracts, the synchronous winding coil and the motor will synchronously retract the power supply cable, generating a small pulling force. Whenever the clamp stuck on the sling moves to the clamp position, it will loosen the sling due to the pulling force and continue to be retracted to the winding coil.

[0071] In addition to the same functions as the aforementioned mobile controller for controlling the spatial displacement of the flight components, emergency power off, emergency cut-off, etc., the winch operator controller also has a display panel for monitoring power, flight section altitude, temperature and other functions.

[0072] This device can carry rescuers or supplies for rescue according to different usage requirements, and use different flight methods for rescue. Taking the rescuer as an example, the rescue process is as follows:

[0073] Step 1:

[0074] The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to hover the helicopter in an area diagonally above the target rescue location and maintains its altitude and position.

[0075] Step 2:

[0076] Connect and fix the hook of the electric winch to the rescuer's sling and the upper relay hook of the flying component respectively.

[0077] Step 3:

[0078] The flying part and the rescuer are then fixed relative to each other by means of an anti-twist lasso.

[0079] Step 4:

[0080] The winch operator uses the winch control box to lower the suspended rescue personnel and the flying component to below a certain height. The longer the lowering distance, the farther the flying component carrying the rescue personnel (or supplies) can be horizontally away from the influence area of ​​the rotor downwash airflow, and the larger the horizontal range in which it can move.

[0081] Step 5:

[0082] Rescuers move the flying part to the designated rescue position through the mobile controller or the winch operator through the winch operator controller. Then, rescuers can work while keeping the winch hook and flying part connected, or they can detach the hook and flying part to carry out rescue activities. If you choose to detach the hook and flying part, you need to gradually reduce the thrust of the flying part to a suitable range before detaching to avoid excessive displacement and collision of the flying part caused by sudden force changes.

[0083] Step 6:

[0084] During the rescue process, rescuers can use slings to secure the rescued person to the flying equipment and winch hook, and then the flying unit or helicopter directly pulls the person away from the rescue site, and then the winch is used to recover the person and equipment.

[0085] A new helicopter rescue method can be applied by using this rescue device, as shown in the schematic diagram. Figure 8 shown.

[0086] Since this rescue device has power and will consume a certain amount of power, if the helicopter is kept hovering during the rescue process, the helicopter's hovering and operating time will be slightly shorter than that of the helicopter not using the rescue device. Therefore, a new helicopter rescue method has been invented. When it is necessary to operate at a target position in an open area without any obstructions, the helicopter can stay in the air and operate for longer times when using the rescue device, and it may even be longer than the hovering and operating time when the rescue device is not used.

[0087] In the range of hovering to long-range flight speed, the total power of the helicopter decreases as the flight speed increases (see the diagram of the relationship between the power required by the helicopter and the flight speed). Figure 7 As shown in the figure, the helicopter will continue to fly for a long time until it reaches the long-term flight speed, at which time the power required for flight is minimal. Since the power required for flight is proportional to the fuel consumption rate, the helicopter's hovering time will also increase proportionally with the increase in flight speed.

[0088] At present, when a helicopter operates against a target point at a fixed position on the ground or at sea, due to the lack of a rescue device similar to the present invention, the lower end of the winch cannot move by itself and maintain its spatial position and orientation, and can only hover above the target position to operate. The hovering time of this rescue method is shorter than the hovering time in the state of flying forward at a certain speed, so the available time for hovering operations is also relatively short.

[0089] After the rescue device is installed on the helicopter, a new rescue method for the target location can be developed, which can be referred to as the "speed turning flight rescue method". For the target location in an open area without any shelter, such as a point on a plain or the sea, the required power and fuel consumption of the flight can be reduced and the hovering time can be increased by turning around the target location at a fixed speed. Taking the search and rescue at sea as an example, the general implementation steps are as follows:

[0090] Step 1:

[0091] Based on the rescue mission information, the helicopter searches and arrives near the target location at a certain flight speed and altitude.

[0092] Step 2:

[0093] After finding the rescue target, the helicopter reduces its flight speed to a speed range within which the winch can be used. The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to take the rescue target as the center of the circle, with the side of the helicopter with the winch installed facing the center of the circle, and the helicopter steadily turns around the target.

[0094] Step 3:

[0095] Connect and fix the hook of the electric winch to the rescuer's sling and the upper relay hook of the flying component respectively.

[0096] Step 4:

[0097] The flying parts and the rescuers are relatively fixed by means of an anti-twist lasso.

[0098] Step 5:

[0099] The winch operator uses the winch control box to lower the suspended rescue personnel and the flying component to below a certain height. The longer the lowering distance, the farther the flying component carrying the rescue personnel (or supplies) can be horizontally away from the influence area of ​​the rotor downwash airflow, and the larger the horizontal range in which it can move.

[0100] Step 6:

[0101] Rescuers move the flying part to the designated rescue position through the mobile controller or the winch operator through the winch operator controller, and keep the flying part stable at the target position through the flight control system. Then, rescuers can carry out operations while maintaining connection with the winch hook and the flying part, or they can detach from the hook and the flying part to carry out rescue activities as needed.

[0102] If you choose to unhook the flying part, you need to gradually reduce the thrust of the flying part to an appropriate range before detaching to avoid sudden force changes that may cause excessive displacement and collision of the flying part.

[0103] If you choose to keep the connection with the winch hook and the flying part, it is recommended that the rescuer first untie the anti-twist lasso to prevent the rescuer's direction from changing in real time as the helicopter turns and the direction of the flying part changes, affecting the rescue. It is also recommended that the rescuer land on the ground, land in the water, or grab a fixed object to unload the flying part, so that the impact of the flying part on the rescuer is minimized.

[0104] Step 7:

[0105] During the rescue process, rescuers can use slings to secure the rescued person to the flying equipment and winch hook, and then the flying unit or helicopter directly pulls the person away from the rescue site, and then the winch is used to recover the person and equipment.

[0106] From the diagram of the relationship between the power required by a helicopter and the flight speed, it can be seen that, within the speed range below the long-term cruising speed, the faster the helicopter flies, the longer its hovering time. When the reduction in the required flight power generated when the helicopter turns at a certain speed is greater than the power consumption of the rescue device, the hovering and operating time of a helicopter using the device will be longer than that of a helicopter not using the device.

[0107] It can also be seen that the amount by which the power required by the helicopter decreases with increasing flight speed is proportional to the power required for hovering. If the helicopter's maximum design flight weight is greater, the absolute value of the amount by which the power required by the helicopter decreases with increasing flight speed will be greater. The weight of this rescue device is relatively fixed, which means that the greater the helicopter's maximum design flight weight, the smaller the impact on the power required by the rescue device at the same flight speed, and the longer the hovering and operating time.

[0108] An example of a use scenario and rescue method to which the rescue device can be applied is shown in the schematic diagram as follows: Fig. 9 shown.

[0109] When rescuing people in high-rise buildings, if there are many trapped people in the middle of the floor, unable to reach the ground, and the roof does not have a rescue area or conditions, and the floor height exceeds the maximum height of the available fire ladder, a new rescue method based on ground air cushions, zip lines, slings, helicopters and this rescue equipment can be used. The main steps are as follows:

[0110] Step 1:

[0111] Ground personnel lay an air cushion buffer device on a site at a certain distance from the target high-rise building. The site must be lower than the height of the trapped persons. It can be the ground or the roof of other low-rise buildings that have the conditions for laying air cushions. The angle between the line connecting the position of laying the air cushion buffer device and the position of the trapped persons and the horizontal plane should be suitable for zipline descent.

[0112] One end of the zip line should be fixedly installed at the air cushion buffer device. The length of the zip line should be long enough to connect to the position of the trapped person. Evacuate the people below the line connecting the position of the air cushion buffer device and the position of the trapped person, and prohibit people from approaching to avoid falling objects from the air and injuring people.

[0113] Step 2:

[0114] The helicopter flies to the vicinity of the buffer air cushion and obtains the unfixed end of the zipline. The helicopter can obtain the unfixed end of the zipline in many ways, such as under the winch cable, the ground personnel hang the unfixed end of the zipline on the winch hook, and after the winch cable rises, the rescue personnel in the helicopter obtain the unfixed end of the zipline; if conditions permit, it can also hover or directly land on a nearby open space, and the ground personnel can directly deliver the unfixed end of the zipline to the rescue personnel in the helicopter.

[0115] After the helicopter obtained the unfixed end of the zipline, it took off and flew to the airspace diagonally above the location of the trapped people.

[0116] Step 3:

[0117] After the helicopter hovers in the airspace diagonally above the location of the trapped people, the hook of the electric winch is connected and fixed to the rescue personnel's sling and the upper relay hook of the flying component respectively.

[0118] Step 4:

[0119] The flying parts and the rescuers are relatively fixed by means of an anti-twist lasso.

[0120] Step 5:

[0121] The lower relay hook of the flying unit carries the necessary rescue equipment, such as the unsecured end of the zip line, slings, etc.

[0122] Step 6:

[0123] The winch operator uses the winch control box to lower the suspended rescue personnel and the flying component to below a certain height. The longer the lowering distance, the farther the flying component carrying the rescue personnel (or supplies) can be horizontally away from the influence area of ​​the rotor downwash airflow, and the larger the horizontal range in which it can move.

[0124] Step 7:

[0125] Rescuers move the flying part to the designated rescue position through the mobile controller or the winch operator through the winch operator controller, and keep the flying part stable at the target position through the flight control system. Then, rescuers can work while keeping the winch hook and flying part connected, or they can detach the hook and flying part to carry out rescue activities as needed. If you choose to unhook the flying part, you need to gradually reduce the thrust of the flying part to a suitable range before detaching, so as to avoid excessive displacement and collision of the flying part caused by sudden force changes.

[0126] The main task of the rescue workers is to fix the unsecured end of the zip line to the location of the trapped person. This can be done in a variety of ways, including driving piles into the building, or directly wrapping it around a solid and fixed object such as a column of the building body.

[0127] Step 8:

[0128] After the zipline is fixed, the rescue workers guide the trapped persons to put on the slings and connect the slings to the zipline. The trapped persons use the slings to slide along the zipline to the buffer air cushion. The ground personnel then help the trapped persons take off the slings and leave the buffer air cushion as soon as possible. At the same time, the slings are removed and moved out of the buffer air cushion to prevent subsequent personnel from colliding and getting injured.

[0129] During the rescue period, rescuers also have to take on tasks such as commanding the trapped people, establishing order, and communicating with the rescue command system to prevent casualties among the trapped people due to panic and scramble, and to deal with unexpected situations.

[0130] During the rescue, if the number of hoisting devices at the location of the trapped personnel is insufficient, the helicopter can be resupplied through the flying parts, and then the helicopter can be resupplied to the trapped personnel until all the trapped personnel are evacuated or the helicopter hoisting devices are exhausted. If the helicopter hoisting devices are exhausted, the helicopter can return to the vicinity of the buffer air cushion to obtain more hoisting devices, and then return to the airspace above the original location of the trapped personnel to continue to resupplied with flying parts. This cycle repeats until all the trapped personnel are evacuated.

[0131] Step 9:

[0132] When all the trapped persons have been evacuated, the rescuers shall unfasten the slings at the trapped persons, and then connect the unfastened ends of the slings, rescue equipment, etc. to the lower relay hook of the flying unit. The rescuers shall connect the slings to the hook of the electric winch by themselves, fix them relatively to the flying unit by the anti-twist lasso, and move the flying unit to a safe area outside the building by moving the controller or by the winch operator through the winch operator controller, and then directly pull it away from the rescue site by the flying unit or helicopter, and then recover it by the winch.

[0133] Step 10:

[0134] The helicopter flies to the vicinity of the cushion and drops the unfixed end of the zip line to the ground. This step is to prevent the subsequent disaster from breaking the sling, injuring and damaging people and property under the sling. If an emergency occurs, the sling can be left fixed in step 9 and recovered after the disaster. Before recovery, make sure there are no pedestrians or valuables under the sling.

[0135] In addition, the technical solution of the present application can change the control strategy of the flight components as needed, namely, the cable collaborative load-bearing mode and the conventional multi-rotor flight mode.

[0136] Conventional multi-rotor flight mode means that under normal circumstances, lift is mainly provided by ducted fans, longitudinal movement is achieved by changing the pitch angle through the speed differential of the front and rear fans, lateral movement is achieved by changing the roll angle through the speed differential of the left and right fans, heading is changed by generating torque through the speed differential of different rotation directions, and ascent and descent are achieved by changing the ducted thrust through the average speed change. The advantage of this flight mode is that the flight control is simple and mature, and a relatively large range of movement can be achieved when the weight of the load is small. However, its disadvantage is that after being connected to the hook, since the sling is not a device that actively generates thrust, it is an external disturbance that is difficult to actively control for the flying parts, and the force carried by the sling cannot be too large; otherwise, if the force carried by the sling is too large, the change in flight state will also cause changes in the extension and contraction amount and relative direction of the sling, and the greater the impact of the generated force on the attitude and position of the flying parts, the greater the difficulty of manipulation and control. For example, if it flies at a large pitch angle, the differential speed of the fans in different rotation directions will have little effect on the actual heading, resulting in a significant change in the control habits for adjusting the heading. Therefore, the weight that can be carried in this flight mode is relatively small. Even if it carries a large weight, its controllable flight range will be greatly reduced.

[0137] In the cable-coordinated load-bearing mode, the direction of the ducted fan can be set to a fixed value (for example, the direction of the fan is fixed to be parallel to the horizontal direction). The ducted fan is kept at the set value during the entire movement process by changing the differential speed of the upper and lower ducted fans or twisting the gimbal in the pitch direction. This control is automatically performed by the flight control system without human intervention, such as Figure 5 As shown; the direction of the ducted fan is controlled by the differential change of the left and right fans, as shown Figure 4 As shown; by changing the average speed to change the duct thrust, and at the same time changing the length of the winch rope to move forward and backward, the flight altitude can also be changed, such as Figure 3 This flight mode simplifies the difficulty of human control and the applicable hanging weight range is correspondingly larger.

[0138] If necessary, a gimbal that rotates along a vertical axis can be added to the flying component to change the relative orientation of the suspended personnel or materials and the direction of the fan of the flying component, so as to maintain the orientation of the suspended personnel in the air in the condition of crosswind.

[0139] Under calm wind conditions, the forces acting on the flight components mainly include the thrust of the ducted fan, the gravity of the flight components and the suspended personnel or materials, and the tension of the winch rope. During flight, the direction of the ducted fan and the direction of gravity are fixed, and the range of motion of the flight components can be estimated by the relationship between the three forces. For example, assuming that the thrust direction of the ducted fan is horizontal, the maximum available thrust of the ducted fan is T, and the weight of the suspended object is G, then the range of motion of the flight components is as follows: Figure 6 shown.

[0140] Theoretically, the height of the flying component in the cable-coordinated load-bearing mode cannot exceed the height of the rotor's rotation plane, which can avoid interference between the winch rope and the helicopter's rotor. In the design of the flight control system, a limit on the height difference between the helicopter and the flying component can also be set to further prevent interference.

[0141] The present invention proposes a solution for aviation rescue equipment on a helicopter platform, in which the flying part of the equipment is provided with thrust by a ducted fan, and the helicopter supplies power to the equipment. After the flying part of the equipment is connected to a rescue winch sling and rescue personnel or materials, the rescue personnel or winch operator operates the equipment, so that the personnel or materials suspended by the rescue winch can be moved in a limited space.

[0142] The present invention also proposes a new control strategy for the flying component to achieve aerial movement, namely, a cable cooperative load-bearing mode, which makes its control more convenient.

[0143] The present invention also proposes the method steps of using the device to perform aviation rescue in an exemplary form.

[0144] The present invention proposes a solution for aviation rescue equipment that can be used for a helicopter platform, so that rescue personnel or materials can be moved in the air within a certain range near the helicopter, so that the helicopter can perform rescue without hovering above the rescue site, thereby expanding the use range of helicopter winch rescue; and when the rescue location is far away from the influence range of the rotor downwash airflow in the horizontal direction, the difficulty of rescue can be reduced.

[0145] The cable cooperative load-bearing mode also proposed in the present invention can make the operation of the flight components simpler, and in principle avoid the possibility of interference between the rotor and the winch cable, thereby improving the safety of use.

Claims

1. An aerial rescue device used on a helicopter, characterized in that: The device comprises at least four electrically driven ducted fans and motors (1), a direction adjustment platform (2), an upper relay hook (3), a lower relay hook, and an anti-twist lasso (4); The orientation adjustment platform is composed of a fixed rotating shaft and a movable shaft sleeved on the fixed rotating shaft; An electrically driven ducted fan and a motor are symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides of the fixed rotating shaft of the orientation adjustment platform; An upper relay hook and a lower relay hook are respectively fixedly connected to the upper and lower sides of the movable axis of the direction-adjusting pan / tilt platform; An anti-twist lasso (4) is arranged between the left and right sides of the fixed rotating shaft of the orientation-adjusting pan / tilt platform and the electrically driven ducted fan and the motor.

2. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 1, characterized in that: The helicopter is provided with a winch (6); The upper relay hook is used to connect the orientation adjustment platform with the sling (4) of the winch (6), and the lower relay hook is used to suspend personnel or materials; The anti-twist lasso is connected to the hanging personnel or materials, so that the hanging personnel and materials are relatively fixed in the same direction of the adjusting pan / tilt head; The electrically driven ducted fan is used to generate thrust to enable the suspended personnel or materials to move in space and change their horizontal orientation; The orientation adjustment gimbal is used to fix the thrust angle of the electrically driven ducted fan relative to the horizontal plane.

3. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 2, characterized in that: The angle of thrust of the electrically driven ducted fan relative to the horizontal plane is set to a fixed angle as required, so that the thrust direction remains unchanged during the use of the rescue device.

4. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 3, characterized in that: The number of the electrically driven ducted fans and the number of the motors is at least four, and the electrically driven ducted fans are operated as follows: By changing the differential speed of the upper and lower ducted fans or twisting in the pitch direction of the PTZ, the angle between the thrust direction of the ducted fan and the horizontal plane is kept at a set value during the movement; The direction of the ducted fan is controlled by differential changes of the left and right ducted fans; The duct thrust is changed by changing the average rotation speed of the duct fan, and the forward and backward movement and flight altitude are changed by coordinating with the change in the length of the winch rope (4).

5. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device further comprises: an anti-touch safety grille arranged at the air inlet of the fan.

6. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device further comprises: a mobile controller; The mobile controller is arranged in the cockpit or carried by the hanging personnel, and is used to realize the spatial displacement, emergency power off and emergency cut-off functions towards the adjusting pan / tilt head.

7. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 1, characterized in that: The device also includes: a clamp and a cable; one end of the cable is connected to the onboard power supply; The cable is used to power the ducted fan and motor, and the direction adjustment pan / tilt; The clamp is used to clamp the sling (4) and the cable (5) of the winch (6) together.

8. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 7, characterized in that: The clamps are distributed on the cable at preset intervals. When the sling is extended, a clamp will clamp the sling and the cable. When the sling is shortened, the clamp and the cable are recovered at the same time.

9. The aerial rescue device for use on a helicopter according to claim 8, characterized in that: A clamping point is arranged at a preset distance on the sling, and all clamps are placed in the clamp bracket. When the sling is extended, the clamp bracket is adjusted to place a clamp at the sling's clamping point during the extension process of the sling.

10. An aerial rescue method used on a helicopter, characterized in that: The method is implemented by using the rescue device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and the method comprises: Step 1: The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to hover the helicopter in an area diagonally above the target rescue location and maintains the altitude and position; Step 2: Connect and fix the winch's sling to the upper relay hook facing the adjustable pan / tilt head; Step 3: Then fix the direction adjustment gimbal and the rigging personnel relatively by using the anti-twist lasso; Step 4: The winch operator lowers the hanging personnel and the direction adjustment pan / tilt to below a certain height; Step 5: The rigging personnel or winch operator moves the direction adjustment pan / tilt unit to the designated rescue position by moving the controller.

11. The aerial rescue method used on a helicopter according to claim 10, characterized in that: In step 1, the height and position to be maintained are specifically: The helicopter reduces its flight speed to a speed range within which the winch can be used. The pilot controls or uses the autopilot system to take the rescue target location as the center of the circle, with the side of the helicopter where the winch is installed facing the center of the circle, and the helicopter steadily turns around the target location.

12. A rotary-wing aircraft, characterized in that: The rotorcraft is equipped with a rescue device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Citation Information

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