Fuel cell drone

Abstract

To provide a fuel cell drone that can cool electronic devices without increasing the number of parts.SOLUTION: A fuel cell drone 10 that is navigated by a fuel cell 12 includes a high-pressure gas tank 13 filled with fuel gas for the fuel cell 12, a gas supply pipe 18 connected to the high-pressure gas tank 13, a throttle portion 18A provided on the gas supply pipe 18 and having a smaller diameter than the gas supply pipe 18, and an expanded diameter portion 18B provided on the gas supply pipe 18 and disposed downstream of the throttle portion 18A as viewed from the high-pressure gas tank 13, the expanded diameter portion 18B having a larger diameter than the throttle portion 18A, and the high-pressure gas tank 13 and / or the expanded diameter portion 18B are disposed so as to come into contact with a cooled portion 17.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a fuel cell drone that is navigated by a fuel cell.

Background Art

[0002] A drone is known as an unmanned aerial vehicle. A fuel cell drone is a drone that is navigated by a fuel cell. The fuel cell drone navigates, for example, by driving a motor with electric power supplied by a fuel cell and rotating a propeller by the motor. Further, an electronic device for controlling, for example, a motor may be mounted on the fuel cell drone. Some of the electronic devices generate heat during operation. Therefore, the electronic devices that generate heat during operation need to be cooled so as not to exceed the operation guarantee temperature of the electronic devices.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a cooling technique for cooling an electronic device by utilizing the expansion cooling of air. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, compressed air is expanded and cooled and blown onto a heat sink to cool the heat sink.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] For example, when using the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 to cool the electronic device of a fuel cell drone, it is necessary to further mount a device such as a compressor on the fuel cell drone. In this case, the number of parts of the fuel cell drone increases, the total weight of the fuel cell drone increases, and the navigation performance of the fuel cell drone deteriorates.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell drone that can cool an electronic device without increasing the number of parts.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The fuel cell drone according to the present invention is a fuel cell drone that sails by a fuel cell, and includes a high-pressure gas tank filled with fuel gas of the fuel cell, a gas supply pipe connected to the high-pressure gas tank, a throttle portion provided in the gas supply pipe and having a smaller diameter than the gas supply pipe, and a diameter-expanded portion provided in the gas supply pipe, arranged on the downstream side as viewed from the high-pressure gas tank with respect to the throttle portion, and having a larger diameter than the throttle portion, and the high-pressure gas tank and / or the diameter-expanded portion are arranged so as to be in contact with the component to be cooled.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the fuel cell drone of the present invention, an electronic device can be cooled without increasing the number of parts.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the following description, specific shapes, materials, directions, numerical values, etc. are examples for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and can be appropriately changed according to applications, purposes, specifications, etc.

[0011] [Fuel Cell Drone] The fuel cell drone 10 which is an example of an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0012] The fuel cell drone 10 is an unmanned aerial vehicle that sails by a fuel cell 12. The fuel cell drone 10 is equipped with, for example, sensors, cameras, etc. The fuel cell drone 10 is used in fields such as agriculture, surveying, policing, logistics, disaster investigation, inspection or maintenance of structures, security, search, reporting, etc. The fuel cell drone 10 may include a transmitter that transmits a control signal from an operator and a receiver that receives the control signal. Also, the fuel cell drone 10 may have an automatic control function.

[0013] The fuel cell drone 10 includes a main body 11, a fuel cell 12 mounted on the main body 11, a high-pressure gas tank 13 filled with fuel gas (hydrogen) supplied to the fuel cell 12, a plurality of motors 14 driven by the electric power generated by the fuel cell 12, a plurality of rotors 15 rotated by each motor 14, legs 16 provided on the main body 11, and a controller (not shown) that controls each device of the fuel cell drone 10.

[0014] In the fuel cell drone 10, the fuel (hydrogen) filled in the high-pressure gas tank 13 is supplied to the fuel cell 12, the motor 14 is driven by the electric power generated by the fuel cell 12, and the rotor 15 is rotated by the motor 14 to sail. The fuel cell drone 10 can perform ascending, descending, horizontal movement in the front, rear, left, and right directions, or a combination thereof, or hovering at a certain position in the air by cooperating each rotor 15 with other rotors 15.

[0015] The fuel cell 12 is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel such as hydrogen and an oxidant such as oxygen into electricity through a pair of oxidation-reduction reactions. In this embodiment, a solid molecular type fuel cell is used as the fuel cell 12, for example. The electricity generated by the fuel cell 12 is supplied to the motor 14 or electrical equipment (not shown), sensors, etc. In the fuel cell 12, hydrogen (negative electrode active material) is supplied from the high-pressure gas tank 13 to the hydrogen electrode (negative electrode), and oxygen is supplied to the air electrode (positive electrode), and power generation is performed to supply power of a predetermined (rated output) to each motor 14. Note that oxygen is taken in from the outside air.

[0016] The high-pressure gas tank 13 is a high-pressure container filled with hydrogen as a fuel. The high-pressure gas tank 13 of this embodiment is provided at the lower part of the main body 11. However, the high-pressure gas tank of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and may be provided at the upper part or the like of the main body 11. Hydrogen (negative electrode active material) is supplied from the high-pressure gas tank 13 to the fuel cell 12 through a gas supply pipe 18 described later.

[0017] The leg 16 is a member that safely lands the fuel cell drone 10 without colliding the main body 11 or the like with the ground. Further, the leg 16 prevents the collision of the high-pressure gas tank 13 as a protective fence for the high-pressure gas tank 13 provided at the lower part of the main body 11. The leg 16 of this embodiment is provided so as to straddle the high-pressure gas tank 13 at the lower part of the main body 11. However, the leg of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0018] The controller is a device that controls each device of the fuel cell drone 10 as described above. A plurality of controllers may be provided. The plurality of controllers include a speed controller that controls the rotation speed of the motor 14, a flight controller that automatically controls the stabilization, autonomous navigation, etc. of the main body 11 of the fuel cell drone 10, and a fuel cell controller that controls the power supply amount by the fuel cell 12.

[0019] The controller includes electronic devices such as a processor, transistors, resistors, and relays. Some of the electronic devices generate heat during operation. Therefore, the electronic devices that generate heat during operation need to be cooled so as not to exceed the operating guaranteed temperature of the electronic devices. Hereinafter, cooling structures 20 and 30 for cooling the electronic devices that need to be cooled (hereinafter referred to as the cooled component 17) will be described.

[0020] [Cooling Structure] With reference to FIG. 2, a cooling structure 20 which is an example of an embodiment will be described.

[0021] As described above, the cooling structure 20 is a structure for cooling the cooled component 17. The cooling structure 20 includes the above-described high-pressure gas tank 13, a heat conduction sheet 21 disposed in close contact with the outer surface of the high-pressure gas tank 13, and the cooled component 17 disposed in close contact with the heat conduction sheet 21. In other words, the cooled component 17 is in contact with the high-pressure gas tank 13 via the heat conduction sheet 21.

[0022] The heat conduction sheet 21 is, for example, a flat sheet with a constant thickness, and is made of an insulating material such as an insulating resin material, and may have flexibility such as rubber elasticity.

[0023] In the cooling structure 20, when the hydrogen filled in the high-pressure gas tank 13 is released, the hydrogen in the high-pressure gas tank 13 expands and cools, and absorbs heat from the cooled component 17 through the heat conduction sheet 21. In other words, the cooled component 17 is cooled by the expansion cooling of the hydrogen in the high-pressure gas tank 13.

[0024] According to the cooling structure 20, the cooled component 17 can be cooled only by the existing members of the fuel cell drone 10. As a result, it is not necessary to further mount a device such as a compressor on the fuel cell drone 10, the number of parts of the fuel cell drone 10 does not increase, and the total weight of the fuel cell drone 10 does not increase either.

[0025] [Another Cooling Structure] Using FIG. 3, another example of the cooling structure 30 in the embodiment will be described.

[0026] As described above, the cooling structure 30 is a structure for cooling the component 17 to be cooled. The cooling structure 20 includes a throttle portion 18A provided in the gas supply pipe 18 connected to the high-pressure gas tank 13 described above, a diameter-expanded portion 18B provided in the gas supply pipe 18, a heat conduction sheet 31 disposed in close contact with the diameter-expanded portion 18B, and the component 17 to be cooled disposed in close contact with the heat conduction sheet 31. In other words, the component 17 to be cooled is in contact with the diameter-expanded portion 18B via the heat conduction sheet 31.

[0027] The throttle portion 18A is a portion for reducing the pressure of the hydrogen gas passing through the gas supply pipe 18. The diameter of the throttle portion 18A is smaller than the diameter of the gas supply pipe 18. The diameter-expanded portion 18B is a portion for expanding and cooling the hydrogen gas decompressed by the throttle portion 18A of the gas supply pipe 18. The diameter-expanded portion 18B is disposed on the downstream side of the throttle portion 18A when viewed from the high-pressure gas tank 13. The diameter of the diameter-expanded portion 18B is larger than the diameter of the throttle portion 18A. The heat conduction sheet 31 is, for example, a flat sheet with a constant thickness, and is made of an insulating material such as an insulating resin material, and may have flexibility such as rubber elasticity.

[0028] In the cooling structure 30, when the hydrogen filled in the high-pressure gas tank 13 is released, the hydrogen gas passing through the gas supply pipe 18 is decompressed by the throttle portion 18A, and the hydrogen gas decompressed by the throttle portion 18A is expanded and cooled by the diameter-expanded portion 18B, and absorbs heat from the component 17 to be cooled via the heat conduction sheet 31. In other words, the component 17 to be cooled is cooled by the expansion and cooling of the hydrogen passing through the diameter-expanded portion 18B.

[0029] According to the cooling structure 30, the component 17 to be cooled can be cooled only by the existing members of the fuel cell drone 10. As a result, it is not necessary to further mount equipment such as a compressor on the fuel cell drone 10, the number of parts of the fuel cell drone 10 does not increase, and the total weight of the fuel cell drone 10 does not increase either.

[0030] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and their modified examples, and it goes without saying that various changes and improvements can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims of the present application.

[0031] For example, the fuel cell drone 10 may have a cooling structure 20 and a cooling structure 30. In this case, the cooled component 17 may be divided into two, and one cooled component 17 may be arranged in contact with the high-pressure gas tank 13 via the heat conduction sheet 21, and the other cooled component 17 may be arranged in contact with the enlarged diameter portion 18B via the heat conduction sheet 31.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0032] 10 Fuel cell drone, 11 Main body, 12 Fuel cell, 13 High-pressure gas tank, 14 Motor, 15 Rotor, 16 Leg, 17 Cooled component, 18 Gas supply pipe, 18A Throttle portion, 18B Enlarged diameter portion, 20 Cooling structure, 21 Heat conduction sheet, 30 Cooling structure, 31 Heat conduction sheet

Claims

【Claim 1】 A fuel cell drone that sails by a fuel cell, A high-pressure gas tank filled with fuel gas of the fuel cell, A gas supply pipe connected to the high-pressure gas tank, A throttle portion provided in the gas supply pipe and having a smaller diameter than the gas supply pipe, A diameter-expanded portion provided in the gas supply pipe, arranged on the downstream side as viewed from the high-pressure gas tank with respect to the throttle portion, and having a larger diameter than the throttle portion, and comprising In the high-pressure gas tank and / or the diameter-expanded portion, a component to be cooled is arranged so as to be in contact therewith. Fuel cell drone.

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