Rotor wing tilting mechanism for middle part of wing of electric tilting rotorcraft

Abstract

The invention relates to a tilting mechanism for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilting rotorcraft, which can realize the fixation of a rotor wing at any tilting angle without an additional self-locking device. According to the tilting mechanism, a worm and gear transmission mode is mainly adopted, and the stable and reliable fixation of the rotor wing is realized through an accurate meshing design. Through the mechanism design, the tilting mechanism can be efficiently switched among different flight modes of vertical take-off and landing, tilting transition flight and cruise forward flight, meanwhile, the compactness and streamline of the structure are kept, and the operation flexibility and stability of the tilting rotorcraft are enhanced. In addition, the requirement for an additional locking device is eliminated through the self-locking function of the tilting mechanism, the complexity of the tilting mechanism is simplified, and maintenance convenience is improved. According to the innovative tilting mechanism scheme, an efficient, safe and economical solution is provided for the electric tilting rotorcraft, and the tilting mechanism is suitable for being applied to the electric tilting rotorcraft.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and in particular to a rotor tilt mechanism solution for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft. Background Art

[0002] With the acceleration of urbanization and the increasing prominence of environmental issues, traditional ground transportation systems are facing major challenges, including traffic congestion and the impact of automobile exhaust emissions on the environment. In this context, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) has received widespread attention as a new type of urban air transportation. Electric tilt-rotor aircraft is the most advanced configuration in eVTOL and has brought revolutionary changes to urban air transportation. As a clean energy aircraft, electric tilt-rotor aircraft not only helps reduce carbon emissions in cities, but also provides a faster way of air transportation and solves the problem of road traffic congestion during peak hours in cities. As the technology matures and costs are further reduced, electric tilt-rotor aircraft are expected to become an important part of future urban transportation and contribute to the realization of sustainable urban development goals.

[0003] The rotor tilt mechanism is the core component of an electric tiltrotor aircraft and can be installed in the middle and end of the wing of an electric tiltrotor aircraft. The present invention proposes a rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tiltrotor aircraft, which overcomes the structural and functional limitations of traditional tiltrotors. By integrating an innovatively designed tilt mechanism in the middle of the wing, not only is air resistance reduced, flight efficiency and endurance improved, but also the conversion of the rotor between different flight modes such as vertical take-off and landing, tilt transition flight and horizontal forward flight is realized. In addition, the mechanism adopts a worm gear transmission method, which optimizes the transmission ratio and friction coefficient, realizes precise control and effective self-locking of the rotor, and does not require an external locking mechanism, which greatly improves flight safety and maintenance convenience. Summary of the invention

[0004] Traditional tilt-rotor mechanisms have problems such as complex structure and poor control accuracy, and require additional self-locking devices to ensure the stability of the rotor at a certain tilt angle, which increases mechanical complexity and maintenance costs. In order to address the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention proposes a rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft. The present invention adopts a worm gear transmission method to achieve precise control and effective self-locking of the rotor, eliminate the need for an external locking device, simplify the structure, and improve the reliability and maintenance convenience of the tilt mechanism.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a rotor tilting mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft, characterized in that it includes a wing, an arm, a rotor, an arm box and a tilt box. The arm connects the wing and the arm box, and the arm is located below the rotor and serves as the housing of the rotor drive motor. It is designed to optimize aerodynamic characteristics and reduce resistance during flight. The rotor is installed on the top of the tilt box and can change the tilt angle under control to adapt to different flight modes. The arm box is inside the arm and fixedly installed on the wing to provide stable support for the tilt box and ensure the precise operation of the transmission system. The tilt box rotates around the arm box to achieve tilting, and drives the servo to achieve precise tilt control of the rotor.

[0006] The arm of the present invention adopts a semi-enclosed structure, which wraps the arm box, exposing the tilt box and the rotor motor support, and the tilt box realizes synchronous tilting together with the rotor motor and the rotor. This design reduces air resistance and improves the overall aerodynamic performance of the electric tilt rotor aircraft by optimizing the spatial layout compared to the exposed tilt mechanism.

[0007] The arm box of the present invention is a thin-walled aluminum alloy structure with lightening holes, which can maximize the weight reduction while ensuring strength and rigidity. The arm box includes an arm box connecting shaft, an arm box frame, and an L-shaped angle piece. The connecting shaft is used to connect the arm and the arm box frame to transmit the load and torque of the tiltrotor during flight. The L-shaped angle piece plays a role in enhancing the connection strength and firmly connects the connecting shaft to the arm box frame.

[0008] The tilt box of the present invention adopts a thin-walled aluminum alloy structure and still has excellent anti-torsion performance under high-load working conditions. The tilt box includes a rotor motor support, a tilt box frame, a lightening hole, a drive servo support, a worm gear assembly, a worm assembly, a seat bearing and a servo fixing surface. The worm gear assembly and the worm assembly are meshed with each other as two entities. The two seat bearings fix the worm gear shaft and the worm shaft in two parallel planes, which are perpendicular to each other when viewed from the rotor direction. Taking the tilt box as a reference system, the worm gear assembly and the worm assembly only have one degree of freedom of rotation on their own rotation axis, and no degree of freedom of displacement.

[0009] The tilt box frame of the present invention is connected to the worm gear assembly and the worm assembly through a tightly matched seat bearing, ensuring the precise meshing of the worm gear and the worm. The driving servo support and the servo fixing surface ensure the precise fixation and reliable transmission of the servo. The servo drives the worm assembly to rotate by driving the servo support, thereby driving the tilt box through the worm gear assembly to achieve the tilting of the rotor. This transmission system not only has high-precision control performance, but also can respond quickly during flight, ensuring that the tilt-rotor aircraft can successfully complete complex operations such as vertical take-off and landing and transition flight.

[0010] The worm gear shaft and the worm wheel of the present invention are connected as a whole by bolts, and the two ends of the worm gear shaft and the worm wheel are connected to the tilt box frame through the worm gear coupling bearing and fixed on the tilt box frame, ensuring the stable operation of the worm gear assembly under high load and high-speed rotation. The rotation function of the worm gear assembly is realized by the worm gear coupling bearing, which not only plays a supporting role, but also improves the transmission efficiency, ensuring the smooth and accurate tilting of the rotor.

[0011] The worm and the worm shaft of the present invention are connected as a whole by bolts, and the wing-proximal end of the worm assembly is connected to and fixed on the tilt box frame through a worm coupling bearing. The worm and worm gear transmission system composed of the worm and the worm wheel work together to achieve the tilt control of the rotor through their precise meshing. At the end of the worm assembly away from the wing, by connecting the steering gear drive plate, the steering gear drives the steering gear support to drive the worm assembly to rotate, and then drives the worm wheel assembly to rotate, and then drives the tilt box and the rotor to tilt accurately.

[0012] The worm assembly and the worm wheel assembly of the present invention have optimized modulus, ensuring efficient meshing and stable transmission of the worm wheel and the worm. The materials of the worm wheel and the worm are both optimized and have excellent wear resistance. The number of teeth of the worm wheel is optimized, ensuring that the meshing angle and transmission ratio of the worm wheel and the worm are optimized, so that the tilting mechanism can maintain a stable self-locking effect under different loads, preventing the tilting mechanism from accidentally tilting itself during flight.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects achieved by the present invention are:

[0014] (1) Efficient and stable tilt control: A balance is achieved between transmission and self-locking, the worm gear modulus is optimized, and the material of the worm gear is selected. The tilt box achieves self-locking function through the worm gear system, avoiding the need for additional locking devices, reducing mechanical complexity, and improving the safety and maintenance convenience of the electric tilt-rotor aircraft.

[0015] (2) Modular design: The tilt mechanism is not only applicable to the tilt rotor in the middle of the wing, but its core part can also be extended to the tilt of rotors installed in other parts, which promotes the design of electric tilt rotor aircraft with multiple tilt rotors.

[0016] (3) Lightweight and simplified mechanical properties: Through precise design, such as the use of lightening holes and the selection of lightweight materials, the tilting mechanism can significantly reduce weight while maintaining strength and rigidity, thereby improving flight efficiency and flight endurance. The simplified mechanical structure and reduced number of complex components make the maintenance of the electric tilt-rotor aircraft more convenient and reduce maintenance costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 The assembly drawing of the rotor tilt mechanism, motor, rotor, arm and wing for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft;

[0018] Figure 2 The assembly diagram of the rotor tilt mechanism, the support arm and the wing for the middle part of the wing of the electric tilt rotor aircraft;

[0019] Figure 3 A three-dimensional structural diagram of a rotor tilt mechanism used in the middle of a wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft;

[0020] Figure 4 A top view of a rotor tilt mechanism for the middle portion of a wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft;

[0021] Figure 5 is a side view of a rotor tilt mechanism for the middle portion of a wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft;

[0022] Figure 6 A partial schematic diagram of a worm gear assembly.

[0023] The numbers in the figure are: 1. Wing, 2. Arm, 3. Rotor, 4. Arm box, 41. Arm box connecting shaft, 42. Arm box frame, 43. L-shaped angle piece, 44. Angle piece hole, 45. Lightening hole, 5. Tilt box, 51. Rotor motor support, 52. Tilt box frame, 53. Lightening hole, 54. Driving servo support, 55. Worm gear assembly, 552. Worm gear shaft, 551. Worm, 56. Worm assembly, 561. Worm shaft, 562. Worm, 57. Connecting bearing, 571. Worm connecting bearing, 572. Worm connecting bearing, 58. Servo fixing surface DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In order to further understand the features, technical means, specific objectives and functions of the present invention, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods, wherein the same components are represented by the same figure numbers.

[0025] Reference Figure 1 to Figure 6As shown, a rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft in this embodiment comprises a wing 1, an arm 2, a rotor 3, an arm box 4 and a tilt box 5. It is characterized in that: the arm 2 is located between the wing 1 and the arm box 4, and the arm 2 is designed to optimize aerodynamic characteristics to reduce air resistance during flight; the arm 2 is designed with a groove, and the rotor motor support can extend and drive the rotor 3 to tilt, further reducing space occupancy and improving flight efficiency. The arm box 4 is connected to the arm 2 through the arm box connecting shaft 41 to provide stable support for the tilt box 5. The tilt box 5 rotates around the arm box 4 to achieve precise tilt control of the rotor 3. The tilt mechanism of this embodiment, by reducing the hole design, significantly reduces the weight while ensuring the strength and rigidity of the mechanism, optimizes space utilization, and improves the endurance of the electric tilt-rotor aircraft. The precise meshing of the worm wheel 552 and the worm 562 provides a self-locking function, avoids the need for an additional locking device, simplifies the mechanical structure, and improves the reliability and maintenance convenience of the tilting mechanism. In addition, the modular design of the tilting mechanism makes the solution not only applicable to the tilting rotor in the middle of the wing, but also can be extended to the tilting rotors in other parts of the wing.

[0026] Reference Figure 2 to Figure 5 As shown, the arm box 4 is connected to the wing 1 through the arm box connecting shaft 41 and fixed by the L-shaped angle piece 43, ensuring the firm connection between the arm box, the arm 2 and the wing 1, so that they become a whole. The tilt box 5 is connected to the arm box 4 through the seat bearing 57 to ensure the precise engagement between the worm wheel 551 and the worm 562. The rotation characteristics of the seat bearing ensure the free rotation of the worm wheel and the worm in their respective axes, and at the same time, the precise engagement of the worm wheel and the worm enables the tilt mechanism to operate stably. By driving the servo support 54 to drive the servo on the servo fixing surface 58, the servo drives the tilt box 5 to rotate around the arm box 4, thereby driving the rotor 3 to tilt. This structural design ensures the accuracy and stability of the rotor during tilting, while maintaining the compactness and efficiency of the structure.

[0027] Reference Figure 5 As shown, the optimized modulus of the worm wheel and the worm, the material selection and the number of teeth of the worm wheel achieve a good balance between the self-locking function and the transmission efficiency. The driving steering gear support 54 is connected to the steering gear drive plate, and the steering gear is fixed on the steering gear fixing surface 58. The steering gear drives the steering gear support 54, and the worm assembly 56 starts to rotate, and the worm wheel 551 and the worm 562 are precisely meshed, driving the worm wheel assembly 55 to rotate. Since the worm wheel assembly 55 is fixedly connected to the tilt box 5, the rotation of the worm wheel drives the tilt box 5 to rotate, thereby tilting the rotor 3.

[0028] Working principle: Refer to Figures 1 to 5As shown, when the tilt angle of the rotor 3 needs to be changed, the controller operates the servo. The servo fixed on the servo fixed surface 58 drives the servo support to rotate through the servo support 54, thereby driving the worm assembly 56 to rotate. The worm 562 is precisely meshed with the worm wheel 551, and the rotation of the worm drives the worm wheel to rotate. Due to the position limitation of the worm wheel 551 and the worm 562 by the seat bearing 57, and the relative stillness of the arm box 4 and the worm wheel 551, the relative rotation between the worm wheel 551 and the worm 562 is manifested as the relative rotation between the arm box 4 and the tilt box 5. The fixed connection between the arm box 4 and the arm 2 and the wing 1 ensures that the tilt box 5 and the rotor 3 rotate synchronously. When the driving servo drives the worm assembly 56 to rotate, the worm wheel assembly 55 is fixedly connected to the tilt box 5 through the worm wheel 551, and the rotor 3 rotates around the arm box 4 with the tilt box 5, realizing the change of the rotor tilt angle. When the rotor 3 reaches the desired tilt angle, the servo stops working and the rotor stops tilting. At this time, due to the self-locking characteristics of the worm gear system, the transmission between the worm gear and the worm gear is locked, and the rotor 3 is fixed at the desired tilt angle. In the self-locking state, the worm gear cannot drive the worm gear, thereby ensuring that the rotor is stable at the desired tilt angle. When the rotor tilt angle needs to be adjusted next time, the servo works again to drive the rotor 3 to tilt. In this way, the switching between the hovering and level flight modes can be achieved.

[0029] The above embodiment only expresses one implementation mode of the present invention, and its description is relatively specific and detailed, but it cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the patent of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this field, several improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention are all within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be based on the attached claims.

Claims

1. A rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft wing, characterized in that: The invention comprises a wing (1), an arm (2), a rotor (3), an arm box (4) and a tilt box (5). The wing (1) is used to generate lift and install the arm (2). The arm (2) is used to connect the arm box (4), which is designed to optimize aerodynamic characteristics and reduce air resistance during flight. The arm box (4) is used to install the tilt box (5) and ensure that the tilt box (5) can achieve tilting. The motor is installed on the tilt box (5), and the rotor (3) is installed on the motor. Therefore, the rotor (3) and the tilt box (5) tilt together, and the steering gear realizes precise tilting control of the rotor (3).

2. A rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilt-rotor aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support arm (2) adopts a semi-enclosed structure, enclosing the support arm box (4) therein, exposing the tilt box (5) so as to extend the support seat (51) of the tilt rotor motor; during the tilting process, the rotor motor support seat (51) can drive the motor and the rotor (3) to tilt together.

3. The rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The arm box (4) is located in the arm (2) of the semi-enclosed structure, and comprises an arm box connecting shaft (41), an arm box frame (42), an L-shaped angle piece (43), an angle piece hole (44) and a lightening hole (45). The connecting shaft (41) connects the arm (2) and the arm box frame (42), and the L-shaped angle piece (43) connects the arm box connecting shaft (41) and the arm box frame (42), so that the entire arm box (4) becomes a whole, and the angle piece hole (44) can be fixed by bolts.

4. The rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tilt box (5) comprises a rotor motor support (51), a tilt box frame (52), a lightening hole (53), a steering gear support (54), a worm gear assembly (55), a worm assembly (56), a seat bearing (57), and a steering gear fixing surface (58). The rotor motor support (51) is used to fix the motor and can also remove a part of the rotor vibration to protect the tilt box frame (52).

5. A rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 4, characterized in that: The tilt box frame (52) is connected to the arm box (4) through a worm gear bearing (572), a worm shaft (552), a worm bearing (571), a worm shaft (561), and an L-shaped angle piece (59), and the built-in worm wheel (552) is effectively meshed with the worm (562) through radial positioning of the worm bearing (571) and the worm gear bearing (572).

6. A rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 5, characterized in that: The worm gear assembly (55) comprises a worm gear shaft (552) and a worm gear (551), which are connected as a whole by bolts, and both ends are connected to worm gear seat bearings (572) and fixed on the tilt box frame (52), and its rotation function is realized by the worm gear seat bearings (572).

7. A rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of a wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 6, characterized in that: The worm assembly (56) comprises a worm (562) and a worm shaft (561), which are connected as a whole by bolts. The end close to the wing (1) is connected to the worm seat bearing (571) and fixed on the tilt box frame (52), and the end away from the wing (1) is connected to the steering gear drive plate. The steering gear is fixed on the steering gear fixing surface (58) and fixed by bolts passing through the bolt holes.

8. The rotor tilt mechanism for the middle part of the wing of an electric tilt rotor aircraft according to claim 4, characterized in that: The worm assembly (56) and the worm wheel assembly (55) are preferably of a modulus, the worm wheel (551) and the worm (562) are preferably of a material, and the worm wheel has a preferably number of teeth, so as to achieve a balance between self-locking and transmission efficiency. The driving steering gear support (54) is connected to the steering gear drive plate, and the steering gear is fixed on the steering gear fixing surface (58). The steering gear drives the steering gear support (54) to drive the worm assembly (56) to rotate, and the effective meshing of the worm wheel (551) and the worm wheel (551) drives the worm wheel assembly (55) to rotate. Since the worm wheel assembly (55) is fixedly connected to the tilt box (5), the rotation of the tilt box (5) can drive the rotor (3) to tilt.

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