Drone

Abstract

To provide a drone that can be readily maintained.SOLUTION: A drone 100 includes: a body part 110 including a rotor; and a guard part 120 surrounding a periphery of the body part 110. The guard part 120 includes an upper guard part 121 and a lower guard part 122, where the upper guard part 121 and a lower guard part 122 are freely separable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a drone that flies and takes photographs, etc. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, drones have been used to take videos and still images, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a drone that includes a main body with propellers and an outer protective cage that surrounds the main body. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2022-521272 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the drone proposed in Patent Document 1, the outer protective cage is composed of many short rod-shaped beams and many connectors connected to the ends of the beams. In the case of such a structure, in order to directly access the main body for purposes such as battery replacement or repair, it is necessary to remove some of the connectors and beams to form openings, which requires very complicated work.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a drone that is easy to maintain. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the drone disclosed below comprises a main body portion having a rotor and a guard portion covering the periphery of the main body portion, the guard portion having an upper guard portion and a lower guard portion, and the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion can be freely separated. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the drone described above, maintenance can be easily performed because the main body can be directly touched by simply separating the upper guard part and the lower guard part. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a drone 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view (side view) showing the configuration of the drone 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view (front) showing the configuration of a drone 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment, and appropriate design changes can be made within the scope of the configuration of the present invention. In the following description, the same parts or parts having similar functions are commonly designated by the same reference numerals in different drawings, and repeated description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the configurations described in the embodiment and the modified examples may be appropriately combined or modified. In addition, in order to make the description easier to understand, the configurations are shown simplified or schematic, or some of the configurations are omitted in the drawings referred to below.

[0010] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a drone 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are exploded perspective views showing a configuration of the drone 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the drone 100 includes a main body 110 having a rotor 112 and a guard part 120 that covers the periphery of the main body 110.

[0011] The main body 110 comprises a beam 111 serving as a base, a rotor 112 attached to the beam 111, a sensor unit 113 consisting of a camera etc., a main part 114 in which a control device, a battery etc. are mounted, and a fixing part 115 for fixing the battery mounted on the main part 114.

[0012] The beam 111 has a shape like two crossed beams, and its ends are connected to the guard section 120. The rotor 112 is attached to the underside of the beam 111, and as the rotor 112 rotates, the drone 100 obtains lift and flies. The sensor section 113 includes a camera capable of taking still images and videos, a distance measuring sensor capable of measuring distance using a laser, and the like. The main section 114 is equipped with a control device that controls the rotation of the rotor 112, and a battery. The fixing section 115 not only fixes the battery mounted on the main section 114, but also holds the wiring (for example, wiring such as a balance connector in a battery composed of multiple cells) together, thereby preventing interference between the rotor 112 and the wiring.

[0013] The guard section 120 is composed of an upper guard section 121 and a lower guard section 122. Each of the upper guard section 121 and the lower guard section 122 is basically composed of a lattice with a triangle as a unit, and is a flattened hemisphere as a whole. The top of the upper guard section 121 and the bottom of the lower guard section 122 are each a hexagonal structure formed by combining six triangles, with the center portion replaced with a hollow circle. In addition, the side peripheral surfaces of the upper guard section 121 and the lower guard section 122 are each a ring-shaped structure in which six pentagonal unit structures formed by combining five triangles are connected together so that the vertices are connected along the circumferential direction, and the vertices of each pentagon are connected to the vertices of the hexagon that constitutes the top of the upper guard section 121 or the bottom of the lower guard section 122. However, in the upper guard section 121, gaps are provided around the sensor section 113 so as not to interfere with the operation of the sensor section 113.

[0014] The guard part 120 having the above structure can be divided exactly at the center into an upper guard part 121 and a lower guard part 122. In addition, the guard part 120 has discontinuous portions where the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 abut along the circumferential direction which is the boundary between the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122. And, because there is a gap in the portion where the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 do not abut, simple maintenance can be performed by inserting a hand into the inside of the guard part 120 through the gap without separating the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122.

[0015] The upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 are connected so that the sides farthest from the top or bottom of the pentagonal lattice constituting each side peripheral surface are separably connected to each other. Specifically, through holes 1211, 1221 are provided on each of the sides, and the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 are connected by inserting the bolt 130 into the through holes 1211, 1221 while the sides are abutted against each other, and fastening the nut 131 to the bolt 130. Note that the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 may be connected to each other using a connector (e.g., a screw, etc.) other than the bolt 130 and the nut 131. Also, the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122 are molded integrally by injection molding, a 3D printer, or the like.

[0016] The guard section 120 having the above structure can form the upper guard section and the lower guard section, and can connect the upper guard section 121 and the lower guard section 122, without externally attaching connecting parts such as connectors. This allows the surface of the guard section 120 to be flattened, so that even if the drone collides with an observation target, damage to the observation target can be prevented.

[0017] The end 1111 of the beam 111 is thicker than the base side of the beam 111. The end 1111 of the beam 111 is formed of an elastic body such as rubber. This end 1111 is clamped between a receiving portion 1212 of the upper guard portion 121 and a receiving portion 1222 of the lower guard portion 122. This structure allows the main body portion 110 and the guard portion 120 to be firmly integrated, thereby reducing vibrations and making the flight of the drone 100 more stable.

[0018] As described above, the drone 100 is equipped with the separable upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122. Therefore, the drone 100 can be easily maintained because the main body part 110 can be directly touched by simply separating the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122.

[0019] The above-described embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the above-described embodiments can be appropriately modified and carried out without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the various features in the above-described embodiments can be carried out alone or in partial combination.

[0020] For example, the drone may have a structure in which the end 1111 of the beam 111 is thicker than the base side, but does not have a structure in which the guard part 120 is freely separable into the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122. In this case, the end 1111 of the beam 111 may be attached to another part of the guard part, not between the upper guard part 121 and the lower guard part 122.

[0021] Furthermore, the above-mentioned drone can be described as follows.

[0022] The drone comprises a main body having rotors and a guard part that covers the periphery of the main body, the guard part having an upper guard part and a lower guard part that can be separated (first configuration). With this configuration, the main body can be directly touched simply by separating the upper guard part from the lower guard part, which facilitates maintenance.

[0023] In the first configuration, the main body may have a beam to which the rotor is attached, and an end of the beam may be sandwiched between the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion (second configuration). With this configuration, the main body and the guard portions can be easily integrated.

[0024] In the second configuration, the end of the beam may be thicker than the base side (third configuration). Also, in the second or third configuration, an elastic body may be provided at the end of the beam (fourth configuration). With these configurations, the main body and the guard can be firmly integrated, reducing vibrations and making the drone's flight more stable.

[0025] In any one of the first to fourth configurations, the guard portion may be formed so that the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion abut against each other discontinuously along the circumferential direction which is the boundary between the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion (fifth configuration). According to this configuration, a gap is formed in the portion where the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion do not abut, so that simple maintenance can be performed by inserting a hand into the guard portion through the gap without separating the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion.

[0026] In any one of the first to fifth configurations, the upper guard part and the lower guard part may be fixed by inserting a connector into a through hole provided in each of them (sixth configuration). According to this configuration, the upper guard part and the lower guard part can be fixed without attaching a connecting part such as a connector from the outside, so that the surface of the guard part can be flattened. Therefore, even if the drone collides with an observation target, damage to the observation target can be prevented.

[0027] In any one of the first to sixth configurations, the upper guard part and the lower guard part may each be an integrally molded product (seventh configuration). With this configuration, when the upper guard part and the lower guard part are separated, they do not need to be further disassembled, and therefore separation and reassembly can be easily performed. In addition, since the upper guard part and the lower guard part can each be formed without attaching connecting parts such as connectors from the outside, the surfaces of the guard parts can be flattened. Therefore, even if the drone collides with an object to be observed, damage to the object to be observed can be prevented. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 100: drone, 110: main body, 111: beam, 112: rotor, 113: sensor, 114: main part, 115: fixing part, 120: guard, 121: upper guard, 1211: through hole, 122: lower guard, 1221: through hole, 130: bolt, 131: nut

Claims

1. A main body having a rotor; A guard portion that covers the periphery of the main body portion, The drone, wherein the guard portion has an upper guard portion and a lower guard portion, and the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion are freely separable.

2. The main body has a beam to which the rotor is attached, The drone of claim 1 , wherein an end of the beam is clamped between the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion.

3. The drone of claim 2 , wherein the end portion of the beam is thicker than the base portion.

4. The drone of claim 2 , wherein an elastic body is provided at the end of the beam.

5. The drone of claim 1 , wherein the guard portion is formed with discontinuous portions where the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion abut along a circumferential direction that is a boundary between the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion.

6. The drone according to claim 1 , wherein the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion are fixed by inserting a connector into a through hole provided in each of the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion.

7. The drone according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein each of the upper guard portion and the lower guard portion is an integrally molded product.

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