Folding unmanned aerial vehicle undercarriage

Abstract

The invention discloses a folding unmanned aerial vehicle undercarriage, and relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, the folding unmanned aerial vehicle undercarriage comprises an undercarriage main body, the upper end of the undercarriage main body is provided with a damping platform, and the upper end of the damping platform is connected with an unmanned aerial vehicle main body; the undercarriage body comprises a plurality of folding assemblies, each folding assembly comprises a supporting assembly, a telescopic device, a connecting rod, a supporting arm and a roller, the supporting assemblies are fixedly connected with the damping platform, the fixed ends of the telescopic devices are fixedly connected with the lower surface of the damping platform, and the telescopic ends of the telescopic devices are hinged to the first ends of the connecting rods through first pin shafts; a limiting sliding groove is formed in the supporting assembly, the first pin shaft slides in the limiting sliding groove, the second end of the connecting rod is hinged to the first end of a supporting arm through a second pin shaft, the second end of the supporting arm is rotationally connected with a rolling wheel, and the supporting arm is further hinged to the supporting assembly. The damping platform is further provided with a height detection device. Folding work of the folding assembly can be achieved through detection data of the height detection device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, and in particular to a foldable unmanned aerial vehicle landing gear. Background Art

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an unmanned aircraft that is controlled by radio remote control equipment and self-contained program control devices. UAV is actually a general term for unmanned aerial vehicles. Compared with manned aircraft, it has the advantages of small size, low cost and easy use. The landing gear is a key component for the take-off and landing of UAVs. The landing gear can provide the necessary support during the parking, taxiing, take-off and landing of the UAV. At the same time, the shock-absorbing struts and other components of the landing gear can absorb the impact energy of the UAV during landing, which can reduce the damage to the fuselage and internal equipment during landing.

[0003] The landing gear of existing drones is mostly a fixed structure, which takes up a lot of space during transportation and storage, and is not convenient to carry and transport. In addition, the fixed landing gear will increase the wind resistance of the drone during flight, affecting the flight performance of the aircraft. In order to solve this problem, foldable landing gear came into being. With the complexity of drone application scenarios, intelligent control of landing gear is also particularly important. Although there are many designs of foldable landing gear, the existing foldable landing gear is complicated to operate when folding and unfolding, and is prone to failure.

[0004] In summary, the existing UAV landing gear still has deficiencies in folding portability and intelligent control. Therefore, the art urgently needs to develop a new type of folding UAV landing gear to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a foldable UAV landing gear to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art. The folding work of the folding component is realized through the detection data of the height detection device. The folding structure is simple and has a high degree of intelligence.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0007] The present invention discloses a foldable UAV landing gear, comprising a landing gear body, a shock absorbing platform is installed on the upper end of the landing gear body, and the upper end of the shock absorbing platform is connected to the UAV body;

[0008] The landing gear body includes several groups of folding components, each group of the folding components includes a support component, a telescopic device, a connecting rod, a support arm and a roller, the support component is fixedly connected to the shock absorbing platform, the fixed end of the telescopic device is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the shock absorbing platform, the telescopic end of the telescopic device is hinged to the first end of the connecting rod through a first pin shaft, a limiting slide groove is provided on the support component, the first pin shaft slides in the limiting slide groove, the second end of the connecting rod is hinged to the first end of the support arm through a second pin shaft, the second end of the support arm is rotatably connected to the roller, and the support arm is also hinged to the support component;

[0009] The shock absorbing platform is also provided with a height detection device, and both the height detection device and the telescopic device are electrically connected to an onboard controller on the drone body.

[0010] Preferably, the shock absorbing platform includes an upper mounting plate and a lower mounting plate, the upper mounting plate is fixedly connected to the lower end of the UAV body, the lower mounting plate is connected to the landing gear body, and a shock absorbing assembly is provided between the upper mounting plate and the lower mounting plate.

[0011] Preferably, the upper mounting plate and the drone body are connected via a plurality of flange pipes.

[0012] Preferably, the shock absorbing assembly includes a plurality of shock absorbing springs, the upper ends of the shock absorbing springs are fixed to the lower ends of the upper mounting plate, and the lower ends of the shock absorbing springs are fixed to the upper ends of the lower mounting plate.

[0013] Preferably, the shock absorbing assembly also includes a plurality of spring locating pins, wherein the spring locating pins pass through the center of the shock absorbing spring, the upper end of the spring locating pins is located above the upper mounting plate, and the lower end of the spring locating pins is located below the lower mounting plate.

[0014] Preferably, a limit block is provided at the lower end of the spring positioning pin shaft, and a cotter pin is connected to the upper end of the spring positioning pin shaft.

[0015] Preferably, the folding component also includes a fixed shaft and a fixed plate, the upper end of the fixed shaft is fixed to the lower mounting plate, and the fixed plate is fixed to the lower end of the fixed shaft, each of the supporting components includes two connecting support plates, the upper end of the connecting support plate is fixedly connected to the lower end of the fixing plate, and the telescopic device and the connecting rod are both arranged between the two connecting support plates.

[0016] Preferably, the telescopic device is an electric push rod.

[0017] Preferably, the height detection device is an ultrasonic sensor.

[0018] Preferably, an electromagnetic lock is installed on the support assembly, and the electromagnetic lock is located at the lower end of the limiting slide groove. When the first pin shaft moves below the electromagnetic lock, the electromagnetic lock can lock the first pin shaft.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has achieved the following technical effects:

[0020] The present invention uses a height detection device to monitor the distance between the shock-absorbing platform and the ground in real time, and transmits the information to the onboard controller on the drone body, which then controls the extension and retraction of the telescopic device to realize the unfolding and folding of the folding assembly. The overall intelligentization of the device is relatively high. In addition, the specific structure of the folding assembly is relatively simple and easy to operate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a foldable UAV landing gear according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 It is a front view of the folding assembly of the foldable UAV landing gear in the embodiment of the present invention when it is in an unfolded state and the shock absorbing spring is in a compressed state;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a front view of the folding assembly of the foldable UAV landing gear in the embodiment of the present invention when it is in the unfolded state and the shock absorbing spring is in the extended state;

[0025] Figure 4 It is a front view of the folding assembly of the foldable UAV landing gear according to the embodiment of the present invention when it is in a folded state;

[0026] Figure 5 A top view of a foldable UAV landing gear according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 6 An exploded view of a folding assembly in a foldable UAV landing gear according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] In the figure: 1-UAV body; 2-upper mounting plate; 3-flange tube; 4-spring positioning pin; 5-shock-absorbing spring; 6-lower mounting plate; 7-cotter pin; 8-electric push rod; 9-connecting support plate; 10-connecting rod; 11-support arm; 12-roller; 13-first pin; 14-electromagnetic lock; 15-ultrasonic sensor; 16-fixed shaft; 17-fixed plate; 18-second pin; 19-third pin; 20-fourth pin. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a foldable UAV landing gear to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art. The folding work of the folding component is realized through the detection data of the height detection device. The folding structure is simple and has a high degree of intelligence.

[0031] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0032] like Figure 1-Figure 6 As shown, this embodiment provides a foldable UAV landing gear, including a landing gear body, a shock-absorbing platform is installed on the upper end of the landing gear body, and the upper end of the shock-absorbing platform is connected to the UAV body 1. The UAV body 1 can adopt existing UAV equipment, and its specific type and model are not limited here.

[0033] The landing gear body includes several groups of folding components. For the sake of stability, four groups of folding components are provided, and the four groups of folding components are respectively fixed at the four corners of the lower surface of the shock-absorbing platform.

[0034] For the specific structure of the folding component Figure 6As shown, each folding assembly includes a support assembly, a telescopic device, a connecting rod 10, a support arm 11 and a roller 12, wherein the support assembly is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the shock-absorbing platform. The fixed end of the telescopic device is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the shock-absorbing platform, and the telescopic end of the telescopic device is hinged to the first end of the connecting rod 10 through a first pin 13, that is, the first pin 13 sequentially passes through the corresponding hinge holes on the telescopic end of the telescopic device and the first end of the connecting rod 10 to achieve the hinge connection between the two. A vertical, long strip-shaped limiting slide is provided on the support assembly, and the first pin 13 can slide up and down in the limiting slide. The connecting rod 10 is a boomerang-shaped rod, and the second end of the connecting rod 10 is hinged to the first end of the support arm 11 through a second pin 18, that is, the second pin 18 sequentially passes through the corresponding hinge holes on the second end of the connecting rod 10 and the first end of the support arm 11 to achieve the hinge connection between the two. The second end of the support arm 11 is rotatably connected to the roller 12, that is, the second end of the support arm 11 can also pass through the center of the roller 12 through a third pin shaft 19, so that the drone can travel on the ground through the roller 12 before taking off or landing. In addition, the side of the support arm 11 close to the first end is also hinged to the support assembly. Of course, the side of the support arm 11 close to the first end and the support assembly are provided with corresponding hinge holes, and the two can be hinged through a fourth pin shaft 20.

[0035] A height detection device is also installed on the shock-absorbing platform, and the height detection device is used to measure the distance between it and the ground. The height detection device and the telescopic device are both electrically connected to the airborne controller on the drone body 1. The drone body 1 has its own airborne controller, which is a prior art and will not be described in detail.

[0036] In actual use, Figure 2-Figure 4 As shown, Figure 2 The folding assembly is in the unfolded state and the roller 12 is in contact with the ground, Figure 3 The folding assembly is in the unfolded state and the roller 12 is not in contact with the ground, Figure 4 The folding assembly in the folded state. When the drone body 1 needs to fold the support arm 11 during the process from the ground to take-off, its working state is Figure 2 , Figure 3 to Figure 4 At this time, it is only necessary to control the telescopic device to contract, so that it drives the first pin shaft 13 to move upward along the limit slide slot. During the movement of the first pin shaft 13, the support arm 11 is driven to rotate through the connecting rod 10, thereby realizing the folding of the support arm 11, so that the support arm 11 is in a horizontal state. When the drone body 1 is in the process of falling from the air to the ground, its working state is Figure 4 , Figure 3 to Figure 2First, the height detection device will monitor the distance from it to the ground in real time. If it reaches the expected distance, it will transmit the corresponding distance signal to the onboard controller on the drone body 1, and then the onboard controller on the drone body 1 will control the extension of the telescopic end of the telescopic device, so that it will drive the first pin shaft 13 to move downward along the limiting slide groove. During the movement of the first pin shaft 13, the connecting rod 10 will drive the support arm 11 to rotate in the opposite direction of the folded support arm 11, thereby unfolding the support arm 11, so that the support arm 11 is in a vertical state, and the roller 12 is located at the lower end of the support arm 11 so as to contact the ground.

[0037] In this embodiment, the shock absorbing platform includes an upper mounting plate 2 and a lower mounting plate 6. The upper mounting plate 2 is located above the lower mounting plate 6, and both are rectangular plates. The upper mounting plate 2 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the drone body 1, and the lower mounting plate 6 is connected to the landing gear body. A shock absorbing component is provided between the upper mounting plate 2 and the lower mounting plate 6. When the drone body 1 lands on the ground, the roller 12 contacts the ground and generates vibration, and the shock absorbing component can effectively reduce the vibration transmitted to the drone body 1.

[0038] In this embodiment, the upper mounting plate 2 and the drone body 1 are connected by a plurality of flange pipes 3. In order to improve the fixing stability between the upper mounting plate 2 and the drone body 1, four flange pipes 3 are provided. Of course, those skilled in the art may also provide three, five or more flange pipes. The flange pipe 3 is a common existing component, that is, a flange plate is welded at both ends of the pipe fitting. During installation, the flange plates at both ends of the flange pipe 3 are respectively used to connect the upper mounting plate 2 and the drone body 1 by bolts, thereby achieving the fixing effect of the upper mounting plate 2 and the drone body 1.

[0039] In this embodiment, the shock absorbing assembly includes a plurality of shock absorbing springs 5, and four shock absorbing springs 5 ​​are specifically provided, and the four shock absorbing springs 5 ​​are distributed at the four corners of the shock absorbing platform. The upper end of the shock absorbing spring 5 is welded and fixed to the lower end of the upper mounting plate 2, and the lower end of the shock absorbing spring 5 is welded and fixed to the upper end of the lower mounting plate 6.

[0040] like Figure 2 As shown, when the drone body 1 lands on the ground, the lower mounting plate 6 moves upward under the support force from the ground, and the shock-absorbing spring 5 can adapt to the movement of the lower mounting plate 6 and can reduce the vibration transmitted from the lower mounting plate 6 to the upper mounting plate 2.

[0041] In this embodiment, in order to avoid radial deformation of the spring and the misalignment of the upper mounting plate 2 and the lower mounting plate 6, the shock absorbing assembly also includes a plurality of spring positioning pins 4, and the number of spring positioning pins 4 and the shock absorbing spring 5 are the same and the positions correspond one to one. Specifically, the spring positioning pin 4 passes through the center of the shock absorbing spring 5, the upper end of the spring positioning pin 4 is located above the upper mounting plate 2, and the lower end of the spring positioning pin 4 is located below the lower mounting plate 6, that is, the upper and lower ends of the spring positioning pin pass through the upper end of the upper mounting plate 2 and the lower end of the lower mounting plate 6 respectively. When the shock absorbing spring 5 is in the process of expansion and contraction, since the spring positioning pin 4 is provided at the center of the shock absorbing spring 5, the misalignment of the upper mounting plate 2 and the lower mounting plate 6 can be effectively avoided.

[0042] In this embodiment, a limit block is provided at the lower end of the spring locating pin 4. The limit block can be cylindrical or rectangular, as long as the cross-sectional area of ​​the limit block is larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the through hole on the lower mounting plate 6 through which the spring locating pin 4 passes. The purpose of this arrangement is to prevent the spring locating pin 4 from completely passing through the lower mounting plate 6 upward.

[0043] The upper end of the spring positioning pin 4 is connected with a cotter pin 7. Specifically, a horizontal pin through hole is provided at the upper end of the spring positioning pin 4. After the cotter pin 7 passes through the pin through hole horizontally, the staff can bend the cotter pin 7. Due to the existence of the cotter pin 7 and the size of the cotter pin 7 being larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the through hole on the upper mounting plate 2 through which the spring positioning pin 4 passes, the spring positioning pin 4 cannot completely pass through the upper mounting plate 2 downward.

[0044] In this embodiment, in order to achieve a fixed connection between the connecting support plate 9 and the lower mounting plate 6, the folding assembly also includes a fixed shaft 16 and a fixed plate 17. The fixed shaft 16 is a round rod structure and is vertically arranged. The fixed plate 17 is a rectangular plate and is horizontally arranged. The upper end of the fixed shaft 16 is fixed to the lower mounting plate 6, and the fixed plate 17 is fixed to the lower end of the fixed shaft 16.

[0045] Each support assembly includes two connecting support plates 9, and the upper end of the connecting support plate 9 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the fixing plate 17 by welding, thereby realizing the technical inspiration of fixing the connecting support plate 9 to the lower mounting plate 6 through the fixing shaft 16 and the fixing plate 17.

[0046] In other embodiments, the upper end of the connecting support plate 9 may be directly welded to the lower surface of the lower mounting plate 6 .

[0047] The telescopic device and the connecting rod 10 are both arranged between the two connecting support plates 9 .

[0048] In this embodiment, the telescopic device is an electric push rod 8, and those skilled in the art may also replace it with a device with a telescopic function such as a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder, and is not limited to the electric push rod 8.

[0049] In this embodiment, the height detection device is essentially a displacement sensor for measuring the distance between the drone body 1 and the ground. Specifically, an existing ultrasonic sensor 15 can be used. The ultrasonic sensor 15 is a device that uses ultrasonic waves to measure distance and detect objects. The ultrasonic sensor 15 can realize the mutual conversion between mechanical energy and electrical energy within the ultrasonic frequency range. Its working principle is based on the emission, propagation, reflection and reception of sound waves. The ultrasonic sensor 15 is usually composed of a transmitter, a receiver and a sonar circuit. The transmitter part contains a piezoelectric transducer or a magnetostrictive transducer, which can convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, that is, ultrasonic waves. These ultrasonic waves are emitted outward at a certain angle and are reflected back to the receiver part of the ultrasonic sensor 15 when encountering an object. The receiver also contains a piezoelectric transducer, which can convert the received sound wave energy back into electrical energy, which is then processed by the sonar circuit. These are all common knowledge in the field of sensors, so they will not be described in detail.

[0050] Of course, those skilled in the art may also replace it with other displacement sensors, including but not limited to laser displacement sensors and the like.

[0051] In this embodiment, an electromagnetic lock 14 is installed on the support assembly. The electromagnetic lock 14 is electrically connected to the onboard controller of the drone body 1. The onboard controller of the drone body 1 can control the electromagnetic lock 14 to open. At the same time, the power supply of the drone body 1 is electrically connected to the electromagnetic lock 14 to supply power to it. The electromagnetic lock 14 is located at the lower end of the limit slide. When the first pin 13 moves to the bottom of the electromagnetic lock 14, the electromagnetic lock 14 can lock the first pin 13. Specifically, Figure 1-Figure 4 As shown, after the drone body 1 takes off, the landing gear body needs to be retracted, and the lock tongue of the electromagnetic lock 14 has an inclined surface. When the first pin shaft 13 slides from top to bottom in the limiting slide groove, when it passes through the lock tongue of the electromagnetic lock 14, because it contacts the inclined surface of the lock tongue, the lock tongue will not cause any obstruction to the first pin shaft 13, that is, the lock tongue is adaptively retracted, so that the first pin shaft 13 can pass through the electromagnetic lock 14 until the bottom of the limiting slide groove, and then the lock tongue of the electromagnetic lock 14 will automatically pop out. At this time, the plane of the lock tongue contacts the first pin shaft 13, thereby limiting the first pin shaft 13 and preventing it from moving upward. At this time, the support arm 11 is in a folded state. When the support arm 11 needs to be unfolded, the onboard controller of the drone body 1 needs to drive the electromagnetic lock 14 to open, so that the lock tongue is retracted and does not cause limitation to the first pin shaft 13, and then the onboard controller of the drone body 1 controls the telescopic device to contract to drive the first pin shaft 13 to move upward, thereby unfolding the support arm 11.

[0052] The present invention uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The above examples are only used to help understand the method and core ideas of the present invention. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, according to the ideas of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. A foldable UAV landing gear, characterized in that: It includes a landing gear body, the upper end of which is provided with a shock absorbing platform, and the upper end of which is connected to the drone body; The landing gear body includes several groups of folding components, each group of the folding components includes a support component, a telescopic device, a connecting rod, a support arm and a roller, the support component is fixedly connected to the shock absorbing platform, the fixed end of the telescopic device is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the shock absorbing platform, the telescopic end of the telescopic device is hinged to the first end of the connecting rod through a first pin shaft, a limiting slide groove is provided on the support component, the first pin shaft slides in the limiting slide groove, the second end of the connecting rod is hinged to the first end of the support arm through a second pin shaft, the second end of the support arm is rotatably connected to the roller, and the support arm is also hinged to the support component; The shock absorbing platform is also provided with a height detection device, and both the height detection device and the telescopic device are electrically connected to an onboard controller on the drone body.

2. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shock-absorbing platform includes an upper mounting plate and a lower mounting plate, wherein the upper mounting plate is fixedly connected to the lower end of the drone body, and the lower mounting plate is connected to the landing gear body, and a shock-absorbing component is arranged between the upper mounting plate and the lower mounting plate.

3. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper mounting plate is connected to the drone body via a plurality of flange pipes.

4. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 2, characterized in that: The shock absorbing assembly comprises a plurality of shock absorbing springs, the upper ends of the shock absorbing springs are fixed to the lower ends of the upper mounting plates, and the lower ends of the shock absorbing springs are fixed to the upper ends of the lower mounting plates.

5. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 4, characterized in that: The shock absorbing assembly also includes a plurality of spring locating pins, which pass through the center of the shock absorbing spring, the upper end of the spring locating pin is located above the upper mounting plate, and the lower end of the spring locating pin is located below the lower mounting plate.

6. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 5, characterized in that: A limit block is arranged at the lower end of the spring positioning pin shaft, and a cotter pin is connected to the upper end of the spring positioning pin shaft.

7. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 1, characterized in that: The folding assembly also includes a fixed shaft and a fixed plate, the upper end of the fixed shaft is fixed to the lower mounting plate, and the fixed plate is fixed to the lower end of the fixed shaft, each of the support assemblies includes two connecting support plates, the upper end of the connecting support plate is fixedly connected to the lower end of the fixing plate, and the telescopic device and the connecting rod are both arranged between the two connecting support plates.

8. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 1, characterized in that: The telescopic device is an electric push rod.

9. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 1, characterized in that: The height detection device is an ultrasonic sensor.

10. The foldable UAV landing gear according to claim 1, characterized in that: An electromagnetic lock is installed on the support assembly, and the electromagnetic lock is located at the lower end of the limiting slide groove. When the first pin shaft moves below the electromagnetic lock, the electromagnetic lock can lock the first pin shaft.

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