Propeller-powered flying drone

Abstract

The invention relates to a drone equipped with extendable mounts, to whose outer ends the drive electric motors and propellers are attached. Depending on the operating situation, the drone can retract or extend its mounts, thus increasing or decreasing the rotor spacing. This is advantageous when the drone must carry a load with a larger surface area that would disrupt the downward airflow of the rotors. In such cases, when a load must be carried with a larger surface area that would disrupt the airflow, the drone can, automatically or manually controlled, increase the rotor spacing to such an extent that the air jet from the rotors does not reach the load at all, but simply passes by. This increases the efficiency of the drone and the battery range.

Description

The invention relates to a flying drone equipped with propellers installed in retractable mounts, respectively.Conventional flying drones are increasingly being used for various areas. Deliveries are also carried out with this. The drones that must transport a load, however, have a relatively short range.However, there is also another problem that arises with loads having a larger surface area. Because drones are to be made compact, the rotors are often installed at small distances from each other. By the load positioned below, the air currents and vortices by the rotors will strike the load suspended below and thereby somewhat reduce the thrust force of the drone.The publication EP 2 673 192 B1 describes a missile, in particular a remotely controlled small missile having at least one lift surface, having at least one propeller drive pair, and having a weight element, the position of which can be changed in the longitudinal direction of the missile for changing the centre of gravity of the missile, according to the preamble of claim 1.A similar missile is known from WO 2008 / 007 147 A1. Here, a pendulum arranged under the missile is used as a weight element. With a suitable positioning of the pendulum, a floating state of the missile can be realized. Furthermore, this missile is equipped with a wing structure, tail structure and control surfaces of its own.U.S. patent application US 2005 / 017 359 2 A1 discloses a closed wing element for aircraft.Furthermore, document DE 295 02 677 U1 discloses a compact aircraft having airfoils and head wings that form a closed wing structure.The document WO 2009 / 09 569 6 A2 discloses a flying object on which a plurality of drive units are arranged in a rotationally articulated manner on an airfoil. A disadvantage here is that such missiles or small missile can be moved safely only after a relatively long training time. Moreover, such missiles are relatively bulky, for example due to a tail boom for a tail unit and / or the pendulum-like arrangement of the weight element. This makes transport of the missile more difficult. There is also the risk that the missile can be easily damaged during transport and / or an unfavorable flight maneuver.EP 2 942 094 B1 describes a rotary wing drone of the quadrocopter type which is equipped with removable bumpers for protecting the propellers. The helicopter rotary wing drone comprising a drone body, a plurality of drive blocks mounted in spaced relationship to the drone body at the end of respective support arms, each drive block comprising a drive motor of a propeller, a drive block housing comprising a vertical shaft and provided with removable protection means.EP 3 468 870 B1 describes a drone comprising a first housing comprising a plurality of propellers configured to generate a lift, a power drive unit configured to impart rotational force to each of the plurality of propellers, a ground sensing unit configured to measure a distance to a first region of a ground and a shape of the first region, and a control unit configured to control the power drive unit to differentiate ratios of rotation of the plurality of propellers based on the measured distance and the shape in response to an input for landing in the first region, the drone further comprising a second housing connected to the first housing to enable yaw, tilting and rolling with respect to the first housing, the second housing having a camera, and wherein, in response to the signal for landing in the first area, the controller is further configured to control yaw, pitch, and roll of the first housing based on the measured shape of the first area to allow the first housing to remain horizontal to a center of the earth and allow the second housing to be parallel to the first area of the earth.DE 10 2012 104 783 B4 describes an aircraft, preferably UAV, a drone and / or OFF, wherein the electric motors with the rotors are preferably arranged on the rigid wing via corresponding motor nacelles, such that there is no collision of the rotors in horizontal flight or levitation flight and also no excessive covering of the vertical thrust component by the rigid wing takes place. At the same time, the rigid wing is subjected to very efficient incident flow during forward flight.DE 10 2004 061 977 A1 describes a small missile with support and control surfaces which can be deployed and which can be transferred from the marsh flight into a hover flight by changing the direction of rotation of the propeller by means of a tail propeller driven by a battery-operated electric motor.WO20182324330A1 shows a drone with pivotable propeller protection frames with integrated electrically driven propellers. The invention relates to a propeller protection frame, in the interior of which at least one electrically driven propeller is integrated and which represents a connection to another object via at least one pivotable connection.AT 5 201 45 A1 describes an extendable propeller guard frame with integrated driven propellers.DE 20 2022 104 574 U1 describes a multirotor drone characterized by a frame, two pairs of arms each rotatably connected to the frame and each located on opposite sides of the roll axis of the frame, each pair of arms comprising a first arm and a second arm, a plurality of rotor devices comprising a first rotor device arranged on the first arm and having a first propeller, and a second rotor device arranged on the second arm and having a second propeller to provide flight performance, each pair of arms being able to rotate opposite to each other to be in a deployed state, and each pair of arms being able to rotate to each other to be in a collapsed state, each pair of arms being in a layered collapsed state in the collapsed state, the first arm is folded over the second arm, and the installation height of the second propeller is higher than that of the first propeller, and the first propeller and the second propeller are both folded over the first arm.DE 10 2023 109 194 A1 describes an intelligent payload transport device for unmanned aircraft. The present invention relates to a payload transport device for transporting payloads, in particular packages or piece goods, having a housing comprising a loading opening on a housing front side, at least one tailgate, for closing the loading opening, wherein the tailgate is fastened to the housing by means of a hinge and is pivotable about a hinge axis of the hinge with the aid of a motorized opening mechanism, wherein the motorized opening mechanism is integrated into the tailgate. The invention furthermore proposes an aircraft having such a payload transport device, and an arrangement comprising such an aircraft, and a delivery method using such an arrangement.The invention specified in patent claims 1 to 17 is based on the problem of creating a compact flying drone whose propeller air flow when carrying a load with a large contact surface, comes freely downward without touching the surfaces of the load to be carried.This problem is solved by the features set out in claims 1 to 17.The invention achieves a reliable, low cost flying drone design that provides optimal aerodynamics and compactness.Advantages of this flying drone are:no disruption of the propeller drive air flow due to the load suspended below,slightly longer rangesomewhat higher load-carrying capacity.Exemplary embodiments are further explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.The following are shown: FIG. 1 shows a drone with telescopic tube system, FIG. 2 shows the small spindle gear and associated electric motors, FIG. 3 shows the restoring spring for the holders of the rotors, FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the drone with extendable rails, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment with foldable levers, FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the drone, wherein the connection points of the holders are equipped with joints for easy transport of the drone.This is a flying drone which is optimally suitable for carrying loads of large surface area.The drone is equipped with extendable telescopic mounts for rotors. During landing, the rotor wind may interfere, so it is optimal if the rotors are placed slightly farther from the drone body. Telescoping tubes or extendable rails serve to extend the distances between rotors and the drone. However, if the drone flies without load, it can retract the rotors. The drawing-in is carried out electrically (but can also be effected pneumatically). However, instead of incorporating complicated extending and retracting members, it is preferable here to use the centrifugal force generated when the drone rapidly rotates about its own axis.The drone 1 is equipped with telescopic tube construction 2 which can be retracted and extended in the longitudinal axes 11 thereof. The propellers (rotors) 3 installed at the outer ends 5 of the outer telescopic tubes 4 can thus be brought closer to the drone or also be moved slightly further radially away from the drone. This has the advantage if the drone has to carry a light package, for example, which is however relatively large. Such packages 6 provide the rotor air currents 7 with a larger engagement surface 8 and can seriously interfere with the driving force of the drone. This is accomplished either by a long cable on which the load hangs quite far down or, as shown here in the invention, by a device which is an electrically retractable and extendable mounting system which is capable of regulating the rotor distances or of bringing the rotors 3 closer to the drone or moving it further from the drone.FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment. If the drone 1 carries a small load (e.g. package) 6 that provides little attack surface against rotor airflow, then it can draw the rotor blades somewhat closer so that it is more compact and can also fly between the trees without risk of collision. When transporting objects or packages having a larger engagement surface, the air flow of the propellers would collide against the surface of the object or of the packet and thus cause a reduction in the driving force. In this case, the distance between the propellers and the drone is increased radially from a vertical axis 9 by extending the telescopic tubes. In the case of a two-tube system of a telescopic tube, for example, the inner telescopic tube 10 can be thicker than the outer telescopic tube 4. the electrical lines 12 for the electric motors 13 of the propellers 3 are installed in the telescopic tubes and are designed to be somewhat longer (folded or compressed), so that even when the telescopic tubes are maximally extended they are still long enough to supply the electric motors with current.For the spreading of the rotors or their radial retraction and extraction from a vertical axis 9 running through the drone 1, small spindle gears 20 and associated electric motors 21 can be installed in the holders, which consist of sliding telescopic rods, telescopic tubes or rail segments inserted into one another (FIG. 2 ).A simple rotor clearance control system for spreading the drone's rotor mounts, which involves little add-on weight, is the centrifugal force method. Here, an electronic controller 19 (or a sub-program in the already existing control unit) is installed, which is coupled to the drive control system 22 of the drone. The drone mounts each have a small electrical brake piece (brake device) 23 that can block the radial movement of the mounts. The brake may be a small electromagnet (e.g. a relay) which, when in the active state (energized), releases the brake and allows the telescopic tubes to be displaced along their longitudinal axis 11. It is to be installed at the outer end 24 of the inner segment or the pipe section that is closest to the drone-i.e. approximately in the middle in the case of a two-pipe telescopic system. Once a greater distance between the rotors of the drone is required, the electronic controller 19 performs a (or more) rapid rotation of the drone about a vertical axis 9 and the centrifugal force thereby created is used to move the electric motors 13 and the propellers 3 radially away from the drone. As soon as the desired distance and the position are reached or the required lengthening of the holder has been completed, the electric brake 23 engages and fixes the holder. The brake is to be released only when it is under current. It can be blocked, for example, by a built-in pin 30 which blocks telescopic tubes or rails at the end of the further movement. This will save power because it remains blocked in the inactive state. When the brake is released, the rotors or holders are retracted by the return springs 25 and the drone appears significantly smaller. The spring force of the return spring should be consistent with the centrifugal force, i.e., strong enough to retract the outer tubes / rails when the drone is not rotating and weak enough to allow the centrifugal force to be pulled out of these pieces when the drone is rotating. The variant with the telescopic tubes is very stable and can nevertheless be built totally lightweight. The telescopic tubes can be built two, three or more times. The inner telescoping tube should be thicker than the outer telescoping tube to optimize aerodynamics. The rotors and electric drive motors 13 are to be installed at the ends 5 of the outer tubes / rails. The radial movement of the parts takes place on a horizontal plane 31.FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the drone with extendable rails. The construction with slidable rails, which are also slidable radially from a vertical axis of the drone, is similar to the variant with telescopic tubes. An inner rail 14 fixedly secured to the drone housing 16 may be designed slightly wider than the outer rail 15 so that the exterior can slide into the interior purely. The drone may additionally be equipped with an air vortex sensing system or image sensing system. An air vortex sensor 17 is intended to be able to detect the air vortices which arise as a result of the load to be borne by the drone. Even more simply, one is to install which monitors the area directly under the drone and, once a load is in the drone's airflow area, directs a command to a controller 19 which brings the rotors slightly apart and thereby occlude the surfaces of the load to be carried, no longer the air return 7 of the propellers.In Figure 5, a drone has been illustrated with rotors mounted on articulated supports 27. The articulated supports are designed to be retractable and retractable tangentially (partly also radially) to a circle 29 comprising the drone about the vertical axis 9 passing through the drone. To effect the extension and thus the enlargement of the distances between the propellers of the drone can be electrically accomplished by an electric motor 28 built into the drone and a gear system 26 that spreads the joints. However, the method which uses the centrifugal force of the drone 1 rotating about its own axis 9 to push the electric motors and the rotors of the drone away from the drone is also the simplest possible embodiment. The resetting also here brings about a respective spring (restoring spring element) 25 which draws the parts together again in the absence of centrifugal force. A similar electrical brake device 23 as described above can fix the position of the movable supports / levers once the desired position of the rotors has been reached.For easier transportation of the drone itself, the parts / holders on which the rotors are installed, as in many solutions belonging to the prior art and drones already in sale, can be coupled to the drone housing by additional joints 32 (FIG. 6 ). The joint movement should also be permitted here only in the horizontal plane 31 and be fixed by a securing / latching pin (fixing device) 33. In this manner, once the user has depackaged the drone, he can manually extend the mounts from the drone housing and spread the rotor positions. Depending on whether the drone has to transport a larger or smaller load, it can then increase or decrease the rotor distances independently or manually, even in flight operation.During transport of somewhat larger packages, extension of the rotor distance is needed. In the case of smaller shipments or loads, this is not absolutely necessary and therefore the holders for the rotors do not have to be extended.Such a drone would also be suitable for stimulated flash discharges by laser assisted ionization channels. If it were provided with a large annular opening in the middle, it could pass a flash through the opening. For this purpose, an air ionizing laser radiation from the bottom would be required, wherein the laser beams are divided into two beams by a double mirror. One of the rays going up hits a cloud and the other could hit a target at the ground and thereby create an air ion channel between the weather cloud and the ground.LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS1 Drone 2 Telescopic tube construction 3 Propellers (rotors) 4 Outer telescopic tubes 5 Ends of the outer tubes / rails 6 Package, load 7 Rotor air currents / air reflection 8 Larger engagement area of the load 9 Vertical axis 10 Inner telescopic tube 11 Longitudinal axes of the telescopic tubes 12 Electrical lines 13 Electric motors / drive electric motors 14 Inner rail 15 Outer rail 16 Drone housing 17 Air vortex sensor 18 Camera 19 Controller 20 Spindle gear 21 Electric motors for the spindle gear 22 Drive control system 23 Brake piece (brake device), Electromagnetic brake 24 Outer end of the inner segment or of the tube piece, 25 return spring 26 gear system 27 joint holders / levers 28 electric motor for the levers 29 circle comprising the drone 30 pin (brake pin) 31 horizontal plane 32 additional joints 32 33 securing / locking pin / fixing deviceReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedEP 2 673 192 B1

[0004] WO 2008 / 007 147 A1

[0005] US 2005 / 017 359 2 A1

[0006] DE 295 02 677 U1

[0007] WO 2009 / 09 569 6 A2

[0008] EP 2 942 094 B1

[0009] EP 3 468 870 B1

[0010] DE 10 2012 104 783 B4

[0011] DE 10 2004 061 977 A1

[0012] WO20182324330A1

[0013] AT 5 201 45 A1

[0014] DE 20 2022 104 574 U1

[0015] DE 10 2023 109 194 A1

[0016]

Claims

A flying drone with propeller drive, characterized in that it is equipped with telescopic rod or telescopic tube holders consisting of a plurality of rods or tubes of different diameters, which are slidingly movable along each other, which are electrically retractable and extendable individually or in groups, at the outer ends of which the propellers and their electric drive motors are installed.A flying drone with propeller drive, characterized in that it is equipped with supports made of segments of rails which are slidable, electrically retractable and extractable one inside the other, at the outer ends of which the propellers and their electric drive motors are installed.A propeller-driven flying drone characterized in that it comprises - supports in the form of telescopic tube supports or segments of rails slidably movable one inside the other, connected to the drone casing, radially radiating from the drone casing, at the outer ends of which the propellers and their electric drive motors are mounted, - an electrically driven blocking device or braking device each capable of blocking or releasing the sliding of the telescopic tubes or segments of rails one within the other individually or in groups, - an electrical controller coupled to the electrically driven blocking / braking devices and to a drone drive control system that briefly rotates the drone about its own axis / vertical axis, if necessary, generating a centrifugal force on the propellers and their driving electric motors sufficiently large to move the outer ends of the telescopic tubes or rail segments radially from the drone and thus to increase the distance between the propellers - each comprising a spring force element or restoring spring element installed in the telescopic tubes or rail segments which permanently pulls the outer ends of the telescopic tubes or rail segments radially to the drone with a force sufficient to pull them fully into each other in the absence of a centrifugal force and the braking force of the brake device.The propeller-driven flying drone of claim 3, characterized in that the inner parts of the telescopic tube holders or rail segments coupled to the drone housing are connected to the drones by a joint each allowing a pivoting movement of these parts in a horizontal plane and a fixing device installed in the joint.A flying drone with propeller drive, characterized in that it comprises at least - hinged levers or articulated supports arranged tangentially to a circle comprising the drone, each articulated at an inner end to the drone, which are movable slidingly radially from a vertical axis passing through the drone in the flying position, at the outer ends of which are respectively mounted a propeller and its electric drive motor, - one electrically driven brake device per lever or articulated support, which can individually or in groups control, block or release the movement of the levers or articulated supports, - an electrical control coupled to the electrically driven brake devices and to a propulsion or flight control system of the drone, which rapidly rotates the drone about a vertical axis as required for increasing the distances between the propellers and thereby generates a centrifugal force on the propellers and their electric motors which is sufficiently large to radially spread the outer ends of the levers or holders from the drone and to increase the distances between the drone propellers - each having a spring force element or restoring spring element which is respectively installed in the levers or articulated holders and permanently draws the outer ends of the levers or articulated holders radially to the drone with a force which is sufficient, in the absence of a centrifugal force, to draw the levers or articulated holders closer to the drone.The propeller-driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports, telescopic tubes or rail segments are synchronously or individually controlled, radially movable from a vertical axis passing through the drone body.A propeller-driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that a controller is installed which automatically controls the rotor distance from the drone by extending or retracting the holders, telescopic tube holders or the rail segments.A propeller driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the brackets, telescoping tube brackets or the rail segments are movable in a combined radial and tangential movement from a vertical axis passing through the drone body.The propeller-driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports, telescopic tube supports or the rail segments are movable from and to the drone combined movements performed radially and partially tangentially.A propeller-driven flying drone according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with a sensor system capable of detecting the influence of air vortices by the load to be borne, coupled to the controller for automatic regulation of the rotor distance from the drone.A propeller-driven flying drone according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with an image acquisition system capable of acquiring the surface of application of the load to be supported that is in the way of the rotor air flow, which is coupled to the controller for automatic regulation of the rotor distance from the drone.The propeller driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the levers, brackets, telescopic tubes or rail segments for the propellers are configured such that the propellers can still rotate freely in the retracted state.The flying drone with propeller drive according to one of the preceding patent claims, characterized in that the displacement of the propellers into the longitudinal axis of the levers, holders, telescopic tubes or rail segments is carried out individually in a controlled manner and can be controlled via a drive or flight control system.The propeller-driven flying drone according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with a loaded drone centre of gravity detection system coupled to the control capable of controlling the displacement of the propellers in the longitudinal axis of the levers, brackets, telescopic tubes or rail segments.The propeller-driven flying drone according to claim 14, characterized in that the center-of-gravity detection system is equipped with a gravity sensor.The flying drone with propeller drive according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the center-of-gravity determination system counteracts a displacement of the center of gravity of the loaded drone by the corresponding extension of the individual propeller distances.The propeller-driven flying drone according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with damper elements that avoid abrupt movement of the levers, brackets, telescopic tubes or rail segments.

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