Satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure

Abstract

A satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure comprises a grounding plate and a helical main body, the axis of the helical main body is vertically and fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the grounding plate, and a plurality of flexible helical geometric holding members are circumferentially and spirally arranged between two adjacent ring layers of the helical main body; the device further comprises an unlocking releasing mechanism arranged on the upper surface of the grounding plate in the spiral main body, and at least three inhaul cables are connected between the unlocking releasing mechanism and the top ring of the spiral main body to fold and fix the spiral main body. Through reasonable design and arrangement of the spiral main body and the structures of all parts, the spiral antenna has a large storage ratio, effectively reduces the emission space occupied by the antenna, enables the spiral main body ring layers to have structural continuity in cooperation with the flexible spiral geometric holding member, improves the structural rigidity of the spiral antenna, guarantees the spiral size precision after unfolding, and improves the antenna performance. The on-orbit electrical performance index of the antenna can be ensured to be met; the overall structure is easy to implement, the on-orbit unfolding function of the satellite-borne helical antenna is achieved, the overall structure has high rigidity, only a small number of matched devices are needed, the mass of the overall helical antenna can be reduced, and the reliability of the folding and unfolding function is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of antennas, and in particular relates to a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure. Background Art

[0002] A helical antenna is an antenna made of conductive spiral wire. It has the characteristics of high gain, wide beam, low sidelobe, and circularly polarized signal. These characteristics make helical antennas widely used in satellite communications, remote sensing, navigation, and scientific exploration.

[0003] The structure size of satellite-borne helical antennas is usually large and occupies a large launch space. In order to improve the utilization rate of the launch space, it is hoped that the spiral antenna can be compressed and folded before the satellite is launched based on the characteristics of the spiral structure. After the satellite enters the predetermined orbit, the spiral antenna is unfolded to achieve normal operation. Existing satellite-borne spiral antennas are basically made of metal. Since metals often produce plastic deformation when experiencing large strains, it is difficult to achieve a large retraction ratio. At present, metal spiral antennas basically do not have the retraction and expansion function. In addition, in order to ensure the geometric accuracy and stability of the metal spiral, a structure made of wave-transparent materials is often used to support the metal spiral. Therefore, at present, metal spiral antennas basically do not have the retraction and expansion function. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure to solve the problem of retracting and unfolding the existing helical antenna.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention includes:

[0006] A satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure comprises a ground plate and a helical body whose axis is fixed vertically on the upper surface of the ground plate, wherein a plurality of flexible helical geometric retaining components are circumferentially arranged between two adjacent circles of the helical body; and an unlocking and releasing mechanism is arranged on the upper surface of the ground plate inside the helical body, wherein at least three cables are connected between the unlocking and releasing mechanism and the top circle of the helical body.

[0007] Preferably, each flexible spiral geometric retaining member is in a "V"-shaped cable structure.

[0008] Preferably, at least three flexible spiral geometric retaining members are evenly arranged in each circle between two adjacent circles of the spiral body.

[0009] Preferably, at least three cable connectors are arranged on the top ring of the spiral body, and the cables are connected to the top ring of the spiral body through the cable connectors.

[0010] Preferably, three cable connectors are evenly arranged circumferentially on the top circle of the spiral body, and each cable connector is always located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components along the axis of the spiral body.

[0011] Preferably, a plurality of interlayer supporting and limiting components are provided on each circle layer of the spiral body.

[0012] Preferably, the interlayer support and limiting member is located on the outer side of each circle layer of the spiral body and contains a radial limiting protrusion.

[0013] Preferably, the interlayer supporting and limiting components are evenly arranged on each circle layer of the spiral body, and any interlayer supporting and limiting component is located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components.

[0014] Furthermore, it also includes at least three flexible support members connected between the bottom ring of the spiral body and the upper surface of the grounding plate.

[0015] Preferably, the helical body includes, but is not limited to, a cylindrical helix, a conical helix, an elliptical helix and a polygonal helix.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0017] (1) The present invention provides a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure. By rationally arranging the component structures, the overall structure is easy to implement, and the satellite-borne helical antenna can be folded on the ground with a high storage ratio and deployed on orbit. The entire structure has high rigidity and only requires a small number of supporting devices, which can reduce the overall mass of the helical antenna and improve the reliability of the folding and unfolding functions.

[0018] (2) The present invention provides a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure. Through the reasonable arrangement of the component structure, when the satellite enters the predetermined orbit, the unlocking release mechanism unlocks and releases the cable, and the helical body rebounds to the unfolded state by relying on the elastic strain stored when it is folded. At this time, the flexible helical geometry retaining component is restored to ensure that the geometry of the helical body after rebound meets the precision requirements of the unfolded size. It has a large storage ratio and effectively reduces the launch space occupied by the antenna. At the same time, the flexible helical geometry retaining component is assembled between the layers of the helical body, so that the spiral body circles have structural continuity, thereby improving the structural stiffness of the helical antenna and ensuring the dimensional accuracy of the spiral after unfolding, so as to ensure that the electrical performance indicators of the antenna on orbit can be met.

[0019] (3) In a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention, by rationally arranging the component structure, each cable connector is always located between two adjacent flexible helical geometric retaining members along the axis of the helical body, thereby avoiding the risk of cable hooking during the unfolding of the helical body.

[0020] (4) The present invention provides a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure. By rationally arranging the component structure, the interlayer support and limiting components can maintain the uniform pitch of the helical antenna after folding. At the same time, the radial limiting protrusions of the interlayer support and limiting components can limit the radial displacement between the turns of the helical body, so that the helical antenna after folding forms a stable overall structure and avoids the staggered slippage of the turns. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the following specific embodiments, they are used to explain the present invention but do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of the satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention when unfolded

[0023] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the bottom installation of the embodiment of the satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention when unfolded

[0024] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an embodiment of the satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention when folded

[0025] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of the embodiment of the satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention when folded

[0026] Figure 5 A partial schematic diagram of an embodiment of the satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure of the present invention when folded

[0027] The symbols in the figure represent:

[0028] 1 spiral body, 2 flexible spiral geometric retaining member, 3 flexible support member, 4 grounding plate, 5 cable connector, 6 cable, 7 unlocking release mechanism, 8 interlayer support limiting member DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The invention is not limited to the following specific embodiments, and all equivalent changes made on the basis of the technical solution of this application fall within the protection scope of the invention.

[0030] It should be noted that the directional terms mentioned in this article, such as "inner cavity", "inner periphery", "inner wall" and "outside", are consistent with the specific directions on the paper of the drawings in the specification or the corresponding directions of the space shown in the drawings; all components and equipment in the present invention, unless otherwise specified, are all components and equipment known in the prior art.

[0031] This embodiment discloses a satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure, comprising a ground plate 4 and a helical body 1 whose axis is vertically fixed on the upper surface of the ground plate 4, wherein a plurality of flexible helical geometric retaining members 2 are circumferentially spirally arranged between two adjacent circles of the helical body 1; further comprising an unlocking and releasing mechanism 7 arranged on the upper surface of the ground plate 4 in the helical body 1, wherein at least three cables 6 are connected between the unlocking and releasing mechanism 7 and the top circle of the helical body 1;

[0032] Its function is as follows: the unlocking and releasing mechanism 7 retracts the spiral body 1 to a compressed state through the cable 6, that is, the spiral body 1 retracts along its axial direction toward the ground plate 4, and at this time, each flexible spiral geometry retaining member 2 is bent and folded; when the satellite enters the predetermined orbit, the unlocking and releasing mechanism 7 unlocks and releases the cable 6, and the spiral body 1 rebounds to the unfolded state by relying on the elastic strain stored during the retraction, and at this time, the flexible spiral geometry retaining member 2 is restored, ensuring that the geometry of the spiral body 1 after rebound meets the accuracy requirements of the unfolded size; it has a large storage ratio, effectively reducing the launch space occupied by the antenna, and at the same time, it cooperates with the flexible spiral geometry retaining member 2 to be assembled between the layers of the spiral body 1, so that the spiral body 1 has structural continuity between the layers, improves the structural rigidity of the spiral antenna, and ensures the spiral size accuracy after unfolding, so as to ensure that the electrical performance indicators of the antenna on orbit can be met; the overall structure is easy to implement, and the on-orbit unfolding function of the satellite-borne spiral antenna is realized. The entire structure has high rigidity and only requires a small number of supporting devices, which can reduce the overall mass of the spiral antenna and improve the reliability of the folding and unfolding function.

[0033] The spiral body 1 disclosed in this embodiment includes but is not limited to cylindrical spirals, conical spirals, elliptical spirals and polygonal spirals. The spiral body 1 is made of a large strain composite material to increase the compression of the spiral structure, thereby increasing the storage ratio of the antenna; the fiber of the composite material is a carbon fiber with good conductivity, and the spiral body made of a composite material with good conductivity can itself receive and transmit polarized electromagnetic signals rotating in space; at the same time, the composite material must also have a high glass transition temperature and a low thermal expansion coefficient, so that the antenna has excellent structural stability and high geometric accuracy retention in the harsh temperature environment of space after it is unfolded. In order to further improve the performance of the antenna, a metal material with excellent conductive properties can be combined with one or more surfaces of the spiral body by spraying, sputtering or co-curing process to further improve the performance of the antenna to meet the antenna with high frequency band or high performance requirements; in this embodiment, silver with excellent conductive properties is combined with the surface of the spiral body 1 by a co-curing process, and the bottom of the spiral body 1 is connected to the feeding system.

[0034] The flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2 disclosed in this embodiment is a cable made of a wave-transmitting polyimide film / sheet, which has the characteristics of high wave transmission, high elastic modulus, and low thermal expansion coefficient. The flexible spiral geometric retaining member connects the layers of the spiral body 1, and the cable 6 is a polyimide tape homogeneously reinforced with polyimide fibers. Six flexible spiral geometric retaining members 2 are evenly arranged in each circle between two adjacent layers of the spiral body 1 of this embodiment, and each flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2 presents a "V"-shaped cable structure.

[0035] The main structural dimension parameters of the helical antenna disclosed in this embodiment and related to its radiation performance are pitch, diameter, and number of spiral turns. According to the conditions of each manufacturing and assembly stage of the spiral body 1, the dimension parameters of the composite material spiral structure are divided into manufacturing dimension, unfolding dimension, and folding dimension. The manufacturing dimension is the dimension of the spiral structure obtained after the spiral body 1 is prepared as a single component; the unfolding dimension is the dimension of the spiral structure after the spiral body 1 and the flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2 are assembled, and this geometric dimension is consistent with the dimension when the antenna is unfolded; the folding dimension is the dimension of the spiral structure when the spiral antenna is compressed to a folded state after the spiral body 1 and the flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2 are assembled. The manufacturing dimension of the pitch of the spiral body 1 obtained by optimization analysis is larger than the unfolding dimension. The prepared spiral body 1 is axially compressed to an amount obtained by optimized design and assembled with the flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2. After assembly, the geometry of the spiral body 1 will be consistent with the unfolding dimension.

[0036] In this embodiment, the pitch of the unfolded dimensions of the spiral body 1 is 118mm; the diameter is 220mm; and the number of turns is 6.25 turns. According to the structural simulation analysis, the pitch of the manufacturing dimensions of the spiral body 1 is 147.5mm; the diameter is 215.3mm; and the number of turns is 6.3 turns. The spiral body 1 is prepared according to the manufacturing dimensions of the spiral body 1, and the 2 flexible spiral geometric retaining members are assembled. The assembly process generates stress and strain in both the spiral body 1 and the flexible spiral geometric retaining member 2. After the assembly is completed, the geometric dimensions of the system are the unfolded dimensions of the spiral body 1 that meet the technical requirements.

[0037] The assembly process causes all the participating components to produce a certain amount of elastic deformation and form a balanced internal force system. This internal force system brings strain and stress consistent with the previous optimization design to all the flexible spiral geometry retaining components and the spiral body 1. The strain will produce strain stiffness in the spiral body 1 and the flexible spiral geometry retaining components. The strain stiffness can further improve the overall structural stiffness and stability of the spiral antenna. The strain stiffness in the structure is proportional to the compression of the spiral body 1 during the assembly of the spiral antenna. The compression of the spiral body 1 during the assembly process is the difference between the pitch of the manufacturing size of the spiral body 1 and the pitch of the unfolded size. The compression of the spiral body 1 during the assembly process needs to be optimized during the design process. It is necessary to ensure that the spiral body 1 will not be damaged or creep under the stress generated by the superimposed assembly stress, the closing stress and the launch load, and at the same time, it can meet the structural stiffness requirements of the spiral antenna to the maximum extent. The compression of the spiral body 1 during the assembly process will increase the spiral diameter. Therefore, the diameter of the spiral body 1 also needs to be designed and calculated so that the diameter of the spiral after assembly can meet the technical requirements.

[0038] Among them, at least three cable connectors 5 are evenly arranged on the axis of the top circle of the spiral body 1 of this embodiment, and the cable 6 is connected to the top circle of the spiral body 1 through the cable connector 5. Moreover, each cable connector 5 is always located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components 2 along the axis of the spiral body 1. Since the flexible geometric retaining components 2 are bent in an orderly manner toward the axial direction during the retraction process of the spiral body 1, the risk of the cable hooking during the unfolding process of the spiral body 1 can be avoided.

[0039] The helical antenna structure disclosed in this embodiment also includes at least three helical support members 3 connected between the bottom circle of the helical body 1 and the upper surface of the ground plate 4, that is, the bottom of the helical body 1 can be fixed to the ground plate 4 through the helical support members 3 and connected to the feeding system. Figure 2 In order not to affect the electrical performance of the antenna, the spiral support member 3 needs to be made of a wave-transmitting material with a certain bending and folding performance to achieve the folding, unfolding and fixing function of the bottom of the spiral antenna. The spiral support member 3 of this embodiment uses a spring sheet made of polyimide. Under axial compression load, the pitch of the spiral antenna gradually decreases and finally reaches a folded state, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 shown.

[0040] The spiral body 1 disclosed in this embodiment is also provided with a plurality of interlayer support and limiting components 8 on each circle layer. The interlayer support and limiting components 8 are located outside each circle layer of the spiral body 1 and contain radial limiting convex parts. The interlayer support and limiting components 8 are evenly arranged on each circle layer of the spiral body 1, and any interlayer support and limiting component 8 is located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components 2. The interlayer support and limiting components 8 disclosed in this embodiment are "T"-shaped components. Figure 5 In the manner shown, the interlayer supporting and limiting components 8 are evenly bonded and installed on the top surface of each circle of the spiral body 1 to maintain the uniform pitch of the spiral antenna after being folded. In addition, the radial limiting protrusions of the interlayer supporting and limiting components 8 can limit the radial displacement between the circles of the spiral body 1, so that the spiral antenna after being folded forms a stable overall structure and avoids staggered slippage of the circles.

[0041] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings; however, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present disclosure, a variety of simple modifications can be made to the technical solution of the present disclosure, and these simple modifications all fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0042] It should also be noted that the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present disclosure will not further describe various possible combinations. In addition, the various different embodiments disclosed in this solution can also be combined arbitrarily, as long as they do not violate the ideas of this disclosure, they should also be regarded as the contents invented by this disclosure.

Claims

1. A satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure, characterized in that: It comprises a grounding plate (4) and a spiral body (1) fixedly mounted on the upper surface of the grounding plate (4) with its axis perpendicular to the grounding plate (4), wherein a plurality of flexible spiral geometric retaining components (2) are arranged circumferentially between two adjacent circles of the spiral body (1); It also includes an unlocking and releasing mechanism (7) disposed on the upper surface of a grounding plate (4) in the spiral body (1), and at least three cables (6) are connected between the unlocking and releasing mechanism (7) and the top circle of the spiral body (1).

2. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the flexible spiral geometric retaining components (2) is in a "V"-shaped cable structure.

3. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 2, characterized in that: At least three flexible spiral geometric retaining components (2) are evenly arranged in each circle between two adjacent circles of the spiral main body (1).

4. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 3, characterized in that: At least three cable connectors (5) are arranged on the top circle of the spiral body (1), and the cable (6) is connected to the top circle of the spiral body (1) via the cable connector (5).

5. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 4, characterized in that: Three cable connectors (5) are evenly arranged around the top circle of the spiral body (1), and each cable connector (5) is always located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components (2) along the axis of the spiral body (1).

6. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: A plurality of interlayer supporting and limiting components (8) are also provided on each circle layer of the spiral main body (1).

7. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 6, characterized in that: The interlayer support and limiting components (8) are located outside each circle of the spiral body (1) and contain radial limiting convex parts.

8. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 7, characterized in that: The interlayer supporting and limiting components (8) are evenly arranged on each circle layer of the spiral main body (1), and any interlayer supporting and limiting component (8) is located between two adjacent flexible spiral geometric retaining components (2).

9. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 7, characterized in that: It also comprises at least three flexible support components (3) connected between the bottom ring of the spiral body (1) and the upper surface of the grounding plate (4).

10. The satellite-borne retractable helical antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spiral body (1) includes but is not limited to a cylindrical spiral, a conical spiral, an elliptical spiral and a polygonal spiral.

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