Rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment

Abstract

The invention relates to a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism comprises a rotary handle, a fixed support and a threaded sleeve assembly. The rotating handle is of a cross rod structure, the center is a square installation positioning hole, and the two sides are of symmetrical conical structures. The rotating screw sequentially comprises a mounting section, a positioning section and a threaded section from top to bottom, and a positioning ring is arranged between the positioning section and the threaded section; during mounting, the upper part of the mounting section of the rotating screw penetrates through the center of the rotating handle, the lower cube section is in clearance fit with the square mounting positioning hole of the rotating handle, and the fixing nut is fastened with the upper part of the mounting section; the screw hole sleeve is in threaded connection with the threaded section of the rotary screw rod; the screw hole sleeve is located in the body support, the partition plate is located on the body support, the positioning ring of the rotating screw is located on the partition plate, the cover plate covers the positioning ring, and the bottom of the screw hole sleeve extends out of the lower end of the body support and is fixedly connected with the locking support. The technical problem of locking the maintenance tool and the surface of the outboard product is effectively solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of space maintenance and relates to a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment. Background Art

[0002] With the development of my country's aerospace technology, space maintenance missions in the extravehicular environment involving astronauts will increase day by day.

[0003] In view of the increase in maintenance tasks for extravehicular equipment on the space station, maintenance tools need to have the function of fixing or locking with extravehicular equipment and provide a locking relationship with the surface of extravehicular equipment to ensure that astronauts can carry out maintenance operations in orbit. In view of the characteristics of the zero-gravity environment outside the cabin, it is necessary to solve the technical problem of astronauts conveniently operating the locking mechanism while wearing extravehicular space suits, making the locking mechanism rotate quickly and effectively provide locking force, and solving the technical problem of effectively locking the maintenance tools with the surface of extravehicular products. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, to propose a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment, to effectively solve the problem of the convenience of astronauts operating tools while wearing extravehicular spacesuits, to achieve the portability and rapid locking effectiveness of fixed maintenance tools, to effectively solve the technical problem of locking maintenance tools to the surface of extravehicular products, and to ensure the reliable and safe operation of astronauts and spacecraft extravehicular equipment.

[0005] The solution of the present invention is:

[0006] A rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment comprises a rotary handle, a fixed bracket, and a threaded sleeve assembly; the threaded sleeve assembly comprises a rotary screw, a screw hole sleeve, a locking bracket, and a fixed nut; the fixed bracket comprises a cover plate, a partition plate, and a main bracket;

[0007] The rotating handle is a horizontal bar configuration, with a square mounting hole in the center and symmetrical conical structures on both sides, with the cone angle facing the center;

[0008] The rotating screw has a three-section structure, which is composed of a mounting section, a positioning section and a threaded section from top to bottom, and a positioning ring is arranged between the positioning section and the threaded section; the upper part of the mounting section is a column section with an external thread, and the lower part is a cube. When installing, the upper part of the rotating screw mounting section passes through the center of the rotating handle, the lower cube section is clearance-matched with the square mounting positioning hole of the rotating handle, and the fixing nut is fastened to the upper part of the mounting section; the screw hole sleeve is threadedly connected to the rotating screw threaded section;

[0009] The screw hole sleeve is located in the main bracket, the partition is located on the main bracket, the positioning ring of the rotating screw is located on the partition, the cover plate is covered on the positioning ring, and the screw passes through the cover plate, the positioning ring, the partition and the main bracket in sequence to achieve fastening; the bottom of the screw hole sleeve extends from the lower end of the main bracket and is fixedly connected to the locking bracket.

[0010] Preferably, a long screw hole is used inside the screw hole sleeve to match the rotating screw to achieve reciprocating motion.

[0011] Preferably, the screw hole sleeve is a two-section structure, the upper section is a limiting section, and the lower section is a moving section. The diameter of the limiting section is larger than the diameter of the moving section, and the diameter of the limiting section is larger than the diameter of the lower end opening of the main support.

[0012] Preferably, two opposite sides of the limiting section are flattened into parallel surfaces.

[0013] Preferably, the screw hole sleeve is of one-piece design.

[0014] Preferably, the thread of the rotating screw is a triangular thread.

[0015] Preferably, the rotating screw is of one-piece design.

[0016] Preferably, the material of the rotating handle is stainless steel.

[0017] Preferably, the contact plane of the fixing bracket and the contact plane of the locking bracket form upper and lower effective fastening and locking constraint surfaces to realize the locking function of the locking mechanism.

[0018] Preferably, the contact plane of the fixed bracket is the fixed installation surface of the main bracket; the contact plane of the locking bracket is the plane on which the locking mechanism moves along with the screw hole sleeve.

[0019] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are:

[0020] The invention effectively realizes the handle to generate self-rotation force under its own inertia and realizes the follow-up locking function through the handle's tapered shape design; the handle rotates to drive the thread pair to rotate, effectively realizing the up and down movement of the locking surface, converting the circular motion into up and down motion, and the up and down movement of the locking surface enables the tool to have the clamping force to clamp the surface of the product. Astronauts can conveniently operate the space suit in the weightless environment outside the cabin, so that the locking mechanism can rotate quickly and effectively provide the locking force, effectively solving the technical problem of effectively locking the maintenance tool with the surface of the product outside the cabin. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the rotating handle;

[0023] Figure 3 The following is the dimension drawing of the rotary handle;

[0024] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a threaded casing assembly;

[0025] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a rotating screw

[0026] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a screw hole casing;

[0027] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the fixed bracket composition;

[0028] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the cover;

[0029] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the partition;

[0030] Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the contact plane between the fixed bracket and the locking bracket. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0032] The present invention is a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment. Astronauts can conveniently operate it while wearing an extravehicular spacesuit in a zero-gravity environment outside the cabin, so that the locking mechanism can quickly rotate and effectively provide a locking force, which is an important guarantee for ensuring the effective locking of maintenance tools and the surface of extravehicular equipment.

[0033] like Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment, which is composed of a rotary handle, a fixed bracket and a threaded sleeve assembly.

[0034] 1) Rotating handle

[0035] After the astronaut provides an initial rotation speed, the rotating handle needs its own inertia to continuously maintain the subsequent rotation power, replacing the astronaut's rotation operation.

[0036] 2) Fixing bracket

[0037] The fixed bracket provides a constraint reference for the rotation of the handle, so that the rotational inertia of the handle is stabilized in the rotation direction.

[0038] 3) Threaded casing assembly

[0039] The threaded sleeve assembly converts the rotation direction of the handle into the locking direction of the up and down movement of the locking bracket, and locks the tool through the thread self-locking angle.

[0040] Specifically, the self-locking condition of the thread is that the thread lead angle is designed to be less than the equivalent friction angle of the helical pair, so the thread of the rotating screw adopts a triangular thread. The triangular thread has a small pitch angle, a large helix angle, a small thread center distance, and a large axial contact pressure, which can generate a large self-locking force.

[0041] like Figure 2 As shown, the rotating handle has a horizontal bar configuration, and 180° space is reserved for astronauts to operate the handle.

[0042] The center of the rotating handle is a square mounting positioning hole, which effectively transmits the handle's rotational inertia to the rotating screw through the square hole positioning surface, driving the screw to rotate synchronously; the two sides of the rotating handle are designed as symmetrical conical force-bearing surfaces. Under the condition of equal mass, the center of mass of the rotating handle on one side is deviated outward to increase the rotation radius of the center of mass.

[0043] Moment of inertia formula: I = mr 2

[0044] m is the rotational mass;

[0045] r is the vertical distance between the mass point of the single-sided cone segment and the center of the rotating handle;

[0046] like Figure 3 As shown in the figure, in the rotating space with a diameter of 150 mm, the m value is selected by selecting a suitable high density (≥7.5g / cm 3 ) stainless steel and other metal materials, the m value is taken as large as 0.2kg; the r value is set to a maximum of 65mm by designing the handle conical shape to deviate the center of mass outward, the diameter of the small cone is 10mm; the diameter of the large cone is 19.5mm; the maximum moment of inertia I is 845kg / mm 2 .

[0047] 3) Threaded casing assembly

[0048] like Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the threaded sleeve assembly is composed of a rotating screw, a screw hole sleeve, a locking bracket and a fixing nut. The fixing nut is used to tighten the rotating handle.

[0049] like Figure 5 As shown, the rotating screw has a three-section structure, which includes a mounting section, a positioning section and a threaded section from top to bottom, and a positioning ring is provided between the positioning section and the threaded section; the upper portion of the mounting section is a column section with an external thread, and the lower portion is a cube. During installation, the upper portion of the rotating screw mounting section passes through the center of the rotating handle, the lower cube section is clearance-matched with the square mounting positioning hole of the rotating handle, and the fixing nut is fastened to the upper portion of the mounting section.

[0050] In the present invention, the positioning ring is constrained in the fixed bracket as a reference surface for limiting the rotation of the screw. The upper part of the screw is a rotating handle installation section, which is tightly connected to the rotating handle through a four-sided column section to transmit rotational power; the lower part of the screw is a threaded section, through which the screw rotates the thread.

[0051] The side length of the square at the bottom of the installation section is designed to be 10mm negative deviation to match and fix with the square hole in the center of the handle; the positioning ring has a diameter of 22mm and a thickness of 3mm, and is matched and fixed with the inner circular groove of the cover plate with a diameter of 24mm and a depth of 4mm; the positioning section is centrally positioned with the 15mm through hole in the center of the cover plate at the 15mm diameter cylindrical section; the M10 thread of the threaded section is indirectly positioned with the 12mm through hole in the center of the partition, and is thread-matched with the M10 long thread inside the threaded sleeve;

[0052] like Figure 6 As shown, the screw hole sleeve is designed with three features: a long screw hole, a limit section and a motion section. The long screw hole runs through the limit section of the screw hole sleeve and is connected to the rotating screw by a thread; the limit section is used to eliminate the force component in the direction of thread rotation to ensure that the sleeve moves up and down; the motion section is the range in which the locking mechanism can be used to ensure that the tool can be effectively locked with the product outside the cabin within this range. The locking bracket is connected to the lower end of the screw hole sleeve to convert the rotational force of the screw into a clamping force on the contact plane. The size L of the screw hole sleeve motion section 运 Height of locking mechanism with outboard products H 设备 About L 运 ≥H 设备 +15mm. The limiting section is a circular ring with a diameter of 26mm. The two opposite sides of the circular ring are flattened to form parallel surfaces. The distance between the two parallel surfaces is 18mm. The limiting section with the above parallel surfaces is consistent with the shape of the center hole of the main bracket.

[0053] like Figure 7 As shown, the fixed bracket is composed of a cover plate, a partition plate and a main body bracket.

[0054] The partition and the cover plate cooperate to form a cavity, which constrains the positioning ring of the rotating screw in the cavity to ensure the stability of the rotating screw during rotation; the main bracket is the bearing structure of the overall locking mechanism, and the installation plane of the main bracket and the contact plane of the locking bracket form effective upper and lower tightening and locking constraint surfaces to achieve the locking function of the locking mechanism. The screw hole sleeve is located in the main bracket, the partition is located on the main bracket, the positioning ring of the rotating screw is located on the partition, and the cover plate is covered on the positioning ring. The fastening screw passes through the cover plate, the partition and the main bracket in sequence to achieve fastening; the bottom of the screw hole sleeve extends from the lower end of the main bracket and is fixedly connected to the locking bracket. Figure 8 and Fig. 9As shown, the outer dimensions of the cover and the partition, and the installation dimensions of the four 3.2 through holes are consistent; the center diameter of the cover is 15mm, which matches the 15mm diameter cylinder of the rotating screw positioning section for center positioning; the inner circular groove of the cover with a diameter of 24mm and a depth of 4mm is matched and fixed with the positioning ring of the rotating screw positioning section with a diameter of 22mm and a thickness of 3mm; on the lower end face of the partition, the screw hole sleeve limiting section with a parallel surface is consistent with the shape of the center hole of the main bracket.

[0055] The operation method of the present invention is as follows:

[0056] The astronaut quickly turns the rotating handle to apply a force perpendicular to the handle bar, which increases the rotation speed in a short time due to the rotation inertia of the handle itself. The rotation of the handle drives the rotating screw to rotate, and the rotating screw moves through the threaded section of the threaded screw hole sleeve. The screw sleeve limit section limits the thread rotation force under the limit of the fixed bracket, and moves upward or downward under the axial force of the thread.

[0057] like Fig.10 As shown, the contact plane of the fixed bracket is a fixed surface, and the contact plane of the locking bracket is driven by the screw sleeve to move upward or downward; when the contact plane of the fixed bracket and the contact plane of the locking bracket are in contact with the upper and lower parts of the spacecraft extravehicular equipment, effective upper and lower fastening and locking constraint surfaces are formed to realize the locking function of the locking mechanism.

[0058] Parts of the present invention that are not described in detail belong to common knowledge among those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment, characterized in that: It includes a rotating handle, a fixing bracket, and a threaded sleeve assembly; the threaded sleeve assembly includes a rotating screw, a screw hole sleeve, a locking bracket, and a fixing nut; the fixing bracket includes a cover plate, a partition plate, and a main body bracket; The rotating handle is a horizontal bar configuration, with a square mounting hole in the center and symmetrical conical structures on both sides, with the cone angle facing the center; The rotating screw has a three-section structure, which is composed of a mounting section, a positioning section and a threaded section from top to bottom, and a positioning ring is arranged between the positioning section and the threaded section; the upper part of the mounting section is a column section with an external thread, and the lower part is a cube. When installing, the upper part of the rotating screw mounting section passes through the center of the rotating handle, the lower cube section is clearance-matched with the square mounting positioning hole of the rotating handle, and the fixing nut is fastened to the upper part of the mounting section; the screw hole sleeve is threadedly connected to the rotating screw threaded section; The screw hole sleeve is located in the main bracket, the partition is located on the main bracket, the positioning ring of the rotating screw is located on the partition, the cover plate is covered on the positioning ring, and the screw passes through the cover plate, the positioning ring, the partition and the main bracket in sequence to achieve fastening; the bottom of the screw hole sleeve extends from the lower end of the main bracket and is fixedly connected to the locking bracket.

2. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The screw hole sleeve has a long screw hole inside that matches the rotating screw rod to achieve reciprocating motion.

3. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for a zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The screw hole sleeve is a two-section structure, the upper section is a limiting section, and the lower section is a moving section. The diameter of the limiting section is larger than the diameter of the moving section, and the diameter of the limiting section is larger than the opening diameter of the lower end of the main support.

4. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The two opposite sides of the limiting section are flattened into parallel surfaces.

5. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 3, characterized in that: The screw hole sleeve is of integrated design.

6. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thread of the rotating screw rod is a triangular thread.

7. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotating screw is of one-piece design.

8. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotating handle is made of stainless steel.

9. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contact plane of the fixed bracket and the contact plane of the locking bracket form upper and lower effective fastening and locking constraint surfaces to realize the locking function of the locking mechanism.

10. The rotary follow-up locking mechanism suitable for zero-gravity environment according to claim 9, characterized in that: The contact plane of the fixed bracket is the fixed installation surface of the main bracket; the contact plane of the locking bracket is the plane on which the locking mechanism moves along with the screw hole sleeve.

Images