Controllable aerial refueling taper sleeve facilitating alignment of probe tube of oil receiver

Abstract

The invention discloses a controllable air refueling taper sleeve convenient for alignment of an exploring tube of a receiver plane, and belongs to the technical field of air refueling. The controllable air refueling taper sleeve comprises a fairing, one end of the fairing is fixedly connected with a damping umbrella through a plurality of umbrella ribs, and a positioning hole and a horn mouth communicated with the positioning hole are formed in the fairing; a plurality of fan-shaped grooves communicated with the horn mouth are formed in the inner circumferential direction of the fairing and surround the horn mouth, fan-shaped buffer plates are rotationally arranged in the fan-shaped grooves through torsional springs, and annular notches matched with the arc-shaped walls of the fan-shaped buffer plates are formed in the oil receiver probe. The inner diameter of an annular area defined by the top walls, close to the positioning holes, of the fan-shaped buffer plates is smaller than the diameter of the positioning holes and smaller than the diameter of the oil receiver probe. In the process of guiding the oil receiver probe into the hole, the buffering effect can be achieved, and the influence that the taper sleeve is collided and bounced off due to the fact that the oil receiver probe collides with the horn mouth during alignment is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of aerial refueling, and in particular relates to a controllable aerial refueling drogue sleeve which facilitates the alignment of a probe of a receiving aircraft. Background Art

[0002] Aerial refueling technology, a core support system in modern air combat, plays an irreplaceable role in increasing fighter range, extending loiter time, and expanding combat radius. Simultaneously, with the surge in the development of drone technology and the low-altitude economy, aerial refueling technology is gradually expanding into civilian and unmanned aerial vehicle applications, promising promising future applications. Currently, the world's mainstream aerial refueling methods are categorized into two types: hard refueling and soft refueling. Hard refueling uses a boom with two V-shaped surfaces that allow for subtle control of the boom's position, simplifying docking and improving fuel transfer efficiency. However, it is complex, heavy, and typically only supports single-point refueling, making it difficult to meet the demands of modern combat operations such as multi-target and rapid deployment. Soft refueling involves releasing a refueling drogue to release the hose. Once the drogue and refueling aircraft achieve relative stability, the receiving aircraft actively approaches and docks. This method offers advantages such as lightweight equipment and minimal docking impact, making it suitable for aerial refueling missions involving multiple sorties and various types of platforms.

[0003] Currently, most soft aerial refueling drogues consist of a drag parachute, a support frame, and a fairing. The parachute maintains a relatively stable position through the aerodynamic forces acting on it. However, the flexible hose connecting the drogue is constantly subject to deformation from airflow disturbances such as the tanker's wake, gusts, and atmospheric turbulence. In practice, the drogue can drift uncontrollably, seriously impacting the success rate and safety of aerial refueling docking.

[0004] Existing technologies generally use active stabilization to improve the stability of the drogue body. For example, Chinese patent publication number CN114577431B discloses a control-surface-based autonomous aerial refueling test drogue. However, when the receiving aircraft probe is aligned with the drogue, if the initial deviation of the receiving aircraft probe is large (especially in the vertical direction), the probe may not be reliably guided into the hole, resulting in "collision and bounce" or "edge scraping."

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to propose a controllable aerial refueling drogue that is convenient for the probe alignment of the receiving aircraft to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a controllable aerial refueling cone sleeve that facilitates the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe, which is used to solve the problem in the prior art that when the initial deviation of the receiving aircraft's probe is large, the probe may not be reliably guided into the hole, causing the cone sleeve to collide, bounce off, or scrape the edge.

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: The invention provides a controllable aerial refueling drogue that is convenient for aligning a probe tube of a receiving aircraft. The invention comprises a fairing, wherein one end of the fairing is fixedly connected to a damping parachute by a plurality of ribs circumferentially arranged with an axis of the fairing as the center, the fairing is provided with a positioning hole for inserting the probe tube of the receiving aircraft and a bell mouth connected with the positioning hole, the bell mouth is arranged close to the side of the damping parachute, the fairing is provided with a plurality of fan-shaped grooves circumferentially arranged with the axis of the fairing as the center, the plurality of fan-shaped grooves are arranged around the bell mouth, the fan-shaped grooves are connected with the bell mouth, a fan-shaped buffer plate is rotatably arranged in the fan-shaped groove, the end of the fan-shaped buffer plate away from the positioning hole is rotatably connected to the fan-shaped groove by a torsion spring, the probe tube of the receiving aircraft is provided with an annular notch that cooperates with the arc wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate, and before the probe tube of the receiving aircraft enters the bell mouth, the inner diameter of the annular area formed by the top wall of the plurality of fan-shaped buffer plates close to the positioning hole is smaller than the diameter of the positioning hole and smaller than the diameter of the probe tube of the receiving aircraft.

[0008] Furthermore, the diameter of the positioning hole is larger than the diameter of the oil receiving machine probe, and a plurality of cavities connected one by one with the fan-shaped grooves are provided in the fairing, and the plurality of cavities are arranged around the positioning hole, and the cavities are connected with the positioning hole. An arc-shaped rack is fixedly provided on the arc-shaped wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate near the positioning hole side, and the arc-shaped rack and the fan-shaped buffer plate are staggered along the circumferential direction of the fan-shaped buffer plate, and a bar tooth engaged with the arc-shaped rack is slidingly connected in the cavity, and the bar tooth can extend into the positioning hole.

[0009] Furthermore, a spring is fixedly connected between the strip teeth and a side wall of the cavity away from the positioning hole.

[0010] Furthermore, the strip teeth extend to the top wall of the positioning hole and are fixedly connected to an elastic pad.

[0011] Furthermore, an annular cavity connected to multiple cavities is provided in the fairing, a gear ring is rotatably connected in the annular cavity, a gear meshing with the gear ring is rotatably connected in the cavity, a rack is fixedly connected to the side wall of the bar teeth away from the arc-shaped rack, the rack is meshed with the gear, and sliding the rack can rotate the gear to rotate the gear ring so that all gears and the arc-shaped rack rotate synchronously.

[0012] Furthermore, the outer wall of the fairing is rotatably provided with four airfoil rudders, and the four airfoil rudders are arranged in an X shape. The bottom wall of the airfoil rudder is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft near the damping parachute side, and the rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the fairing. The fairing is equipped with a steering servo for driving the airfoil rudder to rotate around the rotating shaft. A binocular camera is fixedly installed on the side wall of the fairing near the bell mouth. A GNSS positioning module, an IMU inertial measurement unit and a computer are installed in the fairing, and the computer is electrically connected to the GNSS positioning module, the IMU inertial measurement unit and the steering servo.

[0013] Furthermore, the steering servo is arranged below the bottom wall of the airfoil rudder surface and away from the damping parachute side. The output end and the rotating shaft of the steering servo are respectively fixed with first connecting rods located in the same plane. The two ends of the two first connecting rods are rotatably connected with a second connecting rod. The two first connecting rods and the second connecting rod form a four-bar structure.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: 1. According to the present invention, when the receiving engine probe hits the sector-shaped buffer plate, the forward extrusion of the receiving engine probe drives the sector-shaped buffer plate to rotate, causing the sector-shaped buffer plate to slide into the sector-shaped groove. During this process, the sector-shaped buffer plate rotates to reduce the initial slope, making it easier for the receiving engine probe to slide into the positioning hole. The torsion spring can play a buffering role in the process of guiding the receiving engine probe into the hole, reducing the impact of the cone sleeve colliding and bouncing off due to the impact of the receiving engine probe hitting the bell mouth when the receiving engine probe is aligned; and the reaction force of the torsion spring will drive the receiving engine probe to move radially toward the center of the positioning hole, so as to accurately guide the receiving engine probe into the positioning hole. After the receiving engine probe enters the positioning hole and is positioned, the annular notch is provided, so that the sector-shaped buffer plate loses the extrusion of the receiving engine probe, and thus rotates into the sector-shaped groove under the action of the torsion spring. At this time, the sector-shaped buffer plate can abut against the side wall of the annular notch to lock the receiving engine probe, preventing the receiving engine probe from falling out of the positioning hole during refueling.

[0015] 2. The present invention arranges X-shaped fully movable pneumatic control surfaces at the middle and rear part of the drogue, which can realize rapid linkage control of the drogue in the three channels of pitch, yaw and roll. Compared with cross-shaped control surfaces and non-fully movable control surfaces, it has better control surface aerodynamic efficiency and attitude response speed, and can effectively actively stabilize the drogue in complex airflow environments.

[0016] 3. This invention integrates a three-dimensional visual positioning system into a soft aerial refueling drogue for the first time, achieving real-time spatial perception of the receiving aircraft's probe. This can give the drogue drogue autonomous perception capabilities during the refueling and docking process, providing a technical foundation for more accurate intelligent unmanned aerial docking.

[0017] 4. The present invention adopts an embedded visual module design, which has good structural compactness and system integration, will not have any impact on the aerodynamic performance of the cone sleeve, is convenient for aerodynamic analysis and modular design, and has excellent engineering adaptability and scalability.

[0018] 5. The present invention integrates visual perception and control surface technology, enabling the flight control system to sense target position information while maintaining the stability of the drogue's own attitude and trajectory, thereby achieving autonomous approach motion control of the drogue to the receiving aircraft's probe, which can greatly simplify the operating burden on the receiving aircraft pilot.

[0019] 6. The technical solution provided by this invention is not only applicable to the aerial refueling operations of traditional manned fighter jets, but also oriented towards the future intelligent air combat system. It has good universality and scalability and can be promoted and applied to cutting-edge scenarios such as unmanned supply and drone cluster aerial refueling in the context of military-civilian integration, promoting the development of aerial refueling systems towards intelligence, autonomy, and unmanned operation. Other advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will be described in the following description and will be apparent to those skilled in the art to some extent, or those skilled in the art can be taught from the practice of the present invention. The objectives and other advantages of the present invention can be realized and obtained through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present invention more clear, the present invention provides the following drawings for illustration: Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a refueling drogue according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of the fairing and the receiving aircraft probe in cooperation with each other according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the installation structure of the airfoil rudder surface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] The markings in the accompanying drawings are as follows: fairing 1, rib 101, damping parachute 102, positioning hole 103, bell mouth 104, fan-shaped groove 105, cavity 106, annular cavity 107, receiving aircraft probe 2, annular notch 201, fan-shaped buffer plate 3, arc-shaped rack 4, bar-shaped teeth 5, spring 501, elastic pad 502, gear ring 6, gear 601, rack 602, airfoil control surface 7, rotating shaft 701, steering servo 702, first connecting rod 703, second connecting rod 704. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] like Figures 1-3As shown, the present invention provides a controllable aerial refueling drogue that facilitates the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe, comprising: a fairing 1, one end of the fairing 1 is provided with a plurality of ribs 101 circumferentially centered around the axis of the fairing 1, the ribs 101 are fixedly connected to a damping parachute 102 at the end away from the fairing 1, a positioning hole 103 for inserting the receiving aircraft's probe 2 and a bell mouth 104 connected to the positioning hole 103 are provided in the fairing 1, and the fairing 1 is provided with a circumferentially centered around the axis of the fairing 1. A plurality of fan-shaped grooves 105 are circumferentially arranged with the line as the center, and the plurality of fan-shaped grooves 105 are arranged around the bell mouth 104. The fan-shaped grooves 105 are connected to the bell mouth 104. A fan-shaped buffer plate 3 is rotatably arranged in the fan-shaped groove 105. The end of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 away from the positioning hole 103 is rotatably connected in the fan-shaped groove 105 through a torsion spring (not shown in the figure). The oil receiving machine probe 2 is provided with an annular notch 201 that cooperates with the arc wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3.

[0023] In the present embodiment, when the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 is in the initial state, the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 extends out of the fan-shaped groove 105 and extends into the bell mouth 104 due to the action of the torsion spring, and the diameter of the annular area formed by the top wall of the plurality of fan-shaped buffer plates 3 close to the positioning hole 103 is smaller than the diameter of the positioning hole 103. In the process of the receiving machine probe 2 entering the positioning hole 103 from the bell mouth 104, when the receiving machine probe 2 hits the fan-shaped buffer plate 3, the forward squeezing effect of the receiving machine probe 2 will drive the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 to rotate, causing the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 to slide into the fan groove 105. In this process, the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 reduces the initial slope by rotating, so that the receiving machine probe 2 is convenient for sliding into the positioning hole 103, and the torsion spring can make the receiving machine probe 2 During the process of guiding the engine probe tube 2 into the hole, it plays a buffering role, reducing the collision of the oil receiving machine probe tube 2 with the bell mouth 104 during alignment, causing the cone sleeve to collide and spread out; and due to the reaction force of the torsion spring, the oil receiving machine probe tube 2 will be driven to move radially toward the center of the positioning hole 103, so that the oil receiving machine probe tube 2 can be accurately guided into the positioning hole 103. After the oil receiving machine probe tube 2 enters the positioning hole 103 for positioning, due to the setting of the annular notch 201, the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 loses the squeezing of the oil receiving machine probe tube 2, and thus rotates into the fan-shaped groove 105 under the action of the torsion spring. At this time, the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 can be against the side wall of the annular notch 201 to lock the oil receiving machine probe tube 2, and prevent the oil receiving machine probe tube 2 from escaping from the positioning hole 103 during refueling.

[0024] In one embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of the positioning hole 103 is larger than the diameter of the oil receiving machine probe 2, and a plurality of cavities 106 connected one by one with the fan-shaped grooves 105 are provided in the fairing 1, and the plurality of cavities 106 are arranged around the positioning hole 103, and the cavities 106 are connected with the positioning hole 103. The arc-shaped rack 4 is fixedly provided on the arc wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 near the side of the positioning hole 103, and the arc-shaped rack 4 and the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 are staggered along the circumferential direction of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 so that the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 can extend into the bell-mouth 104 and prevent the arc-shaped rack 4 from extending into the bell-mouth 104. The cavity 106 is limitedly slidably connected with a bar tooth 5 engaged with the arc-shaped rack 4, and the bar tooth 5 can extend into the positioning hole 103.

[0025] In this solution, in the initial state before the receiving machine probe tube 2 enters the drogue sleeve, the strip teeth 5 extend into the positioning hole 103. When the receiving machine probe tube 2 squeezes the sector-shaped buffer plate 3 and enters the positioning hole 103, due to the squeezing of the receiving machine probe tube 2 by multiple sector-shaped buffer plates 3 and the larger diameter of the positioning hole 103 than the diameter of the receiving machine probe tube 2, an annular gap is formed between the receiving machine probe tube 2 and the inner wall of the positioning hole 103, thereby preventing the receiving machine probe tube 2 from generating friction when entering the inner wall of the positioning hole 103 and causing "edge scraping", thereby affecting the stability of the drogue sleeve. When the receiving machine probe 2 squeezes the sector buffer plate 3, the rotation of the sector buffer plate 3 drives the bar teeth 5 to slide radially along the positioning hole 103, so that the bar teeth 5 slide into the cavity 106. After the receiving machine probe 2 enters the positioning hole 103, until the annular notch 201 corresponds to the sector buffer plate 3, the sector buffer plate 3 rotates and bounces into the bell mouth 104 under the action of the torsion spring, thereby driving the bar teeth 5 to slide into the positioning hole 103 through the arc-shaped rack 4, and clamping the receiving machine probe 2 through multiple bar teeth 5.

[0026] In one embodiment of the present invention, a spring 501 is fixedly connected between the strip teeth 5 and the side wall of the cavity 106 away from the positioning hole 103 .

[0027] In this solution, by setting a spring 501 and cooperating with the torsion spring, the ability of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 and the bar tooth 5 to return to the initial state is improved, and the stability of the return of the fan-shaped buffer plate 3 and the bar tooth 5 is ensured by the tooth shape cooperation between the arc-shaped rack 4 and the bar tooth 5.

[0028] In one embodiment of the present invention, the top wall of the strip teeth 5 extending to the positioning hole 103 is fixedly connected with an elastic pad 502 to improve the clamping stability of the receiving machine probe 2.

[0029] In one embodiment of the present invention, an annular cavity 107 connected to multiple cavities 106 is provided in the fairing 1, a gear ring 6 is rotatably connected in the annular cavity 107, a gear 601 engaged with the gear ring 6 is rotatably connected in the cavity 106, and a rack 602 is fixedly connected to the side wall of the bar tooth 5 away from the arc-shaped rack 4, and the rack 602 is engaged with the gear 601. Sliding the rack 602 can rotate the gear 601 to rotate the gear ring 6 so that all the racks 602 and the arc-shaped rack 4 rotate synchronously.

[0030] In this solution, when the receiving machine probe 2 squeezes any sector-shaped buffer plate 3, it drives the arc-shaped rack 4 to rotate, thereby driving the bar-shaped tooth 5 and the rack 602 to slide radially along the positioning hole 103, thereby driving the gear 601 to rotate, thereby driving the gear ring 6 to rotate, so that all the gears 601 and the corresponding racks 602 and the arc-shaped rack 4 move synchronously. When the receiving machine probe 2 needs to be removed, the gear ring 6 is driven to rotate by the driving mechanism to rotate so that the multiple sector-shaped buffer plates 3 are rotated into the sector-shaped groove 105 to disengage from the annular notch 201. The driving mechanism includes but is not limited to conventional technical means in the field such as motors. The way in which the driving mechanism drives the gear ring 6 to rotate is a conventional technical means in the field and will not be repeated here.

[0031] In one embodiment of the present invention, four airfoil rudder surfaces 7 are rotatably provided on the outer wall of the fairing 1, and the four airfoil rudder surfaces 7 are arranged in an X shape. The bottom wall of the airfoil rudder surface 7 is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft 701 near the damping parachute 102. The rotating shaft 701 is rotatably connected to the fairing 1, and a steering servo 702 for driving the airfoil rudder surface 7 to rotate around the rotating shaft 701 is installed on the fairing 1; a binocular camera (not shown in the figure) is fixedly installed on the side wall of the fairing 1 near the bell mouth 104, and a GNSS positioning module, an IMU inertial measurement unit and a computer are installed in the fairing 1, and the computer is electrically connected to the GNSS positioning module, the IMU inertial measurement unit and the steering servo 702.

[0032] In this solution, based on the actual motion state and required difference of the cone sleeve measured by the GNSS positioning module and the IMU inertial measurement unit, the attitude decoupling and control allocation algorithm is used to solve the target deflection angle of each airfoil control surface in real time, and the adjustment is quickly completed by computer-controlled steering servo 702. The visual module composed of the onboard computer 11 and the binocular camera 15 also has good robustness in low-light environments. The reliability of visual positioning information is ensured through image denoising, super-resolution and target recognition algorithms.

[0033] In one embodiment of the present invention, the steering servo 702 is arranged below the bottom wall of the airfoil rudder 7 and away from the damping parachute 102. The output end of the steering servo 702 and the rotating shaft 701 are respectively fixed with first connecting rods 703 located in the same plane. The two ends of the two first connecting rods 703 are rotatably connected with a second connecting rod 704. The two first connecting rods 703 and the second connecting rod 704 form a four-bar structure.

[0034] Finally, it should be noted that the above preferred embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not limiting. Although the present invention has been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that various changes can be made in form and details without departing from the scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of a receiving aircraft probe, comprising a fairing, one end of which is fixedly connected to a damping parachute via a plurality of ribs arranged circumferentially about the fairing axis, characterized in that: The fairing is provided with a positioning hole for plugging in the oil receiving machine probe and a bell mouth connected to the positioning hole, the bell mouth is provided close to the side of the damping parachute, the fairing is provided with a plurality of fan-shaped grooves circumferentially centered on the fairing axis, the plurality of fan-shaped grooves are arranged around the bell mouth, the fan-shaped grooves are connected to the bell mouth, a fan-shaped buffer plate is rotatably provided in the fan-shaped groove, the end of the fan-shaped buffer plate away from the positioning hole is rotatably connected in the fan-shaped groove by a torsion spring, the oil receiving machine probe is provided with an annular notch that cooperates with the arc-shaped wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate, before the oil receiving machine probe enters the bell mouth, the inner diameter of the annular area formed by the plurality of fan-shaped buffer plates close to the top wall of the positioning hole is smaller than the diameter of the positioning hole and smaller than the diameter of the oil receiving machine probe.

2. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 1, characterized in that: The diameter of the positioning hole is larger than the diameter of the oil receiving machine probe. A plurality of cavities connected one by one with the fan-shaped grooves are provided in the fairing. The plurality of cavities are arranged around the positioning hole. The cavities are connected with the positioning hole. An arc-shaped rack is fixedly provided on the arc-shaped wall of the fan-shaped buffer plate close to the positioning hole. The arc-shaped rack and the fan-shaped buffer plate are staggered along the circumferential direction of the fan-shaped buffer plate. A bar tooth engaged with the arc-shaped rack is slidingly connected in the cavity, and the bar tooth can extend into the positioning hole.

3. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 2, characterized in that: A spring is fixedly connected between the strip teeth and a side wall of the cavity away from the positioning hole.

4. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 3 is characterized by: The strip teeth extend to the top wall of the positioning hole and are fixedly connected with an elastic pad.

5. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 4, characterized in that: An annular cavity connected to multiple cavities is provided in the fairing, a gear ring is rotatably connected in the annular cavity, a gear meshing with the gear ring is rotatably connected in the cavity, a rack is fixedly connected to the side wall of the bar teeth away from the arc-shaped rack, the rack is meshed with the gear, and sliding the rack can rotate the gear to rotate the gear ring so that all gears and the arc-shaped rack rotate synchronously.

6. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 5, characterized in that: The outer wall of the fairing is rotatably provided with four airfoil rudder surfaces, which are arranged in an X shape. The bottom wall of the airfoil rudder surface is fixedly connected to a rotating shaft near the damping parachute side. The rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the fairing. A steering servo for driving the airfoil rudder surface to rotate around the rotating shaft is installed on the fairing. A binocular camera is fixedly installed on the side wall of the fairing near the bell mouth. A GNSS positioning module, an IMU inertial measurement unit and a computer are installed in the fairing. The computer is electrically connected to the GNSS positioning module, the IMU inertial measurement unit and the steering servo.

7. The controllable aerial refueling drogue for facilitating the alignment of the receiving aircraft's probe according to claim 6, characterized in that: The steering servo is arranged below the bottom wall of the airfoil rudder surface and away from the damping parachute side. The output end of the steering servo and the rotating shaft are respectively fixed with first connecting rods located in the same plane. The two ends of the two first connecting rods are rotatably connected with a second connecting rod. The two first connecting rods and the second connecting rod form a four-bar structure.

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