Mother-son unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

This invention provides a mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comprising a mother unit, multiple daughter units, multiple receiving cylinders, and multiple release components. The receiving cylinders are located at the lower end of the fuselage, and each daughter unit can be inserted into the receiving cavity of one receiving cylinder. Each daughter unit includes a body, a rotating mechanism, a rotating base, and propellers. The body has a mounting base with locking slots on its periphery, and an electrical plug at its upper end. When a daughter unit is inserted into a receiving cavity, the propellers are folded. Each release component is adapted to one daughter unit and includes a release mechanism and a locking tongue. This mother-daughter UAV not only reduces airflow disturbance and air resistance during flight but also prevents damage to daughter units from airflow impacts. It also improves the response speed of daughter unit release operations and increases the number of daughter units while reducing the overall size of the UAV, thus meeting the needs of carrying more daughter units to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicle technology, and in particular to a mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a general term for unmanned aerial vehicles that are controlled by radio remote control equipment and onboard program control devices, or operated autonomously, either completely or intermittently, by an onboard computer. Compared to manned aircraft, UAVs have advantages such as small size, low cost, and ease of use, and are widely used in both military and civilian applications. In civilian applications, UAVs are used in aerial photography, agriculture, plant protection, miniature selfies, express delivery, disaster relief, wildlife observation, infectious disease monitoring, surveying, news reporting, power line inspection, disaster relief, film and television shooting, and creating romantic scenes, greatly expanding the application areas of UAVs.

[0003] With the rapid development of drone technology, a type of mother-daughter drone has emerged, in which a mother drone carries and releases multiple daughter drones to work together. In this case, the mother drone serves as the carrying and control platform, while the daughter drones are mainly used to perform specific tasks to meet the needs of multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

[0004] Typically, in existing mother-daughter drones, the daughter drone is mounted on the mother drone with its entire body exposed. This exposes the daughter drone to the airflow, disrupting the surrounding airflow and causing the mother-daughter drone to have to overcome greater air resistance during flight. This results in higher energy consumption and reduced flight efficiency. In addition, the fully exposed daughter drone is more susceptible to damage from the impact of airflow.

[0005] To protect the sub-drones, existing mother-daughter drone systems have a carrier compartment within the mother drone, where the sub-drones can reside. However, releasing the sub-drones requires opening the compartment door before releasing them, resulting in a slow release response and hindering rapid deployment. This impacts the need for efficient and rapid response in multi-tasking and multi-area collaborative operations. Furthermore, the rotors of the sub-drones in the existing carrier compartment are deployed, requiring a larger compartment to accommodate them, thus increasing the overall size of the system. To avoid excessive size, the number of sub-drones must be reduced, making it difficult to meet the requirements of carrying a large number of sub-drones for multi-tasking and multi-area collaborative operations. Utility Model Content

[0006] The main objective of this invention is to provide a mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that not only reduces the disturbance and air resistance experienced by the entire aircraft during flight, thereby improving flight efficiency and reducing energy consumption to increase endurance, but also prevents the daughter drone from being damaged by airflow impact, ensuring its safety. Furthermore, it improves the response speed of the daughter drone release operation, enabling rapid release and response, and thus efficiently and quickly responding to the needs of multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations. Moreover, it can increase the number of daughter drones while reducing the overall size of the aircraft, in order to meet the needs of carrying more daughter drones to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

[0007] To achieve the main objective of this utility model, it provides a mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising a mother unit, multiple daughter units, multiple receiving cylinders, and multiple release components. The mother unit includes a fuselage, a rotating mechanism, and rotors. The rotating mechanism is mounted on the fuselage and controls the rotor rotation. Multiple receiving cylinders are arranged horizontally and vertically at the lower end of the fuselage. Each receiving cylinder has an open end, allowing a daughter unit to be inserted into the receiving cavity of one receiving cylinder. Each daughter unit includes a body, a rotating mechanism, a rotating base, and rotor blades. The body is equipped with a mounting base, which has locking grooves on its periphery and an electrical plug at its upper end. The rotating mechanism is mounted on the body and controls its rotation. The base rotates, and the propeller can rotate relative to the fuselage around the rotating base to switch between folded and unfolded states. When the sub-unit is inserted into the receiving cavity, the propeller is in the folded state; when the sub-unit is removed from the receiving cavity, the propeller can be in the unfolded state. One release assembly is adapted to one sub-unit and includes a release mechanism and a locking tongue. The receiving cavity is provided with a locking cavity adjacent to the open opening. The upper cavity wall of the locking cavity is provided with a communication connector. The communication connector is electrically connected to the main control board inside the fuselage. The mounting base can be inserted into the locking cavity, so that the electrical plug is electrically connected to the communication connector. The release mechanism is located on the fuselage and controls the horizontal movement of the locking tongue, so that the locking end of the locking tongue is inserted into or disengaged from the locking groove.

[0008] As can be seen from the above scheme, the present invention allows the daughter drone, with its rotor blades folded, to pass through the open opening at the lower end of the housing cylinder located at the lower part of the mother drone's fuselage and be inserted into the housing cavity of the housing cylinder. At the same time, the daughter drone's mounting base is inserted into the locking cavity adjacent to the open opening of the housing cavity, so that the electrical plug on the daughter drone's mounting base is electrically connected to the communication connector in the locking cavity. Thus, the communication connector feeds back the information that the daughter drone is installed in place to the main control board in the fuselage of the mother drone. Subsequently, the main control board sends a signal to the release mechanism, causing the release mechanism to control the locking tongue to move horizontally, so that the locking end of the locking tongue is inserted into the locking groove on the daughter drone's mounting base, thereby securely mounting one daughter drone in the housing cavity of the housing cylinder.

[0009] Therefore, when the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model is flying with multiple daughter units, each daughter unit is securely mounted inside the housing cavity of the housing tube, avoiding the situation where the daughter units are completely exposed and disturb the surrounding airflow, as is the case with existing daughter units. This reduces the disturbance of airflow and air resistance experienced by the entire UAV during flight due to the daughter units, thereby improving flight efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and increasing endurance. In addition, the housing tube can also protect the daughter units from damage caused by airflow impact, thus ensuring the safety of the daughter units.

[0010] When the mother-daughter UAV of this invention performs multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations, the main control board inside the fuselage of the mother unit sends a signal to the release mechanism, causing the release mechanism to control the locking tongue to move horizontally. This causes the locking end of the locking tongue to disengage from the locking groove on the mounting base of the daughter unit, thereby quickly releasing the daughter unit. Compared to existing methods that require controlling the opening of the carrying compartment door before releasing the daughter UAV inside, the mother-daughter UAV of this invention only needs to control the locking end of the locking tongue to disengage from the locking groove on the mounting base of the daughter unit to quickly release the daughter unit. This improves the response speed of the daughter unit release operation, thereby achieving rapid release response of the daughter unit and efficiently and quickly responding to the needs of multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

[0011] Because the rotor blades of the sub-drones in this invention are folded when carrying the sub-drones, the sub-drones with folded rotor blades pass through the open opening at the lower end of the housing tube located at the lower part of the fuselage of the mother drone and are inserted into the housing cavity of the housing tube. This securely mounts one sub-drone within the housing cavity of the housing tube. The volume of the sub-drones with folded rotor blades can be reduced, resulting in a smaller housing volume for the sub-drones. Therefore, when the overall volume of this invention's mother-daughter drone is the same as that of existing mother-daughter drones, this invention can carry more sub-drones compared to existing mother-daughter drones. When the number of sub-drones carried by this invention is the same as that of existing mother-daughter drones, the overall volume of this invention's mother-daughter drone can be reduced. Thus, this invention's mother-daughter drone can increase the number of sub-drones while reducing the overall volume, in order to meet the needs of carrying more sub-drones to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

[0012] Therefore, this utility model of mother-daughter UAV can not only reduce the disturbance of airflow and air resistance encountered by the whole machine during flight, improve flight efficiency, reduce energy consumption and increase endurance, but also prevent the daughter drone from being damaged by airflow impact, ensuring the safety of the daughter drone, and improve the response speed of daughter drone release operation, thereby realizing rapid release response of daughter drone, and thus efficiently and quickly responding to the needs of multi-task and multi-area collaborative operation. Moreover, it can increase the number of daughter drones while reducing the size of the whole machine, so as to meet the needs of carrying more daughter drones to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operation.

[0013] A preferred embodiment includes a release mechanism comprising a mounting bracket, a servo motor, a rotary arm, a compression spring, and an unlocking pin. The mounting bracket is mounted on the fuselage and has a groove extending horizontally. A sliding rod protrudes from the locking tongue and is slidably positioned within the groove. The compression spring is located within the groove and presses against the inner surface of the groove and the sliding rod, forcing the sliding rod to drive the locking end of the locking tongue into the locking groove. A limiting groove extends horizontally through the groove's peripheral wall. The connecting end of the unlocking pin is fixedly connected to the sliding rod, and the pushed end of the unlocking pin extends out of the limiting groove and can slide relative to the limiting groove. The servo motor is mounted on the mounting bracket and controls the rotation of the rotary arm, causing the rotating end of the rotary arm to drive the pushed end of the unlocking pin, thereby forcing the unlocking pin to disengage the locking end of the locking tongue from the locking groove.

[0014] A further improvement is that the lower end of the mounting bracket is provided with a guide groove that communicates with the slide groove. The guide groove extends horizontally, and the slide rod is provided with a guide rod. The guide end of the guide rod can slide within the guide groove.

[0015] A further proposed solution includes multiple landing bars, multiple support bars, an upper support plate, and a lower support plate for the mother-daughter drone. The landing bars are arranged circumferentially around the fuselage, with each landing bar connected to the fuselage at its connecting end. The support end of each landing bar is located below the daughter drone inserted into the receiving cavity, and each landing bar is tilted outward relative to the fuselage. The upper support plate is located at the upper end of multiple receiving cylinders, and the lower support plate is located at the lower end of multiple receiving cylinders. The landing bars are located on the outer periphery of the upper support plate and connected to it, and the landing bars are located on the outer periphery of the lower support plate and connected to it. The support bars are arranged circumferentially around the fuselage and connected between the fuselage and the upper support plate. The release assembly is located on the lower support plate.

[0016] A further proposed solution involves four landing bars, with two landing bars arranged side-by-side to form a landing gear set. The two landing gear sets are symmetrically positioned about the fuselage. The mother-daughter UAV also includes two cross braces and two connecting rods. One cross brace is located at the lower end of a landing gear set and connects to the support ends of the two landing bars of the set. The connecting rod is located between the upper and lower support plates and connects between the two landing bars of the set.

[0017] A further alternative is that the mother-daughter drone also includes a protective cover, which is mounted on the lower support plate and covers the release assembly; and / or, the mother-daughter drone also includes a camera, which is mounted on the upper support plate.

[0018] A further option is that the mounting base has protruding ribs on its periphery, which can abut against the periphery wall of the locking cavity; and / or, the periphery wall of the receiving cavity is provided with an elastic ring, and the shaft hole of the elastic ring has protruding elastic ribs, which can abut against the outer periphery wall of the machine body.

[0019] A further proposed solution is that the accommodating cylinder includes an upper end cap, a fiberglass tube, and a lower ring sleeve. The lower end of the upper end cap is recessed and has a first insertion ring groove. The upper ring wall of the fiberglass tube is inserted into the first insertion ring groove. The upper end of the lower ring sleeve is recessed and has a second insertion ring groove. The lower ring wall of the fiberglass tube is inserted into the second insertion ring groove. The locking cavity, the open opening, and the communication connector are located on the lower ring sleeve.

[0020] A further proposed solution is that the fuselage extends vertically, and the housing extends vertically as well; in the folded state, the propellers are arranged parallel to the fuselage; in the unfolded state, the propellers are arranged perpendicular to the fuselage; and / or, the sub-unit is a coaxial dual-rotor UAV.

[0021] A further proposed solution is that the mother machine also includes four arms, with four rotating mechanisms and four rotors. The four arms are evenly arranged around the fuselage. The connecting end of each arm is connected to the fuselage, and each arm has a rotating mechanism and a rotor at its outer overhang. One rotating mechanism controls the rotation of one rotor. Attached Figure Description

[0022] Figure 1 This is a first-view structural diagram of an embodiment of the mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle of this utility model.

[0023] Figure 2 This is a second-view structural diagram of an embodiment of the mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle of this utility model.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle of this utility model.

[0025] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Enlarged view at point A.

[0026] Figure 5 This is an exploded view of an embodiment of the mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle of this utility model.

[0027] Figure 6 This is a first-view structural diagram of the mother unit structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0028] Figure 7 This is a second-view structural diagram of the mother unit structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0029] Figure 8 This is a disassembled structure of the mother unit in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0030] Figure 9 This is a partial structural diagram of the mother unit structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0031] Figure 10This is a first exploded view of the housing cylinder structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0032] Figure 11 This is a cross-sectional view of the housing cylinder structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0033] Figure 12 This is a structural diagram of the accommodating cylinder structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0034] Figure 13 This is a second exploded view of the housing cylinder structure in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0035] Figure 14 This is a partial structural diagram of the daughter unit in an embodiment of the mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of this utility model.

[0036] Figure 15 This is a cross-sectional view of the release component and the mounting base in an embodiment of the mother-daughter UAV of this utility model.

[0037] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Detailed Implementation

[0038] See Figures 1 to 15 This embodiment discloses a mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle 10, including a mother unit 11 and multiple daughter units 12. The mother unit 11 includes a fuselage 111, a rotating mechanism 112 and a rotor 113. The rotating mechanism 112 is mounted on the fuselage 111 and controls the rotation of the rotor 113.

[0039] In this embodiment, the mother-daughter UAV 10 also includes multiple receiving cylinders 13 and multiple release components 14. The multiple receiving cylinders 13 are arranged horizontally and vertically at the lower end of the fuselage 111. Each receiving cylinder 13 has an open opening 1341 at its lower end, and a daughter UAV 12 can be inserted into the receiving cavity 134 of one receiving cylinder 13. Specifically, in this embodiment, the number of receiving cylinders 13 is six, so that the mother-daughter UAV 10 can carry six daughter UAVs 12.

[0040] Furthermore, in this embodiment, each sub-machine 12 includes a body 121, a rotating mechanism, a rotating base 128, a folding mechanism, and a propeller 122. The body 121 is provided with a mounting base 123, and the periphery of the mounting base 123 is provided with a locking groove 124. The upper end of the mounting base 123 is provided with an electrical plug 126. The rotating mechanism is mounted on the body 121 and controls the rotation of the rotating base 128. The folding mechanism is mounted on the rotating base 128 and controls the propeller 122 to rotate around the rotating base 128 relative to the body 121, so that the propeller 122 can rotate around the rotating base 128 relative to the body 121 to switch between folded and unfolded states. When the sub-machine 12 is inserted into the receiving cavity 134, the propeller 122 is in the folded state; when the sub-machine 12 is removed from the receiving cavity 134, the propeller 122 can be in the unfolded state. Specifically, in this embodiment, the rotating mechanism is a motor or a servo motor, and in this embodiment, the folding mechanism is a motor or a servo motor.

[0041] Furthermore, in this embodiment, one release component 14 is adapted to one slave unit 12 and includes a release mechanism and a locking tongue 141. A locking cavity 135 is provided at the accommodating cavity 134 adjacent to the open opening 1341. A communication connector 136 is provided on the upper wall of the locking cavity 135. The communication connector 136 is electrically connected to the main control board inside the body 111. The mounting base 123 can be inserted into the locking cavity 135, allowing the electrical plug 126 to be electrically connected to the communication connector 136. The release mechanism is located on the body 111 and controls the locking tongue 141 to move horizontally, allowing the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to insert into or disengage from the locking groove 124. Specifically, in this embodiment, the electrical plug 126 uses a high-reliability blade connector, and the communication connector 136 can establish a bidirectional data transmission channel through the standard serial communication protocol (RS-422). Therefore, after the electrical plug 126 and the communication connector 136 are electrically connected, interconnection of the master and slave unit circuits can be achieved. Preferably, the plug 126 in this embodiment adopts a gold-plated contact design (contact resistance <10mΩ), supports hot-plugging operation, and ensures stable transmission under vibration conditions.

[0042] In this embodiment, the slave drone 12, with its rotor blades 122 folded, passes through an opening 1341 at the lower end of a housing cylinder 13 located at the lower end of the fuselage 111 of the mother drone 11 to insert into the housing cavity 134 of the housing cylinder 13. Simultaneously, the mounting bracket 123 of the slave drone 12 is inserted into a locking cavity 135 adjacent to the opening 1341 in the housing cavity 134, thereby connecting the electrical plug 126 on the mounting bracket 123 of the slave drone 12 with the communication connector in the locking cavity 135. The 136 adapter connects to the power supply, so that the communication connector 136 feeds back the information that the slave unit 12 is installed to the main control board in the body 111 of the mother unit 11. Then the main control board sends a signal to the release mechanism, so that the release mechanism controls the locking tongue 141 to move in the horizontal direction, so that the locking end of the locking tongue 141 is inserted into the locking groove 124 on the mounting base 123 of the slave unit 12, thereby securely mounting a slave unit 12 in the receiving cavity 134 of a receiving cylinder 13.

[0043] Therefore, in this embodiment, when the mother-daughter UAV 10 carries multiple daughter drones 12 during flight, since each daughter drone 12 is securely mounted in the housing cavity 134 of the housing cylinder 13, it avoids the situation where the existing daughter drones are completely exposed and disturb the surrounding airflow. This reduces the disturbance of airflow and air resistance experienced by the entire aircraft during flight due to the carrying of daughter drones 12, improves flight efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and increases endurance. In addition, the housing cylinder 13 can also protect the daughter drones 12 to prevent them from being damaged by airflow impact, thereby ensuring the safety of the daughter drones 12.

[0044] When the mother-daughter UAV 10 performs multi-task, multi-area collaborative operations in this embodiment, the main control board inside the fuselage 111 of the mother unit 11 sends a signal to the release mechanism, causing the release mechanism to control the locking tongue 141 to move horizontally, so that the locking end of the locking tongue 141 disengages from the locking groove 124 on the mounting base 123 of the daughter unit 12, thereby quickly releasing the daughter unit 12. The rotor blades 122 of the daughter unit 12, which are released from the housing 13, can remain folded or switch to unfolded state according to actual task requirements. In contrast to the existing method of controlling the opening of the carrying compartment door before releasing the daughter UAV inside the carrying compartment, in this embodiment, the mother-daughter UAV 10 only needs to control the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to disengage from the locking groove 124 on the mounting base 123 of the daughter unit 12 to quickly release the daughter unit 12, thereby improving the response speed of the daughter unit 12 release operation and realizing the rapid release response of the daughter unit 12, thus efficiently and quickly responding to the needs of multi-task, multi-area collaborative operations.

[0045] In this embodiment, when the mother-daughter UAV 10 carries the daughter unit 12, the propellers 122 of the daughter unit 12 are folded. The daughter unit 12, with its propellers folded, passes through the opening 1341 at the lower end of the receiving cylinder 13 located at the lower end of the fuselage 111 of the mother unit 11 to be inserted into the receiving cavity 134 of the receiving cylinder 13. This allows for the secure mounting of one daughter unit 12 within the receiving cavity 134 of the receiving cylinder 13. The volume of the daughter unit 12 with its propellers folded can be very small, thus reducing the size of the receiving cylinder 134 housing the daughter unit 12 with its propellers folded. If the size of 3 is smaller, then when the overall size of the mother-daughter drone 10 in this embodiment is the same as that of the existing mother-daughter drones, the mother-daughter drone 10 in this embodiment can carry more daughter drones 12 than the existing mother-daughter drones. When the number of daughter drones 12 carried by the mother-daughter drone 10 in this embodiment is the same as that of the existing mother-daughter drones, the overall size of the mother-daughter drone 10 in this embodiment can be reduced. Thus, the mother-daughter drone 10 in this embodiment can increase the number of daughter drones 12 while reducing the overall size, so as to meet the needs of carrying more daughter drones 12 to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operations.

[0046] Therefore, the mother-daughter UAV 10 in this embodiment can not only reduce the disturbance of airflow and air resistance encountered by the whole machine during flight, improve flight efficiency, reduce energy consumption and increase endurance, but also prevent the daughter drone 12 from being damaged by airflow impact, ensuring the safety of the daughter drone 12, and improve the response speed of the daughter drone 12 release operation, thereby realizing the rapid release response of the daughter drone 12, and thus efficiently and quickly responding to the needs of multi-task and multi-area collaborative operation. Moreover, it can increase the number of daughter drones 12 while reducing the size of the whole machine, so as to meet the needs of carrying more daughter drones 12 to perform multi-task and multi-area collaborative operation.

[0047] Combination Figure 4 , Figures 10 to 15 In this embodiment, the release mechanism includes a mounting bracket 142, a servo motor 143, a rotary arm 147, a compression spring 146, and an unlocking pin 145. The mounting bracket 142 is mounted on the fuselage 111 and has a sliding groove 1421 extending horizontally. A sliding rod 1411 protrudes from the locking tongue 141 and is slidably located within the sliding groove 1421. The compression spring 146 is located within the sliding groove 1421 and presses against the inner groove surface of the sliding groove 1421 and the sliding rod 1411, thereby forcing the sliding rod 1411 to drive the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to insert into the locking groove 124. Inside, a limiting groove 1422 is formed through the peripheral wall of the slide groove 1421. The limiting groove 1422 extends horizontally. The connecting end of the unlocking pin 145 is fixedly connected to the slide rod 1411. The pushed end of the unlocking pin 145 is set through the limiting groove 1422, and the unlocking pin 145 can slide relative to the limiting groove 1422. The servo motor 143 is set on the mounting bracket 142 and controls the rotating end of the rotary arm 147 to rotate, so that the pushing end of the rotary arm 147 drives the pushed end of the unlocking pin 145, thereby forcing the unlocking pin 145 to drive the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to disengage from the locking groove 124.

[0048] In this embodiment, when the release mechanism performs the release sub-machine 12 operation, the servo motor 143 controls the rotating end of the rotary arm 147 to rotate forward, causing the actuating end of the rotary arm 147 to drive the disengaged end of the unlocking pin 145 to move horizontally away from the locking groove 124. This forces the unlocking pin 145 to drive the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to disengage from the locking groove 124. In other words, the unlocking pin 145 drives the slide rod 1411 to move horizontally away from the locking groove 124, thereby driving the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to move horizontally away from the locking groove 124, causing the locking end of the locking tongue 141 to move horizontally away from the locking groove 124. When the locking slot 124 is disengaged, the slave unit 12 can be quickly released. At this time, the compression spring 146 is in a compressed state. When the release mechanism performs the operation of mounting the slave unit 12, the servo motor 143 controls the rotating end of the turn arm 147 to rotate in the opposite direction, so that the compression spring 146 elastically resets from the compressed state, forcing the slide bar 1411 to move horizontally toward the locking slot 124. Simultaneously, the locking end of the locking tongue 141 moves horizontally toward the locking slot 124 and inserts into the locking slot 124, so as to securely mount the slave unit 12 in the receiving cavity 134 of the receiving cylinder 13. Therefore, the release mechanism of this embodiment works stably and reliably, and the groove 1421 has a limiting groove 1422 through the groove wall. The limiting groove 1422 extends in the horizontal direction, and the unlocking pin 145, which is fixedly connected to the slide rod 1411, can slide relative to the limiting groove 1422. The limiting groove 1422 plays a precise limiting and guiding role for the unlocking pin 145, thereby improving the working accuracy.

[0049] To further improve working accuracy, the lower end of the mounting bracket 142 of this embodiment is provided with a guide groove 1423 that communicates with the slide groove 1421. The guide groove 1423 extends in the horizontal direction, and the slide rod 1411 is provided with a guide rod 144. The guide end of the guide rod 144 can slide in the guide groove 1423. The guide groove 1423 plays a precise limiting and guiding role for the guide rod 144.

[0050] Combination Figures 5 to 9 In this embodiment, the mother-daughter UAV 10 also includes multiple landing bars 191, multiple support rods 15, an upper support plate 16, and a lower support plate 17. The multiple landing bars 191 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage 111. The connecting end of each landing bar 191 is connected to the fuselage 111. The support end of each landing bar 191 is located below the daughter UAV 12 inserted into the receiving cavity 134. Each landing bar 191 is inclined outward relative to the fuselage 111. The upper support plate 16 is located at the upper end of multiple receiving cylinders 13. The lower support plate 17 is located at the lower end of multiple receiving cylinders 13. The multiple landing bars 191 are located on the outer periphery of the upper support plate 16 and connected to the upper support plate 16. The multiple landing bars 191 are located on the outer periphery of the lower support plate 17 and connected to the lower support plate 17. The multiple support rods 15 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage 111 and connected between the fuselage 111 and the upper support plate 16. The release assembly 14 is located on the lower support plate 17.

[0051] Therefore, in this embodiment, the mother-daughter UAV 10 securely clamps the housing 13 between the upper support plate 16 and the lower support plate 17. Multiple landing bars 191 are located on the outer periphery of the lower support plate 17 and connected to it. Multiple support rods 15 are arranged circumferentially on the fuselage 111 and connected between the fuselage 111 and the upper support plate 16. This securely mounts the housing 13 to the lower end of the fuselage 111 of the mother UAV 11, thereby improving the stability of the daughter UAV 12 and preventing swaying. The landing stick 191 is designed to support the mother-daughter UAV 10 in terms of flight stability. It also supports the mother-daughter UAV 10 in terms of ground parking, taxiing, take-off and landing. The support end of each landing stick 191 is located below the daughter UAV 12 inserted into the receiving cavity 134, thereby preventing the daughter UAV 12 inserted into the receiving cavity 134 from being damaged by protruding from the opening 1341 at the lower end of the receiving cylinder 13 when the mother-daughter UAV 10 is parked, taxiing, or taking off and landing. This ensures the safety of the daughter UAV 12.

[0052] To improve the balance of the mother-daughter UAV 10 in this embodiment and further enhance its flight stability, this embodiment uses four landing bars 191. Two landing bars 191 are arranged side by side to form a landing gear set. The two landing gear sets are symmetrically arranged about the fuselage 111. The mother-daughter UAV 10 also includes two cross braces 193 and two connecting rods 192. One cross brace 193 is located at the lower end of a landing gear set and is connected to the support ends of the two landing bars 191 of the landing gear set. One connecting rod 192 is located between the upper support plate 16 and the lower support plate 17 and is connected between the two landing bars 191 of the landing gear set.

[0053] To protect the electrical safety of the release assembly 14, the mother-daughter UAV 10 in this embodiment also includes a protective cover 18, which is disposed on the lower support plate 17 and covers the release assembly 14. Specifically, in this embodiment, the lower support plate 17 has a guide groove 171 that corresponds to the guide groove 1423, and the guide end of the guide rod 144 is slidably located in the guide groove 171. The guide groove 171 provides precise positioning and guidance for the guide rod 144, further improving working accuracy.

[0054] In order to take pictures during flight, the mother-daughter UAV 10 in this embodiment also includes a camera 110, which is mounted on the upper support plate 16. Specifically, this embodiment does not limit the type and model of the camera 110, and it can be selected according to the application requirements. In order to adapt to reconnaissance in different environments, the camera 110 in this embodiment is a visible light camera 110 or an infrared camera 110.

[0055] To further improve the stability of the mounting, the mounting base 123 in this embodiment is provided with a protruding rib 125 on its periphery. The rib 125 can abut against the periphery wall of the locking cavity 135, thereby preventing the mounting base 123 from shaking in the locking cavity 135.

[0056] To further improve the stability of the mounting, the cavity wall of the accommodating cavity 134 in this embodiment is provided with an elastic ring 137, and the shaft hole of the elastic ring 137 is provided with an elastic rib 1371. The elastic rib 1371 can abut against the outer peripheral wall of the body 121 of the sub-machine 12, thereby preventing the sub-machine 12 from shaking in the accommodating cavity 134.

[0057] To reduce weight and achieve a lightweight design for the mother-daughter UAV 10 in this embodiment, the housing 13 includes an upper end cap 132, a fiberglass tube 131, and a lower ring sleeve 133. The lower end of the upper end cap 132 is recessed with a first insertion ring groove 1321, and the upper ring wall of the fiberglass tube 131 is inserted into the first insertion ring groove 1321. The upper end of the lower ring sleeve 133 is recessed with a second insertion ring groove 1331, and the lower ring wall of the fiberglass tube 131 is inserted into the second insertion ring groove 1331. The locking cavity 135, the open opening 1341, and the communication connector 136 are located on the lower ring sleeve 133. The fiberglass tube 131 has excellent properties such as being lightweight and hard, non-conductive, having high mechanical strength, being anti-aging, high temperature resistant, and corrosion resistant.

[0058] To further reduce the overall size, in this embodiment, the body 121 of the sub-unit 12 extends vertically, and the housing cylinder 13 also extends vertically. Thus, in the folded state, the rotor blades 122 of the sub-unit 12 are arranged parallel to the body 121; in the unfolded state, the rotor blades 122 are arranged perpendicular to the body 121. Preferably, in this embodiment, the sub-unit 12 is a coaxial dual-layer rotor UAV.

[0059] To further improve flight efficiency, the mother aircraft 11 in this embodiment also includes four arms 114, four rotating mechanisms 112, and four rotors 113. The four arms 114 are evenly arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage 111. The connecting end of each arm 114 is connected to the fuselage 111, and each arm 114 is provided with a rotating mechanism 112 and a rotor 113 at its outer overhang. One rotating mechanism 112 controls one rotor 113 to rotate. Thus, the mother aircraft 11 in this embodiment is a powerful quadcopter drone. It can quickly carry six coaxial dual-layer rotor drones with foldable propellers 122 through the accommodating tube 13 on its belly.

[0060] The above embodiments are merely preferred examples of this utility model and are not intended to limit the scope of implementation of this utility model. Therefore, all equivalent changes or modifications made to the structure, features and principles of this utility model patent application should be included within the scope of this utility model patent application.

Claims

1. A mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising a mother unit and multiple daughter units, wherein the mother unit includes a fuselage, a rotation mechanism, and rotors, the rotation mechanism being disposed on the fuselage and controlling the rotation of the rotors, characterized in that, The mother-daughter drone also includes multiple receiving cylinders and multiple release components. The multiple receiving cylinders are arranged horizontally and vertically at the lower end of the fuselage. Each receiving cylinder has an open opening at its lower end, and one of the daughter drones can be inserted into the receiving cavity of one of the receiving cylinders. Each of the sub-units includes a body, a rotating mechanism, a rotating base, and a propeller. The body is provided with a mounting base, the mounting base has a locking groove on its periphery, and an electrical plug is provided at the upper end of the mounting base. The rotating mechanism is mounted on the body and controls the rotation of the rotating base. The propeller can rotate relative to the body around the rotating base to switch between a folded state and an unfolded state. When the sub-unit is inserted into the receiving cavity, the propeller is in the folded state; when the sub-unit is removed from the receiving cavity, the propeller can be in the unfolded state. One of the release components is adapted to one of the sub-machines and includes a release mechanism and a locking tongue. The receiving cavity is provided with a locking cavity adjacent to the open opening. The upper cavity wall of the locking cavity is provided with a communication connector. The communication connector is electrically connected to the main control board inside the machine body. The mounting base can be inserted into the locking cavity, so that the electrical plug is adapted to be electrically connected to the communication connector. The release mechanism is disposed on the machine body and controls the locking tongue to move in the horizontal direction, so that the locking end of the locking tongue is inserted into or disengaged from the locking groove.

2. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The release mechanism includes a mounting bracket, a servo motor, a rotary arm, a compression spring, and an unlocking pin. The mounting bracket is mounted on the fuselage and has a sliding groove extending horizontally. The latch tongue protrudes and has a sliding rod that is slidably located within the sliding groove. The compression spring is located within the sliding groove and presses against the inner groove surface of the sliding groove and the sliding rod, thereby forcing the sliding rod to drive the latch tongue's latching end to insert into the latch groove. A limiting groove is formed through the peripheral wall of the slide groove, and the limiting groove extends horizontally. The connecting end of the unlocking pin is fixedly connected to the slide rod. The pushed end of the unlocking pin extends out of the limiting groove, and the unlocking pin can slide relative to the limiting groove. The servo motor is mounted on the mounting bracket and controls the rotating end of the rotary arm to rotate, so that the pushing end of the rotary arm drives the pushed end of the unlocking pin, thereby forcing the unlocking pin to drive the locking end of the locking tongue to disengage from the locking groove.

3. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lower end of the mounting bracket is provided with a guide groove that communicates with the slide groove. The guide groove extends in the horizontal direction. The slide rod is provided with a guide rod protruding from it. The guide end of the guide rod is slidably located in the guide groove.

4. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 2, characterized in that: The mother-daughter UAV also includes multiple landing bars, multiple support bars, an upper support plate and a lower support plate. The multiple landing bars are arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage. The connecting end of each landing bar is connected to the fuselage. The support end of each landing bar is located below the daughter UAV inserted into the accommodating cavity. Each landing bar is inclined outward relative to the fuselage. The upper support plate is disposed at the upper end of the plurality of accommodating cylinders, the lower support plate is disposed at the lower end of the plurality of accommodating cylinders, and the plurality of lifting rods are located on the outer periphery of the upper support plate and connected to the upper support plate, the plurality of lifting rods are located on the outer periphery of the lower support plate and connected to the lower support plate, the plurality of support rods are arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage and connected between the fuselage and the upper support plate, and the release assembly is disposed on the lower support plate.

5. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 4, characterized in that: The number of landing bars is four, and two landing bars are arranged side by side to form a landing gear set. The two sets of landing gear sets are symmetrically arranged about the fuselage. The mother-daughter UAV also includes two cross braces and two connecting rods. One of the cross braces is located at the lower end of a set of landing gears and is connected to the support ends of the two landing bars of the set of landing gears. The connecting rod is located between the upper support plate and the lower support plate and is connected between the two landing bars of the set of landing gears.

6. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 4, characterized in that: The mother-daughter drone also includes a protective cover, which is disposed on the lower support plate and covers the release assembly; And / or, the mother-daughter drone also includes a camera mounted on the upper support plate.

7. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mounting base is provided with protruding ribs on its periphery, and the ribs can abut against the periphery wall of the locking cavity; And / or, the cavity peripheral wall of the accommodating cavity is provided with an elastic ring, and the shaft hole of the elastic ring is provided with an elastic rib, which can abut against the outer peripheral wall of the machine body.

8. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The accommodating cylinder includes an upper end cap, a fiberglass tube, and a lower ring sleeve. The lower end of the upper end cap is recessed and has a first insertion ring groove. The upper ring wall of the fiberglass tube is inserted into the first insertion ring groove. The upper end of the lower ring sleeve is recessed and has a second insertion ring groove. The lower ring wall of the fiberglass tube is inserted into the second insertion ring groove. The locking cavity, the open opening, and the communication connector are located on the lower ring sleeve.

9. The mother-daughter UAV according to claim 1, characterized in that: The body extends vertically, and the housing extends vertically as well; in the folded state, the propeller is arranged parallel to the body; in the unfolded state, the propeller is arranged perpendicular to the body. And / or, the sub-machine is a coaxial dual-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle.

10. The mother-daughter unmanned aerial vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The mother machine also includes four arms, and the number of the rotating mechanism and the rotors are both four. The four arms are evenly arranged in the circumferential direction of the fuselage. The connecting end of each arm is connected to the fuselage, and the outer overhang of each arm is provided with a rotating mechanism and a rotor. One rotating mechanism controls the rotation of one rotor.

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