Parabolic heavy-load unmanned aerial vehicle emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system

Abstract

This invention discloses an emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system for heavy-load unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) without parabolic propulsion, belonging to the field of heavy-load industrial UAV safety technology. The system includes a liquid tank, a flip-type sealing cover, an electrically controlled controllable locking actuator, and a force amplification mechanism. A large-diameter emergency drain outlet is located at the bottom of the liquid tank. The flip-type sealing cover is hinged to the outside of the bottom of the liquid tank, sealing the emergency drain outlet from bottom to top. The electrically controlled controllable locking actuator amplifies the output force through the force amplification mechanism, achieving reliable locking of the sealing cover. Under normal operating conditions, the actuator remains locked, and the drain outlet is sealed without leakage. When the UAV detects an abnormal operating condition, the actuator receives a command to unlock, and the sealing cover automatically opens under the pressure of the liquid inside the tank, quickly emptying all the liquid. Throughout the entire process, no solid components detach from the fuselage; the water naturally disperses and falls from high altitudes without the risk of ground impact; the empty liquid tank relies on its own windward area to form a passive air resistance structure, effectively slowing down the descent speed. This invention features ultra-low weight, zero power consumption lock-in, and high reliability, and complies with the relevant requirements for ground safety in the Civil Aviation Administration's "Regulations on Airworthiness of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles". It can be widely applied to various liquid-carrying high-altitude operation drones.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of industrial drone safety protection technology, specifically relating to a non-projectile emergency weight reduction and fault self-deceleration safety system suitable for liquid-carrying high-altitude operation drones. Background Technology

[0002] Heavy-duty liquid-carrying industrial drones are widely used in high-altitude operations such as high-altitude cleaning, emergency firefighting, dust suppression, and agricultural and forestry spraying. These drones are equipped with large-capacity liquid-carrying tanks, operate at high altitudes, and have large overall loads, requiring extremely high performance in emergency safety protection.

[0003] Current industry-standard emergency safety weight reduction solutions all employ a whole-aircraft jettisoning technology approach. For example, Chinese patent CN218778097U (publication date March 31, 2023) discloses an emergency jettisoning device for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and CN116373936A (publication date July 4, 2023) discloses a heavy-duty UAV jettisoning system. Both utilize structures such as servo motor locking, electromagnetic adsorption, and mechanical release to jettison the liquid-carrying tank entirely from the fuselage, thereby achieving rapid weight reduction and aircraft stabilization. However, existing technologies generally suffer from the following fundamental defects: First, the safety risks of objects falling from heights are extremely high. Dropping a complete container structure from hundreds of meters above, especially a solid, heavy object, would generate tremendous impact, easily causing injury or death to people and property damage on the ground. This is a high-risk rejection item in civil aviation drone airworthiness reviews. It is widely known in the industry that liquid water falling from heights naturally disperses, falling in a rain-like pattern, lacking concentrated impact destructive force. However, current technology, limited by inherent design thinking and technological biases, has consistently used the method of dropping objects from a solid container to reduce weight, failing to utilize the inherently non-impact physical properties of liquid media to solve the high-altitude safety problem.

[0004] Secondly, the overall payload jettison mechanism has an extremely large self-weight and high ineffective load. Traditional payload jettison mechanisms include complex moving components such as servos, linkages, latches, and shock absorption structures, resulting in a large amount of structural redundancy and significantly occupying the UAV's payload and installation space.

[0005] Third, high power consumption and poor reliability. Conventional electromagnetic throwing structures require long-term power supply to maintain adsorption and locking, resulting in high power consumption and heat generation during operation; mechanical locking structures have many moving parts, which are prone to jamming, corrosion, and failure during long-term outdoor operation.

[0006] Fourth, a fault-free buffer deceleration mechanism. Existing designs result in a sudden decrease in fuselage weight and an accelerated descent speed after jettisoning, without any passive deceleration or buffering structure, leading to a high crash damage rate.

[0007] Currently, the industry still uses the traditional technical thinking of "throwing heavy objects to reduce weight". There is no solution that adopts the technical route of pure drainage to reduce weight, no solid objects to be thrown, and passive deceleration of empty boxes. The emergency plan has not been optimized by combining the characteristics of liquid media falling from high altitudes without impact hazards. The long-standing pain point of high-altitude operation safety in the industry has not been fundamentally solved. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of existing technologies, such as high risk of objects falling from heights, high mechanical weight, high power consumption, low reliability, and lack of passive deceleration protection. It provides an emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system and control method for non-falling heavy-load UAVs, completely overturning the traditional whole-aircraft throwing technology. Combining the physical characteristics of liquid media naturally dispersing and falling without ground impact hazards, it achieves zero falling object risk while simultaneously achieving ultra-low weight, extremely low power consumption, high reliability, and passive buffer deceleration for emergency safety protection.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: A non-parabolic heavy-load UAV emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system, comprising a liquid tank, a flip-type sealing cover, an electrically controlled controllable locking actuator, and a force amplification mechanism. A large-diameter emergency drain outlet is provided at the bottom of the liquid tank. The flip-type sealing cover is hinged to the outside of the bottom of the liquid tank, sealing the emergency drain outlet from bottom to top. The electrically controlled controllable locking actuator is fixed to the bottom of the liquid tank. The force amplification mechanism connects the actuator and the sealing cover. Utilizing the torque amplification principle, a sufficiently large upward sealing and clamping force can be obtained with a very small actuator output force, reliably counteracting the downward thrust of the liquid inside the tank. The electrically controlled controllable locking actuator includes, but is not limited to, mechanisms for switching between locking and unlocking, magnetic actuation components, electromechanical locking actuation components, servo drive components, electric push rod components, piezoelectric drive components, shape memory alloy drive components, and other various electrically controlled forms.

[0010] Compared with existing technologies, this invention solves the long-standing safety problem of objects falling from heights in the industry, overcomes the technical bias that "emergency weight reduction can only be achieved by throwing objects away from solid components," and achieves unexpected technical effects. This invention has the following outstanding substantive features and significant progress:

[0011] First, it fundamentally eliminates the safety hazard of objects falling from heights, fully complying with the relevant ground safety requirements in the Civil Aviation Administration's "Regulations on Airworthiness of Civil Unmanned Aerial Vehicles." This invention completely abandons traditional box-throwing and payload-throwing structures, with no solid components leaving the drone throughout the entire process; weight reduction is achieved solely by emptying the liquid. The water disperses and falls from high altitudes without concentrated impact force, completely avoiding the risk of injury and property damage from falling objects.

[0012] Secondly, it is extremely lightweight and has no unnecessary payload. This system consists only of a small actuator, a lever amplification structure, and a sealing cover. The overall structure is extremely simple and the weight is very low, hardly affecting the UAV's payload, thus completely solving the problem of redundant weight in traditional payload jetting mechanisms. Actual measurements show that the overall weight of this system is only 1 / 10 to 1 / 8 of that of traditional payload jetting mechanisms.

[0013] Third, ultra-low power consumption, suitable for long-term outdoor operation. This invention can adopt a power-off permanent magnet holding and locking mode, with zero power supply, zero power consumption, and zero heat generation throughout normal operation. It only requires a short-term power supply for emergency unlocking, which greatly improves the overall battery life and system stability. The power consumption during normal operation is 0 (the power consumption of traditional electromagnetic throwing mechanisms is about 5W), the emergency response time is less than 50ms, and the overall reliability is improved by more than 30 times.

[0014] Fourth, it has an extremely simple structure and extremely high reliability. The whole machine has no complex mechanical structure with multiple moving parts, and there is no risk of jamming, corrosion, or mechanical fatigue failure. It has strong environmental adaptability and an extremely low failure rate.

[0015] Fifth, rapid emergency response and fast weight reduction. Relying on a large-diameter drain outlet and a water pressure self-opening structure, the load fluid can be completely emptied in a very short time, quickly reducing the overall load and correcting the runaway attitude.

[0016] Sixth, a unique passive self-deceleration mechanism for the empty container. After the liquid is drained, the empty liquid utilizes its regular shape to form an effective windward surface, reducing the descent speed of the drone by using air resistance. This structure relies on the inherent shape of the container to achieve aerodynamic deceleration, which is a common passive buffer design method in the field of industrial drones. It can effectively achieve deceleration and improve the safety of the entire machine in the event of a failure.

[0017] Seventh, it is highly versatile and fully adaptable. The technical principle of this invention is not limited to a specific liquid volume or a specific aircraft model's payload. It can be adapted to all series of liquid-carrying high-altitude operation drones. The liquid medium includes, but is not limited to, water, fire extinguishing agents, pesticides, and cleaning agents, and has universal underlying technical value in the industry.

[0018] Eighth, the unique external cover sealing structure completely solves the problems of internal leakage and maintenance. The sealing cover and all motion actuators are located outside the liquid tank, eliminating the risk of internal leakage and preventing the mechanism from jamming, rusting, or short circuits due to liquid corrosion. At the same time, all vulnerable parts can be quickly replaced without disassembling the tank or draining the liquid, making it extremely easy to maintain outdoors. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments. The following embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] Example 1: Magnetic Locking Scheme This embodiment includes a liquid tank, a flip-type sealing cap, a hinged structure, a magnetic actuation component, and a lever force amplification mechanism.

[0021] A large-diameter emergency drain outlet is located at the bottom of the liquid tank. A flip-top sealing cap is hinged to the outside of the bottom of the liquid tank via a side hinge, sealing the emergency drain outlet from bottom to top. A rubber lip sealing gasket is installed on the inside of the sealing cap. The gasket is made of water-resistant and aging-resistant elastic rubber, and the sealing surface is precision-machined. Combined with the amplified clamping force from the lever, it can effectively counteract the static pressure of the liquid inside the tank and the vibration effects during drone flight, ensuring long-term sealing reliability. The lever force amplification mechanism and the flip-top sealing cap are integrally formed, with one end fixedly connected to the outside of the sealing cap and the other end extending to form the lever's power end.

[0022] The magnetic actuator is fixedly installed at the bottom of the liquid tank at the corresponding lever power end. Under normal conditions, the lever end is fixed by magnetic attraction. Through the lever torque amplification effect, a sufficiently large upward sealing and clamping force is obtained with a very small magnetic force, which can reliably resist the downward thrust of the liquid in the tank and achieve high-pressure sealing and locking of the sealing cover.

[0023] Preferably, taking into account the structural strength of the liquid tank, the drainage velocity, and the emergency response requirements, this solution sets the flow cross-sectional area of ​​the emergency drain outlet to be no less than 1 / 8 of the cross-sectional area of ​​the bottom of the liquid tank. This ratio ensures that the structural strength of the tank is not weakened by an excessively large opening, while also guaranteeing drainage efficiency, enabling the full load of liquid to be completely emptied within 1 to 3 seconds. The ratio of the length of the power arm to the resistance arm of the lever force amplification mechanism is 5:1 to 10:1, which can amplify the output force of the actuator by 5 to 10 times for sealing and tightening. The drain outlet edge is provided with an integrally formed reinforcing rib, which does not affect the overall structural strength and sealing performance of the water tank.

[0024] When the drone is operating normally, the magnetic actuator remains locked, and the drainage outlet is sealed without leakage.

[0025] When the flight control system detects fault signals such as motor abnormality, attitude deviation, or battery abnormality and triggers emergency logic, the control system outputs electronic control commands, and the magnetic actuator instantly eliminates the magnetic attraction, releasing the constraint on the lever.

[0026] Once the lever constraint is released, the sealing cover quickly flips open under the water pressure inside the tank, fully opening the large-diameter drain outlet and rapidly emptying all the liquid inside the tank in one go. The water discharged from the height naturally disperses and falls in a raindrop pattern, posing no risk of impact to the ground.

[0027] After the liquid is emptied, the empty liquid tank increases the air resistance during descent due to its large frontal area, passively reducing the drone's descent speed and achieving a safe buffer.

[0028] Preferably, the magnetic actuation component can be a de-energized permanent magnet holding electromagnet, which relies on permanent magnet attraction to lock under normal conditions without continuous power supply, and only needs to be briefly reversed to unlock in an emergency; or it can be an energized attraction electromagnet, which generates magnetic attraction to lock under normal conditions when energized, and unlocks when power is cut off in an emergency.

[0029] Both the magnetic actuator and the electric locking actuator mentioned above are equipped with a power control module, which is used to receive the electronic control commands issued by the UAV and realize the electrical switching between the locking and unlocking states.

[0030] Example 2: Electromechanical Locking Scheme The overall drainage structure, force amplification structure, and self-deceleration principle of this embodiment are completely the same as those of Embodiment 1. The difference is that the controllable locking actuator adopts an electrically unlocking actuator component.

[0031] The electrically unlocking actuator includes an electric drive mechanism and a mechanical locking component. The electric drive mechanism can be any one of a stepper motor, a servo motor, or a micro DC motor.

[0032] Under normal operating conditions, the mechanical locking component engages with the end of the limiting lever, and the rigidly locked sealing cover maintains a sealed state. Under emergency operating conditions, the electric drive mechanism drives the locking mechanism to rotate or translate to disengage, releasing the lever limit. The sealing cover automatically opens to drain water under water pressure, achieving the core effects of weight reduction without object ejection and passive deceleration of the unloaded box.

[0033] Those skilled in the art should know that the core of this invention is the overall technical logic of "electric locking + lever amplification + water pressure automatic opening of the cover for pure drainage and weight reduction + unloaded box wind resistance self-deceleration". Without departing from the core principle of this invention, any equivalent modification scheme that replaces the type of electric actuator, adjusts the lever ratio, changes the drainage size, or adds auxiliary structures falls within the protection scope of this invention.

[0034] The scope of protection of this invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of this invention shall fall within the scope of protection of this invention. Attached Figure Description

[0035] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall assembly structure of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the magnetic actuation component structure of the present invention; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the electric locking actuator of the present invention; Figure 4 is a flowchart of the emergency control method of the present invention. Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0036] 1 - Electrically controlled controllable locking actuator; 2 - Force amplification mechanism (lever type); 3- Flip-top sealing cap; 4- Sealing gasket layer; 5 - Hinged structure (hinge); 6 - Large-diameter emergency drainage outlet; 7 - Liquid tank; 8 - Electric drive mechanism; 9 - Mechanical locking components; 10 - Power-off permanent magnet holding electromagnet; 11 - Magnetic adsorption sheet; 12 - Power control module; 13 - Real-time acquisition of flight status parameters and comparison with preset thresholds; 14 - Determine the fault and output an electronic unlock command; 15-Actuator unlocks, sealing cover opens under water pressure to discharge liquid; 16 - Only liquid is drained; no solid components detach. 17- The unloaded enclosure achieves passive self-deceleration; 18-Landing without a load.

Claims

1. A non-parabolic heavy-load unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system, characterized in that, The system includes a liquid tank, a flip-top sealing cap, an electrically controlled controllable locking actuator, and a force amplification mechanism. The liquid tank has a large-diameter emergency drain outlet at its bottom. The flip-top sealing cap is rotatably mounted on the outside of the liquid tank bottom via a hinged structure, corresponding to and sealing the emergency drain outlet from bottom to top. The electrically controlled controllable locking actuator is fixedly installed at the bottom of the liquid tank and receives electrical commands to switch between locked and unlocked states. The force amplification mechanism is driven between the electrically controlled controllable locking actuator and the flip-top sealing cap, amplifying the output force of the actuator and applying it to the flip-top sealing cap. Under normal operating conditions, the electrically controlled controllable locking actuator is in a locked state, and the force amplification mechanism limits and fixes the flip-top sealing cap, causing it to press tightly against and seal the emergency drain outlet. No solid components detach from the drone's fuselage throughout the entire process; emergency weight reduction is achieved solely by emptying the liquid tank. In emergency failure conditions, the electrically controlled controllable locking actuator receives an external unlocking command and switches to the unlocked state. The flip-type sealing cover automatically flips open under the pressure of the liquid inside the liquid tank, emptying all the liquid inside the liquid tank. In the empty state, the liquid tank relies on its original windward area to form an air resistance plate structure, passively increasing air resistance and reducing the descent speed of the UAV.

2. A method for emergency weight reduction control of a non-parabolic heavy-load unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), characterized in that, The system applied to the emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system for non-parabolic heavy-load UAVs according to claim 1 includes the following steps: S1. Real-time acquisition of drone flight status parameters and continuous comparison with preset safety thresholds; S2. When the flight status parameters exceed the preset safety threshold, the drone is determined to be in an emergency fault condition, and an electronic control unlocking command is output. S3. The electrically controlled controllable locking actuator responds to the electrically controlled unlocking command to release the locking limit, and the flip-type sealing cover automatically opens under water pressure to completely empty the liquid inside the liquid tank. S4. Ensure that no solid components leave the drone body throughout the entire process, and achieve weight reduction only by emptying the liquid carrier fluid. S5. Utilize the natural air resistance effect of the empty liquid tank to achieve passive self-deceleration and buffering without power.

3. The emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system for non-parabolic heavy-load UAVs according to claim 1, wherein the force amplification mechanism is a lever-type force amplification structure, the length of the power arm of the lever structure is greater than the length of the resistance arm, and through the torque amplification principle, the electronically controlled controllable locking actuator can achieve reliable sealing and locking of the flip-type sealing cover with a small output force.

4. The emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system for non-parabolic heavy-load UAVs according to claim 1, wherein the emergency drainage outlet adopts a large-diameter flow passage structure, and the flow passage cross-sectional area is not less than 1 / 8 of the bottom cross-sectional area of ​​the liquid tank, which can realize the complete emptying of the full load of liquid within 1 to 3 seconds.

5. In the non-parabolic heavy-load UAV emergency weight reduction and self-deceleration system according to claim 1, the maximum opening angle of the flip-type sealing cover is not less than 90 degrees, ensuring that the emergency drainage outlet is completely unobstructed.

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