Variable-configuration tilting quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The utility model relates to a variable-configuration tilting quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle which comprises rotors (1), motors (2), main wings (3), a fuselage (4), a vertical fin (7), a power supply unit (8), a control unit (9), tilting steering engines (10), driving rocker arms (11), tilting connecting rods (13), tilting rod supports (16), front tilting rods (17), rear tilting rods, front driven rocker arms (18) and rear driven rocker arms. The tilting mechanism is simple in configuration form, the appearance of the whole tilting mechanism is not greatly changed in the tilting process, and the pneumatic influence in the tilting process is relatively small. When the rotors tilt forwards, a conventional rotor fixed wing aircraft mode is adopted, when the rotors tilt upwards, a conventional four-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle mode is adopted, and various modes and modes such as vertical take-off and landing, hovering and forward flying can be achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of aircraft design, and to a tilting quadcopter drone with a simple tilting mechanism, easy operation, and variable configuration. Background Technology

[0002] The world's mainstream aircraft are mainly divided into two categories: rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft. Rotorcraft can take off and land vertically, hover freely, are highly maneuverable, and do not require a dedicated runway for takeoff and landing, making them highly adaptable. However, their short range and slow speed limit their application. Fixed-wing aircraft have long range and high speed, but require a dedicated runway for takeoff and landing, have high site requirements, and cannot hover. To overcome the limitations of rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft, tiltrotor aircraft have emerged.

[0003] Tiltrotor drones are a new type of aircraft. A tiltrotor drone changes the direction of its thrust by tilting its rotor: when the rotor is horizontal, it generates a vertically upward thrust; when the rotor tilts, it generates an axially forward thrust. This gives tiltrotor drones two different stable operating modes: helicopter mode and fixed-wing aircraft mode. It can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and hover in place, while also possessing the advantages of fixed-wing aircraft such as high speed and long range.

[0004] Chinese patent CN201510386606.8 proposes a scheme for a tilting quadcopter aircraft. The aircraft has four tilting rotors arranged around the fuselage. By changing the installation angle of the rotors, the aircraft can achieve take-off, landing and forward flight. However, since there are no wings, the aircraft's lift still mainly needs to be provided by the rotors, which means that the rotors cannot tilt completely. This aircraft is only an optimization of the quadcopter aircraft and has great limitations. In addition, the scheme uses a skid landing gear and does not have the ability to take off and land on a runway.

[0005] Chinese patent CN201510562392.5 proposes a tilting quadcopter. This aircraft uses a tilting unit to drive four sets of rotor units and wings to rotate together to achieve take-off, landing and forward flight. However, the shape changes significantly during the tilting process, which has a great impact on the aerodynamics of the whole aircraft. At the same time, since there are no control surfaces, the aircraft's attitude is controlled by simply adjusting the rotor speed, which is quite complex.

[0006] Chinese patent CN201310691329.2 proposes a tiltable quadcopter design. This quadcopter is a four-engine tiltrotor aircraft with a rotatable tail section. The aircraft has a complex configuration, low feasibility, and no control surfaces, which places excessive demands on control.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need to design a tilting quadcopter drone that is simple in configuration, easy and effective to operate, and highly feasible. Utility Model Content

[0008] The purpose of this utility model is to provide a variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV that addresses the deficiencies or improvement needs of existing technologies. It can completely switch between multi-rotor and fixed-wing configurations, and its configuration is simple, easy and effective to operate, and highly feasible. It can take off and land vertically or by taxiing.

[0009] The technical solution of this utility model is:

[0010] A variable configuration tilt quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is provided, including a rotor 1, a motor 2, a main wing 3, a fuselage 4, a vertical tail 7, a power supply unit 8, a control unit 9, a tilt servo 10, an active rocker arm 11, a tilt linkage 13, a tilt linkage support 16, a forward tilt linkage 17, a rear tilt linkage, a forward driven rocker arm 18, and a rear driven rocker arm; the power supply unit 8 is used to supply power to the motor and the servo, and the control unit 9 is used to control the operation of the motor and the servo;

[0011] The main wing 3 includes a front wing and a rear wing. The front wing and the rear wing are arranged parallel to each other on the fuselage. Two motors 1 are symmetrically arranged on both the front wing and the rear wing. Each motor is connected to a rotor. The motors are rotatable.

[0012] The fuselage 4 has a vertical tail at the rear and is equipped with a power supply unit 8, a control unit 9, a tilt servo motor 10 and a tilt rod support 16. The tilt rod support includes a front support and a rear support. The front support is located at the center of symmetry of the forewing and the rear support is located at the center of symmetry of the rear wing.

[0013] The tilt linkage 13 is connected to the tilt servo 10 via the active rocker arm; the forward tilt rod 17 is rotatably supported on the front support, and the rear tilt rod is rotatably supported on the rear support. The tilt linkage 13 is connected to the forward tilt rod 17 via the forward driven rocker arm, and the tilt linkage 13 is connected to the rear tilt rod via the rear driven rocker arm. The two ends of the forward tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the forewing, and the two ends of the rear tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the rear wing. When the tilt servo 10 rotates, it will cause the tilt linkage 13 to move and cause the forward and rear driven rockers to swing, so that the forward and rear tilt rods rotate, realizing the slight rotation of the motors of the forewing and the rear wing.

[0014] Furthermore, both the motors on the forewing and the rearwing are equipped with speed controllers 20 for controlling the drone's pitch and roll motion; a vertical tail is located at the rear of the fuselage to improve directional stability.

[0015] Furthermore, the tilt linkage 13 is divided into two sections, with a linear servo 21 installed between the two sections; the tilt servo 10 is only connected to one of the sections via a main rocker arm; through the extension and retraction of the linear servo 21, the swing angles of the front and rear driven rockers are differentiated, thus achieving different tilt angles for the motors of the forewing and the rearwing.

[0016] Furthermore, the tilting link 13 is divided into two sections, with a clutch between them; the clutch can lock the two sections into a single tilting link, or it can disconnect the two sections from each other, and the tilting servo 10 is only connected to one of the sections via a main rocker arm.

[0017] Furthermore, it has landing gear 5. Even further, the landing gear is a wheeled landing gear. The wheeled landing gear is fixed to the fuselage, can absorb the impact force during the takeoff and landing of the UAV, and can complete a runway takeoff; the power supply is installed inside the fuselage to supply power to the electrical equipment; the flight control system is installed inside the fuselage for UAV control; the maintenance cover is used for the replacement and maintenance of the power supply unit and the flight control system.

[0018] Furthermore, the motor is a brushless DC motor.

[0019] Furthermore, the motor has a motor shroud 19. The brushless DC motor and the electronic speed controller are installed inside the motor shroud.

[0020] Furthermore, the rear wing has an aileron 6, and an aileron servo 14 is installed on the fuselage. The aileron servo is connected to the aileron through an aileron control stick 15, and the aileron servo can drive the aileron to swing through the aileron control stick.

[0021] Furthermore, all four motors are located at the wingtip.

[0022] The advantages of this utility model are: This utility model designs a tilting quadcopter drone with a novel configuration, simple operation, and high feasibility. Its specific advantages are reflected in the following points:

[0023] 1. This utility model has a simple configuration, and the overall shape of the aircraft does not change significantly during tilting, with relatively little impact on aerodynamics. When the rotor tilts forward, it operates as a conventional rotorcraft fixed-wing aircraft; when the rotor tilts upward, it operates as a conventional quadcopter drone. This utility model can achieve multiple modes and methods, including vertical takeoff and landing, hovering, and forward flight.

[0024] 2. The tilting mechanism of this utility model can use one servo motor to control four power units to tilt simultaneously. Compared with a tilting quadcopter that uses four tilting mechanisms, the mechanism of this utility model is simple, easy to install and use, and avoids the possibility of the UAV losing control due to response delay between tilting mechanisms, thus having higher reliability.

[0025] 3. This utility model adds a linear servo to the tilt rocker. By extending and retracting the linear servo, the front and rear tilting mechanisms can be controlled separately, which can greatly improve the handling stability. In particular, in the initial tilting stage, adjusting the front tilting mechanism by the linear servo helps to facilitate a smooth transition during the tilting phase.

[0026] 4. This utility model can achieve complete switching between multi-rotor and fixed-wing modes. It also has ailerons. After switching to fixed-wing mode, the pitch and roll of the UAV can be effectively controlled by the ailerons, and the yaw can be controlled by the speed difference. The operation is more direct and flexible, and the response is rapid.

[0027] 5. This utility model adopts a wheeled landing gear, which can absorb the impact load during the landing of the UAV and can take off by running when the wind is strong or the load is too large.

[0028] 6. This utility model adopts a modular design concept. The wings, vertical tail, tilting unit, power unit, and landing gear can all be modularly and quickly disassembled independently, which facilitates installation and maintenance. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is an axis view of the entire tilt-rotor drone;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the tilting mechanism of a tilting quadcopter drone;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a lateral structural cross-sectional view of a tilting quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the tilting mechanism operation during vertical take-off and landing and hovering.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the tilting mechanism operation during the tilting phase;

[0034] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the tilt mechanism control during the forward flight phase;

[0035] In the diagram: 1. Rotor; 2. Motor fairing; 3. Wing; 4. Fuselage; 5. Wheeled landing gear; 6. Aileron; 7. Vertical tail; 8. Power supply unit; 9. Flight control system; 10. Tilting servo; 11. Servo arm; 12. Connecting arm; 13. Tilting rocker arm; 14. Aileron servo; 15. Aileron control stick; 16. Fixed support; 17. Tilting stick; 18. Tilting rocker arm; 19. Brushless DC motor; 20. Electronic speed controller; 21. Linear servo. Detailed Implementation

[0036] The disclosed examples will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some (but not all) of the disclosed examples are shown. In fact, many different examples may be described, and these examples should not be construed as limited to those set forth herein. Rather, these examples are described so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of this disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0037] A variable configuration tilt quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is provided, including a rotor 1, a motor 2, a main wing 3, a fuselage 4, a vertical tail 7, a power supply unit 8, a control unit 9, a tilt servo 10, an active rocker arm 11, a tilt linkage 13, a tilt linkage support 16, a forward tilt linkage 17, a rear tilt linkage, a forward driven rocker arm 18, and a rear driven rocker arm; the power supply unit 8 is used to supply power to the motor and the servo, and the control unit 9 is used to control the operation of the motor and the servo;

[0038] The main wing 3 includes a front wing and a rear wing. The front wing and the rear wing are arranged parallel to each other on the fuselage. Two motors 1 are symmetrically arranged on both the front wing and the rear wing. Each motor is connected to a rotor. The motors are rotatable.

[0039] The fuselage 4 has a vertical tail at the rear and is equipped with a power supply unit 8, a control unit 9, a tilt servo motor 10 and a tilt rod support 16. The tilt rod support includes a front support and a rear support. The front support is located at the center of symmetry of the forewing and the rear support is located at the center of symmetry of the rear wing.

[0040] The tilt linkage 13 is connected to the tilt servo 10 via the active rocker arm; the forward tilt rod 17 is rotatably supported on the front support, and the rear tilt rod is rotatably supported on the rear support. The tilt linkage 13 is connected to the forward tilt rod 17 via the forward driven rocker arm, and the tilt linkage 13 is connected to the rear tilt rod via the rear driven rocker arm. The two ends of the forward tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the forewing, and the two ends of the rear tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the rear wing. When the tilt servo 10 rotates, it will cause the tilt linkage 13 to move and cause the forward and rear driven rockers to swing, so that the forward and rear tilt rods rotate, realizing the slight rotation of the motors of the forewing and the rear wing.

[0041] Both the motors on the forewing and the rearwing are equipped with speed controllers 20. These are used to control the pitch and roll motion of the UAV; a vertical tail is located at the rear of the fuselage to improve directional stability.

[0042] The tilt linkage 13 is divided into two sections, with a linear servo 21 between the two sections. The tilt servo 10 is connected to only one section through a main rocker arm. By extending and retracting the linear servo 21, the swing angles of the front and rear driven rockers are differentiated, so that the motors of the forewing and the rearwing have different tilt angles.

[0043] It features a wheeled landing gear. The wheeled landing gear is fixed to the fuselage and can absorb the impact force during the takeoff and landing of the UAV, and can complete the takeoff by taxiing; the power supply is installed inside the fuselage to supply power to the electrical equipment; the flight control system is installed inside the fuselage for UAV control; the maintenance cover is used for the replacement and maintenance of the power supply unit and the flight control system.

[0044] The motor is a brushless DC motor.

[0045] The motor has a motor shroud 19. The brushless DC motor and the electronic speed controller are installed inside the motor shroud.

[0046] The rear wing has an aileron 6, and an aileron servo 14 is installed on the fuselage. The aileron servo is connected to the aileron through an aileron control stick 15. The aileron servo can drive the aileron to swing through the aileron control stick.

[0047] All four motors are located at the wingtip.

[0048] Descriptions of various advantageous arrangements have been shown for illustrative and descriptive purposes, but such descriptions are not intended to be exclusive or limited to the disclosed forms. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, different advantageous examples may describe different advantages compared to other advantageous examples. One or more examples have been selected and described in order to best illustrate the principles and practical application of the examples, and to enable those skilled in the art to understand that this disclosure contains various examples with various modifications suitable for the particular intended use.

Claims

1. A variable-configuration tilting quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that: It includes a rotor (1), a motor (2), a main wing (3), a fuselage (4), a vertical tail (7), a power supply unit (8), a control unit (9), a tilt servo (10), a main rocker arm (11), a tilt linkage (13), a tilt rod support (16), a forward tilt rod (17), a backward tilt rod, a forward driven rocker arm (18), and a backward driven rocker arm; the power supply unit (8) is used to supply power to the motor and the servo, and the control unit (9) is used to control the operation of the motor and the servo; The main wing (3) includes a front wing and a rear wing. The front wing and the rear wing are arranged parallel to each other on the fuselage. The front wing and the rear wing are symmetrically provided with two motors (1). Each motor is connected to a rotor. The motors are rotatable. The fuselage has a vertical tail at the rear and is equipped with a power supply unit, a control unit, a tilt servo, and a tilt rod support (16). The tilt rod support includes a front support and a rear support. The front support is located at the center of symmetry of the forewing, and the rear support is located at the center of symmetry of the rear wing. The tilt linkage is connected to the tilt servo via the active rocker arm; the forward tilt rod is rotatably supported on the front support, and the rear tilt rod is rotatably supported on the rear support. The tilt linkage is connected to the forward tilt rod via the forward driven rocker arm, and the tilt linkage is connected to the rear tilt rod via the rear driven rocker arm. The two ends of the forward tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the canard, and the two ends of the rear tilt rod are fixedly connected to the two motors of the rear wing. The rotation of the tilt servo will cause the tilt linkage to shift, and cause the forward and rear driven rockers to swing, so that the forward and rear tilt rods rotate, realizing the slight rotation of the motors of the canard and the rear wing.

2. The variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Both the motors for the forewing and the motors for the rearwing are equipped with speed controllers (20).

3. The variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The tilt linkage is divided into two sections, and a linear servo (21) is provided between the two sections. The tilt servo is only connected to one of the sections through the active rocker arm. By extending and retracting the linear servo (21), the swing angles of the forward and rearward rocker arms are differentiated, so that the motors of the forewing and the rearwing have different tilt angles.

4. A variable configuration tilting quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The tilt linkage is divided into two sections, with a clutch between them. The clutch can lock the two sections into a single tilt linkage, or it can disconnect the two sections from each other. The tilt servo is connected to only one of the sections via a main rocker arm.

5. A variable configuration tilting quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It has landing gear (5).

6. A variable configuration tilting quadcopter UAV as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The landing gear is a wheeled landing gear.

7. A variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The motor is a brushless DC motor.

8. A variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV as described in claim 7, characterized in that: The motor has a motor shroud (19), and the brushless DC motor and electronic speed controller are installed inside the motor shroud.

9. A variable configuration tilting quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The rear wing has an aileron (6), and an aileron servo (14) is provided on the fuselage. The aileron servo is connected to the aileron through an aileron control stick (15). The aileron servo can drive the aileron to swing through the aileron control stick.

10. A variable configuration tilt quadcopter UAV as described in claim 1, characterized in that: All four motors are located at the wingtip.

Images