A laser communication terminal with long-life shaft bearings

Abstract

This utility model discloses a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing, comprising a terminal body, wherein a bearing is installed inside the shaft system of the terminal body, the bearing comprising an outer raceway, an inner raceway inside the outer raceway, and a rolling element cage installed between the inner and outer raceways, the rolling element cage containing multiple spherical rolling elements, belonging to the field of shaft support technology. This laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing achieves long-life operation of the bearing by employing different combinations of materials for the outer raceway, inner raceway, spherical rolling elements, and rolling element cage of the rolling bearing, and through different combinations of corresponding mechanisms, thereby realizing a long lifespan for the coarse pointing system shaft system of the laser communication terminal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of shaft support technology, specifically a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing. Background Technology

[0002] Laser communication technology, with its high frequency and narrow divergence angle characteristics, has advantages such as high-speed transmission, strong anti-interference ability, high pointing accuracy, and lightweight equipment. It can achieve Tbps-level data transmission and is particularly suitable for scenarios that require large-capacity, high-reliability, and low-latency space information transmission, such as inter-satellite links in satellite Internet and deep space exploration mission communication.

[0003] To achieve wide-area spatial pointing coverage, laser communication terminals generally adopt a dual-axis collaborative architecture to construct a coarse pointing system. This system consists of a mutually perpendicular intersecting azimuth axis system and a pitch axis system. The azimuth axis system is responsible for circumferential scanning in the horizontal plane, while the pitch axis system is responsible for tilt adjustment in the vertical plane. Precise control of the three-dimensional spatial attitude is achieved through the linkage of the two axis systems.

[0004] Although the two shaft systems differ in their kinematic direction, their basic structural components are identical. According to their functions, the main components of the shaft system include: a stator housing that is stationary relative to the shaft coordinate system, a rotor housing that moves relative to the shaft coordinate system, a high-precision rotary drive component (such as a frameless DC torque motor), a precision angular displacement measuring component (such as a photoelectric encoder), and a rotary support component that supports the rotor and stator to maintain relative rotational motion.

[0005] In the current coarse pointing system axis of laser communication terminals, rolling bearings are usually used as rotating support components. The structure consists of an outer raceway, an inner raceway, spherical rolling elements, and a rolling element cage, all made of metal. The inner and outer raceways of the bearing are mounted on a stator housing that is stationary relative to the axis coordinate system, and on a rotor housing that rotates relative to the axis coordinate system. The spherical rolling elements form a pure rolling contact interface between the precision-ground inner and outer raceways, and are equidistantly distributed and guided by the rolling element cage. This bearing structure ensures the coaxiality accuracy of the rotor and stator components while effectively reducing the frictional resistance torque during the relative rotational motion of the rotor and stator components by using rolling friction instead of sliding friction.

[0006] As can be seen from the structure and working principle of bearings, when bearings are in continuous operation, the friction pair formed by the spherical rolling elements and the inner and outer raceways exhibits an irreversible contact wear effect. The wear process shows a phased evolution characteristic: in the initial stage, elastic deformation is the main feature, and as the operating cycle accumulates, it gradually enters the break-in period dominated by plastic deformation. Finally, under the action of alternating contact stress, the surface integrity of the spherical rolling elements and the inner and outer raceways is destroyed. The existence of this contact wear effect will cause the rolling element motion trajectory to deviate, destroy the kinematic characteristics of the bearing, and cause the actual motion trajectory of the shaft rotor to deviate from the theoretical motion trajectory. Ultimately, this manifests as the pointing stability of the coarse pointing system of the laser communication terminal showing a decreasing trend with the increase of the terminal's operating time, becoming a key technical bottleneck restricting the long life of the laser communication terminal.

[0007] To address the aforementioned technical challenges, laser communication terminals typically employ grease for interfacial lubrication of the bearing friction pairs in their coarse pointing system shafts. This approach effectively slows down adhesive wear caused by direct metal-to-metal contact by forming an elastic hydrodynamic lubricating film in the contact area between the spherical rolling element and the track. However, for the unique operating conditions of spaceborne laser communication terminals, traditional lubrication methods face dual technical constraints: First, the evaporation of the grease base oil in a vacuum environment can lead to optical window contamination, and the deposition of its evaporation products on the optical surface directly reduces laser transmission efficiency. Second, to prevent lubricant migration, protective structures such as labyrinth seals or isolation shields are required. Such designs significantly increase structural complexity, weakening the competitive advantage of laser communication terminals in key indicators such as power-to-weight ratio and lightweight design. Utility Model Content

[0008] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing, which solves the problems of grease volatiles contaminating the optical system of the laser communication terminal, or the increased system complexity and weight caused by adding a grease protection structure, thereby significantly weakening the reliability and service life of the laser communication terminal.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing, comprising a terminal body, wherein a bearing is installed inside the shaft system of the terminal body, the bearing comprising an outer raceway, an inner raceway inside the outer raceway, a rolling element cage installed between the inner raceway and the outer raceway, and a plurality of spherical rolling elements installed inside the rolling element cage, the rolling element cage being made of a self-lubricating material or a metal material.

[0010] Preferably, the spherical rolling element is made of ceramic material, and the outer and inner raceways are made of metal material. By utilizing the mechanism of complementary material properties and reducing centrifugal force effect, a long life of rolling bearing is achieved, thereby achieving a long life of the coarse pointing system axis of the laser communication terminal.

[0011] Preferably, the spherical rolling element, the outer raceway, and the inner raceway are all made of ceramic material. By utilizing the mechanism of reducing centrifugal force and enhancing corrosion resistance, a long lifespan of the rolling bearing is achieved, thereby achieving a long lifespan of the coarse pointing system axis of the laser communication terminal.

[0012] Preferably, the spherical rolling element, the outer raceway, and the inner raceway are all made of self-lubricating material. By utilizing the mechanism of lubricating film formation and stress distribution optimization, a long lifespan of the rolling bearing is achieved, thereby achieving a long lifespan of the coarse pointing system axis of the laser communication terminal.

[0013] This invention provides a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing. Compared with the prior art, it has the following advantages:

[0014] This laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing utilizes a self-lubricating material for the rolling element cage, such as polyimide or polytetrafluoroethylene. This type of material forms an extremely thin lubricating film on the contact surface through weak intermolecular interactions, reducing the coefficient of friction to the order of 0.05 without the need for additional lubricant. This significantly reduces wear between the rolling element cage and the spherical rolling elements. Furthermore, the low density of this material reduces rotational inertia, further decreasing frictional heat generation, ensuring a significantly longer service life even under poor lubrication conditions. The outer raceway, inner raceway, spherical rolling elements, and rolling element cage of the rolling bearing employ different material combinations, achieving long-life operation of the bearing through various mechanisms, thus extending the lifespan of the coarse pointing system shaft of the laser communication terminal. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of this utility model.

[0016] In the diagram: 1. Outer track; 2. Inner track; 3. Rolling element cage; 4. Spherical rolling element; 5. Extremely thin lubricating film. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0018] Example 1, please refer to Figure 1 This utility model provides a technical solution: a laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing, including a terminal body (not shown in the figure). The terminal body is existing technology, so its principle and structure will not be described in detail. A bearing is installed inside the shaft system of the terminal body. The bearing includes an outer raceway 1, an inner raceway 2 inside the outer raceway 1, and a rolling element cage 3 installed between the inner raceway 2 and the outer raceway 1. Multiple spherical rolling elements 4 are installed inside the rolling element cage 3. The rolling element cage 3 is made of a self-lubricating material, such as polyimide or polytetrafluoroethylene. The cage made of this type of material forms an extremely thin lubricating film 5 on the contact surface through weak intermolecular interaction forces, which can reduce the coefficient of friction to the order of 0.05 without additional lubricant, significantly reducing the wear between the rolling element cage 3 and the spherical rolling elements 4. In addition, the low density of this type of material (only 1 / 5 of that of steel) reduces the rotational inertia force and further reduces frictional heat generation, so as to ensure that the bearing can still significantly improve its service life under poor lubrication conditions.

[0019] In Example 2, the spherical rolling element 4 is made of ceramic material, such as silicon nitride ceramic, while the outer raceway 1 and inner raceway 2 are made of metal material. By utilizing the complementary properties of the materials and the mechanism of mitigating centrifugal force effects, a long lifespan is achieved for the rolling bearing, thereby extending the lifespan of the coarse pointing system shaft system in the laser communication terminal. The hardness and wear resistance of the ceramic spherical rolling element 4 are significantly superior to those of the metal material, effectively resisting particle erosion and surface damage. The metal inner and outer races provide excellent toughness and load-bearing capacity, forming a rigid-flexible match with the ceramic rolling element. Simultaneously, the low density of the ceramic rolling element significantly reduces the centrifugal force effect during high-speed operation, reducing friction loss and heat generation. Furthermore, the low coefficient of thermal expansion of the ceramic material ensures the stability of the bearing clearance under drastic temperature changes, resulting in a fatigue life several times longer than that of all-steel bearings, especially in the low-speed, high-precision shaft system applications of the coarse pointing system in the laser communication terminal.

[0020] In Example 3, the spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2 are all made of ceramic materials, such as silicon nitride or zirconium oxide ceramics. By utilizing the mechanism of reducing centrifugal force and enhancing corrosion resistance, a long lifespan of the rolling bearing is achieved, which in turn achieves a long lifespan of the coarse pointing system shaft of the laser communication terminal. The density of ceramic materials is only 40% of that of steel (such as silicon nitride), which significantly reduces the centrifugal force on the outer ring during rotation (reducing frictional loss by about 40%). At the same time, its high hardness and wear resistance effectively resist particle erosion and can maintain surface integrity even under poor lubrication conditions. In addition, the corrosion resistance of ceramics avoids material degradation, while the low coefficient of thermal expansion ensures the stability of the bearing clearance when the temperature difference changes drastically. Ultimately, through the synergistic effect of multiple factors, the lifespan is increased several times compared to traditional bearings.

[0021] In Example 4, the spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2 are all made of self-lubricating materials, such as composite materials with added graphene, nano-SiO2, and other nanoparticles. An extremely thin lubricating film 5 is formed on the contact surface of the spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2. By utilizing the mechanism of lubricating film formation and stress distribution optimization, a long lifespan of the rolling bearing is achieved, thereby achieving a long lifespan of the coarse pointing system shaft system of the laser communication terminal. During the operation of the bearing, the self-lubricating material can form a stable lubricating film on the contact surface, effectively reducing direct contact between metals, thereby reducing the coefficient of friction and wear rate. At the same time, these materials have good elasticity and plasticity, which can distribute stress on a wider contact surface, improve the bearing's load-bearing capacity, ensure stable performance in harsh environments, and extend the bearing's service life.

[0022] During operation, the bearings are used in the following four combinations;

[0023] The first combination: The rolling element cage 3 is made of a self-lubricating material, such as polyimide or polytetrafluoroethylene. The cage made of this type of material forms an extremely thin lubricating film 5 on the contact surface through weak intermolecular interaction forces. It can reduce the coefficient of friction to the order of 0.05 without additional lubricant, which significantly reduces the wear between the rolling element cage 3 and the spherical rolling elements 4. In addition, the low density of this type of material (only 1 / 5 of that of steel) reduces the rotational inertia force and further reduces frictional heat generation, so as to ensure that the bearing can still greatly improve its service life under poor lubrication conditions.

[0024] The second combination: the spherical rolling element 4 is made of ceramic material, such as silicon nitride ceramic, while the outer raceway 1 and inner raceway 2 are made of metal material. By utilizing the mechanism of complementary material properties and mitigating centrifugal force effects, a long lifespan of the rolling bearing is achieved, which in turn achieves a long lifespan of the coarse pointing system shaft system of the laser communication terminal. The hardness and wear resistance of the ceramic spherical rolling element 4 are significantly better than those of the metal material, effectively resisting particle erosion and surface damage. The inner and outer metal rings provide excellent toughness and load-bearing capacity, forming a rigid-flexible match with the ceramic rolling element. At the same time, the low density of the ceramic rolling element greatly reduces the centrifugal force effect during high-speed operation, reducing friction loss and heat generation. In addition, the low coefficient of thermal expansion of the ceramic material ensures the stability of the bearing clearance when the temperature difference changes drastically, making the fatigue life of the bearing using this material combination several times higher than that of all-steel bearings, especially in the low-speed, high-precision shaft system application scenarios of the coarse pointing system of the laser communication terminal.

[0025] The third combination: The spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2 are all made of ceramic materials, such as silicon nitride or zirconium oxide ceramics. By utilizing the mechanism of reducing centrifugal force and enhancing corrosion resistance, a long life of rolling bearings is achieved, which in turn achieves a long life of the coarse pointing system shaft system of laser communication terminals. The density of ceramic materials is only 40% of that of steel (such as silicon nitride), which significantly reduces the centrifugal force on the outer ring during rotation (reducing friction loss by about 40%). At the same time, its high hardness and wear resistance effectively resist particle erosion and can maintain surface integrity even under poor lubrication conditions. In addition, the corrosion resistance of ceramics avoids material degradation, while the low coefficient of thermal expansion ensures the stability of bearing clearance when there are drastic temperature changes. Ultimately, through the synergistic effect of multiple factors, the life of the bearing is increased several times compared with traditional bearings.

[0026] The fourth combination: The spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2 are all made of self-lubricating materials, such as composite materials with added graphene, nano-SiO2, and other nanoparticles. An extremely thin lubricating film 5 is formed on the contact surface of the spherical rolling element 4, the outer raceway 1, and the inner raceway 2. By utilizing the mechanism of lubricating film formation and stress distribution optimization, the long life of the rolling bearing is achieved, which in turn achieves the long life of the coarse pointing system shaft system of the laser communication terminal. During the operation of the bearing, the self-lubricating material can form a stable lubricating film on the contact surface, effectively reducing the direct contact between metals, thereby reducing the coefficient of friction and wear rate. At the same time, these materials have good elasticity and plasticity, which can distribute stress on a wider contact surface, improve the bearing's load-bearing capacity, ensure stable performance in harsh environments, and extend the service life of the bearing.

[0027] The outer raceway 1, inner raceway 2, spherical rolling elements 4, and rolling element cage 3 of the rolling bearing adopt different combinations of the above-mentioned materials. Through different combinations of the aforementioned mechanisms, the bearing achieves long-life operation, thereby realizing the long life of the coarse pointing system shaft system of the laser communication terminal.

[0028] Furthermore, any content not described in detail in this specification is existing technology known to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A laser communication terminal having a long-life shafting bearing, characterized by: The device includes a terminal body, and a bearing is installed inside the shaft system of the terminal body. The bearing includes an outer raceway (1), and an inner raceway (2) is provided inside the outer raceway (1). A rolling element cage (3) is installed between the inner raceway (2) and the outer raceway (1). The rolling element cage (3) is made of self-lubricating material or metal material, and multiple spherical rolling elements (4) are installed inside the rolling element cage (3).

2. A laser communication terminal having a long-life shaft bearing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical rolling body (4) is made of ceramic material, and the outer track (1) and inner track (2) are made of metal material.

3. A laser communication terminal having a long-life shaft bearing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical rolling body (4), the outer track (1) and the inner track (2) are all made of ceramic material.

4. A laser communication terminal with a long-life shaft bearing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spherical rolling element (4), the outer raceway (1), and the inner raceway (2) are all made of self-lubricating material.

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