Flight body

Abstract

To provide a flight body which has a mechanism capable of suspending a transported object, the mechanism being formed in a simple structure and being hardly affected by wind.SOLUTION: There is provided a flight body comprising: a shell; and legs and a suspension part provided on the shell. The legs support the shell in landing. The suspension part suspends a transported object, and has: arm parts; engagement parts provided on the tips of the arm parts; and support parts provided on the base ends of the arm parts. The engagement parts engage to the transported object, the support parts support the arm parts rotatably in a horizontal axis and are arranged on an upper side of the lower ends of the legs. The arm parts are rotatable between, a suspension state where the arm parts extend downward from the support parts, and the engagement parts are positioned on a lower side of the lower ends of the legs, and a storage state where the arm parts extend laterally from the support parts and the engagement parts are positioned on an upper side of the lower ends of the legs. Each support part has an energization member, and the energization member energizes so that the arm part becomes in the suspension state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a flying object that suspends and transports an object to be transported.

Background Art

[0002] In unmanned aerial vehicles (also referred to as UAVs, drones, etc.) that have become popular in recent years, various kinds of luggage (objects to be transported) may be transported. There are various structures for the flying object to hold the object to be transported. For example, there is a structure having a wire that can be raised and lowered provided on the fuselage of the flying object and a hook provided at the tip of the wire, and the object to be transported is hooked on the hook and suspended. In such a structure, the problem is that the hook suspended by the wire sways under the influence of wind (natural wind or wind generated by the rotor of the flying object). In particular, when transporting the object to be transported by remote control or automatic control, that is, when a person is not directly involved in the operation of hooking the hook on the object to be transported, it becomes a major problem.

[0003] Therefore, as shown in Patent Document 1, it has been proposed to cover the wire that suspends the hook with a telescopic guide member so as not to be affected by wind (Figs. 7 to 9 of Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the flying object of Patent Document 1, the structure of the mechanism for raising and lowering the wire and the telescopic guide member is complicated, and there are problems such as an increase in the weight of the airframe and an increase in the manufacturing cost.

[0006] The present invention is made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an aircraft having a mechanism capable of suspending an object to be conveyed, the mechanism having a simple configuration and being less affected by wind.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The aircraft of the present invention is an aircraft including a fuselage, legs provided on the fuselage, and a suspension part. The legs support the fuselage during landing, and the suspension part suspends an object to be conveyed. The suspension part has an arm part, an engaging part provided at the tip of the arm part, and a support part provided at the base end of the arm part. The engaging part engages with the object to be conveyed, and the support part supports the arm part so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis and is located above the lower end of the leg part. The arm part is rotatable at least between a suspended state in which the arm part extends downward from the support part and the engaging part is located below the lower end of the leg part, and a stored state in which the arm part extends horizontally from the support part and the engaging part is located above the lower end of the leg part. The support part has a biasing member, and the biasing member biases the arm part so as to be in the suspended state. The support part may be directly attached to the fuselage or may be attached to the fuselage via another member. For example, this other member may be a leg part, and in that case, the support part is attached to the leg part. The suspended state is not limited to the case where the arm part is vertical. The stored state is not limited to the case where the arm part is horizontal. Relatively, in the suspended state and the stored state, the suspended state is closer to the case where the arm part is vertical, and the stored state is closer to the case where the arm part is horizontal.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the flying object of the present invention, since the suspended part has a simple structure including an arm part, an engaging part at the tip of the arm part, and a supporting part at the base end, the weight can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed. During flight, the arm part is in a suspended state and the engaging part is located at the lower end, so the engaging part can be engaged with the object to be conveyed and the object to be conveyed can be suspended. The urging force of the urging member acts on the arm part, and it is not easily affected by the external force caused by the wind. During landing, after the lower end (engaging part) of the arm part touches the ground, as the flying object descends, the arm part rotates against the urging force of the urging member and shifts from the suspended state to the stored state. In the state where the leg part touches the ground, since the supporting part is located above the ground, the suspended part does not interfere with landing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, the specific content of the flying object of the present invention will be described. For the flying object 100, as shown in FIG. 1, the front-rear, left-right directions are defined. The flying object of this first embodiment is a drone that flies by remote control or automatic control. As shown in FIG. 1, the flying object 100 includes a fuselage 101, legs 102, girders 103, rotors 104, and a suspension part 10. The fuselage 101 is dome-shaped, circular in top view, and bulging upward. Inside, a control device, a communication device, and a battery (all not shown) are provided. Four legs 102 are provided on the lower surface of the fuselage 101 and are rod-shaped. The four legs 102 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the fuselage 101 and are located at the front left, front right, rear left, and rear right with respect to the center of the fuselage 101. The legs 102 extend from the lower surface of the fuselage 101, inclined slightly outward in the radial direction from the vertical direction. When the flying object 100 lands, the lower ends of the legs 102 touch the ground and support the fuselage 101. Four girders 103 are provided at the peripheral edge of the fuselage 101 and are cylindrical. The four girders 103 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the fuselage 101 and extend from the peripheral edge of the fuselage 101 toward the front, rear, left, and right in the outer radial direction. The rotors 104 are provided at the tips of the four girders 103. Each rotor 104 is connected to a control device and a battery inside the fuselage 101. Lift is obtained by the rotation of the rotors 104, and the flying object 100 flies. The flying object 100 can move in the front-rear, left-right, up-down directions, turn, and hover in the air, etc.

[0011] The lower suspension part 10 has a base part 1, an arm part 2, an engagement part 3, and a support part 4. The base part 1, the arm part 2, and the engagement part 3 are formed of metal bars. They have a strength such that they do not plastically deform in the normal use state. Two base parts 1 are provided on the lower surface of the body 101, both extending linearly in the vertical direction. The two base parts 1 are arranged on the left and right sides of the center of the body 101. The lower end of the base part 1 is located above the lower end of the leg part 102. The support part 4 is provided at the lower end of each of the two base parts 1, and details will be described later. The arm part 2 is provided on each of the two support parts 4 and is linear. As will be described later, the arm part 2 is rotatable by the support part 4, but here, as shown in FIG. 1, the description will be based on the state in which the arm part 2 extends vertically. The upper end (base end) of the arm part 2 is attached to the support part 4. The lower end (tip) of the arm part 2 is located below the lower end of the leg part 102. The engagement part 3 is provided at the lower ends of the two arm parts 2 and connects the lower ends of the arm parts 2. The engagement part 3 has a base part 31 extending from the lower end of each arm part 2 in a direction approaching each other and in the front-lower direction, an intermediate part 32 extending from the lower end of the base part 31 in a direction approaching each other and in the front-upper direction, and a tip part 33 connecting the upper ends of the intermediate parts 32. The base part 31 and the intermediate part 32 are substantially V-shaped when viewed from the left-right direction. The tip part 33 is curved in an arc shape that protrudes forward when viewed from above. Also, the tip part 33 extends forward from the upper end of the intermediate part 32 and is curved in an upwardly convex direction when viewed from the left-right direction, and its front end faces downward. Note that the arm part 2 and the engagement part 3 are integrally formed.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support portion 4 includes a fixed portion 41, a rotating portion 42, a shaft 43, and a biasing member 5. The support portion 4 is located above the lower end of the leg portion 102. The fixed portion 41 has a fixed portion main body 411 that is cylindrical and extends in the vertical direction with a closed lower end, and a fixed piece 412 that protrudes downward from the lower end of the fixed portion main body 411. The lower end portion of the base portion 1 is inserted into the fixed portion main body 411, and the fixed portion 41 is fixed to the base portion 1. The fixed piece 412 is located to the left of the center of the fixed portion main body 411. The rotating portion 42 has a rotating portion main body 421 that is cylindrical and extends in the vertical direction with a closed upper end, and a rotating piece 422 that protrudes upward from the upper end of the rotating portion main body 421. The upper end (base end) portion of the arm portion 2 is inserted into the rotating portion main body 421, and the rotating portion 42 is fixed to the arm portion 2. The rotating piece 422 is located to the right of the center of the rotating portion main body 421 and overlaps the fixed piece 412 of the fixed portion 41 in the left-right direction. The shaft 43 extends in the horizontal direction (left-right direction) and passes through the fixed piece 412 of the fixed portion 41 and the rotating piece 422 of the rotating portion 42. The shaft 43 enables the rotating portion 42 to rotate around a horizontal (left-right direction) axis with respect to the fixed portion 41. That is, the support portion 4 supports the arm portion 2 so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis. It can also be said that the suspended portion 10 having the base portion 1 and the arm portion 2 can be bent by the support portion 4. The rotatable range of the arm portion 2 by the support portion 4 is approximately 90 degrees from the suspended state where the arm portion 2 extends downward from the support portion 4 to the stored state where the arm portion 2 extends forward (sideways) from the support portion 4. This rotatable range will be described in more detail based on FIG. 3. Note that FIG. 3 is a view of the support portion 4 seen from the right side. As shown in FIG. 3(a), in the suspended state of the arm portion 2, the rotating piece 422 of the rotating portion 42 has an upper regulating surface 423 whose rear side of the shaft 43 at the upper end extends horizontally, an arc surface 424 whose front side of the shaft 43 is arcuate and curved downward, and a front regulating surface 425 that extends vertically below the arc surface 424. As shown in FIG. 3(a), in the suspended state of the arm portion 2, since the upper regulating surface 423 abuts against the lower end surface of the fixed portion main body 411 of the fixed portion 41, the rotating portion 42 does not rotate further rearward (clockwise direction in FIG. 3(a)).As shown in Fig. 3(b), in the stored state of the arm portion 2, since the front regulating surface 425 abuts against the lower end surface of the fixing portion main body 411 of the fixing portion 41, the rotating portion 42 does not rotate upward (in the counterclockwise direction in Fig. 3(b)). That is, the support portion 4 enables the arm portion 2 to be rotatable between the suspended state and the stored state. The biasing member 5 is a torsion coil spring and is built into the fixing portion 41 and the rotating portion 42 so as to be sandwiched and embedded between the fixing piece 412 and the rotating piece 422. More specifically, the biasing member 5 has a coil portion 51 and arm portions 52 extending from both ends of the coil portion 51 respectively. A shaft 43 is passed through the coil portion 51, and each arm portion 52 is fixed to the fixing piece 412 and the rotating piece 422 respectively. The biasing member 5 biases the rotating portion 42 with respect to the fixing portion 41 so that the rotating portion main body 421 faces downward. That is, the biasing member 5 biases the arm portion 2 so as to be in the suspended state. Therefore, the arm portion 2 is in the suspended state when no external force acts, and can be brought into the stored state by rotating it against the biasing force of the biasing member 5. When the arm portion 2 is in the stored state, the entire hanging portion 10 is located above the lower end of the leg portion 102.

[0013] Subsequently, the case of conveying an object to be conveyed by the flying body 100 configured as described above will be described. As the object to be conveyed 200, various objects can be targeted. Here, as shown in Fig. 4, the case where an engaged portion 202 is provided on the basket 201 is shown. The basket 201 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with an open upper surface. Various articles can be accommodated in the basket 201. The articles to be targeted are, for example, agricultural products. The engaged portion 202 is made of a metal bar and has an inverted U shape, and includes two vertical standing portions 203 extending vertically and an upper end portion 204 connecting the upper ends of the two vertical standing portions 203. The lower ends of the two vertical standing portions 203 are respectively fixed to the opposing side surfaces of the basket 201. The upper end portion 204 straddles above the basket 201. By engaging the engaging portion 3 of the hanging portion 10 with the engaged portion 202, the object to be conveyed 200 can be suspended by the flying body 100.

[0014] First, as shown in FIG. 4(a), in the initial state, the flying object 100 is landed on the ground. At this time, the engaging portion 3 between the lower end of the leg portion 102 and the hanging portion 10 is in contact with the ground, and the arm portion 2 is in the stored state. Since the gravitational force acting on the flying object 100 is greater than the biasing force of the biasing member 5, the arm portion 2 does not rotate.

[0015] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the flying object 100 is made to take off. As the flying object 100 ascends, the arm portion 2 rotates by the biasing force of the biasing member 5 and shifts from the stored state to the suspended state. Finally, the engaging portion 3 leaves the ground, and the flying object 100 completely takes off. Then, the flying object 100 is brought closer to the object to be conveyed 200 from the rear at an altitude where the height of the tip portion 33 of the engaging portion 3 is lower than the height of the upper end portion 204 of the engaged portion 202.

[0016] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the engaging portion 3 of the hanging portion 10 is engaged with the engaged portion 202 of the object to be conveyed 200. With the tip portion 33 of the engaging portion 3 positioned in front of the upper end portion 204 of the engaged portion 202, by raising the flying object 100, the upper end portion 204 fits between the base portion 31 and the intermediate portion 32 of the engaging portion 3, and the engaging portion 3 engages with the engaged portion 202.

[0017] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(d), by further raising the flying object 100, the basket 201 leaves the ground and the object to be conveyed 200 is suspended. Then, the flying object 100 is moved to convey the object to be conveyed 200 to the destination.

[0018] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(e), at the destination, the flying object 100 is lowered. After the basket 201 of the object to be conveyed 200 touches the ground, the flying object 100 is further lowered to an altitude where the height of the tip portion 33 of the engaging portion 3 is lower than the height of the upper end portion 204 of the engaged portion 202, and then, by moving the flying object 100 to the rear, the engaging portion 3 disengages from the engaged portion 202. In this way, the conveyance of one object to be conveyed 200 by the flying object 100 is completed.

[0019] When there are multiple objects to be conveyed 200, the next object to be conveyed 200 may be continuously conveyed. After the conveyance of all the objects to be conveyed 200 is completed, the flying object 100 is landed. As shown in FIG. 4(f), when the flying object 100 is lowered, first, the engaging portion 3 of the suspension part 10 touches the ground. Thereafter, by moving the flying object 100 downward and backward, the arm part 2 rotates about the engaging portion 3 that has touched the ground. Then, the leg part 102 of the flying object 100 touches the ground and the arm part 2 is in the stored state. That is, the flying object 100 returns to the initial state shown in FIG. 4(a).

[0020] According to the flying object 100 of the first embodiment, since the suspension part 10 has a simple configuration including the base part 1, the arm part 2, the engaging portion 3 at the tip of the arm part 2, and the support portion 4 at the base end, the weight can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed. During flight, the arm part 2 is in the suspended state and the engaging portion 3 is located at the lower end, so the engaging portion 3 can be engaged with the object to be conveyed 200 to suspend the object to be conveyed 200. The biasing force of the biasing member 5 acts on the arm part 2, and it is hardly affected by external forces due to wind. At the time of landing, after the lower end (engaging portion 3) of the arm part 2 touches the ground, as the flying object 100 descends, the arm part 2 rotates against the biasing force of the biasing member 5 and shifts from the suspended state to the stored state. In the state where the leg part 102 touches the ground, since the suspension part 10 including the support portion 4 is located above the ground, the suspension part 10 does not hinder landing. The arm part 2 rotates forward from the suspended state to the stored state and does not rotate backward. The front end portion 33 of the engaging portion 3 faces forward and engages with the engaged portion 202 from the rear side. When the arm part 2 rotates back and forth, when the engaging portion 3 engages with the engaged portion 202 from the rear side, the arm part 2 may rotate backward and the arm part 2 may swing back and forth after takeoff. However, in the present embodiment, since the arm part 2 does not rotate backward, the object to be conveyed 200 can be stably suspended without the arm part 2 swinging. Further, since the front end of the front end portion 33 of the engaging portion 3 faces downward and forward, it does not catch on the upper end portion 204 when engaging with the engaged portion 202 of the object to be conveyed 200 and engages smoothly.

[0021] Next, the flying object 100a of the second embodiment will be described. However, the description of the same parts as those of the flying object 100 of the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the differences will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the flying object 100a of the second embodiment differs only in the structure of the support portion 4a of the hanging portion 10a compared to the first embodiment. The support portion 4a in the second embodiment is made of a metal rod material and is wound in a coil shape around a horizontal (left - right direction) axis. That is, the support portion 4a itself is a torsion coil spring, and the support portion 4a is also the biasing member 5. One end of the support portion 4a is connected to the base portion 1, and the other end of the support portion 4a is connected to the arm portion 2. The base portion 1, the support portion 4a, the arm portion 2, and the engaging portion 3 are integrally formed.

[0022] According to the flying object 100a of the second embodiment, unlike the flying object 100 of the first embodiment, the arm portion 2 can rotate back and forth (counter - clockwise direction and clockwise direction) from the hanging state. Except for that point, the flying object 100a of the second embodiment has the same operational effects as the flying object 100 of the first embodiment.

[0023] Next, the flying object 100b of the third embodiment will be described. However, the description of the parts similar to those of the flying object 100 of the first embodiment will be omitted, and only the differences will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, the flying object 100b of the third embodiment differs only in the structure of the suspension part 10b compared to the first embodiment. In FIG. 6, the right front leg part 102 (the front side of the figure) is shown transparently. The suspension part 10b in the third embodiment includes a base part 1b, an arm part 2b, an engaging part 3b, and a support part 4b. The base part 1b and the arm part 2b are formed of metal cylindrical materials. These have a strength such that they do not plastically deform in the normal use state. The base part 1b is provided as one on the lower surface of the fuselage 101 and extends linearly in the vertical direction. The base part 1b is arranged at the center of the fuselage 101. The lower end of the base part 1b is located above the lower end of the leg part 102. The support part 4b is provided at the lower end of the base part 1b and has the same configuration as the support part 4 of the first embodiment. That is, the support part 4b has a fixing part 41, a rotating part 42, a shaft 43, and a biasing member (not shown). The lower end of the base part 1b is connected to the fixing part 41 of the support part 4b. The arm part 2b is provided on the support part 4b and extends linearly in the vertical direction. The upper end (base end) of the arm part 2b is attached to the support part 4b. That is, the upper end of the arm part 2b is connected to the rotating part 42 of the support part 4b. The lower end (tip) of the arm part 2b is located below the lower end of the leg part 102. The support part 4b enables the arm part 2b to rotate between the suspended state and the stored state. The engaging part 3b is provided at the lower end of the arm part 2b. The engaging part 3b is composed of a general hook and has an engaging part main body 34 that is substantially C-shaped and opens forward and upward, and a tip part 33b formed at the tip of the engaging part main body 34. The tip part 33b extends forward from the tip of the engaging part main body 34 when viewed in the left-right direction and is curved upward, and its front end faces downward and forward.

[0024] According to the flying object 100b of the third embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the flying object 100 of the first embodiment are achieved.

[0025] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the shapes and structures of the respective parts can be appropriately changed within the scope of the gist of the invention. For example, the shape of the flying object is shown as an example, and any shape may be used as long as it has the same flying ability. The suspension part in the present invention can also be retrofitted to an existing flying object. Further, the suspension part may not have a base part, and the support part may be fixed to the body part. Further, the shape of the support part may be any shape as long as the arm part can be rotated between a suspended state and a stored state. Further, the biasing member may be any member as long as it biases the arm part so as to be in a suspended state. Further, the shapes of the engaging part of the suspension part and the engaged part of the object to be conveyed may be any shapes as long as they can engage with each other to suspend the object to be conveyed. Further, the engaging part of the suspension part may have a locking mechanism for preventing the suspended object to be conveyed from falling. Further, a marker such as a two-dimensional code may be provided on the object to be conveyed, and it may be read by a camera provided on the flying object so that the type and position of the object to be conveyed can be recognized. Further, when remotely operating the flying object, in order to make the engaging part of the suspension part and the engaged part of the object to be conveyed visible to the operator, the engaging part and the engaged part may be colored in a conspicuous color, or a light emitting part may be provided on the engaging part and the engaged part.

Explanation of Signs

[0026] 2 Arm part 3 Engaging part 4 Support part 5 Biasing member 10 Suspension part 100 Flying object 101 Body 102 Leg part 200 Object to be conveyed

Claims

【Claim 1】 An aircraft comprising a fuselage, legs provided on the fuselage, and a suspension part, wherein: the legs support the fuselage during landing; the suspension part suspends an object to be conveyed, and has an arm, an engaging part provided at the tip of the arm, and a support part provided at the base end of the arm; the engaging part engages with the object to be conveyed; the support part rotatably supports the arm around a horizontal axis and is located above the lower end of the leg; the arm is rotatable at least between a suspended state in which the arm extends downward from the support part and the engaging part is located below the lower end of the leg, and a stored state in which the arm extends horizontally from the support part and the engaging part is located above the lower end of the leg; the support part has a biasing member, and the biasing member biases the arm so as to be in the suspended state.

Images